A Time to Embrace by Karen Kingsbury

A Time to Embrace is a typical Karen Kingsbury novel.  Her books are very readable and engaging.  This is the story of John & Abby Reynolds.  John is a high school football coach and has hit some snags with his students' parents who are pushing to get John fired.  He's been accused of allowing his students to drink and street race.  John has reached the point where he's considering resigning.  Abby & John were on the verge of divorce when their oldest daughter got married.  Through the planning of that wedding, God miraculously rescued their marriage, but they haven't even told their children how close they came to splitting. 
After a football victory, John decided to go to the school and grade some papers just to unwind.  Two of his star players challenged each other to a race--on the street in front of the high school.  As John leaves the school for the night, he's broadsided by Jake, the star quarterback of his team.  The wreck leaves John paralyzed. 
Throughout the book, Karen deals with some pretty strong issues:  pornography, anger, divorce, abortion and several crises.  I felt that she dealt with them honestly.  The story is pretty predictable, but you wouldn't have wanted any other ending.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson  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.

Cousins

Do you have cousins?  I have 42 first cousins.  Yes, that's right...42.  I have been close to so many of them through the years.  But I have one cousin with whom I stay in close contact.  Pat.  She's actually younger than me by about 3 years.  Our mothers are sisters. 

Pat lived in Germany when she was young (her dad was in the military).  I remember when she moved back to the States.  She had the most incredible wardrobe for her Barbies (made by her mom).  It was my first taste of envy. 

We were together a lot as we grew up.  Our families vacationed together a few times, we went to BMA camp together, and I was invited to their home in the Ft. Worth area one summer.  On that trip, my aunt handed me the keys to her car and told me to take Pat to the the post office.  It was a standard--and my first time to try to drive one.  I told Pat as I drove up that I was going to keep going.  She had to jump out because I didn't know if I could get the car going again.  So she did.  She came back out and I think I'd driven around the block.  And she jumped back in.  But then I had to face a hill and a stop sign.  Dadgummit!  I tried and tried to get the gas pedal and the clutch to work in tandem, but I could not get up that hill.  There were a group of good looking guys across the street watching the whole thing and dying laughing.  Pat ended up in the floorboard---she knew those guys!  And I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Pat was my right hand when Amy got married.  She decorated Amy's wedding cake and put some of the flowers together.  I would have lost my mind if she hadn't been there.

Why am I telling you all about Pat?  She called me tonight.  We've been praying together about issues that concern us both for the past few years.  And she called just to see how things were going and to let me know she cares and is praying.  I love this cousin.  And I'd post her picture...but she'd kill me.

Slipped Through the Cracks

I was going through pictures tonight and found this one that slipped through the cracks.  I thought it was so cute.  Ryan & Addie love to dress up--and they really play well together.  I picked up these costumes at Wal-Mart after Halloween for $2.25 each.  A small investment for hours of imaginative play.  Addie especially likes the sparkly skirt on the Spidergirl costume.  And I thought it was great that big brother, Ryan, had instructed her on the whole finger pose for the spiderweb.

True Rest Pt. 2

True rest isn't just about physical rest---although that's rated pretty high in my books!  (So much so that I'm really hoping that we get to sleep in heaven!)  But true rest also has to involve spiritual rest.  And, I believe, the spiritual rest actually leads to great physical rest.

Galatians 3 says that God didn't save me from the curse of sin, fill me with the Holy Spirit, and then say, "Now, go and live perfectly and measure up to the law!"  No!  He saved me by faith in the PROMISE of Christ.  He filled us with the Spirit so we could walk by faith.

I've spent many years trying to measure up to the law.  In fact, I've added a few of my own--just to keep me from sin.  No wonder I was exhausted!  I am a child of promise..a child of the supernatural.  If I submit to the law, I fall away from grace.

Instead, through the Holy Spirit's help, by faith, I wait for the good and the blessing which causes me to hope.  I must walk by faith through love.  This pleases God and draws me into freedom and rest.  The law leads to strife but the Spirit leads to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Can I do those things on my own?  Absolutely.  I can love on my own, exhibit patience on my own, and eek out some self-control, too.  But when I do it on my own, it's exhausting.  And when I do it on my own, I'm doing it through the flesh.

