Cara C. Putman's Blog, page 94

Review: Dating Like Airplanes: an invitation to soar

As the parent of one teenager and three more who will become teenagers, I’m always looking for tools to help as we coach our kids through dating/courting/finding a spouse. In Dating like Airplanes, Caleb Breakey issues an invitation to do dating differently. He honestly talks about how hard it can be to know how to do relationships the right way, in a God-honoring way. After walking through Scriptures, he challenges his readers to go into relationships with a purpose. Know why you’re in it. What do you hope to gain or learn from it?

This resonated with me. When my husband and I decided to move from being friends to dating/courting, we went into that season with the intention/purpose of deciding whether we would get married. Everything about our time together pointed to that. We even had a checklist of experiences we felt we needed to have as we walked that path. It gave clear purpose to what we were doing together  and where we were headed.

The focus of Dating like Airplanes is to show people how they can have a relationship that focuses on living the Golden Rule toward others, of living a lifestyle of giving and purity. In real terms, he suggests how to create an environment in your relationship that supports purity. He also explains how to celebrate your differences and take steps to become the person your future spouse will need. Sandwiched in between the chapters are vignettes from many others about their relationships, both what they did well and what they would avoid in the future.

This is a very approachable book. One that can serve as a big brother coming alongside with some helpful advice and perspective. You can read the first chapter here.

3 Steps to Sharing Your God-Sized Dream Story

I am a story girl. I love to learn about the ways God has moved in other people’s lives. That often comes through story. In fact, one of the classes I’m taking right now has reinforced just how much of a story girl I am. In this class we have a standard textbook, but we also had to read a novel. In operations management? Yep, that was my reaction. But the novel made the concepts from the textbook come to life.

That happens when we share our stories.

In our stories, the movement of God comes into colored relief. In chapter ten of You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream, Holley Gerth shares several stories from ordinary people about how their crazy, God-sized dreams have come to life. As she says, “there’s no way to do your God-sized dream perfectly, but there are a million ways to do it well.”

I need to hear that. Maybe you do, too. And maybe you feel intimidated about sharing your story. Maybe your dream doesn’t seem big enough. Real enough. Don’t accept that lie. Somebody needs to hear your story of your faith journey.

So how do you share it? Here are a few tips.

1) Stop and look back. You can’t share what you don’t remember. That takes intentionality on your part. A determination to look back and see how God has moved through you. To remember the times you’ve partnered with Him to see a dream — no matter the size — come to life.

2) Celebrate those steps and milestones. Cultivate a lifestyle that readily celebrates what God has done. Not out of pride, but out of a heart that acknowledges you can do nothing without His help and empowerment.

3) Look for God’s daily interactions in your life. Journal them. Pray that God would open your eyes to see the ways He’s moving. As we do that it becomes so much easier to share your story. Because you realize it isn’t really your story. Instead it’s a testimony of God’s goodness and activity in your life — and it’s all to bring glory to Him.

Are you at a place where you have to do it afraid? How can you start today?

Thank you!

Thank you to all who participated in the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt. It was great to have so many of you stop by and give me a glimpse into what you are reading. The winners of the hunt are:

Grand prize winner is Jamie G.

The two runners-up who get all of our books are Melanie S. and Jean F.

I have also posted and contacted the winner of my separate giveaway: Donna B.

Thanks again!

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt with Olivia Newport

Thank you for joining the Christian Fiction Spring Scavenger Hunt. I’m so glad you’ve joined the fun. As you probably know, the hunt began at noon  MST on April 4th. The hunt begins and ends at my friend Robin Lee Hatcher’s website (So make sure you stop over there, too). The hunt ends on April 6 at midnight Mountain. You’ll have all weekend to complete it, so there’s no need to race.

However, be sure to collect a clue in red at each stop, writing them down as they go. For those of you checking in from overseas, this hunt is open to international entries. Prizes include a Ki

Be sure to read all the way to the end for a chance to participate in a separate giveaway I’m doing here. Prizes include a Kindle Fire HDX + $100 gift certificate and two runners-up will receive all 31 of our books. 

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Olivia Newport, my guest for the hunt. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her at ACFW, and am delighted to welcome her here. I’ve really enjoyed her books, too, so that’s a fun plus!

Olivia Newport’s novels twist through time to find where faith and passions meet. She is the author of the Avenue of Dreams series, the Valley of Choice series, Hidden Falls serialized novel, and the forthcoming Amish Turns of Time series launching with Wonderful Lonesome. Connect with her at www.olivianewport.com, Twitter, and Facebook.Olivia is married with two grown kids. And she is fortunate enough to live at the foot of the Colorado Rockies. I LOVE the Rockies. Wish I could join her there!

Taken for English is Olivia’s latest release. Here’s more about it: Annie joined the Amish church based on prayerful conviction, not romantic dreams. And yet, she’d hoped to share her new life with Rufus. But he’s obviously in no hurry. Family history clearly shows it’s never been easy living a plain life in the English world. Will the changes and challenges Annie now faces as a young Amish woman test her newfound faith in good ways or bad? And how long will Rufus test her patience?

