Heather Ivester
type: channel
description: Encouragement for writing parents and for anyone who loves inspiring books for kids
date: 2018-05-07T02:46:18Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
generator agent: https://wordpress.org/
items: A New Look at Catherine Marshall’s Inspirational Novel, Julie
items: Celebrating Reissue of Catherine Marshall’s Novel Julie
items: Travel to the Tropical Island of Nevis in Exciting New Novel Series
items: Rediscovering Catherine Marshall’s Masterpiece, Christy
items: Christy’ Giveaway, Blog Tour, and Facebook Live Party
items: Need Encouragement? Read Sandra Byrd’s One-Year Experiencing God’s Love Devotional
items: Travel to Africa: A Forest, A Flood, and An Unlikely Star
items: Deborah Raney’s Home at Last Wraps Up the Chicory Inn series
items: An Amish Mother Who Writes to Record Life’s Simple Pleasures
items: When You’re Ready to Make an Impact: Gwen Smith’s ‘I Want It All’

A New Look at Catherine Marshall’s Inspirational Novel, Julie
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2018-04-26T03:00:14Z
subject: Book Reviews
subject: Christian Living
subject: Writing
description: Welcome to this stop on the Julie by Catherine Marshall Reissue Celebration Blog Tour with JustRead Publicity Tours! Title: Julie Author: Catherine Marshall Publisher: Gilead Publishing Re-Issued Date: April 17, 2018 Genre: Historical Romance FictionLinks*: Goodreads l Amazon l ChristianBook l Book Depository l Itunes *A New York Times bestseller* I was so happy to […]
encoded: Welcome to this stop on the Julie by Catherine Marshall Reissue Celebration Blog Tour with JustRead Publicity Tours! Title: Julie Author: Catherine Marshall Publisher: Gilead Publishing Re-Issued Date: April 17, 2018 Genre: Historical Romance FictionLinks*: Goodreads l Amazon l ChristianBook l Book Depository l Itunes *A New York Times bestseller* I was so happy to see a publisher bring fresh new copies of Catherine Marshall’s two novels, Christy and Julie, back into print. Christy was the more famous novel, as it told the true story of Catherine Marshall’s mother, and it got turned into a movie and TV series. Yet Julie is just as exciting, and it’s an especially powerful read knowing that it’s based on Catherine Marshall’s own life, growing up in West Virginia. I love reading books about writers trying to find their story, and in this novel, Julie Wallace is a young investigative journalist, researching a mystery, which is based on the true story of the Johnstown Flood of 1889. I think this novel makes an important contribution to preserving American history, especially that of the small town newspaper, which today’s generation of digital readers may never get to experience. Will the dam hold? Julie Wallace has always wanted to write. Trying to escape the Great Depression, Julieâ€ s father buys the Alderton Sentinel, a small-town newspaper in flood-prone Alderton, Pennsylvania, and moves his family there. As flash floods ominously increase, Julieâ€ s investigative reporting uncovers secrets that could endanger the entire community. Julie, the newspaper, and her family are thrown into a perilous standoff with the owners of the steel mills as they investigate the conditions of the immigrant laborers. As the Alderton Sentinel and Julie take on a more aggressive role to reform these conditions, seething tensions come to a head. When a devastating tragedy follows a shocking revelation, Julieâ€ s courage and strength are tested. Will truth and justice win, or will Julie …

