Mid Year Book Round Up

 

Last year I set a goal of reading 20 books. I did it..just barely.  This year I set the same 20 book goal and last week already hit it.  I'm thankful to be reading more this year. 

I use Goodreads to track and rate the books I read. I also use Storygraph to check content warnings before reading books.  So without further ado....here are the 20 books I have read so far in 2025 (and any reviews that I wrote):

1) Be Faithful by Warren Wiersbe

2)  Gifts by Ursula K. LeGuin

3) The Odyssey by Homer (this was an audio book)

4) Voices by Ursula K. LeGuin

5) When Strivings Cease by Ruth Chou Simons 

There are some books that I read and never really pick up again; and then there are books like this where I underlined so much and will return to over and over again. Ruth's honesty and compassion flows throughout her writing.
 

6) Between the Lines by Melissa Bourbon 

7) Powers by Ursula K. LeGuin

8) Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula K. LeGuin

9) Caught in the Flames by Sara Wright

This is a hard book to review. I have really enjoyed reading The Comstock Chronicles by Vanessa Thurgood so when she mentioned contributing to this anthology I was excited to check it out. Her short story (the last in the book) did not disappoint. I'm really hoping that, in the future, she expands on the story.

Having said that, the rest of the stories were a mixed bag. I also enjoyed Flames of Evolution by Tyler Tarter. The other stories were just okay and one was written so bad that I couldn't even read it; the dialogue, editing, etc. were just awful. I would also say that most of these stories were more middle reader level than YA.

This is on Kindle Unlimited so I'd say check it out for Tyler's story and for Vanessa's story the others would be a skip for me at this point.

10) The Bibliomancer's Daughter by Melissa Bourbon

If you're looking for a light read and willing to suspend reality... It's an okay read. The book magic was fun but the other ways things were revealed had me rolling my eyes. Everything gets neatly tied up at the end which is fine but the author makes huge leaps to make sure everything is revealed and it all fits. Not sure if I'll continue the series.  (At this point I'm not going to finish it; so many other great books to read)

11) The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. LeGuin

12)  God Knows by Lisa Whittle

This book was full of great reminders about God's omniscience and that it is ALL about and for Him.

I wouldn't say there was much new but several things that are helpful to hear again, as we often get distracted and forgetful. I found myself underlining several quotes.

I was disappointed that this isn't really a study. I found myself really wishing for more Scripture, and that the end of chapter questions and activities were more of a deep dive into the Truths of God. There was nothing wrong with what she said, I was just looking for more. Maybe she'll write a study guide in the future. 

13) All My Knotted Up Life by Beth Moore

I have done a few Beth Moore Bible studies. The depth and heart of those has blessed me. Knowing some of her story, I knew this would be a raw read. Growing up in the church as a PK I'm very aware of the issues in the church and grew up under a lot of the same teachings as Beth. I so appreciate her honesty and care in sharing very personal things.

This was a fast read for me. It had me chuckling at points and crying at others but most of all it had me praising God for His faithfulness in every season of our lives. 

14) The Swiss Nurse by Mario Escobar

15) How to Pray by R.A. Torrey

While this book had some helpful thoughts on prayer; I can't say I'd recommend it. The author often veers into legalism. At one point he cautions against legalism but then tends to go that way in several places. His own pet peeves make it into the book a lot and he goes off on rants at times.

There were some helpful things to think about; making sure your heart and motivations are surrendered to God. I also appreciated his reminder to not rush into prayer. To ask the Holy Spirit to lead and take time when praying to wait on Him.  

16) Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

17) About Grace by Anthony Doerr

I'm still processing this book. I've found that Doerr's books tend to deal with a theme running through a story rather than a fully developed plot line. This book was no different. The themes of grace, of choices being made with limited information, of wanting love and family...belonging. All of these are explored. He has a deep knowledge of the natural world and also explores this a lot.

While I loved the themes I didn't love the characters. Doerr's books are also a slow burn as he uses a lot of descriptive language inviting readers to slow walk through the thoughts and environments of the characters. Knowing this is how he writes kept me reading. However, the main character infuriated me at times.

The main character doesn't pick up on social cues, social boundaries and gets hyperfocused on his interest in his surrounding and the people in his life. He crosses boundaries with stalkerish behavior, disregards the wishes of others, is so focused on wanting grace and forgiveness for himself that he doesn't consider the thoughts and feelings of others.

