The Positive Focus

 

This morning for my quiet time, I opened up the Jesus Calling devotional book I have and read today's entry.  I don't use this devotional every day but today's really spoke to me.  I discovered something "new" to me in reading the Scripture posted above. 

I love when we read Scripture over and over and one day God reveals something new about it.  That happened to me this morning as I sat sipping my hot coffee. 

If you're unfamiliar with this devotional book here's a summary: The Scriptures are written out after the short half page anecdotal reading.  The author explains in the Introduction that she first experienced peace in the Presence of God while in the French Alps. The entries are words she heard from God while meditating on various Scriptures. The book is like hearing directly from Jesus!  It's very powerful and meant to be read in a quiet place with all of your thoughts focused on God. 

Today's reading was about letting Jesus be our focus....God is a positive focus for our thoughts. So many of us, especially Americans, look for positive focus in sports, shopping, music, etc.  But God has placed a desire in our hearts.  In every human being.  What is that desire? It's a deep longing to be loved and known.   And only God can fully meet that desire. Our spouse or significant other can't, our children cannot, our material possessions cannot, money cannot.  

And here's where the Scripture "clicked" for me.  I've always known that it doesn't mean that God will give us anything we ask or desire.  It  does mean that when we look for Him and to Him...when we truly place our hope and find our joy in Him, then HE (God) becomes the desire of our hearts. We will then desire time in the Word, time talking with Him (prayer), time with Him in whatever mode has you "feeling" closest to Him.  (your spiritual temperament). For me, that is time spent outdoors.  (Naturalist).  For my husband, it's time spent studying Scripture and taking Communion. 

We have a longing in our souls for deep, covenant relationship.  Allow God to dwell in your heart today. Spend time focusing on His thoughts towards you. 

God knows our thoughts before we can even express them!

Tell Him what He means to you. Tell Him your struggles and then listen.....listen to that still, small Voice inside your heart/mind/soul. Peace comes from hearing the Words of God. 

And you will find that inner joy....God will become your positive focus. 

What are you focusing on, today?? 

2026 Book Review #5:Penitence

 

I saw this novel on the "new books" shelf at the towne library. This is the author's debut novel and it was a good story with no editing errors that I could find. 

STORY SUMMARY

Angie and David Sheehan have two young teens: Nico age 14 and Nora age 13.  The children are only 10 months apart and are very close.  Nico has been recently diagnosed with children's Huntington Disease.... a very rare genetic disorder. It is October and he was diagnosed over the summer. He is already displaying many of the physical and behavioral/emotional changes. 

One night, their  whole lives are shattered.  A murder has happened and it was Nora who killed her brother Nico. She calls 911 confessing.  After that, she stops talking. 

Angie and David are desparate to defend their daughter so they turn to an old friend, Martine, who happens to be the mother of Angie's ex-boyfriend from high school, Julian.  Julian himself is a criminal defense attorney in NYC. Martine is local and is in her early 70s thinking of retiring. But she takes on Nora's case as a favor to the family. She brings in Julian because she has not had a lot of experience with criminal defense. 

Angie and Julian have to now navigate through their feelings from their shared past. Both of them carry heavy secrets for which they have no inner peace. They do share a horrible accident that happened to result in Angie's younger sister, Diana, being killed on the ski slopes of Colorado where Angie now lives with David.  Her mother Livia forced her to break up with Julian....now her mother is in a memory care facility for Alzheimer's Disease but Angie remembers keeping the secret of living with Julian in NYC when both moms (Martine and Livia) think they had indeed broken off their relationship. 

Angie crushed Julian when she left NYC shortly after 9/11.  And that is when she had a huge secret she has never revealed to any one. 

It's David who figures things out.  And it's David who reveals some of the secrets that have plagued Angie....and Julian...over the years.  

Will Julian be successful in doing penance for his behavior back in high school? Will Angie ever forgive her daughter for killing her son? Will they ever hear Nora talk again and explain why she pulled the trigger, not once but 3 times? Will Julian and Martine be successful in getting a plea deal for Nora and keep her out of prison for life? 

How will the act of forgiveness play out in this story? 

