Friday Spotlight

I'd like to thank justpeachy36 over at Debbie's Book Bag for shining her Friday Spotlight on my blog! I certainly appreciate the recognition. I would have mentioned it sooner, but I've been tied up since just after Christmas with my first painting project. We just spent a week painting my bedroom walls, ceiling, trim and doors-- including an accent wall. What a project! Boy, am I glad that's over, and that I can sleep in my bed again!

Thanks again, justpeachy (Debbie?)! I'm glad that you enjoy the blog, and I'm just having fun getting back into reading again...

Secret Santa Gift Received

I actually received my Secret Santa gift awhile back, but I had committed to not opening it until Christmas. Well, I opened it Christmas Eve, but I think it was near midnight. So...I sorta waited until Christmas!

I opened the box to find several gifts inside!


When I unwrapped the gifts, I found a copy of Dead Souls by Michael Laimo and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe-- both off of my Wish List! I also got two homemade leather bookmarks. Very nice!

Thanks so much to my Secret Santa Somer of Some Reads! I love all of my gifts, and they were well worth waiting for!

A Profound Thank You

Looky, looky what came in the mail for me!

According to the accompanying card, that is a coin from 2nd to 4th century AD! This was a wonderful gift from author Michelle Moran for hosting a giveaway for her books The Heretic Queen and Cleopatra's Daughter, and I couldn't be happier or more surprised to receive it.
The 2nd to 4th centuries. 100-400 AD. The early days of Christianity. The days of Pliny the Younger and Ptolemy. Jonah is swallowed by the whale in this era. The days and decline of the Roman Empire. This coin is over 1500 years old! Can you wrap your mind around that?

I love "old things". So you can imagine how excited I am to have a coin from the early days of the first millennium. A coin that just missed sharing the earth with Christ by a mere few hundred years. A coin that could have sat in the hand of Ptolemy, or shared the sea with Jonah. Maybe it was lost at sea after being newly minted, and was never touched by anyone but the minters and the salvagers. But can you wrap your mind around the antiquity of this tiny little coin? It baffles the mind!

Michelle Moran-- thank you, thank you, thank you! I got such a kick out of receiving this coin in the mail. Learn more about Michelle's books here!

On a sidenote: I am reading Michelle's book The Heretic Queen right now, and I promise you that I have been in no way influenced by the coin when I say that I am loving the book! I love the ease of her descriptive writing style, which paints pictures in my mind of the scenes being played out. The coin just helps pull me even closer into the time period in which the story is staged.

Thanks so much, Michelle!

Music Monday: A Week of Giving Thanks

This being the week of Thanksgiving, I wanted to start off today keeping the attitude of gratitude in the forefront. With that in mind, here are "Thankful" by Josh Groban and "Gratitude" by Nichole Nordeman.



Thankful (lyrics)

Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves
There's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say
I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences
There is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for




Gratitude (lyrics)

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . . .

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