A Season for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

These wise verses penned by Solomon are often referenced by musicians, ministers, and philosophers. When I read them I'm reminded of growing up in a farming community. I loved living in the country and especially enjoyed hanging out on our neighbor's farm. I learned that a calf was born and raised to provide meat for the family. My dad taught me to plant potato pieces, then dig them up whole to eat for dinner. Old barns would be torn down and new ones built. We'd cry over sadness and laugh around the kitchen table. There were lots hugs, some dancing, and plenty of mending. Spring proved out as planting time, in summer the fields grew produce, fall brought the harvest, and winter allowed the ground to rest. There was a time for everything.

God knows the perfect timing for everything in our lives. Too often for me to count, I've pushed ahead and tried to hurry life along. When I rush ahead of God, my plans fall apart. I fail. I miss opportunities. From Ecclesiastes 3, I'm reminded that God has an appointed season for everything. Praise God for his timing and may he help me wait on Him.

Are you waiting on something? Wanting to push forward? Have you prayed and asked God to help you wait on his perfect timing? While you wait, enjoy each day and seek the beauty in everyday things.

Nonfiction Book Review: Service Tails: More Stories of Man's Best Hero by Ace Collins

About the book: 

Heart-tugging true stories of the courage, faith, and loyalty of remarkable service dogs.

Not all heroic dogs wildly toss themselves into lifesaving situations. Some save lives simply by their incredible commitment to duty and service. Some lead the way to independence for people whose disabilities were supposed to limit their lives.

In Service Tails: More Stories of Man's Best Hero, prolific author Ace Collins introduces us to leaders whose entire lives are wrapped in the banner of service. Their stories are remarkable snapshots of the value of vision and teamwork, as well as devotion to duty and unconditional love and acceptance---stretching the way we see both canine and human potential. Their training was intense, their loyalty unquestioned and each step of the way they constantly adapt to better serve those they lead. These unforgettable dogs are more than heroes; they are models from which we can learn how to love and serve unconditionally.

My Review:
Service Tails is filled with heartwarming and heroic stories, and I love it. Being a dog lover and owner, I know how intelligent, caring, and attentive our canine friends can be. My dogs are not service dogs, but they provide me with friendship and calm. The dogs in the book have gone through extensive training that helps them stay focused on their job, as a result you'll read about some amazing pups and the people they care for. From time to time we have therapy dogs visit the college where I work. Everyone is drawn to these kind creatures. They are especially appreciated during exam weeks when the students and staff are under extra stress. And just like in the book, they draw people to them. Every unique story in Service Tails shares one thing in common. Each person's service dog draws people to their owner which fills an otherwise lonely world. These tales will make you smile, cry, and better understand the deep need for these precious canines. I highly recommend this book to dog lovers, anyone interested in service dogs, and anyone who loves reading uplifting true-life stories. I received this book in exchange for a fair review.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/2bb7SeE

About the author:
Ace Collins defines himself as a storyteller. He has authored more than sixty books that have sold more than 2.5 million copies. His catalog includes novels, biographies, children's works as well as books on history, culture and faith. He has also been the featured speaker at the National Archives Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted a network television special and does college basketball play-by-play. Ace lives in Arkansas.

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Fall in love with these remarkable service dogs and their stories of courage, faith, and loyalty in Ace Collins' new book, Service Tails. Their training was intense, their loyalty unquestioned and each step of the way they constantly adapt to better serve those they lead. These unforgettable dogs are more than heroes; they are models from which we can learn how to love and serve unconditionally.

Celebrate the release of Service Tails with Ace by entering to win the Take-Your-Dog-to-the-Park Pack!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Service Tails
• A copy of Man's Best Hero
• A dog blanket
• A dog leash
• A dog-cape towel
• A dog bandana
• A dog toy
• Dog treats

 

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 30. The winner will be announced August 31 on the Litfuse blog.

Nonfiction Children's Book Review: The Berenstain Bears' Holiday Cookbook: Cub-Friendly Cooking With An Adult by Mike Berenstain

About the Book:

Be part of the fun and join Mama, Papa, Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear as they cook up holiday favorites and some unique eats for friends and family with the all-new The Berenstain Bears Holiday Cookbook. Filled with traditional holiday favorites like Frosted Sugar Cookies, Pumpkin Pie, Hot Apple Cider Punch, Cranberry Stuffing, and some unique and fun recipes like Papa Bear’s Paw-Licking Good Chicken Wings, this kid-friendly cookbook will help Bear Country families, and families and friends everywhere, have the most wonderful year of eating ever!

Young cooks and their adult assistants will find recipes for beverages, meals and sides, and sweets and treats.

