Review of Jan Karon's Audiobook "To Be Where You Are"

Another Winner!

To Be Where You Are (Penguin Random House Audio. 2017)
by Jan Karon

John McDonough does the narration on this new novel from Jan Karon. I was so delighted to go back to beloved Mitford. This time we get more of Dooley's story. With scenes from the "point of view" of almost every Mitford character, diehard enthusiasts like me will be in seventh heaven.  John McDonough "is" Father Tim. I couldn't associate any other narrator with this wonderful character.

Bibliotherapy aspects: Adoption, infertility, aging, family, faith.

Do yourself a huge favor and purchase the audiobook now! I purchased mine through audible.com as a download. This book is also available in multiple formats.

Overcoming Depression - Interview with Debut Author Rebecca Nightsong

 

Debut Author Rebecca Nightsong

Rebecca, welcome to Overcoming With God.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers. Congratulations on your debut!!! 

Rebecca is a member of Tidewater Area Christian Writers and I've had the privilege of meeting with her in person and I've gotten to hear about her debut book! We're glad to introduce Rebecca to our OWG readers!

Would you tell us about the one of the most difficult things in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help?

Depression has been one of the most difficult things I’ve had to overcome.  I have struggled with infertility issues for a decade.  I describe infertility as an on-going loss. It’s very difficult to resolve loss that keeps happening. And that unresolved grief can quickly mushroom into depression.

What passages in the Bible have been most helpful to you in those times?

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Psalm 42:8 “By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me-- a prayer to the God of my life.”

Is 65:24 “It shall also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” 

What helped you get through or helped you cope with this difficulty?

When I pray and read God’s Word every day, He gives me new promises and a new purpose that is fresh for that day.

One of my favorite things to do is write in my prayer journal the worries and sadness I feel in that moment.  Then I ask God:  “What is your heart in this right now?” I write down the verses He brings to mind, and then I ask Him:  “What do you mean by that?”

He is always faithful to speak words of specific direction and comfort to my heart.  That is consistently the fastest way to peace for me, and it lasts all day. 

One of my favorite sermons is by Charles H. Spurgeon, titled “Small Things Not To Be Despised.” He points out that God’s works start small, and we should never ignore them.

I’ve discovered that for me, depression is most potent when I am not nurturing the small quiet ways God works in my heart. Focusing on even the very small ways that I can see God moving and working in my life has given me so much hope—it keeps me connected to Him.

Daily time with Jesus reveals the ways He is working in my life—both small and large.  His voice in scripture always re-sets my hope in Him.  This is why I chose ‘Nightsong’ as my pen-name; because even in the darkest night, Jesus has always given me a song.  

Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print? 

Not currently, but I plan to have every book available in audio format very soon.

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?  

In “Love on the Range,” Marlee has a tight grip on her pride. It blinds her to some of the blessings God wants to bring into her life, because she can only see that her own plans are failing. When our plans or our bodies fail us, we come face to face with pride and our own limitations. But those things can be a doorway to God’s work in our hearts and lives, if we will let Him. It would be therapeutic write about your own limits as a place to meet with God. When we come to the end of our own strength, that is when we get to see Him in action.

Question you’d like to ask readers:

What are the many “small things” you see God working in your life?  Have you been blind to any of them because of your own plans or limitations?

Spurgeon sermon link:  http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols43-45/chs2601.pdf

Bio: RebeccaNightsong grew up under the wide-open skies of Idaho, where she spent long days in fluffy petticoats and lace, chasing geese and riding goats (since sadly, she had no horses).

As a bossy sister in a large family of all boys, she may or may not be guilty of making her 3 year old brother lie down on a hard strip of lumber in the middle of the pasture to take a pretend nap when playing “pioneer families.”

Today, Rebecca lives with her husband, who is a constant source of inspiration. 

She spends her time in her quirky fictional world of Looking Glass Lake, bossing around characters who frequently boss back.   

