Recent Reads - Your Sacred Yes

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Your Sacred Yes: Trading Life-Draining Obligation for Freedom, Passion, and Joy by Susie Larson - I joke about having no problem saying "No" to things that I don't want to do, but the truth is I also am not always thoughtful enough about what I say "Yes" to. In this book, Susie Larson challenged me to evaluate whether I'm saying Yes to the wrong things, or perhaps to good things but for the wrong reasons. She shares Scripture and personal stories that point to the power and fulfillment of saying Yes to whatever God asks of us, and the risk of burnout and disappointment when we are too quick to say Yes to the things that he has not asked us to do.

Larson gets to the root of the issue in pointing out that we often do things out of guilt or obligation; because we want approval and validation; or because we think we know what's best. However, God doesn't shame us into working for him - he invites us to participate with him; we can't earn God's approval because he already loves us and call us his own; and our own plans often fall far short of what God wants to do in and through us. With insightful writing and reflection questions, Larson calls on the reader to examine their own life and to say Yes to God's best.

This book includes Reflection Questions at the end of each chapter that can be used for personal study or in a group setting. There are also group discussion questions. A DVD Study Companion is also available separately.

From the publisher:

Are you worn out from life's ought-to's and should-do's?

It's so easy to give away our time to things un-appointed by God. We commit to something because it's a good cause or there's a great need. Or maybe because no one else will help out. The result? The days blur together and we find ourselves overworked and underjoyed, desperate for a faith awakening.

In this practical and liberating book, Susie shares biblical ways to:

• Learn how--and when--to say no without guilt or shame
• Find a pace and perspective that matches God's best for you
• Discern man-made obligations from God-given invitations

Will you say yes to the One who will rejuvenate your soul?

Visit the Baker Publishing Group for info on where to buy.

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Scripture and a Snapshot - July 18, 2015

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As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children's children,

to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

~Psalm 103:13-18~

Scripture & a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.

The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

The Last Ten Books

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This week's list for Top Ten Tuesday is "Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession", whether bought, borrowed, or for review. My list will be linked along with many others at The Broke and The Bookish.

The Coffee Trader by David Liss - a bargain on Kindle, I couldn't resist downloading it. The title caught my attention and the description intrigued me. It's currently on my TBR.

Amsterdam, 1659 — a mysterious world of trade populated by schemers and rogues, where deception rules the day.
On the world’s first commodities exchange, fortunes are won and lost in an instant. Miguel Lienzo, a sharp-witted trader in the city's close-knit community of Portuguese Jews, knows this only too well. Once among the city’s most envied merchants, Miguel has lost everything in a sudden shift in the sugar markets. Now, impoverished and humiliated, living on the charity of his petty younger brother, Miguel must find a way to restore his wealth and reputation.
Miguel enters into a partnership with a seductive Dutchwoman who offers him one last chance at success — a daring plot to corner the market of an astonishing new commodity called "coffee." 

A Study in Death (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - This is the latest in the Lady Darby series, and came out only a week ago so I was quite surprised to get it so quickly from the library.

A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen - Quite some time ago, I greatly enjoyed the first in Bowen's Lady Georgie series as an audiobook, so when I had the chance to get the next with an Audible trial, I grabbed it and got started.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - This is the other audiobook I chose from Audible. Looking forward to listening to it soon!

Swept Away by Vanessa Riley - this was free for Kindle a little bit ago (maybe still is) and is described as a "Regency retelling of Cinderella with a twist".

In Good Company by Jen Turano - received the ARC for this one from Bethany House, read it, and reviewed it HERE.

The Conversation by Leigh A. Bortins - Starting it this week, it's for a review on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break.

Your Sacred Yes: Trading Life-Draining Obligation for Freedom, Passion, and Joy by Susie Larson - another Bethany House review book, for which I will be posting my review very soon, this week if I can get to it!

Now and Forever (Wild at Heart) by Mary Conneally - Borrowed from the library. Read my review HERE.

Suddenly Mrs. Darcy by Jenetta James - Picked up for free on Kindle awhile ago. Read it and reviewed it HERE.

What books have you recently acquired? Leave a comment and let me know!

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Teaser Tuesdays/First Chapter First Paragraph - July 14, 2015

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm. To play along, just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title and author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Instead, I allowed her to keep her secrets, and by doing so, they almost remained hidden forever.
If only I'd made her talk, the events that followed would have unfolded quite differently.
~A Study in Death (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber, page 9

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is a weekly link-up hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or two) of a book you're reading, or thinking about reading soon.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

MARCH 1831

     "Can you turn your head a little to the right?"

     "Oh, yes. Of course," Lady Drummond gasped, swiftly complying.

     At that angle the light fell just so on her honey blond curls, and hid the streak of gray beginning to show at her right temple. It would also allow me to accent the height of her cheekbones and the pert tilt of her chin. I narrowed my eyes to study just how the swirls of butter and goldenrod formed a pattern in her elaborately styled hair, and then I dipped my brush in the paint on my palette.

