The Wedding Chapel

The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck

The Wedding Chapel follows several couples over a span of 60+ years.  Although I am usually not a fan of flashback novels, I am a fan of this book! 

I love fictional books that have a theme.  Now, I am not sure I always understand the intended theme of a book.  However, the themes I have in my head for The Wedding Chapel are: communication matters, nasty people can destroy many lives, and good people can make a difference in someone’s life.  (OH!  And although you can’t go back, you can go forward in a way that diminishes the mistakes of the past!)  You can hold onto hurts for years and years.  You can THINK you understand something correctly – but you don’t.  Mean people often know they are mean!

One of the minor characters, Sam Gillingham, is a person I would like to know – along with his wife!  He says, “You got anger?  You talk to the Holy Spirit. ‘Help me.  Give me your peace, your joy.”

There are too many stories to list and I am afraid I will give too many hints.  It is a GREAT book!  I loved it!

**I received this book in exchange for my honest review.**

On This Foundation - Lynn Austin

On This Foundation – Lynn Austin

            I have broken one of my cardinal rules by reading book 3 before reading books 1 and 2.  However, it was easy to read as a stand alone book.

            On This Foundation is a fictionalized story of Nehemiah.  It is biblically based but has taken liberties with the story.

            Nehemiah saved his brothers when they were young, and hopes to save them again.  A story about poverty due to high taxes and a land consumed with drought.  There are daughters working as servants or marrying older rich men while still desiring to do what is right but bound to their roles.  City walls need to be rebuilt to protect people.  There is romance. There is corruption.  There is truth.

            This book made me want to go back and read the biblical accounts again….along with books 1 and 2 in the fictional series!

**I was given this book to read in exchange for my honest review.  Thanks, Bethany House.**

A Girl From the Train - Irma Joubert

A Girl From the Train – Irma Joubert

            When I started reading this book I didn’t know if I would really like it.  I couldn’t figure out if I liked the subject.  I just didn’t know.  These thoughts changed though…be assured!

            This is the story about a little girl who loses all she has…all she knows…during World War II.  She has terrible things happen in her life, but she has someone who truly looks out for her best interests.

            Long story short she ends up in South Africa.  She ends up with yet another new name.  She is truly adopted by a loving family.

            This story spans at least 14 years.  

            There were many thought provoking lines, but here are a couple that really stuck out to me:

-                    "It's not just a story, Grietjie, it's the truth. Just remember, when you suffer and feel the heat of the flames, that's when God is there. He watches carefully, until He can see His own image in you. He'll never leave you in the flames too long."

-                    “I kept thinking small.  I thought closer, not wider, and especially not backward.”

-                    “Some people stress the punishment of a jealous God, who will visit the sins of the fathers on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him.  They live in fear of the Almighty God.” ---- “But I believe in a loving God, who, through grae, forgives us when we ask for forgiveness.”

What a GREAT book!  I highly recommend it! 

** I was given this book in exchange for my honest review!**

Just Show Up - Kara Tippetts

Just Show Up – Kara Tippetts

I found out about Kara Tippetts a few months before she passed away.  I loved her blog.  I loved her honesty.  I loved how she just put it out there!  We need more of that in the world.

It is often hard to know what to do when someone is hurting.  Laying down your life often means laying down your schedule.  Just Show Up is an honest view of how to serve.  It is a guide to how to be a better friend.

Cancer sucks.  I have watched it consume a 13-year-old student, and my 57-year-old brother.  Kara handled the cancer she had with the more grace than is easy to comprehend. 

Great read!  Honest!  Raw!

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**