You can find her at:  www.rebeccanightsong.com

Giveaway: Rebecca is looking for new readers as a debut author!!! She has a site that can put a FREE download right into our OWG readers’ hands!!! Go to  http://dl.bookfunnel.com/raxn4ii9m2 and follow the directions for the download!

Melissa Jagears Debut book reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

A Bride for Keeps

A Bride for Keeps by Melissa Jagears
Bethany House, 2013

Reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

This debut fiction novel by Melissa Jagears is a solid read. (I read the ARC and not the final novel so there may be some differences but none that should affect this review.) 

Poor farmer Everett Cline has been jilted numerous times, both by mail order brides and by a local gal.  So he's abandoned the idea of trying again. But gorgeous Julia Lockwood arrives in his life after his best friend's wife sets him up.  And there is no escaping. But Julia has attracted the attention of one wicked man, also.

Spoiler alert

Bibliotherapy aspects: Both characters have a lot of emotional numbing which continues the majority of the story. The heroine, Julia, has had a terrible experience with her ex-fiancé that has basically caused PTSD symptoms that are pretty severe--so severe that there is a near-tragedy. And she's also experienced her mother's and baby brother's deaths that traumatized her. She's convinced that because her mother and grandmother suffered so many miscarriages and stillbirths that she's unlikely to give birth to a healthy child. So she convinces herself that she will never be able to be a mother. There is a stalking and assault in this story and another woman is a battered wife. 

Spiritual arc: Although Everett professes to be a strong Christian he soon discovers that his faith is lacking when it comes to Julia.  The heroine is basically an unbeliever so it is interesting to see her story arc in faith.

You can find this at Amazon, Christian Book.com, Deeper Shopping, Barnes & Noble and other outlets.

Giveaway: A gently used ARC copy (mine!) will be given away to one of the commenters this week as well as a new paperback copy. (Disclaimer: I "won" an ARC copy from the publisher in a contest after I'd already ordered my own copy.  No review was required.)

Leave a comment and your email address!

Melissa Jagear's Interview - Overcoming Infertility and Miscarriage

Author Melissa Jagears

Melissa Jagears is the author of A Bride for Keeps and of Love by the Letter, a free novella prequel to the Unexpected Bride series.

Melissa Jagears, welcome to Overcoming With God.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers. 

Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help?

Though I write romance, I’m not the most emotionally driven woman in the world, so I’m quite the trooper though life’s ups and downs. But the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with is unexplained infertility and multiple miscarriages. Especially miscarriage number two. My husband was very worried he’d come home to find that I’d killed myself. I would have denied that I was clinically depressed at the time, but looking back, I certainly was. (The biggest tip-off should have been when I started coloring my Barbie coloring page with hot pink hair and green skin and terribly mismatched clothes because I couldn’t stand to make my coloring pretty any more—and yes, I still color!)

I did finally get pregnant almost two years later, but if I hadn’t, I don’t know how far my depression would have gone. I can only hope that at some point my husband would have pointed it out at a time I was willing to listen. That pregnancy, I believe, was God’s gift to get me through. That baby became my daughter, and though my next miscarriage was a much more advanced pregnancy it wasn’t near as difficult to get through, partially because I had a child to live for, but more, I believe, because we now belonged to a caring church in our new state of residence.

I cannot say how much a good church family does for your spiritual well-being. I’m pretty sure I didn’t spiral back into depression because I had so many people praying for me who truly cared. God’s body in action! But it took two years of searching to find that church, so if you’ve given up on finding a good church to get involved with, keep looking, they could literally pull you through some of the worst times of your life.

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

I’m not a person that has a favorite anything, I can’t pick a favorite book, song, color….so I’ll pick the verse that’s plastered on the front flap of my Bible: 2 Corinthians 5:20

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

But what exactly is an ambassador? When I read this thorough definition on Stand to Reason’s website, (I love Stand to Reason, by the way!) I printed it off and glued it in my Bible. Every time I engage with the world, I try to keep my role as an ambassador in mind.

Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print?  

Of course the kindle versions can be made Large Print. An audiobook will be available in late February, 2014.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?

I always tend to write characters who feel they are unworthy of being loved. I struggle with that myself, especially when I realize that God chose to love us though we are miserable sinners and continues to love us though we are so achingly slow at becoming Christ-like. And if I wonder why He would bother to love me, I also wonder why anyone else should. So, I like my characters to go through that journey. I want my readers to find hope, that though they aren’t perfect, they should be thankful for and enjoy the love they receive without reservations and free themselves to love back—I’m not sure I’m there myself, so I’m preaching to me.

As you've researched your stories, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

Well, this book started when I heard a story about a man who waited for a mail-order bride to arrive, but she married on the trip over, so he ordered another one, and it happened again, then he had the guts to order another one! And all I could think of was how brave this man was to not give up. How would it feel to be rejected twice in the same way and turn right back around and try again? What made him desperate enough? So I started researching mail-order bride stories and some of those marriages turned out amazing…..but many more turned out terribly. The bravery of these men and women marrying strangers (back when marriage vows were not taken as lightly as they are now) and living with the consequences was just inspiring.

In your novel, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?  

Feeling guilty for sins that are not yours to bear, fear of abandonment.

Thank you Melissa Jagears for agreeing to answer these questions.  Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

Giveaway: We'll be giving away winner's choice of format for the book (ebook only to international winner.)  Also a gently used paperback copy to another winner this week.

***Please remember to leave your email address for contact purposes!***

Diana Flowers Reviews Maggie's Journey by Lena Nelson Dooley

Maggie's Journey 
by Lena Nelson Dooley

(Realms/Charisma House, 2011)

5 stars~*****

Simply A Lovely Story!

Lena Nelson Dooley takes us on a journey laden with beauty, love, deceit, and forgiveness---from Seattle, Washington, to Little Rock, Arkansas, as a beautiful, young woman, coming of age, sets out to find herself. Near the advent of her eighteenth birthday, Maggie Lenora Caine, happens upon a chest in the attic that turns her life as she knows it, upside down. For in the chest she finds proof that she was adopted, and no longer knows who she really is. She feels betrayed by the parents who gave her away, and the deceit of her adoptive parents, and wonders why she can never quite fit the mold set by her critical mother. Didn't her real mother love her enough to keep her?...and where does she really belong?

Maggie longs to be a dress designer, and with the permission of her parents, she sets off on a train trip to visit her grandmother in Arkansas, owner of a dress designing shop, accompanied by her longtime friend, and her father's business partner, Charles Stanton, and her young, widowed Aunt Georgia. Charles and Georgia immediately appear to be drawn to one another, much to Maggie's chagrin, for she has hidden feelings for Charles herself.

As she draws close to her grandmother will she find the answers she seeks? Will she accept her grandmother's offer to help her start her own dress company in Arkansas? What guilt has her adoptive mother been carrying inside for years, that has caused her to treat Maggie as she has?...and while missing her daughter so far away, will she be able to release it to her Heavenly Father? Can forgiveness and restoration come to mother and daughter after years of deceit and criticism, and will Maggie discover who she really is...and find romance as well?

This is a beautiful story of ultimate love and forgiveness as only Lena Nelson Dooley can write them. It was a relaxing read...not mad dashing excitement page after page, and I loved that for a nice change. Ms. Dooley actually takes us from state to state, and her use of imagery is so impeccable, the reader will feel as though they have been on a trek themselves. I learned so much about the first trains and railroads that were built...who knew that could be so interesting? Her characters were so endearing, especially our young heroine, and wrapped themselves around my heart. And as always in Lena's books, there is a strong spiritual thread throughout, and a satisfying (lump in the throat, tears in your eyes) conclusion. Very well written, Lena N. Dooley!


Lena Nelson Dooley books are available through CBD, Christian book stores, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of Lena’s books, choice of format.