Wordless Wednesday - National Aquarium

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Last Wednesday we went on a field trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Here's a sample of what we saw.

(See all the pictures and a few more words in my Homeschool Coffee Break post: From the High School Lesson Book - National Aquarium PhotoJournal)

This post is linked at Wordless Wednesday, hosted by Life at Rossmont.

©2008-2016 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 Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Shadow of the Storm

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn at Books and Beat. 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! 

Without preamble, I spoke out. "I want to become a midwife." The release of saying the words aloud rushed like a cool stream through my veins, even as indecision swelled in my gut.

~Shadow of the Storm (Out From Egypt)by Connilyn Cossette, page 68

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

 

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.

SHIRA

17 Tammuz

4th Month Out from Egypt

  Wild drumbeats rumbled through the ground like distant thunder, pulsing in defiant rhythms and vibrating the hollows of my chest. My fingertips echoed the beat against my knee until a glare from my mother across the tent stilled their dance.

   "Shira, finish your work." Her bone needle resumed its skillful motion as she bent her head to peer at her embroidery. The dim oil lamp highlighted the silvery strands that seemed to thread her dark hair more each day - a trend that had begun a few years ago, when my father died against an Egyptian whipping post.

   I plucked at the black goat's wool in my lap, picking out thorny burrs, specks, and shards of leaves. The fibers snagged against my thirsty palms. Unable to latch my attention on the tedious chore, I had been cleaning the same batch for most of the afternoon while my mind wandered up the rugged mountain path that Mosheh, our leader, had climbed forty days ago.

Here's the blurb:

In the darkness of the storm's shadow, only truth can light her way.

Having escaped Egypt with the other Hebrews during the Exodus, Shira is now living in freedom at the foot of Mount Sinai. When the people rebel by worshipping a golden idol, the ensuing chaos gives Shira an unexpected opportunity to assist a midwife. When the experience awakens a new desire in her, she defies her mother's wish for her to continue in the family weaving trade and pursues her heart's calling as an apprentice midwife.

But when a delivery goes horribly wrong, Shira finds herself in an impossible situation and bound to a man who betrayed her. As contention between the Hebrew tribes and foreigners fans the flames of another dangerous rebellion, Shira comes face to face with the long-hidden pain of her past. Can she let go of all that has defined her to embrace who she truly is and believe in a hopeful future?

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

©2008-2016 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 - October 24, 2016

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This weekly reading list meme is hosted at Book Date. Join in to see what others are reading and maybe get some ideas of what to read next! I also link up with Tales of a Pee Dee Mama for D.E.A.R. Monday (Drop Everything And Read).

I finished reading . . .

I wasn't able to get anything finished this past week, but I'm making good progress on Slender Reeds, and hope to post that review this week.

I'm currently reading . . .

Slender Reeds: Jochebed's Hope by Texie Susan Gregory - a novel about Jochebed, the mother of Moses, and the events around the time Moses was born.




Shadow of the Storm (Out From Egypt)by Connilyn Cossette - I was very excited to get this second in the series to review, since I enjoyed the first one so much! Haven't read more than a few chapters so far, but it's very good. It's a little odd reading these two at the same time since they are sort of the bookends of Exodus - one set in the beginning and the other set towards the end of the book.




Swept Away (Trouble in Texas) (Volume 1) by Mary Connealy - this one's sort of on hold since the other two are for reviews. Looking forward to getting back to it when I have the time though.

Next on the stack... 

The Tea Planter's Wife: A Novel by Dinah Jefferies

The Reckoning (Legacy of the King's Pirates) (Volume 5) by MaryLu Tyndall
She Walks in Power (Protectors of the Spear Book 1) by MaryLu Tyndall

  

On my blogs last week . . .

Here on Just A Second:

Scripture and a Snapshot - The Lord is My Light and My Salvation
Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Slender Reeds

And on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break:

Homeschool Highlights - Aquarium Week
Virtual Refrigerator - Wolf Character
Making Sense of Math on The Homeschool Post
52 Lists #41 - Part of the Homeschool Review Crew
From the High School Lesson Book - Course Descriptions

What are you reading?