Are you intrigued? You can purchase Taken for English at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD, other online retailers, or your local bookstore.

Olivia has sent me a exclusive guest post about the setting for this Amish novel. Who would have imagined there were Amish in Colorado! Love to know what you think after reading it.

The Real Westcliffe, Colorado

I can’t think of a single time I’ve said, “I found out there’s an Amish community in Colorado” and someone answered, “I knew that.”

“Really?” “I never heard that.” “In Colorado?” “How did you find out?” Those are the typic

al responses.

Actually there are several clusters of Amish in southwestern Colorado. The area around Westcliffe is just one of them, and it’s where I decided to set my story. So of course I had to go there.

I had a delightful day driving from Colorado Springs to Westciffe, the way my characters Annie and Ruth do. The Amish are primarily in outlying areas and not necessarily visible around town all the time the way they might be in other parts of the country, but

it was fun to see the town for the first time and store mental images of the peaceful place that made Annie leave her high-tech life behind and venture into the Amish community.

Here are some of the photos I snapped that inspired the very small-town setting of the Valley of Choice series, which includes Accidentally Amish, In Plain View, and Taken for English.

THE SCAVENGER HUNT SKINNY

—Thanks for stopping by my website! Before you move on to Stop #9, Olivia Newport’s site, to pick up your next clue, be sure to write down this Stop #8′s clue: “he reads.”

Now here’s how you can enter my giveaway. Thanks for participating in the Scavenger Hunt!

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Library Journal’s Review of Shadowed by Grace

Some reviews leave a girl speechless. This would be one of them. Whoever read Shadowed by Grace for the Library Journal really understood what I was trying to do.

Putman, Cara C. Shadowed by Grace: A Story of Monuments Men. B&H. 2014. 352p. ISBN 9781433681783. pap. $14.99; ebk ISBN 9781433681790. CF

Rachel, desperate to save her dying mother, signs on as a photographer with a newspaper to take pictures of the atrocities happening in Italy during World War II. Secretly, she is hoping to find the artist father she never knew so he can help fund the treatment to save her mother’s life. In her 17th novel, ­Putman (Captive Dreams) has done an amazing job of bringing the grim realities of World War II to the page. She captures well the hidden stories of those who were sent to Europe to save the art and antiquities that were stolen or almost destroyed during the cataclysmic battles. The author also paints a beautiful love story, while illustrating that faith in God’s plan, even in the direst of circumstances, can bring believers through any situation.

VERDICT This wonderfully written inside look at a less-familiar story about World War II will be a great tie-in with the movie The Monuments Men starring George Clooney and Matt Damon, set for release this month.

Purpose in Everything We Do

I have been immensely blessed in life. I grew up in a Christian home with a heart to serve God from about as young as I can remember. Maybe that’s why this quote from Holley Gerth’s book You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream resonates with me.

There is a purpose for everything we do.

In a day and age where so much tells us there is no meaning to life, I feel the need to repeat those words. Let them ooze into your spirit.

There is a purpose for everything we do. 

What does that make you think? For much of my life — okay, even earlier today — it’s created a deep desire in me not to miss God’s will for my life. Am I supposed to be writing? If so, has the season ended? Is there another journey God wants me to start? Am I using the gift and talents He gave me in a way He approves.

I vividly remember being in my mid-20′s in Washington, D.C., and needing to choose between two jobs. Then as now, my deepest desire was to be where God wanted me. And He went strangely quiet. There wasn’t a neon sign in the sky telling me which job to take. There wasn’t a clear sense of direction. Instead, when I finally sat still enough to dig deep for Him, there was a deep sense of peace and that He didn’t care which one I took. Instead, I knew He would use me in either one.

In that instance, saying “yes” to God meant just stepping forward in either role. Did God use me in the one I took? Absolutely. Could He have used me in the other? I have no doubt.

But that experience has stuck with me. There is a purpose in everything we do. At that time, the purpose may have been simply learning that God can use me wherever I go. That I take God with me, and He shines through me in each and every situation.

Do you agree that there is a purpose in everything we do? How have you said yes to God in an unexpected way?

P.S. if you’re interested in more from Holley’s books, I’ve written a series of bookclub posts at my blog. Hop over here to read them.

An Unexpected Pause

This week I got hit with the stomach bug — hence no midweek post. It laid me flat on my back. Fortunately, it was quick. 

But I’ve thought about grace as my plans for this week exploded around me. Two days of school gone thanks to the stomach bug. But God’s grace showed up in so many ways in the midst of it. I have four amazing kiddos who were able to more than fend for themselves while mom was down and out. The 13 year old even kept the house organized while they were doing it. Did they watch more TV than I would have allowed otherwise? Yep. Does it mean we didn’t go on a field trip this week? Yep. But they’re fine.

