Her Mother's Hope/Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers

I read Her Mother’s Hope and Her Daughter’s Dream in two days. Part coming of age, part family saga, and part historical fiction, these two books tell the story of Marta—her early years in Interlochen with her parents, later years in England, then Canada, and finally California. Flawed but lovable characters fill these books as Rivers takes us through four generations of mothers, daughters and granddaughters and the complex special bonds they share. The books are loosely based on Rivers’ own personal history.

There are reasons why Christians love Francine Rivers’ books. She acknowledges the dirt in life without rubbing your face in it. The issues she deals with—rape, pedophilia, suicide—are handled with great delicacy, focusing more on character’s responses than the details of the events. The reader loses nothing by this. In fact, the emotional impact is greater because of it.

I always recommend books that I think will make someone a better person for having read them, and these two books fit the bill. They would make great summer reading, but don’t plan to do any housework for a couple of days…

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand—a Review

I did not think I would like this book. Considering the subject material—the war, POW camps, and torture--I thought it would be an ideal book for men. I only read it because a good friend (female) recommended it. I am glad she did—I couldn’t put it down. Louis Zamperini is the unbroken protagonist, who survives a childhood of juvenile delinquency and goes on to become a track star and participant in the Olympic Games—only because his brother Pete fights the system and encourages Louie to run.

But it is Louie’s service in the air force during WWII that comprises the bulk of the book. Hildebrand avoids the trap of historical detailing and instead focuses on the thoughts and relationships of the men resulting in a book that reads better than most fiction. Louie and two buddies crash over the ocean, surviving forty-plus days on a disintegrating raft surrounded by aggressive sharks and suffering devastating hunger and thirst as their flesh wastes away and their skin burns in the sun. They survive a spray of bullets as Japanese planes fly overhead targeting their raft. Rescue finally comes—by the hand of the enemy. The Japanese POW camps prove to be far worse than the forty days spent on the raft.

Best Ever Sloppy Joes

When I was at Calvin Christian elementary school in South Holland, IL, we had one day a month when the women served these sloppy joes. They are the best-tasting sloppy joes I've ever had. We used to eat this along with potato chips and chocolate milk. Yum!

2 lbs. ground beef browned
2 cups catsup
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbs. mustard
1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. dry onion

Mix together, heat, and serve on buns.

Provisions for the Journey

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:14 ESV)

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

                        he will gather the lambs in his arms;

            he will carry them in his bosom,

                        and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11 ESV)

He leads me beside still waters.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:

He restores my soul.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love—A Review

If you are the kind of reader who loves to cry, laugh, and see good overcome evil in one story, you will appreciate this book--a true story of a dog rescue. Oogy was just a little puppy when he was used as bait for dogs trained to kill. Ripped apart and left to die, he was found by police who saved his life. In spite of physical disfigurement and a puppyhood characterized by terror, this little dog had a beautiful heart that took in everyone he met, both human and canine. The Levin family took Oogy home, and Larry Levin, author of the book, ties their story with his.

Keep the Kleenex handy, but be prepared for a lot of laughs. The book does not get bogged down in evil, but the truth of Oogy’s journey is not overlooked either. Oogy is a story about second chances, overcoming the odds, and beauty rising out of ashes. It is a story about how love, hope and joy overcome the most inexplicable human cruelty. If you have ever given your heart to a dog or been the recipient of a dog’s love, you will understand the joys these simple creatures bring us. You will understand Oogy.

What a Two-Year-Old Can Teach Us

No one in my family has ever been at a loss for words. My two children and now my six grandchildren have had a gift for articulation—all of them speaking in complete sentences when they were still two. Once when Alice, my oldest granddaughter was 28 months, she spied a flag in a grocery store and proceeded to recite the entire pledge of allegiance without even stumbling over ‘indivisible.’

Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion Trilogy--A Review

One reviewer said Francine Rivers’ Mark of the Lion trilogy is her crown jewel of writing, and I have to agree. It doesn’t have as much press as Redeeming Love, but I like it better. The trilogy is historical fiction that takes place in Rome and Ephesus during the first century, and its main characters are Hadassah, a Jewish Christian who was in Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Atretes, a German gladiator, and the Valerian family—Decimus, Phoebe, Marcus, and Julia—Hadassah’s masters following her capture and enslavement.