Ripples Along The Shore, The Quilted Heart Series #3 : Book Review

Picture from http://waterbrookmultnomah.com

  Ripples Along The Shore, is the third book in The Quilted Heart Series. Caroline Milburn is a civil war widow who lives with her sister Jewell, who's husband is grieving loss from the war also. Caroline wishes to start her life anew by joining the wagon train west, but one thing stands in her way to that goal, Garrett Cowlishaw. 

Will Caroline be able to leave the small town and start a new life? Or will one man stand in front of her dreams? This last book in the series is a predictable book, but is a fun little read nonetheless. This book is one you would want to read if you want a light read. It ties in the characters from the other books, and the reader finds out who is leaving with the wagon train, and those who are staying behind. 

This book lacked depth for me. It had great potential for a great book, but just wasn't written well and the characters weren't developed enough for me to give this book a "Five" star rating. It is a short read that can be easily finished within a few hours, and for me , that isn't a good thing. I like to have a good book that will keep me interested and guessing as to what will happen, this one is way to predictable. I would give this book a 3 star, since it is a cute little book, but lacked the depth. 

 * I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review*

Info about the book here.

You can purchase the book here through Amazon

New things coming!

Hello all! Thanks for being patient with me while i get my life back in order. I will be posting more recipes in the future. I will be focusing more on "Real Food". That's why i called my blog going back to the basics. I will focus on things that our ancestors did when it comes to food, and living. I'm excited to get this blog up and running better too! Thanks again to all my readers out there for your patience. Exciting things are coming!

Porcupine Treasures

Hey guys so sorry it's been forever since i've written last. Life has been crazy. I haven't felt like writing much since my surgery, but now i'm healing (physically and emotionally) and when I get back from my week vacation with family i'll write some more. In the meantime hang in there and don't give up on reading!! I did go in to the Dr. the other day for a post op appointment and they said everything is healing well. This is good news for me. I'm ready to be better again. I can finally start exercising slowly again.

In other news i started a new business called Porcupine TreasuresHERE . I'm selling on Etsy right now and you can check out my shop HERE.
. It's just getting started so i don't have much products but I hope to have a lot more in the future. I'm selling jewelry right now and hope to sell maybe kids clothes, aprons, and such in the future. Check out the facebook page for my business

Thanks again for being patient and reading my blog. Check back later for more updates! Thanks!

Broken Heart Made New

There has been a song that has helped me through these past few weeks. It's inspired me, and helped me get through each day without feeling sad. Here are the lyrics to Hawk Nelsons song. You can listen to it Here.

                                                    "Every Beat Of My Broken Heart"

This is not what I asked
Not what I prayed for
Are you listening now?
'Cause all that I've built,
All that I've bled for
Is coming undone

But what if it had to be broken
Before my heart could be open?

Maybe the shattered parts
Are the places where Your love starts
And now I am closer to where You are
With every beat of my broken heart
Oh, oh

Maybe it's not what i would've chosen
And I won't understand
But I'm trusting You now
Cause all that I know is
I am safe in Your hands

But what if it had to be broken
Before my heart could be open?

Maybe the shattered parts
Are the places where Your love starts
And now I am closer to where You are
With every beat of my broken heart
Mercy is here with me
Even if I can't see it now
I am closer to where You are
With every beat of my broken heart

So break me all the way
'Til we are face to face
When Your work in me is through
Then all that's left is You

Maybe the shattered parts
Are the places where You're love starts
And now I am closer to where You are
With every beat of my broken heart

Mercy is here with me
Even if I can't see it now
I am closer to where You are
With every beat of my broken heart
Oh, oh

I am closer to where You are
With every beat of my broken
Beat of my broken heart

This song has helped me realize that I haven't been fully relying upon the Lord. Sometimes He allows things in our lives to "break" us so we can see Him more clearly. We become so self centered that our hearts harden towards the Lord. When our hearts "break" and something happens in our lives that wakes us up to the Lord, we come closer to Him. He loves us so much. It's a love like no other. One that He gave His son for us. I know we hear that a lot, but losing a baby that I never got to hold, made me realize even more the sacrifice of our Lord. Think of Jesus' mother, who got to hold him, raise him, watch him take his first steps, first words, first scratch. And then she had to watch as a crowd yelled "crucify him!". This was her son! Could you imagine how broken her heart was as a mother? God's love for us is even stronger than that between mother and child. You see, Jesus was His son too, but in human form.