Not only could they fend for themselves, they showed caring hearts as they brought me water, crackers, found sparkling water and fruit juice for me. I realized that somehow in the realness of living life, they’d picked up on what to offer someone who’s had the bug. They knew how to offer comfort with a quick shoulder rub and kind words. Their words showed their hearts and I was humbled.

It’s easy to get caught up in the character growth I would like to see in them. To focus on the areas we aren’t quite hitting a ten. Then God peels back the layers and lets me see the hearts He’s given them. Hearts that want to serve. Comfort. Make sure everything is okay.

And I realize yet again that it what really matters. I didn’t think we’d take a spring break and certainly didn’t think we’d take it because mom was sick, but two days off won’t effect their life stories. We’ll still conquer algebra, world history, and more. Maybe it’s in the pauses that we can best be His hands and feet.

I don’t pause well. But this week I had to. And in that pause I saw His character exhibited by my kids and I was blessed.

Spring Cleaning Giveaway: Historical bundle

It’s time to clean house. For me that often means I’ve reached a point where something is driving me so crazy that I can’t stand it anymore.

Fortunately for you, today that means one of the things I’m doing is going through books. I have piles of barely touched books that I’ve read and want to pass on to other readers. All you have to do is enter via the form below. Today’s bundle is five historical books shown in the photo. If you’re not a historical fan, I’ll also have bundles with contemporary romances and with Amish fiction in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back often.

Happy spring cleaning!

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4 Steps to the Perfect Way to Read a Novel

Some would argue that there is no wrong way to read a book. With one glance at my towering stack of TBR novels, you might argue I’m the wrong person to write about the perfect way to read a book because obviously I collect them rather than actually read them. One look at our overloaded calendar and you might determine that there is absolutely no way that I read a sentence let alone an entire novel. Fortunately, you would be sadly mistaken, because reading is like breathing to me. I. Must. Do. It.

Reading isn’t optional.

I long for an escape to another place, another time, another character.

My life is wonderful and I love it. But I also adore learning about other places and times. What was it like to be a Pinkerton Agent? A Monuments Man? A bookstore owner?

What a book requires is simple.

1) A perfect setting. Some people would say that’s their favorite chair. A bath full of fragrant suds. A vacation with the beach at your feet or the mountains at your back. I’ve read on the treadmill – just today I was reading a Melody Carlson book at 6.5 mile an hour pace, my kids’ beds while keeping them company. In a gym or at a pool while waiting for my kids. I always have a book with me so I can snag a couple minutes whenever I’m waiting.

2) A mug of my favorite tea. Personally I like Constant Comment withits hint of orange though a good chai tea or perfectly flavored coffee is wonderful, too. Then I can imagine I’m seated at a table with Sadie Callum from Kathleen Y’Barbo’s Pinkerton agent novels and learning what it was really like to solve her cases in the 1890s.

3) A blanket to curl up in and cocoon me in the illusion that I’ve been transported to another time and place where even I could become a princess like one of Rachel Hauck’s delightful characters.

4) A willingness to suspend myself in another world, one filled with character that may become like new friends to me like Drew Farthering in Julianna Deering’s 1930s British mysteries.

These are just the friends I’vemet through reading this week. What do you require to escape into a book? And who have you’ve met this week?

3 Tips for Loving My Now

As a mom who has so many irons in the fire, it can be a real challenge to sink into my now moments. Instead, I can easily be distracted by everything that’s on my list instead of taking the seconds, minutes, and hours that exist in today. Can anyone relate?

It’s so easy to focus on the next 2 practices, the next 10 items on my list, the next 14 things that I haven’t run through with the kids. So how can a momma slow down, step back, and enjoy her now? Here are a few thoughts:

1) Ask God to help us remember the moments we are in. To keep our eyes focused on the eternal value of mothering. It’s the moments that matter, the moments our kids remember. It can seem easier to get the satisfaction of checking one more item off the list, but in the realm of eternity, which has more lasting value?

2) Embrace that moment. It’s not easy to stay focused on the here and now. Sometimes that means I need to pull my 3 year old into my lap and read If You Give a Pig a Party for the 89th time. But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have delighted in hearing him fill in the blanks when I paused. It’s listening when my 13 year old wants to talk rather than trying to make her wait. It’s building with Legos with my 10 year old, even though I don’t find them nearly as fascinating as he does. And it’s giggling with my 5 year old when she wants some time.

3) Don’t look to the future or to the past. In the past are moments that can’t be fixed or recaptured. In the future are moments I can’t anticipate or control. It’s the now moments that allow me to focus on the gifts around me. I’m not great at this, but I’m asking God to help me retain a focus in this moment. To stop and enjoy that walk around the block with my son. And to live in the here and now.

What do you do to love your now?

If you’re looking for a resource to help you embrace your now, you can check out Jill Savage’s new book No More Perfect Kids. The associated blog looks fantastic!