The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow

Hello World!
Sorry again for the late blog, it has been a rather hard week :)  It's been interesting to say the least.  We have a house in Oshkosh, WI that is beautiful and it was our first home and it was simply just a great house for our little family.  When we moved we thought that it would be easy to sell, unfortunately the housing market dropped significantly.  It's been five years and the house has yet to sell.  If you can say a prayer for our family as we decide what would be the best in our circumstance I would appreciate it.

The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow is the second book in the Avenue of Dreams series by Olivia Newport.  We first heard about Charlotte in the book The Pursuit of Lucy Banning (click here for the review).  Charlotte is a maid in the prestigious Banning household during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.  Her life is secure and her son safely secret at an older woman's home.  Until the day his caretaker drops him off at the Banning household.   Charlotte's Dilemma starts the moment she leaves, does she come out and say Henry is her son or allow the Banning's to determine her sons fate?  How will she trust God or anybody else with this beautiful secret?

This book was an incredible book, but in all honesty it was a tear jerker.  I have a very vivid imagination so when I read a book where a woman around my age is put in a situation of being forced to keep her son secret or lose her job it rips my heart.  I could not possibly fathom the pain of choosing between life of being destitute or losing your son.  My heart went out to Charlotte and the life she was leading.  I also was able to see the world of a servant, Ms. Newport's detailed descriptions of being a servant in an affluent home was historically accurate and telling.  The limits of what they can do for the pittance of  pay was eye opening to me.  So dear readers if you like a good historical romance this is a book for you.
*This book was given to me via Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group in hopes of my honest opinion and I honestly gave it.
Available January 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Matthew 6:30-33 (The Message)
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers-- most of which are never even seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?  What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving.  People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works .  Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.  Don't worry about missing out.  You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

I have had to cling to this passage this week.  As I pray for our house in Oshkosh the reminder that God will meet my everyday human concerns is a relief.  Now to just keep reminding myself so I don't fall into despair over a house that isn't selling :)

The Pursuit of Lucy Banning

Hello World,
What a great day today :-)  Yesterday my parents celebrated their 41st anniversary!  How amazing and truly beautiful to see two people I absolutely love go through life's ups and downs together.  They truly are an example of a Godly marriage living faithfully and lovingly for God and then each other.  If you're married how long have you been married, or if you're not married who is a married couple that you respect?

Olivia Newport out did herself with this cover.  I absolutely loved it from first glance.  The dress alone is dreamy :-)  I know what you guys are thinking, but ladies come on who wouldn't love to get dressed up like this beautiful woman on the cover, absolutely breathtaking.  The Pursuit of Lucy Banning  is set up right before the World's Fair of 1893.  If you're not familiar with the World's Fair, also known as the Word's Columbian Exposition you can look it up at this link World's Fair.  It's a pretty awesome look at our history and Chicago.

 Ok, with a little bit of history and cover candy behind us we can dig into the book.  Here we find Ms. Lucy Banning a young lady of the elite with practically her life planned out by her parents.  Engaged to her childhood friend, Lucy is expected to step into the life of the rich and famous.  Unfortunately, she desires more then tea parties and socials.   With desiring to do more with her life Lucy is put in to a precarious position of choosing what she has grown up with or stepping on to a new path.

The turn of the century and World Fair as the background; this book is simply a great visual for the mind. I really enjoyed the pace of the book too, a lot of times an author can either take the romance at high speed or just the opposite and I sit there thinking that wasn't very real.  Here, Ms. Newport handled the romance and timeline expertly.  I also really loved the side characters, at the end of the book I found myself hoping that Ms. Newport would write more about Leo, Daniel, and Charlotte (future books in the making, I hope).  This was truly a fun book, I would like to say that this is also a lite Christian book.  God is mentioned but I did feel that if you're looking for a romance that has God and verses entwined in every chapter, this is not the book for you.  Other then that I truly enjoyed the book and the history behind Chicago's World Fair.

*This book was given to me via Revell Publishers for my honest opinion, and I honestly gave it :-) This book is available May 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

James 19-20
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

I have been learning this command/lesson these past few days.  Children seem to tend to bring our my quick to speak, slow to listen, and quick to get angry.  Lord Jesus please forgive the times where I don't sit and listen to my children when they are trying to express themselves, please forgive the times where I have spoken to quickly with harshness instead of grace.  Help me Lord to love them daily and truthfully to remember these two verses when I deal with anyone.