Numbing the Pain – it won’t do.

 

 

 

(click above image to go listen to the song, and continue reading – below lyrics are some thoughts!)

“We won’t numb the pain” – Tenth Avenue North

We’re taking paths of least resistance
And never feel our soul’s persistence
Turn on the radio
We don’t wanna know
Keep on running in cruise control

We were never meant to live like this
So much has happened and too easy to miss, yeah
Cheap thrills, social media thrills, use sex like a drug and we can’t keep still

Distracted, distracted
Keep ourselves so distracted
We want more

We won’t numb the pain
Hands reaching to the sky
Hearts ready for the fire
Eyes open till we die

We won’t numb the pain
Slow down inside your life
Stand still against the tide
Keep fighting for the silence
We won’t numb the pain

I talk influence and being strategic
But all I’m feeling is narcissistic
Use recognition, but the adrenaline won’t stop long enough to hear this conviction

We were never meant to live like this
Stand up for anything and be dismissed
We don’t want it real, we keep it trivial
Objectified sex it gives a greater feel

We won’t numb the pain
Hands reaching to the sky
Hearts ready for the fire
Eyes open till we die

We won’t numb the pain
Slow down inside your life
Stand still against the tide
Keep fighting for the silence
We won’t numb the pain

We want the cure, not a medication
We’re gonna deal with it now
We want the cure, not a medication
We’re gonna deal with it now

We won’t numb the pain
Hands reaching to the sky
Hearts ready for the fire
Eyes open till we die

We won’t numb the pain
Slow down inside your life
Stand still against the tide
Keep fighting for the silence
We won’t numb the pain

Gonna feel my,
Gonna feel my,
Gonna feel my heart now

Let me get a taste of your sweetness
Give me one glimpse of your lovely light
Lord, be my joy and treasure
My delight

Let me have a sense of your presence
May I trust your mercy all my life
I just wanna be a fire burning in the night

Fire, fire, fire, fire
Fire in my heart, fire in my soul
May the fire of your love burn away control
Satisfy my heart, cause I don’t wanna steal
Or give in to my lust just to feel

Fire, fire, fire, fire

 

 

I like this song a great deal, but it I just realised how close to home it hits as I try to hide from pain. Sure, I face quite a bit of physical pain daily, but that is not what I fear. It’s the emotional and heart-hurting pain that I fear. It’s the letting go and letting God – I don’t want to get hurt. So I numb the pain, even as I sing this song.

What if God doesn’t want me to numb the pain? What if He wants me to experience it, so I can grow from it, heal from it, and seek Him more? I think that is the truth. But it’s scary.

What kind of pain are you afraid of? Admit and reveal it to God. It’s what I’m working on too. Thankfully, we have a God who does not judge or condemn – He helps us and strengthens us. He knows what we’re feeling and what we’re facing before we even understand it ourselves.

“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” – John 3:17

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10

He is your God. He is my God, and He will help you. He will help me. Because He loves us greatly. He will help us identify this pain we fear, and He will help us face is – help us conquer it, because through Jesus, we are more than conquerors! ”

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” – Romans 8:37

Hallelujah. :)

This post turned out a lot different than I first thought, but I will leave it here. May He fill the rest of this post with His words!

 

 

 

It’s Friday

Which would normally imply that I would be posting the Pinterest Favourites Friday Post, but…well, I just don’t quite feel like it. I have some splendid pins (no, really I do. XD I like ’em! XD), but they are quite comfy on my Pinterest page for now. They told me so themselves. Though this one did happen to volunteer itself up for a blog spotlight:

 

 

Which of course reminds me of this quote: “I can’t go back to jail again!” from Monsters University.

Okay, I’m going to burst into a little bit of randomness here (wait, silly, I already have! Well, here is some more). There is this book (*que romantic sighs*), and I am very excited about it. The book is:

Strong and adventurous Gwendolyn Barnes longs to be a knight like her chivalrous brothers. However, that is not an option for her, not even in the Arthurian-inspired Eden where she dwells. Her parents view her only as a marriage pawn, and her domineering father is determined to see her wed to a brutish man who will break her spirit.

