Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 98

Is God Enough?

“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

1 Samuel 1:8, NLT*

In a culture that measured a woman’s worth by her fertility, Hannah was barren—and her husband’s other wife twisted that knife as often as possible.

This verse always made me want to smack Elkanah. He loved Hannah, but how could he be so clueless? How could he not understand the pain of Hannah’s lon...

Review: Sidetracked, by Brandilyn Collins

Sidetracked, by Brandilyn Collins (Challow Press, 2014)

Life looks like it’s finally coming together for 30-something Delanie Miller. She’s living in a nice Kentucky town, she has friends and her boyfriend is giving signals that he’s ready to propose. With no family of her own, Delanie has assembled one by inviting a few other loners to share her home.

When a friend is murdered, Delanie has to find the truth—or an innocent man will go to jail. That’s something she absolutely can’t allow. Even i...

Guest Post: My Identity is Broken

My Identity is Broken
By Jessica Everingham

Insignificance. Failure.

Few words chill me like those two. I hate them even more than doing my taxes.

Why?

I’ll tell you, though I know this story won’t put me in the best light.

I’ve always enjoyed that there was something a little different about me. In school, it was simply that I was bright and everything came easily. After school, it was my job as a journalist. Everyone thought that was interesting.

Now I’m a boarding school mistress and aspiring aut...

How to Thrive

But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.

I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.

Psalm 52:8, NLT*

What’s the context of this psalm? David is warning an enemy that the man will get what’s coming from God for his evil deeds. Not in the sense of retaliation, but cause and effect: Doeg’s crimes will meet justice.

David isn’t sound bitter about the betrayal—if he were, he wouldn’t be thriving in God’s presence. Instead, David is trusting in God’s unfailing love to care for him.

W...

Review: Stella’s Plea, by R A Giggie

Stella’s Plea, by R A Giggie (Amazon Digital Services, 2012)

A Canadian Forces wife whose husband is deployed overseas, Stella Brigg’s life wraps around their three-year-old daughter, Alexis.

One clear autumn day, the unthinkable happens. Alexis disappears from the local playground, with no witnesses.

Stella had only turned her back for a minute, but now she’s full of self-reproach—and full of blame for her friend, Joni, who suggested the park play date.

Alexis has no fear of strangers, which hel...

Character interview: Pam Lake

Pam Lake is the heroine in the newest novel inThe Women of Valley View series by Sharon Srock. Pam’s story releases this month.

Janet: Pam, thanks for visiting us today. It sounds like you have a great group of friends in Valley View. You’ve given your support to Callie and Terri in their stories, but how does it feel to be in the spotlight yourself?

Pam: Janet, thanks for having me. Being in the spotlight is not something I would have chosen for myself. It was tough to share the secrets of my...

What if We Believed God?

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:9, NLT*

I have the privilege of reading the children’s story at church on Sundays. For Easter, I chose one from Violet Nesdoly’s site, Bible Drive-Thru, and in hindsight I shouldn’t have been surprised that Violet’s words would teach me too.

Her story explained how Jesus had warned the disciples that He would die and be resurrected, but when the women came...

Review: On the Pineapple Express, by H. L. Wegley

On the Pineapple Express, by H. L. Wegley (Harbourlight Books, Pelican Book Group, 2014)

You’d think monitoring messages in a rural part of coastal Washington State would be safe, even boring. But Jennifer Akihara has intercepted a coded message about a human trafficking ring selling teen girls—or younger—from the US to offshore bidders. She has to act. Now.

Jennifer’s contact with the FBI needs more proof before he can mobilize a team. That makes Jennifer and her fiancé, Lee Brandt, the team o...

Proof that Jesus Loves Me

Good Friday is a difficult day. How do you balance the ultimate, willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ to save us all: His pain against our rich benefit?

One thing I know: Good Friday proves His love for me. For you. For us all.

Let this song from the David Crowder*Band bless you: Shadows.Take in the words: “When all seems lost, remember the cost. Rest in the shadow of the Cross.” [paraphrased]

Overloaded

“I’ve been working my heart out for the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,” said Elijah. “The people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed the places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”
1 Kings 19:10, MSG*

Elijah’s conversation with God comes after my favourite of his exploits, when he taunted the prophets of Baal in a public showdown. (You can read that story in 1 Kings 18.)

That event may be the pinnacle of Elijah’s career. And...