Lisa R. Howeler's Blog, page 103

Faithfully Thinking: Peace That Passes All Understanding

As many of you know I was in the hospital recently for Covid.

I mentioned in previous posts that it was a very traumatic experience. The whole might die thing was traumatic, of course, but being away from my family and thrown in the midst of the chaos of a hospital where they are treating very sick patients was also very traumatic.

I’ve been a Christian since I was five-years old. I’d like to say I’ve trusted God through every moment of my life and never doubted but that would be a lie. I am a human with human doubts.

Over the years I’ve tried to build my faith through saying familiar verses over and over or relying on God’s promises from the Bible. My mom has helped me do this more than anyone.

Sitting in the emergency room Thanksgiving night, hooked up to oxygen and an IV, I tried to remember the verses my mom had recited to me over the years:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

My husband played music and sermons while we waited to see what treatment they would give me. We both tried to stay calm even as my mind raced.

In the midst of it all, while I thought of the worst (imagined myself being intubated like they talk about on the news), there did seem to be an odd sense of peace settling over me. I wanted to scream and run away more than once but something in me said to stay in place and God was going to walk me through it if not deliver me from it. He wanted to give me peace even as the chaos was swirling around me.

Peace settled over me again and again throughout the next five days. That doesn’t mean that I was cool as a cucumber or never had a breakdown because I definitely did. I cried more than once, I begged God to send me home with my family, I wondered if I would get worse and never make it home. I had the incessant trembling in my body which still remains.

God sent me a roommate on my second day there. I was moved from a private room to a new room in another wing at 3 a.m. with a roommate and I was terrified. I had gotten used to my  cozy room and the nurses and aids on their 12 hour shifts. I had met Phil and Lisa and they were amazing and wonderful and reassuring. They were my safety nets, and they were being taken away. I was terrified again.

I wanted to be sure my oxygen was going with me too. That was my physical lifeline.  I needed to keep remembering that God was my real lifeline though. He had to keep reminding me and he did that when they began to turn the oxygen I was on down until they took it off me only a day and a half after they’d put me on it.

I needed to pray for even more peace when I was taken to a room with a roommate, but then I needed to pray for peace for her too. Her situation was much worse. Her oxygen was dropping every time she tried to sit up or use the bathroom. The staff was monitoring her blood oxygen 24/7. They had stopped doing that for me which was another source of fear I had to overcome. Every time they came into the room to check my pulse ox I tensed up. What if it was low again? What if I had a setback? Obviously they thought I didn’t need to be monitored constantly, so that should calm me, right?

And it did most of the time, but it also worried me because what if my oxygen dropped when they weren’t checking?

What if they didn’t get there fast enough and I couldn’t breathe?

What if was my favorite two words, as you can see.

Then a nurse said to me, “what if everything turns out fine? What if you are doing great, because you are? Sometimes we need to focus on the good what-ifs.”

I knew she was right and that I needed to be focused on the good what-if’s even as I struggled with the bad what-ifs.

My mom and others sent a ton of encouraging verses on to me over my five-day stay and even over this last week and I held on to one of them as my prayer: that God would give me the peace that passes all understanding throughout my ordeal.

Philippians 4:6-8

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I did my best to focus on the good things each day. I focused on the times the trembling was better or the times my head was a little more clear than the day, or hour (ha), before. I focused on the meals I could eat and taste. I focused on how I could talk to my family even in the hospital. I would also focus on the good moments with my roommate, the times her breathing was better or she could rest.

There were many times during my ordeal that peace settled over me and there are many times that peace settles on me now as I recover. There are days, though, I have to pray for that peace, ask God again to give it to me as he did in the hospital. I will never stop asking for it and claiming it in his name.

I  will keep praying for it until it is manifest in my life.

I have a small book that a friend gave to me years ago and one thing it says in the book is to call upon the healing we want until that healing comes and that is what I am doing right now. I am declaring healing for my body but especially for my mind and my spirit. And I am declaring internal peace.

Sunday bookends: Just glad to be alive to post today

The fact I am able to write a blog post this week is exciting to me and feels a little like a miracle.

It’s just a silly blog post but I am alive to write it. And I apologize ahead of time if it makes no sense at all!

If you didn’t catch my blog post from last week, I spent five days in the COVID unit of our local hospital starting Thanksgiving night. I just looked back at that original post that I copied from Instagram and I don’t think it makes much sense but, then again, a lot of my blog posts over the years probably haven’t made sense. Ha! The second blog post about my recovery didn’t make much sense either but it’s been quite a journey so I will cut myself some slack.

