Saturday, September 28, 2019

Stitches In Time


Some lines in this book resonated with me.  Messages we received as children can have a lasting affect on how we look at ourselves.  I always saw myself as the smart one.  I didn't feel pretty.  I felt like the fat one. No one told me I was but I compared myself to my peers.  But when I see pictures of my young self, it wasn't the case.  Because of the message I received, I was self-conscious....quiet.


It took me years to free myself from these negative messages.  The messages I gave myself.  Izzy, Luke, Sam and Mollie lived their lives listening to those negative messages. What would it take for them to shake off these thoughts?

This book reminds you that you are capable of reprogramming your thoughts with GOD's help.  God is there to listen.  He is there to comfort you.  He is always there to heal and lead you in the right direction.

Great story.  Suzanne Woods Fisher brings the characters alive to me.  I found myself reaching for a kleenex.  I loved the book and I loved the ending.  

I received this book for free from Celebrate Lit to review.

About the Book
Book: Stitches in Time
Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher
Genre: Contemporary Amish fiction
Release Date: October 1, 2019
Detachment had worked well as a life strategy for horse trainer Sam Schrock. Until he met Mollie Graber . . .
New to Stoney Ridge, schoolteacher Mollie has come to town for a fresh start. Aware of how fleeting and fragile life is, she wants to live it boldly and bravely. When Luke Schrock, new to his role as deacon, asks the church to take in foster girls from a group home, she’s the first to raise her hand. The power of love, she believes, can pick up the dropped stitches in a child’s heart and knit them back together.
Mollie envisions sleepovers and pillow fights. What the 11-year-old twins bring to her home is anything but. Visits from the sheriff at midnight. Phone calls from the school truancy officer. And then the most humiliating moment of all: the girls accuse Mollie of drug addiction.
There’s only one thing that breaks through the girls’ hard shell–an interest in horses. Reluctantly and skeptically, Sam Schrock gets drawn into Mollie’s chaotic life. What he didn’t expect was for love to knit together the dropped stitches in his own heart . . . just in time.
Suzanne Woods Fisher invites you back to the little Amish church of Stoney Ridge for a touching story of the power of love.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Carol-award winner Suzanne Woods Fisher writes untold stories about inspiring people. With over one million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the bestselling author of fiction and non-fiction, ranging from Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World to the historical novel Anna’s Crossing.

More from Suzanne

Have you ever felt the tug to become a foster parent?
On any given day, there are nearly 438,000 children in foster care in the United States. Most states have a critical need for more foster parents, and the number of children placed in foster care increases yearly.
There are plenty of assumptions about having foster children, but most are incorrect. The media has a tendency to focus on the negative, but from all the research I conducted to write this book, for every bad news story, there were two good ones. Good stories just don’t make the news.
Below are some of the most common assumptions about foster care, with corrected information that is applicable across the United States (but keep in mind that each state has their own requirements).

Myth: Kids in foster care are bad or troubled.
Truth: Children in foster care are good kids taken out of a troubled situation. They need a caring foster parent who is patient and understanding. When given the opportunity, most of these children begin to thrive.

Myth: To be a foster parent, you need to be married and own a home and be a college graduate.
Truth: You don’t need to be married or to own a home or even be a college graduate. That means if you’re single or renting, you can be a foster parent.

Myth: I can’t afford to be a foster parent.
Truth: There are monthly reimbursement rates for children in foster care based on the level of care you provide. Medical and dental care is paid through state Medicaid programs.

Myth: Most kids in foster care are teenagers.
Truth: The average age of a child entering foster care is seven years old.

Myth: Most kids are in foster care because their parents have abused drugs.
Truth: Now, this one is not a myth. It’s true. There are fifteen categories that can be responsible for a child’s removal from a home. Drug abuse from a parent has had the largest percentage increase.

Myth: Fostering could require a commitment until the child turns eighteen.
Truth: Generally, children remain in state care for less than two years. Only six percent spend five or more years in foster care.