MY THOUGHTS

This was a pretty good debut but it was rather slow paced and seemed to get bogged down in spots.  The bulk of the plot begins towards the middle of the book. 

The characters and settings are very well developed.  The description of NYC on 9/11 and shortly after were chilling as I remember that horrible day very well. It is just a brief moment in this story, but it's exceptionally well written in my opinion. 

I felt relieved at the end of the story which ends with Angie and Nora together on Nora's 14th birthday. I'm glad they were together but....it left me with wanting to know more and the feelings that came out in Angie seemed much too abrupt and not fully resolved. 

I was a bit disappointed at how Angie and Julian's relationship evolved after a big secret was revealed by David. It felt like that whole section could have been a bit more climactic.  

The author is good at expressing all of the emotions that parents go through when a child is killed.  She explains at the back of the book that this is not based on any one crime but she did research the topic of what's known as fraticide (a sibling killing another sibling). What bothered me most was that no one looked deeper into Nora's mental health.  It  seemed that the author was leading us one way and it ended up just falling by the wayside....it just seemed to end too abruptly. 

There were some good quotes that jumped out at me and one of them is actually from a different book called Just Mercy:

"You are more than the worst thing you've ever done." (pg 278 Penitence by Kristin Koval c. 2024) 

That quote is said in another spot in the book but I forgot to mark which page it was.

I also liked this quote:

"Sometimes who a person becomes is more important than who a person used to be" (pg 107)

"God goes silent on all of us. It doesn't mean He doesn't love you." (pg 137). 

Overall, this book is a good look at the struggles of keeping secrets for many years, of marital issues while navigating parenthood and care of an elderly parent and parenting a child with a terminal diagnoses. It's also a good look at how the American juvenile justice system is broken.   I think the author missed the mark on forgiveness though.  We can only really forgive when we know the forgiveness of God. She alludes to it in her section of when Angie goes to Catholic church and "confession" but......again, it just didn't wrap up well. It is thought provoking 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 an 8. 

 

 

 

He Lets Us

 

The following is the Scripture and Vision Statement I gave out to all of my 2026 SoulSteps Hiking Group members this past weekend. I love and am thankful that I get to lead this group.  I love that God lets us have His creation to enjoy and be refreshed in and I wanted to share this with my blogging community because I know some of you also feel closest to God when out in His creation......the spiritual temperament of "Naturalist". Or some of you just like the mountains, fresh water lakes and streams, and/or woods.  Here is the statement for all of the hiking members: 

I truly never expected this hiking group, SoulSteps to become more than 50 people (including children).  What in the world is God doing?? When Ping first encouraged me to start a hiking group, I truly had no idea that  this would be more than just a “few women taking a walk in the woods” But here we are, 2 full years of this group completed and we are beginning our third year.  I’ve meant so many awesome Christians from leading this group. If you’re a part of this group, thank you! Thank you for joining me on this journey. 

This year I wanted to have some kind of “vision” statement with a Scripture. God’s word has a lot of great Scriptures about mountains and his creation but He led me to use this one: 

“He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters”. 

~Psalm 23:2 NIV~

But I prefer the NLT version

 

“He lets me lie down in green meadows,  He leads me beside peaceful streams” 

He (God!) gives us rest. “Green pastures” typically symbolize nourishment (like for sheep…we’re the sheep in this case!) and abundance. Peaceful streams signify safety (think kayaking on still lakes vs rushing rapids!) and rest and a refreshing. Our Shepherd is also a Creator.  Oh how those of us who love to hike up a mountain get enthralled when we look out from that summit over what He has created…..how we marvel! But we also have to rest after that climb, don’t we? And if the hike includes the peaceful waters of a lake or stream, how much more blessed are we to linger there. Nature…God’s creation…is restorative to not only our bodies, but to our minds and souls. With all of the angst going on in our nation….and the world….we need quiet times to nourish our minds and souls. There is a reason that God commanded us to have a day of rest.  A day to just be with Him, thinking about Him, talking with Him. It’s restorative. 

Stepping out in God’s creation can remind us of His glory but it also recharges us and can calm us.   Let the Good Shepherd guide you in all that you do and marvel at what He has created for us to enjoy. 

