Trace of Doubt. A Book Review.

Unputdownable! That’s how I would describe Trace of Doubt by Diann Mills. It starts with a bang and moves nonstop to a very unexpected ending.

Shelby Pearce has just been released from prison where she served time for manslaughter, and she’s ready for a fresh start. But starting over isn’t easy for a parolee.

FBI Special Agent Denton McClure was a rookie when Shelby was convicted, and he believes she has also embezzled $500,000. He goes undercover to befriend Shelby and track down the money. As he gets to know Shelby, Denton begins to have doubts about her conviction. Meanwhile, someone is going to a lot of trouble to discredit or eliminate Shelby. 

This book is fast paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat. There are lots of twists and turns, and breadcrumbs along the way that add doubt about Shelby’s guilt. Is Shelby villain or victim? Denton isn’t sure. The supporting characters are an interesting mix, either making you furious or making you laugh.

Trace of Doubt is Christian romantic suspense. Suspense takes the starring role, but there are also strong notes of redemption and forgiveness.

This is one not to be missed. It will be available September 7, 2021. I received an advance copy from the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for my opinion.

Thankful for Exercise?

Exercise has never been my favorite. Never, in my entire life, has anyone considered me remotely athletic. Some years ago, my doctor asked if I was still active. I laughed.

This morning I went to my twice-a-week exercise class. I didn’t particularly want to go this morning, but I went anyway. And I’m glad I did. 

In these last few years, I have come to view this exercise class as one of the things I am most thankful for. You might wonder why. 

It’s because I can!

Not so very long ago, I couldn’t. I could barely walk, much less bend and stretch and lift weights. But as I moved from stroke recovery to stroke survivor, I began attending this class. Because it was good for me. And that is still my motivation.

But beyond that, it is something I’m thankful for. I’m thankful that a lot of the exercises are easier than they were in the beginning. I’m thankful that I’m stronger than I was. I’m thankful for the way it challenges me.

Beyond that, I’m thankful for the women in the class. For the fellowship and the laughter. For the friend who drives me there, since I can’t do that myself. I’m thankful for new friends I’ve met.

I’m thankful. Even for exercise!

What are you thankful for today?

Dreaming of Pumpkin Spice

It’s really hot here in the Upstate today. Brutally hot and humid. That has me longing for the cooler temperatures of Fall and for all things pumpkin.

One of my grandsons started high school today. The other grandson begins 10th grade next week. My DIL’s are back in their classroom. It seems too soon. That summer has been to short. That time passes to quickly. Even so, I’m dreaming of fall and all things pumpkin.

The grocery stores and produce stands are still filled with peaches and watermelons and corn and cantaloupe. It is still very much summer. Yet I’m dreaming of all things pumpkin.

Yesterday, when we went to the grocery store, I saw this:

Just what I needed! I enjoyed some of this deliciousness for breakfast this morning. I may have to wait a while for the cooler temperatures of fall, but this reminds me that it is coming. And I am content.

“In everything give thanks….” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB)

How are Your Communication Skills?

Have you ever had the experience of a phone conversation, or perhaps a visit, where one of the parties obviously didn't want to be there?

Maybe you're a parent or a grandparent receiving the obligatory phone call for your birthday or some other special occasion. What if the person on the other end of the line just mumbles or yawns or just says the same stilted sentences that they have always said, and says them over and over? How would that make you feel? Would that make you feel loved? Or special? Probably not.

Maybe you're a parent or a grandparent with grown children. How often are they in touch with you?  Every day? Or maybe once a week? Or less often? Are they only in touch when they need something?  How does that make you feel? Does it make you feel loved? Or special? Probably not.

Have you ever thought about how often we approach our time with God that very same way? As an obligation to be checked off our list for the day. Or we're only in touch when we need something or have a problem. How do you think that makes God feel? If, as an earthly parent, that approach would leave you feeling unloved or unnecessary, how much more must the heart of our Heavenly Father be grieved to be treated that way. What does that approach say about the genuiness of our relationship with our Heavenly Father?

What is your communication with God really like? Do you just rattle through, as though on "speed talk"?  Do you only communicate with God when you need something? When there's a problem in your life that you can't quite solve on your own? Do you come to God with the same well-worn phrases or the same "laundry list" of prayer requests? With the same spiritual-sounding, but perhaps meaningless to you, phrases that you heard somebody else say? Do you rattle off the same words in the same order every time?

Is that a genuine communication? Or would that perhaps qualify as "vain repetition"?  (See Matthew 6:7 KJV)

What is genuine communication? How would you describe that?

Think again about your communication with your parents or perhaps your grandparents. How would you describe that? Is it regular, perhaps even daily? Do you find it necessary to be very careful as you speak to them and use only certain prescribed sentences, or can you be open and honest, saying whatever is on your heart and mind? Do you communicate with them only when you want something or because they can give you something, or do you talk to them simply because you love them?

I think that we can agree that the essence of genuine communication is that we are open and honest. That we don't need a reason to talk with those we love. That we enjoy talking with those we love. That we miss those conversations when they don't occur. And if that is true in our human relationships, is it not even more true in our relationship with the Lord? If we truly love Him as we say we do, will we not want to be in communication with Him. Will we not want to talk to Him? Will we not miss those conversations when they don't occur? Will our communication with Him - our prayer life - not be much more than just asking for things?  

Why do we communicate with the Lord anyway? Is it because we love Him? Or because we want what He can give us? Why do we love Him? Is it because of what He does for us or what He gives to us? Or is it simply because of Who He is!!

There's another side of communication. Communication is more than just talking. Communication involves listening.

One of our sons went into the Air Force right after high school. Following basic training and tech school, he was assigned to a base in another country. Back in those days, we didn't have cell phones or Skype or FaceTime. We received long-distance phone calls and heard a very British voice saying, "Collect call from the United Kingdom. Will you pay?" The answer was, of course, always "yes"! I looked forward to those phone calls, but I was sometimes frustrated when Brian called home because he didn't say much. I finally realized that the reason for the call was not so much because he had a lot to tell us, but was more because he wanted to hear a familiar voice, to hear the sounds of home.

Prayer is like that. It's not always about talking. Sometimes it's about listening. It's about hearing from our heavenly home. About hearing what our Father has to say to us.

Many of us may need to work on our communication skills a little bit. In this era of cell phones and internet and texting and FaceTime, there's really no excuse for not staying in touch with our family and our friends. We can always find time and a method for communicating with those we love. Sometimes it's a lengthy conversation. Sometimes there are challenging issues that need to be discussed. Sometimes it's just a quick "hi, just checking in to say I love you." Whatever it is, it's important to communicate with those we love.

How much more important to communicate with the One who loves us most. Not to only communicate with our Heavenly Father when we need something or when we have challenging issues to deal with. But to talk with Him - and listen to Him - on a regular basis.

When Jesus taught His disciples about prayer, He didn't say "if" you pray......He said "when" you pray.  Regular communication is an important part of our lives. With our earthly families. And even more so with our Heavenly Father.

Regular communication is necessary to maintain any relationship. It's one of the ways we express our love for family and friends, and for our Lord. By staying in touch. By talking regularly. By listening.

That's what communication is all about. How well are you communicating with those you love?

"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  Pray then like this:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name......"  (Matthew 6:7-9 ESV)

"Pray without ceasing."  (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV)

Precious Memories

I'm approaching another birthday, which has me feeling a little nostalgic and thinking about days gone by.

I had the great blessing of growing up next door to my grandmother. Some children go over the river and through the woods to visit their grandmother; I went past the swing set and the clothesline!  Grandmother Neil, my mother's mother, was one of the women I loved and admired most in this life.  Even now, almost 50 years after her passing from this life to the next, it's still true. I have often been told that I'm a lot like her, and I consider that a great compliment. She was strong-willed. Determined.  A woman of great faith. A woman who loved her family. Who loved her Lord. And who loved to laugh!

Grandmother Neil worked in the local dry cleaners after my granddaddy died. Every morning on her way to work, without fail, she stopped by our house and stuck her head in the back door just to say "good morning". I can almost hear her voice even as I remember that!

Grandmother Neil made the best fried chicken and the best chicken & dumplings and the best banana pudding ever. Ever!  And she made the strongest coffee, which she laced with cream and then poured out into a saucer to cool. Did your grandmother do that?

This is a picture of Grandmother Neil, taken many years ago, holding one of my cousins. 

I never knew my other grandmother. Grandmother Austin, my daddy's mother, died just a few weeks before I was born, so my memories of her are all second-hand, based on what others have told me about her. Those memories all paint a picture of someone I would have really liked to know. Even though I never knew Grandmother Austin, I had an "almost like a Grandmother" in my life.

My second cousin Anne Sevier was in many ways like a Grandmother to me. Anne was the daughter of Nettie Daniel Sevier, the sister of my Grandmother, Eudora Daniel Austin. Nettie had died after giving birth to Anne's brother, Richard, so Anne and Richard were raised by my grandparents. Anne was older than my dad and his siblings, so even though I knew we were cousins, in many ways she filled the grandparent role for me.

Like Grandmother Neil, Anne was a woman I loved and admired very much. She was independent and feisty, a woman of strong opinions and great determination. Anne taught English and Literature at Winthrop College (now Winthrop University), and when I was a child, I would often visit her there during the summers when she typically taught one session of summer school. While she was in class, she often made certain I was properly settled in the college library under the watchful eye of Miss Schinn, the college librarian at the time, where I sat on the floor in the children's section, blissfully surrounded by more books than were contained in our town's library! When I wasn't in the library, she arranged swimming lessons for me in the college pool. I much preferred the library to the pool, and am still a terrible swimmer!

As I grew older, Anne would sometimes leave me alone in her apartment, where I enjoyed the company of her collection of porcelain figurines of characters from Dickens' novels. I'm sure she would have been horrified to know that I played with them as though they were my dolls! Of course, she was likely astute enough to know they had been moved about on the shelf!

Those "Dickens people", as we now affectionately refer to them, are among my treasured possessions.  They were a gift from Anne when she moved into assisted living many years ago.

Anne outlived my parents and my grandparents. In fact, Daddy used to say, "Anne will outlive us all!" I'm not sure he meant that literally. But it was true. She outlived my parents. Her brothers. Her cousins. There were only second and third cousins remaining at the time of her passing.

If she were still with us, she would now be 114 years old. She didn't make it quite that far, but she did live to be 106! Here we are on the occasion of her 106th birthday:

Anne lived just a few months beyond her 106th birthday. Although she had lost her sight and most of her hearing, her mind was still sharp. On that last birthday back in 2013, she quoted her favorite poet, Robert Browning. Quoted it perfectly, I might add! Spending time with her that day and hearing her quote Browning one more time....that's a precious memory indeed!

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand

Who saith "A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!''

(from "Rabbi Ben Ezra" by Robert Browning)

The Barrister and the Letter of Marque. A Book Review.

With mystery and suspense, and lots of twists and turns, The Barrister and the Letter of Marque by Todd M. Johnson takes us right into the world of Charles Dickens.

William Snopes is a London Barrister who is a strong advocate for the poorer classes against the more powerful upper class. Lady Madeleine Jameson invests in a merchant ship in an effort to save her father’s estate. That ship was granted a Letter of Marque - most unusual - which would allow them to seize cargo from French ships operating illegally in the Indian Ocean.

However, when the ship returned to London, the cargo is seized and the captain is arrested for piracy. The Letter of Marque has mysteriously vanished!

Snopes takes the case, but learns that their are forces at work against Lady Jameson, and him as well, that are far more sinister than either had imagined.

This one starts very slowly as the characters and background are introduced. Then the pace picks up rather dramatically.

This is my first time to read any of Johnson’s work. This book is well written, with authentic characters and well-researched historical details. Fans of historical fiction are sure to enjoy this one.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Bethany House for my copy of this book. The opinions are my own.

Not Just Hearing, But Doing

I have been spending some time lately decluttering and reorganizing. In the process, I have come across several old journals I used for sermon-note-taking. The kind I carry with me when I go to church and use to make notes as I listen to the pastor's sermon.

As I reviewed some of these old journals, I made an interesting discovery.

Sometimes I take very neat, orderly, methodical notes. Those pages look something like this one:

Not all the pages are quite so tidy. More of them look like this:

The pages on the right hand side are the points the pastor is making in the sermon, or a listing of Scriptures he refers to, or perhaps writing down a particular quote from something he said.

The pages on the left side, those less tidy ones, are the thoughts triggered by what the pastor is saying.  Perhaps other Scriptures to refer to later. Or perhaps an application to my own life of what he is teaching.  Often it's something I need to do, based on what I am learning from what he is saying. So I suppose it could be said that the left hand pages are the "doing" pages, based on what I am "hearing".

Put another way, the right hand side is about what the Scripture says and what it means, and the left hand side is how I am going to apply it.

I'm not sure I had even realized I do that. At least not consciously. Of course, I knew I was taking neat notes on one side of the page and scribbling on the other ( I still do that!), but I don’t think I had given given conscious voice to the thought that what I was doing actually made a division between hearing and doing. Between teaching and application. But as I reviewed my notes, that's exactly what I found.

On the "scribbled" side are lists of Scriptures to look up. Lists of ways I can put the teaching into practice.  Things I need to ponder as I seek to apply what I have learned. Questions about what I've heard and how I can live it out. 

All those are ways to apply what I learn. All are ways to be "doing" and not just "hearing".

Isn't that what the apostle James had in mind when he wrote these words:

"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers."  (James 1:22 NASB)

Paying the Price

Looking through some old photos recently reminded me of a grand adventure several years ago exploring some of the Ohio Amish country. That adventure included a buggy ride. I copied this photo from the Yoder Amish Home web site to show where we rode.

The area where we rode was surrounded by ragweed. Lots of ragweed. And being highly allergic to ragweed, I paid a price for that buggy ride. Drippy nose. Swollen eyes. Lots of tissues. Feeling - and looking - pretty miserable.

That's the price of a buggy ride.

For the nine years we lived in the mountains of western North Carolina, we lived in the log home at the top of a mountain, and we had amazing views.

We enjoyed some spectacular sunsets when we lived there.

There was a downside to all that beauty. The only access to our mountain home was a very steep gravel road, and going up and down that road in winter could be treacherous.

That was the price we had to pay for those beautiful views.

We all understand the concept of paying the price, at least in theory. When we go to the supermarket or the department store, and find an item we want, we check the price of the item, and then must decide if we are willing to pay that price. Whether it's bananas or steak or coffee or shoes, we check the price and determine if we are willing to pay that price. In every case, there's a price that must be paid.

There is a price to pay for everything.  There are always consequences.

That is true for beautiful mountain views and for buggy rides in fields of ragweed. It is true for the choices we make about how to spend our money and the choices we make concerning food.

Every election season, every candidate who choses to run for office must also face the same reality. Every candidate for President of the United States must be willing to pay the price. The price to be paid for being a candidate is that everything you say or do, and everything you have ever said or done, is open to scrutiny by the press and the public. And whichever of the candidates succeeds in being elected to office will continue to face that kind of scrutiny, whether fairly or unfairly. It's the price of presidential politics in our culture.

Jesus had something to say about counting the cost. He said, "Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost?"  (Luke 14:28 ESV).  In this passage in Luke 14, Jesus was talking about the cost of discipleship. The cost of being a follower of Jesus Christ. Yes, salvation is a free gift.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."  (Ephesians 2:8 ESV)  

Salvation is a free gift, but there is a cost to discipleship. A cost to following Jesus. And we must consider the cost, Jesus said.  

Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."  (Luke 14:28-29 ESV)

Jesus said, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you."  (John 15:18 ESV)

Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world."  (John 16:33 ESV)

Being a follower of Jesus Christ, especially in our culture, comes with a price tag. There may be ridicule.  You may lose your friends. Or your job. Or, as it is in many parts of the world, you might lose more than that. You might even lose your life.

Jesus paid it all for you.

Salvation is a free gift. Discipleship is a costly pursuit.

Are you willing to pay the price of being His disciple?

Turning the Page

Welcome to August! It's a new month. A clean page on the calendar. Time for a fresh start.

Yesterday I turned the page on the "official" family calendar on the side of the refrigerator. And I smiled. It's my birthday month. And it's one month closer to fall and cooler temperatures!

We often think of a new month as a clean slate. A time to start over. But if your calendar looks anything like mine, it isn't exactly a blank page. There are doctor appointments and hair appointments and meetings at church already written in. August is shaping up to be another busy month.

Even so, there's something refreshing about turning the calendar page. A new month means new opportunities. New adventures. New challenges to be faced.  

Turning that calendar page also means moving on. Leaving the previous month behind. Letting go of all the less-than-we-might-have-liked-them-to-be moments. The new month is time to let all that go, and time to move forward.

Facing this new month means asking some questions. As in, what things in my life need some correction. What additions need to be made? What things in my life need some fine-tuning. What things in my life need to be deleted. You may find that to be true in your life as well.

Here are a few questions to help you get started.

What foods need to be deleted from my life? What foods need to be added?

What habits need to be deleted from my life? What habits need to be added?

What corrections need to be made in my speech?

What needs to be deleted? In my activities. In my recreation. In my reading. In my TV watching. In the way I spend my money.

What needs to be added? In my activities. In my recreation. In my reading. In my TV watching. In the way I spend my money.

Life is a process. And all those processes need some editing from time to time.

What better time than today, as we are turning the page to a new month, to take some time to consider what changes might need to be made! 


"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."  (Philippians 3:7 NASB)