Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 106

Grace, Mercy and Peace

I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.
1 Timothy 1:2, NLT*

Paul begins most of his letters with a variant of these words, before getting into the meat of what he has to say. I always thought it was an overall blessing, kind of a loving way to say “hello”.

What if it’s more than that? His letters are very specific in terms of teaching and instruction. He doesn’t seem the type to open with generic fluff.

Toda...

Review: Sandwich, With a Side of Romance

Sandwich, With a Side of Romance, by Krista Phillips (Abingdon Press, 2012)

Maddie arrives in the town of Sandwich with a single, burning goal: to set up a stable home so she can get her younger brother out of foster care. Problem one: she loses her job on the first day. Problem two: she wasn’t a model child during her own foster care days, and the couple who have Kyle right now want to keep him.

She’s desperate enough to confront the man who cost her the job and convince him to hire her. Her n...

Heaven’s Prey: the supporting cast

The past few Fridays you’ve met the key characters from Heaven’s Prey: Ruth Warner (the woman in peril), Tony Warner (the frantic husband), and Harry Silver (the villain). Today I thought it would be interesting to get the reactions of some of the other people affected by this story:

Carol Silver Daniels: (Harry’s sister and only living relative)

We shared the same parents, but after what he did, I have no brother. He killed one of those young women here in Calgary, while he was visiting us. W...

To Know God

I will be faithful to you and make you mine,

and you will finally know me as the Lord.
Hosea 2:20, NLT* (emphasis mine)

My readings for the past few months have been in the Old Testament. In Daniel I picked up on how it’s the people who know God who will resist the evil leader’s flattery. (See Why We Need to Know God) Then I moved to Ezekiel, which is filled with “then they/you will know that I am God”.

Next stop: Hosea. What did I see today when I turned the page? The verse above, already marke...

Review: Messages, by John Michael Hileman

Messages, by John Michael Hileman (Amlin Publishing, 2011)

David Chance is a journalism intern with the news team for a Boston television station. He’s an ordinary guy, married with two kids. One day he starts noticing random words and stringing them into messages. Messages that tell the future or that tell him what to do next.

Who’s sending them? David’s dead brother-in-law? God? Or David’s own mind?

All he knows is, the messages are true. And they’ve thrust him into a terrorist bomb plot.

Why h...

Heaven’s Prey: the villain

Dressed in prison drab, Harry Silver lounges in his chair in the visiting room. His dark hair could use a trim. He pins you with mocking blue eyes. He speaks:

Understand one thing. If this were real, I wouldn’t be talking to you. Period. Some tabloid journalist came once, and I was bored enough to see him. Wanted the inside scoop on what I’d done, what it felt like … [Harry's lip curls] Your nice little Christian blogger here wouldn’t dare print the language I used to tell him off.

[He scans th...

God and Time Management

My times are in your hands;

deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
Psalm 31:15, NIV*

The most important thing I learned in university had nothing to do with my field of study. I learned, through experience, that when the deadlines loomed and there was more to do than time to do it, I could ask God to help.

Our God is outside of time. He made time. We live in it, and He gives us enough to do what He has for us to do. I remember one specific time in university, praying...

Review: How the Light Gets In, by Louise Penny

How the Light Gets In, by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books, 2013)

Author Louise Penny has woven a masterpiece of characters, plot and evocative description in her latest mystery. How the Light Gets In traces the investigation of an elderly woman’s murder while at the same time continuing a plot thread that’s been building from the series beginning.

You could jump into the series here and understand this book, but you’d miss so much of the larger story that’s been building around Inspector Gamache a...

Heaven’s Prey: the frantic husband

Tony Warner is married to Ruth from Heaven’s Prey. I don’t have a picture of him to share, but he’s average height, a bit on the cuddly side weight-wise, with sandy hair and beard, and he wears glasses.

Tony quirks an eyebrow, shrugs at you and starts talking:

“Cuddly side”? I suppose that beats “chunky.” Hey, is it my fault my wife’s an amazing cook? Not that she did a lot of it after we lost Susan, our niece. We lived on takeout for months.

I thought I was going to lose Ruth, too. She was drow...

Introducing Tony Warner from Heaven’s Prey

Tony Warner is married to Ruth from Heaven’s Prey. I don’t have a picture of him to share, but he’s average height, a bit on the cuddly side weight-wise, with sandy hair and beard, and he wears glasses.

Tony quirks an eyebrow, shrugs at you and starts talking:

“Cuddly side”? I suppose that beats “chunky.” Hey, is it my fault my wife’s an amazing cook? Not that she did a lot of it after we lost Susan, our niece. We lived on takeout for months.

I thought I was going to lose Ruth, too. She was drow...