My Favorite Books - Entry Two

Category: Christmas Books

The Shoe Box - by Francine Rivers:

The Shoe Box (A Christmas Story) by Francine Rivers

 (Tyndale Fiction 2010)

       

           I have little self-control when it comes to Christmas gift books. There are many on my shelves and though we have favorites,  my family and I re-read our collection year after year.

           However, I believe The Shoe Box, new this year, is exceptional. It is a short, must-read, tender story about love, hope, angels, and the simple faith of a little boy. Francine Rivers makes Christmas come alive in the life of a young boy and his foster parents.

          Woven between the short chapters of this precious fiction story are the author’s own real Christmas experiences, recipes, and traditions. As always, Mrs. Rivers stays true to her trust in Jesus Christ and includes the true Christmas Story from Holy Scripture’s Matthew and Luke.
          The Shoe Box is a lovely, small, inexpensive gift book that will endure over time as a family Christmas devotion or as a re-read year after year for simple pleasure.
          Give The Shoe Box to someone you love for Christmas….whether that “special someone” is a grandchild or yourself!
          You’ll hear more about Francine Rivers in my list of favorite books, but if she is a new author to you, check her website at www.francinerivers.com Her testimony is as beautiful and real as her Biblical fiction.
         
P.S. I bought my copy "just because," and have already wrapped it as a gift. I ordered another for myself from The Closer Walk Christian Bookstore and because you took time to read this blog, if you live nearby, call Sheila and tell her I said to let you buy my ordered copy--it should be in this week! She will order another for me! http://www.thecloserwalk.com/

Christmas Blessings from my bookcase to yours,
   Liz

My Favorite Books: Entry One

Category: Caregiver Devotion:

Not Alone -  by Nell E. Noonan:

  [My personal note: During this joyous season when we celebrate the birth of God’s only Son, Christmas adds additional stress for those who provide daily, on-going, grinding, and sometimes draining care for loved ones.  If you need an extra gift, Not Alone is an easy to digest devotion book that will enlighten and encourage anyone involved in care giving: spouses, children, parents, hospital chaplains, pastors, nursing home administrators, and even yourself. ] 

Not Alone / Encouragement for Caregivers by Nell E. Noonan (Upper Room Books 2009)

          Mrs. Noonan is a devoted caregiver to her husband and writes from a heart faithful to him and to her Lord Jesus. Each of the 150 short devotions includes a personal experience, a prayer, and a Scripture to encourage those who provide constant, daily care for loved ones.

          This is a “take-along” book that can slip into a busy woman’s purse or a guy's back pack. Mrs. Noonan is not one for wallowing in sackcloth and ashes so her words uplift and encourage.. I’ve read through this collection more than once and I continue to re-read random entries many times a week in my devotion—or desperation—times.

          Not Alone is a profound personal touchstone in my days and I often give copies of this treasure as gifts. Solace, comfort, and wisdom abound in all three sections: Brokenness and Blessings, Tears and Laughter, and Exhaustion and Resurrection. Mrs. Noonan approaches disappointments, heartaches, family, writing, and care giving in an honest and fresh way that lifts the spirit and demonstrates hope.

          I can attest with Nell that,“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18.  http://www.nellnoonan.com/

How Not Alone got on "My List"

For months, one family medical crisis after another had chased me in endless circles. Crying in my milk on one of my routine, too-much-to-do and not-enough-time days, it hit me that I had forgotten many of our friends, neighbors, church and family members who were experiencing difficult and serious times and that they, also, needed encouragement. Making phone calls seemed inappropriate, I was in no state to make personal visits, and my depleted greeting card box mocked me. I sighed. So, in dirty sweat suit and with no make-up, I made a mad dash to our local Christian bookstore and quickly grabbed a handful of cards. Then, for a reason I can not explain to this day, I picked up a copy of Not Alone. That was well over a year ago and while my precious copy is now earmarked, filled with high-lights, turned down pages, penciled notes, and dirty finger-prints, I seem to navigate confusing and difficult days with a profound peace. Seeing God’s love and provision through the eyes of another traveler has healed my spirit and lightened my own load.
Thank you, Nell, for sharing your heart.

