My Hope is Found {Book Review}

*I received this book for free from WaterBrooke Multnomah Publishing Group as part of their Blogging For Books Program*

I really enjoy this book by Joanne Bischof. It had a very interesting plot to is, and held my attention all the way to the end. I almost always read an ending before I start the book, just so I will not get stressed out during the book on whether or not two people will end up together. I know, it’s a bad habit, and people chastise me all the time about it. But this book I could not read the end until I got there, because I was so into the book. Something I really like about a book is if it shows two sides of the story. The beginning of the book is about Gideon, which I think is really neat to show the man’s part since it’s almost always the woman’s. Basically, he had gotten married when he was younger, and they annulled the marriage, but it actually did not happen(but he did not know this). So he got remarried, and they had a son. His second marriage was to Lonnie, and this was the woman, he knew he loved the most. So what happens is his first wife comes back and tells him they are still married, but she is willing to help him get an annulment. So they have problems with the government, and you will have to read it to find out what happens. By the way, I do not agree with the whole annulment thing. I strongly believe in the Bible verse that states, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”(Matthew 19:6)

An Untamed Heart {Book Review}

*I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program*

To be completely honest, I did not enjoy this book at all. I picked to review this book, because I had heard of the author, Lauraine Snelling, before. I just could not get into it, and eventually just skipped over parts of it and read the ending(which is very depressing by the way). Basically, it is about a girl, Ingeborg, who sets her heart on never getting married, because she doesn’t want to. She meets a boy, who she falls in love with, and then he dies on his way to see her one time. So then she agrees to marry a man who’s wife had died and was left with their young son. I really like happy endings, so this was a book I did not exactly enjoy after I read that her true love had died, because I knew they weren’t going to be together at the end. Also, one thing that was hard for me, is I could never pronounce their names, because they were Norwegian, which I know seems kind of minor, but I guess it’s kind of a hindrance when you are reading. This book is part of a series, so that could quite possibly be why I did not get into it, because I haven’t read the other books before it. I would not recommend this book, unless you have maybe read the other books in the series before it.

What Are These Book Reviews?

You probably have noticed a few book reviews on my blog lately. Well I figured I better fill everyone in, so they don't keep wondering. I signed up with 3 different publishing companies to review books for them. Basically, what happens is they send me a book (for free and I get to keep it) and then I read it, and write a review on it. I post it on my blog and a website that sells books. These programs are for bloggers only. My books have been piling up, because I have been procrastinating writing reviews (Lynelle procrastinate? What?!). So you will be seeing a few more reviews soon. The publishing companies I signed up with are WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, Tyndale House Publishers, and Bethany House Publishers. Most of the publishers send me emails once a month, and I get to pick the books I want to review. I love these programs, because it seems I always have something to read, plus the books I don't like I can just sell at the Book Nook and buy a book I actually like. So it's a great program, and so far I've received quite a few books, which means my small library is getting bigger. So hopefully you understand a little more what the book reviews are all about, and I hope you read them. And I hope it encourages you to read more, because reading is a good brain exercise:) Have a great weekend everybody! Until next book review...

Dangerous {Book Review}

*I received this book from Bethany House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Programs*

This fictional book by Caleb Bislow is a phenomenal book. When I first received it I didn't know who well I would like. I prefer non-fiction books rather than fiction. I seem to have a hard time getting into fictional books. This one was amazing though. It challenged me in so many ways. Basically, Caleb, knew at a pretty young age that he was called to go to places no one else would go to. He would minister to people who had never even heard of God. When he married, his wife knew that her husband would be gone a lot, and be in very dangerous situations. Caleb challenged me in so many ways, I barely know where to begin! He is so in tune with the Spirit, and knows exactly where God is calling him to go. It is true as Christians in America, that we are afraid to step out of our comfort zone and minister to those who are unsaved. Even in our own little worlds we are afraid. Caleb would have visions about a certain person in another country, and then when he would visit there, he would actually find that person. It makes me realize how powerful the Spirit really is, and often times we don't utilize this amazing gift from God. One of the most convicting sentences of the whole book is this, "Some of us in ministry will have resumes full of what we did for God, but I would rather have a resume full of what God did through me." I would recommend this to anyone who feels they are living too comfortably. It will probably make you more aware of opportunities right in front of you.

His Treasure {Book Review}

*I received this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blog Network program*

This is a great little book with lots of encouragement for women. I got through about half of it, and learned so much from it. It is more of a devotional book than anything else. I would not recommend trying to read through all of it in a couple of days (like I tried to). It has a lot to take in, and you need time to ponder what each section has to say. The pages are also decorated super cute, so that’s a plus too. The book is set up as “letters” from our Heavenly Father. A nice thing about this book is that it is small, so I like to keep it in my purse. The devotionals in this book can be read at any time of the day, so if you need a little encouragement, this is a great book. This book is very similar to Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, but it is directed to women only. I would recommend this book to all women of any stage in life. This is a really encouraging little book.

To Update You All....

It's been awhile since I posted about what I've been up to. There's probably a reason for that. Either I'm really busy or I procrastinate writing. It could quite possibly be a combination of the two. On a good note, there will be plenty of pictures, because I have been doing a bit better at remembering my camera and taking pictures. And, well it's fall, and I love taking pictures during fall. So many fun activities going on, and the weather is absolutely gorgeous. To start this update, I'll tell everyone how my preschool job is going. I love it! I'm thankful I only do it once a week though, because I may not love it as much as I do. I love when a little voice says, "Hey, Miss Lynelle?" Oh, it's just so adorable. And they say the funniest things and have the funniest ideas. How can you not love them? The next thing I will update you with is our trip to Tanner's Orchard one fine fall evening. It was just me and the three youngest girls. We headed over to Tanner's after Cassie and Tessa got home for school and spent some time there. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

 If you are wondering if Sophie was really enjoying it or not, she was. Don't let that face fool you:)

 And look how brave my little Sophie is! No fear at all.

