My Review of "The Sacred Thread"

When Momentum Influencers Network (MIN) asked me to review “The Sacred Thread” docuseries by Angel Studios, I agreed because it sounded like a wonderful opportunity to dig deeper into God’s Word (The Holy Bible) and understand what The Lord’s Prayer truly means, which is what this series is centered on. After watching all seven episodes that were each about 30 minutes long, I had a better understanding of The Lord’s Prayer. Now, I want to share my review of this helpful resource with you!

But before I share my review with you, I’d like to share a few words from Momentum Influencers Network about this inspirational docuseries:

Most people know The Lord’s Prayer. Very few understand the world, language, and meaning behind it. The Sacred Thread takes viewers deep into the historical and cultural context of Scripture, helping audiences experience The Lord’s Prayer the way Jesus’ original audience would have heard it. This is not just another Bible study. It’s a cinematic journey through the land, history, language, and deeper meaning of one of the most important prayers ever spoken.

Angel continues to create thoughtful, high-quality series that make Scripture feel alive, relevant, and deeply personal.

These are the target audiences for “The Sacred Thread”

Primary Audiences:

● Christians and faith-based audiences

● Bible study groups and church communities

● Viewers interested in Biblical history and context

● Families looking for meaningful, spiritually enriching content

● Audiences who enjoy Scripture-focused documentaries and teaching series


Secondary Audiences:

● Young adults exploring faith more deeply

● People wanting to better understand the Bible

● Fans of thoughtful, cinematic nonfiction storytelling

● Viewers who enjoy historical and cultural exploration

The Sacred Thread is a cinematic documentary series exploring the Lord’s Prayer through the historical, cultural, geographical, and literary world in which Jesus first spoke it. Hosted by Brad Gray and featuring insights from scholars including N.T. Wright, the series takes viewers across biblical landscapes to uncover the deeper meaning and context behind one of the most well-known prayers in Scripture.

Through cinematic storytelling and accessible scholarship, the series invites audiences to see Scripture with fresh eyes and rediscover the richness, depth, and relevance of the Biblical text.

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My Review of “The Sacred Thread” series:

“The Sacred Thread” series is hosted by Brad Gray. Everything about this docuseries is well done. It is equally educational as it is inspirational.

The cinematic storytelling style of this series truly drew me in. I couldn’t stop watching it so I binge-watched all seven episodes in only two days.

I appreciated the deep dive into the culture and heritage of the people who lived in the ancient world during the time the Bible was being written. It helped me understand the historical context and background of the Bible. I also appreciated that each episode was no more than 30 minutes long because that made it easier to digest. The way each episode was structured proved to be clear, concise and very rich in the story being told.

Every episode was informational and inspiring in a way that stays with you. But the one that resonated with me most deeply was the third episode, titled, “Holy Be Your Name”. This is what stood out to me:

I was impressed to learn what it means to hallow God’s name. They said that taking the Lord’s name in vain doesn’t mean to use His name as a swear word; it means misrepresenting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It reminds me of the Gospel music song “Wear Your Name” by Gylchris Sprauve.

I loved learning about how the term for the rich color “Royal blue” was coined and learning why God wanted His people to have this color on the clothes they wore. Brad Gray (the host) said, “Blue held significant value in the ancient world because it was arduous to make and hard to come by. This was a color used only for people of high standing or of royalty. Hence, the designation “Royal blue” and God called His people to have this color on them.”

Blue, purple and scarlet were the principal colors in the Tabernacle design. And therefore, they played the leading role in the visual representation of God’s dwelling here on Earth. Another fact: Blue was the predominant color of the clothes work by the high priests. They said, “The high priests and the priests were responsible for mediating on behalf of God to the Israelites. But the Israelites as a whole were responsible for mediating on behalf of God to the rest of the world. And that blue cord was a reminder of their identity and mission as a kingdom of priests.”

They also said, “The other implication for why God chose blue revolved around status. Remember, the Israelites prior to the exodus had the identity of slaves. Now, they’re being instructed to wear blue, the color of royalty. From rags to royalty quite literally. God wanted His people to remember daily who they were. So, when they looked down and saw the blue cord contrasting against the white ones, they were reminded that they wore the priestly color, they carried the name of God and they were valued as treasured royalty.”

The final powerful point that they said during this episode was about salt and its Biblical role in Christian living. They said, “While we think of salt primarily as a seasoning, in a world without refrigeration, salt was used as a preservative to make food last longer. And because of this, salt became a symbol in the Hebrew Scriptures for God’s long lasting covenant faithfulness to His people. So, when Jesus says you are the salt of the earth, He’s saying that’s you, that’s your identity. When you follow God’s commandments and carry His name well, you’re preserving life in a world of decay.”

All the episodes were good but this one (Episode 3) was the most well-thought, planned and presented one that really had special significance that can apply to our journey with Jesus Christ in our modern-day era. I was most inspired by this one.

If you want to know more about the meaning of The Lord’s Prayer as well as learn more about the Bible, then “The Sacred Thread” series is for you. Each episode focuses on a verse of The Lord’s Prayer then breaks it down with historical context and Biblical accuracy. The way this is done is second to none. I hope you will sign up for the Angel Guild and watch every episode in this docuseries. God bless you!

Disclosure: Many thanks to Angel for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

#TheSacredThreadMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork

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More information:

"The Sacred Thread" is available now for you to stream on Angel.

Visit the official website for “The Sacred Thread” on Angel Guild:

https://www.angel.com/shows/sacred-thread

Join the Angel Guild and support stories that bring meaning, hope, and purpose back to entertainment.

Devotionals for the Heart: God adores a gentle and quiet spirit in women

The Strength of a Gentle Spirit
A devotional by Erica J. Hill

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”—1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)

In a world that celebrates strength as hardness, God invites women into a softness that heals, protects, and transforms.

March is Women’s History Month, a time when we often hear the phrase coined by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” This quote suggests that women who follow the rules rarely create change. Yet those same women are often labeled too assertive, too aggressive, and other unbiblical things. This tension has created a quiet exhaustion for many women, helping explain why so many have been drawn to the idea of the soft girl era. At its heart, this movement reflects a longing to pursue dreams, protect peace, and move out of survival mode into gentleness and emotional safety.

These are not shallow desires; they echo the rest and wholeness Scripture invites us into. Yet when I turned to social media to understand how softness is defined, the picture felt incomplete. What I encountered was femininity presented as an aesthetic—cute clothing, candlelit moments, long showers, travel, luxury dining, and curated comfort.

