General

My Review of “Distortion” by Terri Blackstock

Posted by joaniebruce on Jul 28, 2014 in General | 1 comment

I love all of Terri Blackstock’s books, and this one was no exception.

After witnessing her husband’s murder, Juliet faces the horrible reality that her husband of fifteen years was a totally different person than the man she thought him to be. However, while her faith sustained her, Julie’s family rallied around her to help solve the mystery threatening to destroy her and her children.

What I liked: This is a story of faith in the midst of doubt and confusion, and trust in the Lord during traumatic devastation. The suspense in the story kept me turning pages, and I finished it in one day.

What I didn’t like: It seems almost impossible that a wife would not see some hints of an alternate lifestyle and the odd behavior of her husband during the fifteen long years of their marriage. It’s hard to believe she would have been so completely naive and ignorant of his secrets.

I loved this book in spite of my doubts about her total ignorance, and I highly recommend “Distortion” to anyone loving suspense and mystery. ♦♦♦♦♦  I give this book a five star rating.

AM I AN ANNUAL, OR A PERENNIAL?

Posted by joaniebruce on Jun 20, 2014 in General | 2 comments

It’s that time of year when we enjoy marigolds, petunias, and impatiens in our yards. They add beauty and sweet fragrance to our landscaping as well as make beautiful bouquets for the dining room table. These flowers are called annuals because they complete their life cycle in one growing season, once they die, they never return. On the other hand, plants called perennials return year after year and still survive through harsh winter weather.

Annuals are enjoyable and bloom profusely during the warmer seasons, but at the end of summer, as colder weather approaches, they lose their beauty, wilt, and die. Perennials, such as jonquils, lilies, and beautiful coneflowers, survive the cold temperatures, and come back to bloom another year. Some perennials even bloom during the coldest winters. The camellia bush, for example, blooms continually during winter months. Jonquils are the first flower to bloom in early spring and have been known to pop out their vivid colors through layers of snow.

I believe friendships can be like these two types of flowers: Some friends are “fair-weather” friends. Like the annual flower, when trouble comes … gossip or misunderstandings … the “annual” type friend will weaken and turn away from the friendship. On the other hand, there are friends who linger to support you through trials and testings and will stick with you no matter what kind of harsh conditions assault the friendship.

If I compare my friendships with these two types of flowers, which type of friend am I? Do I add something to the lives of my friends when they need an ally and support them with positive uplifting encouragement? Or, do I wilt and become negative or depressing to be around when harsh conditions enter their lives and ignore their silent pleas for understanding?

The Bible says: “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Prov. 18:24a

If I want to be a friend who sticks “closer than a brother,” I have to be a perennial type friend. What about you?

IT’S HAY SEASON!!

Posted by joaniebruce on May 8, 2014 in General | 2 comments

Well … it’s hay season, and my day started with a BANG. My husband, Ben, got up early. Oh no!!  🙂

When Ben starts hay season, I always tease him about having “hayfever” with a “glazed” look in his eyes and a one-track mind: GET INTO THE HAY FIELD! His only thought is getting everything done in a hurry and getting back to the field. That frenzy he feels during this time of year radiates to me as well. Hay season is a time when I have to be on my toes and make sure I have his meals ready when he walks through the door……even if he’s 30 minutes early. 🙂

Well, this morning, I overslept. Oooops! He came in for breakfast, and I was still making the bed. Yikes! He NEVER fusses, but he just sort of stands around and fidgets…..you know what I mean? LOL  He does try to help when he can, and it’s not like I make a huge breakfast every morning….I don’t. We have cereal, fruit, and juice. However, I usually have time to feed my cats (inside and out) and cut up the strawberries, etc. This morning, I just sort of threw Ben’s meal at him and pushed him out the door. LOL

Sometimes I feel that way about my devotions … just get them done and get on to the more important things. Well, we all know that’s not right. My devotions should be the most important thing of my day. They ARE the most important thing of my day. They’re my visit with God, my time to “hear” Him speak to me through his Word and through my quiet time with Him. Sure, I “pray without ceasing” throughout the day, but I’m not listening for His direction during those times. I NEED to hear God speak to me, and by reading His Word, I “hear” His guidance, His instruction, His reprimand, His LOVE!