When handsome, good-hearted Allen of Ellsworth arrives in Edendale searching for his place in the world, Gwendolyn spies in him the sort of fellow she could imagine marrying. Yet fate seems determined to keep them apart. Tournaments, intrigue, and battles–along with twists and turns aplenty–await these two as they struggle to find love, identity, and their true destinies.

Available for pre-order online now!
CBD.com
Amazon.com
Barnesandnoble.com

 

 

This isn’t the first, nor the last time, this book has been mentioned on my blog here. So. But it’s just so beautiful, and I love stories about knights and ladies and lady knights! :D It is sure to have a lot of great adventures. If you would like to find out more about the author, Dina Sleiman, and get a little peak at her characters, I encourage you to check out the post linked in the below image. Just click on it, and it will lead you right to her post!

 

 

And prepare yourself for more posts about “Chivalrous” because there *will* be more. And soon! :D

Novella Spotlights!

Hello friends :) Today I am spotlighting Faith Blum’s newest novella’s! I hope you enjoy, and be sure to check them out!

 

What could be better to do on a chilly evening than sit in front of a fire with a good book in your hands? Yes, I know that it’s August and in most places in the US especially it’s probably pretty warm. But, Fall is coming. And with Fall comes falling temperatures. So why not plan ahead for those chilly evenings?

Lucky for you, today, we have just the thing for you. Faith Blum has written three novellas just the perfect length for a short read. They’re wholesome, clean, entertaining, romantic, and historical.

Be sure to read to the end of this post to enter an fun giveaway and find out about the free book offer!

Votes please??

Hi everyone!

I have a quick request. A while ago I entered a book contest, but didn’t find out till just now that they require votes, and there’s only two days left for people to do so. My question is, would you be willing to go to the link below and vote for my picture? It’s captioned “Love me some Bethany House books” :)

This is the link: https://www.facebook.com/BHPnonfiction?sk=app_451684954848385&brandloc=DISABLE&app_data=chk-55d0847754a81

Thank you so very much!!!! If you enter(ed) let me know so I can see and vote for you too!

Pinterest Favourites Friday Week 20

Good day to you, readers! I am finally getting around to doing another Pinterest Favourites post. So, let’s just dig in. :)

 

I love this a lot. It’s so cool, and also resembles how we live our lives as followers of God – we are Warriors of Jesus!

 

Found out recently, that we HTTYD lovers now have a proper name for ourselves – Dragonites! How epic is that?

 

Love covers all. Truly. I’m learning a lot about this, and it’s haaaaarrddd, but so worthwhile as we want to shine as our Savior does!  1 Cor. 16:14 “Let all that you do be done with love.” 

 

I like Cookie Monster’s reasoning very much.

 

This is the truth. XD

 

A Sand Cat. Which I obviously need quite desperately!! :D

For more pins, you can visit me on my Pinterest board Here. :)

 

What I’m reading:

 

It’s taken me a bit, but I am finally able to read this beautiful book, and with joy too! :)

What are you reading, and pinning (if you have Pinterest)? :)

Litfuse Book Review: Through Waters Deep by Sarah Sundin

 

(Click image to go directly to book on Amazon)

 

“Through Waters Deep” by Sarah Sundin

#1 in Waves of Freedom Series

WWII Fiction

Review copy source: Litfuse

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

 

About the Book:

It is 1941 and America teeters on the brink of war. Outgoing naval officer Ensign Jim Avery escorts British convoys across the North Atlantic in a brand-new destroyer, the USS Atwood. Back on shore, Boston Navy Yard secretary Mary Stirling does her work quietly and efficiently, happy to be out of the limelight. Yet, despite her reserved nature, she never could back down from a challenge. When evidence of sabotage on the Atwood is found, Jim and Mary must work together to uncover the culprit. A bewildering maze of suspects emerges, and Mary is dismayed to find that even someone close to her is under suspicion. With the increasing pressure, Jim and Mary find that many new challenges–and dangers–await them.

Sarah Sundin takes readers to the tense months before the US entered WWII. Readers will encounter German U-boats and torpedoes, along with the explosive power of true love, in this hopeful and romantic story.

