Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers

 

This is the second book in a two part story.  I absolutely loved these books and have been thinking about it for days after.  Even while reading and finishing another book I just couldn't get this one out of my mind.  Very much worth reading!

Her Daughter's Dream picks up right where Her Mother's Hope ended.  Marta is coming to help her daughter Hildemara raise her young kids as she battles with illness.  This book brings you through Carolyn's story and well as the story of her daughter May Flower Dawn.

Each of the characters in these books have their struggles that they have to go through, all of them are different but they shape the way they raise their children and interact with one another.  

Of all the characters I connected with Dawn the most, when I look back at myself as a child she reminds me a lot of me, different circumstances but listening to what she thinks about things is similar to how my brain thinks about things.  I don't want to spoil the story, but my connection with Dawn is what makes this story stick in my mind so strongly.  Her story moves me, her husbands story moves me too.  I often look back to myself as a teenager and wish I had someone like Georgia to put me in my place.  I may not have been doing things like Dawn at the time, but I still needed someone to tell me not to be selfish.   I don't think many people look back at me at that stage and say that about me, but internally I probably always will.

I can't imagine going through the life that any of these women ended up with.  I praise the Lord that he has been so good to me, sure I've had my struggles, but with Him it is all so much easier.  Jesus is with us always, he is in us and knows all that we do.  Trust in him and know that all things will happen in his time.

Have a blessed day!

Where the Wild Things Are (11/28/10)

This is one of those movies that I REALLY wanted to see, I was so excited about it that it really couldn't live up to what I was hoping for.  I absolutely LOVED the book as a kid, though I'm not quite sure why and as the movie went on I realized I really had forgotten a good bit of what the book was about.  The movie was cute and fun, but not nearly as good as what I was hoping for.  Maybe I watched it on a bad day?  Or maybe it just couldn't live up to my expectations, I don't know.  It wasn't a bad movie but it wasn't WOW for me either.

Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers

I picked this book up for book club and I couldn't be more happy that we chose it.  I waited to write this until after I finished the second book that went with this one.  I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not, but that's what I did so I can't change it now.

This book follows the life of Marta and her daughter Hildemara.  Marta had a rough start to life and went and did so much on her own at a very young age.  The things that happened to her and her family shaped how she raised Hilde.  From there you go into Hilde's life and how she grew up.  These things inevitably end up affecting how she raised her daughter.

I love how Francine Rivers brings God into her books, she makes you think, she makes you struggle with the characters through love and loss not only with the other characters in the book but also with God.  I am so glad we chose this book for book club. I think the second book spoke more too me (which wasn't from book club but I knew I wouldn't be able to stop reading so I bought both).

The Bucket List (11/3/10)

I think I need a bucket list, there are so many things I would love to do in my lifetime, and having a list to check them off might help me remember what they are as I think of new things.  I like to think that I live in such a way that I'm constantly trying new things and doing things as I can.  I sometimes wish I had a never ending supply of money so I could really go and do all the things I would like, but then I don't really want that either. I want to earn what I do, experience it when I should and trust that God will lead me on the right path in everything I do.  I loved this movie and am very thankful that Richard picked it out to watch.

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

I finally can say that I have read the Chronicles of Narnia!  It was great to read. 

This story was a sad one and a happy one and a bit confusing at times as well.  It was weird to try to figure out what all was going on.  And it's quite strange to think of God as being a Lion, but I don't know any other way to interpret what happens.  I did like the description of the "heaven" that they went too, the afterlife and how everything was so unexplainable beautiful and amazing.  I've always had a hard time grasping heaven and what it will be like, so to have this fictional book explain the same thing that I heard in church but a bit more in depth without really calling it heaven really made me grasp the idea a bit more then I've ever been able to before.

I loved the Chronicles, I stick by my saying they would be great to read to my children someday.  Now I just need some kids to read it too, someday.