Celebrating Reissue of Catherine Marshall’s Novel Julie
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2018-04-17T22:21:55Z
subject: American Authors
subject: Books
subject: Christian Living
subject: Faith
subject: Writing
description: Welcome to the Julie by Catherine Marshall Blitz Tour! Be sure to stop by each stop for spotlights and excerpts plus you’ll get extra entry points for a wonderful Grand Prize! Title: Julie Author: Catherine Marshall Publisher: Gilead Publishing Re-Issued Date: April 17, 2018 Genre: Historical Romance FictionLinks*: Goodreads l Amazon l ChristianBook l Book […]
encoded: Welcome to the Julie by Catherine Marshall Blitz Tour! Be sure to stop by each stop for spotlights and excerpts plus you’ll get extra entry points for a wonderful Grand Prize! Title: Julie Author: Catherine Marshall Publisher: Gilead Publishing Re-Issued Date: April 17, 2018 Genre: Historical Romance FictionLinks*: Goodreads l Amazon l ChristianBook l Book Depository l Itunes *A New York Times bestseller* Will the dam hold? Julie Wallace has always wanted to write. Trying to escape the Great Depression, Julieâ€ s father buys the Alderton Sentinel, a small-town newspaper in flood-prone Alderton, Pennsylvania, and moves his family there. As flash floods ominously increase, Julieâ€ s investigative reporting uncovers secrets that could endanger the entire community. Julie, the newspaper, and her family are thrown into a perilous standoff with the owners of the steel mills as they investigate the conditions of the immigrant laborers. As the Alderton Sentinel and Julie take on a more aggressive role to reform these conditions, seething tensions come to a head. When a devastating tragedy follows a shocking revelation, Julieâ€ s courage and strength are tested. Will truth and justice win, or will Julie lose everything she holds dear? TO PURCHASE A COPY* Amazon l <a style="border: 0; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0b5b84; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; transition: all .25s; vertical-align: baseline;" href="https://www.bookdepository.com/First-Love-Forever-Romance-Collection-Susanne-Dietze-Cynthia-Hickey-Marcia-Gruver-Carrie-Fancett-Pagels-Martha-Rogers-Lorna-Seilstad-Connie-Stevens-Jennifer-Uhlarik-Erica-Vetsch/9781683225485/?a_aid=justcommonly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Book Depository l <a style="border: 0; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0b5b84; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; …

Travel to the Tropical Island of Nevis in Exciting New Novel Series
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2018-03-08T03:51:00Z
subject: Book Reviews
subject: Christian Living
subject: Faith
subject: Marriage
subject: Travel
description: You know me…I always like to write about strong women. Lisa T. Bergren, author When my husband and I married 23 years ago, I had no idea where we were going on our honeymoon. First, we flew to Miami and changed planes, bound for Puerto Rico. Then we took a short flight to St. Kitt’s, […]
encoded: You know me…I always like to write about strong women. Lisa T. Bergren, author When my husband and I married 23 years ago, I had no idea where we were going on our honeymoon. First, we flew to Miami and changed planes, bound for Puerto Rico. Then we took a short flight to St. Kitt’s, followed by a ferry to the gorgeous island of Nevis. I had never heard of this remote paradise in the Caribbean, yet I soon discovered it centered around a volcano, known as Nevis Peak. Since I married a geologist, I was not surprised he chose such a place to explore with his new bride. Over the past two decades of marriage, my mind has returned numerous times to this tiny beautiful island. So I couldn’t wait to read Lisa T. Bergren’s new series, the Sugar Baron’s Daughters. The first book, Keturah, took me back in time to the year 1772, as three sisters leave their native England to begin a new life on Nevis, following the death of their father. Keturah is a young, 23-year-old widow, still healing from a past abusive marriage. When her father dies, she finds herself heiress of Hartwick Manor in England and Tabletop Plantation on Nevis. Unfortunately, she discovers her father was saddled with a heavy load of debt, and his sugar cane plantation in the West Indies is no longer producing profit. Rather than hire an overseer to manage his estate in Nevis, Keturah decides to travel there herself. Her two younger siblings, Verity and Selah, join her in traveling by ship to the West Indies, to save what is left of their heritage. The author’s descriptions of Nevis are rich with imagery, allowing me to travel through her words. After embarking in Charlestown, the sisters travel along a road smelling of jasmine, surrounded by mango and guava trees, as well as palms “loaded with coconut.” Bright red and yellow tropical blossoms are set against a backdrop of turquoise blue sea. As the sisters settle in to reclaim the plantation home and 50-acre tract of land left by their father, they are met by s…

