Book Review: My Father's Voice by Janice Elizabeth Duval

My Father's Voice by Janice Elizabeth Duval is a well-written and engaging devotional that will encourage you to nurture your relationship with God. 

For many years I've used devotionals to help me explore quality time with God. Though I read my Bible regularly, I truly appreciate the stories of others struggling with their Christian journey or seek the words of someone whose faith inspires me. I enjoy new perspectives on well-known verses and the reminders of how much God cares for me each day.

Duval shares many stories from her life that I can relate to. I loved "Whose Bumper Car Are You In?" and "Bumper Cars and More." The devotional titled "Who Missed Your Bat?" brings the reader back to the days of their childhood. My favorites were the ones that talked about spiritual warfare, like "Hawk in the Trees." 

The subtitle of this devotional is "Learning to Recognize My Heavenly Father's Voice." Through Duval's stories, we witness how God speaks to His children. We learn of His gifts (even those that might not seem like gifts at the time). We learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and are encouraged to let the Holy Spirit work in our lives. 

Perhaps one of the most insightful things Duval said is this, "The Good News is supposed to make us deliriously joyful and happy... but we sometimes make being Christian a chore." I know I found that to be true in my own life at times. 

I will cherish and read more than once My Father's Voice. If you are a woman seeking for ways to begin or to nurture your relationship with your Heavenly Father, this is an excellent devotional to get you started.

Highly recommended!
 

Publisher: Higgins Publishing

Pages: 222

Genre: Devotional

Paperback/Harcover/E-Pub

I received a digital copy of this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Task it Tuesday - Sep 29

Originally created by The Geeky Blogger, Task it Tuesday is a weekly meme to help you--and me--get things done. The challenge is to post a task or list of tasks you want to complete before next Tuesday. These tasks can help you with your blogging life, reading life, personal or professional life.

How is it possible that the end of September is here? We are expecting some much needed rain, which will make the garden happy. Today, my chauffeur duties have been reduced. The Lil' Princess passed her license test this weekend. It seems strange not to create a work schedule around drop off and pick up. That didn't stop me from having to make lunch for her, though, so I'm not feeling too bad about this whole situation yet.

Here's what I need to accomplish this week: 

• Daily Bible reading
• Walking three days
• Prospecting
• Stage new listing
• Continue fall cleaning 
• Look into getting a small dumpster 
• Office luncheon Thursday
• Virtual Mass Save Audit
• Finish My Father's Voice
• Start reading Systemology

I hope you're having a nice week. What do you wish to accomplish?

Mailbox Monday - Sep 28

 

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

The end of September is here. We are now full swing into fall, my favorite time of year. This is the view outside my office window. I can't wait to go walking tonight.

This week turned out productive, but not as productive as the week prior. Real estate and editing kept me busy, I wrote a short story, and I baked some yummy treats--apple crisp, applesauce, and lemon blueberry bread.

The tart warmer is now filled with a crisp apple scent to keep me motivated. I have a week involving tons of tasks I need to get done.

Last week my physical mailbox remained empty, but I downloaded these to my Kindle. I must be in a mystery mood. 

What was your week like? Anything you're looking forward to reading this week?

Task it Tuesday - Sep 22

Originally created by The Geeky Blogger, Task it Tuesday is a weekly meme to help you--and me--get things done. The challenge is to post a task or list of tasks you want to complete before next Tuesday. These tasks can help you with your blogging life, reading life, personal or professional life.

Wow! What a week it has been. I accomplished more than planned, made that decision that had I been praying about (which didn't end up going as expected), and finally pulled the plug on some old blogs. 

Here is what I needed to accomplish last week:

• Daily Bible reading--DONE
• Finish social media calendar for book promotion--DONE
• Walking three days--DONE
• Two client meetings--DONE
• Stage new listing--Finishing tomorrow
• Continue fall cleaning--First floor done, maybe starting the second floor Sunday
• Change decorations--DONE
• Keep reading Morning Star--DONE
• Finish Chapter 5 in editing project--Halfway there
• Clean the shed roof
• Look into getting a small dumpster
• Set up Mass Save audit--DONE

The nice thing about fall cleaning, or spring cleaning for that matter, is that you go through things and consider what's worth keeping and what should be donated or discarded. My motivation to accomplish so much stemmed from the decision, which didn't work out. While I am disappointed, I've discovered God knows much more than me about what is best. So, while this door is closed, a window will open somewhere. 