The Closer Walk Christian Bookstore, Fredericksburg, TX (http://www.thecloserwalk.com/ ) often keeps this book on the shelves but will special order it for you. Not Alone  is also available from Amazon and The Upper Room.

May your reading—and gift-giving—be blessed,

Liz

Coming Attraction: My EIGHT All-Time Favorite Books

Those of you who know me are laughing. Out loud! Doubled over.

What? Liz picks JUST EIGHT all-time favorite books?

Yes! And just in time for your Christmas shopping!

     Well, perhaps “all time favorite” is a bit too broad. Will you believe favorites from the past eight years? Okay.
     Both my husband and I and most of our children, grands, and greats are, to grossly understate, lifetime avid readers. Our modest, middle-class American home immodestly displays far too many books.  I’m shocked that I can select only EIGHT to call FAVORITE.
[Just for the record, Microsoft Word’s synonym list for FAVORITE includes beloved, preferred, much loved.]
     My earliest memory is the sound of my mother’s voice as she read The Bobsey Twins books to me. She read as we rocked on nippy fall afternoons, snuggled under a blanket on cold winter afternoons, moved back and forth in the porch swing on spring afternoons, and watched the leaves under the Sycamore tree on summer afternoons.  Mother majored in elocution and, before marriage, taught children the art of speaking clearly with emotion, feeling, expression, and passion to match the words. Through the years, every word she read aloud carried us on a new adventure. After some 68 years, one of the original Bobsey books from my childhood still resides on my hall bookshelf.
    As a born and trained lover of books and words, it was natural that as I penned secret journals and my words began to slowly surface in publications, I also read to my own children, foster children, grandchildren and great grandsons through a million miles of rocking, snuggling, traveling, waiting in doctor’s offices, and swinging on the back porch.
     My final list for the end of 2010 is simply sorted by category and is narrowed from all those I’ve enjoyed, studied, re-read,  hated, and forgotten over the past six to eight years or so.
     I’ll begin posting my favorites tomorrow, one or two at a time, with a short review of each book, how I came to have it, and why it is beloved to me.
     Perhaps you’ll discover one of your favorites on my list or will be intrigued to get a copy for yourself, a friend, or a family Christmas gift.
     By the way, if you are local, I highly recommend The Closer Walk Christian Bookstore, Fredericksburg, Texas. If your favorite (or mine) isn’t on her shelves, Sheila will order it (or them!!) for you. Not only is Sheila a founder and active member of our Hill Country Women of Words writing group, supporting local merchants is a grand thing to do! ( http://www.thecloserwalk.com/ )

 Blessings & Happy Reading--

from One Book Worm to Another

    Liz    

P.S. The “crud” that laid me low for a week is gone and God has graced me with enough energy to catch up to Christmas, make all our appointments, and even change our bed linens! Your prayers, notes, calls,and  e-mails kept me going when I preferred to hide UNDER the bed.

Now let all of us be like the shepherds and go in haste to find the Savior, Christ the Lord and then, in awe and wonder, return to our work, glorifying and praising God for all we have seen and heard.

(from Luke 2 in God’s own Book)

 

My Basil Plant and the Manger

     I posted my first advent blog late Saturday night. It lacked Advent Joy because I felt "down" and wrote about my blahs. Sure enough things would head down hill.

But, during church the next morning I remembered:

The 1st week of Advent reminds us to HOPE.