 And she would climb this large hill, and then run down, and face plant at the bottom because she was running too fast.

 Conquerors(except Tessa)!

We forgot to get a picture in front of Tanner's so this is the best we could do. It was such a fun evening!

And then this past weekend, Jaylyn Knobloch and I were in charge of the High School girls camp out. What a day. It was Friday night/Saturday morning. I had a bit of a rough day on Friday. When I got to work, I found out that I actually got to work an hour later than I was suppose to, because I came in at my regular Friday time, so I was kind of upset about that. And then, I found out that one of my co-workers(another Teller) was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, so that made it even more rough. Your prayers for her would be appreciated also. And then I got majorly lost on my way to Jim and Marlene Plattner's lake house(where the campout was). I finally gave into my GPS, which of course lost satellite, so I really had no idea where I was going. When I finally got there, I realized I forgot the plates and cups(thank goodness Jim and Marlene are stocked!). That's when I just broke down and started crying. I'm pretty sure everyone was like what is her problem, crying over plates and cups. It got better as the evening went on, and I actually enjoyed it a a lot. So here are some pictures I have from the campout.

 The candy apples were my idea and they turned out pretty good. I think everyone enjoyed making them, and then of course eating them:)

 Giant Dutch Blitz. It was kind of intense, and I may have gotten a scratch or two.

 It was getting too late.

 We did a relay game where everyone had a different handicap, and they had to all work together to get something done.

Next are some pictures of Cassie and Tessa that I took last night. I think they turned out pretty well.

 Sophie did exceptionally well. It was 10x better than the last time we tried taking pictures.

You may notice that I did not take very many of Tessa and there are several reasons for that.
1) I already took her to 2 different locations for pictures
2) She lost a whole bunch of teeth since the last time we took her pictures

Another thing I did recently was go to Jail Services one Sunday morning. It was an amazing opportunity. We had 3 different services. One with the women and two with the men. We were facing the inmates, and I could not get over the fact that I am just like them and that God loves them just as much as He loves me. They were given opportunity to stand up and share, and one man shared his testimony. It was really awesome. One thing he said really stuck out to me, because I had never heard it before. He said, "There is no testimony until you've been tested." How true that is! Then one inmate sang a song. First he stood up at the podium and didn't do anything. We all just kind of looked at each other like what is he doing, and then he sang. It was beautiful, and you could tell he meant every word that he sang. Another inmate had a beautiful prayer that literally made me tear up(which isn't very hard to do). Princeville has Jail services on the months with five Sundays. I had never gone before, but I will definitely be going next time.

This last Sunday, I went to Mattiessen State Park with some others from church. It was a pretty cold day, but it was so much fun to hike. I always forget how much I enjoy hiking until I do it again. The van I was riding in hit a deer on the way up, and it totaled the van. It was kind of a scary accident, but no one was injured thankfully. While we were hiking, we(Hannah Schick, Kristy Kieser, Larissa Herrmann, and I) went into a cave and sang a few songs. A lady came up to us and told us it was so beautiful and asked if she could take our picture. It was kind of awkward, but I'm glad that somebody was able to hear and enjoy it. We are already planning another hiking trip for this Sunday also, with more Sisters and a few high school girls. I'm so excited for it!

So that's a little update of my small life. I hope you enjoyed being updated:) I am beginning to enjoy more and more this stage of life I am in (being employed and not going to school). It's only by God changing my heart and perspective that I can truly enjoy it. I have been able to be home more, and play with my sisters, and I really do love it. I hope everything is going well with everyone else, and hopefully you are all enjoying this beautiful fall weather.

Redeeming Love {Book Review}

 *I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group as part of their Blogging For Books program*

This is not the first time I have read this book by Francine Rivers. One of the first things I would like to say is that it is very graphic. I would not recommend this to younger readers. The first time I read it I was probably a Senior in High School, and in my opinion that was probably still too young. It is graphic, but it is also the cold hard truth. This is honestly probably on my favorite books. One thing I appreciate about Francine Rivers, is that she always shows a conversion process in her books. She shows how the Spirit works in the characters lives. She is a very deep author.  She has an awesome testimony in the back of this book. Sometimes I feel as though Christian authors today just write sappy love stories to please their readers, and often forget to incorporate God in their stories. In this book, we follow the lives of Michael Hosea and Angel. This is story is based off of the story of Hosea and Gomer in the Bible.  Angel was sold into prostitution as a very young girl. Her mother was also a prostitute and died when Angel was young. Angel lived a very rough life and learned that she had to keep a hard heart in order to survive. Michael Hosea saw her once walking down the street and immediately knew God was telling him to marry her. So bought her out of prostitution and married her. She tries so hard not to love him, but she eventually starts having feelings for him. Once she recognizes those feelings, she runs away. Michael goes after her and brings her home. She runs away again and Michael doesn’t go after that time, because he realizes that she needs to realize where home is. She changes and turns her life over to the Lord. She starts a house for women that are trying to get their lives back on track. She meets up with Michael’s brother-in-law who comes to bring her home. She humbles herself and does go back home for good as a changed person. This is a wonderful story. It is a reminder of how much God loves us and takes us out of sin and darkness. We sometimes run back to it, because it seems enticing, but God is where our home really is. I would recommend this to readers who like to read stories that are based off of stories in the Bible.