The River by Beverly Lewis

The River is another book based on Amish life by Beverly Lewis, the veteran authority on the subject--having grown up near Lancaster County.

In this book, Tilly & Ruth, two sisters who grew up in the Amish community, have departed from their Plain upbringing.  But their father's illness and their brother's phone call has brought them home for two weeks...which turns into more as they stay to help their parents move.  Of course, the trip reveals not only what happened at the river so many years ago, but the family conflict which caused Tilly and then Ruth to leave their home.  Tilly returns to Lancaster County with her husband's blessing and his hopes that Tilly will finally deal with her past.  Tilly's twins, Tavani and Jenya, have never met their Amish grandparents....which is just as well since Tilly doesn't feel loved by her own father.

Ruth has a former boyfriend and potential husband to deal with when she returns to Lancaster County.  Who is a better fit for her?  The new man in her new church who is showing interest in her...or a former Amish boyfriend who showed more interest in some wayward friends than her years ago?  Ruth will only return home and face her past if her sister, Tilly, returns with her.

Follow Tilly & Ruth as they return home, experience Amish life again, and deal with their past which involves a dark river.

I'd give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to Bethany House for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

The Skinnytaste Cookbook by Gina Homolka

Gina Homolka was one of those who could eat anything she wanted and not gain an ounce...until she had babies.  After gaining weight with pregnancies, she went to Weight Watchers to initiate a lifestyle of eating sensibly and losing weight.  The only problem she faced was tasteless foods.  Most of the light or healthy foods had no flavor and didn't entice her...at all.  So she started a journey (and a blog) dedicated to taking her favorite foods and turning them into healthy meals.

Her cookbook, The Skinnytaste, is full of not only wonderful looking recipes, but she's included reasons why you should follow in her footsteps.  She gives guides for shopping, remaking your kitchen into a healthy place, and all of the necessary numbers you're going to want from a recipe (fat content, calories, carbs, etc.).  You'll love the photos and stories in this cookbook.

These are not your typical "healthy, light recipes."  These are fabulous meals from breakfast to dessert which just may win you over to the light side.  In fact, as I perused the cookbook, I recognized several photos of foods I'd seen on Pinterest or Facebook.  Her recipes are highly shared in both forums.  Because her recipe list grew, and because she was a graphic design artist, she started the blog, Skinnytaste.com to house her recipes.  Her readership grew and began sending in their reports of how the recipes had helped their own weight-loss journey.

I encourage you to get this cookbook!  I'd give it a 5 out of 5 stars.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Wildly Waving Palm Branches

Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey while palm branches are wildly waved, reminds me of when David returned from battle and the people exclaimed, "Saul has slain his thousands, but David has slain his ten thousands!!"  David was a "type" of Christ.

Not only did it rouse fear and jealousy in Saul, it roused jealousy in the Pharisees.  They wanted to silence...and then kill Jesus.  They were jealous for how many were leaving their traditional ways and teachings to follow this miracle worker.  He was life...they were death.

It makes me think of the quandary of the church today.  The younger generation is willing to follow Jesus into the unknown.  They don't care about tradition.  They care about LIFE!  "Is it true?  I'm following Jesus!"  And the response of the traditional church?  FEAR.  Which leads to jealousy and punching holes in the arguments of that generation.  Death.  Division.  Disunity.

The reality is Jesus said, "Come.  Follow Me."  And that may look a 1000 different ways.  He will get us out of our comfort zone.  If. we. let. go...He will take us to unimaginable places.  We will see Him glorified.  We'll want to wave palm branches wildly before Him.

A Great Sermon Recovery

Jesus had gotten up early that morning and gone to the Mount of Olives where we can only assume he met his Father in prayer.  That was where he normally went to pray.  And oh...how much he needed to hear his Father that day.  A trap had been set for him.

Imagine going to the temple to hear Jesus that morning...the rabbi everyone was talking about.  I'm sure many had their children in tow.  I'm just as sure most mamas pulled their children out of the crowd and took them home when those angry men threw the adulterous woman into the center of the temple and created their own "court."  And actually, that's where they were...in the temple court.  Jesus had been teaching and his sermon was interrupted by this fiasco.

