How Then Shall We Live? by Stephanie Rodda

Hank and Tessie have an extra large family and an ordinary life until everything changes and they are forced to face challenges that require ingenuity and flexibility to keep their family safe and their faith strong. Uncertain economic times that include gasoline rationing and reduced income have the world as they know it upside down. What they once took for granted now demands hard work and sacrifice.
This is the first of three books based on Tessie's journals where she recorded her prayers and concerns. With each journal new crisis' are faced.

A Christmas to Remember

It has been a long week!

Wrapping presents, making cookies and candy, spending time with friends and family.

I haven't really blogged at all this week with everything going on, but I thought I'd take a minute to tell all y'all about my Christmas week.

My girls and I had such a blast last Tuesday baking yummy treats with friends to have with our Christmas. I always enjoy spending time with these friends, as they can always lift my spirits and make me smile. On Christmas Eve I spent the morning with my Nana making candy for our Christmas dinner. Later that evening I went to a Christmas Eve candle light service. What a wonderful way to focus on our Savior, not just His birth but on the cross as well. On Jesus coming to save us from our sins.

We spent Christmas with my extended family. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents! All total I think there are almost 30 of us! It is usually a fun time of visiting and talking and laughing. Of course there are also PRESENTS!

We spent Christmas with my parents the day after Christmas. We had even more fun and food and fellowship.

This Christmas my husband and children and I are treading new waters. My mother in law passed away a couple months ago and Christmas was her favorite. That being said she spent Christmas in heaven, which to us is a wonderful gift. For those of you who might be experiencing the same thing this Christmas season, I completely understand.

I have enjoyed this Christmas, even with all of the ups and downs. I always love to watch my girls open their presents and play with their new toys and games. They have such grateful hearts and I only hope I can continue to cultivate that as they get older.

I have actually been thinking about something a friend of mine asked me the other day. She asked me about my word for the year. She explained that each year she chooses a word to use as a goal, so to speak, for the year. I have been thinking about trying this for myself. Something to keep me focused on Christ and my goals for my family this coming year. I will be updating you all on my word for the year, so stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Balancing It All by Candace Cameron Bure with Dana Wilkerson

“How do you do it all?”That’s the question that wife, mom, actress, and best-selling author Candace Cameron Bure is often asked. And it’s a question that women everywhere are asking themselves as we seek to balance all of our roles, responsibilities, and opportunities.

So, how do we do it? Working since the age of 5, Candace has been in a balancing act for nearly her entire life. She is the first to tell you that there is no miracle formula for perfect execution in every area of your life, but there definitely are some lessons to be learned, lessons that come to life in Candace's story.

Come along and dig into Candace’s story from her start in commercials, the balance-necessitating years on Full House, to adding on the roles of wife and mom while also returning to Hollywood. Insightful, funny, and poignant, Candace’s story will help you balance it all.

Together With You by Victoria Bylin

Sometimes the most unexpected love can be exactly what a heart needs...When a Lost Child warning blares over the mall's PA system, Carly Mason finds the little girl playing with a stuffed rabbit. Something about Penny Tremaine is different. An ex-social worker, Carly recognizes that the child suffers fetal alcohol effects, and a piece of Carly's past suddenly confronts her. Never again will she become personally involved with a client. The risks are far too great. But something about Penny--and Penny's handsome father--tugs at Carly's heart.

Dr. Ryan Tremaine is trying to put his life back together. With his ex-wife remarried and on a trip far away, his two teenage sons and Penny are living under his roof full time. Ryan has put his faith in his Sink-or-Swim list, a plan to reconnect with his children. The first step: recruit Carly Mason to be Penny's nanny.


Ryan never anticipated being so drawn to Carly, an attraction Carly seems to fight as much as he does. Could Carly be the missing piece that helps his family stay afloat, or will their blossoming romance only complicate things further?

From the Start by Melissa Tagg

Kate Walker used to believe in true love and happily ever after. While her own love life may have left her brokenhearted, it hasn't kept her from churning out made-for-TV romance movie screenplays... until a major career slump and a longing to do something meaningful send her running back to her hometown of Maple Valley.

Permanently sidelined by an injury, former NFL quarterback Colton Greene is temporarily hiding out in a friend's hometown to avoid the media and the reminders of all he's lost. Maple Valley seems like the perfect place to learn how to adjust to normal life. The only problem is he's never really done normal before.

While Kate plays things safe and Colton is all about big risks and grand gestures, they both get what it's like to desperately need direction in life. An unexpected project gives them both a chance to jumpstart their new lives, but old wounds and new dreams are hard to ignore. Starting over wasn't part of the plan, but could it be the best thing that's ever happened to them?

Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury--A Review

Joey lives an idyllic life with his parents on the coast of Florida. His days are spent playing with his cousins, sailing with his dad, and making up stories with his mom.

It's a perfect life until the day they receive a disturbing phone call: a stranger's decision could tear Joey away from the comfort and security of the only home he's ever known.

One family is determined to keep the son they love, the other is determined to begin a new life, the life they've always dreamed of. Joey's future rests in their hands and someone must make the bravest decision of their life.

Sometimes the greatest love is letting go.

Karen Kingsbury is America’s favorite inspirational novelist. There are nearly 25 million copies of her award-winning books in print, including several million copies sold in the past year. Karen’s most recent of her Life-Changing Fiction TM titles have hit No. 1 national lists. Karen is also a public speaker, reaching more than 100,000 women annually through various national events. Karen lives and works in Nashville, Tenn., with her husband, Don, and their five sons, three of whom were adopted from Haiti. Also living nearby is their only daughter, Kelsey, an actress in inspirational films and married to Christian recording artist Kyle Kupecky. 

My Thoughts:Karen Kingsbury has once again drawn me into a life that isn't my own.

She makes you feel the emotions of each character in this book.

The book begins with seemingly the perfect family, but they are missing one thing.

A relationship with Jesus.

As the story unfolds you see how only Christ can truly satisfy your need for comfort, love and peace in the midst of trouble. 

Jack and Molly Campbell are the only parents Joey has ever known. they face a situation most parents only have nightmares about. How will they handle the struggle that is thrown at them?

Wendy Porter regrets something she did years ago. Will her decision to tell the truth ruin the lives of the Campbells forever?

Rip Porter is fresh out of prison and has convinced Wendy he is a new man, but is he?

Beth Petty is Molly's sister. She would do anything to help or protect her sister, but can she truly trust God to have his will and way in her sister's life?

Allyson Bower is a proud of the job she does as a social worker until a phone call comes that could change the way she feels.

What I love about this book: This book is an excellent example of what it means to fully trust in God's will for your life. Can you control the events in your life or do you truly believe that Christ does have a will and a way in your life? It brings to light the struggle and fear that every adoptive parent must have at one point or another in the adoption process. I was captivated by the intensity of the struggles that each character faced as the story progressed. Even the social worker dealt with the concept of God's will and if he can preform miracles. This book had me so mesmerized with the struggles of the Campbells that I truly thought they might take a wrong turn. This book is enjoyable on many levels because you go from believing the worst to being just as surprised as the characters are by the events that take place. This book was an excellent read and I highly recommend it.