Month: December 2019

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The Christmas Blessing, by Melody Carlson, 2017, Revell, (Baker Publishing Group)

This is the third Christmas novella by Melody Carlson that I’ve read this season, I’m enjoying them so much! So glad my church library has a good stock of them!

The Christmas Blessing

It’s 1944. Amelia Richards and her newborn son are setting out to make an attempt at becoming part of his father’s family in another state. Shortly after little Jimmy was conceived his father’s plane had gone down over the Pacific Ocean. Amelia doesn’t know whether he has even had a chance to tell his family about her, as theirs had been a whirlwind romance.

They had met in San Diego at a New Years Eve dance for the service men where she was a hostess, and had fallen madly in love. Now she is alone in the world with his son. Will his family accept them? She is unprepared for the cold Montana weather and has never actually seen snow. Mixed emotions of hope and trepidation swirl around in her mind as she looks for James’s family.

But then things get worse and Amelia finds herself in dire straits. What will she do? She must take a risk and hope for the best. What will be the outcome?

Amelia is a courageous character. She doesn’t know what to expect in James’s parents. What will they be like? The author has done a good job of bringing out the personalities of each character, which is what really makes this story. They are not perfect people but they do hope in God and have care and kindness in their hearts.

This is an intriguing story and I’m looking forward to reading one more of Melody Carlson’s Christmas novellas this week during the holidays.

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A Wreath of Snow, by Liz Curtis Higgs, 2012, Waterbrook Press (Random House)

This Christmas novella is set in Stirling, Scotland, in 1894.  It’s a romance with a different twist. The main story takes place over a period of only three days, from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, with flashbacks to an incident that occured twelve years previously.  The author has done her research and it’s interesting to enter into this time and place through the experiences of the characters.  The main protagonist is a young woman in her 20s who lives away from her family, considered quite independant for those days.

There is a train accident because of a heavy snowfall, through which she gets to know a handsome redheaded man with a terrible secret.  He wants to be forgiven, but is it possible?

Themes of honesty versus hiding truth, and how holding onto grudges ruins lives emerge.  Everyone feels bad for the crippled younger brother, but does he deserve their pity?

Liz Curtis Higgs likes to travel to Scotland to do her research and has posted photos she took in Stirling at www.Facebook.com/MyScottishHeart. wp-15769984066243035567382404994050

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Felice Café, Nanaimo

  • Bulgogi
  • Felice Café

Today my son and I went to this Korean Fusion Food diner for lunch. I had been wanting to try it for a long time because a couple of my friends keep recommending it on Facebook. So glad we finally got a chance to go there!

In case you aren’t familiar with ‘fusion food’, it’s a crossover of western with asian styles of cooking. Here on the west coast of North America where there are a large population of Asian immigrants, ideas of cooking come together to make delicious new meals!

We both ordered the beef bulgogi, pictured above. It’s a big bowl of Korean rice topped with Korean style shaved BBQ beef, shredded lettuce, carrots and onion gently sautéed in a Korean sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Very satisfying and flavourful but a little salty for me, as I have high blood pressure so I don’t normally cook with much salt.

The café is near a high school, so serves foods that cater to teens, such as bubble tea, breakfast sandwiches, waffles with fruit and whipping cream and all sorts of other yummy treats. The tables are arranged so that people can sit in large or small groups. It wasn’t crowded at lunchtime today. One girl was working on her laptop at a small table. Two women chatted at another one and a few teens came and went. I loved the atmosphere, the soothing contemporary Christmas carols playing, a decorated tree, the friendly service along with a bit of bantering between the cook and the server.

Next time maybe I’ll get the waffle with mangos and whipping cream or a bubble tea. The pictures of them on the wall look scrumptious!

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The Atonement Child, by Francine Rivers, 1997, Tyndale House Publishers Inc.

The church librarian recommended this book to me because she knew my novel was on a similar topic, of a young unwed woman who finds herself pregnant. Although times have changed since the ’90s, some things have always been the same for women. Francine Rivers is an expert at bringing out all the factors around the situation in a way that captivates and draws the reader into the story. Her writing flows smoothly so this 375 page book doesn’t feel like a long read.

The young woman has a genuine faith in God. There are many voices all around her pushing her to make a decision she doesn’t feel right about. She is betrayed by those who she thought loved her the most. Will she go with their advice or bravely make her own decision? It looks like God has betrayed her too. How can she keep trusting in Him when He let this happen to her? Is her life ruined? Surely she would not be expected to bear this child under the circumstances, at least that is what everyone is telling her.

However, the pregnancy reveals the hypocrisy of those she thought she could count on. In an unexpected twist, she finally finds help from the least likely source.

The author exposes the motives of all the people and organizations in the young woman’s life. It brings up the issues that surround illegitimate pregnancy in the realm of Christianity as well as the unfairness between men and women. Thankfully, it seems to me that Christians are less judgmental than 20 years ago, but the book is definitely worth reading! Also, Christianity isn’t the only faith that grapples with these issues. People of other religions or even atheists and humanists could exlore the ways they think of illegitimate pregnancy too through reading this.

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