Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 83
March 30, 2015
Review: Feed Your Spirit, by Kimberley J. Payne
Feed Your Spirit, by Kimberley J. Payne (Kimberley Payne, 2014)
Feed Your Spirit is a short collection of devotionals on prayer. Each opens with a Scripture passage, and closes with a quote on prayer. Each devotional is longer than your standard brief daily reading, and explores an aspect of prayer.
One that I most appreciated was the PATH method of prayer (Praise, Admit, Thanksgiving and Help). Topics also cover prayer walking, gratitude, hearing from God, and the question of “what if God’s...
March 27, 2015
There’s Always Something New to Learn
I have the privilege of writing and recording five devotionals for HopeStreamRadio each week. I have been working my way through the book of John, my favourite gospel. And although I’ve read it many times before, I am still amazed by new discoveries—and rediscoveries.
The following are among those things that stood out to me as I worked on the series I call “If You Love Me”:
I was reminded just how impetuous and impulsive Peter was—a...
March 25, 2015
More than a Miracle-Worker
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”
And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.”
Luke 18:41b-42, NLT*
On the way to Jericho, Jesus responds to a blind beggar’s plea. I love this story, and the man’s cry, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38, NLT*) can become our own in times of distress. It’s one of the variations of the Jesus Prayer.
Jesus’ approach is different in this brief encounter. (It’s only 9 verses; take time to read it here: Luke 18:35-...
March 23, 2015
Review: Dandelions for Dinner, by Valerie Comer
Dandelions for Dinner, by Valerie Comer (GreenWords Media, 2014)
Green Acres Farm began with three friends, all single women, who wanted to get out of the city and practice sustainable living. In Dandelions for Dinner, newcomer Allison Hart joins the growing community on the farm.
Allison is a reserved person, and she finds it a challenge living in a communal environment. Eventually she’ll have her own house and farm school, but for now she’s living with one of the other women. And all the fa...
March 20, 2015
Historical Novelist Christine Lindsay
Christine Lindsay’s tag line is “Giving hope and strengthening faith,” which she does through richly-written historical fiction and a contemporary romance novella, Londonderry Dreaming. Her most recent release is Veiled at Midnight, a novel filled with historical drama and with timeless human struggles. Read on…
Janet: Welcome, Christine, and thanks for taking time to join us. Your book Captured by Moonlight was the 2014 winner of Canada’s The Word Guild Award for historical. Did you enter y...
March 18, 2015
Receiving Like a Child
I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.
Luke 18:17, NLT*
Have you watched a child receive a gift lately?
If this is an emotionally healthy child, raised with love and care, there’s no doubting, no hanging back. (How many of us as adults stop and ask, “Are you sure?” or say “You shouldn’t have.”)
The child’s eyes light up. If she’s young enough, she likely squeals or bounces up and down. Older, learning the restraint that snares m...
March 15, 2015
Book Giveaway: Clean Indie Reads
The Clean Indie Reads group is giving away over 40ebooks! One winner gets them all, and will be well-stocked for reading for the next little while 
You can enter at each stop on this blog hop, and the more times you fill out the form, the more chances you’ll have.
My contribution to the Grand Prize is a copy of my Christian romantic suspense novel,Secrets and Lies.
Carol Daniels thinks she out-ran her enemies, until a detective arrives at her door with a warning from her convict brother. Mi...
March 13, 2015
Suspense Author Amy C. Blake
Amy C. Blake joins us today to talk about her newest novel, Whitewashed. Amy is a pastor’s wife, writer, and homeschooling mother of four. She writes juvenile fantasy and new adult suspense.
Janet: Welcome, Amy, and thanks for taking time to join us. Your novels feature homeschooled characters, although they’re written for everyone. I think it’s a great way for people outside the homeschooling movement to find out what it’s like. Would you tell us a bit about Whitewashed?
Amy: Thanks for host...
March 11, 2015
Squandering the Inheritance
All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!
Luke 15:29-30, NLT*
Can’t you hear the bitterness in the older brother’s voice as he accuses his father? (If you’re unfamiliar with the story of the prodigal son, you can read it here: Luk...
March 9, 2015
Review: Legion: Skin Deep, by Brandon Sanderson
Legion: Skin Deep, by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment, 2014)
This is the second Legion novella, and I’m really enjoying the series. It’s an intriguing concept: what if an everyday-boring-normal guy is actually brilliant, but only because of his mental illness?
Doctors can’t quite label Stephen Leeds’ condition, but they think it’s a form of schizophrenia. Steve sees a host of imaginary characters called aspects. Each one is an aspect of his own personality, and each one is “unhinge...
