Chapel Springs Revival (Chapel Springs Series) by Ane Mulligan

 

Chapel Springs Revival

 (Chapel Springs Series) 

September 2, 2014

by Ane Mulligan (Author)

With a friend like Claire, you need a gurney, a mop, and a guardian angel.

Everybody in the small town of Chapel Springs, Georgia, knows best friends Claire Bennett and Patsy Kowalski. It's impossible not to, what with Claire's zany antics and Patsy's self-appointed mission to keep her friend out of trouble. And trouble abounds.

During an early morning discussion at Dees 'n' Doughs bakery with their ladies group, all Chapel Springs entrepreneurs, attention is drawn to the slackened tourist trade. With their livelihoods threatened, they join forces to address the town's revitalization in hopes of drawing back the tourists. No one could have guessed the real issue needing restoration is their marriages.

Claire, a pottery artist, stumbles through life with her foot in her mouth. When she became a Christian, she thought life and her marriage would be included in the new creation part. But her thighs are just as big and her husband, Joel, is as ornery as ever. She's become nothing more than a sheet-changer, a towel-folder, a pancake-flipper. Her life is humdrum and she's tired of being taken for granted.

Patsy has plans for her empty nest, plans that include a cruise ship. However, her husband, Nathan, continues to work long hours, and he's not talking about slowing down. In fact, he's not talking much at all. She's asleep long before he comes home each night. At first she thought it was just because of tax season, but now she's not so sure. Something other than work seems to keep him late at the office every night. With the lines of communication closed, she'll have to find another way to reach him.

With their marriages as much in need of restoration as the town, Claire and Patsy embark on a mission of mishaps and miscommunication, determined to restore warmth to Chapel Springs and their lives. That is if they can convince their husbands and the town council, led by two curmudgeons who would prefer to see Chapel Springs left in the fifties and closed to traffic.

Written for the General Market (G) (I): Contains little or no; sexual dialogue or situations, violence, or strong language. May also contain some content of an inspirational/religious nature. Similar women’s fiction novels in this genre may be categorized as: women’s fiction, inspirational women’s fiction, christian fiction, and clean, wholesome women’s fiction.

My thoughts: Chapel Springs\vival is a women's fiction / cozy mystery. I loved getting to know the southern women who starred in the story, the drama going on in their lives, and the community. They are strong women and had strong opinions even though some of them made quite hilarious mistakes. If you like cozy mysteries and/or women's fiction then you will love Chapel Springs Revival. I think this is the first book I've read by this author but I will be on the lookout for more.   

What I Left for You: Volume 3 (Echoes of the Past) by Liz Tolsma

 

What I Left for You: 

Volume 3 

(Echoes of the Past) 

December 1, 2024

by Liz Tolsma (Author)

A Family's Ties Were Broken in Poland of 1939  

 1939 Helena Kostyszak is an oddity—an educated female ethnic minority lecturing at a university in Krakow at the outbreak of WWII. When the Germans close the university and force Jews into the ghetto, she spirits out a friend's infant daughter and flees to her small village in the southern hills. Helena does everything in her power to protect her family, but it may not be enough. It will take all of her strength and God's intervention for both of them to survive the war and the ethnic cleansing to come. 

  2023 Recently unengaged social worker McKenna Muir is dealt an awful blow when a two-year-old she's been working with is murdered. It's all too much to take, so her friend suggests she dive into her family's past like she's always wanted. Putting distance between herself and her problems might help her heal, so she and her friend head on Sabbatical to Poland. But what McKenna discovers about her family shocks everyone, including one long-lost family member

Also in the Echoes of the Past Series:  What I Would Tell You    What I Promise You

Marilyn's thoughts:   Magnificent historical of two heroines finding the perseverance, endurance, determination and a faith that renewed their lives to keep going midst the storms. Helena historical account of being Lemkos during WWII and McKenna’s present desire to find the history of her grandma’s ancestors after suffering losses kept me reading until the end. Yes, there were plenty of tears with all they endured with one thought “No matter what, God.” The beauty of the hardships changed lives forever but yet there was new beginnings.

 

The research Tolsma included of her personal family heritage brought a fresh look at the past, landscape, buildings and foods that were popular in Poland, but yet newcomers to America kept the recipes alive in families. This is one story that will stay with me for a long time.

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publisher without any obligation to write a positive review. I have expressed my own thoughts.

Become Your Best Self #devotional by B J Bassett

 

Become Your Best Self

Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out. Colossians 4:5-6 MSG

Recently, I’ve heard the term: Become your best self. I’m not sure what it means. Is it a slogan for self-help books or a cult movement?

We have become a Me Society where everything revolves around us—constant exercising, dieting, juice cleansing—looking for a quick-fix solution for happiness. The things we find painful, overwhelming, or unbearable must be repressed. The constant movement seems to be the norm, never stopping to reflect or spend time in the presence of our Lord. Yet, in our society, with all these so-called remedies available, depression is on the rise.

I’ve read some self-help books and consider myself a positive thinker. Yet, as believers, we need to be aware of anything that may not be based on God’s Word. So when in doubt, go to the source. The Bible is full of everything we need to be our best selves. Maybe the way to become our best selves is to bring out the best in others.

Father, sometimes it’s hard to weed out what is of You and what is a cult. Help me be discerning, I pray. Thank You for Your Word, which teaches me how to live. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Reprinted from

The King’s Daughters

By BJ Bassett

 

B. J. Bassett encourages others as an author, teacher and speaker. Her books include a contemporary novel, Gillian’s Heart; a historical novel Lily; Sweet Charity; A Touch of Grace—The G.R.A.C.E. Ministries Story; and coauthor of a children’s devotional My Time with God, Focus on the Family, Heritage Builders, with over 55,000 copies sold.

 

As a contributing writer, publications consist of Writer’s Handbook 2000, The Writer, and The Focus on the Family Guide to Growing a Healthy Home, Wolgemuth& Hyatt, Publishers, Inc.—consistently on Bookstore Journal’s Best-selling Christian Books List from November 1990 - February 1991, and voted the 10 Best Books for 1990 by Today’s Christian Woman.

 

Magazines, devotional booklets, curriculum and newspaper publishers include Focus on the Family, Woman’s World, The Quiet Hour, Pathways to God, Devotions, Harcourt Brace, WordAction, Gospel Publishing and Times Standard (newspaper).

 

She teaches writing workshops at Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, OR and at writer’s conferences. As a speaker for Stonecroft Ministries, she tells her story of rejection and acceptance, not only in life, but as a writer as well. She also offers book talks, including discussion questions and shares the journey -- from the seed of an idea to a published book.

 

She enjoys reading, jigsaw puzzles, knitting, munching warm scones oozing with butter and strawberry jam and sipping earl grey tea.