©2008-2016 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 - The Lord is My Light and My Salvation

The LORD is my light and my salvation --

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life --

of whom shall I be afraid?

One thing I ask from the LORD,

this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the LORD

and to see him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble

he will keep me safe in his dwelling:

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent

and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted

above the enemies who surround me;

at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make music to the LORD.

I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the LORD.

~Psalm 27:1, 4-6, 13-14~

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

Glimpses is hosted by Embracing Every Day, a lifestyle blog by Barbie Swihart.

©2008-2016 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 Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Slender Reeds

This post contains affiliate links. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn at Books and Beat. 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! 

Jochebed nodded. Of course she remembered. But Abraham had been ancient when the promises were kept, and Jacob had been old, too. Perhaps the Lord only cared about very old people.
~Slender Reeds: Jochebed's Hope by Texie Susan Gregory, page 36

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

 

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.

Prologue

   Outside, the hot urgency of survival pulsed. But in the thatched hut, where only a stray sunbeam found entrance, all was quiet. The child slept, his stomach rising and falling with each breath, his chin promising dimples, his lips puckering gently.

   Her son.

   Son. A word once bursting with joy and celebration now conjured specters of cold-eyed crocodiles and stone-faced guards - both demanding the destruction of her baby. This son was a birth she would not celebrate, a child she should not have, a secret she could not keep.

Here's the blurb:

Four hundred years in slavery, the Hebrew people await deliverance . . . And while it is still dark, God is at work.

Jochebed's entire life has been a faith journey as she seeks her mother's God. The daughter of a Hebrew slave and master basket weaver, Jochebed knows the stories of her ancestors but wonders if the Lord cares how they suffer under the hand of Pharaoh Ramses . . . and if the promised deliverance will ever really come.

Ramses, warned of Egypt's destruction, vows to do whatever is necessary to protect his two great loves, Egypt and Nefertari, unaware that satisfying one will sacrifice the other.

Shiphrah, the half-Egyptian midwife tasked to kill Hebrew male infants, yearns for a place to belong and remembers childhood stories of a merciful God.

Doubts are a constant companion to Jochebed, but her foundation of faith leads her to defy the most powerful man in the world in a deadly race to save her son and, ultimately, God's chosen people.

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

©2008-2016 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 - October 17, 2016

This post contains affiliate links.

This weekly reading list meme is hosted at Book Date. Join in to see what others are reading and maybe get some ideas of what to read next! I also link up with Tales of a Pee Dee Mama for D.E.A.R. Monday (Drop Everything And Read).

I finished reading . . .

The Captive Heart by Michelle Griep - A touching story of redemption, forgiveness, and learning to trust. (Read my full review HERE.)




I'm currently reading . . .

Slender Reeds: Jochebed's Hope by Texie Susan Gregory - yet another novel set in ancient Egypt and focusing on a Biblical character. This one imagines the background of Moses' mother, Jochebed.




Swept Away (Trouble in Texas) (Volume 1) by Mary Connealy - another quirky romance set in the old west.

Next on the stack... 

The Tea Planter's Wife: A Novel by Dinah Jefferies
Shadow of the Storm (Out From Egypt)by Connilyn Cossette

The Reckoning (Legacy of the King's Pirates) (Volume 5) by MaryLu Tyndall
She Walks in Power (Protectors of the Spear Book 1) by MaryLu Tyndall

  

  

On my blogs last week . . .

Here on Just A Second:

Recent Reads - The Captive Heart
Scripture and a Snapshot - My Sacrifice
Wordless Wednesday - Canadian Thanksgiving
Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - The Captive Heart
Recent Reads - The Pharaoh's Daughter

And on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break:

From the High School Lesson Book - Course Descriptions
Homeschool Highlights - Launch Day
Virtual Refrigerator - Hurricane Matthew
Meal Plans in Minutes with MyFreezEasy (Review)

What are you reading?

©2008-2016 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/