Love Your Loved Ones

Dave Barnes - God Gave Me You (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Dave Barnes

First of all...I love this song. 

It reminds me how fortunate I am to have the wonderful husband that I have.  I have a husband who laughs at my silly jokes, warms up the car for me on a frosty morning, cleans up after I cook (a huge gift), thinks I am amazing, loves to cuddle, enjoys spending time with me, and never tires of saying I love you.  I love that we say "I love you" every day and mean it.  

I have been blessed, and I know it.  I plan to make the month of February a month of spoiling my wonderful husband.  It is of course the month that Valentine's Day is in and also his birth month.  :)  I can't wait to get started!!!!

Book Review - I Shall Not Want by Debbie Viguie

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Lord Is My Shepherd" the first book in the Psalm 23 Mysteries by Debbie Viguie, and really looked forward to continuing on with the series with the next book "I Shall Not Want."






From Good Reads:  

Charity work can be murder! It’s Thanksgiving and Joseph Tyler, one of the members of Cindy’s church, has organized a new charity that provides homeless people with rescue dogs to love and care for. But one by one, the homeless recipients are being murdered and their dogs stolen. Could an overly competitive millionaire with his prize-winning pooches and a grudge be behind the crimes? Or could it be someone much closer to Joseph who has something sinister to hide? Cindy and Jeremiah must rush to find a killer before he strikes again.

I totally looked forward to reading this second book in the series.  The reader is again introduced to another mystery that Cindy has somehow stumbled upon.  She is just that kind of unlucky.  As the description states, church member, Joseph has started a charity where homeless people are given rescue dogs in an attempt to give them an opportunity to care about something and hopefully reconnect them to getting re-engaged in society.  It is a wonderful cause until these recipients are being murdered and the dogs are being taken.  


I could say that it is a little far fetched that Cindy has somehow gotten herself entangled in this mess, but truly that is what cozy series are about.  Just like a soap opera, calamity follows the same people along like a shadow.  I suspend belief when I read and know that this is not likely to happen to every church secretary, but then again, I do know some people whom trouble does follow.  


It was nice seeing Cindy and Jeremiah interacting again although I do hope that the author doesn't try to push them together romantically.  I also enjoy Mark the detective even though he can be a bit abrasive at times.  Who wouldn't be a bit snarky when they are continually dealing with amateur detectives like Cindy and Jeremiah (although he is less abrasive about their involvement this time around).  


If I had one complaint it wouldn't be about the different rules and regs I have see with the rabbi being out on a Friday and the like.  I am highly under qualified to make any comment on that as I do not know the laws that people of the Jewish faith follow.  I think that if the way the rabbi acts is wildly incorrect enough to toss a person out of the story, that is a shame, because I certainly hate when inaccuracies shove me out of a story.  For me on this part, ignorance is bliss.  I think I was more put off by Cindy's co-worker dressing way out there when she works at a church.  I'm not a prude, but I work in a Christian ministry and typically dress codes do apply.  You wont catch our staff members in fishnets and a mini.  It may work with the character's personality but it wouldn't work at any church I have dropped by.  However, I have never popped into a Presbyterian office...so what do I know really?


All in all, I enjoyed the pace of the story and could see where other characters could be involved in future stories.  I liked again not knowing who the killer was from the get go.  That is a rarity.  It was also nice seeing several theories bounced around which all sounded legitimate.  Nothing was obvious and everything was explored.  The book stands well on its own, but does mention the first mystery so I would read that one first if you are planning on hitting the whole series.  

I received this book for free through Nook download at Barnes & Noble.

Menu Plan Monday January 16 to 22, 2012

Monday - Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew served over Pepper Biscuits (recipe from Food Blogga)
I just love utilizing the slow cooker and I have been craving pepper biscuits ever since I moved from Rhode Island


Tuesday - Senate Bean Soup with Pepper Biscuits


Wednesday - Tacos (no need for a recipe link)


Thursday - Panko Breaded Chicken strips and Spring Mix Salad (I picked up massive quantities of Panko breading for 50 cents a box because of a great sale and great coupons.  Panko is the only way I make chicken for our salads. 


Friday - Chicken & Black Bean enchiladas (no need for a recipe link either)


Saturday - Leftovers as we are going to see Brad Stine


I hope that everyone has a wonderful week.  I look forward to checking out more recipes this week so I can put them to work in the weeks to come.  Big thanks to Laurie from  I'm An Organizing Junkie for helping us organize this important part of the day!

Epiphany At Walmart

I am continually amazed at how much grace God extends to us.  The past year (and I suspect the year ahead) has been filled with God slowly revealing to me my faults, weaknesses, and His love for me.  It is funny but just when I think "Okay...I've got it!  I've got this down"...something happens and I realize there is still so much more room to grow.  So much more of me that has yet to be revealed.