That emphasis made me pause. In conversations about softness, I rarely hear discussion of godliness. There was little mention of reading God’s Word (The Holy Bible), prayer, fasting, or fellowship with other followers of Jesus Christ. These are practices that anchor peace in something deeper than circumstances. This raises an important question: How can we find lasting peace and practice true gentleness in a hectic world if our lives are not anchored in God?

A biblical understanding of softness must begin within. If we truly want to experience it, we must start with the hard work—inviting God to search our hearts and reveal what needs healing, correction, and surrender. Outward practices are not wrong, but they are not where godly softness is formed. What is of great worth in God’s sight is an inner life shaped by humility, trust, and obedience.

When we look to God’s Word, we see that this kind of softness has always been present. Throughout Scripture, we find women whose gentleness was rooted in spiritual maturity.

Esther stands as a powerful example. Faced with the potential destruction of her people, she did not rush into the king’s presence demanding justice. Instead, she prepared herself through fasting and approached the situation with wisdom and restraint. She trusted God’s timing rather than forcing an outcome. Her softness was not passive; it was courage under control. Read about this in the Bible book titled with her first name (Esther).

Abigail’s story reinforces this truth in a different setting. When she ran to David to save her household, she did not confront him with anger or force. Instead, she spoke with wisdom and restraint, reminding him of who he was before God and calling him back to the future God had promised. Her softness was not silence—it was discernment guided by spiritual clarity. Read about this in 1 Samuel 25:18–35.

Together, Esther and Abigail reveal what our culture often misses: softness is not weakness, avoidance, or appearance. It is spiritual maturity. It is knowing when to speak, how to speak, and trusting God to govern the outcome.

For many women today, the longing for softness goes unfulfilled because the deeper work has been overlooked. Healing wounds and inviting God into broken places is far more demanding than curating a peaceful image.

This is why I believe so deeply in self-care—or, as I prefer to call it, soul care. My desire is not simply to look whole, but to be whole. Soul care is intentional and spiritual. It involves surrendering anxieties to God, consecrating our lives before Him, and allowing what no longer serves His purpose to die. Soul care looks like prayer, fasting, time in God’s presence, and rest that restores rather than distracts.

Soul care also requires allowing God to heal the wounds left by others. Mary Magdalene’s story reminds us that softness follows deliverance, not avoidance. Before she devoted herself fully to following Jesus, He first freed her from what bound her. Her softness was the fruit of healing (Luke 8:1–3). If we do not allow God into our broken places, we cannot expect to experience a soft life rooted in freedom.

Healing and biblical softness are not instant; they are shaped through surrender and sustained by trust in God. This shaping is not always comfortable, yet it is purposeful. True softness cannot be separated from transformation; it requires allowing God to address what we carry and what we have hardened ourselves against. God does not soften us by removing the work, but by walking with us through it, teaching us to release control and trust Him enough to heal what we once guarded.

The beauty of this shaping is found in the hands that guide us. God is gracious. He does not abandon us while He reshapes us. He stays near, patient and attentive, forming something new within us. What emerges is not fragility, but wholeness. Not weakness, but peace.

This is the softness God invites us into—not a curated aesthetic or temporary comfort, but an inner life anchored in Him. A softness that heals, discerns, protects, and endures. Remember, God is the potter, and we are the clay. In His hands, even the shaping becomes an act of care.

Let’s Pray: Heavenly Father, soften the places in me that life has made hard. Search my heart, heal my wounds, and teach me to trust You more deeply. Form within me a gentle and quiet spirit that reflects Your peace, strength, and grace. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection #1: “Refiner” by Maverick City Music. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #2: “Have Your Way” by Travis Greene. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #3: “Gracefully Broken” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #4: “The Potter’s Hand” by Helen Baylor. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Erica J. Hill is a wife, mother, and proud grandmother living in Georgia. 

With a career spanning both elementary education and higher education, she has served as an elementary and middle grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher and now works as an administrative assistant in higher education. Currently pursuing her master’s degree in Instructional Technology and Media Center Specialist, Erica’s love for learning and teaching runs deep.

Raised in the Southern Baptist tradition, she has faithfully served as a Sunday School teacher and now as one of the youth directors at her church. A lifelong writer at heart, Erica once set her passion aside to pursue other career goals—but recently felt God’s undeniable tug to pick up her pen again, this time to write for His Kingdom.

She is currently working on her first book, Worthy. Whole. Woman. It is a devotional that she hopes will be an encouraging resource created to uplift and empower women—especially women of color—to walk confidently in their God-given identity.

Through her words, Erica blends faith in God, personal reflection, and practical wisdom to inspire women to heal, grow, and embrace the fullness of who God created them to be.

Originally from Atlanta, Erica now calls Macon County home, where she lives with her husband and children. In her free time, you’ll usually find Erica curled up with a good book, working on DIY projects, or planning her next travel adventure.

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Connect with Erica:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leahsgrace2931/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leahsgrace2931/

Review of CSB Women’s Study Bible

When Momentum Influencers Network (MIN) asked me to review the CSB Women’s Study Bible, I readily agreed because I love reading God’s Word (The Holy Bible) and sharing it with everyone! This version of the Bible is a bit unique because of the way it caters to women.

But before I share my review with you, I’d like to share a word from Momentum Influencers Network and a few notes from me about this product:

If you're looking for a new Bible to help you go deeper in your study of God’s Word, the brand-new CSB Women’s Study Bible is one you’re going to love!

Created by a team of women who love Scripture and want to help you engage with it meaningfully, this Bible is packed with verse-by-verse study notes, word studies, profiles of women in the Bible, devotional content, and tools to help you live out what you're learning.

Whether you're studying alone or with a group, this is a resource that will meet you right where you are—and help you grow.

This is the perfect Bible for your sister, friend, or female family member. Purchase this Bible for women of all ages so they can delight in digging deeper into Scripture.

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My Review of the CSB Women’s Study Bible:

The first thing I noticed about this CSB Women’s Study Bible is that it has a lovely cover that is soft to touch and detail-oriented in its design. Pictured on the cover are thin golden vines with branches that yield fruit (grapes in this case) as well as healthy looking green leaves. In the center of this garden like picture is a horizontal gold colored diamond with the words “Women’s Study Bible” in the center.

When I opened this Bible, I noticed that the Table of Contents was neatly formatted and despite the small font size, it was easy to read.

There is an “Introduction and Welcome” section on the next page. Stefana Dan Laing, PhD, wrote this page. She is the General Editor of this Bible. Her words on this page welcome the reader in a warm but authoritative tone of voice. It is clear that Laing is an expert in her field and knows the Bible very well.

