Christian fiction has added many dimensions to my life. It educates and inspires. It motivates and challenges me in my walk with the Lord, and if that weren't enough it is completely entertaining!!
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. He has given me a wonderful husband and two children. He also allowed me work at a Christian-run bookstore for 8 years, before giving me the privilege and challenge of being a stay at home mom.
Mesu Andrews is one of my favorite authors. I was able to do a short interview with her a couple of years ago. Here is a link, if you want to check that out!
Pharoah's Daughter lived up to the standards I have set for one of her novels! Mesu Andrews' attention to detail adds depth to the plot, and her dedication to historical and Biblical accuracy make her books the kind that drive you back to The Word. I love reading the Bible stories as I read her fictional depiction of these characters.
Pharoah's Daughter takes us into the story of Moses, from the viewpoint of Anippe...the Pharoah's daughter. Because it is a perspective that may be unconsidered by most, it makes for a very interesting focus.
I also love her "Author's notes" at the end. She talks about how God worked while she was writing this book and ends with a prayer for her readers. What a wonderful ministry she has made from the amazing talent God has given her!
Synced: Living Connected to the Heart of Jesus (New Hope, February 2016)
Prayer can become extraordinary when we live connected to the heart of Jesus.
Synced encourages you to emulate the way Jesus lived His life. With real-life stories of people walking closely with Jesus, finding themselves in the right place at the right time, readers are challenged to examine what staying in step with the Spirit looks like. National best-selling author and known prayer expert, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, uses the familiar passage of the Lord’s Prayer as anchor points to present the way Jesus lived His life in step with the Father through prayer.
Every moment is pregnant with purpose. Every moment is drenched in power. Prayer is no longer the means by which you attempt to get God to perform for you and becomes, instead, the means by which you connect with His heart and mind. A praying life is a life of peace and soul-rest. A praying life is lived in sync with the heart of Jesus.
I actually didn't get this book as planned, so I ended up purchasing the kindle edition yesterday. I have only read the first chapter so I can't write an actual review, but I thought that I'd highlight a couple of my favorite sections of chapter 1.
Here are two paragraphs:
He (Jesus) kept His eyes glued to the Father. I'm captured by the way Jesus uses the language of seeing to indicate how He knew His Father's will. he can only do what He sees His Father doing, and the Father shows Him everything he is doing. To live synced, Jesus never let His gaze wander. He kept the eyes of His heart locked on the Father.
When my eyes are on the Father, my focus is on His eternal hope and the stress of the world tends to fade, even when details and situations don't change.
The second paragraph is:
In His all-night prayer in Gethsemane, we see Jesus linking His heart to the Father's. Let me summarize the content of His recorded prayer in some new words. "Father, download Your will into my heart so that it overwrites any other desire. Download courageous faith that deletes fear. Synchronize My heart's desire to Yours."
This is a prayer that speaks to my heart. I want to make it my own. I am a follower of Jesus, and I want to be more like Him everyday.