La Belle Design

  My review of Sowing Hope: Sowing Hope by Heather Wood will take you on a journey as you follow along with Patrick Gallagher in 1836 on his path from Maryland to Missouri to work with Elijah Lovejoy a famous abolitionist (a real historical figure). Along the way you’ll also meet Anna Markland and find out the mysteries she holds as their lives intersect. This book places you right in the action—including the hardships of the time, difficulties for abolitionists and black Americans, and the spiritual battle that took place among it all as Heather Wood weaves together an excellent Christian Historical Fiction story that is filled with so much fact and many real people that it’s hard to imagine her fictional characters weren’t really there. And yes, her story has a sweet romance too. One of my favorite aspects of a Heather Wood book is always the faith threaded throughout. Her characters exemplify real trials, temptations, sin, and moral failures, but she also shows redemption, f...

  My review of Grits and Glamor A famous crush, a southern cook, rabbits, faith, and love—it’s quite a mash up and B.R. Goodwin pulls them all together with flair that had me laughing, swooning, and anxious for more.  Chloe Garland is a chef who finds herself working for her Hollywood crush, Roman Rivers. But it’s not all starstruck romance when she finds out what she’s actually been hired for and the secrets she has to keep.  Roman has two jobs—one is glamorous and the other is the hardest and least glamorous thing he’s ever done. He’s the guardian of his teen sister. Those two jobs are all he wants to focus on and he takes both jobs seriously. When Chloe enters his life with all her quirks and contagious complements, his life is upended.  B. R. did a great job in balancing the comedy, romance, and faith so in the end I felt encouraged, stretched, and thoroughly entertained. I also love the way her Christian characters exemplify purity before marriage.  I...

Proverbs 25:28 (ESV) A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Self control requires us to create our own boundaries in a world that increasingly removes boundaries. God has given us boundaries, but we must maintain them and enforce them within ourselves. As a parent learns when raising a small child, boundaries are actually freeing. If we know the limits, we can feel safe within them. They bring order from chaos. God has shown us examples of this in His creation of the universe in the first two chapters of Genesis. God has shown us where to set our boundaries, but the temptations and distractions of the world often draw us to move past those boundaries with promises of better things. This is like in the garden of Eden. God had given Adam and Eve a boundary, Satan tempted them to move past it, and they did not hold to the boundary.  We now have something Adam and Eve did not—the power of God in us, the Holy Spirit. Yet often times we push back o...

  In the midst of tragedies like we saw last week, we can be left feeling hopeless and wondering if God is still on His throne. Rest assured he is still on his throne. Rest assured there is hope, and justice will prevail. This world and its people are broken, but there is hope in Christ. This world is not forever.  As Christians we do need to educate ourselves. Firstly in the scripture and then in how the things of God impact, interact with, and inform the things of this world.  I urge you brothers and sisters to saturate yourselves in God’s word—to take the time to understand it and learn it. It will help you know God better, see how great He is, and realize how great it is that He loves you. It will also help you discern the truth from the lies when people twist His words. Are you grieving? Is your confidence in this world shaken? Knowing God’s word builds confidence because you learn that His is the only approval you need. Knowing God’s word also builds a stronger more...