The next few pages are filled with infographics that educate the reader and prepare them for what to expect as they delve into their Bible study. I found the “Extended Features List” to be quite helpful. It outlines the title of articles, charts and tables, illustrations and other details that aide the reader in their study of this Bible. It also notes the page numbers where each item on this list can be found.

After that there is “The Story of the Bible” that spans for two pages. The next two pages are titled, “Reading the Bible through the Lens of Genre and Literary Structure”. It felt intense as I read it and was a bit over my head but still helpful.

The last few pages before the first book in The Old Testament, is titled “Introduction of the Christian Standard Bible” and it is a very comprehensive read.

Before each book of the Bible are a few pages with content that educates the reader about the author of that book as well as the context, message and purpose, placement in the Bible’s storyline and other informational details to give the reader background info and important notes to remember as they start studying each book.

Throughout this Bible, there are boxed sections titled “A Closer Look” with text inside the boxed outline that explain details from that chapter and help the reader better understand what they are reading.

After the last book of the Bible (Revelation) is a CSB Concordance that I found hard to read because of the very small font size of the words. It is, however, very comprehensive. You can tell that they covered everything.

The final pages of this Bible include: A three-year Bible reading plan, notes on how to read the Word of God in one year, art credits, the list of people who contributed to this Bible, a list of sources cited, and several pages of colorful maps featuring the geographical settings of the stories in the Bible.

Overall, I think that this is a wonderful Bible with details added that women can relate to and enjoy. The readers will definitely receive a Biblical world-class education as they read this Bible. I highly recommend this book to all women.

~*~

End Notes:

Order your copy today wherever books and Bibles are sold or to learn more, visit https://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/csb-womens-study-bible/.

Short list of purchase links for this Bible:

Christian Book: https://www.christianbook.com/csb-womens-study-bible-hardcover/9798384518310/pd/518313

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/csb-womens-study-bible-hardcover/dp/B0DJQ8RYB2?tag=lifeway-20

#CSBWomensStudyBibleMIN #CSBWomensStudyBible #MomentumInfluencerNetwork

Disclosure: Many thanks to Lifeway Christian Resources for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

Book Spotlight on Celtic Winter by Wendy Wilson Spooner

The sequel to Once Upon an Irish Summer is here! And today, you’re in for a treat because the author of this new novel called Celtic Winter, is here to share the story behind her new book!

Let’s welcome my author friend Wendy Wilson Spooner to the blog. Enjoy your time together!

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The Story Behind the story Celtic Winter by Wendy Wilson Spooner:

Founded on a 200-year-old collection of letters

A faded and worn letter collection survives today, written by Eliza and Allen’s parents, to Allen, after he went to America. My mom, my daughters and I transcribed many of the faded, damaged letters ourselves.

Microfilm copies can be found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah as well as the genealogical library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The correspondence is both inspiring and heart-breaking, filled with the family’s trust in God as they suffered, while Allen journeyed thousands of miles away through antebellum America, seeking for a way to make a success of himself so he could bring his family to him before it was too late. The small snippets of Eliza’s life in the letters are very precious to me because there aren’t many records to be found for her.

As starvation and typhus fever raged throughout Ireland, Eliza’s story still inspires me today. She worked her fingers to the bone as a dressmaker and cared for her family continuously.

I wrote Once Upon an Irish Summer and Celtic Winter through the eyes of Allen Hamilton’s fictional descendant—a young, gifted artist struggling through debilitating grief—to show that what we learn from the past and who we come from, can entirely change us.

No Doubts

Writing this story in dual timeline was no easy task. But I would do it all again because the outcome has inspired countless people to delve into the lives of their own ancestors.

I believe that those who came before us want nothing more than for each generation to become a little better. And that’s what Once Upon an Irish Summer and Celtic Winter are all about—to learn about the people we come from, to honor them, then to stand on their shoulders to become a better generation.

~*~
Author Bio:

Wendy Wilson Spooner, Lic. G., LCoT, is a Genetic Genealogist by day, a writer by night, and an artist in between. 

Her love of what we can learn from history compels her to write the true stories she unearths during her research because she has found that truth is indeed, much more exciting and inspiring than fiction.

Wendy is a member of the International Society of Genetic Genealogist, The Association of Professional Genealogists, Romance Writers of America, and The American Night Writer’s Association. As an award-winning author of professional articles and poems, she’s turned to novel writing to share what she knows with a greater audience.

When not writing or researching, Wendy paints, hikes, binges on Bollywood movies, and spends time with her greatest loves—her family.

~*~
Blurb for Celtic Winter:

BASED ON A TRUE STORY. Two young ladies, two centuries apart, struggle to save the people they love in this gripping sequel to Once Upon an Irish Summer. 

In 1817, Eliza Hamilton loses her favorite brother to the lure of antebellum America and is left behind in declining Northern Ireland to keep her family alive while religious warfare, oppressive English laws, typhus fever, and starvation, overtake her homeland. She has no time for love, even when her suitor Aiden McNair declares his adoration and wishes to wed.

Two hundred years later, descendant Beth Wilson travels to Indiana to help her injured grandmother. When she arrives, she finds across the street, the mother of the young man she loves-on her deathbed. While Beth cares for her beloved grandmother, juggles school and her budding art career, she and Preston determine to locate the only person who could save his mother's life.

Beth's love of history and what she learns about her ancestor, Eliza, along the way could give her the hope and strength she needs to persevere through it all.

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Buy Wendy’s book on Amazon

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Connect with Wendy:
Website: https://wendywilsonspooner.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorWendyWilsonSpooner/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Wendy_W_Spooner
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendyspooner/

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Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below: 

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Romantic Reads: Until June

The Story Behind Until June by Barbara M. Britton

Over the years, I have heard authors say that they were writing the book of their heart. I didn’t understand that terminology until I wrote Until June. I’m known for writing Biblical Fiction, so why should I release a WWI Historical? Throughout my life, God was preparing me to write Geoff and Josephine’s story.

Veterans hold a special place in my heart. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area during the Vietnam War. I remember the conflict from television and the conflict from growing up in the home of the Hippies. I thought it was sad that men who had fought in battle had to come home and not debrief from their memories. Many soldiers had to hide their service in Vietnam. We understand now that many servicemen and women experience post-traumatic stress disorder and need to talk about what happened during their time of service.

