Sarah Holman's Blog, page 44

Work, Work, and... some highlights.

I'll admit, I'm tired. Working five days out of the week and having something going almost every Saturday and Sunday is wearing me down. I've never had the energy that most people have. Working full time outside the home is a strain on me physically. However, God is sustaining me. So here is a little of what I've been up to.

See that? It's a peach blossom. We've had Robins and peach blossoms around our place for the last two weeks. Spring is on the way!


Both of these photos show my work at the thrift store. The top photo is of the now organized bins that hold sorted books. My work at the thrift store is winding down, but I have enjoyed it.
This Sunday, I was honored to get to go with Rose to the bridal shower of our friend Hannah. She is about to marry and move to Oklahoma. It was a blessing to get to celebrate with her and 

A Week of Audiobooks

This week, I worked hard and I was very blessed to be able to listen to some audiobooks.

   
Okay, I only listened to three of these. I ended up not finishing Flirtation Walk. You can click on each of the images to read my review of each.

So, one of my friends and I are reading classics together. This is the first book that I'm finding truly challenging.

Yes, a Bronte book. I haven't read one and Kelsey wanted us to read this one. I admit, the opening has me a bit confused. However, I'm looking forward to reading a book by this celebrated author.
I plan to finish these two books:
I'm currently listening to two different audiobooks, as one is very serious and one is lighter:
What are you reading?

All new Adventure Between the Pages

I'm not writing a many book reviews. It is something that I love to do, but I knew that I wouldn't have time for for the next couple of months. So, instead of book reviews, for now I will share what I have been reading.

Thanks to a Valentine's Day offer, I have a month of Audiable romance package for free. This means I can listen to a bunch of audiobook for free. I'm using this time to listen some books that have been on my to-read list for a while. I started with The Lost Heiress by Roseanna White.
There was a lot of hype when this book out. The last book that I read because of the hype was a huge disspointmeant. High expectations can ruin a book. This book lived up to all the hype. It is one of the only books I have read where I really understood why two characters didn't talke about their feelings sooner. White did a wonderful job capturing the emotions. I admit, I thought one kissing scene was a bit much, but as it wasn't the major part of the book, I can easily overlook that flaw.
I am now listening to: Honestly, this one isn't my favorte so far of Sarah Ladd. A lot of "I'm not sure why I'm drawn to you but..." *rolls eyes*. However, I love the narrator.
Next on my to-listen list: Which do you think that I should listen to?
Other books I am reading: Both of these are rather unimpressive books so far... but we shall see if my opinon changes.
What are you reading?

Another Week

As I haven't been posting as much, I thought I might catch you up on what I have been up to.


This is the books section of the thrift store I'm working at two days a week right now. My job is to organize these and boost sales. I wish I had taken a picture before I started working on them. 


I was able to spend the weekend with Michelle. She cooked some amazing food, we watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, and talked a lot.

 Before I headed home from my visit. I was able to have lunch with Michelle's sister, Lea. That was a wonderful time of fellowship.

 Valentine's day came! These roses and deck of cards were from my sister, Mikayla. She put something she loved about me on each card.

 All my lovely single siblings were home on valentines! We hung out, ate sugar, and watched a movie together!

Friday, I had work, and then a meeting, but Mikayla tagged along and we had lunch together and tried on some stuff at Cato. Yeah, I came away with a lace skirt and a denim one on my wishlist.
What have you been up to?

Hope is Rising

Last Sunday, I sat in church with Josh and Michelle Isaacs. I was missing my home church of Hutto Bible but knew Sugar Creek Baptist was a place the Bible was taught. The sermon was on dealing with stress. Together the church quoted Isiah 40:30-31.

Even youths grow tired and weary,    and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord    will renew their strength.They will soar on wings like eagles;    they will run and not grow weary,    they will walk and not be faint.
These verses are ones I've had memorized for years. I even sing them. (GT and the Halo Express anyone?) However, as I said the words with a couple thousand people at Sugar Creek Baptist, I knew this was what my heart had been craving.
I've been pretty open that 2017 was a tough year that left me with a lot of wounds. Some people have commented that the tone of my blog is different and I've seemed sadder. Well, it's true. The last few months have been a struggle. Not only was I trying to heal, but I was also facing some new challenges within my own heart. Two weeks ago, I realized that I needed to do what normally needs to be done: surrender my dreams once again into the loving hands of Jesus and find contentment. I shed some tears, changed the way I was doing some things, and let go.
This week, while my schedule has been crazy, I've felt peace. This Sunday, as I walked in the woods, I realized that my strength had been renewed. I've been waiting, clinging to Jesus for my strength because I felt so broken and weak. Now, my strength has been renewed.I walk into Hutto Bible and don't wish I could melt into the floor when people start talking to me. Women's Bible study on Wednesday isn't as daunting as it had been. (Being around large groups of people has been hard, couldn't you tell?)I'm enjoying both my jobs right now. While I'm missing my writing time, I know that I will get back to it soon.I'm talking more about the future than the past.The pain that seemed to be constant over the last year is finally easing and even gone for so many things.I've changed. I'm not the same person I was. God is still using my experiences to shape me more into the woman He wants me to be. He is cultivating humility, dependence, and many other things. This week, I have felt that renewal strongly, the wind beneath my wings helping me to rise once again. Hope and strength are rising within because Jesus is my home and strength. 
What has God been doing in your heart this week?