The more I read the more I didn't like him. The ending is especially infuriating and improbable. It was an okay read but I much preferred his other books; All The Light We Cannot See and Cloud Cuckoo Land. 

18) The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Mukesh is close to 80 years old, a recent widower. Aliesha is 17 years old working a summer job at the library...when their worlds cross.

A story of how books connect, heal, and push back loneliness. A story that crosses generations and encourages each of us to step out of our comfort zone and the beautiful things that happen when we do. I loved this book.
 

19) The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

A fast and interesting read about one of the biggest art thieves. Part heist book, part psychological study. Really interesting. 

20) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

 

What are you reading?  I love to get book recommendations! 

Casting your cares on God

 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God 

so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  

casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV)

 

If you are a believer, then you know the importance of reading and memorizing Scripture.  Verses that the Holy Spirit can bring to mind just when we need a certain truth.  There are certain verses that seem to come up over and over.  I Peter 5:7 is one of those verses; when we are worried or burdened, often someone will say "cast your cares on God".  We know that we should give everything to God, trusting Him, but practically how does that work?  How do we wrap our minds around this concept.

 

Back in February 2021 I wrote a post titled Context: 4 types and how they've helped me in studying Scripture Context is understanding where and how a verse fits into the overall message of the Bible.  Recently, when studying the verses above I was reminded of how important context really is. 

So much time is spent on verse 7, casting our cares, and we can forget to look at verse 6.  Verse 6 reminds us that we are to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, trusting His perfect timing.  This is the key to understanding how we can truly cast our cares on Him.  Let's do a quick word study on the key words in these verses to understand how we can practically, daily, moment by moment, cast our cares on God.  The definitions are taken from the biblehub.com lexicon.  

Seven keys to understanding how to cast our cares on God:

 

1) "Humble yourselves" - tapinoó, to make or bring low.  It is recognizing ones dependence on God, being fully dependent on the Lord.  To submit oneself in a lowly spirit to the power and will of God.  

 

To cast our cares we must 

first understand our position 

and utter dependence on 

God and his power and will.

Without God, we can do nothing.

2) "under the mighty hand of God" - krataios, strong, powerful, mighty.  It is seeing the power of God, God's supreme mastery.

To cast our cares we must

believe that God's strength &

power are supreme.  That God

has mastery over everything.

 

3) "so that at the proper time" - kairos, fitting time or season, divinely ordained moment, a fixed definite time.  

To cast our cares we must

trust that God has a fixed,

definite, perfect time planned

for everything He does. 

4) "he may exalt you" - hupsoó, lift up, to raise the spirits by the blessings of salvation. Often seen as a sign of blessing or approval from God. 

To cast our cares we must

focus on the blessings we 

have through salvation. To 

understand we are blessed and

approved by God through Jesus.

 

5) "casting all" -  epiriptó, to throw upon.  The deliberate act of transferring a burden or responsibility to another; to give it up to God.

To cast our cares we must

be deliberate, making a conscious

decision to throw our 

burdens onto God.  

6) "your anxieties on him" - merimna, care, worry, anxiety.  To divide/separate*, implying a distraction that divides attention, dividing and fracturing a person's being into parts. 

To cast our cares we must

understand that our anxieties

distract and divide us from 

wholly living in the purpose and

plan God has for us. They 

literally tear our being apart. 

7) "because he cares for you" - meló, to care, be concerned, take thought, have an active interest or attention to.  to care about, have regard for a person or thing. 

To cast our cares we must

trust and know that God takes 

an active interest in every aspect of

our lives.  He is deeply concerned

about us.  He cares for us!

 

 I recently read an article where John Piper made a couple very succinct statements about these verses.

 

"to the degree that you trust the king's promise to protect you, 

to that degree your burden will be lifted.  

If your trust is small, you will still feel burdened, 

but if your trust is great, your burden will be light."

 

"the casting of our anxieties means trusting his might and 

trusting his care to fulfill specific promises that he 

makes to his children in their various situations in life."

 

Do we trust that God is willing and able to carry all of our anxieties?  

Do we trust that God's timing is perfect? 

Do we trust that He is always faithful to fulfill His promises?

 

*compare this definition with the definition of peace (eiréné) which means wholeness, when all essential parts are joined together.   In John 14:27 Jesus promises this is the peace He gives to us!

