Today's letter is W. Since I'm writing about the Attributes of God, I'm choosing W is for WORTHY!!
God is worthy to be praised. He's our Creator. All good gifts are from His Hand. He gives us life. He gives us breath. He gives us peace that is difficult to comprehend......HE alone is WORTHY!
STORY SUMMARY
In the small town of Braxton, Virginia, the lawyer Simon Latch, makes just enough money to pay his bills and hold his family together. He's married to a woman named Paula and they have 3 children: Danny, Buck, and Janie. Paula and Simon are struggling in their marriage and at this point are more like roommates and Simon even stays many nights in his office on Main Street.
One day an elderly woman, age 85 yrs old, named Eleanor Barnett comes into the office and wants a will done. She regrets having it done with another lawyer in town, Wally Thackerman. According to Eleanor, she is very wealthy due to her husband, now deceased, making a lot of money by putting stocks into Coca Cola and Walmart.
Simon thinks his luck has changed by Eleanor walking into his office. He works hard at keeping her wealth under the radar but after a few weeks, her story begins to raise doubts in his mind. For example: she can't seem to produce documents like bank statements with proof of her wealth.
A few months later, Eleanor has a bad car accident due to drinking and driving and her friend Doris, who was a passenger in the car, was hurt. Both of them end up in the hospital and the family that Eleanor hit, is also in the hospital.
When this happens, Simon learns that nothing is as it seems, and he soon finds himself faced with a murder charge! Eleanor has died from poisoning and everyone thinks Simon is the one who did this.
But Simon knows he's innocent. However, he also knows that the prosecution has circumstantial evidence that can convict him of murder! This conviction could send him to prison for life. As his trial progresses and the jury decides he's guilty, he knows there is only one way to save himself.
So....he sets about to prove his innocence! Will he and a few other people he comes to know and rely on, find the real killer of the widow?
MY THOUGHTS
This was a good book and very fast paced. I stayed up far too late some nights to read "just another chapter".
The characters are diverse and interesting and very well developed.
The plot moves quickly and just when I thought I knew who the killer was, a twist happens.
There were a few editing errors I noticed throughout the book but for the most part this book is just a quick, easy mystery and in my opinion, one of Grisham's better novels. I still prefer The Reckoning though!
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
It's been tedious at times and at other times it's been a fun challenge.
I'm doing the Attributes of God and today's letter is V.
God is VICTORIOUS!
One of my favorite Scriptures about victory is from the Proverbs.
What this proverb means (according to some commentators) is that we, as humans, need to prepare, make plans, work hard (represented by the horse) but that it is God, who in His sovereignty, will allow the success or the ultimate outcome of something (represented by the word Victory). It is telling us that God wants us to be dependent on Him, but we as humans also have to take responsibility for things. He gives us work to do and talents to use. We can all do something for God.
And we can have victory over our spiritual or emotional battles when we trust in God to go before us. This is done mainly in prayer and reading the Scriptures, I believe. I really like this Scripture which is a promise:
And because of Jesus and His death on the Cross, followed by His resurrection from the darkness of the tomb, we have Victory through Him! He died and rose again so we can live in the Light and rely on Him for all of our struggles and trials.
I've never heard of this song although the band name was familiar to me. Not a huge fan but I do like the questions!
1) This song begins with a guy realizing he's home alone. Do you enjoy being all by yourself?
I'm an extrovert who needs time each day to be an introvert so yes, I enjoy being by myself. I tend to do my cardio power walking by myself; I have hiked certain popular trails by myself; I've eaten out alone way back when I was single, and I'm alone most days until 6 pm now that I'm retired from teaching. I actually love it but I crave it the most when I've been out to a church event, party, or family event, or when hiking with my group.
2) He watches the sun throwing shadows on the floor. Which room in your home lets in the most sun?
The family room. The sliding glass door takes up most of the east wall and leads to the deck so this definitely gets the morning sun. After that would be the living room from about 2 pm-sunset as it faces west and has 2 colonial style windows. (same with our bedroom which is above the living room).