I came home from the hospital Monday night of this past week and am slowly recovering, trying to regain some sort of normalcy again. Making myself write this blog post is one way of getting some of that back. I am still worried about my cognitive state at this point, but I can write cognitive so that’s a good thing, right? I have issues with brain fog anyhow but COVID has stepped it up even more. I had never heard how bad it messed with you mentally until I got it.

So, I mentioned in my other post that I have developed a very odd internal tremor that started either when the symptoms of COVID (dry cough, high fever, exhaustion, loss of taste and smell) started or when I found out officially that I had Covid. I’m not sure which. The days all blurred together. I do know I had a bit of a mental breakdown when I saw I officially had Covid, terrified of what it would bring to my family.

I chalked the tremor up to the effects of the virus itself but it is still there and won’t go away even as I should be over the virus. I do have occasional breaks from it. It’s very hard to explain it other than to say I feel like I am sitting in a pot of boiling water all the time but without the heat. Or that my muscles are constantly twitching from the spine up through my head. Or that I’m sitting on a phone on vibrate 24/7. I also have a low roar in my ears but my ears have been stuffed for over a month so that isn’t leftover from Covid.

I think I mentioned in my post earlier in the week that I had something similar happen to me when my dog of 14-years died in 2017. My daughter was also sick around that time (she’d stopped eating and was tested for the flu), I thought I had cancer (don’t even ask! I really am crazy sometimes), etc. it all built up and a vibration similar to this developed. It took maybe two or three months to settle down. I’m hoping this will take less time.

So I have slowly been getting my taste and smell back and cried when I started tasting food like my mom’s homemade mashed potatoes.

On Friday night I smelled Little Miss’s gas and actually got emotional. Ha! I know! It’s crazy but it’s just another sign I am recovering. I lost my smell and taste on the 13th. My son did as well and he’s still waiting for it to come back. I reminded him I am a few days ahead of him in recovery so it should come soon. My husband only lost part of his smell. As far as we know Little Miss didn’t lose any of that.

What I’m reading

So reading actual books was not on my priority list last week. I couldn’t get my brain to settle most of the time and did way too much internet research. When that obsession settled down, I found that texting my family and friends and watching old comedies like The Andy Griffith Show and stupid Lifetime Christmas movies worked to calm me more than anything else.

I did try to read Virgin River by Robyn Carr on my final day in the hospital, but, well, I don’t think it’s a very well-written book so I struggled some. Or maybe it’s just because I already knew what happened since I watched the first season on Netflix a year or so ago.

When I got back from the hospital my joy was reading Paddington with Little Miss and doing all the voices. Daddy doesn’t know how to read it right, she says.

I’m now also trying to read Saving Mrs. Roosevelt by Candice Sue Patterson for a book tour and so far I am enjoying it. It’s so nice to disappear inside books again!

What I’m writing

I am planning on gutting my novel this week. I don’t have a lot of brain capacity at the moment for writing, really, but I’m trying to do a little editing at least and that’s actually helping my mental healing a lot.

I have no idea when I will share fiction on the blog again. It might be after Christmas at this point.

What I’m Watching

I watched a ton of The Andy Griffith Show last week, as I mentioned above. Comfort watching. It was what I needed. I also watched Lovejoy and Corner Gas with my husband when we were first dealing with COVID and then did a couple marathons of Corner Gas during recovery this past week. I watched a lot of Gordan Ramsey’s travel show on National Geographic while in the hospital and a couple of really dumb Lifetime Christmas movies. I suffered through Pitch Perfect 3 as well. Lord, that was awful and I don’t think it was awful just because of the COVID.

What I’m listening To

In the hospital, I listened constantly to my Christian music playlist that I had set up on Apple.

I listened to Elevation Worship and Crowder and Matthew West, Needtobreathe (ironic, no?), Natalie Grant, Cece Winans, MercyMe, Keith Green, Michael W. Smith, Rend Collective, and For King and Country, just to name a few. I highly recommend listening to music in situations like that. It truly calms the nerves.

So that’s my week in review. I somehow made it! I would love to hear how your week went. I don’t care if you just cleaned out your attic or decorated the house or baked some cookies. Please feel free to share with me in the comments!

A slow mental recovery from COVID

I’m slowly mentally recovering from my five-day hospital stay from COVID.

I was on a low flow (very low) of oxygen for about two days but had to stay longer to finish an antiviral treatment which may or may not have helped (there are mixed studies on it). I had to take five doses over five days.