Hebrews 4 tells us that we have to appropriate this rest.  Just as God rested on the 7th day from His labor (of creation), we are to enter that sabbath rest--and quit laboring on our own.  I have to laugh because we're told to "be zealous, exert ourselves, strive diligently to enter that rest."  It's that important.  But once we enter that rest, we find that the Holy Spirit does all of the "work."  He causes us to be full of love, joy, peace, etc.  So it seems it's work to enter that rest...but once we get there..watch out!  It becomes a supernatural work of God.  The best kind of rest---True Rest!

True Rest

To continue from where I left off yesterday...

It seemed that the major theme of our prayer time Tuesday was "REST."  We talked about how tired we are, how hectic our schedules are, and how we just never seemed to get rested.

But then we also talked about how noisy our lives are.  Television.  Computers.  Radios.  Music.  Crowds.  It just seems our lives could be termed "overstimulated."  And I have an aversion to being overstimulated, so you'd think I'd avoid it at all costs. 

But I have a theory.  The more you immerse yourself in the noise, the less it bothers you. 

I actually don't like listening to talk radio when we're traveling.  But Andy does.  So when we travel, I take a book while he listens to the radio.  I can tune it out.  But it's a static noise that I get used to.  In fact, Andy will comment on a point made on the radio and I'll have a "Huh?" reply and he'll ask, "Weren't you listening?"  No, I wasn't.

Andy has always liked to fall asleep to noise.  When we moved into this house for the 2nd time, we put a TV in our bedroom for the first time ever.  Immediately, Andy began using the timer on the TV at night and we'd fall asleep to that noise.  Now I have a hard time going to sleep without it.

I can have the TV on and be working/playing on the computer at the same time.  Am I watching the TV show?  Not really.  But I think I've gotten used to noise and just don't like dead space.  I'm addicted to noise now.

There was a time when all of my children were in school for the first time ever and I spent hours reading the Word of God--learning and growing.  I hated noise at the time.  I never turned on my TV.  I spent hours each week with my friends in prayer and spiritual battle.

Now?  I find it hard to find time to open my Bible.  I'm just being honest.  Noise has crowded my life.  It has exhausted me.  And I think I'll only begin to find the True Rest once I turn off the noise.  I told my friend, Jodina, whom I met and prayed with during those productive years, that we'd had the privilege of hours and days and weeks of meeting and praying and battling together.  I wondered if our children, who grew up in the technological age, even know what quiet is.  And would they know what to do with it if it showed up at their house.  (I'm not being critical...just actually wondering!)   Me?  I'm going to have to re-learn. 
To be continued...

The Lion

Not a lion.

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  I Peter 5:8

My prayer group talked about this verse yesterday.  I know we're all aware that Satan is that roaring lion who would like nothing better than to devour us.  We've all probably had a few chomps taken out of our behinds as he's snuck up on us.  But Tuesday, as we were praying, I had a vivid picture in my mind.  I saw this lion coming up on me like I was a rabbit.  Only I was just sitting there licking my paws (feet?) and didn't run away.

I stopped our prayer time and asked my prayer partners why they thought Satan was having so much success in devouring his prey all around us (and including us).  These are some of the answers we came up with--see what you think:

• We're tired.  We have no energy to run away.
• We're unfocused.
• We're not aware of the danger.
• We're not quiet enough to hear the lion stalking us.
• Our world is so noisy we don't hear the lion.
• We're distracted.
• We're living in the lion's territory.

We decided we need to get quiet--to stop all of the technology around us and just be still.  Do we know how anymore?  To be continued...

Epiphany

This morning in Sunday School, I had an epiphany.  We were studying Ephesians 2:11-18.  The conversation turned to the covenants that had been made with Israel in the Old Testament.  These covenants pointed to Christ and the new covenant to come. 

I suddenly understood why Israel had a problem with the new covenant--and why it's hard for them to come to Christ.  First of all, the old covenants are familiar.  And we get very content in the familiar.  But secondly, these covenants were for Israel alone.  Why in the world would they want to be a part of a new covenant which included Gentiles?  (If you want to see some of these covenants, go here and type in "covenant.")  And thirdly, the old covenant is about self---keeping the law.  It's hard to let go of that and trust Christ.

And for that matter...why would Gentiles long to be a part of the old covenants?  I've heard teachings about spiritual Israel and how the promises given to Israel are for us.  But why would we long for those old covenants when God has offered us so much more in the new covenant?  And this new covenant was meant to unify us with Israel.

I'm sure I don't understand everything about this, but this made sense to me this morning.