3) He sings that he may write a letter to his ex. If you were inspired to send someone a handwritten message, do you have stationery or notecards on hand? What about first-class postage stamps?
I keep notecards on hand along with stamps. We still pay a couple of bills by sending checks per my husband's request. Also, the organization I volunteer with, HomeBound, gives me cards another volunteer makes, as I'm the one who sends out cards each month to various clients.
4) This week's band, Better Than Ezra, got their start in Baton Rouge. All the members attended LSU and played their first gig at Murphy's, a bar near campus. When you were in your early 20's, where did you and your friends go to socialize?
We would go to Ground Round, or one of the disco clubs in Rochester, NY. A couple of times we would drive out to Niagara Falls and visit one of those disco clubs. I was a college student from Sept 1978-May 1982 so disco clubs were the thing. I went to a private Christian college in the suburbs of Rochester, but we tended to socialize in the city. The college town didn't have much! A diner, a pizza place and a Chinese food place. In my mid-20s I was far too busy with grad school and starting my teaching career to do much clubbing! And in my late 20s I tended to go to pubs or restaurants with my then fiance in the small city to the north of us (Saratoga Springs, or Boston when we were out that way). A fave is Boston Tavern. We still go there when we are out that way a few times each year.
5) While the band refuses to disclose the origin of their name, many assume the "Ezra" they refer to is poet Ezra Pound. Do you often read poetry?
I don't read it often. I do like some....lately it's been Amanda Gorman's poetry. She has such a way with words!
6) In 1995, when this song was popular, Michael Jordan "unretired" and returned to the Chicago Bulls. Tell us about a decision you wish you could undo.
There are 3 major ones: I wish I could go back in time and not live with a boy I thought I loved (he's now doing life in prison and we'll leave it at that!); I wish we hadn't been part of a toxic church as long as we were (wish we had found our current one sooner!) and I wish I could re-do time spent with a former friend (CW) and re-do my response to her messages. I'm in such a better place now and if I knew then what I know now.....my responses to some of her messages would have been different.
7) Also in 1995, Phoebe Buffay first performed "Smelly Cat." Do you recall what show she sang on?
I have never heard of her!
8) Legendary New York Yankee Mickey Mantle died in 1995. How is your team doing so far this young baseball season?
I'm a Red Sox fan because my husband is. He says they are doing as badly right now as they have done this century. I miss Papi!!
9) Random question: What's in your garage, besides your car (lawn tools, holiday decorations, old paint cans, etc.)?
Some lawn holiday decor, 5 winter shovels (why do we need 5??!); our snowshoes, various sizes of planters/pots; a shelf with winter outdoor boots, hiking boots, boat/water shoes; our kayak paddles and lifejackets, 3 camping chairs and my beach chair (all of these are hanging on hooks); various tools for lawn and gardening along with plant food, various car things like window washer fluid, oil, bug spray, W-D40; charcoal, newspapers for the fire pit, our kayak boating bag with the ropes and locks; a bucket with car wash and sponges; a bin of gardening and work gloves (all of these things are on shelves my husband built) my bicycle; 3 ladders (one is on the wall, 2 are near where the attic crawl space is and up is our oldest daughter's horse stable by Breyer! along with who knows what else; our two bike helmets; 2 softball bats; a soccer ball and a football; our battery operated lawn mower and 2 boxes of dead batteries to be recycled. Oh, and we keep the recycling bin next to the kitchen door for easy recycling. And then there's the shed which I won't get into because this question only asked about the garage! We have so much junk! BUT...yesterday I actually parked in the driveway and cleaned out the entire garage! Now I need hubby to go through it and toss the old stuff we no longer need. He did agree he would tackle some of this today. Here's hoping......Here was my project yesterday afternoon. My Kia Soul is the car that parks in the garage. Dave's CRV parks next to the garage on the driveway.
HAPPY SATURDAY!
