A Whisper of Peace

A novel by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

Lizzie Dawson is a young woman of mixed blood: born of a white father and a mother from a native tribe of Athabascans in the Alaskan Territory. Lizzie grew up as an outcast because the tribe had banished her mother after her marriage to a white man. When Lizzie’s father had made his fortune in trapping and fur trading, he returned to California to begin a new life, abandoning both his wife and child. After her mother died, Lizzie continued to live alone in the cabin that her father had built, completely self-sufficient in caring for herself and her sled dogs. She had dreams of fulfilling her mother’s dying request that Lizzie be reconciled with her grandparents and be accepted back into the village. A few years had passed since her mother’s death and so far she had not found a way to honor her mother’s request.

Little did Lizzie know how much her world was going to change when Clay Selby, a missionary, and his step-sister Vivian, who was a teacher, arrived in the village to set up a church and school among the Athabascans. Besides becoming friends with the people of the village, Clay and Vivian wanted to also befriend Lizzie and were puzzled as to why she was ostracized by her tribe. Clay felt led to intercede for Lizzie, but her grandfather angrily told Clay that he and Vivian would have to make a choice between friendship with Lizzie or ministering to the natives. Also, Clay was coming to realize that his interest in Lizzie was more than just seeking a casual friendship.  Would he really be forced to make a choice? What did the future hold for all of them?  Would the God of Clay’s faith who brought him to the Alaskan Territory supply his needs and give him guidance as he faced these challenges?

This novel written by Kim Vogel Sawyer is the first of hers that I’ve read. It was a swiftly moving story, flowing and well-written. The author took time to give depth to the characters, along with detail that kindled my imagination.  I have no reservations about this book and would highly recommend it. 

*This book was received free in exchange for my unbiased review through Bethany House Book Reviewers.

Pray for the Veterans and the Men & Women of our Military Forces

 

Book Cover

 I started this altered book several years ago in honor of all my family members that had served in the military, and there's a long line of them.  Thankfully, none of them were seriously injured and none were lost in combat.  Sean, my grandson-in-law, was serving in Iraq, so I spent a lot of time following the newspaper reports and TV news.  Mindy, my granddaughter, and Sean had become a family of 3 just a few months before Sean was deployed overseas.  Their second son was born while Sean was serving his second tour in Iraq.

Well, the book got shelved for a long time.  I'd take it out, look at  all the ideas I had written down, and layouts that I had marked out -- and then just put the book back in the box and put it on the shelf.  I don't know why I couldn't finish it other than I'd always get emotional thinking about Sean and all the other soldiers,  all the wounded, all the deaths, all the destruction, all the heartache.  It just seemed better to wait awhile. 

Looks like the "wait awhile" has passed, so once again I've taken down the book and this time I'm going to finish it.  I don't understand war, but I know that God does, and that ultimately He knows what's needed.  My job is to have faith, to pray without ceasing, and to be humbly thankful for the brave, dedicated men and women who protect my life and freedom.  May God watch over them with blessings and protection.

Tomorrow I'm going to start on one of those new layouts, but for now I'd like to share with you a couple of completed sections.  Anything patriotic has to be red, white and blue, right?   May your Veteran's Day be a good day of remembrance and thanksgiving.

Annie 

Inside Cover - Dedication Page



The Pledge of Allegiance

Fall is in the Air, Beautiful leaves everywhere!

Blazing color right outside my window, brilliant sunshine everywhere, and here I sit by the fireplace, thanking God for His beautiful artistry and blessings.  Uhmmm, what a life!  Speaking of artistry, I have a whole array of fall leaves cards to show you.  I recently hosted a swap with 8 stamp artists and they have created some really wonderful cards.  God places a talent within each of us and it's always exciting to see how that talent expresses itself.  So enjoy and hopefully get some inspiration.

Ann - Washington

Claudette - Illinois

Dawn - Georgia

Gloria - South Dakota

Helen - Georgia

Monica - Ohio

Teresa - California

Tracy - Oregon

The Grace of God

Andy Stanley is one of my very favorite speakers and he writes just the way he speaks – powerfully! Consequently his book, “The Grace of God,” is a powerful lesson on how much God loves us and freely gives us His grace with no strings attached. Grace is unmerited favor – we don’t deserve it and we can’t earn it. Andy is gifted with the ability to explain, describe, and peel back layers until he brings you to the point of a full and deep understanding of the scripture he’s teaching on. He did just that for me as he explained that the grace of God began even before the Garden of Eden. He led me on a journey through the Old Testament, highlighting many acts of God’s grace given to biblical figures – Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jonah, Rahab, and even the thief on the cross – to name a few. And then we come to the New Testament where Andy teaches on the parables of Jesus. But this is not a brief explanation after a quick read of the scripture. As Andy helps you to come to a deeper understanding of grace, you are rewarded with background information of the customs and practices of the Jewish people which sheds a more bright and wonderful light on the meaning of the parables and how grace is intertwined throughout them.

