A Place to Belong, Wild West Wind #3 ~ book #10

 

Finally finished this series.  I would give it a 7, but only if you sat and read all three books right in a row.  This crazy finish one book then go back to the next one after reading something else was crazy, especially if you remember the other two ended with no completion at all!!

Two quotes I loved from this book:

"No need to make up stories when real life hands you things like that." ~ Dan Arnett, pg 40 [Arnett was a friend of the Engstroms, and he had wild stories of when they were just starting their ranchs and farms and building their houses.]

"Being read to always equaled love in her mind." ~ Cassie Lockwood, pg 220 [Mavis was reading aloud to everyone one night and Cassie remembered her mom reading to her as a child.]

As winter settles over the ranch, the Engstrom brothers are much on the mind of Cassie Lockwood. The way Lucas smiles at her should set her heart to tripping. But it doesn't. Shouldn't there be some attraction to him if they are going to be married? His vow to make her love him does not seem to be working, no matter how considerate and charming he is.  Ransom Engstrom is another matter. After Cassie's train trip to a shooting competition, she realizes she misses Ransom more than Lucas. And then there's the look she caught Lucas sending Betsy Hudson at church one Sunday. Are she and Lucas drifting apart?  Meanwhile, Ransom has discovered that he cares for Cassie but can't bring himself to express his true feelings to her. When she leaves to join a Wild West show for the summer, will Ransom summon the courage to go after her? (picture and description at Amazon)

Not sure what I will be on to next, but I'm feeling like it might be time for some more Tamara Alexander!

Happy Reading!

O:)

Melissa

Whispers in the Wind, Wild West Wind #2 ~ book #9

 

If you will remember, I read the first book in this series a while ago.  I wasn't that wild about it, but was curious to see how the story was going to keep going.  I did like this book better, but the author has a lot of things to wrap up in the final book!

After fleeing North Dakota and the now defunct Wild West Show, Cassie Lockwood and her companions have finally found the hidden valley in South Dakota where her father had dreamed of putting down roots. But to her dismay, she discovers a ranch already built on her land.  Cassie's arrival surprises Mavis Engstrom and forces her to reveal secrets she's kept hidden for years. Her son Ransom is suspicious of Cassie and questions the validity of her claim to the valley. But Lucas Engstrom decides from the start that he is in love with her and wants to marry her.  Will Cassie be able to build a home on the Bar E Ranch and fulfill her father's dream of raising horses, or will she be forced to return to the itinerant life of her past? (picture and description at Amazon)

Happy Reading!

O:)

Melissa

Safely Home, book #8

 

I was dreading reading this book, but since I didn't read the last one Marilyn picked I decided to buckle up and read it.  I knew it would take me on journey I wasn't sure I wanted to go on, but I'm happy to report I did make it through to the end ~ with a much stronger determination to really think about the powers at play around us at times.

Is this the day I die? Li Quan asks himself this question daily, knowing that he might be killed for practicing his faith. American businessman Ben Fielding has no idea what his brilliant former college roommate is facing in China. He expects his old friend has fulfilled his dream of becoming a university professor. But when they are reunited in China after twenty years, both men are shocked at what they discover about each other. Thrown together in an hour of encroaching darkness, both must make choices that will determine not only the destinies of two men, but two families, two nations, and two worlds. (picture and description at Amazon)

I don't always do this, but there were several quotes from the book that really stuck out that I want to remember:

p. 31 ~ 

" 'Hate speech? Come on, Ben.  I don't hate these people. I just disagree, that's all.' ... 

    " 'Hate speech leads to hate crimes.  Saying homosexuality is wrong makes you an accomplice whenever someone beats up a homosexual.  That's how it works.'

    " 'Even if I oppose beating up homosexuals?  And if I oppose abortion, does it make me an accomplice if someone beats up someone who had an abortion?' ...

 'Well, if you say I'm a Christian bigot because I believe the Bible and then someone beats me up, does that make you an accomplice?  Is your calling me a bigot a hate crime?  Or does it only cut one way?' "

p. 71 ~ (in China)

" 'See those young people?' He pointed to two teenagers, one wearing a T-shirt featuring a blockbuster American movie, the other an English rock band.  'They are infatuated with Western movies and music and sports and culture.  They have been taught there is no God.  They know nothing of right and wrong and cannot discern what is good from what is bad.  They have the longing to go somewhere, but no guides to show them the way.' "

p. 99 ~

" 'Our government blames Christians for the economic problems in Russia and Eastern Europe.  Christianity stirred the thrist for freedom, and those who fear God do not fear the government as they want us to.  It's hard for a history major to live in a country where history and every current event is edited.  But in China there are more Christians now than Communist Party members, perhaps twice as many.  It is no surprise that the Party labors to prevent Christianity from spreading.' "

p. 142 ~

" Doubts about salvation can be the enemy's attack upon true believers.  Yet Shengjing [the Bible] says we should examine ourselves to see whether we are of the faith.  We must make sure first we are His followers before we seek assurance.  The enemy seeks to accuse us that we are not what we are.  But just as surely, he seeks to assure us we are what we are not.' "

p.301 ~ 

" 'People are more hungry for spiritual food than for rice and bread.  Without having the skills to discern the truth, they can easily be drawn into groups with false teaching. ' " ~ why the Chinese need Bibles and teachers willing to take the risk to help them! (see below)

p. 325 ~

" 'When Mao came to power there was no road system.  Missionaries who worked inland traveled for seven months.  They lived on the backs of mules for the final weeks of their journey.  When Mao built the roads, the church could reach the same countryside in less than a week and on trains or buses, not mules.