My Review:
The Berenstain Bears' Holiday Cookbook is a great tool to use to start teaching children to cook. I like that the cookbook is divided into holiday and seasonal dishes, beginning with Valentine's Day and ending with Christmas. Each section is color-coded and begins with a Bible verse and a fun conversation between the Bears. The food in the pictures look appetizing and will encourage children to try their hand at cooking. Some of the recipes are super simple, while others will challenge a child who wants to learn more about food prep. Reading and following the recipes will help kids learn to follow directions, practice math skills, and gain confidence. This would be a great book to enjoy as a family. I received this book in exchange for a fair review.

Peace

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 

I took some of our grandchildren to the swimming pool as a last hoorah of summer, before they head back to school. We loaded our foam noodles, Zeke's paddle board, and a few other fun things in the Jeep and drove up to the pool. We had a wonderful surprise when we arrived—we we're the only ones there. As I sank into the clear water and felt the heat of the day melt away a peace came over me. The stress of the week disappeared and a few hours playing with my grands filled me joy.

The peace I felt in the pool was wonderful and relaxing, but it pales in comparison to the peace Jesus pours into my heart. I often call on Christ's peace when I am stressed or upset. I seek his peace in sadness and grief. When the world screams chaos and conflict, I rely on Jesus' peace to calm me and carry me. Social media, the nightly news, and newspapers are filled with discord and contradiction. Jesus offers a peace that passes understanding; peace that fills the heart and calms the soul. I'm thankful for any moment of serenity and calm that loving Jesus brings.

Praise God for peace in the midst of chaos.

Fiction Review: Fetching Sweetness by Dana Mentink

Description:

Standing between Stephanie and her dream is one hundred pounds of lovable trouble.

It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Meet up with Agnes Wharton in a small town in California, retrieve the reclusive author’s valuable new manuscript, and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent.

But Agnes’s canine companion, Sweetness, decides to make a break for it before Stephanie can claim her prize. Until Agnes has Sweetness safely back at home in Eagle Cliff, Washington, Stephanie will never set eyes on the manuscript she needs to make her dreams come true.

When Stephanie tracks the runaway mutt to a campground, she meets Rhett Hastings—a man also on the run from a different life and a costly mistake. Rhett agrees to help Stephanie search for the missing dog…thus launching a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Once Sweetness gets added to the mix, it’s a recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest.

My Review:
Fetching Sweetness is a pure delight to read. I had so much fun following the adventures of Sweetness, a fun loving, trouble-causing, (innocently, mind you) huggable dog and a few other critters they pick up along the way. His care-taker and literary agent want-to-be, Stephanie, and Rhett—who is trying to sort out his life—are from two different realms which adds the perfect amount of friction and misunderstanding. Fetching Sweetness isn't just a fun, fluffy read. There is heartbreak, humility, encouragement, joy, and growth in the spiritual journeys the characters follow. I highly recommend this sweet story. You'll find lots of surprises and laugh out loud moments. I received this book in exchange for a fair review.

Learn more and purchase a copy.

Dana Mentink lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third and fourth grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with her husband, two daughters, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle, and a feisty parakeet.

Find out more about Dana at http://www.danamentink.com.

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Celebrate the release of Fetching Sweetness with Dana by entering to win the Sweetness Unleashed Prize Pack!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Fetching Sweetness
• A $75 Visa cash card
• A library book necklace
• A dog-inspired insulated shopping tote

 

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 24. The winner will be announced August 25 on Dana's blog.

Fetching Sweetness Give-Away

A recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest can only be found in Fetching Sweetness by Dana Mentink. It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Retrieve a reclusive author's valuable new manuscript and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent. But when the author's canine companion, Sweetness, makes a break for it and Stephanie has to track Sweetness down, she meets Rhett Hastings. They’re in for a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Celebrate the release of Fetching Sweetness with Dana by entering to win the Sweetness Unleashed Prize Pack!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Fetching Sweetness
• A $75 Visa cash card
• A library book necklace
• A dog-inspired insulated shopping tote

 

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 24. The winner will be announced August 25 on Dana's blog.

Happy National Lighthouse Day!

Here are some lovely lighthouses we've been able to visit-

Marblehead Lighthouse-Marblehead, OH ©Penny McGinnis

South Bass Island Lighthouse-near Put-in-Bay, OH  ©Penny McGinnis

Vermillion Lighthouse-Vermillion, OH  ©Penny McGinnis

Alcatraz Island Lighthouse-San Francisco, CA  ©Penny McGinnis

Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse-Cleveland, OH  ©Penny McGinnis

Lorain Breakwater West Lighthouse-Lorain, OH  ©Penny McGinnis