Grace Notes

When Through Deep Waters By:   Rachelle Dekker Tyndale House Publishers, 2018 When Through Deep Waters tells the story of a young woman named Alicen who goes through a terrible tragedy and loses everything she has.   Her life is just a shell, and she comes to realize that life was lacking long before her tragedy.   She can’t get away from the guilt.   She begins what she thinks is stress-induced hallucinating, hearing voices, seeing things that others don’t see.   When others see what is happening, they assume that she has gone crazy just like her grandmother before her.   Alicen is so desperate to escape what she thinks she has done that she attempts to take her life and ends up in a mental hospital.   Upon release she, along with her best friend, settle into a summer home from their childhood, hoping that good memories and friendship will take the place of the bad and help Alicen heal.   Alicen struggles not only with her perception of her guilt, but with her rel

Monday evening I took my dinner and a milkshake to the local Shakespeare Park, but sat in the car because it was raining.  It wasn't too bad.  As I was sitting there, I looked out the driver's window and saw the view over the lawn and pond.  I decided that maybe I would try to capture the scene with my phone.  This is what I came up with, after playing around with them a little bit at home:     Then I noticed the view out the front window, through the rain drops.  After very little manipulation, this is what I came up with:   Isn't this cool?  What do you do when it rains?  

JOEY by Jennifer Marshall Bleakley Tyndale House Publishers Released May 2018 Wow, what an amazing story!  I am always a sucker for horse stories, so when this book became available, I immediately requested a review copy.  Add the fact that it is a true story, it is about a horse with a disability, a horse who was rescued, who helped others, and I was a goner.  I had to read the book.  The author did not fail to deliver.  By the end of the book I had wiped away quite a few tears.    Joey was an ex-show horse, a competitor in show hunting and dressage.  He and his rider were so good that they were close to qualifying for the Olympics.  Then he suffered an injury.  Joey was sold, and after a series of misfortunes he ended up on a rescue farm, malnourished and permanently blind .  Kim Tschirret, owner of Hope Reins, heard about Joey and decided to purchase him sight unseen.  Whether or not Joey could ever help her as a therapy horse, Kim had to give him a forever home.  Throu

I recently read  and posted a review on the book  Faithful Finance by Emily Stroud.  Ms. Stroud's book challenged me to make some changes in my finances.  Fortunately nothing serious, but I did decide to make a change in my housing.  And that change, that journey, has become a testimony for me.  As you will find if you scroll down to earlier posts, I read and posted my review of Faithful Finance on January 24th of this year.    Over that weekend I just happened (we really know that's not what "happened") to see a home listed on the Zillow website.  A home that was listed for much less than my mortgage.  A home that was approximately two miles from my parents' home.  A home that was in the country and had a little bit of land.  A home I had admired for years, every time I passed it.  An old home.  I liked that home. That home became my inspiration.  I prayed, asking God to lead me.  If it was fine with Him, I would like to sell my home and move to the coun

By Cathy Gohlke Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 2017 Sometimes we dream of things we believe we cannot live without.   We think we know ourselves.   Then reality hits, and we find everything is upside down.     That’s what happens to young, ambitious Claire who fancies herself a writer helping with the French Resistance in the early stages of World War II.   Claire is in love with a man who is deep in the Resistance, and is helping him save Jewish children by smuggling them out of France.   Unfortunately, her love does not meet her at the agreed upon time, and Claire is forced to take responsibility for getting the latest group of children to safety.   She rebelliously resists going any further than she feels is necessary – she has done her duty.   But her plans fall apart.   She expects others to take responsibilities they have never agreed upon, while refusing to do the same herself.   Being forced to care for other people’s needs also allows Claire and her Aunt Miranda to grow, a

Faithful Finance 10 Secrets to Move from Fearful Insecurity to Confident Control By Emily Stroud Zondervan2015, 2018 As the subtitle of suggests, in Faithful Finance Emily Stroud gives her ten secrets to gaining personal financial freedom.   She can substantiate her secrets with her work and her credentials, which are impressive.   She holds an MBA (Texas Christian University in 1998) and a CFA Charter which she earned in 2002.   Interesting side note –June 2016 statistics state there are approximately 132,000 charter holders. According to the stats, only 43 percent passed the Level 1 tests in 2017, with only 47 percent of those passing Level 2, and then only 54 percent of those remaining passing Level 3!   It takes approximately four years to complete all three levels.   According to the CFA Institute, the CFA is the highest distinction in the investment management profession.   You might think, as I did, that this book might be way over your head.   That it would be dry