 

Alive in Christ

 "For I delivered to you as of the first importance what

I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance

with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on 

the third day in accordance with the Scriptures," 

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

 

As we celebrated Easter yesterday, we remembered that all Jesus did had been foretold by the Scriptures.  In Luke 24 we read how that He explained all of this to the men on the road to Emmaus and to His disciples.  We can have eternal life because Jesus has conquered the grave!  

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul discusses some of what it means to be "alive in Christ".  All that we have is because of His sacrifice and His victory.

 

 These thoughts are taken from Colossians 2:6-15... see the beauty and power of being in Christ and living with Him!

 

- as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him

- rooted and built up in him

- in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily

- you have been filled in him

-  in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands

- been buried with him in baptism

- raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead

- made alive together with him

- triumphing over them in him 

 

Receive Jesus -> 

Live/walk according to the teachings of Christ -> 

firmly established in your relationship with Christ -> 

building your life on the foundation of Christ's teachings -> 

Jesus is fully God in the flesh -> 

your relationship with Jesus brings completeness & fulfillment to your life -> 

you have been separated from the unclean world and dedicated to God -> 

your sinfulness buried -> 

raised up through faith to a new life devoted to God -> 

living in the reality that we have eternal life with Christ -> 

He has won the victory over all sinful powers.

 

When God doesn't give all the answers - 3 verses, 2 songs, 1 book

Oh, we have so many questions.  We cry out to God asking why? how? when? We want healing, breakthrough, answers.  We see these questions asked over and over in the Bible; we are not alone in our questioning.  Moses and Gideon had these same questions.  Moses even begged God to choose someone else to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Three times we see the questions asked and in each of these places God gives the same answer:

"But I will be with you..." Exodus 3:12

"My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Exodus 33:14

"But I will be with you..." Judges 6:16

 Do we trust God enough to let His presence be enough?

 I struggle with this.  I know that my perspective is so skewed and that my view of God's greatness can be so limited.  I want answers; God is El Roi; the God who sees me.  He is El Shama, the God who hears me.   So why doesn't he fix it? Ah, but then I read that he is also Adonai, Sovereign God Most High.  He is El De'ot the God of knowledge and wisdom, All-Knowing, Omniscient.  

Do we trust His knowing is enough to rest in His presence?

 

Remind Me You're Here

 

Close

  

 

My oldest daughter gifted me a book from my to-read list.  It's a beautiful book by Lisa Whittle titled God Knows: when your worries and whys need more than temporary relief. It is a book full of reminders that God sees, He knows and He can be fully trusted.  One of the final thoughts she shares is this:

"I've learned not to underestimate God's powerful hand 

in His quiet and still presence.  Just because we cannot see or 

understand does not mean things aren't being done....God is not

far, unaware, unfeeling." 

 

 

"God's intimate knowledge of our lives, combined with His deep

abiding love for us, means that sometimes He chooses to keep things

from us."

March Music Roundup

 I haven't shared any songs in awhile so I thought I'd share some that have been a blessing to me recently.  These are mostly newer to me artists.  

A friend introduced this song by Katy Nichole to me,  

Sarah Reeves is a singer my husband heard on a podcast he follows and shared her music with me.  

Lydia Laird is one of my favorite to listen to; I love her voice and the lyrics to her songs are wonderful.  

Jeremy Rosado is a singer we heard at a festival in the fall and I was so blessed by his testimony, love for others and lyrics.    

We are Messengers isn't new but this song has really blessed me.

 

In Jesus Name by Katy Nichole

 

Details by Sarah Reeves

 

This I know by Lydia Laird

 

Come & See by Jeremy Rosado

 

 Close by We Are Messengers

 

 

Bonus: This song was released by Dolly Parton after the passing of her husband (Carl Dean) of almost 60 years!  What a beautiful tribute and testament to a long-lasting marriage. 

If You Hadn't Been There by Dolly Parton 

 

Waiting & line-cutters: Revisiting Jarius

 

 **For more thoughts about Jarius see my post titled Stay from Dec. 2020**

I have a confession to make....one of my biggest pet peeves is people who cut the line.  There are legitimate cases and those are fine but recently it seems to be getting worse.  I find it so selfish and inconsiderate.  A certain local store seems to attract this type of shopper.  The ones where one person gets in line and then another person with an entire cartload of merchandise cuts the line to meet up.  Does it really affect my life overall, no, but I still find it infuriating.  