Fast forward a few decades. My family and I were on an Alaskan cruise excursion outside of Juneau, Alaska. We visited the Taku Glacier Lodge and heard how a WWI veteran and his caregiver had lived at the lodge. In winter, the Taku River would freeze, and the man and his caregiver would be shut off from society. A man and a woman alone in a lodge? Seems isolating, but perhaps the veteran liked the solitude. Characters and a storyline began to develop in my mind.

I wrote Until June about a severely injured veteran and an inexperienced caregiver residing in a remote lodge due to the severity of the veteran’s wounds and the pandemic of 1918. Unfortunately, no one wanted to publish my story. I continued writing other stories—stories from the Bible—and forgot about my Historical.

One day, my son texted me that someone had “stolen my story.” No writer wants to get a text like this one. My son had seen a movie trailer for “Me Before You.” The movie was about a quadriplegic man and his caregiver who happen to fall in love. Yes, this was the same trope as my Historical. When I read the blurb to “Me Before You,” I discovered the ending was nothing like my book. My character, Geoff Chambers, overcomes his hardships and disabilities from war and grabs hold of life again. The character in “Me Before You” (Spoiler Alert) chooses to end his life even though he has fallen in love with his caregiver.

Was it time to see if my caregiver-trope story would be accepted by a publisher and show readers that no matter how hard life gets, it is always worth living? Would I be able to show readers the honesty of a veteran’s struggles? Or that caregiving is a rewarding, yet a draining task? Could two people who needed healing find it in God and help each other along the way?

Eleven years after I began writing about Geoff Chambers and Josephine Nimetz, their story saw the light of day. Pelican Book Group published Until June in June of 2020—during a pandemic.

Each new day is a blessing from God. Geoff and Josephine grab hold of that realization after a little conflict and tension, and a lot of love from an author.

~*~
Author Bio:

Barbara M. Britton lives in Southeast, Wisconsin and loves the snow—when it accumulates under three inches. 

She is published in Biblical Fiction and loves bringing little-known Bible characters to light in her Tribes of Israel series. Her WWI Historical Until June released in 2020.

Barbara has a nutrition degree from Baylor University but loves to dip healthy strawberries in chocolate.

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Book blurb for Until June:

When seventeen-year-old seamstress, Josephine Nimetz, agrees to take care of a WWI amputee in a remote Alaskan lodge to escape the influenza of 1918, there’s enough friction to melt the Mendenhall Glacier. Her position is only until June, and it pays well enough to overlook the hardship of managing a rustic home and a shell-shocked veteran, Geoff Chambers.

Geoff makes it clear that he isn’t too fond of the “runt” sent to take care of his needs, nor of her painful mistakes. Dealing with a depressed and addicted amputee, pushes Josephine to the brink of leaving, if not for the money her salary brings.

But Josephine is a perfectionist, determined to get Geoff back on his feet—figuratively. Though, sending a rich, handsome veteran back into society may cost Josephine the man she has grown to love.

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Buy Barbara’s book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

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Connect with Barbara:
Website: www.barbarambritton.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14983213.Barbara_M_Britton
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/barbara-m-britton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Barbara-M-Britton-173432342754243/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraMBritton

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Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below: 

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Romantic Reads: Rayne’s Redemption

Story Behind the Story: Rayne’s Redemption

A guest post by Linda Shenton Matchett

Twins run in my family, and I’ve always been fascinated by them, especially how vastly different their personalities can be. For Rayne's Redemption, I created twin sisters Rayne and Jessica Dalton to explore what it would be like for a non-believer to pose as a believer to get something she desired, in this case, a marriage.

Would she have feelings of guilt or would she be unaffected because she thinks the ends justify the means? Would she succeed with her deception? How would the subterfuge affect those around her and would there be any consequences?

I had great fun creating Rayne because of the challenges associated with her character. In some sense, she is the villain of the story, but in another way she is a victim of her circumstances and her own belief system. She needed to be a difficult personality, yet likable. Strong-willed, yet not rigid.

For her “foil” I decided to use an Englishman for several reasons. First and foremost, I’m an Anglophile. I love all things British and most of my WWII books are set somewhere in England. My last few releases have been set in the western US during the 1800s, and I’ve missed my English characters, so I decided to drop one into Rayne’s Redemption. Having a character from a foreign country also allowed me to use the fish-out-of-water concept, one of my favorite types of story. I enjoyed including contrasts in the characters’ cultures too.

I love to seek my readers’ input on stories, so I polled the followers in my Facebook author page about where they’d like to see a story located. They not only selected Wyoming, but also made suggestions about the name of the town which ended up being Rocky Mountain Springs.

A lot of mail-order bride and western stories tend to have a farmer or rancher as the main male character. I decided to take a different route by having him fail in his attempts to work the land which added to his personal “baggage” of being a second son and feeling like he’d already let down his family. Flynn purchases a mercantile, an important business in western towns not only for the products made available from flour and coffee beans to patent medicines and dry goods, but for the opportunity to gather and catch up on the latest news.

General stores were nothing like our modern shops. The shelves would have been crammed with merchandise, crates, barrels, and boxes. With the unpaved roads and walkways, customers would have tracked in dirt and other waste from outside, and during the winter the stove would have left a fine layer of soot on everything. Mercantiles would also be very fragrant, and according to social historian Gerald Carson it was a “well-dug-in odor...a blend made up of the store’s inventory, the customers, and the cat...with ripe cheese and sauerkraut, sweet pickles, the smell of paint on new toys, kerosene, lard and molasses, old onions and potatoes, poultry feed, gun oil, rubber boots, dried fish, and ‘kept’ eggs. Makes my nose wrinkle just thinking about it!

What is something you learned about by reading a historical novel?

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Author Bio:

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by.  

A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is a former trustee for her local public library.

She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry.

Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

~*~
Blurb for Rayne’s Redemption:

Will she have to lose her identity to find true love? 

Twin sisters Rayne and Jessica Dalton have been swapping places their whole lives, so when Jessica dies on the eve of heading west to become a mail-order bride, Rayne decides to fill her sister’s shoes. The challenge will be faking Jessica’s faith in God. Can Rayne fool her prospective groom without losing her heart...or her soul?

Flynn Ward fled England to escape his parent’s attempts at marrying him off, but locating a woman to love in the Wyoming mountains is harder than finding a hackney in a rainstorm. Then the Westward Home & Hearts Agency offers him the perfect match. But when his prospective bride arrives, she’s nothing like she seemed in her letters. Is he destined to go through life alone?

Can two desperate people overcome their differences to find common ground ... and love?