I went into the hospital on Thanksgiving night. I’d been sick for about nine or ten days by then. I went to the ER when my pulse ox seemed to drop. The ER doctor admitted me and at first, it looked like I would have to travel to a hospital more than three hours from my house. That thought terrified me and my husband.

By some kind of miracle, a bed was found at our local hospital (larger than the one I went to for the ER), about 45 minutes from our house.

There is so much I could write about all this and so much I want to, but I’m not totally mentally there to do so.

This was the scariest situation I have ever been in in my life.

I relied completely on Christ. I felt his peace even when I didn’t know how I was feeling it. I wasn’t perfect in my faith, don’t get me wrong. I had doubts but when everything else is taken away from you all you have is God.

I couldn’t have visitors, or at least as far as I knew. I was truly alone other than the amazing staff and nurses. Well, and God, as I’ve already mentioned.

My roommate almost died Saturday night, two days before I left. That was so hard. I prayed over her and even rubbed her shoulders at one point and prayed for her o2 levels to come up. By laying on her side they would come up and at that moment it rose from the low 80s up to 98 as I prayed. I don’t know what really happened, but I was so grateful to see that number.

The staff was doing all they could to keep her off the vent. I called Wednesday to see how she was and the staff can’t tell me much since I am not family but they did say she was still there. I took that as a good sign that she had not been sent to the ICU yet. It is also possible they couldn’t get her in the ICU as there is a huge surge in our area right now.

I am now keeping track of seven people battling COVID in our area. They are a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated, which is who was in the COVID unit at our hospital, according to the nurses and staff. This virus isn’t discerning at this point, unfortunately. We just need to get on our hands and knees and pray to God for it to get better soon and for the doctors to keep finding ways to treat people as best as they can.

When I was in the hospital the attitude was very positive. There was no negative talk allowed about what could happen, other than realistic reports on how we were doing in our care.

They had us lay on our stomachs for an hour at a time every four hours. We were given low dose steroids, cough medication, albuterol every four hours or so, low dose blood thinner shots in our stomachs once a day to prevent blood clots, any regular meds, encouraged to walk around and also given a breathing device to strengthen our lungs. And we all, pretty much all, were on a drug that some say can affect your kidneys, but our kidneys were tested through blood work at least twice during our stays.

My lungs remained clear my entire stay, thank God, even though I had an annoying cough. The cough medicine was mainly an exportent (sorry, I can’t spell that and am too lazy to look it up.)to keep the mucous thin and loose.

So, I’m home.

It’s been a weird journey since being home too.

I have an internal tremor that started a day or so after my symptoms started on the 16th of November. That’s pretty intense, especially when the anxiety kicks in but it’s similar to tremors I had after my 14-year old dog died in 2017. Doctors couldn’t figure that out then and the nurses were bewildered this time, other than to say the virus puts a huge amount of stress on the body of patients and they believe it’s a mix of that and insane anxiety.

Oddly, as I am typing this the internal tremor is better. A lot better. Hmmm..maybe getting back to writing and sharing with my lovely blog readers is helping to distract me. Praise Jesus!

I’m sure I’ll write more about all of this in future blog posts. Or maybe I won’t. I don’t know how much I can handle writing about it all. Even thinking about it is very traumatic at this time.

Thank you to those of you who prayed and who I know will continue to pray now.

Stay safe out there everyone but don’t live in fear. God has us, one way or another! (remind me of this when I find myself doubting again!)

A slow mental recovery

I’m slowly mentally recovering from my five-day hospital stay from COVID.

I was on a low dose (very low) for about two days but had to stay longer to finish an antiviral treatment which may or may not have helped (there are mixed studies on it). I had to take five doses over five days. So I went into the hospital on Thanksgiving night. I’d been sick for about nine or ten days by then. I went to the ER when my pulse ox seemed to drop. The ER doctor admitted me and at first, it looked like I would have to travel to a hospital more than three hours from my house. That thought terrified me and my husband.

By some kind of miracle, a bed was found at our local hospital (larger than the one I went to for the ER), about 45 minutes from our house.

There is so much I could write about all this and so much I want to, but I’m not totally mentally there.

This was the scariest situation I have ever been in in my life.

I relied completely on Christ. I felt his peace even when I didn’t know how I was feeling it.

I couldn’t have visitors, or at least as far as I knew. I was truly alone other than the amazing staff and nurses. Well, and God, as I’ve already mentioned.

My roommate almost died Saturday night, two days before I left. That was so hard. I prayed over her and even rubbed her shoulders at one point and prayed for her o2 levels to come up. By laying on her side they would come up and at that moment it rose from the low 80s up to 98 as I prayed. I don’t know what really happened, but I was so grateful to see that number.

