Book Review: “A River to Cross” by Yvonne Harris
December 17, 2011 at 9:53 am | Posted in Books | Leave a commentTags: Book Review, Christian Fiction, Romance Fiction, Thriller
Yvonne Harris in her new book, “
A River to Cross” published by Bethany House Publishers brings us to Texas and the Rio Grande in 1886.
From the back cover: On the lawless frontier, a Texas lawman is her only hope. Elizabeth Evan’s brother paid the ultimate price as editor of a newspaper exposing the dangers along the U.S.-Mexican border. Determined to take up his cause, she’s targeted and kidnapped by a rogue general-Manuel Diego.
It’s the job of Texas Ranger Jake Nelson to protect the border against rustlers and marauders. With Elizabeth’s photograph in hand – a dark-haired beauty with smiling eyes – Jake and his men ride across the great river to rescue her, to apprehend Diego and bring him to justice.
But Diego and his renegades are not about to give up that easily. Amid the turmoil, Jake finds himself taken by Elizabeth. And she by him. Yet his life as a Ranger doesn’t fit with marriage and settling down. Not at all.
This is a Western and I really like Westerns. This is a thriller, the good guys are in deadly danger practically from page one and the danger escalates as the story progresses. This is a romance. This is a story filled with great characters that you do not mind spending your time with and wonderful writing. There are also grand themes. Ms. Harris explores whether God can make something good out of our disasters and bad choices. When the bad guys are powerful and it seems the law cannot touch them can God deal with them? Are we too small for God to care for and minister to our wounds and traumas? These themes and more are dealt with as Ms. Harris gives us a great ride of a book.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
12 Pearls of Christmas Series: Elizabeth Musser
December 17, 2011 at 9:20 am | Posted in Ministry | Leave a comment
Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas
Enjoy these Christmas “Pearls of Wisdom” from some of today’s most beloved writer’s (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.
AND just for fun … there’s also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 – 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.
If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we’re all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.
Why I Decorate for Christmas
By Elizabeth Goldsmith Musser
An old cassette tape of Christmas carols—received in a package twenty years ago when we had first arrived in France as missionaries—fills our den with delightful piano music as I place one more ornament on the already over-laden Christmas tree. This one is a little white wooden rabbit with pink ears that move back and forth. It actually doesn’t look much like a Christmas ornament, but I bought it for our baby Andrew when my husband Paul was in seminary, and I was working for less than minimum wage in the library. This ornament was literally all I could afford.
As I hang it on the tree today, I get goose bumps and then a rush of warmth. And that’s why I decorate for Christmas. Not to impress but to remember. I remember those lean, lean years, and God’s faithful provision for us.
There are the cross-stitched ornaments I made our first year in Montpellier—for the boys (for by now we had two sons) and Paul and me. How I ever had time to do that, I don’t know. I remember our puny little tree—the kind they sold in France back then—in a pot so that it could be replanted later. We perched that tiny tree on a small table out of baby Christopher’s reach. I guess I watered it too much, because about halfway through December, it started smelling and then stinking, and it rotted there on Christmas Day!
I smile with these memories.
I look at the other ornaments on the tree. Many were purchased—one for each boy—when we attended conferences around Europe, and that makes me smile too. Getting to travel on a missionary’s budget to exotic places! There are the waxed red bear and red baby carriage from Wales, the brightly painted clay sun and moon from Portugal, the blue and white porcelain windmill and wooden shoes from Holland, the hand-blown glass Snoopys sitting on gondolas from Venice, and the delicately decorated eggs from Prague.
Other ornaments include the little pinkish shiny ball ornament with Paul’s name written in glitter—I think he made it when he was about six , and the little red velvet bows, bought at Michael’s after Christmas one year for a dollar. They bring a unifying theme to the tree. I say this, smiling, because our tree is, and has always been throughout the years, a hodge-podge of our life. And I like it that way. I don’t think I could ever have a ‘theme’ tree. Mine is a ‘memory’ tree.
The music plays softly in the background and I smile through tears, remembering God’s incredible faithfulness to call and keep us here in France for so many years. Heart-breakingly hard years, overwhelmingly joyful years—the same years, the same amazing God, our keeper.
Before we left for the mission field, I memorized Psalm 121 in English and in French, and over the years I have held on tight to those last beautiful words of the psalm: The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. (NASB)
Of course He will. He is God with us.
We decorate to remember Christmases past, our lives, our legacy, and mostly, for those of us who have embraced Christ, we decorate to honor and praise Him for coming to us—Emmanuel! We make our homes ready to receive the Christ Child, with soft music and candles burning and the sweet flickering of angel wings on an over-laden evergreen.
ELIZABETH GOLDSMITH MUSSER, an Atlanta native and the bestselling author of The Swan House, is a novelist who writes what she calls ‘entertainment with a soul.’ For over twenty years, Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, have been involved in missions work with International Teams. They presently live near Lyon, France. The Mussers have two sons and a daughter-in-law. The Sweetest Thing (Bethany House, 2011) is Elizabeth’s eighth novel. To learn more about Elizabeth and her books, and to find discussion questions as well as photos of sites mentioned in the stories, please visit http://www.elizabethmusser.com and her Facebook Fan Page. www.elizabethmusser.com
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