We hear from church all the time that "God loves us". We get so used to the idea of God loving us that we forget about it. We put it aside for later. Until something "bad" happens in your life and then you say "it's ok, God loves me, i'll get through this". And then once we get through that stage, we go back to our self centered lives, and enter the cycle again. I have an idea, lets break the cycle. Lets have a passion for God like no other. Lets wake up the church, lets reach out to those hurting. Lets become a "New Testament" church. A group of people who meet, worship the Lord, helps others (with no self interest in trying to make themselves look better), and reach out to those who are searching for love. Everyone wants to be loved, the sad part is, they don't realize they are loved, loved by God. Why don't they know? Because "church" people are to caught up in building numbers (people and dollars). Oh I've seen it in church's, where you can walk in and no one ever says hi to you. You are just another number to them. And then their worship service is more like a concert that makes them look good. And the people around you aren't singing or hardly, because their hearts really aren't into it. Yes they have a few good people in the church. But you come away from the sermons needing more. They are what I call "fluffy" sermons. Sermons that are meant to please people, not grow them. Preachers are afraid to step on peoples toes. How can we grow if we aren't challenged? 

We have gotten so far away from God, and His Word, that we get comfortable in our routines, forgetting that we need God every day of the week. We need Him every day, not just on Sunday. We need to change how things are in church's that are "fluffy".  "But i'm only one person! One person doesn't make a difference". Yes one person does make a difference. There is a pebble. The pebble says " I can never have an impact on anything". The pebble is then thrown in the water, and it creates ripples all through the pond. You see, even though you are one person, you can influence those around you. You can make a difference. 

Remember this, no matter what you are going through, God loves you. 

June 26, 2013

  June 26, 2013. The day I most likely won’t forget. The day started about 4am for me. I had intense pain in my side. More painful than a kidney stone. I woke my husband up, and he took me to the emergency room. I told them some info about how I was feeling, and within ten minutes I was in a room getting blood drawn. The nurses had that “worried” look on their faces. I was in intense pain, because I didn’t want morphine. So I found out that when I’m in pain, I make jokes and have a sense of humor most people in a hospital don’t have. Within a few hours the results were back. I was pregnant, and I had an ectopic pregnancy. Finding out that I was pregnant and that the baby wouldn’t live was a shock. And then they did the ultrasound. I had internal bleeding. Next thing I knew, I was being transferred to another hospital in an ambulance. By 10am I was in surgery. I don’t remember much after that. I slept for 6 hours, found out that my mom would be flying in the next evening, and still in shock of all that happened. By 5pm the hospital released me, and I came home.

  When I heard about my ectopic pregnancy, I thought it was something that was rare. But 20 out of 1,000 pregnancies are ectopic. Why aren’t woman told about this? Why is it so “secret”? There’s not much out there where other woman are talking about it. I only see articles from doctors or health sites.

Today the shock of the surgery finally wore off, and now the grieving for the child I’ll never hold until we meet in heaven. The Lord has been my comfort in this hard time. These verses have helped me this past week.

 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Psalms 30:5 …Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God. Psalms 42:11

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalms 147:3

 

The Lord has taught me a lot, and is still teaching me. If you or a loved one has gone through something similar my heart and prayers go out to those who have been through something like this. It is hard, but remember the Lord loves you, and has his hand in your life.

Dandelions on the Wind, The Quilted Hearts Series #1 : Book Review

Picture from http://waterbrookmultnomah.com

Dandelions on the Wind, The Quilted Hearts Series #1

If you like to read a good read, I suggest you read this book. Dandelions on the Wind by Mona Hodgson, is the first novella in the Quilted Heart series, and you won’t be able to put it down. The book is about a mail order bride , Maren Jenson, who has come to America from Denmark. But the man she is supposed to marry, leaves her when he finds out about Maren’s ailment. She finds a home with Ms. Brantenberg , and her young granddaughter, Gabi.

But the winds change when Gabi’s father shows up. Maren finds herself falling in love with him, and his daughter Gabi. But the strain between “Wooly” and Ms. Brantenberg is strong and the tension is high. One great lesson this book shares is that “Grace cannot be earned, only given”.

I found this book to be a great read. The only downside is that it’s short. Also there needed to be more about the characters themselves to help the reader feel as if they knew them. The lessons on grace and forgiveness in this book is nice and refreshing.  Also the last few chapters of the book don’t talk much about Maren’s ailment. Overall this little novella was an inspiring book, with lessons on grace and forgiveness throughout the book.

* I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review*

You can purchase this book through Amazon here.

More information about the book here.

Fruit Infused Water

© Pimenova | Dreamstime Stock Photos &Stock Free Images

   So today i made lemon blueberry infused water. I wanted to have some flavor without all the chemicals of store bought fruit flavored waters.

So this is what i did : 

• Take 1 Lemon and squeeze juice and pulp into a glass 
• Take a handful of blueberries and slightly squeeze them and put them in the glass
• Let sit for a few hours in fridge. 

  Then you have a nice refreshing drink, plus added vitamins! It's great for those warm summer days. 

You can add any fruit you want too! I wanted lemon for the detoxing benefits and blueberries for taste. Enjoy!