Terribly Interesting

I do not read many fiction books like this, but for some reason it intrigued me. That being said, it was a cute story that I read in just a few days. It had an interesting story line and tugged at your heart. Our protagonist is separated from her husband who had an affair. God was up to something in his life, but she was too stubborn to see it. We the many twists and sometimes cheesy turns she takes to be willing to love again. The story is based on a highly unlikely scenario, but it does leave the mind asking questions. If you could ask God one question and get the answer in writing, what would you ask? This book was graciously provided by Thomas Nelson Publishers for review.

Hey, y'all. My man hit a deer last night in our good car. We are all a little shaken up, but at the very moment Denbigh and Lulu were hit by a deer, God prompted my heart to pray. They drove home. They walked in the door to me. Of course, our Lulu was in tears, but they were fine otherwise. Our car is messed up. It's not worth much, but it's how we got around. It's how we get to where we serve. If you have an old car lying around, we could use it to share the love of Jesus.  Our original estimate for windows was around $20,000 which of course we giggled at. We have a darling friend (who will love that I called him darling) that owns a window company. He made us a bid for $13,500. We are starting with our room which is around $3,500. Some of the windows on the third floor are missing and rain is getting in so that's up next. If you feel led to give to our 501(c)3 non-profit, we would be honored and humbled to receive your gift. It takes a lot to run this h...

I started thinking about creating The Gospel Mom when I was in a situation where I desperately wanted someone to preach the gospel to me and it didn't seem like anyone knew how to. I wanted to start a tribe of people, a village that was encouraging and lifting up the fellow members with Christ. Of course we know that the religion Jesus loves is one that cares for the orphan and the widow. How can we do that? In the spring, some friends and our family had a worship night and raised money for an adoption. All I could think of is that I wanted to do more. I wanted to rescue more babies.  John Piper is quoted as saying that adoption is the visible gospel. So we invite people into our family. We open up core places in our lives. We set extra places at our tables. What else can we do? Well, our hope is to start a Bible-thumping do-gooder tribe of rescuers. A village on a mission. A reconnaissance team. We will find out what the enemy is doing and we will aid in rescue efforts....

The giant tree before. Here I am, y'all. I have been doing a lot of things besides writing here. I keep longing to put my thoughts down and document this whole thing we are doing. It's a testament to God's faithfulness and a revelation of the deep work he does in our hearts.  We had our big Southern picnic a few weeks back. It is always such an encouragement when people give up part of their day to encourage us. It is so meaningful because it is so hard to do the work. As a person who was deeply wounded over and over by rejection in my formative years, putting yourself out there and asking for help makes you feel unbelievably vulnerable. It feels like standing on a street corner yelling to people, "Help me! Love me! Remind me of the gospel!" Will. Anyone. Care. It's akin to creating art. Because we are so rooted in the care of the people and in the art we create, we identify with it. If they reject it, if they don't show up, they reject us. That...

A few months ago, my friend Christy was in Haiti working at the orphanage she oversees and I saw this post come across my news feed for a conference on mentoring, reconciliation, and race relations. I felt that gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit to take her. Before she was even wheels on the ground back here in the states, I had purchased our tickets.  I do not think either one of us knew how weary we were until we got there. Attacks come when you are serving, of course, but sometimes you just get deep in the bone kind of weary. Loving addicts, missionaries, ministers, and orphans is hard work. We were left craving to be washed in the gospel love of Jesus Christ. It just was not happening. As we stepped into the conference, we honestly did not know what to expect. It changed our trajectory. It set us back on the road of hope. Every single speaker preached the gospel to our threadbare souls and encouraged us to get back in the game.  We are not these high profil...

A few months ago I picked up a copy of the 25th Anniversary edition of Paulo Coelho's famous book The Alchemist. Perhaps you know his book was pretty much a failure and then all of a sudden it took off like gangbusters. It is on quite a few lists of books you must read in your lifetime. Critics consistently herald it as life-changing. It's a simple and yet complex story of a man trying to find his personal legend and make his way in this life.  I enjoyed just reading the story and following  our hero on his journey. I can completely see why self-help gurus would love this book. It's really about finding your own way and conspiring with the universe to follow your legend or destiny. The great parts are watching our hero overcome seemingly impossible odds to find himself and the love of his life. It's a interesting story. There were confusing portions to me, however. I couldn't always tell what he was trying to say. Of course, story is meant to be that way....