We know the scribes & Pharisees weren't really concerned about the law.  That's what they used, "the law says we should stone her to death.  What do you say?"  Because if they were concerned about the law, they would have brought the man also.  I have to wonder about that trap.  How was it set up?  Were they snickering, drawing straws?  Who was watching?  Was the man in their midst even as they accused the woman?  Were they all guilty?

We know what happened.  Jesus knelt on the ground and wrote in the dirt.  And the men left conscience-stricken from the oldest to the youngest.  And he told the woman he didn't condemn her...but to go and sin no more.  Grace.  Forgiveness.  Instruction in righteousness.

And Jesus used this sermon interruption for one of the greatest sermon recoveries ever.  In fact, he moved to the treasury of the temple to teach it.  I think it was because he was teaching true treasures.  Imagine how powerful this sermon became after what the people had just seen!  He told the people these things:

• I am the Light of the world.  If you follow me, you won't walk in darkness--you'll have Light.
• I didn't come to judge.  But I could if I wanted to because my judgment is right.  
• My Father is God.  Your father is the devil--directed to scribes & Pharisees.
• I am the Truth who sets you free.
• I do only those things the Father tells me to do.
• Whoever is of God listens to God.
• My honor comes from God, not man.

The scribes and Pharisees came to stone the message.  But after Jesus taught these powerful truths, they turned to stone the Messenger.   

Stand Firm

"Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place]."  Ephesians 6:13

Cognitive Dissonance.  I'd never heard of it until last week.  It's a psychological term which is an assumption that an individual is seeking consistency between their reality and their expectations and they're confronted with information which is inconsistent with their beliefs.  Imagine a person moving and building a house right by a dam.  When they build it, they know that there's a chance of the dam breaking, but they don't believe it ever will.  Now imagine a warning going out that the dam is about to burst.  I'm told that people who live three miles away will be panicked.  People two miles away will be freaked out.  But people who live closest to the dam will not be concerned.  That's cognitive dissonance.  They can't line up their reality with what they've expected.

Paul was in prison.  But from prison, he told us to get in the battle.  It's not a battle against one another.  Any general will tell you that the first thing you need to be able to identify in any battle is your enemy.  Our battle is against the enemy of God...Satan and his demons.   Ephesians tells us that we are to stand against the deceit and strategies of the enemy.  That takes an awareness, an alertness and a willingness to get in the battle.  Paul urges his friends to pray that he'll have boldness and courage from prison to preach the gospel!  That's not a picture of someone experiencing cognitive dissonance.  He's engaged and alert.

You've probably seen this on Facebook, but I thought it was appropriate to share here.  We're told to gird up our loins for the battle.  It's getting fully ready for action.  It's the act of a warrior.  We're to put on the whole armor of God (please take the time to read about each piece!) and take up our sword and shield.  We're to engage the enemy!  We're not to get so overwhelmed with the crisis that we become frozen in place.  It's easy to get to the place in a crisis where you think, "What can I do?  I can't change anything!"  The battle can be intense and wearing.  But it says when we've done all we can do...stand firm.  Stand your ground!  Don't give the enemy territory which belongs to you.  Pray at all times, keep alert, and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, Paul says.

I can tell you from the battles I've been engaged in recently, that it's so easy to lose perspective.  I think that's why people who live closest to the dam become unconcerned.  They don't have others giving them a broader perspective or warning them.  I don't know how I would have walked through some of the battles I've faced recently without friends who were praying, encouraging, and shouting when they saw the enemy coming towards me!  They were engaged in the battle with me.  When you read about the armor in Ephesians, there's nothing to cover the back.  That's because it's expected that you'll have fellow warriors who will "have your back."  We need one another.  Which reminds me of this verse:

"Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching."  Hebrews 10:25

The day is approaching.  Gear up!  Put your armor on and be prepared to engage in the battle.  If there's no battle in your life, cover a friends' back.  Use the sword of the Spirit!  Pray fervently for one another.  Meet together and encourage and warn one another.  I can tell you that we're going to face many battles...but God is going to win the war!

Stand firm, fellow warrior!

The True Fast

Isaiah 58   

5 Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? [Is true fasting merely mechanical?] Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him [to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have]? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?

6 [Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke?

7 Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house—when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?