Rediscovering Catherine Marshall’s Masterpiece, Christy
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2017-11-21T16:10:42Z
subject: Book Reviews
subject: Books
subject: Christian Living
subject: Faith
subject: Family
subject: Travel
description: I grew up reading Guideposts magazine, which my mother and I both devoured, as we loved reading people’s first-person inspirational stories. After I moved away to college, my grandfather gifted me annually with subscriptions, allowing me to read it even in my dorm room. So it’s no wonder I’ve always loved and admired the non-fiction […]
encoded: I grew up reading Guideposts magazine, which my mother and I both devoured, as we loved reading people’s first-person inspirational stories. After I moved away to college, my grandfather gifted me annually with subscriptions, allowing me to read it even in my dorm room. So it’s no wonder I’ve always loved and admired the non-fiction writings of Catherine Marshall. She was one of the great “classic” Guideposts writers, who also authored over 30 books, which sold millions of copies. When I was an exhausted young mom, trying to manage two toddlers born close in age, my mom gave me another treasure of encouragement: a beautiful volume containing two complete Catherine Marshall works: Something More and A Closer Walk. I loved reading her personal stories, and I longed to capture an inkling of her deep faith and joy. I reread that same copy a few years ago when I began trying to publish my own devotionals, and I especially enjoyed reading how Catherine followed God’s call to become a writer. This led to my decision to read her two novels, Julie and Christy, which promised to show me how a Christian writer weaves her faith through the voice of fictional character. I checked out a copy of Julie from the library and loved this amazing story of a young journalist who unlocks secrets to a mystery in her hometown. Next, I planned to read Christy, yet I somehow never got around to it. Years passed, and I kept Christy on my “someday” list. Then I learned about this new 50th anniversary release from Gilead Publishing, which contains a preface from the author’s children, who grew up hearing stories about their grandmother, Leonora Whitaker Wood, the real-life inspiration for the novel’s 19-year-old character, Christy Huddleston. At age 19, both Leonora and her fictional counterpart Christy left home in North Carolina to teach poverty-stricken children in the mountains of Tennessee. From the preface: It is the story of a proud, fierce, and lyrical people tucked away in a remote sect…

Christy’ Giveaway, Blog Tour, and Facebook Live Party
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2017-11-09T23:14:00Z
subject: Christian Living
subject: Education
subject: Faith
description: Some stories are evergreen, their themes and lessons standing the test of time and connecting with readers generation after generation. Reconnect with Catherine Marshall’s beloved Christy as it celebrates its 50th anniversary with a new edition! As nineteen-year-old teacher Christy struggles to find acceptance in her new home of Cutter Gap, some see her-and her […]
encoded: Some stories are evergreen, their themes and lessons standing the test of time and connecting with readers generation after generation. Reconnect with Catherine Marshall’s beloved Christy as it celebrates its 50th anniversary with a new edition! As nineteen-year-old teacher Christy struggles to find acceptance in her new home of Cutter Gap, some see her-and her one-room school-as a threat to their way of life. Her faith is challenged and her heart is torn between two strong men with conflicting views about how to care for the families of the Cove. Yearning to make a difference, will Christy’s determination and devotion be enough? Celebrate the new 50th anniversary edition of Christy by entering to win one of TWO $50 Visa cash cards (details below) and by attending a Facebook Live party on December 5! TWO grand prize winners will receive: One copy of Christy One $50 Visa Cash Card Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on December 5. The winner will be announced at the Christy Facebook Live Party. RSVP for a chance to connect with authors who’ve been impacted by Christy and other readers, as well as for a chance to win other prizes! RSVP today and spread the word-tell your friends about the giveaway and Facebook Live party via social media and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 5th!

Need Encouragement? Read Sandra Byrd’s One-Year Experiencing God’s Love Devotional
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2017-11-01T12:00:35Z
subject: Book Reviews
subject: Christian Living
subject: Faith
description: Entering November means the next two months will be super busy around my house! My calendar is already booked with upcoming school concerts and programs, holiday parties, and of course the need to get started on my Christmas shopping. If you have someone on your list who could use some encouraging words in the coming […]
encoded: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Experiencing-Gods-Love-Devotional-300x300.jpeg" alt="" width="350" height="350" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6002" srcset="https://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Experiencing-Gods-Love-Devotional-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Experiencing-Gods-Love-Devotional-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Experiencing-Gods-Love-Devotional.jpeg 450w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /> Entering November means the next two months will be super busy around my house! My calendar is already booked with upcoming school concerts and programs, holiday parties, and of course the need to get started on my Christmas shopping. If you have someone on your list who could use some encouraging words in the coming year, I highly recommend a beautiful book I requested for review by one of my favorite authors, Sandra Byrd. She is one of the few Christian authors I actually discovered on the bookshelf of my local public library! My daughters and I loved her eight-volume Hidden Diary series, which have been repackaged with new covers into four books. Also highly recommended if you have girls in the 8-12 year tween age range. Sandra Byrd’s latest release, The One Year Experiencing God’s Love Devotional, offers us a glimpse into the author’s heart as she shares stories from her personal life interwoven with the wisdom from scripture. Perfect reading for women of any age and season of life. In the introduction, Sandra writes: To experience something is to live it, to encounter it, to understand it, to explore it with our hearts, minds, and souls as well as with the five physical sense and our God-given spiritual ones. It means to join him in doing his work and to be the recipient of it too. In every action we do with and for God, every good day and bad day when we walk hand and …

