A Guest Post and Book Review

A few weeks ago a fellow blogger, Jennifer contacted me about doing a guest post on my blog. It's a little book review that she wrote. I figured that you guys might appreciate it...plus this way at least someone is writing on my blog ;-)

Here's the review...

In the Shadow of Lions
By Ginger Garrett
David C Cook
$13.99, 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0-7814-4887-1

Almost everyone has heard of Anne Boleyn. The question is, is what we have been told accurate? Was she just a woman who wanted to become queen and so manipulated the king to this end? In In the Shadow of Lions (the first of the Chronicles of the Scribe series), Ginger Garrett sheds a different light on this story than what we have heard. She also takes us to a place the reader would not expect to go: beyond the physical realm to present the possibility that angels play a part in our dramas called life.

This story is “The Scribe’s” personal account of Anne Boleyn’s life in King Henry VIII’s court. He is Anne’s guardian angel. He knows her secret desires and what the motivation is behind her aspiration to be queen. He also knows of Anne’s longing to read “the book” and make it legal for ordinary people to read. In this story Ginger takes a look at how angels are here with us and how they play a role in history. What do they know about us and how much do they intervene in our daily lives? Do they know our personal history and also the history of our ancestors?
Interwoven in this story, however, is Sir Thomas More and another key character, Rose. Sir More wants to destroy “the book” before it reaches the masses and turns people away from the Catholic Church. His daughter’s maid, Rose, seeks to learn more about this book and discovers the truth that could set her free. How far will she go to try to convince the girl she takes care of that God has provided a way to Him? But, Rose has her own secrets. Will she be able to keep them to herself or will they be exposed? What would happen to her if Sir More were to discover them?

Ginger Garrett is the author of several fiction and non-fiction works. Among them is the number two on Amazon’s best seller list, Beauty Secrets of the Bible. Ginger is an expert on ancient women’s history and uses her knowledge to bring together works that inspire as well as educate. So, if you want to know who Anne Boleyn was, don’t look to Hollywood! Read In the Shadow of Lions. Be ready for a page turner that will leave you begging for more!

Jennifer Barker writes from North Carolina.

Where Does the Time Go?

With that title, you may think I am about to wax poetic on how quickly our children grow or how soon we come to an age we once thought of as OLD (not that I can relate to that or anything). No, I am actually referring to the time passed in blog world since my last post. As my friend Janelle mentioned in one of her recent posts, there used to be a time when I would not have let ONE day go by without posting on this little pink page. Now, I look at the date of my last post and I see almost a month has come and gone since my last entry. Seriously, in my first month of blogging, I wrote 48 posts! This past month of February? I have written one...this one. Yeah.

Today, though, I received a comment from a young lady named Rachael that spurred me to action. (Rachael, I'm sorry I don't have your blog address or I would link to you!) Her sweet comment as well as others on my last post have made me realize that I need to figure out how to make this work. I truly love blogging, but somewhere along the way it has become more like a duty than a pleasure and I've become a bit burned out.

I've shared before that one of my main struggles is finding the time to read and comment on others' blogs. Over time my list of blog friends has grown, however (and most unfortunately) the hours in the day available to me have not. In fact, the hours available have actually decreased significantly since November when I started my new job. This produces a dilemma to me because I truly care about many of you as if you were my real-life friends. I want to keep up with your lives and comment on each and every post that you write. I want to do that so much that I have become paralyzed by my bloglines and overwhelmed to the point that I have nearly quit reading and commenting altogether. I hate the aspect of my personality that causes me to do "all or nothing", so I am attempting some small steps toward reforming myself.

Starting today. I'm doing the unthinkable (for me anyway). I am going to click on "mark all as read" on my bloglines and start fresh. I can't promise that I will read every post and/or comment on every post in the future, but I will try to be truly present when I am able to take the time to read. I will also try to post on this blog more often even if I don't have time to write what I would consider a "proper" post. I'm going to do my best to take the pressure off of myself so that maybe, just maybe I can reclaim the love of blogging that I have been missing so much.