The staff was doing all they could to keep her off the vent. I called Wednesday to see how she was and the staff can’t tell me much since I am not family but they did say she was still there. I took that as a good sign that she had not been sent to the ICU yet. It is also possible they couldn’t get her in the ICU as there is a huge surge in our area right now.

I am not keeping track of seven people battling COVID in our area. They are a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated, which is who was in the COVID unit at our hospital, according to the nurses and staff. This virus isn’t discerning at this point, unfortunately. We just need to get on our hands and knees and pray to God for it to get better soon and for the doctors to keep finding ways to treat people as best as they can.

When I was in the hospital the attitude was very positive. There was no negative talk allowed about what could happen, other than realistic reports on how we were doing in our care.

They had us lay on our stomachs for an hour at a time every four hours. We were given low dose steroids, cough medication, albuterol every four hours or so, low dose blood thinner shots in our stomachs once a day to prevent blood clots, any regular meds, encouraged to walk around and also given a breathing device to strengthen our lungs. And we all, pretty much all, were on a drug that some say can affect your kidneys, but our kidneys were tested through blood work at least twice during our stays.

My lungs remained clear my entire stay, thank God, even though I had an annoying cough. The cough medicine was mainly an exportent (sorry, I can’t spell that and am too lazy to look it up.)to keep the mucous thin and loose.

So, I’m home.

It’s been a weird journey since being home too.

I have an internal tremor that started a day or so after my symptoms started on the 16th of November. That’s pretty intense, especially when the anxiety kicks in but it’s similar to tremors I had after my 14-year old dog died in 2017. Doctors couldn’t figure that out then and the nurses were bewildered this time, other than to say the virus puts a huge amount of stress on the body of patients and they believe it’s a mix of that and insane anxiety.

Oddly, as I am typing this the internal tremor is better. A lot better. Hmmm..maybe getting back to writing and sharing with my lovely blog readers is helping to distract me. Praise Jesus!

I’m sure I’ll write more about all of this in future blog posts. Or maybe I won’t. I don’t know how much I can handle writing about it all. Even thinking about it is very traumatic at this time.

Thank you to those of you who prayed and who I know will continue to pray now.

Stay safe out there everyone but don’t live in fear. God has us, one way or another! (remind me of this when I find myself doubting again!)

A Convenient Risk: Book Review with Celebrate Lit

About the Book

Book: A Convenient Risk

Author: Sara R. Turnquist

Genre: Clean Historical Romance

Release date: October 26, 2021

He never imagined her heart would be so hard to reach.

Forced into a marriage of convenience after her husband dies, Amanda Haynes is determined she will never love again. Not that it bothers Brandon Miller. He needs her husband’s cattle. She needs financial stability and long-term support for her son and herself. But she never expected to care so much about the running of the ranch.

Butting heads over the decisions of the ranch, only adds to her frustration. Her wellbeing is soon threatened as their lives become entangled with Billy the Kid and his gang.

What has she gotten herself into? What kind of man has she married? Is there any way out?

Click here to get your copy!Review

I don’t usually read historical fiction, but I was intrigued by the plot of this book and I am glad I picked it up!

I didn’t even mind it took place in a different time period and in fact barely noticed because I was so caught up in the story.

It was very easy to become immersed in the lives of these characters and fall in love with them. Their challenges were very real and raw without being in the least bit graphic. There was just enough tension in the book to keep me turning the pages so I could find out what would happen next, but not too much that it was overdone.

I loved the real, raw reactions between Amanda and Brandon and there was more to this book than a simple romance, which I loved. Some books are only back and forth between the man and the woman and how they are feeling about each other but in this book both Brandon and Amanda had their own personal demons they were battling. They weren’t just focused on how they felt about each other, with long drawn out mental gymnastics like there are in some books. They did have their relationship with each other to consider since their situation was more unique and challenging than a normal relationship, but it didn’t consume the book or take away from the other storylines.

After reading this book I know I will be reading more books by Sara. She has sold me on historical fiction.

I was offered a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and this review was my very honest opinion.

About the Author

Sara is a coffee lovin’, word slinging, clean Historical Romance author whose super power is converting caffeine into novels. She loves those odd little tidbits of history that are stranger than fiction. That’s what inspires her. Well, that and a good love story.

But of all the love stories she knows, hers is her favorite. She lives happily with her own Prince Charming and their gaggle of minions. Three to be exact. They sure know how to distract a writer! But, alas, the stories must be written, even if it must happen in the wee hours of the morning.