I picked this book to review because it is something my husband is interested in. It gave us some interesting things to talk about. It scarred me and gave me hope. I was not shocked at all about the ways of many of our presidents. We are well aware of their sexual exploits. I had no idea how far they went however and I am sure that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Clinton had several mistresses that showed up right when Hillary would leave. I never realized how much man power and money it costs our nation for these escapades. It also puts our country in great danger.   LBJ was the worst scoundrel. He hung around the White House pool naked giving orders to his secretaries. He also did this in front of his wife and children. He had a bevy of beauties ever at his service...even some of his friends' wives. People gave him permission to do this. He had women staying at his ranch with his wife there and would go be with them at night. I kind of want to throw up. Is this ancien...

I took this read down to the beach last week. I stayed up one night until 2 a.m. to finish it. It was good. It is the follow up to Eric's 7 Men which I thought was exceptional. This book was more so to me. Perhaps I could better relate to it's characters or because it spoke clearly into things I am processing right now. I would go so far as to tell you that it is life changing. First there is Joan of Arc. I honestly have no idea what to think of her and her chatting with dead people, but she was courageous and followed whole heartedly what she firmly believed God was telling her to do. The crazy things she stated came to pass. She never wavered in her commitment and was willing to challenge even the highest in authority in her kingdom face to face to do what compelled her. I had never read anything about Susanna Wesley, mother of John and Charles. She was quite the intelligent woman and well read. She taught all of her children to read and educated them in the gospe...

When is the last time you just read an honest to goodness story? Not one where someone was trying to impress you with their high moral standard or wow you with their step program. Y'all, I loved this book. It made me laugh out loud. Melanie is one funny lady. This is one of those books that is good to read to lift you out of a funk. It reminds you that the most important things in life are the people God lends to us.  I can see some Christian ladies might get up in arms about Melanie's honesty and her story, but I so appreciated it. I am becoming more and more grateful for people who tell honest stories. I think they glorify God more in the end anyway.  I loved following her journey through childhood, A&M, and motherhood. I may have snorted a time or two. She made me feel better about my mothering and realize that I can do this with my girls by my side. I was also encouraged to press on in hard relationships. Love keeps loving, y'all. It's a thing. I just...

Sometimes you stumble onto something that resonates deeply in your heart. The words in this book were like that to my marriage. Yes, this is what I want too. I yearn deeply for sanctification and holiness for my husband and myself. Honestly, much of it brought tears to my eyes. I want to embrace and face the challenges that marriage brings at you. I desire that sacred space you enter into with someone after you have overcome a great obstacle.I want to confront my selfishness and become a life-giving spouse.  The real purpose of marriage is not to enjoy infatuation and make me happy. It isn't just some formula to protect us from sexual immorality. It's sacred space. One quote in the book stated that marriage is a merciless revealer. It shows a light into the darkest parts of the human nature. It's true. In that space we can choose to submit to the healing of Christ. This book is a guide on how to do that.  "We preserve our marriage because it brings glory to ...

Do y'all love to cook like me? I am one of those people who will come up with and work on a recipe for years before I think it is just right. I love the creative chemistry that happens in the kitchen. For years I learned about making my favorite food group, Mexican food! There is one thing I need to learn to make in order to make a complete meal. I want to make some salsa that will knock your socks off. Enter Salsas and Moles. I read through this book and was really impressed with the large amount of information given. I had no idea how many varieties of sauces there were out there. I didn't know exactly what made a mole a mole. I wanted to share in case you are like me and want to make rocking salsa.  I have begun my experimenting and preparing to be the best salsa maker in the tri-county area.  This book was graciously provided for review by Crown Publishing. Check it out.

I was looking through some old pictures of me and my man and I thought y'all might need to see his hair over our years of life together. I would also like to applaud the Lord Jesus for holding things together. We have had a lot to overcome as a couple and Jesus is so faithful. I can testify if you ever need anyone to talk to.  Back to my man's hair. So. You can watch it change and see the styling products he used and the tools he had over the years. And he's going to kill me for this post. But, let me tell y'all one thing. I have a couple of great weapons in my being married arsenal. The first is of course, Jesus and the gospel He preaches deep into my heart every day. Second is basic human kindness. Speak to and about your spouse with great care. If we are guarding a covenant, we should act like it's important enough to lavish love on. The third thing is to laugh. We have approximately forty billion little inside jokes. I mean some things could really suck t...