Thursday, May 24, 2012

Review of The Messenger by Siri Mitchell

Product Details
Hannah Sutherland is a Quaker, loyal to her faith and family. When Hannah’s twin brother joins the Colonial army and is captured and imprisoned, she’ll have to make a choice between these two loyalties since the Quakers oppose war and have decided to not help the rebels. Jeremiah Jones is a Colonial spy, and is loyal to struggling, war-torn America. When he is asked to do the impossible, he’ll have to decide just how far that loyalty will go and how much more he’s willing to sacrifice. And he’ll need Hannah’s help. Hannah and Jeremiah have too many differences, but they’ll need each other in order for a daring escape plan to succeed. In the process they’ll discover they need each other for a lot more too.

I’ll be honest, I had a hard time getting into this book. It had a bit of a slow start and I didn’t particularly care much for Hannah or her family. Their religious legalism didn’t cause me to have much sympathy for them and they seemed very hypocritical. Jeremiah is very brooding, but even in that he was more likable than Hannah. About halfway through, though, Hannah began to redeem herself, mainly because of Jeremiah.  The last half of the book was more action-packed and suspenseful, although the ending seemed a bit abrupt.

I didn’t know much about Quakers before this book, and I’m sure I still don’t know all that much. I agree with many things they believed, but completely disagree with a lot as well. We can draw many parallels to Christianity today though. It’s all about activism and taking a stand politically and Jesus is lost completely. Social issues are important, but they’re not what Christianity is about. Yes, it’s important to help orphans, to stop human trafficking, and to give equality to women, but if you lose sight of Christ what’s the point. I think that’s what Hannah figured out at the end, and that’s why she became a better character. It’s a good reminder to us all really.

I thought this book was okay, but it wasn’t one of my favorites. I’ll give Siri Mitchell another shot though if anyone has any suggestions.

Thank you to Bethany House Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book to review. All opinions, however, are my own. If you'd like to receive books from Bethany House Publishers to review please go here.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Road Trip

So, Lee and I went on a little road trip last week. We drove all day Tuesday (it's a 9 hour drive from Fay-town to Louisville). We spent most of the day Wednesday looking at apartments. Lee and I have been incredibly spoiled by the apartment we've been in for the last 3 years. It's a great size, great rate, and good location. Finding an apartment with all this in Louisville is difficult to say the least. But, we found some we liked and applied to one and are hoping to hear back this week. 

On Thursday we met with our good friend Joy over some Chicago style pizza. The food was good, but the company was better. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her. That afternoon we drove to a nearby county to visit with the Assistant Superintendent of that school district and tour the high school. I'm embarrassed to admit how long it's been since I've been in a high school. It was a good experience. I'll have to keep everyone posted on the job front because I still don't know where/what I'll be teaching.

We also drove all day Friday down to Charleston, SC. A friend of ours from college was getting married and we figured since we were close closer (as in 9 hour drive instead of 16) we would pop on over. Saturday we did a little driving in downtown Charleston and got to see the harbor and Battery Park. Of course Lee was giving me history lessons the whole time. Then we went to the wedding and hung out with friends and family afterwards. I know Lee was glad to see some of those guys again. 

Lee and I at the waterfront in Charleston

Sunday was a LONG 16+ hour drive home, and Lee actually let me drive some. He had stayed up too late having a slumber party with his friends. Hehe. This is my last week working in the lab. Then one more week and I'm in Louisville. It's going to be a crazy few weeks and an even crazier summer for sure. But we're excited for the adventure!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Next Steps

Oh, boy. It's been forever since I last updated. Sorry about that! Today is a big day for our family so I just wanted to do some quick updating.

Today is graduation day! Both my sister and my husband are finishing their undergraduate programs today. And of course, both are going on to do more school. I'm so proud of both of them and look forward to the celebration today!


I still love my wedding pictures from the Beatys almost three years later. My beautiful sister and my goofy amazing husband.

I'll be going to my sister's graduation and spending time with family. Lee won't be going to his own graduation though because he's in a wedding of some friends of ours. I'll forgive him this time. Congrats to the soon to be newlyweds the Reids!

In other news, I finished my classes I was taking this semester and I've officially been accepted in to the University of Louisville for the M.A.T. alternative certification program. And classes start in 3 weeks!!! I'm really excited about this opportunity, but there's a lot that has to happen in the next month or so. Lee and I will be visiting Louisville soon to try and find a place to live. This has proved more difficult than expected, but we have some options. It may turn out that I'll stay in a dorm for a few weeks and then Lee will meet me in Louisville later to get moved in to a place. A non-ideal situation, but we're trusting that everything will work out. Also, when we're visiting Louisville I'll be meeting with some people about a possible job. Obviously we'll be needing a LOT of prayer about the whole situation and God is teaching us to trust in His provision. Many exciting things!

Obviously things are busy in the Woodmansee household, but we're excited about the adventure we're about to embark on. Maybe now that things are rolling along I'll be motivated to update more!