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Buy Linda’s book on Amazon

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Connect with Linda:
Website/Blog: http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LindaShentonMatchettAuthor
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lindasmatchett
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/linda-shenton-matchett
Newsletter signup (receive a free short story): https://mailchi.mp/74bb7b34c9c2/lindashentonmatchettnewsletter
Moments in History YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4b-o_6cD8HkHNyFP-wZwJg

Romantic Reads: Secondhand Sunsets

Story behind the story, Secondhand Sunsets, by Gail Kittleson

We humans sometimes experience such devastating blows that haunt us. This proved true for my heroine, Abigail Ferguson, a young woman in the Civil War.

The novel’s cover paints a vivid depiction of her story. No matter how gray our lives may seem—how filled with grief, mistakes, and shame, beauty may still arises. In the very worst of times, hope can still rise from the ashes of our lives. Our Creator’s love accompanies us to the ends of the earth.

My latest release begins in southern Missouri and ends in the wilds of Arizona Territory. I began working on this story twelve years ago—it simply wouldn’t go away. Abby is fictional, yes, but she stands for many pioneer women who paid an enormous price to make it in a hostile environment. Of the individuals who set out on the Oregon Trail, for example, one in ten were buried in a shallow grave along the way, and many of these were women.

At sixteen, Abigail’s life in Poplar Bluff, Missouri flooded with expectation. With her beloved Elwood, she cherished plans for a bright future out West. This era’s go-to destination burgeoned with opportunities for stouthearted souls willing to face its challenges.

Reared as the only child of parents who married later in life, Abby enjoyed a sheltered childhood. Her father’s general store attracted all sorts of wayfarers, and as a young woman looking to marry soon, she engaged in the excitement of the times.

And then, at the Battle of Madrid, the Civil War caught up with her community. There, Elwood perished. This loss shattered Abby’s world—the black crepe sewn on her dresses reminded her how dull her prospects seemed.

Two of her friends also lost young men they were set to marry. But then, further tragedy struck. Unbelievably, a fire at the store took Abby’s parents’ lives in one swoop. Devastated, Abby borrowed her Aunt Susan’s faith during this unthinkable bereavement, but nothing could assuage her terrible loss.

Bitterness swept in as even more sorrow arrived—Aunt Susan died in a buggy accident. The pastor’s words and the sympathies of the townsfolk only angered Abby. A future and a hope? For a woman thrice cursed?

Longing to flee from the scene of so much anguish, Abby grasped opportunity when it came. But not every change enhances our lives. Abby’s eyes open gradually as she heads West with a man her mother never trusted, and her years in isolated hardscrabble country remind her of her folly.

Under the Mogollon Rim, a land mass that blots out even the sunsets, she performs monotonous labor with no reward. How could she have been so dim-witted to give herself to someone set only on amassing his fortune? In this utter isolation, what of beauty remains? And love . . . does this word still hold any meaning?

Like Job, Abby clings to the shreds of her childhood faith, and meeting a man and woman who live relatively close sparks hope. At the same time, a U.S. Cavalry officer and his sergeant search this desolate country for someone stealing government cattle. These two pursue a man devoid of conscience . . . and discover a vital clue right under Abby’s nose.

For anyone bemoaning their “lost years,” her story offers a ray of light.

~*~
Author Bio:

Writing has always been Gail’s passion, but building her self-confidence took decades, so she’s a late bloomer.

Her addiction to the World War II era guides her plot choices, and her Women of the Heartland is all about honoring the make-do Greatest Generation who sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom.

Gail and her husband live in northern Iowa and enjoy Arizona’s Mogollon Rim Country in the winter. They also enjoy grandchildren and gardening. It’s no secret why Gail calls her website Dare to Bloom, and she loves to encourage other writers through facilitating workshops.

~*~
Blurb for Secondhand Sunsets (book):

West.

Heading west.

Put the past behind you.

Start over.

In nose-biting pre-dawn cold, Ray’s rap sounded. Out front waited a new wagon. Abby buttoned her wool coat and bonnet, doubled Papa’s traveling blanket over her arm with her parasol, and crossed the threshold for the last time. Ray hoisted her trunk as she clambered into the buckboard.

He was no gentleman—no surprise to that. Through hushed streets, past Annabelle’s house, the silent empty clapboard church, and beyond the new train depot, memories flitted one by one. With each, her heaviness lifted, and out in the countryside west of town, each squeaky turn of the wheels breathed hope.

In rhythm with the creaking wheels, words circled through her mind like poetry—Now we are wed...no longer alone...heading west. A fog immersed her. Not an endearing word from him, nor even a kindly touch of his hand. Her husband.

~*~
Buy Secondhand Sunsets on Amazon

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Connect with Gail:
Website: http://www.gailkittleson.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GailKittlesonAuthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/GailGkittleson
Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/gailkittleson

Romantic Reads: Once Upon an Irish Summer by Wendy Wilson Spooner

Interview with Wendy Wilson Spooner about her book, 

Once Upon an Irish Summer:

Alexis: Congratulations on the publication of your first book, Once Upon an Irish Summer! Let’s talk about it. Why did you write this story?

Wendy: Because I fell in love with this particular ancestor, Allen Hamilton, and what he overcame, and who he became. My love of what we can learn from history compels me to write the true stories I unearth as a Professional Genetic Genealogist, and I’ve found that truth is indeed, much more exciting, and inspiring than fiction!

Alexis: How did you research this story?

Wendy: For some years, my mom worked on this particular family line, trying to gather more information on the Hamiltons. And we’re talking about the late 1700s and early 1800s in Ireland. Anyone who researches Irish ancestors knows many record collections have been destroyed or are only partially intact. So, traveling to Ireland was our best bet to find more answers. I went with both my parents and my husband in 2013. We scoured town halls, libraries, the People’s Republic of Northern Ireland’s extensive archives, and we traveled the countryside, discovering ancestral sites and original places these family members lived, worked, attended church, and where they were married and buried. It was while standing in the original estate on the west coast of Ireland in County Donegal that I knew I had to share this family’s story. Then we came home, and I spent a few more years researching this line and who Allen Hamilton in particular became after he arrived in America.

Alexis: Describe your day job and explain how it inspires your fiction storytelling. Have you always had a passion for discovering people’s stories that you learn through researching genealogy?

Wendy: I am truly, equally as passionate about other people’s ancestral stories as I am my own. And I don’t remember how far back I became intrigued with genealogy, but I know I was a child. I grew up listening to my grandparents telling stories about our ancestors, where they immigrated from, what talents and skills they brought with them, and the underlying theme was always based on their love of God, holding fast to His word, and religious freedom.

Alexis: What is the theme of this book?