    " ' He built the roads for his purposes, not the church's.'

    " ' That is what he thought.  When he assumed power, China was divided by three hundred languages and a thousand dialects.  But Mao signed a decree making Mandarin the official language.  He required all business and education and public conversations to be in Mandarin.  He ordered that 4700 pictorial characters be simplified so his red book could be smaller and easy to carry.  They were reduced to 1500.  Suddenly God's Word could be translated much more easily, and the whole nation could be reached with one translation. ... Only 6% of the nation could read, so he ordered literacy training and now nearly 99% can read ~ nearly all now live in the cities.  And are they reading the red book? No! They are reading the words of Yesu [God]!  That is, when they can get it into their hands.'

    " ' ... Mao intended it for evil, but God intended it for good.  Mao set himself up as a god, but he was but an errand boy of the true God.  ...

    " 'Many Christians graduated with honors from their university, yet when the government found out they were attending house churches they were punished.  The authorities assigned them to the worst jobs ~ often in rural areas of provinces far from their homes.  They were forced to do menial labor.  Christian high school students were not permitted to attend college or the university.  They were assigned to heavy labor in remote provinces, far from family and friends.  Yet God was at work! First He taught them humility.  But then he used them as missionaries.  No Christians had every visitied the remote villages where students were sent.  When they went, they took the gospel.  The spiritual harvest has been great.  The gospel spreads rapidly from one village to another.  The many thousands of churches that began then are still here today, and they have spawned many more.  Do you not see, Ben Fielding? Yesu defeats the purpuses of Mogui [Satan]!

p. 347 ~

" 'I will pray for you.'

" 'I will pray for you, too.  This time I really will.' Ben looked at  Quan.  'When you pray for me, what do you ask?'

" 'That you will face persecution.'

" 'What?!?'

" 'And that through it you will grow.  That you will learn to stand strong.  That you will know you are in a war, and you will put on your armor and learn to use the sword of the Spirit, God's Word.'

" 'So while I'm praying you will suffer less, you're praying that I will suffer more?'

" 'We both should pray that the other will live in a way pleasing to Yesu.  I do not wish to see my friend suffer.  But I believe it may be the only way for you to learn how to serve.  In house churches we have little to hope in but our God.  In America, you have much to hope in besides God. ... ' "

Another interesting read on the book is here.

If you are interested in helping the perseuted churches, go here or here or here or here.

Needless to say, this brought up a lot of things from our trip to China in 2011, and made me think again about many of the things that we forget go on even today.  

Sigh.  Come Lord Jesus.

Melissa

Valley of Dreams, Wild West Wind Book #1 ~ book #7

 

Well hmm.  This one created a fair amount of unsettling in me.  

First of all, I've said it before and I'll say it again, Tamara Alexander has spoiled me for any other author.  I used to really like Lorraine Snelling's books but after reading so much Tamara I just can't.  I'm really going to have to remember to lower my standards when reading other stuff.

Secondly, this is a series.  Luckily I already have books 2 & 3, but there was a heated discussion about what constitutes a series at the dinner table tonight.  Apparently there are two kinds ~ one wraps up the story neatly and then in the next one we "hear" about the other story, or it's the same group of people and they talk about another character.  The other, which this one falls into thus far, is like reading a season finale of a TV show where there are about 1500 questions left unanswered and you have to wait MONTHS (or in a book's case, nearly a YEAR!) to find out what happens next.  I remember reading other series' as soon as they come out and then left with baited breath waiting to see what happens!!! Luckily I don't have to wait that long this time, but the thought that I even read one like that just irks me to no end.  :/

Cassie Lockwood's mother died when she was little, so Cassie traveled with her father's Wild West Show and became an amazingly skillful trick rider, likened by some to the famous Annie Oakley. When her father died, she continued to work with the show, having nowhere else to go.  Now Cassie has discovered that "Uncle" Jason, the show's manager, has driven the show into debt, and he's absconded with what little money was left. Devastated, Cassie decides to try to find the hidden valley where her father had dreamed of putting down roots. She has only one clue. She needs to find three huge stones that look like fingers raised in a giant hand. With Chief, a Sioux Indian who's been with the show for twenty years, and Micah, the head wrangler, she leaves both the show and a bundle of heartache behind and begins a wild and daring adventure. (Picture and description from Amazon)

All in all, this is a cute story, but it's gonna take awhile to see what actually happens.

Keep reading!

O:)

Melissa