This week's list looks like this:

• Daily Bible reading
• Walking three days
• Two client meetings
• Stage new listing
• Continue fall cleaning 
• Complete three marketing proposals
• Finish Chapter 5 in editing project
• Clean the shed roof
• Look into getting a small dumpster 
• Three meetings
• Virtual BusinessWest event
• Bring the Lil' Princess to her driver's test Saturday
• Start reading two books

Here's hoping you have a blessed week. I leave you with an inspirational quote.

Mailbox Monday - Sep 21

 

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Well, it's Monday again. I am giving the new Blogger a try because, eventually, it will be all I have. So, I better try it from time to time so I don't lose my mind when the Legacy version is gone (update: looks like it is gone). 

Last week was a productive one. Fall cleaning on the first floor is done. The fall decorations are up. I finished that social media calendar for book promotion I had to work on, and I've been walking more. With the cooler temperatures, cooking and baking woo me into the kitchen. This weekend, I made banana bread, white bread, and some yummy macaroni and cheese. I'm hoping to make applesauce and apple crisp this coming week. 

Banana bread

Dwight and Travis checking out the fall decorations

Our fall mantle

Though no one will accuse me of being an interior decorator, I enjoy the simple things I can do.

My physical mailbox remained empty last week, but I grabbed this seasonal offering through Kindle Unlimited.

That's it for me this week. What was your week like? Any great books arrive? 

Task it Tuesday - Sept 15

Originally created by The Geeky Blogger, Task it Tuesday is a weekly meme to help you--and me--get things done. The challenge is to post a task or list of tasks you want to complete before next Tuesday. These tasks can help you with your blogging life, reading life, personal or professional life.

How are you today? I hope you're having a good week. I listed a new property yesterday and am staging another one today, so the week started off a bit crazy. I get to meet my sister for breakfast on Thursday, though, so that will be nice.

My list is fairly the same from last week. Some of the tasks moved to this week and others are continued from last week. A couple are new.

• Daily Bible reading
• Finish social media calendar for book promotion
• Walking three days
• Two client meetings
• Stage new listing
• Continue fall cleaning
• Change decorations
• Keep reading Morning Star
• Finish Chapter 5 in editing project
• Clean the shed roof
• Look into getting a small dumpster
• Set up Mass Save audit

That's it for me this week. I hope you can tackle your to-do list.

Mailbox Monday - Sep 14

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

After a busy weekend, I came to post at my blogs and discovered Blogger had changed to the new version. I'm like, stop it. Between the pandemic, wildfires across the Pacific Northwest, Tropical Storm Sally potentially turning into a hurricane headed right for Louisiana, and all the civil unrest across the nation, Blogger needs to be the one thing I can count on to stay the same. I reverted to the Legacy version.

Now, on to better things. Here are some photos from the weekend.

Travis likes that there is more room to get into the pantry now.

Not to be outdone by his brother, Dwight wants to investigate the pantry, too. 

Just when I think I will give up on the garden, it grows things.

Growing wild on the outskirts of our yard.

As for books, nothing in the mailbox. Good thing, since I haven't felt much like reading. I did, however, pick up this one from my publisher's website. Colleen has several books that I want to check out.

Here is a short blurb:

Thirteen-year-old Tyler and his twelve-year old-sister, Cat, are in big trouble: at home, at school, and with the law. The verdict is in and they hate it: a year living in the mountains of eastern Oregon in a log house in the wilderness.

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hope you have a great week.

Task it Tuesday - Sep 8

Originally created by The Geeky Blogger, Task it Tuesday is a weekly meme to help you--and me--get things done. The challenge is to post a task or list of tasks you want to complete before next Tuesday. These tasks can help you with your blogging life, reading life, personal or professional life.

Welcome back to Tuesday. I hope you had a nice long weekend. I spent time in the garden, cut down a couple of trees that fell during the last storm, worked on a editing project, and showed houses.

Before we look at this week's to-do list, let's see how I did last week.

• Daily Bible reading--not as much as I should
• Five meetings--DONE
• Start reading Morning Star--a quarter of the way through
• Finish reading Out of No Way for a September 9 review--DONE
• Start fall cleaning on Saturday--not much progress, but started
• Change outdoor decorations Sunday--not done
• Look into getting a small dumpster--not done
• Follow up with architect on house design--husband is doing this
• Pray daily about a big decision--YES

So, how does that make this week look?

• Daily Bible reading
• Walking three days
• Three client meetings
• Stage a condo
• Post review for Out of No Way
• Continue fall cleaning
• Change decorations
• Keep reading Morning Star
• Finish next chapter in editing project
• Put donations on the front porch Saturday
• Clean the shed roof
• Look into getting a small dumpster

What is one task that is always part of your fall cleaning? For me, it's washing all the curtains. 

