What Women Fear by Angie Smith
We all fear something, don't we? And yet women seem to be more prone to having fears that run our lives, that incapacitate us. Maybe for you it's the fear of being alone, abandoned, hurt, left out, unloved, or something entirely different, but it's probably there, whatever it is.
I have always been a fearful person in general, and there have been events in my life that have uncovered some major incapacitating fears. And Angie Smith has been there too.
I had the opportunity to see Angie speak at a Women of Faith conference in September and she was phenomenal, so my mom bought me her book. I am so glad that I read it. I think that it is one of those life-changing books for me.
You can find her books here and her blog here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I love the books by this author not only because they are fantastic, but also because my grandfather loved them. He gave them to me years ago and they are even more special now that he's gone home to be with the Lord.
I definitely come from a family of animal lovers. And I like to think that my love for animals (farm animals too!) comes from my Grandpa to my Dad to me. Until my sophomore year in college when I knew that God was calling me to become a missionary, my plan was to go to vet school. I wanted to work on a horse breeding farm. And even though my life has changed course, it's fun to spend time in that life by reading James Harriot books before falling asleep.
Missionary by day... vet by night?
And who wouldn't want to be a vet in Yorkshire with scenery like this?!?
Then again we did just have fall retreat in the also-gorgeous hills of south western Virginia...so my job's pretty good too!
Note: These books are not for the squeamish! But if you love animals, farms, and the idea of performing surgeries, these books are for you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Francine Rivers is one of my favorite authors of all time. Her life story is incredible- she was a successful author of romance novels for years before Jesus Christ changed her life. Redeeming Love is the first novel that she wrote after becoming a Christian. It is a powerful retelling of the Old Testament book of Hosea. I don't know a woman who has read Redeeming Love and not been changed by the powerful picture of God's love.
We all fear something, don't we? And yet women seem to be more prone to having fears that run our lives, that incapacitate us. Maybe for you it's the fear of being alone, abandoned, hurt, left out, unloved, or something entirely different, but it's probably there, whatever it is.
I have always been a fearful person in general, and there have been events in my life that have uncovered some major incapacitating fears. And Angie Smith has been there too.
I had the opportunity to see Angie speak at a Women of Faith conference in September and she was phenomenal, so my mom bought me her book. I am so glad that I read it. I think that it is one of those life-changing books for me.
You can find her books here and her blog here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I love the books by this author not only because they are fantastic, but also because my grandfather loved them. He gave them to me years ago and they are even more special now that he's gone home to be with the Lord.
 |
| I love the old-fashioned covers! |
Missionary by day... vet by night?
 |
| It's James! |
Note: These books are not for the squeamish! But if you love animals, farms, and the idea of performing surgeries, these books are for you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Francine Rivers is one of my favorite authors of all time. Her life story is incredible- she was a successful author of romance novels for years before Jesus Christ changed her life. Redeeming Love is the first novel that she wrote after becoming a Christian. It is a powerful retelling of the Old Testament book of Hosea. I don't know a woman who has read Redeeming Love and not been changed by the powerful picture of God's love.
She has written many other books as well. Each time I read one of her books, she blows apart the box that I tend to put God in. Whether it's the Mark of the Lion series which gave me a whole new picture of what it was like to live as a Christian shortly after Jesus died and rose from the dead, or The Last Sin Eater which is about the Gospel coming to a rural Appalachian town, I walk away amazed by how great God is.
You can find out more about Francine Rivers and her books here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Little Doritt by Charles Dickens is one of my all-time favorite books. Ahhh it's amazing. I was introduced to the story by my mom who borrowed the set of DVDs from her sister. In 2008 BBC did a great job making Little Doritt into a BBC TV series starring Claire Foy and Matthew Macfadyen (you might recognize him as Mr. Darcy in the newest version of Pride and Prejudice).
After I watched the TV series I knew I needed to read the book. I'm a big Charles Dickens fan in general and I think that this is my favorite of all his books. The story focuses on Amy Doritt, a young woman who was born and raised in a debtors prison. While Amy is fair, honest, and moral, she is surrounded by a host of foolish, impetuous, vain, silly, vengeful, (insert bad adjective) people - and also some dear friends. The separation of social classes, the way that government is run, and the treatment of workers are all highlighted in this satirical book. But the characters are the best part, for sure =)
 |
| Picture from Wikipedia - I wish my copy looked this cool! |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sept. 7
I read The Help this spring after two of my aunts gave it glowing recommendations and one actually gave me her copy. I hadn't really heard all of the buzz about it at that point but my aunts have great taste in books so I was excited about it.Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. It's an incredible, heart wrenching story. I laughed out loud, cried (many times), and all in all felt like I had made some good friends down in ole Mississippi. Isn't that the essence of a good book? Characters coming alive and feeling like they are a part of you?
If you haven't read this book you absolutely should. It's a lot like the movie - just better =)
Oh, and it passed my no-explicit content standard so I feel good about recommending it.
Read it. You won't be disappointed!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sept. 2
I love reading and often find myself recommending good books to friends and family. So I thought it'd be fun to add a favorite books page to my blog! I realize it's not necessarily craft related but it is another hobby of mine.
Over the past couple of years I started getting into reading the classics. Somehow I made it through high school without having to read many of them and the ones I did read I sped-read. What is it about being forced to read a book that automatically makes you not like it from the start?
I grew up on a pretty steady diet of Christian romances and although some of them are really, really good, I was looking for something a little different. At the same time I didn't want to just pick up any random book at the bookstore and start reading it because I try to avoid books with any explicit content in them - and that is harder to avoid all the time. I thought classics might be a good bet.