Sara is an avid reader and also enjoys reading clean Historical Romance when she’s not traveling. Her books range from the Czech lands to the American Wild West and from ancient Egypt to the early 1900s. Some of her titles include The Lady Bornekova, Hope in Cripple Creek, The General’s Wife, Trail of Fears, and the Convenient Risk Series.

More from Sara

Hello, Readers!

I am always asked about the inspiration behind my work. These tidbits can be wide and varied from one story to the next. But none is so interesting, in my opinion, as the thing that sparked A Convenient Risk.

It just so happens that one of my good friends, best-selling contemporary romance author Hannah R. Conway, is my conference buddy. We go to writing conferences and retreats together, networking with other writers and learning more about the craft of writing.

And…at one such conference during some down time, Hannah (who is a fellow lover of history) said, “hey, let’s go to the cemetery.” I wasn’t quite so certain about that particular jaunt, but it was daytime and she raved about the history to be mined there, so I was in.

As we walked around, indeed we did look at stones—especially older ones—and thought about the lives of the people based on the era they lived in and whatnot. Just a heyday for our writer brains. We came upon a particular set of stones from the early 1900s. And, according to the little bit information on the stones, we determined that the woman had first married a man who was much older. Then he died. And she married a man closer to her own age. My writer wheels started turning!

Did her parents arrange a marriage for some sort of benefit? Maybe she was from a poor family and they needed her to have a better circumstance? At any rate, the man died a few years later. Then she married a man closer to her age…perhaps a man she had previously been in love with and had always wanted to marry?

I thought, then, about second marriages after a spouse passes. And how we tend to memorialize loved ones who pass—remember the good times and gloss over the hard, more challenging things. I don’t think this is a conscious thing, more of a way our mind handles grief.

So, if a widow must make a marriage of convenience, how does that affect her ability to develop love for the second husband if she is comparing him to this image of her first spouse in a way he wasn’t actually in real life.

Now, I don’t know for certain…I’ve only been married once (and thank the Lord my Prince Charming is patient enough to stick it out with this writer). But I wanted to work this scenario out within this fictive bubble…play with this concept…see where it led. After mixing that with a bit of history, throwing in a dash of a famous American outlaw, A Convenient Risk was born.

Blog Stops

For Him and My Family, December 1

Boondock Ramblings, December 1

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 2

Texas Book-aholic, December 3

Inklings and notions, December 4

Britt Reads Fiction, December 4

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, December 5

deb’s Book Review, December 6

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 7

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, December 8

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, December 9

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, December 10 (Spotlight)

Cats in the Cradle Blog, December 10

Blossoms and Blessings, December 11

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 12

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 13

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, December 14

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Sara is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and an eBook copy of A Convenient Risk!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1417f/a-convenient-risk-celebration-tour-giveaway

Spotlight and Excerpt: Heart of Stone

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Heart of Stone by David James Warren, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The continuing adventures of Rembrandt Stone from the creative minds of James L. Rubart, Susan May Warren, and newcomer David Curtis Warren, writing collectively as David James Warren.

Title: Heart of Stone

Series: The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone #6

Author: David James Warren

Publisher: TriStone Media

Release Date: November 23, 2021

Genre: Time Travel Detective Series

Rembrandt Stone has nothing left to lose…or does he?

Detective Rembrandt Stone doesn’t recognize himself in the mirror. Doesn’t recognize the world he’s returned to. Doesn’t even know his own name. But he knows one thing…living in this world is impossible.

Good thing he has an ally—an unexpected friend from the past. And together, they just might be able to unravel the entire mess. But first…Rembrandt will have to return to the past one final time and intercept himself before he makes a lethal mistake.

Time has outwitted him. It’s time for him to outwit time. Can he reconstruct a past he just destroyed or is there nothing left of his world to save?

The explosive ending to the True Lies of Rembrandt Stone!