The book is written in a conversational style that is smooth flowing, uses plain language, and is easy to understand. It is one that I would highly recommend to others. I am very happy to have this book on my bookshelf for future reference and inspiration. As of now, it is the very favorite of my library.

Many thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishing for providing a complimentary copy to me through their BookSneeze program. A positive review was not required and the opinion expressed here is my own.

A New Card Folding Technique

A while ago I saw some really gorgeous patterned card stock from My Mind's Eye and I thought to myself, it's just too pretty to cut up into pieces, and what could I do to use the whole sheet.  I must have spent a half hour or 45 minutes  looking at the different patterns and trying to figure this out.  Finally, the light bulb clicked on (pardon the cliche), and this is what I came up with.  It's really fun to experiment with the different patterns.  If you decide to try it, I'd  love it if you emailed a picture to me. 

Front of card (card closed with flaps folded in).  The finished card measures 6x6.



Start with a 12x12 patterned piece of card stock, best when the pattern looks right side up when you also turn the card stock completely around.  Fold in half in both directions.  Cut and remove the top left portion.  Cut 1/3 rounded slice from the top right portion - on the inside (left).  Stamp a variety of leaves and glue around the cut out.   I used Stampin' Up set 106346 called Gently Falling.



Card with the top flap folded up.  When you stamp a sentiment on the inside flap, be sure to have the top flap closed so that you will have the right placement for when the card is closed up.  Here  I used Autumn Blessings from Rubbermoon.



Inside of card with right flap open.  I used the cut out portion on the inside and glued on a few stamped leaves to finish it off.

 Well, that it, friends.  Hope my directions make sense.  Shoot me an email if you have a question.

Autumn blessings to everyone, Annie

A River to Cross

Yvonne Harris is a new author to me.  I haven’t read a book like this since I was the age of being bright-eyed and believing that there was a good looking, hunk of a man who was both tough on the outside and tender on the inside just waiting to sweep me off my feet, and we would live in sweet wedded bliss ever after. However, if you’re wanting a bit of time to let your mind waltz you away from the ordinary things of life, then this book will take you dancing through a dream-come-true romance.

Set in the Texas frontier of the late 1800’s, Texas Ranger Jake Nelson begins a two-fold secret mission into Mexico to rescue Elizabeth Evans, the daughter of a U.S. Senior Senator from Texas, and to apprehend and bring to justice the rogue general, Manuel Diego. Once Elizabeth is snatched from captivity, Jake, his men, and Elizabeth begin the long run for their lives back to the border at the Rio Grande River. Adding to the difficulty, Elizabeth had never ridden a horse, having only recently moved from city life in Washington D.C. to the frontier town of El Paso. Amid the danger and turmoil encountered along the way, Jake and Elizabeth find that they are extremely attracted to each other - not good.  Romance and attachments are not what either of them wanted in their future.  Elizabeth was recovering from the death of her husband and Jake was still trying to overcome his bitterness at finding his intended fiance with another man.

This book was tagged as Christian Fiction and Historical Fiction. I found little evidence of it being Christian fiction other than a quick reference to prayer here and there. However, I was extremely pleased to find no swearing or immoral behavior. Historical information was a little more plentiful.

All in all, there was a good story line. My disappointment was that the characters and the story were not more fully developed. But with only 275 pages, how deep could it get? Definitely a quick read.

*This book was received free in exchange for my unbiased review through Bethany House Book Reviewers.

Star Book of Christian Symbols

Hey there, handmade book enthusiasts, I need some help!  I've been busy making a star book and have reached the point of adding a cover and tying ribbon.  But guess, what?  I can't think of a name to put on the cover.  All the while I was making the sections, I was racking my brain for a perfect title.  It seems all of my creative juice went into the pages, as my mind keeps coming up blank.  If you have a suggestion or two, I'd sure like to hear them.

I've made several star books, but this is the first one I've done in monochromatic colors for each section.  To add continuity to the sections, I used the format of using the same embossing folder background, Iris Folding, diecuts, and punches.  Also, the symbols are in order so that they portray biblical events in a chronological order according to the Bible.  Just can't tell you how much I loved working on this book.  So . . . why does a book title elude me?  The dimensions are listed at the bottom of this post in case you'd like to make one this size.  To see a larger view, just click on the picture.  Hope you like it.

Numbers 21:8, John 3:14-15

Matthew 3:16-17

Matthew 4:19

Luke 9:22

Matthew 28:18-20

James 1:12, Revelation 2:10 

Inside layer - 4 x 7 1/2; second layer - 4 x 8 1/2; third layer - 4 x 9 1/2; fourth layer - 4 x 11; the black inset between 3rd & 4th layers - 4 x 3. Most star books are made with only 3 layers, but I've been wanting to do this style for a long time.  Finally!

Wishing you a blessed week.  Until next time . . .

Annie

God's Promises

Hi there!  I'm back with another book review, plus a few Independence Day celebration greeting cards.  I realize it's not the 4th of July, but they are so perfect to go along with this book.

“God’s Promises for the American Patriot,” by Dr. Richard G. Lee and Jack Countryman, is the book I’m reviewing today. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed when I unwrapped the package and opened the book. I expected the book to be larger and to be a regular non-fiction book. What I found is that it is laid out in two-page sections: the first page of the section contains American history in the way of an incident, speech, excerpts of essays, or quotes from the lives of great American, patriotic believers; and the opposite page lists corresponding scripture.
However, my disappointment quickly turned to absolute delight once I began to read. The more I read, the more my patriotic pride and love for my country was lifted to a new height. Not to say that I didn’t already have a sufficient amount, but reading about these great men who contributed so much to the founding and building of a God-fearing nation was very inspiring. And, it clearly shows how important God and the Bible were to these men. Unfortunately in this age, there are those who constantly chip away at what made, and makes, our nation great. After reading this book, you will have no doubt that our country was founded on Godly principles.  Besides being uplifted by the contents, I also learned some important history.  The following is a portion of George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation, "Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me 'to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God' . . . Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficient Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.'"  How wonderful is that!  The pilgrims and the Indians may have had the first Thanksgiving dinner, but George Washington initiated Thanksgiving Day.

Although this book could be used as a daily devotional, I find it to be more of a book for meditation and inspiration. It is a book that could be read in one sitting or one you could pick up for a short read.  Beautifully bound and designed, with a different picture on each page, it is one you will want on your bookshelf. It would also make a great gift for someone who loves history.

(I received this complimentary copy from Thomas Nelson Publishing through their BookSneeze program. A positive review was not required and the opinion expressed here is my own.)

Does red, white and blue make your heart flutter like it does mine!  So my cards are pretty traditional.

Stamps by Stampin' Up

Background made from postage stamps.

Hero Arts Stamps.
Background made using Shaving Cream technique

Wishing you a wonderful week.  Check back soon, or sign up for automatic updates.  Many blessings, Annie


My First Book Review

Oh, wow!  What am I doing anyway?  Well, just to add a new dimension to my life, I decided to give book reviewing a try.  I love to read . . . and since I'm our church librarian . . . and since the books that I review are free . . . and since I will donate the books to the church library . . . it seems the perfect fit.  So please bear with me.  Hopefully I'll get better at this with time.  Soon preferably.  Well, here goes.

The Blessing by John Trent, Ph.D., and Gary Smalley.


What is the blessing and why does it matter?

The blessing is meant to convey unconditional love and acceptance. John Trent digs into the biblical ideas behind the blessing and shares how its principles can be used in any intimate relationship – children, spouses, church family, extended family, friends. Trent found that the blessing as used in Scripture always contained five elements – meaningful touch, a spoken message, attaching high value, picturing a special future, and an active commitment. I like that Trent included lots of scripture references. After reading this book, you will know how to give the gift of the blessing. It will be life changing for both you and for someone in your life.

I love that the authors included the Bible story of the brothers Esau and Jacob. Esau had reached the age to receive the blessing from his father, Isaac. According to custom, only the oldest son received the blessing. The father, old and nearly blind, was tricked by Jacob, the younger, into giving him the blessing that should have been given to Esau. Every time I read this story I can feel the anguish in Esau’s cry, “Do you only have one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” It was sad to read the personal stories of ruined lives caused by parents who were so demanding and impossible to please, parents who constantly criticized or cut down. However, the book also provided many examples of those who were blessed by someone important in their life. It greatly encouraged me to make sure I’m not missing any opportunities to bless my family or those around me.

*This book was received free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

The Greatest is Love

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you have to put away your heart rubber stamps and scrapbooking supplies. Love should be active in our lives all year round. The Bible tells us, from 1 Corinthians13:3, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (NKJV)

What makes love so amazing? For starters, it is what motivated the

Father to send His only Son to die for us. Without love, there would have been no redemption for mankind. Not only would we be without love, but without the redemption that was brought on by love, there would also be no faith, and no hope. You see, nothing else matters, without love. It is the basis for every other good thing in our lives.

Making and sending cards is one way I like to show love, so my heart stamps and supplies are going to be used throughout the year. Here’s a few that I made today.