My Thoughts:

I was so excited to read this book – so excited! :D After reading “A Distant Melody” by Sarah Sundin, I was quite hooked on her writing. And “Through Waters Deep” didn’t disappoint. While it didn’t top “A Distant Melody” for me (not much can! Hehe), it was still very satisfactory.

I loved the main characters, Mary and Jim. I related to Mary in her quiet, calm manner, and felt deeply for her in her struggles. And Jim was a dashing hero. ;) He had his own struggles too, and I appreciate that he and Mary shared their struggles and burdens with each-other, each growing in the Lord as well.

There were some great side characters – I’m really looking forward to the next book involving Arch and Lillian! Yay! Mary and Jim will remain my favourites, but I know they will run a close second. However, I did not care for Quintessa at all. She bugged me and I felt like Mary saw herself too indebted to her – it wasn’t an even-sided friendship, if that makes sense. Though, I am expecting Quintessa to have a more favourable story in the third book of this series. :)

The plot was engaging and the mystery gripping! I must say, I was pleased to find out the one I suspected was the culprit in the end! =D Following mystery stories are fun, and I was relieved that this was a ‘clean’ one, without murders, etc. as many mysteries are.

There were several ‘happy’ parts in this book that just made me melt with happiness. :D So many sweet parts and feelings. That being said, I think there were more ‘turmoil’ parts than necessary…I know many like the riveting, edge-of-your-seat plots, and while this was that in a good way definitely, it also had some frustrating parts that I could’ve done without. ^.^ But at least it all ends happily and how we want!! I do like having that guarantee in stories.

The faith strand was there, and I was glad for that. I loved the theme of Nehemiah to it, and how Jim and Mary relied on God for their strength! Very cool. I loved that they each prayed beforehand about things instead of charging forward. A good reminder for all of us, myself definitely included!

I was impressed with how thorough Sarah Sundin’s research was and how lovely it was displayed in this book. Very authentic and still easy-to-read. I appreciate that! I also appreciate that there weren’t too many ‘battle intensive’ parts – it was handled with great care, and I liked that. I get very emotionally invested in books, and so it’s nice not to get pulled too far down when the scenes get overwhelming; thankfully, as I said, this book wasn’t that way. It was perfect in that aspect.

There is so much I could say about this book – the setting, the themes, the interactions. But I’m afraid my review would be quite lengthy! :)

All in all, I enjoyed this read for sure! Looking forward to more. :)

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Litfuse and the Publishers in exchange for my honest review which I have given.

 

 

Been a while…

Hello :)

I apologise for another absence of posts altogether. I’ve even missed a Pinterest Favourites Friday or two, for which I am sorry. Time gets away from me, especially in the summer.

Besides being busy, I still have been able to read fairly often. I just finished a book called “Until My Name is Known” by Sonya Contreras – it was (fiction) on the Biblical account of Moses. Very interesting and enjoyable, and as it was a review-book, I shall be posting my review along with the blog tour for it, which I think is in September…

I’m currently re-reading a favourite book of mine – “Harvest of Rubies” by Tessa Afshar. I seriously adore this book and could never read it too many times. :)

 

A review book I am most looking forward to:

 

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, “Dauntless” (my review here), so I’m excited to continue with this one! And isn’t the cover fun? The book releases in September of this year.

For randomness’ sake, how about a gif of Mr. Tilney in Northanger Abbey?

I mean really, why not? ;)

 

I’m so used to posting book reviews, and posts about books, that just regular, every-day-life-posts don’t come easily anymore. Perhaps that is a good thing, for my life is rather boring. I am doing dog chores this week, and they have been going well. Our local history-reenactment deal is going on this weekend, so that should be fun. Our garden is starting to produce its items, such as cucumbers and cabbages…no tomatoes yet, though. When they start, we’ll be in the kitchen for a good long time. =)

 

I guess I shall end this sad little post. At least you got to see some beautiful book covers and Mr. Tilney. That’s always a plus, right? ;)

As always, don’t be afraid to comment – I love hearing from ye all. =)