Memorial Day Sale!

   Hello girls! I wanted to share with you all a great sale that is going on this Memorial Day weekend at Deborah and Co.  Everything in their store is 15% off when you use the code: MEMORIALDAY and they are offering free shipping within the United States on orders of $100.00 or more. The sale runs from May 24-27, and is a great opportunity to supplement your summer wardrobe with some modest, high-quality clothes! 

   Here is a sample of some of their adorable skirts, shirts and accessories: 

This is their sweet Blossom Top, in Coral. It is also 

available in Summer Green, and Patriot Blue.

Here is their adorable Belle Skirt.

 This is a pair of their super cute Rowan Earrings.

(They also have several other styles of earrings!)

  Hope to see you at the sale!!!

Sweet Sanctuary ~ A Book Review

     Now, before I begin this review, I must let you know that this book was an accident! I have developed a disdain for much of the modern Christian fiction that lines book-store shelves due to the fact that they are soooooo predictable. So, when I received the email with the available books for review, I was interested in the World War 2 setting of this book (for which I have a soft spot), just not interested to apply for it. So, I clicked on it, to see an extended synopsis, which was actually the way to apply. Oops! Well, I forgot about it, until it appeared in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago, and I was not very happy to see it. After reading the synopsis on the back, I could pretty much tell where the book was going, however it was now my job to read and review it. And may I say I was pleasantly surprised?

The Pros:
        "Sweet Sanctuary" is set in 1945, Boston and New York, and is about a young single mother, seeking to provide 'sanctuary' for Nicky, her young son, from his drug addicted father. However, she has a secret about Nicky, which could destroy that hope.
         Actually, this book is full of secrets that I didn't see coming! Though this sounds like a typical Christian romance book, I was shocked at every turn. Not only could I actually stand the heroine, I was also foiled at every attempt to predict the end of the story. Mrs. Sawyer was very consistent, in that dates, ages, and past occurrences, added up. Also, there is a strong theme of redemption woven throughout the story that was encouraging, and that grew my faith in our awesome God! I was pleased to discover that the main thrust of the book was not the romance, but God's work in the lives of each of the characters, and His power to save. All loose ends were tied up well, without being too neat. (I mean, how often in real life does every situation end perfectly?)

The Cons:
        The only thing I wish was added to this book was an Epilogue. By the end of the story I was dying to know what happened to the characters ten or so years down the road. Truly, that is the only con to this wonderful book!

In Conclusion:
        This book is a must read if you enjoy faith building Christian fiction. I give it five stars out of five, ( a very rare rating) and highly, highly recommend it!!!

*I received this book free, in exchange for my honest review, which I believe that I have given.*

On God's Time

    "When you entered into solemn covenant with the Lord, you consecrated your whole life to his service. Your time, then, is not your own, but the Lord's. If you waste it, or spend it unprofitably, you rob God... 
      
   Suppose you waste only ten minutes at a time, six times in a day; this will make an hour. This hour is subtracted from that portion of your time which might have been devoted to active employments. Sleeping, refreshment, and personal duties, generally occupy at least one half of the twenty-four hours. You have then lost one twelfth part of the available portion of the day.

    Suppose, then,you live to the age of seventy years. Take from this the first ten years of your life. From the sixty remaining, you will have thrown away five years! These five years are taken from that portion of your time which should have been employed in the cultivation of your mind, and in the practical duties of religion. For, the common excuse for neglecting the improvement of the mind, and the cultivation of personal piety, is want of time. 

   Now, if you employ one half of this time in reading, at the rate of twenty pages an hour, you will be able to read more than eighteen thousand pages; or sixty volumes of three hundred pages each. If you employ the other half in devotional exercises in your closet, in addition to the time you would spend in this manner, upon the supposition that these five years are lost, what an influence will it have upon the health of your soul? Or, if you spend the whole of it in the active duties of Christian benevolence, how much good can you accomplish?


   Think what you might do by employing five years in the undivided service of your Master."


                                               -  excerpt from "A Young Ladies Guide" by Harvey Newcomb



*This is from an excellent book, written in the 1800's for the authors sister. I highly recommend it for any young lady seeking to grow in her walk with the Lord, or wondering how to His word applies practically to everyday life. 

A Daily Rate

                                                             Then He said to them all, 
                                                     "If anyone desires to come after Me, 
                                                                let him deny himself, 
                                                          and take up his cross daily,
                                                                   and follow Me.

                                                                     -  Luke 9:23

  

   I have been learning this lesson the hard way, since the last time that I blogged. This verse has been in my head for as long as I can remember, but only recently has the message made it to my heart. Or, it is starting to at least; I'm still a long way from it being planted there.

   I like to have things decided, and done, and clearly communicated. I like to make a final decision, and stick to it. What I do not like, is having to make that decision every single day. It leaves too much room for error, and forgetfulness, both of which do not set well with me.

   However, as I have been discovering, this is the pattern of the Christian life. Going out on a limb. Becoming vulnerable. And ultimately accepting grace one day at a time.

   In chapter 24 of 2 Kings, there is recorded the story of a young King Jehoiachin, of Judah. Because he is wicked in the sight of God, he is captured by the Babylonians. The chapter continues with the story of another king, and no more is said about Jehoiachin until the very end of the book, where it says:

And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the capture

of Jehoiachin king of Judah...

that Evil-merodach king of Babylon... 

did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah 

out of prison.

And he spake kindly to him,

and set his throne above the throne of the kings

that were with him in Babylon;

And changed his prison garments:

and he did eat bread continually before him

all the days of his life.

And his allowance was a continual allowance

 given him of the king,

a daily rate for every day, 

all the days of his life.

-2 Kings 27-30

    I think that this story is a beautiful picture of what happens when we are saved! Christ comes into our lives, and "lifts up our heads out of prison". He replaces our prison garments with white robes, invites us to eat at His table, and gives us an allowance of grace for each day as it comes. 

   I especially love the part about the 'daily rate'. He doesn't give us all the grace that we will ever need all at once, for I'm sure He knows that, like the prodigal son, we would take it and run*. But He gives it to us daily, as we need it, that we may learn day after day, to surrender ourselves to our King, and walk in sweet fellowship with Him.

*I would like to note that the grace I mean here, is not the grace that saves. That grace is all that we need for all of eternity. In this post I am speaking of the grace to resist temptation, and love God, and live every day for His glory.*