I Get it Now

I still remember it so vividly. I was twenty, and I was sitting with a group of girls who were in their late teens and early twenties. They were struggling with singleness, wondering when Mr. Right would show up. They sounded so desperate, trying to figure out how to get guys to notice in a godly way.

Inwardly, I was laughing.

I might have been only twenty, but I knew that it wasn’t likely that any of them would marry right out high school. I knew that most girls don’t marry before twenty-five. I wasn’t ready to get married myself I always said that I wouldn’t even consider getting married until I was twenty-five. I had too much to do, and too much of life to figure out. However, I was not without compassion for these girls. Their whole focus was on becoming wives and mommies, something they couldn’t do without a guy. I tried to tell them (though I don’t think I did it well) that God created us for a purpose. That purpose didn’t start when I guy came along.

A few years ago, when I was about twenty-four, I got into an online discussion about how hard Valentine’s Day was. Grateful they couldn’t see me, I rolled my eyes. I then, in more compassionate words then I felt, talked about focusing on the good works God has set before us. We could live courageously because we know that God has a wonderful plan for our lives. I didn’t add that I thought these were being a bit dramatic and focusing on the wrong things.

Well, If you don’t remember my age, I’m twenty-seven, almost twenty-eight. My twenty-fifth year is almost three years behind me. In January, I came face to face with some things that until then I had dismissed as being far in the future.

• The ‘what if you don’t get married?’ question was always dismissed so quickly for years. At twenty-seven, approaching twenty-eight, it is harder to dismiss.

• My family won’t stay the same. My siblings will get married, my parents won’t always be around, and everyone continues to grow up.

• The ache to have a family has become very real and strong at times.

I get it now

All those times girls came to me, and I either gave little help or wasn’t as compassionate as I should have been, I’m sorry. I just didn’t get it. I just didn’t understand, but now I do. I’ve felt the ache that watching your close friends marry and start families while your left hand and womb remain empty. In the last three months, I’ve cried those tears of the pain singleness that I had only watched others shed before. I’ve handed a toddler back to their mother, and my arms have physically ached for the emptiness for a child to fill them. I get it now.

Yet, in the midst of my understanding, I also know that I have been reminded of these truths:

• God hasn’t changed. Just because I’m experiencing a new ache, doesn’t mean he has stopped holding the future.

• Jesus sees all my tears, and He is there for me in the midst of my pain. He has wonderful plans for me, even if they aren’t what I hope for.

• It is normal to want and even ache for a family of our own. God built that desire into us. There will be times when that ache is strong. It is okay to feel it, to cry, and even to seek friends to help us stay strong. We should never comprise God’s standards or our own to seek a solution to dull that ache (look at Sarah’s story in the Bible. My namesake went around getting a kid the wrong way).

This is my Valentine’s Day message to each of you:

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NIV

The Vintage Jane Austen Valentine's Day Sale

Yeah, we are having a big sale!!!
Check out our post on the website
Also, you can buy all of them with one easy click HERE

Presumption and Partiality by Rebekah Jones

Find it on: Goodreads | Kindle | Paperback
Description: Among the cotton fields and farmland of Gilbert, Arizona in the early years of the Great Depression, Mr. and Mrs. Bailey live a simple, but happy life with their five daughters on a cotton farm. When the wealthy Richard Buchanan moves to town, bringing his family, a friend, and a desire to learn about cotton, Matilda Bailey is convinced that he is the perfect candidate to marry her eldest daughter, Alice. 

Richard is cheerful, friendly, and likable. His friend Sidney Dennison doesn’t make such a good impression. Eloise Bailey decides he’s arrogant and self-conceited, but when Raymond Wolfe comes to town, accusing Sidney of dishonorable and treacherous conduct, Eloise is angered at the injustice of the situation. 

