Thoughts from God

I have been sitting here listening to Southern Gospel music and God has been speaking to my heart. I admit  in the hectic times I don't take time to listen like I should.
God was touching my heart about excuses that people give for not following Him.They say they are his children but find many excuses for not following His word or attending Church so they can be fed. For some it is work, "I would go to Church but I have to work". yet they are not there for any service night or day. Or  "it's the only day we get off so I spend it with my family". Church is a nice place to go with family !
There are many other excuses you can come up with but they are excuses.
When we are not following Him, we aren't getting fed therefore we get weak in our walk, stumble and fall more and eventually may turn away.
When we use work as an excuse it winds up being like in bags with holes in bottom and we find there is never enough money to supply our needs no matter how much we work. God has always supplied my needs.

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall is a romance from Amish Country.
Annie, a horse and buggy Mennonite who lives with her mom and several siblings. Annie's older brothers were drinking and gambling and running wild. Her dad had left her mom several years ago and sends money once a month but they had not saw him for 9 years.
Annie's mom did not get along with her dad or Annie so out of anger she sent her daughter from N. Y. to Pa . to stay with her grandfather. Annie loved being at her grandfathers. She also had eyes for a neighbor man Aden who had  a twin brother who was hurt in an accident and now was a paraplegic. Aden stuttered. Aden and his family were old order Amish. They ran a diner in town and had to have electric. Annie's grandfather went in partnership years before so they could run the diner.
Annie started helping in the diner but them more time she spent with Aden the more she cared for him. He was falling in love too and they would meet at night in the cherry orchard. Their Church would not allow them to see each other and they knew if they got caught they would be in trouble.
Grandfather saw them and started threatening to close the diner if they did not stop seeing each other.
Read the book to see what happens and if they decide it is worth fighting for.

Man Alive

Man Alive is a book written by Patrick Morley. It is directed to men and their spiritual life so I had a hard time relating to it.
Morley says men don't think God cares for them in a personal way. He tells how to fix this problem. He gives 7 primal needs of men;
1. To feel like I don't have to do life alone.
2. To believe---really believe that God knows, loves and cares about me personally.
3.To believe that my life has a purpose- that my life is not random.
4. To  break free from the destructive behaviors that keep dragging me down.
5.To satisfy my soul's thirst for transcendence, awe, and communion.
6. To love and be loved without reservation.
7.To make a contribution and leave the world a better place.

Going Deep

Going Deep is a novel written by Gordon MacDonald. It is a two year journal about his idea to cultivate deep people in the Church. People who have leadership qualities and are able to mentor young Christians. It is quite a thick book but after reading it I think it would be great to be involved in such a Church.
I received this book from book Sneeze free for me to read and review. Opinions are my own.

Reading my Daily Bread

I joined a dozen or so other people at my Church in reading the Bible through in a year. I had gotten a late start as had missed a couple weeks of Church but I now have caught up to where I should be and I should be able to read it through in 6 months. This means I'm not doing much other reading besides my Bible.
It brought to my mind the Scripture in 2nd Timothy 3;16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,and is profitable for doctrine. for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
It did not say some scripture. It says ALL so that includes the parts we don't like! It also sounds like He knows we need correction and instruction!
What a wonderful God we serve.

Longing

 Longing is a novel by Karen Kingsbury. I have read several of her novels and enjoyed them all. this is no exception.
It is about Bailey Flanigan, a young  girl who has been in NY doing shows and she has met a new guy , Brandon Paul. She is home for Thanksgiving in Ind. and Brandon is with her. She is reminded of her old boyfriend that she had thought was hers forever until he went into the military and told her it was over about a year ago. His name was Cody Coleman.
She hasn't heard anything from Cody but through the grapevine heard that he is seeing a lady whose husband had died when Cody was in the war.
Brandon is very much in love with Bailey but Bailey is still thinking of Cody and what might have been.






 

A Widows Hope

A Widows Hope is the first book of The Miller Family Series written by Mary Ellis.

    Hannah Brown lived in Lancaster County, Pa. She was a young widow  of two years who raised sheep. She had no children and thought of the sheep as her babies. She decided to sell her farm to her brother Timothy and move to live with her sister and family in Ohio. She was taking her sheep with her. Her sister had arthritis and several kids to look after. Hannah's brother-in-law  Simon Miller was a deacon in their Church and he and Hannah did not get along well. She was a little nervous about the move.
     Simon Miller had a brother Seth who lived near them who was a widower with a young daughter.Seth was interested in learning about raising sheep.

     After several run ins with Simon , he gets the church elders after Hannah. Seth was getting interested in Hannah and Simon did not want this.
The Sheep awake Hannah one night and she discovers the barn is on fire. They were unable to save the barn but got all the livestock out safely.
    Seth's daughter did not talk after her mom's death. Hannah started working with her in hopes of getting her to talk and learn English language too.
     After living in Ohio several months Hannah decides to return home to Pa. but Seth has other ideas.

Read the story to see what happens. I rated it a 5.

The Telling

The Telling is book three of Seasons of Grace written by Beverly Lewis.
 Heather Nelson an Englisher has agreed to drive Grace Byler to Ohio in search of her Mother who had walked away from her children and husband. Heather was 24 years old and had cancer. She had lost her mom to cancer recently. Her dad had told her she was born in Ohio to an Amish girl.
Grace Byler was hoping to bring her Mother home from Ohio but when they got to where she had been staying she was already gone. The lady she had stayed with said she was sure she would return home as soon as she completed her search.
The unanswered question was what is she searching for?
Lettie Byler had gone to Indiana to see a cousin. Actually she had gone there to look for a Dr. that had delivered her child and arranged to have her adopted. The Dr. told her to write to Ohio Adoption Registry to get information.
Grace and Heather spend the night and head back to Lancaster County with out Lettie.
Heather is to check in a Holistic place for treatment on Monday for ten days.
Lettic comes home on Sunday but goes to the Bishop's home as asks to stay there. She knew she had to tell her husband about the child she had given away and ask for forgiveness. She tells the bishop what is going on and he advises her.

Read this Amish story to see if Lettie finds the child she gave up to adoption and if her husband and family can forgive her for keeping it a secret.
I enjoyed reading this and rate it a 5.