Civil War Fiction :)

Another day, another book. Some days I marvel at the type of books that interest me. But sometimes, I'm not surprised. Golden Keyes Parsons' newest book His Steadfast Love is definitely one of those.

There's a strange interim period for many Southern states between December 1860 and April 1861. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, the state of South Carolina seceded from the Union in December. Several states followed suit. Lincoln was officially inaugurated in March, but the war did not officially begin until the firing at Fort Sumter in April 1861. At that point, several key wavering Southern states joined the Confederate cause.

Parsons begins her book during this interim period in Texas. Texas stands as a rather unique state as it had recently acquired statehood & was immediately faced with the question of slavery. Still dealing with the threat of Mexico, Texas was occupied by Federal troops protecting the state from Mexican encroachment. In this context, Amanda as the daughter of the local pastor, meets Captain Kent Littlefield. Though attraction is almost immediate and mutual, Amanda refuses to consider marriage as a possibility because she vowed to her mother that she would look after her younger siblings. As she grapples with this monumental task, Texas secedes in March 1861 and Federal troops are recalled.

Parsons does a remarkable job using the historical context and presenting the reader with the dilemmas of war and of slavery without letting the setting overshadow the storyline. Amanda is lost in love primarily because of a familial vow. Although her family is tested by war, she ultimately has to make her decision based on the advice of close friends and through petition to the God who oversees her and her family.

It's convenient that Federal troops come to Texas once more and now Lieutenant Littlefield crosses her path again. Amanda is faced with the matter of loyalty to the Confederacy or the Union multiple times in this work. But Parsons' genius lies in revealing the complexity of ordinary dilemmas, the tragedy of death, and the confusion of young adulthood that many face no matter where or when.

[I received a free review copy of this work from Thomas Nelson and was not required to give a positive review.]

Surprise!!!

Life has been hectic. Sometimes I feel like I'm going around in circles, trying to plug one hole in the dike only to discover yet another and then another. School, work, medical, church... the circle goes on and on.

The one thing that keeps me sane: friends!!!! They're people I can call whenever I need someone to complain to or a shoulder to cry on or a haven to escape to. They're there to listen to me, to laugh over the ridiculousness of circumstances, and to give me advice. They're also there to sit in my office hours, advise me on grading & interactions with students, read my papers, and encourage me. Everyone needs friends.

Which brings me to the point: awesome roommates are essential!!!

My roommate's birthday is coming up in a couple days, and one of my friends & I got in cahoots to plan a surprise birthday dinner for her!! Figuring out how to invite her friends, how to have enough food for twice the number of people (without her figuring it out), how to surprise her when she's doing a bunch of cooking too, and what her favorite foods are.... It was quite the expedition.

But it was a lot of fun, too. I love thinking about people in my life & what they really like and how to make them happy. Picking the perfect gift is SO much fun. :) Seeing the smile on her face when she opened the door to her friends: it was priceless!!!

So, when life gets hectic, don't abandon your friends. They're your lifelines. Plus, they can make you extra happy!!

So much to do, so little time to blog...

A glimpse into my crazy life thus far:

In the midst of chaos...

look away to Him!!
Stumbling across this quote this morning, I realized how much in my life there is to be thankful for and the multitude of blessings God has poured out upon me.

What if you woke up this morning and found the only things you had left were the things you thanked God for yesterday?
-- Terry Shock

Why was the floor made?

One upside of having a large living room floor is that I can use it for multiple purposes. While it might also demonstrate my lack of furniture, it is definitely a useful space.

The question is this: would you rather be grading blue book exams or laying out a quilt???

If you were writing verse three for this song, what would you say the floor was made for?

Christian Fiction... the Realistic Kind

As I mentioned before, I have a weakness for Christian fiction. So when I had the chance to review a book for Thomas Nelson publishers, I jumped at the opportunity!! Beth Webb Hart's newest book, Sunrise on the Battery looked a really intriguing read. Like her previous book, it takes place in Charleston, South Carolina in modern times.

The book synopsis seems to promise a novel about a couple who have given everything for a place in high society. The wife, Mary, comes to know God and prays for her husband to come to know him as well. When he does get saved, he becomes an overenthusiastic Christian, threatening their status in society.

I expected the book to be about Mary's struggles with her husband's spiritual awakening and subsequent activity. For those of us who have been Christians for a while, this dilemma is familiar. If not with our family members, we've seen this in friends and acquaintances. What do you do when someone sees overzealous?

In this sense, Hart's book is disappointing. Jackson doesn't convert until page 183 out of 277 pages. The next 95 pages do detail his overzealous activities, and Mary does have a difficult time coming to terms with the vast change in her husband. However, Hart fails to give a Christian perspective on how to confront the situation. One of the main characters fails into sinful thoughts and others are just confused. Everything seems to be miraculously resolved in the last chapter.

Mary and her husband have three children with very different personalities. In the first two-thirds of the book, they add to the nuance of this story. However, after Jackson's conversion, they seem to fall by the wayside.

All in all, I enjoyed this book more than Hart's previous book Love, Charleston. However, it seems more disappointing than inspiring. It seems so realistic that there is no clear take home message from the book. I leave the book just as confused about this issue as before I began.

Something new in the works...

Despite the fact that graduate school is very time-consuming, I've been encouraged (or dare I say instructed?) to continue to find time for myself to do things that are non-stressful and not related to school or church. In the spirit of relaxation, I've lauched a new project!!! I'm really excited about using this fabric creatively & learning new techniques. The major wrench in the plan is that I don't have a sewing machine (yet.) Anyone have one to spare or one I could borrow??