When the Buchanan household leaves town, Alice must turn to the Lord and face, perhaps, her most difficult test in trust, while Eloise takes a trip to visit her friend and may well discover a web of deceit that she doesn’t really want to believe exists.

With this book, this series is drawn to a close. That would be sad, but it is hard to be sad when the final book is so amazing. I think that those who might worry that the final book might not live up to their expectations can stop worrying because this was amazing.

Jones did an amazing job weaving Jane Austen's original stories into farm life in Arizona. I think out of the whole series, this had to be the most creative setting. The farm life fit the story so well and gave it so much depth.

I was blown away with some of the faith and moral elements that were seamlessly woven into the story without ever feeling preachy. I especially loved how Alice (Jane) had feelings for Richard (Mr. Bingley), but still worked to guard her heart. So many books make either it all about feelings or make it sound like you shouldn't have feelings at all. I appreciated that Alice had feelings, but didn't let them get out of hand.

Eloise was a wonderful leading lady with just the right balance of faith, spunk, and lady-likeness. I loved her and felt a kinship with her, as I suspect many girls will. She makes some rash judgments but learns from her mistakes. Above all, she goes to God for help.

Sidney Dennison (Darcy) was also very well done. At first, I wasn't sure about how he as an Indian was going to work, but in the end, I couldn't have thought of anything better. I like the depth of character and his faith.

Two major changes were made from the original story. The first was the interaction of the parents. While Mrs. Bailey is given to headaches, complaining, and matchmaking, her husband is loving and her daughters respectful. This was a beautiful change that was inspiring. The second was how the story ended. While the story’s actual ending didn’t change all that dramatically it was just...so much more satisfying. I can’t say any more because I don't want to give it away.

Overall, this was a beautiful retelling and a fitting end to the series. I highly recommend it to those who have loved the other books in the series, enjoy Jane Austen retellings or those who love books with strong faith messages.

Two Jobs, One Source of Joy

There will probably be fewer writing updates here for a while because I took a job. Actually, I will be working two jobs that aren't writing. I'm going to be working three mornings a week helping with a dear elderly woman, and the other will be a few hours each week helping with sorting and shelving the incoming books at a thrift store. While I'm excited about these new opportunities that God is bringing my way, it is hard to see all that writing time dissolving.

While there are some hard things about how life is changing, I'm so excited right now. I see God healing the wounds from 2017 in some powerful ways. One of my prayers right now (as I mentioned in Sunday's blog post) is that I would live with my hands open. If I have learned one thing it is that I need not cling to things or people to tightly as if they were mine. I also shouldn't hold my fists closed because I don't want my life to change. I'm striving toward the goal of living with my hands open both for giving and receiving.

I talked late last year about everyday joy. Today, I'm thinking about it again. I was blown away by God's goodness, but juggling all the pieces of my schedule has stressed me. Yet, I had to remind myself what a blessing all these jobs are. I'm getting two jobs that have flexibility and will still allow me the time to work on my writing. The money I'm making will help pay for my upcoming trip to Colorado, my normal bills, and the editing and cover designs for my summer releases. Isn't that something to be joyful about?

In the midst of the changes, I will choose to look to God as my source of joy.

Three Jobs, One Source of Joy

There will probably be fewer writing updates here for a while because I took a job. Actually, I will be working two jobs that aren't writing. I'm going to be working three mornings a week helping with a dear elderly woman, and the other will be a few hours each week helping with sorting and shelving the incoming books at a thrift store. While I'm excited about these new opportunities that God is bringing my way, it is hard to see all that writing time dissolving.

While there are some hard things about how life is changing, I'm so excited right now. I see God healing the wounds from 2017 in some powerful ways. One of my prayers right now (as I mentioned in Sunday's blog post) is that I would live with my hands open. If I have learned one thing is that I need not cling to things or people to tightly as if they were mine. I also shouldn't hold my fists closed because I don't want my life to change. I'm striving toward the goal of living with my hands open both for giving and receiving.

I talked late last year about everyday joy. Today, I'm thinking about it again. I was blown away by God's goodness, but juggling all the pieces of my schedule has stressed me. Yet, I had to remind myself what a blessing all these jobs are. I'm getting two jobs have flexibility and will still allow me the time to work on my writing. The money I'm making will help pay for my upcoming trip to Colorado, my normal bills, and the editing and cover designs for my summer releases. Isn't that something to be joyful about?

In the midst of the changes, I will choose to look to God as my source of joy.