Terribly Interesting

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...

Did you read it? I have seen many reviews on the positive and negative. One bookstore I read about is offering refunds on the book. People wailed about her not wanting the book published. Articles said she was ready to release it because she had safely secluded herself from the publicity this time around. I don't know. I don't have the answers. I just wanted to read it. This is the first book Miss Lee had written decades ago. She was told by the publisher to write the backstory and that became the infamous To Kill A Mockingbird. In my mind, this book is like getting to read Harper's really well done draft of a novel. You can see her style evolving. She is not talking in the first person voice of Scout that we all were so enamored with. The book is darker, jaded a bit, but humble. I enjoyed it. It was as if a friend handed me a story she thought about telling. It brings you face to face with the heart things she faced and how Atticus failed her in a respect. I just lo...

I enjoyed this book immensely. I reveled in much of it. Page by page, it not only taught me deep heart lessons about serving God exclusively, but it preached gospel truth into my weary soul. I cannot tell you how many times I stare into the face of situations I am dealing with and simply want someone to preach the gospel to me. There are many angry, self-righteous voices looming in the body of Christ. It is a beautiful reminder when something like this comes along. We only serve one Master. There is no need to let the opinions of others (or our own opinions) dictate our schedule how we deal with things in our life. What rest! What joy! Our God revels in grace and service to him. If he calls us to something, we must be all in, but we don't have to be that way with anything else.  Gary Thomas wrote that Susie's book made him want to be a person who drinks from a deeper, quieter well. I agree. I have reevaluated so much. I have words underlined on nearly every page. We all fee...