Shades of Morning

Marnie Wittier runs the Books and Brew coffee shop, a gathering place for the locals in Pacific Grove, California. She lives a quiet life and usually makes just enough money to cover expenses. Her loyal following asks nothing of her other than to host baby showers and other parties from time to time and that's just the way she likes it. They do not know her past and she does not volunteer much information. She feels as though she's been given a second chance by God to start a new life and her kind-heartedness and compassion leads her to do the same with others.

Everything is going along great, until her past catches up with her in the form of a lawyer's letter. After 15 years of no contact with her sister in Maine, she is informed that Rose died, leaving instructions for Marnie to become the guardian for Emmit, her 15 year old son. The notification by Taylor Cole, Rose's lawyer and Marnie's close friend whom she abandoned so many years ago, throws her for a loop. She's been found, and Emmit is going to be on a plane to California in a few days.

Unnerved but with strong ties of family loyalty pulling at her, she does the right thing and meets the plane. Totally unprepared for the task of raising a teen, she is even more dumbfounded when she discovers Emmit is a Down's Syndrome child. He challenges her daily as she learns to love him. The most frustrating moments occur when he continually gets into her "regret box", triggering memories of her earlier life.

I like the way Marlo Schalesky develops her characters and teaches us along the way. Marnie and Taylor both learn that hanging on to past sins, regrets, and fear keeps us from being whole. God wants us to to give up these things and be totally free to live in Him. We also can recognize, as the main characters do, that God gives us gifts but sometimes it takes difficult situations before we see the truth of those gifts.

While I enjoyed the book and read with anticipation to learn the whole story behind the characters, I did not particularly care for the ending, The surprise twist was a little too "mystical" for me, for lack of a better word. Other than that, I enjoyed reading Shades of Morning.

2010 paperback by Multnomah.

The Bridegrooms

This latest book by Allison Pittman is light hearted and enjoyable. The whole story takes place in a week's time. There is a double meaning in the title; not only was it a story of bridegrooms destined for each of four sisters, but also the name of a traveling baseball team.

Mysteriously one night, when the oldest daughter was 8 and the youngest just a baby, their mother left and did not return home. Fast forward to their current life, where the daughters are grown, the "baby" is now a teen, and possible marriage is on the horizon. Vada, the oldest, has mothered each of them up to this point, with some help from their doctor father and their loyal housekeeper. She has a steady if not "exciting" beau, and her closest sister has secretly put out an advertisement for possible suitors; sort of like eharmony.com only in 1898!

On game day during the game between the Brooklyns Bridegrooms and the Cleveland Spiders, a spectator is hit by a home run ball and carried to the house to be doctored. Tense moments ensue.

I enjoyed the descriptions of life with sisters: their qualities, quirks, and loyalties. It reminded me a bit of Little Women. I enjoyed the descriptions of the clothing, routines, housekeeper and the local "coffee shop" if you will, where coffee and delicious pastries were available for a dime or two. Mysterious characters, conflicting emotions and a satisfying ending made for a simple but fun book.

2010, paperback, by WaterBrook Press.
I have one or two copies to give away.

This Little Prayer of Mine

This Little Prayer of Mine, by Anthony DeStefano, is a very simple, colorfully illustrated book for children. It reinforces the knowledge that God listens to and answers prayer, even if you are a child.

With simple rhyming prayers, sometimes for help facing fears or asking forgiveness for unkind behavior, This Little Prayer of Mine also reminds children to be thankful in prayer and to express their joy and hopes for the future to God.


Hardback, 2010, by WaterBrook Press.
I have one copy to give away.

Dug Down Deep

Editor of a magazine for homeschoolers, speaker at teen conferences, having a contract with a Christian publisher to write a book , Joshua Harris found himself living the "evangelical American dream." However, he realized it was only a surface faith that he portrayed, not one with a deep spiritual foundation. He began searching Christian doctrine and mentoring with respected preachers. And, he learned what it meant to have a sure foundation.
Dug Down Deep is the story of Harris' search and awakening to the truth of the gospel. For example, he says we are all theologians, but the main question is whether what we know about God is actually true or a conglomeration of false ideas. Our whole life can be wrong because of an incorrect foundation.

On our foundation: "Being a Christian means being a person who labors to establish his beliefs, his dreams, his choices, his very view of the world on the truth of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished..." (pg. 19)

On sanctification: "Christian growth can't be defined by whom we don't want to be like. It has to be defined by becoming like Jesus...It has to be built on real, Bible-rooted conviction." (pg.170)
"The truth of God's adopting love for me means I'm not obeying to get into his family or even to stay in the club. I obey because I'm already in." (pg. 173)

On the Holy Spirit: "To be indwelt by the Spirit of the living, eternal God is a greater gift, a more overwhelming honor than any position, any possession, any amount of wealth, or any human achievement." (pg. 186) "The truth is that there is no such thing as normal or nonsupernatural Christian living." (pg. 187) "But we can never settle for merely knowing doctrine....We need the power of God's Holy Spirit to give us 'strength to comprehend'....God's love for us..." (pg. 191)

On the doctrine of the church: "So God doesn't come out on a big stage once a year to prove himself to the world. He does something so much riskier and more daring....he makes us the show." (pg. 197)

I now know the story called "The Room" was his own dream. Harris also disliked an old tale about a train conductor who sacrifices his son in the gears of a bridge so people on the train could be saved, equating that somehow with Jesus and the cross. I never liked that story either, but could not figure out why it bothered me so. Now I know it's because it wrongly portrays Jesus as a victim.
Dug Down Deep, by Joshua Harris, is a thoughtful, well written story of a personal search for a sure foundation. It's worth reading.

2010 hardbound by Multnomah.