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  Ps 119:105

Joy WILL Come In The Morning

Posted by joaniebruce on Apr 25, 2014 in General | Comments Off on Joy WILL Come In The Morning

Flying a kite is always fun. When I was small, I wished I could be a kite and feel what it would be like to let go of the string so I could fly higher and higher into the sky. I could soar above the earth and see everything going on down below. However, sooner or later, when the wind died down or the air thinned around you, you would have to come down … and what a landing that would be!

Sometimes I think of my relationship with God in that way. He doesn’t allow us to keep traveling upward on wings of happiness, fulfillment and love because He knows how hard the landing will be when actions of others or trying circumstances bring pain into our lives. Instead, He allows our paths to dip down into times of rejection and need … in the middle of our happiness … to make us appreciate what blessings we have. God promises that, yes we will have sorrow, but through that sorrow, we have the assurance of His presence and love. Yes, there is pain, but joy always is just over the horizon.

“… weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”  Ps. 30:5b

BOOK GIVE-A-WAY

Posted by joaniebruce on Apr 7, 2014 in General | 2 comments

My new book “A Memory Worth Dying For” is here, and I’m giving away one free copy if you like my author page, and COMMENT AND SHARE the post on facebook with your friends. Make sure to comment because I won’t have your name to put in the pot if you don’t. The deadline is Friday, April 11th for winning this free gift. I’m also having a book signing on Saturday afternoon, April 12th from 2-4 at Belmont Baptist Church in Conyers. If anyone need directions please let me know.

Tithing …. Brocolli?

Posted by joaniebruce on Mar 20, 2014 in General | Comments Off on Tithing …. Brocolli?

Have you ever thought about tithing more than just your monetary income?

When I was young, my family planted a HUGE garden, and our parents taught us to tithe the first fruits. So when the vegetables came in—green beans, corn, tomatoes, turnip greens—the first ten percent was given to someone who had no garden or money to buy food. It was something we enjoyed doing because sharing always brings a smile … not only to the person we shared with, but to our faces as well. That pleasing emotion I felt when sharing my garden’s first fruits was contagious, so I tried to think of other ways to tithe.

We tithe our income, sometimes our time—working in a soup kitchen or food bank, and maybe we share that bunch of oranges we receive as a gift, but what about our talents? God gave them to us after all. Think about this: Of the 1440 minutes you live each and every day, how many of those did you create yourself? Not one! And the talents you might have—the ability to play a musical instrument, a beautiful singing voice, a gift for drawing or painting, etc.—did you bless yourself with those gifts? No way! If God gave us these things, then why shouldn’t we share them with Him by using them to make others happy? I guarantee, if you do, it will bring happiness like no other joy into your life.

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Luke 6:38

“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” Proverbs 3:9-10

“ …remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35

BEING THANKFUL FOR ALL THINGS

Posted by joaniebruce on Jan 29, 2014 in General | 1 comment

I’m sitting here watching the snow swirling around in the sky outside (yes … we’re finally getting snow here in middle Georgia,) and reading blog posts from my friends about being thankful for the snow. Some friends are enjoying the day off from work so they can spend time in the snow with their kids, and my writer friends get inspiration from the snow and the excitement it fosters.

Small blessings, like an uncommon snow storm, sometimes come unexpectedly, and I enjoy them thoroughly when they are dumped in my lap (or my yard) because they remind me to be thankful for the problems those small blessings bring along with them. I want to be grateful for the little aggravations that accompany the things I enjoy. After all, the Bible teaches us to be thankful in ALL things.

Today, I’m thankful for the outside chores even though the rare snow we enjoy here in Madison makes them more numerous and harder to complete. I’m thankful for the woodchips that fall across my clean floor, because it means I have a warm, cozy fire to keep me warm. And, I’m thankful the snow requires extra hay for the cows because it means the Lord blessed us with an abundance of hay last hay season for a reason.

I’ve found that many unexpected blessings in life often travel with various hardships, but it teaches me to be thankful in all things. What difficulties are YOU thankful for today?

A Teaser of My New Book

Posted by joaniebruce on Jan 9, 2014 in General | 2 comments

Here is a sample of my new book “A MEMORY WORTH DYING FOR.”  Coming soon……..

Bells were ringing in her head, and when she moved the bells turned into trumpets. She tried to rub her forehead with her right hand, but it felt lethargic and heavy. A hard cold metal strained against her wrist.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

What she saw made her gasp.