Wendy: There are several themes ribboning throughout the book. One is a strong Christian theme of overcoming with God’s help. Other themes are conquering grief, art, and how finding our roots is like finding ourselves.

Alexis: What was your greatest challenge in writing this story? Explain.

Wendy: Oh, my. I never could have imagined the challenges I would face when I began writing. And isn’t that like anything we dare to take on in life? One test was when I had written the first six chapters and I was returning from a service project that required my laptop. I got out of the car and my laptop fell and shattered. I lost the first six chapters and never recovered them! But I learned from that mistake and had multiple backup options from then on. Another challenge was that I first wrote the entire manuscript in third person, only to realize it wasn’t right. So, I re-wrote the entire story in 1st person, which was exactly right. Additionally, I was writing dual timelines. And keeping both stories straight while making sure they intertwined in a satisfying way for the reader, was a huge task. And lastly, adhering to documented, chronological truth in the historical chapters, to really honor the family I was writing about, what they suffered and how they triumphed—was the hardest thing of all. And it was my deepest desire while composing.

Alexis: What about creating these characters and authoring this story gave you the greatest joy?

Wendy: I love this question! Writing the story of my ancestors to inspire others to delve into their own family trees was a journey of complete and utter joy—even through the rough spots. And creating the present-day characters gave me unspeakable happiness when I read through the completed manuscript for the first time and came to know the characters as a reader instead of a writer. It was then I realized they were amazing, compelling, wonderful people. I loved each one of them.

Alexis: Let’s talk about your story’s hero Allen Hamilton. What is his motivation? Share details on his background, including how he grew up and why he wants to save his family.

Wendy: Allen Hamilton was the oldest living son of his parents’ five children—who survived. They lost five, which I didn’t realize until I was researching records in Ireland and this fact came to light. My mother and I documented the names of those lost kids so our descendants would know they were part of this amazing family too. They sadly, just didn’t make it past infancy, or childhood, in the harsh world of the 1800s void of modern medicine and hospital care.

Allen’s motivations to save his family began with these facts. His father was one of 18 sons of a landed gentry family, who didn’t inherit but was educated to become a Clerk of the Crown. But he was prone to drink as he despaired over the decline of Ireland’s economy, and he didn’t handle money well either.

Allen took it upon himself to find a new life for his family. Ireland’s forecast for famine and more financial ruin was imminent, and there were too many people living on the Emerald Isle at the time for the land to sustain them through that kind of natural disaster.

When Allen met a gentleman friend of his auntie’s, it sealed the deal. What Allen heard about the United States that day in 1817, swelled the hope of the American dream in the heart of this Irish teenager, and that’s what began his journey to and through, antebellum America.

Alexis: Describe Allen’s looks, personality and dreams. What makes him special?

Wendy: Allen was a red-haired, blue-eyed Irish lad, through and through, with the heart of a gentleman and the smarts, wits, and courage of a young man with the guts to leave his homeland, cross the hazardous Atlantic alone, and start over with nothing but massive amounts of faith in God to see him through.

Alexis: Who is your story’s heroine? What is her name? Describe her looks, personality, and heart.

Wendy: Elizabeth Wilson, or Bethy, as her family calls her, is our present-day heroine. She’s a fictional descendant of Allen Hamilton five generations later. She’s also a gifted artist, and a struggling teenager suffering from debilitating grief after a sudden death in her family.

Bethy has the sandy blonde, wavy hair of her father, and the bright green eyes of her grandmother. As an only child, Bethy has a lot to learn about giving to others, as well as working through grief and navigating her family’s financial troubles. But she’s about to grow up a lot quicker and change her perspective forever, when her grandmother hires her for the summer to research an ancestor’s life. Allen Hamilton.

Alexis: Why did you make your heroine an artist? What type of art does she create?

Wendy: Bethy is a realist painter (like me), so her paintings are real-life likenesses of people, places, architecture—everything she desires to recreate on canvas. Her completed paintings mirror photography because of her skill. As an artist myself, I decided to write something I know about to flesh out this character in a realistic manner. I ended up loving Bethy to pieces, and actually wishing I had been more like her as a teenager.

Alexis: How do Allen’s story and your heroine’s story weave together in this plot?

Wendy: The two stories intertwine with parallels and analogies that are timeless. Like the overwhelming grief of losing loved ones, never giving up on your dreams no matter what you face, and coming to know who you really are—God’s children on this earth, and the descendants of remarkable people who came before us, even if they really struggled. No matter what time period we live in on this earth, we will face similar trials to those who came before us. And God is always there. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Alexis: As a woman of faith, how does your belief in God impact your storytelling?

Wendy: My stories are clean, inspiring, and full of faith. My tales are an extension of my own devotion, which is founded in my complete identity as a daughter of God, which is my motivation for every choice I make—to glorify Him, and to do his will. I wrote Once Upon an Irish Summer to interest people in their own families—to turn their hearts to their ancestors, to seek them out, to know them, and honor them. This was God’s will for this book, and He helped me write it, every step of the way.

Alexis: What made writing and publishing this story special to you?

Wendy: Sharing a true story from my own family tree that I really couldn’t not tell, felt like an overwhelming privilege—to honor my ancestors in this way. And then to have an Irish publisher who loves Ireland as much as I do was just the icing on the cake.

Alexis: What do you want readers to remember most about Once Upon an Irish Summer?

Wendy: Amid their journey with Allen and Bethy, I want readers to remember their own ancestors. As a highly adventurous person, and world-traveler, I’ve never had a greater adventure than getting to know my own family. Traveling to their homelands and immersing myself in their lives, their records, ancestral sites, and historical facts, shed a grand light on who they were and what they overcame. I’ve been so incredibly inspired by my own ancestors, that’s what I want most for my readers. That’s why I write.

Alexis: Thanks for the interview, Wendy! Do you have closing comments to share?

Wendy: Find your family, honor them, then stand on their shoulders to become someone even better.

~*~
Author Bio:

Wendy Wilson Spooner, Lic. G., LCoT, is a professional Genetic Genealogist by day, a writer by night, and an artist in between. 

Her love of what we can learn from history compels her to write the true stories she unearths during research, and she’s found that truth is indeed, much more exciting and inspiring than fiction. Wendy writes about family, faith, grief, art, and overcoming obstacles in life by coming to know who we really are—children of God, and, the descendants of remarkable people who paved the way for us—even if they really struggled. She believes in learning from ancestors, honoring them, and then standing on their shoulders to become someone even better.

As an award-winning author of professional articles and poems, Wendy Wilson Spooner turned to novel writing to share what she knows with a greater audience. Her debut novel, Once Upon an Irish Summer, released April 3, 2020. It has been an Amazon best-seller in the several different genres. She’s looking forward to releasing book two in the series!

