Stephanie Landsem's Blog, page 11

Walk In Her Sandals: Meet Zilpah

The Dead Christ, Philippe de Champaigne, via Wikimedia Commons

Zilpah is Anah’s grandmother and the mother of Miriam. Although she is ancient, she sees much: Anah’s pain of childlessness, Miriam’s worry for her sons, Huldah’s loyalty, and even Veronica’s fear of her husband. As Holy Saturday dawns amid despair and grief, it is Zilpah who remembers God’s faithfulness through all the long years of her life. Now—when it seems that there is no hope left—it is she who reminds her family to pray an...

Walk In Her Sandals: Meet Veronica

El Greco, St. Veronica Holding the Veil (Wikimedia)

Veronica is not mentioned in the Bible, but in the tradition of the Church she is a woman who was moved with compassion on seeing Jesus carrying his cross through the streets of Jerusalem, and offered her veil to wipe his blood-covered face. Jesus then gave her his image, impressed upon the cloth of her veil. The story of St. Veronica is celebrated in the sixth Station of the Cross in many Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, and Western...

Walk In Her Sandals: Meet Huldah

James Tissot via Wikimedia Commons, showing Jesus and the disciples as they most likely ate, reclining on couches

Huldah is many things: A friend, a mother, a mother-in-law, a widow and a simple soul. She lives with her son, Ephraim and his wife Anah, doing the small tasks of her station in life with great love. Huldah’s generous heart goes out to her friend Miriam, who is caught between her two sons—James, who believes in Jesus, and Joses, who does not. Huldah offers to help James with the...

Walk In Her Sandals: Meet Anah

Duccio [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Anah is the first ‘daughter of Jerusalem’ we encounter in Walk In Her Sandals. She is a young married Jewish woman, praying fervently for a child. In Anah’s time and culture, children were seen as it was a sign of God’s favor and childlessness a sign that you had displeased God—or even a punishment for sin. Children were so important to a marriage that a Jewish man was permitted to divorce his wife if she proved barren. Although Anah’s husband, Ep...

Looking Forward To Lent

The Living Water Series (click to order)

 

I look forward to Lent. After the excitement, busyness, and sometimes overindulgence of Christmas, the coming of Lent promises something that is sorely needed in my life: 40 days in the desert with Jesus.

Lent is a time for quiet, prayer, fasting, and a refocus. A time to ready ourselves for the coming mystery and joy of The Resurrection.

I try to do three things every Lent:

Give something up: it doesn’t have to be something big (like coffee) but so...

Something to Read for Christmas

I’ve always loved this simple formula for gift-giving. With all the pressures of Christmas decorating, cooking, and activities,finding the perfect gift can seem overwhelming.

So if you’re looking to fulfill the “Something to Read” part of this formula, here’s a list of suggestions might help. This is by no means comprehensive, but aquick overview of a few books that I loved this year. It shouldn’t be a big surprise that my list is heavy on historical fiction and light on non-fiction. So if y...

Are You Ready to Walk In Her Sandals?

“What if you could have been a witness to the events of the last days of Jesus’ life–walking with him as he entered Jerusalem, observing his crucifixion, and embracing him on Easter? What would you have thought and done? How would you have been changed?”

Click on the picture to order Walk In Her Sandals

Today is the release day for Walk In Her Sandals, Experiencing Christ’s Passion through the Eyes of Women, a book inspired by the Holy Spirit, written by women, for women, and about women. It...

If you liked THE THIEF You’ll Love RISEN

I’m not a movie critic, but I do love movies. Meaning, I lovegood movies with real plots, realistic characters, believable dialogue, and historical accuracy. In the past few years, some of the Christian and biblical filmsthat have come out around Easter have promised much, but left me disappointed, or worse, embarrassed that they have the label “Christian.”

RISEN is not one of those movies. This is a good one. In fact, I’d say it’s great.

RISENisn’t a movie for those who believe in the ris...

#HistoricalFictionWeek Giveaway of Outlander and my recent historical obsessions

This past week was historical fiction week on Goodreads, which got me thinking about my favorite historical novels, which led me to think also of my favorite historical binge-watches on Netflix . . . So whether you love to cozy up with a good book or settle down with the remote, here’s some great historical story-telling I’ve found. I’d love for you to return the favor and tell me some of your favorites in the comments below.

Don’t forget to scroll down and enter the weekend giveaway of a cop...

The Tomb, A Novel of Martha, Blog Tour Giveaway

The Tomb, A Novel of Martha Blog Tour is a two-week long event celebrating the release of the third and final book in The Living Water Series. From March 17th through April 1st, some of my favoritebloggers will be reviewing The Tomb, posting interviews with me, and sharing Martha’s favorite recipes. Many of the blogs will be giving away copies of The Tomb, A Novel of Martha, to commenters so make sure to visit them and add a comment.

1st Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card 2nd Prize: $50...