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookBub

EXCERPT

They say that without hope, people perish.
I say hope crushes the soul.
That’s why I look away when Frankie Dale’s beautiful gray eyes fall on me as I
walk into Alexander Malakov’s third-story office.
The pulse of some electro-dance beat pumps in from the nightclub below, the odor
of bodies and a hint of reefer saucing the air. Turbo is on fire tonight, the line to get
into the club a half-block long despite the sultry July-heated night.
Alexander leans against the front of his desk, his arms folded over his gray silk
Brioni dress shirt, his cuffs rolled up—as if he’d actually do any of the bare knuckle
work it takes to keep his multi-million dollar organized crime empire running.
That’s why Vita, Alexander’s “XO,” the guy who delivers his orders, called me.
Vita is shorter than me, lean, blond and about my age, his face heavy with lines and a
scar that runs from his eye to his chin.
We’re work friends.
“Staz,” he says in greeting and I nod at him and walk over to Alexander. The
female—she can’t be Frankie, not right now—sits on the sofa. I can’t tell if she’s been
roughed up, but I don’t look at her, just in case.
“Thanks for coming,” Alexander says from his perch on the desk.
“Of course, boss.” I’ve played the undercover game for years, so this can’t be any
different. Booker briefed me earlier—wait for that, I’ll catch you up—and apparently,
I’ve been at this game for years, so sliding into my persona as Staz, Malakov’s right
hand thug is an old shoe.
According to my sketchy research, Alexander Malakov runs the biggest Russian
gang in Minneapolis, filling the void after Burke and I took down Somali warlord
Hassan Abdilhali some twenty years ago. According to Booker, Malakov’s also
recently declared war on the police department, hoping to carve out his own Little
Moscow in the North Loop.
I remember this part from past versions of my life—my 1994 Porsche 911 having
recently been a victim of this war.

And I know you’re wondering—past versions?
Again, wait for it. It’s worth it, I promise.
Alexander is vaping, and now sets down his cigarette. My guess is that it’s filled
with high end snow because he’s edgy and ticking with energy. I walk over and put a
hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”
“How did she get in here?” He directs the question to Vita, and I look at him,
expecting an answer, too.
“I don’t know. We found her in here rummaging around. Say’s she was lost, but I
don’t buy it.” Vita says.
Now I look at Frankie.
The sight of her makes me pinch the corners of my mouth and take a breath. Her
lip is bleeding, although that could be from a struggle. Frankie has it in her to cause
trouble, thanks to her parentage.
I know for a fact that Booker doesn’t know what she’s up to. But then again, she’s
in her mid-twenties and can make her own decisions.
If she were my daughter, I’d put a tracker on her.
Okay, not really, but the thought catches me, and I inhale sharply.
I had a daughter. Once upon a happier time. With blonde hair and blue eyes and
the kind of laughter that made me believe in things like hope, and faith, and love.
For the last month, I’ve tried to believe—to hope—that I could find her, save her,
bring her home. I haven’t succeeded.
Remember what I said about hope?

BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

CONNECT WITH REMBRANDT STONE: Website | Instagram

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James L. Rubart is 28 years old, but lives trapped inside an older man’s body. He’s the best-selling, Christy Hall of Fame author of ten novels and loves to send readers on mind-bending journeys they’ll remember months after they finish one of his stories. He’s dad to the two most outstanding sons on the planet and lives with his amazing wife on a small lake in eastern Washington. More at http://jameslrubart.com/

CONNECT WITH JAMES: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling, Christy and RITA award–winning author of more than eighty novels whose compelling plots and unforgettable characters have won acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. The mother of four grown children, and married to her real-life hero for over 30 years, she loves traveling and telling stories about life, adventure, and faith.

For exciting updates on her new releases, previous books, and more, visit her website at www.susanmaywarren.com.

CONNECT WITH SUSAN: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

David Curtis Warren is making his literary debut in these novels, and he’s never been more excited. He looks forward to creating more riveting stories with Susie and Jim, as well as on his own. He’s grateful for his co-writers, family, and faith, buoying him during the pandemic of 2020, and this writing and publishing process.

CONNECT WITH DAVID: Instagram

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive one The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone print copy (winner’s choice) and a $10 Amazon gift card!

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight November 29, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on December 6, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

He is holding me in his hands

I posted this to Instagram today and will write more on my blog later …

Bettie.. please pray for me.

This is the view outside my hospital room where I am battling Covid. I came in Thursday and am already doing so much better. Would love prayers that that trend continues. I was on a small amount of oxygen when I came in and am off that now. I have prayed this entire time to Jehovah Rapha, Jesus Christ, our healer, Yeshua, Elohim, Adonai. Hold fast to him and he will hold fast to you. He has been there when no one else could be. I have had to go this alone as no visitors are allowed but I can talk to family on FaceTime. God has been my strength and I have no one to hold on to but him. It brings a whole new meaning to him sustaining me completely and wholly. Not sure any of this will make sense. The brain fog is rough and the steroids make me jittery. God bless.
covidsucks #covid #battlingcovid #godisgood #godisgoodallthetime #jesusmyhealer #trustjesus

Randomly Thinking: My quipping 15-year old, my 7-year old is sending me texts, and purses.