     "Lady Darby, you must grow weary of reminding your subjects not to fidget and turn," she chattered in her light, melodic voice, careful not to move even her mouth too much. "And children! How on earth do you coax them to sit still? My Freddy and Victoria would never last a minute."

     

     . . . I could see in her troubled blue eyes that she knew I was lying.

     Perhaps I should have said something, but how could I admit I recognized her sadness, her loneliness? That I sensed her uneasiness, that her perfect life was not all that it seemed, and that her husband was quite possibly a brute.

Here's the blurb:

Scotland, 1831. After a tumultuous courtship complicated by three deadly inquiries, Lady Kiera Darby is thrilled to have found both an investigative partner and a fiance in Sebastian Gage. But with her well-meaning--and very pregnant--sister planning on making their wedding the event of the season, Kiera could use a respite from the impending madness.
     Commissioned to paint the portrait of Lady Drummond, Kiera is saddened when she recognizes the pain in the baroness's eyes. Lord Drummond is a brute, and his brusque treatment of his wife forces Kiera to think of the torment caused by her own late husband.
     Kiera isn't sure how to help, but when she finds Lady Drummond prostrate on the floor, things take a fatal turn. The physician called to the house and Lord Drummond appear satisfied to rule her death natural, but Kiera is convinced that poison is the real culprit.
     Now, armed with only her knowledge of the macabre and her convictions, Kiera intends to discover the truth behind the baroness's death--no matter what, or who, stands in her way...

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

What I'm Reading - July 13, 2015

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This weekly meme has been hosted at Book Journey, but until the blog author is back to hosting, I am linking at the book blog Christian Novels.

I recently finished reading...

In Good Company by Jen Turano - finished this very fun story on the weekend. Read my full review HERE.


I'm currently reading...

Your Sacred Yes: Trading Life-Draining Obligation for Freedom, Passion, and Joy by Susie Larson


A Study in Death (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber


The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer


The Fatal Tree (Bright Empires) by Stephen R Lawhead

   

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables Collection (for Kindle)) - two of my reading challenges - to read a novel with a character's name in the title, and it's book #1 in the Canadian Book Challenge.

  Next on the stack...

The Conversation by Leigh A. Bortins - I'll be reviewing this book on my homeschool blog later this summer.
Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies - this one will work for the Canadian Book Challenge too!
   

What are you reading?

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads - In Good Company

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In Good Company by Jen Turano - Millie Longfellow knows she is a good nanny, but the high society mothers she has worked for don't understand her tendency to have fun with her young charges and her rather unconventional methods. As a result, she never stays employed for very long at a time. Everett Mulberry unexpectedly became guardian to three young children, and has had one nanny after another quit after the children's pranks and misbehavior. In desperation, he agrees to hire Millie because he is about to leave for his summer cottage and the employment agency has no one else available.

Millie connects with the children quickly, although there are definitely some missteps along the way, and she introduces the idea that something suspicious is afoot regarding the parents' death and their estate. To their surprise, Millie and Everett find a mutual respect and start to develop a friendly relationship, but this doesn't sit well at all with Caroline, the woman that expects Everett to marry her. In fact, Caroline resents the children's presence and is hoping to have them sent off to boarding school, and she especially scorns Millie. As the days in Newport go by, Everett starts to realize the extent of the snobbery practiced by his friends and by himself, and that perhaps the growing affection he has for the children and for Millie will trump the expectations of society and his former plans for his life.

As in the previous novel by Turano that I read (A Change of Fortune), the female lead is charming in an eccentric way, a young lady with sweet character but appallingly bad luck in life so far; and the gentleman love interest is wealthy and high-placed in society and initially uninterested in a romantic relationship. The other similarities are the series of improbable circumstances in which the couple finds themselves, and the surprising nastiness of the villain. In this one, I found Caroline's cold heart quite a bit colder than was completely believable, and the character and behavior of the children not always realistic. But the fast-paced storyline and light-hearted humour kept me turning pages, and wondering just how Everett and Millie would wind up together in the end. As with most romances, it's obvious that they will, but the twists and turns and resolution of the problems they face are what make the story fun.

This is an historical novel that could easily be a sit-com, so as long as you don't take it too seriously, it's a very enjoyable read. I had a delightful time with it, and will continue to watch for other novels by Jen Turano.

From the publisher:

After growing up as an orphan, Millie Longfellow is determined to become the best nanny the East Coast has ever seen. Unfortunately, her playfulness and enthusiasm aren't always well-received and she finds herself dismissed from yet another position.

Everett Mulberry has quite unexpectedly become guardian to three children that scare off every nanny he hires. About to depart for Newport, Rhode Island, for the summer, he's desperate for competent childcare.

At wit's end with both Millie and Everett, the employment agency gives them one last chance--with each other. As Millie falls in love with her mischievous charges, Everett focuses on achieving the coveted societal status of the upper echelons. But as he investigates the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the children's parents, will it take the loss of those he loves to learn whose company he truly wants for the rest of his life?

Visit the Baker Publishing Group for info on where to buy.

By the same author: A Change of Fortune

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Scripture and a Snapshot - July 11, 2015

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No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

~I Corinthians 10:13~

Scripture & a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.

The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/