PERSONAL THOUGHTS

The Heart’s Pursuit by Robin Lee Hatcher

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The Heart’s Pursuit by Robin Lee Hatcher was such a fun book to read.  This book was fun because I have read so many books and this one was different because of how the story goes and what goes on.  I think that is part of the big reason that I loved this book as much as I did.  It also helped that I love Robin Lee Hatchers books.  I loved both of the characters and I felt so bad for Silver and just wanted things to work out for her and her family.  I loved the characters in this book and I was so happy with how it all turned out.  If you love historical fiction than make sure you check this book out!

The Heart's Pursuit

About The Book

A jilted bride desperate to save her family from ruin.
A bounty hunter seeking vengeance for a ravaged past.
An arduous trek toward justice—or redemption.

Silver Matlock and Jared Newman know traveling together is a bad idea. Bad for Silver’s already tarnished reputation in her small Colorado town. Bad for bounty hunter Jared’s secret, single-minded mission for revenge. But Silver is determined to track down the rogue who left her at the altar and stole the last remnant of her father’s fortune. And Jared’s in a hurry to hunt down the murderer who destroyed his family—even if Silver is too distractingly beautiful for comfort.

The pair takes off over mountain and desert, past bleak homesteads and raw mining towns, hot on the trail of the two villains who took what wasn’t theirs to take. Soon supplies dwindle, secrets emerge, and suspicion leave Silver and Jared at odds when they need each other most. To confront an enemy deadlier than desert rattlesnakes and rocky cliffs, Silver and Jared must learn to forgive and trust and face the question they haven’t dared voice: What happens next?

Robin Lee Hatcher

About The Author

Best-selling novelist Robin Lee Hatcheris known for her heart-warming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance, two RT Career Achievement Awards, and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over sixty novels.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

A Season Of Change by Lynette Sowell

A Season of Change

A Season Of Change by Lynette Sowell was such a fun book to read!  I believe this is the first book I have read by this author and I honestly can’t wait to check more of her books.  I loved everything this book.  She did a great job of making me feel like I was there with the characters.  I loved “watching” Natalie as she searched for her relatives and also as she fell in love with Jacob who just happens to be Amish.  This was such a fun book and I can’t wait to read the books that are to come in this series.

About A Season Of Change

An Amish widower finds love in unexpected places.

Amish widower Jacob Miller believes it was a mistake to visit the Amish village of Pinecraft for winter vacation, especially after his daughter is struck by a car. Stranded in Sarasota until his daughter recovers, Jacob grows increasingly wary of events that unfold in his unfamiliar surroundings—including the strange curiosity of Englischer Natalie Bennett.

Natalie never thought her circus career as an aerial silks artist would end with a blown-out knee at the age of 25. She also never knew her late mother had a secret—that she was once Amish.

When Natalie meets the Millers at the Sarasota hospital, she is attracted to their warm hospitality and simple ways—and soon wonders if they can help her find her mother’s family. As Jacob and Natalie fall in love, their worlds collide. Will their differences tear them apart? Or will their love be strong enough to blend their clashing cultures?

Lynette Sowell

About Lynette Sowell

Lynette Sowell is the Carol Award-winning and ECPA best-selling author of more than 15 titles, including A Season of Change and Tempest’s Course. When Lynette is not writing, she works as a medical editor and part-time newspaper reporter. She makes her home in Copperas Cove on the doorstep of the Texas hill country.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

Adoption Thoughts: Healing

Adoption Thoughts

This post went to a totally different place than I thought it would but I am going to leave it how it is because I think it will help someone out there.  It also was a great way to get some feeling out that I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about.  I want to  THANK YOU for taking the time to read this post & pass it on to someone it may help.

I wrote a post last week about Mother’s Day and I want to do another post in this series.  I am thinking to make this a bi-monthly feature on my blog if that is something you think you would be interesting in reading please let me know in the comments below and I will make sure it happens.  For this post I am going to talk about how the healing process has gone for me over the years.

