"The Caregiver" by Shelley Shepard Gray

The Caregiver by Shelley Shepard Gray is the first book of Shelley’s “Families of Honor” series. It is about Lucy, an Amish abused widow who goes to take care of her cousin who is going through chemo treatments. On the train there, she meets Calvin Weaver who is going to the same place and learns that he his her cousin’s neighbor. They hit it off on the train until she witnesses his temper which reminds her of her dead husband and that she can’t trust men. Over time, she opens up and finds love with Calvin, big surprise--NOT! There are discussion questions at the end of this book so this could be a book club read.

Here's a little teaser from page 25:

She would concentrate only on Mattie's needs. That would enable her to keep her mind off her own pain and start to move on.

I didn’t care too much for this book because I really didn’t like Lucy, the main character or her cousin, Mattie, although I think she was the most believable of the characters with her faith waning as the chemo treatments progressed, making her feel worse instead of better. My favorite character was Calvin’s little sister, Katie, but she was only in the beginning of the book.  This seemed to move slow and I like books that I really look forward to seeing what happens next.  This just didn't grab my interest although I like the cover!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

Tuesday Teasers: "The Caregiver" and "Black and White"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading,. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser. 

Gerard's:

My right hand was in my coat pocket, still wrapped around the gun. I could smell that it had just been fired. But I wouldn't pull it out again.

From page 14 of Black and White by Paul Volponi


Karen's:

She would concentrate only on Mattie's needs. That would enable her to keep her mind off her own pain and start to move on.

From page 25 of The Caregiver by Shelley Shepard Gray.


You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

Comment For Charity--The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!

We received 322 (our highest yet!) comments during April and were happy to donate $161 to Samaritan’s Purse to help with the relief efforts in Japan after the earthquake and Tsunami.  Now they are helping those in Alabama recover from their destruction.  This organization is wonderful, founded by Dr. Billy Graham's. son.  I actually read his autobiography,  Rebel With A Cause by Franklin Graham which describes the beginnings of Samaritan's Purse. Thanks to all who took time to comment in April!

For the month of May, our charity for comments is The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  I used to participate in the Great Strides walk each year, but really do not like to hit up people for money so thought I would donate 50 cents per comment during May.

My friend has a child with Cystic Fibrosis.  I never realized what all it entailed until I watched this video made by the father when she was three that shows what it is like.

Here are some statistics regarding cystic fibrosis that I got from www.cff.org:

• About 1,000 new cases of cystic fibrosis are diagnosed each year.
• More than 70% of patients are diagnosed by age two.
• More than 45% of the CF patient population is age 18 or older.
• The predicted median age of survival for a person with CF is in the mid-30s.

We hope you will visit all four of our blogs (listed on our sidebar) and comment away in May!  If you donate per comment to charity, please let us know so we can add your blog to our special blog roll of others we know that do.

"Rebel With A Cause" by Franklin Graham

Rebel With A Cause is the autobiography of Franklin Graham, son of the famous evangelist, Billy Graham. It can be a real encouragement to anyone who has some wayward kids. Franklin Graham was a rebellious teenager and did not want to be a preacher or a missionary. In the book he tells how God kept on working in his life and how God prepared him and led him to take over overseeing the Samaritan’s Purse ministry. He was both reckless and cocky growing up, but he surrendered his life to Christ and God used him to help people in great need and further His kingdom.

A couple principles he shared that I thought were helpful were these:

(1) Always leave “God room.” God room refers to the gap between what your resources are and what the need is. True faith is when you promise more than you can deliver, but trust God to provide the rest.

(2) Don’t beg for money. This is a principle that Franklin Graham used in running Samaritan’s Purse. His plan was to present the facts. Let people know the need, and then back off and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. He gives practical examples over and over throughout the book that shows this principle works.

Franklin’s life was quite an adventure! It was through this book that I first became familiar with Samaritan’s Purse. I look forward each Christmas to support Operation Christmas Child which is just one of the Samaritan’s Purse projects.  This organization is often among the first to get relief to disaster areas worldwide. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?
During April we will donated 50 cents for each legitimate comment on any of our blogs ($161) to Samaritan's Purse to provide relief to Japan.  During May, our charity is The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs listed on our sidebar!     

Congratulations to Brandi--Winner Of Our Easter Giveaway

Brandi over at Searching For Serenity won I'm Outnumbered--One Mom's Lessons In The Lively Art Of Raising Boys with this comment:

I would actually love to win this for myself! {And share it with a friend expecting her first boy toward the end of the year.} I have two young boys, and while I grew up the only girl among boys, I still don't know much about raising them! Is it really that bad to paint your 3-year-old boy's toenails because Mommy and Sister were doing it!?

Hope you enjoy this book and find it helpful!  Thanks for entering!  We really wanted to give this to someone who had young boys.  Visit her blog and I think you'll agree she deserves to win!

We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.  For May it is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.