Tears of the Sea by MaryLu Tyndall - Book Review

I had never read a book about a mermaid before, so I was a little unsure whether I would like that type of genre. But I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I loved the allegory weaved throughout the story. It reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Little Mermaid, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies all rolled into one fun story. 

There is a lot of depth to the story, while at the same time it is like one of the fairy tales you read growing up. The whole story has you cheering for the heroine to find true love, everlasting love. And of course you want to see the curse lifted... 

The icing on the cake is the fact that my favorite parts of MaryLu Tyndall's books are ones that take place on ships, and in this story, much of the time is spent on the ship or on the sea. MaryLu Tyndall's books have yet to disappoint me and this is another well written books. It will make you want to keep reading! 

Abandoned Memories by MaryLu Tyndall

Abandoned Memories by MaryLu Tyndall

My book review for Abandoned Memories! 

Abandoned Memories is the third book in Tyndall's series, "Escape to Paradise". This book does an excellent job of weaving the whole series together. There are many different story lines going on in this series because each of the characters seem to have some kind of past that they would like to a escape from as the series title suggests. However, this new settlement may not be the "paradise" that these individuals are looking for. 

Throughout this book, and the entire series, the characters struggle in real life situations. They want to be free from their past, but something is holding on to them. 

In Abandoned Memories, the story reaches the climax and each character we have met must come together and work together to face their past, present, and possibly their future in the new town. But the question remains, will their past hold them back or will it make them stronger in order to face their current trials?

I thoroughly enjoyed the ending of this series, Tyndall does such a marvelous job of tying all the books together. I have to say when you get to the epilogue, you will have enjoyed all three books from start to finish, and there is quite the finishing touch. Make sure you read all the way to end, for the last few chapters and the aforementioned epilogue were my favorites!

Day 3

The little blessings...

1. I made fudge for the first time yesterday and it turned out! 

2. The leaves are really starting to turn colors! 

3. A book with a good ending! 

Tuesday, 10/14/2014

Be content - day 2

Day 2

I am grateful for...

1. Getting to see family members that I haven't seen in a long time and meeting new members of the family

2. A warmer fall day

3. Having some great local candidates running for office and being able to support them today by putting up some yard signs.

Wed. - 10/8/2014 

Be content - Day 1

Be content - Day 1

I have decided to start 100 days of contentment. For 100 days, I am going to write and share with you things that help me with contentment. Now I realize that, again, true contentment doesn't come from things or even people, but all of the things that I will be writing down are blessings and gifts from God, and in Him we will find that contentment.

A couple of rules to get me started (and feel free to join in):

-I will probably not post every day. Yes, I am planning to do it for 100 individual days, but that doesn't mean it will happen everyday!

-I am only going to post 3 things each day.

-The style: some may be "I am thankful for..." and some may be "I find joy in..." or possibly some other format.

The goal? 

To just be more content and recognize those blessings and gifts around me. To be more grateful. To find joy every day and even in the little things!

DAY 1

1. My parents - for all they have done for me and have taught me.

2. Christian fiction authors - just to name a few: MaryLou Tyndall, Lisa T. Bergren, Karen Kingsbury, Cynthia Ruchti, Lauraine Snelling, and the many, many more that I am missing.

3. My baby nephew that was born today, making me an auntie 15 times!

Tuesday, 10/7/2014

Being Content

When I look at the people around me, I wonder if they are really content with where they are in life, in their current situation. I think many of them are happy at times, but sometimes I wonder about their true contentment. Sometimes, I think it is because we live in a society where we are told to always want the next best thing or what everybody else has...

Before I go farther, I think I need to define contentment. I see contentment as having joy in your life and when I say joy, I mean that happiness that is found on the inside. I believe it is all connected. To be content is to be satisfied with what you have and where you are at. 

When I looked in the dictionary, this is what it said:

Contentment: the state of being happy and satisfied : the state of being content

The Bible calls us to be content, and in doing so, that is where we can find true joy and satisfaction in Christ. It is not really about what is going on on the outside, it is about what is on the inside. In the midst of life and craziness and whatever else is going on, we can have peace on the inside because we have God on our side. 

A Bible verse that I always think about when I think of contentment is:

Hebrews 13:5 – ...be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’

The more I think about contentment, the more I feel I'm able to define it. I feel that contentment encompasses so many things. Many things that I have already talked about. 

To me contentment equals:

Peace

Joy

God's love for us and ours for Him

Satisfaction 

Thankfulness

Less worry

Awareness of blessings

And probably many more things. Maybe only some of these, maybe all of them. But one thing I do know is that I want to be content. I know I am not always content and will probably never be completely content this side of Heaven. However, I want to strive to that goal. I want be content in Christ and the blessings He has given me.

True contentment can only be found in Christ and the salvation He offers. We will never be completely satisfied unless we have Him in our lives.

Swimsuit Saga-Part 3

I realized that I had never finished the swimsuit saga. In part 2, I mentioned that I was waiting to get yet another top in the mail. I did get a swim top in the mail finally! It was sent to me by one of the sister stores of the company that I had originally had been shopping at. I'm so glad the company worked with me in order to help me out. That is good customer service!

About a week later, my mom and I were at our local store where I had gotten my other swimsuit pieces from. They also had a few swimsuit left there, so I thought I would take a look. I ended up finding the same exact top that I had sent to me, only in a different color. I bought that piece as well.

So in the long run, I did end up with two complete swimsuits! All from the same company. I ended up paying less than $40 for each swimsuit (top and bottom). Since I ended up with two that worked in the end, I decided to keep both. I just hope they last a while! And I don't have to go on the great swimsuit hunt again any time soon!

Part 1: http://musingsmadebymandy.blogspot.com/2014/07/swimsuit-shopping.html

Part 2: http://musingsmadebymandy.blogspot.com/2014/07/swimsuit-shopping-part-2.html