      Still couldn't shake the "yuk' feeling. I moped around Sunday afternoon, pondering Hope, and searching for my usual Christmas Mode.
     Monday dawned bright and clear--outside. I decorated the porches then Gus and I worked together down at the road adding a few bedraggled colored lights to our entrance gate. Another freeze was on the way, so I deep-watered our new Texas Sage bushes and  Bradford Pear tree.
     Our fresh air day ended with the TV blaring: Allergy Report: MOLD ALERT! Yes, even in drought-stricken Texas, we get seasons of dry mold that keep doctors in practice.
But, I held onto Hope.
     Tuesday, the wind hit. Hard. North. Loud. Blustery. Cold. I could not cancel Melinda's medical appointments, so out we went. In and out. Out and in.
Finally, back home, I made a pot of my famous chicken stew. It has been reported that Liz's Chicken Stew has mighty healing powers. The stew was good but lacked something. Anyway, by bedtime, my throat was sore. But thoughts of Hope lingered.
     Wednesday I was SICK. I cancelled our adopted Lab's first vet visit and crawled back under the covers. Our little 55-pound Ava was grateful for the reprieve and when Gus's repaired 4-wheel scooter was delivered, she ran around the property chasing Dear Heart and being a free, country dog. (I did not yet understand 'being a country dog.')
     The day had been long and coughing into my elbow, I made a double batch of Kathy's Minestrone Soup which is guaranteed to carry strong medicinal properties.While the soup simmered, Gus went to church, Melinda and I huddled on the couch watching a Christmas movie. Ava ate her supper and promptly threw up every morsel. Hope seemed to slip through my fingers.
I took a dose of left-over cough medicine and slept all night.
     Thursday, Ava and I dragged ourselves to the vet. Dr. K laughed, gave her a shot and said, "She'll recover. By the smell of her breath, she was just being a country dog (!!)and ate something stinky. Give her these pills, wrapped in treats, tomorrow."
     Back home, I noticed my prize, Lemon Verbena. Dead. I had taken extra pains to baby my beautiful herb, treated it with vitamins, and wrapped it tightly against nature's blast. Yet, the second freeze took it out.

*sigh* Inside, I found the bunch of pills my people doctor sent for me to take and all of us relaxed a little over steaming bowls of left-over Liz's Stew.

     Then I remembered my Basil Plant. Stew is drab without fresh basil. Winter is harsh without fresh basil.

"And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My HOPE is in Thee." Psalm 39:7

Fresh Basil thrives in our wunny guest room for the long months of winter.

     So, somehow, among sore throats and upset stomachs, killing freezes and harsh winds, a prayer list too long with needs of hurting friends, cancer and pain, worry and doubt, God IS hope and every day--day in and day out--His sweet peace wraps around us and comforts and gives us strength to start over tomorrow.

May you be wrapped in His perfect love and enjoy ALL the blessings of HOPE.

Let us welcome our Lord Jesus Christ with unspeakable joy.

~Liz~

Where IS Christmas ??

Tis the Season.

To shop.

To spend.

To travel.

To forget our lives of quiet desperation.

Mr. Thoreau searched diligently for hope, yet it is said he believed that most men go to the grave without ever finding their song.

But, even old, worn-out Santa Claus brought hope and fun to a war-ravaged world in the 1940’s. Our family had almost NO “purchased-in-a-store” presents, but the junk bicycle Daddy found and restored for my 10th Christmas was better than gold to me. Mother always told us that “Santa Claus is the spirit of Christmas and love.” Hummm. Sounds okay to me!

Regardless of serpents and lies and a fallen world, I happen to know that HOPE lives.

Hope. And Love. Forgiveness. Absolute completeness. Our Song of songs is alive and well today.

Because on that holy and glorious morning of mornings, Jesus Christ gave HOPE and LIFE to a lost and hopeless world when He became man and lived among us.

                                 

AND, without CHRISTmas and the birth of the Son of Man, there would be no Easter morning.

I am tired this year…physically. It’s been a difficult year. Not bad, just difficult. Yet, because the Messiah came, we MUST celebrate.

Christmas is in my heart.

Christmas is on our hill.

Christmas is on this blog.

      So far as I can tell, Truth has not been totally eradicated and most churches continue to remember the birth of the Savior in special events and celebrations and children’s pageants and Advent candles during December each year. We, as God’s wayward children will continue to shout Alleluias and Hosanna in the Highest and Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.

      For a few days during December, these pages will also shout the news that Jesus Christ was born in a stable. For a few days, we will prepare our hearts anew to welcome the birth of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We will pray for each other and for our communities and for our nation. We will seek God’s face and we will BE love to each other. We will be a witness for the King.

Please join me for a few minutes during this hectic and sometimes hopeless season –

To find a quiet place in our hearts

To worship our high and Holy Father

To renew our joy

To prepare ONCE AGAIN, to welcome His Advent

To celebrate HOPE.

   Merry Christmas,

       Liz