Travel to Africa: A Forest, A Flood, and An Unlikely Star
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2017-10-28T15:22:48Z
subject: Book Reviews
subject: Children's Books
subject: Faith
subject: Family
subject: Travel
encoded: I love reading middle grade fiction and jumped at the chance to review a new release that promised to transport me to the heart of Africa. The title of J.A. Myhre’s book, A Forest, a Flood, and an Unlikely Star, intrigued me, and I learned it’s the third book in the author’s Rwendigo Tales series. Since I missed reading the first two books, I wondered if I’d be able to catch up, but fortunately the setting in fictional Rwendigo is what unifies the series, since each book features a different protagonist. As a long-time medical missionary to Africa, Myhre is in a unique position to offer readers an in-depth view of life on the front lines of the fight against poverty and disease. In her blog, Paradox Uganda, readers can view her stunning wildlife photography and learn more about her medical mission work with Serge. I found it helpful knowing a bit about the author’s background as I read her book, as several scenes take place in and around a healthcare clinic. I could easily sense her passion to raise awareness of issues affecting inhabitants of the continent. In the introductory note, Myhre shares that the books were originally written as Christmas gifts to her own children. I would put the appropriate reading age range as 9 and up, since the story contains a violent scene that might be too scary for younger children. But the book is fascinating for all ages, especially teens and adult readers interested in travel and volunteering. The beautiful pen-and-ink drawings by illustrator Acacia Masso also bring the story to life. The main character, 13-year-old Kusiima (which means “thankul” in the Luwendigo dialect), lives with his grandmother and toddler sister, Ngonzi (meaning “love”). Although he longs to go to school, Kusiima must work selling charcoal to help earn a meager living, especially since his sister has a debilitating illness. During his long workday, he stations himself near a school window, so he can hear the teacher and grasp at small scraps of knowledge. …

Deborah Raney’s Home at Last Wraps Up the Chicory Inn series
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2017-03-18T13:01:11Z
subject: Book Reviews
subject: Christian Living
subject: Faith
subject: Family
subject: Marriage
description: I started reading Deborah Raney’s five-book Chicory Inn series in the summer of 2014, and so it’s with a sigh I’ve reached the closing chapter of her Whitman family saga. It’s similar to how I felt while viewing the final episode of Downton Abbey. In her author’s note at the beginning of Home at Last, […]
encoded: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Deborah-Raney-Home-at-Last.jpg" alt="Deborah Raney Home at Last" width="324" height="499" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5930" srcset="https://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Deborah-Raney-Home-at-Last.jpg 324w, https://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Deborah-Raney-Home-at-Last-195x300.jpg 195w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 324px) 100vw, 324px" /> I started reading Deborah Raney’s five-book Chicory Inn series in the summer of 2014, and so it’s with a sigh I’ve reached the closing chapter of her Whitman family saga. It’s similar to how I felt while viewing the final episode of Downton Abbey. In her author’s note at the beginning of Home at Last, Deborah Raney expressed similar emotions: It seems like only yesterday that I was signing the contract for this five-book series. I could hardly imagine a day when the first book would be finished, let alone a day when I’d be writing “the end” on the final book! But here I am, and I must admit I shed a few tears saying good-bye to the Whitman family. We authors are strange that way. Our characters do become like family to us. Over the past three years, the Whitmans have become like family to me, as I’ve worked my way through the series and gotten to witness the writing process a bit through Deborah Raney’s facebook posts. I plan to catch up and review the fourth novel once school is out for summer. These books have been sent to me by the wonderful team at Litfuse, but you can easily find them online or in stores like Wal-Mart or Target. I highly recommend the Chicory Inn novels for women who want to read something positive and uplifting. Here are the five titles: Book 1: Home to Chicory Lane Book 2: Two Roads Home Book 3: Another Way Home Book 4: Close to Home (Review to come this summer!) Book 5: Home at Last — here we are! The stories follow the lives of Grant and Audrey Whitman, parents of …