When I think of how healing has gone all I can think about it how the first year was so hard.  I didn’t know for day to day how I was going to get through.  There were times in the first days and weeks after that I had no idea how I was going to make it through the next hour or even the next minute. There were times where I had to just focus on the next breath because of how much it hurt.   Everyday it got a little easier or it may just may that I found more ways to keep my mind busy so that I wasn’t constantly thinking about it.

After the first year things got easier in the fact that I didn’t think about it every minute of everyday but it still hurt.  I know the hardest part for me was not having anyone to talk to about it.  It has always been a closed subject with my grandparents so even today it isn’t something that is talked about and that makes it hard to heal.  I know since I have started blogging about it and even telling some other people about it that is doesn’t hurt as much.

Even though it has gotten so much better I still have days where it is really hard to deal with and I have to focus on the next hour or the next minute to get through the day.  I definitely have triggers and things that I know will make things hard so I try and avoid them as much as possible.  People don’t understand how hard it can be and the triggers so they think I am being rude when I don’t want to be around their newborn babies.

I also have been having a hard time lately helping take care of my brothers son who is 6 months old.  There are times when I feeding him or playing with him I wonder what it would have been like to raise my daughter and take care of her.  When I voice this to people they think that I regret placing her but I will never regret that because I know it was the right choice.  I just start doing the what if’s and that just leads into a vicious cycle for me.  I have had to walk away and take a few minutes to myself to stop the cycle that goes on in my head.

Even though it is so hard for me to take care of him some days it has truly been healing for me.  I personally don’t want to have children and if I didn’t have my brothers son in my life I know there are somethings that I would never be able to heal so I will always thank god for that little boy.

Now I know everyone’s healing process is different and I also know that everyone deals with things differently.  I guess the reason I wanted to write this post is to let people know that it will be okay and it does get better over time.  If you made it to the end I say thank you for taking the time to read this post.  I will be back tomorrow with another book review that I know you will all love.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

Muhammad Ali-Quote Of The Week

Quote Of The Week

This weeks quote is by Muhammad Ali.  Check out the quote and I will leave my thoughts on it below!

Muhammad Ali

I loved this quote.  I have cut back the amount of friends I have because I don’t have the energy to keep up with them all.  I also have had friends that have no idea how to be friends with anyone else because they are so caught up in their own lives and drama that they forget to be a friend you have to focus on someone else but that is a whole other post that I am going to write when  I get the guts to put it out their.

What do you think of this quote?  Do you agree or disagree?  Leave your thoughts below in the comments!

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

All My Belongings by Cynthia Ruchti

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All My Belongings by Cynthia Ruchti was an amazing book.  There were so many things in this book that spoke to me.  I think the main reason I loved this book is because I saw so much of myself in Jayne or Becka.  I didn’t go through the things that she went through but I do know how she felt when she would say that she didn’t have a home.  I grew up not really having any place to call home and even as an adult I still don’t feel like I fit in.  I can’t say enough good things about this book & this author.  I also felt bad for Becka and how things were through parts of the book.

All My Belongings

About All My Belongings

A new life and a new identity can’t protect Becca from a past that refuses to go away.

After spending years running from the shame her father put on her family, Jayne is determined not to let him steal her future in the same way he stole her childhood. Changing her name to Becca Morrow, she moves to California and settles into a new life and new job caring for ailing mother of handsome young businessman, Isaac Hughes.

But just as she’s wondering if she and Isaac are headed for a relationship, Becca’s patient passes away under unusual circumstances. Suddenly, her past catches up with her and the unnerving details of her heritage threaten to destroy all sense of home and all hope for love.

Even if she could clear her name, a phone call wraps a suffocating shroud around her heart. Her estranged father needs her help. But can Becca open her new life to the man who ruined her past?

