Wow - it is already the 15th of the month! Time flies as usual! This morning, I signed up for our various church services for Holy Week. As we did for Christmas, it is necessary to sign up ahead for masses. 

I'm going to send a newsletter later this week. If you haven't signed up, hope you do soon! I'd hate for you to miss out on gift giveaways and book news! If you decide later to unsubscribe, that's fine too. 

Here is the link to click for the form for my newsletter. 

​http://madmimi.com/signups/9e9ecfb2973f4d0c835c2ebab6196ae2/join

​"A Joyful Break" is the first in Diane Craver's four-part novel series, Dreams of Plain Daughters, about Amish women. Rachel is still grieving over the loss of her mother at age 44. She also is struggling with blaming her father for the death, wondering if her mother might have lived, had they had a phone so they could get help more quickly. In addition, Rachel is feeling a stirring, wondering if the Englisch world would be better for her. But she does love her "intended," who is an Amish young man that loves her deeply but is trying to be patient with her and to resist the advances of a forward competitor to Rachel. Amish young people have the options of enjoying and experimenting with "rumschpringe"- a break from Amish culture in which they can experience the outside world and participate in limited worldly habits like using phones, going to movies and such. Rachel, who has always longed to see the ocean, spends her break with her aunt and cousins at the seashore. Little does she know that while there, she will be faced with yet another choice - how to interact with a young man named Nick. They do have something important in common - the recent deaths of their mothers. But Nick yearns for more than just friendship with Rachel; he falls in love with her and even pursues her by later visiting her in her hometown after she returns from her rumschpringe. Will she choose to return to her aunt's secular world, or will she stay in the environment that has always been her comfort zone, her home in the Amish community? Will she remain faithful to her boyfriend or will she date Nick, too? Do Rachel and her father come to an understanding and reconcile? I won't give anything away. I would like to say that I think that Craver does a splendid job of illustrating both the Amish and Englisch worlds, without showing any judgmentalism of either one. And while Craver was honest about the too-often impure motives of political actions, she also included a refreshing sentiment and comment about Rachel's uncle feeling "an obligation to make the world a better place by being involved in government" (Chapter 5). This is awesome! The Bible tells us that we are to be salt and light in the world. In fact, if we Christians were to disengage totally from politics, that would just lead to more corruption, problems and pain, and giving into evil. So kudos to Craver for this astute realization that some people truly do feel that being in politics is a calling-albeit not an easy or pleasant one! 🙂 ​

We went to church this evening and there was a nice crowd there. Of course, every other pew has to be empty because of the pandemic guidelines. The ashes were sprinkled on the top of our heads instead of on our foreheads. Amanda was happy to be a server with Father Bachman as the priest. 

This was in the gospel for today's reading: 
" When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they
have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner
room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. " ( Mt 6:5-6)


I went to our family doctor on Monday because of a humming/buzzing noise in y ears. It was loud and constant. He said my ears looked fine. I have noticed an improvement but still hear a bit of noise. Dr. said it could be from my chemo treatments and told me to call my cancer clinic. My nurse practitioner said it could be from my chemo and maintenance treatments, but that side effect is rare.  It seems like it could be tinnitus. I had it long time ago but then it was a ringing noise. 
        
 

I saw this new review for A JOYFUL BREAK this morning on Amazon. 

***** Pleasures of a life with God
A feel good novel with characters who share the trials and rewards of living their life with God while helping to explain the reasoning of their faith with dreams to ones who are struggling to understand.
 

I am giving a link to my author book pages for both books at the various available markets
. 
​To purchase either book on Amazon, go here. 
​For Apple
​For Barnes and Noble
​For Kobo

Buying links: 
Amazon

​Apple

Barnes and Noble
​