Myth: It’s too hard to give a child up to his biological family.
Truth: Most children are in foster care for a short time, returning to their biological families. Reuniting a child to his family is the ideal situation. Foster families provide a safe haven for a child. Healthy grieving is to be expected, but it’s for the right reasons. It’s healthy.

Myth: You can’t adopt foster children.
Truth: In 2016, more than 65,000 children—whose mothers and fathers parental rights were legally terminated—waiting to be adopted. Also in 2016, more than 20,000 children “aged out” of foster care without permanent families. Research has shown that those who leave care without being linked to a “forever family” have a higher likelihood than the general youth population to experience homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration as adults.

Is there room in your heart and family for a child in need? There are many ways to get involved, some that do not even require foster care. One recommendation: volunteer with The National CASA Association (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for Children. You can find out more information here: www.casaforchildren.org.
Or consider small ways to connect to children in need—after school tutoring at your public library. Volunteering at a community center. Buy Christmas gifts for a family in need through an Adopt-a-Family program with a local church. Support a family who does provide foster care with respites—babysitting or meals. There’s many ways to get involved to care for children in need. And every little bit makes a difference.

Blog Stops

The Power of Words, September 26
The Becca Files, September 26
SusanLovesBooks, September 26
Through the Fire Blogs, September 27
Anne Rightler, September 28
Texas Book-aholic, September 28
Jeanette’s Thoughts, September 29
Blogging With Carol , September 29
Hookmeinabook , September 29
The Avid Reader, September 30
Mia Reads, September 30
janicesbookreviews, October 1
CarpeDiem, October 1
Stories By Gina, October 2
Activating Faith, October 2
A Reader’s Brain, October 3
EmpowerMoms, October 3
Wishful Endings, October 3
Pause for Tales, October 4
Quiet Quilter, October 5
Vicky Sluiter, October 5
Hallie Reads, October 5
Bigreadersite, October 7
By The Book, October 7
She Lives to Read, October 7
Moments, October 8

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of her book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Yours Truly, Thomas by Rachel Fordham



Letter writing has become a lost art.  I loved receiving mail from my grandparents who lived in England.  I would get excited when I saw a letter in the mailbox from them.  Now over 50 years later I can pull out a letter and relive the moment.  I have a token of their love saved.

Do you believe in destiny?  Was Penny meant to meet Thomas?  When one of his letters landed in the dead letter office, she was intrigued.  She knew she had to make sure the letter got to it's recipient.

Have you ever made a decision on impulse?  What happened?  Did you live to regret it?  Penny and Thomas' story would have been different if she wasn't the one who got his letter.

All our stories would have been different if we didn't take a chance or a gamble.  Some examples are leaving one job for another, entering a relationship and sometimes just taking a risk.

Penny took a leap of faith that she was doing the right thing.  Her risk left her vulnerable but it was worth it.  Could Thomas take that chance?

I really enjoyed the story.  I also loved where the author spoke of how her husband and her have made memory books of their love story.  Very sweet and romantic.

I recommend this book to others that need to remember that life is about taking risks.  It can pay off.

I received this free to review from Revell Books.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Joanna Davidson Politano - Finding Lady Enderly

Raina was just a rag girl but was she more than that?  Interesting story...as the mystery unfolds the real meaning of this book resonated to me.

I thought of Shakespeare 's quote:

This above all: to thine own self be true
And it must follow, as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man/Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!”

While trying to find Lady Enderly, Raina found herself.  She was more than just a rag girl.  She discovered who she was and what she meant to others.  She realized the impact she can make rich or poor.

Great story!  A mystery, a love story and a classic to treasure as you turn each page.  I read this in one day.  I couldn't put it down.

I received this free from Revell Reads to review.


The Dock Girl's Shame

  Loretta loved working with her father at the docks.  But everything changed when her father made a deal with Oswald Lynch.  Trouble soon f...