I’ve been trying to finish one of these for a couple of months now. Something always seems to interrupt or distract me, though. So this might not be the most exciting randomly thinking ever, but at least I’m finally getting one done.

Recently my son and I have been watching videos for science and he likes to let me know subtly that they aren’t the best produced things every by pausing them and adlibbing.

“Look at that lion. He looks so depressed. He looks like his wife just left him.”

The women on the video then asked if the lion had a backbone so they could discuss what category the lion would be placed into.  

“No,” my son responded. “He doesn’t have a backbone. That’s probably why his wife left him.”

“That word sounds like a disease. Is it a disease?”

“Yes, he’s slimy he left the Denny’s without giving them a tip.”

Finally, he said, “I have to stop doing this or we’re never going to finish this video.”

Exactly. He was simply dragging his lesson out even more, so he finally stopped.

***

One night my son and I were watching a documentary about the various palaces the British monarchy live in. The first part of the series was about Buckingham Palace and among the many features the woman was talking about was a statue of a naked Mars and Venus. Before we knew it she was touching the bare right buttock and upper thigh of Venus and telling us how supple and soft it looks and how smooth it feels. She then pointed out a small space between the two statues and called that space a “erotic space.”

Needless to say, that documentary took a very weird turn.

At one point The Boy used his adlibbing again and said, while speaking like the female host, “When the queen sits on the throne, she just sucks the life force out of us. That’s how she stays alive and why I look so old. I’m actually 20.”

***

The other night my son said, “You know people who were born in the 90s are in their 30s now? That’s totally crazy.”

“Um…thanks for that reminder,” I said, my voice full of sarcasm. “Most of them are actually in their 20s, but okay. And I was born in the 70s you know.”

My daughter looked at me in horror. “You were born in the 70s?!!”

My son. “Yes, she is old.”

So, anyhow, if you want to be humbled, have children.

***

Have you ever thought maybe you should see what the other “theys” in the world think before you tell everyone you’re doing something because “they said I had to”? And maybe you should ask why some “theys” are censored and no longer experts while other “theys” are the only experts you’re allowed to listen to. How different the world might be right now if more people did that.

***

I’ve had to cut back on milk to try to lose some weight and I reminded my son of this as I had him pour me half a cup the other night.

He deepened his voice and added a gravelly rasp to it.

“I had to cut the milk. After that guy came after me and told me he wanted the money I’d taken off him and I didn’t remember it because you know — the milk – it messed with my mind.”

Then he had me in a milk anonymous meeting saying, in the same low voice, “My name is Lisa and I’m addicted to milk. It’s destroyed my life. Don’t start drinking it. It’s a slippery slope.”

***

At the end of last school year, I was worried Little Miss wasn’t going to learn to read. Now I get messages like this on my phone from her:

***

Little Miss and I are reading a book called Freedom Crossing for school. It is about the Underground Railroad. In the first chapter, the main character, a 15-year old girl, is hiding and listening while her brother and another young man talk about her. She finally steps out and tells the boys she has heard every word.

Little Miss and I agreed to continue the story the next day and then she announced, “Yeah, she’s probably going to kick them in their weak spot because all boys have a weak spot.” She grinned at me. “Right between the legs. That’s what I’d do. I would kick them because I’m feisty. I wouldn’t let anyone talk about me and what they think I’m going to do.”

Yes, we did have to have a little conversation about violence after that, especially since she has tried this tactic on her brother and now I know she’s doing it on purpose more times than she admits.

***

Run, don’t walk, to get a copy of all the books of the Rembrandt Stone series. I just finished the last book in the series and oh gosh. Wow. Blown away by the whole series. Cried like a baby while reading the final book not once, not twice, but three times. And I mean outright sobbed. I’m sure that had nothing to do with the fact I had a 102-degree fever and was completely exhausted. Okay, it might have had a little to do with that, but mainly it was because the ending hit all the spots a time travel/romantic suspense book should. I felt empty when I finished it. Lost even. How could I read anything else that captivated me the way those books did? I don’t know, but I’m sure I’ll eventually find something.

The books are by David James Warren.

***

I posted this on my Instagram earlier this week and thought I’d share it here too so my blog readers can’t let me know what they think too.

