New life, new blog

*This is a static post that will remain at the top of the blog for the next several weeks. Regular posts are below. Thanks for your patience!

My life looks completely different today than it did six months ago. Life has a way of doing that to us sometimes, doesn't it? I went back and forth with what to do this blog, considering the turn in my life. And I finally decided to start blogging on a regular basis again. Even though my life isn't currently all about homesteading, that is still my ultimate goal. So I will continue my blog with the same look, the same categories and the same viewpoints on God, politics and life in general.

But some things have changed. Perhaps the biggest change is the name. The blog name and the domain have changed. Our homestead, “Victoria Hill Farm,” no longer exists, and so the name no longer seemed appropriate. Instead, I have decided the name should reflect how I intend to live my life – contented.

If you read my sidebar, you will discover a little more about why I choose this particular title. Inspired by the fourth chapter of Philippians, I have made a decision – a choice – to be content with what God has given me.

I’m not yet sure how the content of the blog may change, or if it even will. I will be starting from scratch to build a new homestead from the ground up, and I hope you continue to support me during this time of rebuilding in my life.

If you currently follow the “Victoria Hill Farm” blog through an e-mail subscription or a blog reader, you will need to subscribe to the new feed. Just check the upper right sidebar to subscribe. I currently have the old blog set to redirect to the new domain but it won’t remain that way forever. Be sure to shoot me an e-mail and let me if any of the links don’t work or if anything else is wrong with the new blog. I appreciate all my readers, and feel like I have made a lot of friends in the “bloggy world” since I started blogging in 2007. I hope you’ll continue with me!




Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Book review: Love's Pursuit


Love's Pursuit

Bethany House (June 1, 2009)

by

Siri Mitchell



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including in Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.

But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a sermon and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.

Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.

A Constant Heart was her sixth novel. Two of her novels, Chateau of Echoes and The Cubicle Next Door were Christy Award finalists. She has been called one of the clearest, most original voices in the CBA.


ABOUT THE BOOK

In the small Puritan community of Stoneybrooke, Massachusetts, Susannah Phillips stands out both for her character and beauty. She wants only a simple life but soon finds herself pursued by the town's wealthiest bachelor and by a roguish military captain sent to protect them. One is not what he seems and one is more than he seems.

In trying to discover true love's path, Susannah is helped by the most unlikely of allies, a wounded woman who lives invisible and ignored in their town. As the depth, passion, and sacrifice of love is revealed to Susannah, she begins to question the rules and regulations of her childhood faith. In a community where grace is unknown, what price will she pay for embracing love?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Love's Pursuit, go HERE



MY REVIEW: I've read a lot Amish fiction, but I have to say this is the first novel I've read that focused on the Puritans. I found it interesting and refreshing to become entwined in a lifestyle much farther removed from our own than even the Amish. I have to say, it was with a sort of morbid curiosity that this story held me in. I couldn't put in down. It followed a great story line of forbidden love, tragedy and deceit, but I couldn't help but be grateful for our modern day lives. It's not really our things that this book made me so grateful for... it's our modern freedoms. Though the story portrays the Puritans as Godly, hard-working folks, it also portrays them as joyless. A life of joy and laughter were not allowed. How glad I am that we have the freedom to engage in as much laughter as we want today!

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