Waiting on God: What to Do When God Does Nothing by Wayne Stiles

★★★★★
Goodreads | Amazon

What do you do when the life God has promised you looks nothing like the life he has given you? 

We wait at red lights, in long lines, and for a person to change. But the most difficult waiting?

Waiting on God. 

We want to know God's plan so that we can trust the plan – but often God hides his plan so that we will trust him. What can we do in the meantime while we wait for an answer to prayer, a change of heart, or a miracle of provision?

Unpacking the Old Testament story of Joseph, Wayne Stiles shows you how to find comfort and purpose in the waiting, revealing the startling truth that sometimes when we think we are waiting on God, he is actually waiting on us. If you find yourself waiting on God – or if you don't know what God wants you to do next – this book offers a wise and practical guide to finding hope and peace in life's difficult pauses.

Waiting on God: What to Do When God Does Nothing is one highly relevant book, since this waiting on God - to feel His presence or understand His plan - is an experience many Christians have at one time or another, I think. To offer insight into the periods of waiting, as well as God’s role in them, Wayne Stiles explores the biblical story of Joseph and adds in material from his personal experiences. His book is helpful and encouraging, and I easily recommend it to interested readers.

Thanks to Baker Book Bloggers, I received a copy of Waiting on God and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Have Yet to Finish

Hosted weekly by The Broke and the Bookish.

-Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Still to read: Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After

-The Ballantyne Legacy by Laura Frantz

Still to read: Love's Reckoning and Love's Awakening

-Christiansen Family by Susan May Warren

Still to read: It Had to Be You and Always on My Mind

-Heroines Behind the Lines by Jocelyn Green

Still to read: Spy of Richmond

-Mindwar by Andrew Klavan

Still to read: Hostage Run

-Moses Lake by Lisa Wingate

Still to read: Wildwood Creek

-The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Still to read: The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

-River of Time by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Still to read: Bourne, Tributary and Deluge

-The Selection by Kiera Cass

Still to read: The One and The Heir

-W.A.R.P. by Eoin Colfer

Still to read: The Hangman's Revolution and The Forever Man

The Mistress of Tall Acre by Laura Frantz

About the Book

★★★★★

There can be only one mistress of Tall Acre...

The American Revolution is finally over, and Sophie Menzies is starved for good news. When her nearest neighbor, General Seamus Ogilvy, finally comes home to Tall Acre, she hopes it is a sign of better days to come. But the general is now a widower with a small daughter in desperate need of a mother. Nearly destitute, Sophie agrees to marry Seamus and become the mistress of Tall Acre in what seems a safe, sensible arrangement. But when a woman from the general's past returns without warning, the ties that bind this fledgling family together will be strained to the utmost. When all is said and done, who will be the rightful mistress of Tall Acre?

Triumph and tragedy, loyalty and betrayal - you will find it all in the rich pages of this newest novel from the talented pen of Laura Frantz.

Laura Frantz masterfully tells another historical romance in The Mistress of Tall Acre. In this novel, the Revolutionary War has just ended, leaving General Seamus Ogilvy to return to his grand estate, Tall Acre, and his motherless daughter, while his neighbor, Sophie Menzies, handles her own home of Three Chimneys, alone, destitute and perceived as a loyalist. Circumstances bring Seamus and Sophie together repeatedly, and the two soon realize a marriage might be in their best interest. From here, their combined story unfolds with plenty of drama, suspense and sweetly developing romance. Each with burdens to bear, Seamus and Sophie are strong, endearing characters, and I had no trouble rooting for their best through it all. I highly enjoyed The Mistress of Tall Acre and would not hesitate to recommend it to readers of historical romance. Most certainly, fans of Laura Frantz will not be disappointed with this latest novel.

Thanks to Revell Reads, I received a copy of The Mistress of Tall Acre and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

About the Author

Laura Frantz is a Christy Award finalist and the author of several books, including The Frontiersman's Daughter, Courting Morrow Little, The Colonel's Lady and the Ballantyne Legacy series. She lives and writes in a log cabin in the heart of Kentucky. Learn more at her website.

The Irresistible Community: An Invitation to Life Together by Bill Donahue

★★★★✩

Build community the way Jesus did.

We all want a place where our stories matter, our voices are heard, our uniqueness is celebrated, our failures are embraced, and our hopes are unleashed. That kind of deep, life-changing community is found in fellowship with Jesus and was modeled perfectly by him and the ragged bunch of disciples with whom he chose to spend his time. But how can we create it in our lives?

Using the relationship of Jesus to his disciples in the upper room, Bill Donahue presents a simple but compelling approach to community life. Using a table, a towel, and the truth, Jesus created an "irresistible community" where everyone found a place to belong, lived fully in the truth, and served others with joy. Donahue shows you just how to apply Jesus's lessons to your own community – with life-changing results.

Bill Donahue’s The Irresistible Community: An Invitation to Life Together explores various aspects of healthy community, guided by the imagined narratives of the twelve disciples. With each topic and chapter, Donahue offers helpful, basic insight for building and maintaining authentic community, and his book could certainly prove beneficial to the church today and its desire for community.

Thanks to Baker Book Bloggers, I received a copy of The Irresistible Community and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Memory Weaver by Jane Kirkpatrick

★★★★★

Eliza Spalding Warren was just a child when she was taken hostage by the Cayuse Indians during a massacre in 1847. Now a mother of two, Eliza faces a new kind of dislocation; her impulsive husband wants to make a new start in another territory, which will mean leaving her beloved home and her mother's grave – and returning to the land of her captivity. 

Haunted by memories and hounded by struggle, Eliza longs to know how her mother dealt with the trauma of their ordeal. As she searches the pages of her mother's diary, Eliza is stunned to find that her own recollections tell only part of the story.

Based on true events, The Memory Weaver is New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick's latest literary journey into the past, where threads of western landscapes, family, and faith weave a tapestry of hope inside every pioneering woman's heart. Get swept up in this emotional story of the memories that entangle us and the healing that awaits us when we bravely unravel the threads of the past.

With each Jane Kirkpatrick novel I read, I appreciate more and more her ability to bring history to life with her stories. In The Memory Weaver, Kirkpatrick explores the life of Eliza Spalding Warren, after surviving as a hostage of local Native Americans. As she returns to her family and continues to grow up, she remains haunted and affected by the memories and begins to realize the power and effectiveness of her memory. This story, presented in a way that seems realistic and authentic, intrigued me from start to finish, and I would certainly recommend it for fans of historical fiction. I enjoyed it with its thought-provoking aspects and look forward to reading more from Jane Kirkpatrick in the future.

Thanks to Revell Reads, I received a copy of The Memory Weaver and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.