Love's First Bloom by Delia Parr

From the Author of Heart's Awakening, comes another love story, Love's First Bloom. Ruth Livingstone cannot believe her father is sending her away under an assumed name and with someone else's child to be taken in by people who think she is a "soiled dove" trying to make a new life for herself and her daughter. Although as pastor, her father worked with prostitutes for years, he sheltered Ruth from the seamier side of his work. She is ill prepared for life on the run with a child she doesn't even know. While she doesn't agree with her father's sending her away, she understands that the child needs to be cared for and her father has to deal with his own problems in his own way.

However, she is unprepared for the tragic events that force her to remain in hiding or for the man who presents himself as one thing, but is clearly not what he appears to be. Ruth realizes that she is truly dependent on the Lord for all things including a way out of the lies she has used to keep herself and her "daughter" safe, and clarity where on matters of the heart.

Parr again wields her pen skillfully in the telling of the tale of Love's First Bloom. I found the plot innovative and fresh and wondered how the tale would resolve. This mystery kept me reading to the end. The romance was fairly obvious, but the reparte between characters was mixed between fun and flirty and serious and savvy, and I love that.
For more information on Delia Parr, click on her picture.

Out Live Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference by Max Lucado

"You didn't ask about his death," the chief explains. "You asked about his death." Max Lucado

In classic storyteller fashion, Lucado opens Out Live Your Life with a fable capturing the message of his book in a few short pages: live your life so your life lives on even after you're gone. With chapter headings such as: Our Once-in-History Opportunity, Calling Mr. Pot Roast, Let God Unshell You, Blast a Few Walls, and Stable the High Horse, Lucado drew me in and captured my imagination. Using scripture, storytelling, and real life examples, Lucado challenged me to dig deeper, look beyond, and stay humble in and through the opportunities of life.

I always enjoy Lucado's ability to craft a work of non-fiction using so much fiction to relate truth. I am first and foremost a fiction reader and appreciate any writer who can transcend one genre with another and meld them into a true teaching work. The cover alone pulled me into the book. Children are the essence of hope. Out Live Your Life is an excellent reminder of who we are called to be and the difference we are called to make in our time here. We are but a breath, but if we live life as God calls us to our lives can live on in those we love and care for.

To find out more about Max Lucado and his numerous books, click on his photo.

The Secrets Series #1: Forgotten by Melody Carlson

Adele is a seventeen-year-old girl wondering if life can ever be normal for her. When her mother reveals a new plan for both their lives in a different town, with a great job, and condo to go with it, Adele chooses to believe that she can start over and that this time her mother will keep her promises. Adele's new world lasts for only a few weeks, but she desperately tries to keep up the charade for as long as possible. Thinking no one could understand or help, Adele works hard to maintain the shadow of the life she wants keeping her secrets to herself and trusting no one.

In Forgotten, the first book in The Secrets Series, Carlson does a good job of getting into the mind of a seventeen-year-old girl: her hopes, her dreams, her insecurities, and the secrets she dares to think no one will ever discover. Having teenage girls myself, I felt for Adele and longed for someone to come to her rescue. I found it interesting that the help she was looking for was offered long before she was ready to accept it or new that she needed it. Carlson did a great job of capturing the longing to keep our secrets to ourselves until we cannot any longer.

Good teen reading. This would be a great book to spark discussion in your family or youth Sunday School class or Youth Group.

For more information on Melody Carlson and her books, click on her picture.

10 Things Every Minister's Wife Needs to Know by Jeana Floyd

I have been a pastor's wife for 12 years now and know the value of a godly wife in her husband's ministry. He needs the love and support only his wife can provide. When that support is lacking, I've seen many a pastor and church suffer.
Jeana Floyd's book, 10 Things Every Minister's Wife Needs to Know,
addresses 10 vital areas in which a pastor's wife needs understanding and wisdom in order to assist her husband in the service of the church, community and family. A few of those areas include:
*Love the Man You Married which deals with how we felt when we first married our husbands and how to recapture some of the initial glow, enthusiam, and compassion we showered on our husbands early in our marriage. Renewing our passion for him and extending compassion can go a long way in overcoming the difficulties both in ministry and marriage.
* It's KOOL2BAPK: addresses children of pastors and our role as a pastor's wife in encouraging our children to love God and the church despite what they may see and hear growing up as Pastor's Kids. Jeana addressed the issue of feeling inadequate to talk on parenting while her children were growing as she felt the "jury was still out" so to speak until her children were grown. I completely understand where she is coming from with this and appreciated her handling of the topic.
*along with other chapters dealing with: The "Secret" to Survival, Remember Who You Are, It Ain't That Hard, Balance is the Key, Let the Men be the Men, Let It Go: Dealing with Criticism, Conflict, and Unforgiveness, Relationships Matter, Learn From the Past, Live in the Present, and Trust God for the Future--All timely topics Pastor's wives deal with on an ongoing basis.
I would highly recommend this book for the new wife in ministry or one who is struggling.

For more information about Jeana and her story, click on her picture.

The Rabbi's Heartbeat by Brennan Manning

The cover alone would draw my attention to The Rabbi's Heartbeat by Brennan Manning. Growing up on the plains of South Dakota I have a soft spot for lonely trees in wide open spaces. As I began reading, I understood why the cover was chosen and so very apt. Manning calls us to the quiet place inside ourselves where we can find who were really are in light of our Precious Savior and Rabbi, Jesus Christ. Manning talks on the hard things, "Because the shining sun and the falling rain are given both to those who love God and to those who reject God, the compassion of the Son embraces those who are still living in sin. The Pharisee lurking within all of us shuns sinners." Using scripture, quotes, and hard earned experience Manning challenges readers to leave their "shadow self" behind and embrace who they are in the love of the Rabbi.

I was drawn into the book from the very beginning. While Manning minces no words, his tone is one of loving compassion. Speaking out of his own struggles and those of fellow pilgrims, Manning compelled me to leave the surface behind and dive into myself to find the motivations that keeping me from being real to those around me; to find out who I am in Christ and how my attitude toward myself and others should change because of that revelation. This small gift book would be a great addition to any library and comfort to those searching for real answers in a world of artifice. How would your life change if you "Defined yourself radically as one beloved by God?"--(John Eagan)

For more information on Brennan Manning and his writings, click on his photo.