One day I was in the shower and my mind went to these recent events.  As I was thinking over this, God brought to mind the account of Jarius and the woman with the issue of blood.  Boom...convicted!

Look at the passage in Mark 5:21-43; it's a little long but take some time and read through it.

Here's Jarius; coming to Jesus because his daughter is dying.  Jesus agrees to go to Jarius' house. Jarius trusted that Jesus could heal is daughter!  Jesus had agreed to go to Jarius' house!  All looked to be okay.  But then Jesus stops.  A woman had touched Him and He stops to have a chat?  I can only imagine the desperation and impatience that Jarius was feeling.  Then it gets worse.  While Jesus is talking to this woman Jarius receives the news that his daughter had died.  

What? But Jesus agreed to come?  Why would He agree to help and then let her die?  How could Jesus give such seemingly false hope to Jarius?  Honestly, my blood would have probably boiled, I probably would have had some not-so-nice thoughts towards this woman.  Sure she was sick but his daughter was dying!  How could Jesus prioritize this woman over a dying child?  

Here's what we forget...Jesus NEVER forgets us.  His timing is NEVER wrong.  It is SO hard to wait.  Jesus wasn't frantic or in a rush, because He has conquered death and holds the keys (Revelation 1:18). It's easy to look at this passage and think that Jesus prioritizes certain people over others but He holds all His children with the same love.  He knows far more than we do, He wasn't concerned about timetables because He rules the times, seasons, death & life.  

In both of these cases Jesus shows His authority and He is glorified.  Only He can heal not only from physical ailments but heal hearts (vs. 34 “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”) and only He can conquer death ( vs. 41-42 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.)

How often do we pray about something, look into Scripture, read God's promises and believe that yes, Jesus has promised to answer.  But then we wait, sometimes things get worse, we feel desperate, we get angry, confused, we cry out "Why do I see other's being healed/delivered while I sit here in this situation watching it get worse."  "Where are you God?", "I've read Your promises...why aren't You fulfilling them in this situation?"  Dear reader, bring all of that to God!  Cry out to Him!  He can handle it, but remember, His timing is ALWAYS perfect, He is ALWAYS with us, He ALWAYS fulfills His promises..in His perfect way! Those "line-cutters" aren't a surprise to Him and will never change His perfect purposes and plans. 

A couple thoughts that actually just came to me as I was reading this passage:

- Both Jesus and Jarius are concerned for their daughters! This is the only place in Scripture where Jesus calls someone daughter.    And Jesus is able to heal both.  So as I think of how desperate Jarius wanted healing for his daughter, how wonderful to see Jesus concern and care for His daughter. 

- He brought both from death to life through faith (the woman spiritually, the girl physically) showing His authority and power in every aspect of life. 

- Jarius wanted Jesus to lay hands on his daughter to make her well.  The woman trusts the same touch of Jesus to make her well.  

 

Recent Crafting

 In my last post I mentioned that I would post the finished oval mat/doily that I was making.  It's more of an eye shape than a full oval but I do love how it came out.  I was looking for a way to brighten up the table for Valentine's Day.  I had some leftover red cotton yarn from a previous project and some leftover white.  The yarns are not the same weight as the red is technically a 4- worsted weight and the white is a baby cotton 2 - fine.  Despite this I think it still worked up nicely; however, I do want to do another doily for spring/Easter using just the fine weight.   The pattern I used is a free pattern from craftorator.com

Another area that I wanted to add interest to is our front door.  Due to the fact that it is mostly window I haven't tried to decorate it much.  This year for Christmas I decided to use an adhesive backed hook and hang a decoration.  I really liked having something on the door.  After Christmas, I was trying to decide what to put up and remembered that I had had a tree of life wreath craft pinned for awhile.  All of the supplies for the wreath can be purchased at the dollar store; so I figured even if it came out awful I wouldn't be out much money.  I used the instructions from The Shabby Tree. The wreath came together nicely and I love how it looks on the door.  

So, that's the bit of crafting I have been doing.  I'm currently waiting for some yarn that I ordered so I can start on another hat project.  I'd love to hear and see what you have been crafting!