Reading, Writing & Pondering

Cross My Heart by Robin Lee Hatcher is the second book in the Legacy of Faith series. In this book, Ben Henning and Ashley Showalter meet through their mutual love of horses as Ben works to set up his equine therapy mission on his great-great-grandfather's farm. Ashley has the experience Ben needs to help find the right horses for the mission to be successful. While they both share a passion for horses, they also are afraid to share their secrets. Ben is a recovering alcoholic. Ashley's brother is an opioid addict. Are they both willing to share all of their hearts and to give love a chance? While we read the modern story of Ben and Ashley in Cross My Heart , Hatcher also flashes back to share more of Ben's family history through the story of his family members during the early 1930's. This story is also emphasized through the family Bible that Ben inherited.I love that this family Bible takes a prominent place in each book in this series. I especially love seeing...

I can't imagine being penniless and living on the streets, not knowing anyone. Yet, Jacob McCallum in Jacob's Bell is that homeless person. He lived a hard life and made a lot of mistakes that led to his homelessness and loneliness. Those mistakes haunt him now and he feels badly about them as he has grown older. Jacob struggles to make changes in his life and to find his adult children to seek their forgiveness and to make amends. Throughout the book, Jacob is searching in more ways than he realizes and God guides him to the right people to help him make needed changes to better his life. But will it be enough for his grown children to see that he has truly changed and that he has become a different man? Can there be a reconciliation for Christmas? When I started reading Jacob's Bell , I didn't find Jacob very likeable. He made some bad choices in his life and he ended up reaping what he sowed through the first part of his life. But our God is a God of mercy and ...