Cynthia Ruchti

About Cynthia Ruchti

Cynthia Ruchti has more than three decades of radio broadcast experience with “Heartbeat of the Home” radio and currently serves as Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

Widow Of Gettysburg by Jocelyn Green

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Widow Of Gettysburg by Jocelyn Green was an interesting book for me to read.  I have not read many books that take place during the civil war so this was a different type of book for me.  I was glad to read it because I love to know what happened during different time periods in history.  Anyways on to this book.  In this book you follow along as Liberty’s farm is taken from her & turned into a field hospital.  I felt bad for Liberty and everything happened to her during this book.  I was sad when this book was over because I had fallen in love with the characters.

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About This Book

For all who have suffered great loss of heart, home, health or family; true home and genuine lasting love can be found.

When a horrific battle rips through Gettysburg, the farm of Union widow Liberty Holloway is disfigured into a Confederate field hospital, bringing her face to face with unspeakable suffering-and a Confederate scout who awakens her long dormant heart.

But when the scout doesn’t die she discovers he isn’t who he claims to be .

While Liberty’s future crumbles as her home is destroyed, the past comes rushing back to Bella, a former slave and Liberty’s hired help, when she finds herself surrounded by Southern soldiers, one of whom knows the secret that would place Liberty in danger if revealed.

In the wake of shattered homes and bodies, Liberty and Bella struggle to pick up the pieces the battle has left behind. Will Liberty be defined by the tragedy in her life, or will she find a way to triumph over it?

Inspired by first-person accounts from women who lived in Gettysburg during the battle and its aftermath, Widow of Gettysburg is the Book 2 in the Heroines Behind the Lines series. These books do not need to be read in succession.  For more information & resources about the Heroines Behind the Lines series, visit http://www.heroinesbehindthelines.com.

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About The Author

Award-winning author Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage in her readers through both fiction and nonfiction. A former military wife herself, she offers encouragement and hope to military wives worldwide through her Faith Deployed ministry. Her novels, inspired by real heroines on America’s home front, are marked by their historical integrity and gritty inspiration.

Jocelyn graduated from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, with a B.A. in English, concentration in writing. She is an active member of the Christian Authors Network, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Military Writers Society of America.

She loves Mexican food, Broadway musicals, Toblerone chocolate bars, the color red, and reading on her patio. Jocelyn lives with her husband Rob and two small children in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Connect with her on Facebook.

[Looking for the Media Kit? It’s right here.]

Okay, that was my official bio. Now, here’s a little more. . .

  • If it weren’t for God’s presence in my life, I would not be able to inspire faith and courage in others. He is my inspiration, my strength, my joy.
  • My favorite verse is Isaiah 26:3. And also Psalm 30:5. Oh wait, Psalm 34:18 is another great one . . . I’ll stop now.
  • I’m an ordinary mom. I make lunches, wipe noses, play Chutes & Ladders, read bedtime stories, dispense band-aids, and give lots of hugs and kisses to my kids while they’ll still let me.
  • I fall behind in my household chores from time to time, especially when on deadline. I keep up with laundry pretty well, but my mop doesn’t see any action, for instance, while I write a book.
  • We love traditions in this house. Among our favorites: having pizza and Family Movie Night on Fridays, watching Rick Steves on Saturday mornings, spaghetti dinner (made by my husband) on Sundays.
  • I do my best writing wearing pants with elastic waistbands. I call these “writing pants.” My favorite pair is summer pajama bottoms from L.L. Bean.
  • I’m an introvert but enjoy public speaking. Weird, right?
  • I’m really big on list-making. I think it’s hereditary, because my 6-year-old seems to have inherited the gene as well. Evidence at right.
  • I tend to either cook 30 meals in a day or go for three months without cooking more than twice a week (and therefore using the 30 meals I had prepared ahead of time). It works out nicely. Although sometimes I wish I was one of those people who cooked and baked super good stuff for fun.
  •  I’m not very crafty. I’ll just say it. I really admire those who are, though.

Thanks so much for stopping by. This feels a little weird talking so much about myself, but that’s what this page is all about. I’d much rather connect with you in a way that’s not so one-sided, though, so please, connect with me through my blog, the contact page, or my Facebook page. I’d love to hear from you.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret