Mesu Andrews new book releasing in January may be her best yet! Isaiah's Daughter by Mesu Andrews pre order now at Amazon.com

The very first line of the book caught my attention and kept it until I turned the very last page!  "Songs are written of sons, but daughters are left to whispers."

Whispers?  Seriously?  

Mesu Andrews absolutely captures your heart through the people she brings to life on these pages!  King Hezi, awful King Ahaz, beautiful, strong, sweet, emotional, real Ishma who is renamed Hephzibah (Zibah), Micah, Isaiah the list goes on and on and they truly feel like family.  I was sad, when I finished the book.

The story is captured through sharing truth whether it be the truth that King Hezekiah  was faithful to God, but the long awaited son of this couple is not.  The author was able to share this without the focus being on the son, but on the love story of the parents.  The journey was not a easy journey, but it was just like life truly is worth the journey.

I don't like to give away much of a book because I like for the book to unfold for each reader and allow God to use the pages of a book to open your heart.  God showed up through the sharing of His Words in this story.  He sees.  He knows.  He is Everlasting and to read it through this Christmas season with the prophecies of the coming King and how they wondered if perhaps King Hezi was the fulfillment of one of the prophecies.  Also, when God told Isaiah to walk naked through the streets the shame it brought to him, but the absolute obedience that he did it, but the feelings of his whole family.  Have you ever thought about being his wife or child when you knew he was following God's commands, but your neighbor might thinks he is just a nut case? God's instructions to be obedient sometimes come at a cost to everyone in the surrounding area.  So much food for thought throughout this wonderful book!

I am on Mesu Andrew's team that helps to promote her books and to give honest reviews when I read them.  I told her on facebook that I believe this is her best one yet!  She develops the people so that you love them or hate them and some you just want to knock in the head!  I truly closed the book with a touch of sadness that it was over.

In the beginning the little girl is named Ishma which meant "desolation".  How could anyone name a little girl desolation, but then she becomes Hephzibah which means "delight of the Lord" and it is just like a beautiful butterfly!  She truly became a beautiful woman through the words on the pages of this five star book!

It releases in January, 2018 and you can pre-order right now on Amazon.com or wherever you purchase your books.  Give yourself an amazing gift that will arrive in the new year and it truly will be a great way to start your reading in 2018!  Don't miss out on allowing God to speak and heal your soul through the words in this book.

Isaiah's Daughter by Mesu Andrews is breath taking.  Order it today!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie Covington

Light and Hope

Do you remember when you were small on summer nights when you would chase the little lightning bugs around and put them in mason jars?  I loved this summer tradition until it almost became extinct.  I never saw the lightning bugs or was I just not looking in the right spots?  The dark night suddenly not so dark any more because of the light of a small bug and the fun it brought into the darkness.

I am doing an advent study and part of the process is to journal your thoughts on different passages or to write about the passage.  On Monday this week the passage was from Isaiah 9:2 about people walking in darkness and the light.  Go read it for yourself and see what thoughts it brings to your mind about light and darkness.  Today from Isaiah 9:6 brought many things to mind for me about light and hope!

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Today, the Lord brought to my mind all the wonderful things about Him that provide so much hope.  He is a wonderful Counselor, Mighty, Forever and Peace all of this and so much more.  The verse also showed me that this was written a long time before Jesus was born.  A very long time, but it is written truth.  I mean this is written with a strong belief that this was going to happen and  that provides so much hope!  Isaiah believed it long before it was true.  He knew it in his heart and he was sharing it with everyone else.

Do we act in a way that we believe God's Words to provide hope to others?  We are surrounded by darkness daily just like during the time Isaiah.  Lots of terrible things happening, so do we walk allowing God's light to shine providing hope along the way or perhaps not?  Do we really believe God's promises?  

God reminded me this morning to keep my eyes on Him allowing Him to shine through me!  We can't do this without Him.  We allow other things to take over, but HE always shines!

Reminders of lightning bugs and how they reappeared in my life, when I took the time to notice...A beautiful light on a dark night provided by the Only One that truly offers hope.

Sweet Advent Blessings,

Debbie

P.S. The book is Advent Illustrated by Sara Laughed.  I am enjoying the first few days and will continue to share throughout the journey of Advent.

Where we Belong by Lynn Austin Book Review - One Word FABULOUS

Fabulous is the only word that describes this book!  I felt every emotion, I smelled the same smells, I saw with my mind the descriptions in every scene of this book that took me from Chicago, to Egypt, sailing the oceans, to Cambridge with two sisters.  The sisters were very strong believers and they lived their faith with adventures.

Adventures that were set in a very different time for women.  1892 was a time of women being more into the social scene rather than learning and exploring.  These two sisters lead by a strong older sister would not settle for what was suppose to be according to society, but lived by God's words and knew He desired something else for her and she would not settle for less.

Normally I read very fast, but  this book made me want to take in every word and to experience what these women were experiencing and I did!  Lynn Austin outdid herself with this book and I hope and I pray that word gets out about this book.  Christmas is around the corner share it with a sister or a friend that you consider close as a sister.  It is a treasure that will hopefully lead another woman to a closer walk with the LORD.

I felt the fear as they sat in a tent in the desert with a storm surrounding them yet the peace they felt by their faith that everything was going to be alright.  Have you ever wanted to be brave and board a plane to Egypt and ride a camel through the desert?  Well, me either exactly but I did through these sisters.  Only they traveled by boat a very long time to see their dream come to a reality.

I truly can't pick a favorite part of this book or a favorite character.  The two sisters, Rebecca and Flora, are very different in some ways yet alike.  Rebecca is strong and you know it and Flora is gentle yet very strong.  Rebecca is not the beautiful sister (at least in her own eyes)  Flora is the one described with beauty, but don't let that mislead you.  Strength is in Flora too.  

Please order this book for someone you love!  I can't stress enough how much you will enjoy sitting by a fire or at the beach reading this wonder book.  I don't want to share too much because I want it to come into your senses the way it did for me.  Even to the smell of a young man named Soren in the book.  I smelled him right along with the sisters and was trying so hard not to let him know.  Yes, I know it seems ridiculous, but I did.  It was so good!

Also, for those that truly love the Word of God this book is extra special.  These sisters went on a special mission to the desert to find old, old, pages of the Bible to help someone else believe.  It is so good,

I was given this book by Bethany House to review and all I can say is that when I close this blog post about the book...I am ordering some for Christmas gifts!

Order through your local bookstore or through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, wherever you get your books.  Don't miss out!

Lynn Austin such a fantastic job!  Thanks so much for sharing this special adventure with me!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Bread

What is something that you think you must have everyday?  Is it coffee to begin your day?  Is it exercise that you must get that run in?  Is it a diet coke? (hmmmm.) We all have something that we desire daily, but in truth we don't have to have it.

Jesus is something we all need and we desire, but some of us may not realize that is what we are lacking in our life.  Jesus in John 8 referred to himself as "I am the bread of life..."  People in the ancient days would not have survived long without bread and they all knew this and Jesus knew the reference when He referred to himself in this manner.  Bread was baked daily in long ago days and it was mostly round looking like rolls or buns.  People had it in there homes, but it was used in worship as well.  People knew they needed bread.

We all need Jesus.  We walk through life trying to fill up on stuff.  Our stuff just looks different for each of us and it is quite a list I am sure, but truthfully all we need is Jesus.  

Ponder about Jesus today and Him being all we need to survive this world and look forward to eternity with Him.

Sweet blessings,

Debbie