Mailbox Monday - Sep 7

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Welcome to September, Mailbox Monday fans. Hope you are having a great Labor Day weekend. We took a nice long drive yesterday, which is rare for us lately. We stopped along the Mohawk Trail and snapped a few photos from the bridge. Tons of boaters took advantage of the nice weather.

As far as reading goes, it's been okay. I'm not reading book after book, but I am plugging away at my review books. Most of my free time has been dedicated to editing and writing. 

The book I am waiting on still hasn't arrived. I'm not sure if that's because of a hold up with the mail or because it hasn't been sent yet, but it will show up when it gets here. In the meantime, I downloaded a few books to my Kindle.

This first one was a Kindle freebie.

I grabbed this one for 99 cents, but with my promotional credits it cost me nothing.

The next one is Marty's latest release. Available for only $2.99, I had a promotional credit which reduced my cost to $1.98.

That's it for me. Hope you enjoy yourself today. No cookout for us, but I hope to tinker in the garden. What are your plans?

An Imperfect Christian Mom's COVID-19 Diary #14

 

It's been nearly two months since I wrote about our life during COVID-19. At the time, I felt pretty low. I wish I were a stronger Christian so that my faith carried me fully through all the worry and feelings of inadequacy I deal with as a wife and working mom. 

Tinnitus impacts my sleep. Not such a big deal in the summer, but now that the Lil' Princess is back in school and I have to get up early, my productivity has suffered. Not a ton, but some. I'm signing up new real estate clients, which is a positive, plus I have an editing project I'm working on.

The real estate market had only a small valley at the beginning of the pandemic. Other than that, it's been a great year for selling. Buyers find themselves in a highly competitive market of low inventory and historically low interest rates. Prices keep going up, making it challenging to secure the property they want. Sellers in some markets are selling for thousands over asking price. If the price is right it goes before you have a chance to blink.

I'm in the midst of research for a huge decision I'm facing. Don't you wish you had a crystal ball to look into the future sometimes? I'm keeping it up in prayer and hope my heart and mind are open to God's guidance--no matter what it is.

It's a blessing that the family remains safe and healthy. With the Lil' Diva working in a nursing home kitchen, we are keeping up a strict cleaning regimen. Massachusetts has not moved further along in its re-opening plan, but we are hopeful as the numbers stay low that it is in the near future--we just don't know about the second wave and what that will bring.

As we all endure these trying times, my sincere prayer is that we work together and focus on what binds us and not what separates us. I pray we stay kind and eager to help each other. 

Task it Tuesday - Sep 1

Originally created by The Geeky Blogger, Task it Tuesday is a weekly meme to help you--and me--get things done. The challenge is to post a task or list of tasks you want to complete before next Tuesday. These tasks can help you with your blogging life, reading life, personal or professional life.

Welcome to September. It's hard to believe how quickly time flies. I didn't post a Task it Tuesday last week, but basically it was a week of meetings, errands, cooking, book reviews, and trying to catch a wink or two.

Most of the fall garden is coming in nicely. I cut back the tomato plants, the grape vine, and the blackberry bush. I am trying to decide if I will keep the vegetable garden next year or plant grass over it. A large part of me wants to be more self-sufficient--especially with the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables. A tiny part of me realizes I don't have time to turn the garden into what I want in order to make a substantial difference. With my half-hearted efforts, I don't even get a harvest large enough to can. I'm almost better off buying fruits and vegetables in the grocery store and canning those. It would take less effort. :)

As I mentioned yesterday, the Lil' Princess started school. So, I'm feeling like I need to be more productive than I have been lately. One thing I decided--I am ditching the planner. I know so many productive people use them, but they really are not for me. I have my calendar, and I am going to stick with that for the rest of the year. Going to a digital calendar is what I want to focus on.

Here is what I want to accomplish this week:

• Daily Bible reading
• Five meetings
• Start reading Morning Star 
• Finish reading Out of No Way for a September 9 review
• Start fall cleaning on Saturday
• Change outdoor decorations Sunday
• Look into getting a small dumpster
• Follow up with architect on house design
• Pray daily about a big decision 

That's pretty much what my week looks like. I'm still figuring out how to get back into the fall schedule of school drop off and pick up, but by the next week or so that should be settled. 

What is on your task list this week? Do you write a weekly task list? What is one thing on your list that never seems to get done?