8 Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,

10 And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday.

11 And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.

12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

I was reminded of this passage this morning in prayer time with my prayer partners.  It's not enough to go through the motions of a fast.  If you're just doing it as an exercise, it does nothing.  You can wear sackcloth and ashes like they did in the O.T., but it means nothing if you're heart's not in it and you're just doing it for show.

A true fast comes as we acknowledge our sin (he even names some in vs. 9) and sorrowfully repent.  True repentance will lead to meeting the needs of others.  As we do those things, the bands (which hold the neck) will be broken!  Do you have something in your life you'd like broken off of you?  I do.  And as I come to God in repentance, that happens.  Don't you love verses 8-12 and the results of a true fast?  HE SETS US FREE!  God wants to break those enslaving yokes off of our lives!  Jesus wants to yoke up with us and He'll carry the heavy burdens and we get the light burdens.

A true fast brings freedom from things which enslave us.

Fasting & Praying

I was about 35-years-old the first time I decided to fast and pray.  I fasted about our finances.  I just remember our needs were great and there seemed to be no way out financially.  So I decided to fast and pray about it.  I didn't choose an easy fast...I chose to fast from food for seven days.  So for seven days, I only drank water and devoted my time to praying.  Of course, I wasn't on my knees 24-hours a day for seven days.  I had four kids to take care of and laundry didn't stop for me.  But the purpose of those seven days was ever before me.  The first day wasn't so hard.  I missed those three meals and prayed my heart out.  My grumbling tummy was only a reminder to turn to God in prayer.  The second day was a little harder.  It was hard cooking meals for my family and not eating that day.  And by the end of that day, I had a bad headache.  The third day was the worst.  I've since learned that toxins begin leaving your body on that day and I had a migraine.  Honestly, it was hard to think, let alone pray.  And...I was hungry!  But everything began to change on that fourth day.  The headache was gone and everything seemed to be more focused.  My praying was even more fine-tuned.  I found myself less preoccupied about my finances and more centered on God and coming in agreement with Him.  I had mixed emotions by the end of the seventh day.  I was ready to eat again...but I had so enjoyed a time with God which brought me closer to Him.

I'd been told about fasting and praying since I was a little girl.  I'd heard the story of Esther and when she and her people--the Jews--were about to be annihilated, she called her people to fast and pray as she went before the king to petition for their lives.  In my mind, fasting was for life-threatening situations.  Not finances.  And it was from stories in the Bible.  I didn't know anyone in my life who had fasted.  Of course, Matthew 6 tells us to not make a big deal about it when we fast and pray--with a motive to impress men.  So people around me may have fasted, but I just didn't know about it.

Interestingly, a week of fasting and praying didn't immediately change my finances or my circumstances.  It changed me.  Peace parked itself in my heart.  I knew it had done an obvious work when a man commented to his wife that a change had come over me.  He didn't know what had happened, but I seemed more at peace.

I know fasting is powerful.  If you have something challenging your life, I encourage you to fast and pray.  I know some people can't fast from food because of health issues, but you can fast from things like television or the internet...or something else important to you.  It's coming to God and saying, "I'm overwhelmed! And this is so important to me, I want to make this sacrifice so you know exactly how weighty this thing is to me."  Kings in the Old Testament declared fasts to save their countries from the enemy.  They also called their people to a fast to repent from their sin.   Fasting may not immediately change your circumstances, but I can promise you that you will be changed.  But then again...it may change your circumstances!

I've fasted since then.  I was called by God to fast for a young woman who'd had several miscarriages and was pregnant again.  I fasted one day a week throughout her pregnancy--and she delivered a healthy baby boy.  I've fasted for friends and family who were sick.  I've fasted for a prodigal son...and God brought him home.  I am telling you...it is POWERFUL!  No wonder God tells us that some demons can't be cast out except by fasting and praying.  (Matthew 17:14-21)  I encourage you to try it.  Take your overwhelming needs to God.  You might want to start by fasting one meal and spending that time praying.  Build up to fasting and praying one day...two days...or seven days or more.  Try it and let me know what God does.

*Breakfast took on a whole new meaning to me at the end of those seven days.  I'd never known til then that breakfast was actually a word to signify the end of a fast.  Break-fast.  We break our fast by eating...breakfast.