Women of Faith - AWESOME!!

This past Friday and Saturday I had the wonderful privilege of attending a Women of Faith event in Rochester, NY with some friends. The Imagine event was fantastic! I laughed, I cried, I laughed until I cried ..... From the Friday daytime events with Sheila Walsh and Dr. Henry Cloud, through the evening event featuring the humour of Ken Davis, and concluding with Saturday presentations by Natalie Grant, Lisa Harper, Nicole Johnson, Angie Smith, and Luci Swindoll each and every speaker touched me, taught me, showed me a life lived "for real". Music - and commentary - by Mary Mary revved up the atmosphere; the Women of Faith worship team did an excellent job leading all of us in times of praise.

It was refreshing and inspiring to hear the stories of real women - and men - who had faced life with all its challenges and difficulties, and had learned that only in Christ can we live fully, but that in HIM, we can have more than we can ever ask or imagine. None of them claimed to be prefect; most showed that at some time or another they had come through a time of deep discouragement, but .... God was faithful, and by turning to Him, they had come through their trials. I was encouraged and inspired by what I heard, as were the others with me. Each speaker had a different life story, a different message, yet all had something that could be taken "home" and used in my own life. No matter how different our life experiences, we all know the same God, we can all be confident that He is sovereign over all the things He allows in our lives, and we can know that we aren't alone! Not only is our God with us in each and every circumstance, He has given us others to come alongside and encourage us, to be with us in what we are facing - the "other monkeys" in our cages!

This weekend was fantastic, and I would encourage any women who have the opportunity to attend an event to grab that opportunity! I hope to go again next year - and take friends with me.

Tickets to Women of Faith were provided to me at no cost through the BookSneeze program; I was not required to write a positive review of this event, but honestly - I have nothing but "positive" to share!

Book Review: The Baker's Wife

Audrey, the Baker’s Wife, races against time as she attempts to determine just what happened when her car struck a motor scooter in an early morning foggy intersection. The scooter is wrecked, blood is everywhere … and there is no body in sight. The situation is complicated by the conflict between Audrey’s husband (the baker) and the detective whose wife owned the scooter. The tension between the two men is not new: accusations by the detective cost the baker his earlier career as a pastor. When the detective cracks, and takes Audrey’s husband and son hostage along with some bakery employees and patrons, Audrey must use her ability to empathize with others’ pain to solve the mystery and release the hostages, aided only by an anxious ex con with her own agenda, and a sneering teen who despises all that Audrey stands for.

The Baker’s Wife by Erin Healy shows a sharp contrast between two men: one who interprets the letter of the Old Testament law very literally, and uses it to judge and try to control the actions of others, and the other who lives a live governed by the love of Christ, and attempts to demonstrate it to everyone who crosses his path. I appreciated that contrast, as well as the skill shown by the writer as she wove the lives of her characters together, but this book did not appeal to me as strongly as I thought it might. The protagonist’s ability to feel others’ agony in excruciating detail didn’t strike me as real, and stopped me from getting caught in the story line. I finished the book, but it didn’t inspire me with a desire to go and find others by the same author.

This book was provided to me free of charge by Thomas Nelson publishers, through Book Sneeze. I was not required to give a positive review.