An Amish Mother Who Writes to Record Life’s Simple Pleasures
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2016-04-21T02:40:16Z
subject: Book Reviews
subject: Books
subject: Christian Living
subject: Faith
subject: Family
subject: Gardening
subject: Marriage
subject: Motherhood
subject: Parenting
subject: Writing
description: I confess I don’t know much about the Amish way of life, and so when I heard about this book, I couldn’t wait to read it. I hoped it would enlighten me as to how and why the Amish live the way they do, without electricity or automobiles. To hear it all told from a […]
encoded: I confess I don’t know much about the Amish way of life, and so when I heard about this book, I couldn’t wait to read it. I hoped it would enlighten me as to how and why the Amish live the way they do, without electricity or automobiles. To hear it all told from a mother’s point of view seemed irresistible for me. I love the image on this book cover — it’s a work of art! There’s an expression of intense concentration and joy on this child’s face as she quietly creates a secret world with her pencil and paper. It’s how I feel most of the time when I can squirrel away a few minutes with my own journal. Thank you to whoever you are who took this photo, and thank you to Marianne Jantzi for being brave enough to share your private family stories with the loud outside world. As a member of the Milverton Old Order Amish community, the oldest and largest of ten Amish settlements in Ontario, Canada, Marianne Jantzi’s days are filled with chores most of us can’t imagine. Her home is heated by wood stoves, which she must also use to cook her meals. Her husband leaves for work before dawn, transported by a horse and buggy driver. The Jantzis own a shoe business, attached to the front of their home, and all transactions are recorded by hand. Jantzi’s writing reaches readers all over North America via her much-loved “Northern Reflections” column in The Connection, a favorite magazine among Amish and Mennonite communities. She doesn’t have a computer at home to type out her thoughts. They’re written by hand and driven to town for someone else to type and edit. As a mother of four young children, the oldest in kindergarten, Jantzi’s days are incredibly busy. Yet she takes the time to reflect on the quiet simple pleasures that fill a home with love. Reading her stories brought back happy memories of my own early days of mothering. Young children can be both exhausting and endearing, and I love how she takes the time to listen and record their conversations. I especially enjoyed read…

When You’re Ready to Make an Impact: Gwen Smith’s ‘I Want It All’
type: item
creator: Heather Ivester
date: 2016-03-15T22:09:35Z
subject: Christian Living
subject: Faith
subject: Marriage
subject: Motherhood
subject: Wellness
description: Happy Spring everyone! I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful season in your corner of the earth, wherever you are. When I first saw the cover of Gwen’s Smith’s new book, the title jumped out at me, like that sign was written to get MY attention. I’m certainly guilty of feeling like I always want a […]
encoded: Happy Spring everyone! I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful season in your corner of the earth, wherever you are. When I first saw the cover of Gwen’s Smith’s new book, the title jumped out at me, like that sign was written to get MY attention. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/I-Want-It-All-cover.jpg" alt="I Want It All cover" width="416" height="630" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5865" srcset="https://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/I-Want-It-All-cover.jpg 416w, https://mom2momconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/I-Want-It-All-cover-198x300.jpg 198w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px" /> I’m certainly guilty of feeling like I always want a little more, and so I thought this book might speak to me about learning to be more content, more satisfied with the gifts God’s given me. Instead, it pushed me into deep conviction. I didn’t realize Gwen Smith is a singer/songwriter, as well as an author, yet I was soon mesmerized by her poetic cadence: Lord, I want it all today Every blessing you ordain Every trial, every strain Break and build me for your gain. In fact, if you’ve never heard her speak or sing in person, I think you should stop reading right now, and listen to her voice share these words with you. I would not even call them words — they’re lyrics. The book begins with a quote from one of my all-time favorite authors, Elisabeth Elliot, who wrote in Through Gates of Splendor: “I have one desire now — to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.” Every woman reading this knows our energy is limited, no matter how old we are. We can’t possibly say yes to everything asked of us and get it all done, so it’s a crucial decision: where are we supposed to put our energy and strength to live this life of reckless abandon? Reading I Want It All will definitely give you ideas of your uniquely personal calling. It’s divide…