When she is not writing or researching, Wendy currently serves as National Vice Chair for Daughters of the American Revolution over Art & Sculpture in the annual American Heritage contest. She also serves as Chairman of the Advisory board for Century Vital Records in Bengaluru, India. As well, Wendy loves to read, hike, paint, travel, binge on Bollywood movies, and spend time with her greatest loves—her family.

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Blurb for Once Upon an Irish Summer:

A gifted artist suffering from debilitating grief finds healing and inspiration in her Irish ancestry and goes on to paint a masterpiece. 

Once Upon an Irish Summer is a dual timeline novel of two teenagers, two centuries apart, in one city; the untold chronicle of Irish Allen Hamilton's journey through antebellum America to find a way to save his family, woven with the struggle of his 15-year-old descendant 200 years later, battling through grief to find herself again.

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Buy Wendy’s book:
Ambassador International ~ Christian Book Distributors ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Audible  

~ Amazon ~ Kobo ~ Google Books ~ Apple Books 

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Connect with Wendy:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendyspooner/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorWendyWilsonSpooner
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-wilson-spooner-07741249/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Wendy_W_Spooner
Website: https://wendywilsonspooner.com/

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Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Romantic Reads: Off the Ground

The Story Behind Off the Ground by Cathy Richmond:

As a Virginia history librarian, my mother was active in oral history. One of her favorite interviews was of my grandfather. He had a beautiful Scottish brogue, a humble view of his own accomplishments, and he had a delightful sense of humor.

Grandpa started a jewelry store in Michigan during the Great Depression. Repairs kept him busy, but occasionally he made a sale. Cash was in short supply, so customers resorted to trading. The local Montgomery Ward’s manager traded a gas stove for a black diamond. Why such an unusual stone? Grandpa asked. The manager’s wife had seen a black diamond in her father’s jewelry store in Omaha. Omaha? That’s where I live! How could I build a story around that black diamond?

The 1920s to ‘30s was also the Golden Age of Aviation. Charles Lindbergh, then Amelia Earhart flew solo across the Atlantic, becoming America’s favorite celebrities. Barnstormers performed aerobatics and gave rides. Pilots flew faster, farther, and higher, breaking records nearly every week. And designers built the prettiest airplanes ever. As part of my research, I rode in a 1929 Ford Trimotor – great fun! My fictional story’s heroine, Corrie, had to be a pilot.

Those pretty airplanes weren’t easy to fly. Open cockpits meant pilots sat out in the elements, battered by wind, rain, and the noise of the engine. Pilots used railroad tracks, town names on water towers, and Rand McNally road maps to navigate. Steering the plane meant wrestling a stick connected to cables. Frequent breakdowns required mechanical skills. Corrie had to be strong and independent, so I gave her three older brothers who taught her to drive and play basketball.

My hero, Mac, went to work for Montgomery Ward soon after they expanded into retail by opening five hundred stores. Their Chicago headquarters was the largest concrete building in the world. A 1929 Ward’s catalog showed the variety of items they sold, including live rabbits – you’d better believe I got a scene out of that!

The 1920s was a time of change from courting to dating. Radio played jazz, and movies showed how to dance to it. Speakeasies run by organized crime opened in every town, including Omaha. Women’s hair styles and skirts were shorter.

This era was a time of transition at home too. Early in the 20th century, the woman of house or a hired cook kept the fire burning all day to prepare food. Single women lived at home until they married. Single men lived in boarding houses where meals were provided. In the late 1920s, urban homes were connected to utilities and fitted with modern cooking appliances. Corrie hadn’t been expected to do any cooking in her upper-middle class home, so she had a few kitchen mishaps as a newlywed. Fortunately, Mac was patient, and she had access to cookbooks and radio shows to help her.

The most fun about writing this story was the 1920s slang. In fact, you could say it was the cat’s meow, the bee’s knees, and the elephant’s eyebrows!

I look forward to sharing Off the Ground with you! I’d love to know what you think about Corrie and Mac’s adventures, so connect with me at my website, CatherineRichmond.com.

Thank you, Alexis for letting me visit your blog!

Sincerely,

Cathy

~*~
Author Bio:

Cathy was working as an occupational therapist and raising her family, when a folk song inspired a story about a mail-order bride. 

Spring for Susannah was published in 2011, followed by four other novels of ordinary people experiencing God’s extraordinary love. 

Learn more about Cathy and her life via her author website, CatherineRichmond.com.

~*~
Blurb for Cathy’s book:

She wants to race Amelia Earhart. He's afraid of flying. Will their relationship ever get off the ground?

As the Roaring Twenties come to a close, Mac McFarland falls head over heels for live-wire Corrie Tinley. Now that she’s graduated, they’re allowed to date. But before he can sweep her off the dance floor and into his life, her father gives her a winged death trap—a biplane. Refusing to stick around to see her crash, Mac leaves without saying goodbye.

Corrie’s family treats her like a dumb Dora, but her former basketball coach is respectful and attentive. Mac has a noble air like Lindbergh and dark hair waving over his forehead like Gary Cooper. She can’t wait to take him flying in her new biplane, but he’s disappeared. If she can’t find him, is she destined to fly solo the rest of her life?

~*~
Buy Cathy’s book on Amazon

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Connect with Cathy:

Faceboook: https://www.facebook.com/catherinerichmondfans/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writercatherine/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/writercatherine

Celebrate Lit blog tour stop, featuring Tim Witte's book "Back to God"

Welcome to my blog's stop on Tim Witte (author of Back to God: The Journey of Hope Through a Broken World)'s book tour! I enjoyed reading this book by Witte. I hope that you will enjoying reading this details about his book and reading my review too! 

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About the Book

Book title = Back to God: The Journey of Hope Through a Broken World

Author: Tim Witte

Genre:  Nonfiction

Release Date: January 27, 2020

Back to God: The Journey of Hope through a Broken World is a timeless, grace-filled message from the Bible to bring us back to God. 

Sometimes we long not for escape but to find our way in the midst of the questions burning in our minds. Who can I trust? Do I have meaning? What hope do I have?

In a society where nothing is permanent, technological advances increase our sense of vulnerability, and relationships come and go, we long for one unchanging element in which we can trust and rest in wholeheartedly without fear. We long for hope. 

Author Tim Witte conveys just that with Back to God, offering foundational principles from the timeless truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ: the message of unfailing hope that meets us in our broken world, a promise from the only one who cannot lie and who will not fail, and a powerful word from God to bring us back to God.