Ladies, tell me about your purses. I should probably explain that I am not really a “girly girl” so shoes and purses are not my usual thing to talk about but recently I purchased a purse that was small and cute and I thought I would love it. I haaaated it! I couldn’t fit all my stuff in it. Where was the space for my planner and my Kindle and maybe a paperback book? Not to mention my essential oils, bottle of ibuprofen for the days Aunt Flo shows up out of the blue, and a pocket for snacks for the kids because they didn’t eat their breakfast when I told them to and now we’re out somewhere and they are “hangry”. In other words, I didn’t need a purse I needed a bag. Yes, a big bag to apparently put everything but the kitchen sink in and carry around on my shoulder so that I pinch that nerve in my neck yet again and have to find a chiropractor, yet again.

How about you?

Do you like small, cute purses that are unassuming and you can carry to your dinner date without knocking ten people out on the way to your seat? Or do you need a “bag” that you can fit everything important in? Or do you have more than one purse that you switch back and forth? Maybe you’re much fancier when it comes to purses than I am.

***

Well, those are my random thoughts for this time around. Do you have anything random that happened to you or a random thought? Let me know in the comments.

Book Review: Songs in the Storm. A story of love, trust, and triumph over trials

Book: Songs in the Storm

Author: Kathy Geary Anderson

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

My rating: 5 out of 5

Songs in the Storm is a moving story about a newly married couple struggling with a difficult diagnosis for the husband. The story walks the reader through the ups and downs, triumphs, and trials in an emotional way.

The characters of this book are so well written that I immediately fell in love with them and wanted to be sure their lives turned out okay. Yes, there was some heartbreak for both of the main characters, but they walked through the heartbreak together. This isn’t a book where the book shows the main characters meeting and falling in love. They are already in love when the book begins but their happiness is threatened when a medical tragedy strikes.

The reader is pulled into Anderson’s story through the vivid characters but also through vivid details which capture the atmosphere of the time period.

I’m not someone who reads a ton of historical fiction, but I have read some, and the books in this genre which capture my interest the most are those which immerse me in the time period they are set in. Anderson did this in such a flawless way and none of the information about the time frame or the characters seemed forced or awkward.

Be prepared to feel a range of emotions in this book but don’t let that deter you because underlying beneath it all is a comforting, sweet buzz of hope that only God can bring even in the moments we think he has left us.

I was provided with a  complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sunday Bookends: Rembrandt Stone and a short update

Welcome to Sunday Bookends where I ramble about what I’m reading, watching, listening to and doing.

What I’m Reading

This past week I ended up skimming through a couple of the books I volunteered to read for book review tours. The one just was not good, the other one was good but just not my type of book.

Two books I read in the last couple of weeks that I enjoyed included:

A Convenient Risk by Sara Turnquist and Songs of the Storm by Kathy Geary Anderson.

Both books are historical fiction, which I don’t usually read.

I am reading another historical fiction, Saving Mrs. Roosevelt, by Candace Sue Patterson, for another book tour.

I am reading the last book in the Rembrandt Stone Series, Heart of Stone, for a book tour and for fun. I’d like to breeze right through it, but I’m also enjoying savoring it and don’t want the series to end. I’m having a hard time going to bed when I get into it, though, because I really need to know what happens and that it turns out okay. I might have it finished in the next couple of days as it is a fairly short, quick read.

Rembrandt Stone is a detective who comes into possession of a watch that takes him back in time to solve cold cases, but as he works to solve his cold cases he also tries to fix some other situations, resulting in a messed up timeline and his entire world being turned upside down. Even if you aren’t a fan of science fiction, you will like these books, I promise you. If you like suspense, intrigue, and romance, then you will really love these books.

Little Miss and I finished These Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder last week and started The First Four Years. I hope to finish Blood Brothers this week, which I have been reading with The Boy. It is about a Christian Palestinian and the challenges he faces as a child, as well as how he has fought for peace and reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians for more than 50 years.

What I’m Watching

This past week I have been watching Irish R.M. with Peter Bowles. I had previously watched To the Manor Born with him, so I thought I’d check this one out as well and now I’m caught up in it. I guess you would describe it as a lighthearted comedy without laugh tracks. The characters are endearing and hilarious, especially the Irish who the main character (Major Sinclair Yeates) has come to be the magistrate for. Flurry is devious, but the charming character who is always getting the main character, the Major, in trouble either locally or with visitors.

In fact, most of the people of the town are usually trying to trick the magistrate in one way or another which makes for hilarious developments during each episode.

This show was very popular in the UK when it was on and apparently ran for a number of years.

What’s Been Occurring

We literally have been doing school and that’s about it. If anything exciting or halfway interesting happens, I’ll be sure to let you know in a future blog post.

What I’ve Been Listening To

I finally set up a playlist on my phone that features some of my favorite songs.

I thought I’d share a few of those today.

So that is my small update for today. How was your week last week? Let me know in the comments.