The goals of this hiking group are simple.  It’s meant to be an activity group that restores our bodies with movement; to restore our minds with good conversation and fellowship with other Believers, and bring peace  to our souls during a busy week or month. 

I’m looking forward to finding some green pastures and still waters with you this year. 

Peace,

ps If you would like more information on how to join SoulSteps Hiking group and are located in the Capital Region of NYS just reach out to me or leave a comment! 

February Faves

Well, we made it to February and it's still bitter cold here in eastern New York State and actually all of the state is experiencing colder than average temps.  Maybe this means we won't have a wicked hot and humid summer like last July was! Either way, I'm thankful it's February which is a short month and it's now past the mid-winter mark (which is the mark half-way between the Winter solstice and the equinox) which was Tuesday 3 Feb!!  (Yes,  I tend to go by the astronomical calendar.. I think because I was a teacher my whole career)😉

I'm sharing other things to be thankful for this week.....FIVE things that make my FAVE list.  Several bloggers engage in this writing meme and we all link up at our host Susanne. Her website is here. 

image courtesy of American Film Institute
12 Years a Slave

image courtesy of imdb

• MOVIE NIGHT:  Dave had something to do on Saturday evening, so I watched this movie that is based on a real man born in the little town of Minerva here in our beloved Adirondack Mountains where I hike a lot during the warmer months. He got married and had 2 children and moved to Saratoga Springs, the small city just to the north of my home where I hang out a lot. The film was actually made on 4 different plantations in Louisiana. It's a powerful look at a horrible crime: kidnapping and slavery.   This movie is pretty graphic but oh, so powerful. May we never forget. I'm super thankful for good quality movies that give us a glimpse of what life was life for many people.The movie is based on Solomon's memoir. I highly recommend it if you like pre-Civil War era stories. (it's definitely not for children under the age of 14 in my opinion), and then on Monday night we watched the Agatha Christie mini series (3 episodes) on Netflix.  Highly recommend! I was so happy when I guessed the "who dun it"...how can you go wrong with a good Agatha Christie story? I'm thankful for good, clean shows on Netflix as it sure seems like they are few and far between on regular TV. 
  

• CHIA PUDDING:  I finally made chocolate chia pudding for Dave and I to have a dessert last weekend. It came out great and makes enough for 4-6 servings.  I liked it better than Dave did.  It's a very vegan friendly dessert with all natural plant based ingredients. I used unsweetened almond milk and the pure baking cocoa as I was out of cacao. The chia seeds make it similar to a tapioca. It's a nice treat for our one dessert a week. I'm thankful for easy, healthy recipes. 

• MUSIC:  I found a good recording on YouTube of Mendelssohn's 4th Symphony  also known as "The Italian" symphony. It had been a long time since I heard it and it's about a half hour so I did chores while listening to it.  I'm thankful for access to good music that I don't own myself. 

• FRESH CUT:  I was trying to grow my hair out longer than my shoulders.  Nope, it no longer works for me like it did in college.....I actually got it down to where it was touching my chin which is the longest it's been in 20 years.  I didn't want to go back to super short yet so chose a French bob with the back stacked a bit and the side bangs thinned out and texturized. My hair is very thick and heavy so shorter is best for my age and face. I am so thankful my stylist got me in for yesterday and that the cut is one I love. 

• MOONLIGHT:  there's just something about the moonlight on the snow that I love. I'm thankful I  caught the full moon this past Sunday night on my iphone.  It was so pretty! And no, the deck lights were not on...that's how bright the moon was! I'm thankful for all of God's creation! 

That wraps up five of the blessings that made me smile this week.  Another blessing was that we received a reimbursement  check from the Kia Fiance people because when I paid off my car last month, apparently I paid too much. That was a nice surprise. I'm also thankful I heard from both daughters via texts this week.  I'm also thankful for the body of Believers who are keeping Savannah Guthrie and her family in prayer. She is one of my fave journalists (along with Hoda Kotb and Katie Couric) and is a Christian her self. I own her book and I loved it.  What Savannah and her family are going through is heart-wrenching. I have told my ladies small group to keep praying and I'm thankful there is power in prayer. 

What about you? How has your week been?