Back to God is neither academic nor profoundly apologetic but is a truthful, down-to-earth dialogue filled with illustrations that will resonate with readers who long for true answers from the Bible for life’s biggest problems.

~*~

My Review:

Tim Witte, author of Back to God: The Journey of Hope through a Broken World, is a talented author! I am grateful that I had the opportunity to read and review this book for Celebrate Lit.

Witte’s storytelling skills are so smooth and completely captivating that I thought I was reading the first chapter of this book when I was only reading the Preface! I realized that after I turned the first few pages and saw the Acknowledgments section.

He takes stories from real life like the Columbine High School massacre that happened in Colorado in April 1999, and the fatal Space Shuttle Columbia disaster that occurred in February 2003, and makes them more compelling with a strong human-interest hook. Witte retells each story in a way that tugs at the readers’ heartstrings. His storytelling creates a deeper sense of empathy for the people who lost their lives during those tragic times in American history.

The author proves his point and presents his case for why humankind needs to return “back to God” throughout this book! He supports every claim with verses from The Holy Bible. Perhaps the verse on which this book was founded is Psalm 14:1-3 (ESV):

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;

there is none who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

The author presents his case early on in this book. It is a case for acknowledgment of and healing from what he calls “spiritual brokenness and pollution.” His findings are well backed by facts, statistics, and of course, the stories that fill the pages of this nonfiction book.

As a reader, I appreciated how the sentences flowed seamlessly into paragraphs and how the perfectly formatted paragraphs neatly filled each page. But it was the author’s fluid storytelling style that kept me turning the pages of this well-written book!

The author addresses deep questions that most people have in common because they are all a natural-occurring part of the human experience: “Who can I trust? Do I have meaning? What hope do I have?”

Witte effectively conveys in his book that we do have hope in Jesus Christ! Nothing that we face in life is utterly hopeless because God promises to never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6) and His Son Jesus Christ walks with us through the mountains and valleys of life here on Earth (Psalm 139:8). Jesus will be here for us until the end of human history (Matthew 28:20)!

This is one the most truth-filled, down-to-earth books filled with messages of faith and hope, that I have ever read! I truly enjoyed this read and finished the book with a feeling of encouragement.

*Celebrate Lit provided me (Alexis A. Goring) with a complimentary copy of this book, Back to God: The Journey of Hope through a Broken World by Tim Witte. My opinions in this book review are my own.

~*~

About the Author

Writer and veteran Bible teacher Tim Witte holds a bachelor’s in Bible and Greek from Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, and studied computer science at Austin Peay State University.

He lives in northern Indiana with his wife of thirty years. They have three daughters, two sons-in-law, and two grandsons.

Tim enjoys teaching Bible classes at his church, woodworking, barbecuing, and spending time with family.

~*~

Words from the author (Tim Witte):

If I Should Die Before I Wake

Next to a chainsaw, the most dangerous tool you could find in my hand is a rhyming dictionary. The good news is I have not touched a chainsaw for months. The bad news is I recently dusted off New Rhyming Dictionary and Poetry Handbook. My subject is prayer so maybe, with much prayer, I can do more good than harm.

A Child’s Prayer

Writing Back To God made me reflect on the people and events God used in preserving my life and leading me to faith in Christ. Though I did not have a clear understanding of the gospel as a child, my parents laid a good foundation with biblical truths about God and myself. One of my earliest memories is of my Mom stooping beside my bed and having me repeat this prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep;

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

That nightly routine and the words of that little prayer helped establish a Godward orientation to my life. Not every child receives that. I learned some vital truths at a very young age:

• I learned I could pray to God. What a concept! Many PhDs have not figured that out.
•  I learned I was not ready to go to sleep until I had said my prayers. I don’t speak of praying in that way now; it sounds more ritualistic than personal. Yet, it conveyed the priority of praying to God.
• I learned that God could protect me, but I should not presume upon that protection. I should ask for it.
• The third line presents the possibility of death. It would have been bizarre and borderline cruel if, night after night, my mother had said, “Now remember Timmy, you might die in your sleep. Good night!” However, prayer is serious business, and I can talk to God about the scariest stuff.

Additionally, I learned my eternal destiny was not to be taken for granted; it was to be a matter of prayer. Ultimately, God would decide where I ended up.

As one would expect, my prayers became more varied and improvised as I matured. For most of my adolescence, I continued a somewhat sporadic pattern of prayer at night.

Gospel-ignited Prayer

However, the time came while in the Army when I ceased to pray. I recount some of this in Back to God. My life was a sinful mess. The last thing I wanted to think about was what happens “if I should die before I wake.” For prayer to be possible one has to have hope, but I was hopeless. Prayer would only be reawakened in me when another soldier brought me God’s message of hope.

Interestingly, my evangelist started the conversation by asking, “Tim, do you know where you would go if you died tonight?” From there, he proceeded to share the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That prompted me to read the Bible, and particularly the book of Romans. I was overwhelmed by the astonishing message of God’s grace. Then the flame of prayer was reignited when I read, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'” (Rom. 10:13). God heard my cry that day, and now I have the Holy Spirit dwelling in me and teaching me to cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15).

So recited prayers can be powerful tools for instructing small children about themselves and God. Such prayers may help them form a daily habit of praying. However, only the gospel has power to kindle the eternal flame of prayer in our hearts.

A Responsive Prayer

You may want to take cover now as I am about to wax poetic. Understanding the role that prayers can have in teaching important theological truths and the necessity of the gospel to ignite prayer in the heart, I recently composed a responsive bedtime prayer for my daughter and son-in-law to use with their young sons. I patterned it after the prayer my mother taught me, but I filled it with gospel hope.

Child:

As I lay me down, I pray,

Thank you Jesus for this day.

By your grace forgive my sin, 

Make me true and clean within. 

Parent:

Holy Jesus guard your sheep,

For you died our souls to keep.

Keep us trusting in your grace, 

Till we see you face to face.

~*~

                        Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 27

For the Love of Literature, July 28

Artistic Nobody, July 29 (Author Interview)

Inklings and notions, July 30

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 31

Simple Harvest Reads, August 1 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, August 2

My Devotional Thoughts, August 3 (Author Interview)

deb’s Book Review, August 4

For Him and My Family, August 5

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, August 6 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 7

Mary Hake, August 8

Blossoms and Blessings, August 9 (Author Interview)

God is Love, August 9

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Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Tim is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! 

Click the link below to enter:

https://promosimple.com/ps/fe35/back-to-god-celebration-tour-giveaway