A steel chain was wrapped several times around her hands and connected to another chain binding her ankles together. She could only move an inch or two. The end of the chains holding her was wrapped around a metal pipe that disappeared down a hole in the middle of the floor. The floor underneath her head was dirt, packed with age and as hard as the chains.

Waves of panic pounded through her temples, and she fought the sick feeling churning in her stomach.

Someone had brought her here and left her to die. She remembered a voice—a low raspy growl she had heard before—in the alley. The same man had made good on his threat to kill her if she returned to Texas. And, no one knew where she was. Sweat popped out on her forehead even as a cold chill paralyzed her body.

Scratching sounds against the wooden walls sounded faint, but distinct. Could it be some kind of animal? Another kind of fear coursed through her veins.

The sounds grew quiet until suddenly, a loud thud banged against one outside wall, then another. Through the crack under the wall beside her, she saw boot-clad feet walking back and forth from the woods to the shed. Should she cry out? Should she beg for her life? Indecision tore her apart. The wrong choice could cost her life.

Each time the feet came back to the shed, there was another dull thump. She saw a small branch poke through the hole at the base of the wall. Someone was piling up branches outside the shed.

While she waited, trying to decide what to do, a strong stench reached her nose—the pungent sharp smell of gasoline.

A flame of fear ripped through her. She looked out under the crack in time to see the whoosh of a fire. Terror made her faint. She strained on the chains.

“Please! Let me out! Please,” she cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks and made silent plops on the hard dirt. She watched in horror as fire raced along the bottom edge of one entire wall and crept along the wall toward the door.

No, not the door! There’s no other way out.

“Lord, please help me.”

Smoke began to filter through the cracks of the old shed, and her nose burned with the strength of the smell. The fire had reached the door and whooshed across it to the other side of the wall.

In panic, she watched as the fire crept toward the last wall of the shed. Smoke was filling the building and reached its tendrils toward her. As much as she could, she covered her mouth with her shoulder and tried to have faith. God would save her if it was His will. If it wasn’t, she prayed He would be merciful.

A single whiff of smoke penetrated her covered lips, and she coughed uncontrollably. The acrid smell stung her eyes and her throat, and her stomach rebelled against the smell of smoke entering her lungs.

“Lord, please help me.”

A 2014 Challenge

Posted by joaniebruce on Jan 1, 2014 in General | 1 comment

Are you one of the determined souls to make resolutions for 2014 and keep them? Whether you are, or whether you’re not, I have a Challenge for you.

2013 has been a good year for lots of people and a sad year for many others. As I look back through the pages of my 2013 calendar, I see a vast number of sorrows that have touched my friends and family: During last year, my sister-in-law battled breast cancer; Her husband endured and survived a heart attack. Another brother-in-law lost his wife unexpectedly and a close relative survived surgery for prostate cancer with an uncertain outcome. Many friends are struggling with chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

So many friends and family members are hurting or facing trials for this coming year. My new year’s resolution is to help where I can. I challenge you to do the same. I feel that if I have a home, a job, food on the table, and a family who love me, I AM BLESSED. During 2014, I want to spend my time thinking of those who need uplifting spiritually, help financially, or just a word of encouragement. I hope and pray you will do the same. That is my challenge to you, and to myself, for this wonderful new year of promise.

The Light of the World is Jesus

Posted by joaniebruce on Dec 7, 2013 in General | 1 comment

In my part of Georgia, the sky has been cloudy FOREVER it seems! The clouds have been spitting rain off and on for days, and when I got up this morning to another cloudy wet day, my spirits lagged. However, when I turned on the lights on my two Christmas trees, the lights on the garland leading upstairs, and the blue lights around my pottery nativity scene, the gloom fled. Those little twinkling lights lifted my spirits.

That made me think of the verse in the Bible that tells us God is light. 1 John 1:5 says, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” If twinkling lights wash away the gloom, how much more should a relationship with God put a song in my heart. He loves us with an unconditional love, and leads and guides us into the blessings He has for us.

I’m enjoying the Christmas season….the twinkling lights, the Christmas tree, the nativity scenes, the hustle and bustle of the crowds, the overall spirit of love, but most of all, I want to enjoy my relationship with the Lord. He is the light of the world and the light in my heart. Even during times of stress, His light gives me joy.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas. And I hope you remember the “reason for the season” and enjoy the ultimate “light of the world.”  Jn 8:12