I had an epiphany at Walmart this weekend.  Truly I shouldn't shop at Walmart because if God has ever set on sending sandpaper in the form of people into my life to smooth out my rough edges, Walmart is their breeding ground.  Shopping there for me is an endless cycle of annoyance.  I spend so much time dodging families that walk down the aisles four wide (and amazingly barely budge as you approach as if you can just levitate over them); working my way around center aisle cart parkers or daydream shoppers (you know the ones, they stroll slowly along the aisle and suddenly get inspiration and turn abruptly into your direction); scooter patrol; dashers (the ones who race to beat you to the check out); the boundary challenged (the souls who just get uncomfortably close to you) and truly the list can go on and on.  I'm not even going to touch the frightmare that is the Walmart parking lot.  Drivers are CRAZY!!!!


I have so often griped in my mind as well as prayed for God to just grant me patience so I would not lose it in the store.  I do not want to drive home in misery because of another annoying excursion, and I do not want to become a person who orders everything online and becomes a shut in because they do not want to leave the house, because let's face it...I can't afford it.


As I was praying another apology to God for once again being a shopping grump, I felt God speak to my heart and say "Pray for them."  It was a light bulb flash.  I started praying immediately.  Every time a person got uncomfortably close to me, I prayed for them.  I prayed for the cashier, I prayed for the greeter, I prayed for the woman racing me out of the door, I prayed for the man barreling through the parking lot.  Because I had filled my thoughts with prayerful thoughts, I had no time to be grumpy or to worry about avoiding anyone.  If you got in my way, you were going to get prayed for.  If you acted rude or inconsiderate, you were going to get prayed for.  What a change in attitude!  I now see my shopping trips as opportunities to be used by god in the most discrete yet fun way.  God and I have a secret.  Well...now you know it too.  :)


"I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take their stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh."  Ezekial 1:19

For God So Loved The World...

One of the best things about tonight's playoff game between my favorite team the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos was watching this brief commercial from Focus on the Family sharing the message of God's love. There is nothing that can top today than the fact that God loves us so very much.

Book Review - The Lord Is My Shepherd by Debbie Viguié

One of the wonderful things about my goal to work out - besides burning off some much needed calories - is I latch myself onto the elliptical trainer and pour myself into a book.  Or would that be a Nook?  Well, it would be both.  I was given a Nook via my husband's boss (he doesn't enjoy reading like I do and thought I would enjoy it- I DO!!!!), and it is definitely one of my favorite things.  I love taking it everywhere and always having a book on hand.  I love that I can change the print size so I can read it without reading glasses (which I have recently needed).  I love that I can take it with me to the gym and workout on the elliptical or treadmill without holding pages open like so many others have to do.  Mind you I have an old-school Nook, but it is still a joy!


I really wanted to increase my reading time, and having the Nook and the opportunity to read while I workout has really working out more enjoyable and reaching a reading goal even more amazing.  It is wonderful getting the opportunity to multitask in a very good way.  The past two weeks I have been working my way through "The Lord Is My Shepherd" by Debbie Viguié.  





Here are some details from Goodreads:


Cindy’s church is getting ready to celebrate Easter, and Jeremiah’s Temple is preparing for Passover when Cindy literally stumbles over the body of an unknown man lying dead in the sanctuary. The church was locked, and a bloody cross necklace on the floor seems to be the only clue. The killer is likely a member of the congregation, but there are hints that similar deaths have happened in the past. Are Cindy and Jeremiah dealing with a serial killer? They have to unravel the clues before Easter Sunday arrives and more people die. 

My Review: 


I picked "The Lord Is My Shepherd" because I was looking for a cozy mystery.  I love that cozy  mysteries give you a mystery without the sex and foul language.  Cozies also involve more characters that I can relate to.  Let's face it, for the most part, the people we know aren't fashion models, movie stars or explorers.  Most of us through six degrees of separation may know someone in a high end career, but most of us still live our day-to-day lives far from a spotlight.  In a cozy anyone can become a central character to an adventure be that person a grandma, waitress, real estate agent or even a church secretary.  


Now this cozy was a little more bloody and creepy than the usual cozy, but it still had most of the key ingredients that I enjoy.  Cindy is a mild-mannered and perhaps slightly bored church secretary who literally stumbles on a corpse in the church sanctuary of all places.  The story immediately moves forward from there and introduces Rabbi Jeremiah Silverman and man other characters.  Together they have quite a wild ride and some rough patches and truly I had no idea who the actual killer was.  Let's just say that was a thrill in itself as I almost always figure things out.  


"The Lord Is My Shepherd" delighted me so much that I immediately began to read the next book in the series "I Shall Not Want."  The icing on top of the cake is that both books in the series, well actually all three of the books in the series, I was able to get free through Barnes & Noble.  I look forward to what comes next!

Casting Crowns - Just Another Birthday

The impact of the presence of a father in a young girl's life is, in my opinion, literally life altering.  This song by Casting Crowns touched the little girl in my heart who missed some important bonding time with her own daddy.  I am happy to say that I now have a relationship with my father, but I  still have issues that I deal with because I just have not felt worthy and filled myself up with what the world advised.  I needed God to fill the emptiness.  Sadly, I felt that God couldn't possibly love me, because I couldn't grasp the love of a parent. 


In this regard, I am definitely a work in progress.