About the Book: When a tragic drowning accident leaves fifteen-year-old Jacob in a coma, the faith of his family and community is shaken to its foundation. Medical experts used phrases such as “persistent vegetative state” and said, “Jacob will never wake up,” but Jacob’s parents knew God would have the final say.

Without sugar-coating the realities of pain and suffering, Parting the Waters presents the heart-warming, true story of what can happen when a community rallies around one wounded family. While Jacob’s parents struggle to preserve their faith and family, the prayers and innovative efforts of community members result in Jacob’s gradual awakening. Each dramatic milestone in Jacob’s recovery creates a new ripple, touching and changing many lives forever.

Told from a mother’s perspective, Parting the Waters is a poignant tale of unexpected beauty found in brokenness.

Bonus feature: a “Q & A” section that fearlessly tackles issues regarding God, His love and mercy, and His divine purposes related to suffering.

My Review: Parting the Waters is a touching memoir about how God can use even the most heartbreaking of life events to draw people to Him. It’s not an easy read, and Ms. Damoff spares us nothing…she is completely honest with her feelings throughout the book about this tragic event. And because she is, this book is very authentic and inspiring. The process of dealing with suffering is a gradual one…and even when she can see that God has brought good things from Jacob’s accident, she grieves all that he has lost.

Jacob makes many miraculous recoveries…small victories in his very difficult battle. And God uses everyone around the family to bring support and hope. The community effort involved blew me away.

This is a great book for anyone. If you have ever faced a huge disappointment in life, I also think you will enjoy this book.

You can visit the author’s website here.

Product Description
In Multiple Blessings, Kate Gosselin shares the gripping details of her rollercoaster ride of emotional highs and lows when she discovered she and her husband, Jon, would be expecting sextuplets while still basking in the light of their twin girls’ toddlerhood. Strongly encouraged to consider selective reduction for the sake of both mother and babies, she and Jon instead decided to accept the extreme challenge God had handed them. After suffering the long and winding road of infertility, the young couple felt stressed but blessed as they fought valiantly to help their babies survive the fight for their lives. Kate reveals excerpts from her private journal as she describes the daily struggle to carry the babies for thirty weeks. In addition to their uphill medical battle, the family suffered many emotional setbacks such as the loss of Jon’s job, forcing the pair to look to God as their sole provider and sustainer of life. 

After the miraculous birth, the couple coped with months of neonatal intensive care for their newborns as well as Kate’s physical recovery from such complete and prolonged bed rest. Later as the entire family of ten finally arrived home reeling with exhaustion, they still managed to feed, bathe, clothe, and monitor the health of their fragile infants as a steady parade of necessary and helpful volunteers turned their home and family life into a public arena.

The young family lived moment to moment at first, not knowing what each new day would bring and how they would survive on such depleted sleep, money, and emotional reserves. However, as the months progressed, they grew into the next stage of development, proudly letting go of yesterday and looking forward to a brighter and ever-changing tomorrow. Their small home was soon filled to capacity with six cribs, six bouncy seats, several changing tables, never-ending piles of laundry, tubs of colorful toys, stacks of diapers, cartons of formula, rows and rows of bottles, bibs and pacifiers, two triplet strollers, six car seats, and so on. Yes, life was hectic and cramped, but with each major milestone Jon and Kate rejoiced at the miracles that unfolded around them. The crew of six growing babies along with their proud big sisters, Madelyn and Cara, did their part to fill those rooms with squawking, squealing, laughing, and of course, a healthy dose of crying. Kate and Jon eventually came out of the fog of the first precarious two years feeling eternally grateful for the love and support of family, friends, community, and indeed a nation. More important, they felt the ever present hand of a faithful God upholding them and giving them just enough strength and courage to take one day at a time.

My Review:  Jon and Kate plus 8 became my new favorite show last summer.  The children are so darn cute!  The book goes a little deeper into the spiritual lives of this family.  I appreciated that because I noticed Bible verses posted all over the kitchen, but it was never mentioned on the show.

The book is mostly written from Kate’s point of view.  I got a little more insight into who she is.  The TV show tends to portray her as very type A and very bossy.  From the show you assume she loves her husband, but in the book you KNOW she does.  This book was very enjoyable and answered questions I had that the TV show didn’t.  If you enjoy reading about families, you will love this book.

About the Book: Reeling from the loss of her mother, plagued with a bad case of writer’s block (and don’t even talk about that extra twenty pounds), Renata DeChavannes feels as though everything is just plain wrong. And that was before the tabloids caught her sweetheart, filmmaker Ferg Lauderdale, sharing an intimate squeeze with Hollywood’s hottest young tamale.

But the granddaughter of the formidable Honora DeChavannes possesses more hell than belle in her backbone—and she’s about to reclaim it. Heading south to Honora’s home on the Gulf Coast, Renata is determined to stop feeling like a wilted gardenia and emerge as the unstoppable kudzu her beloved grandmother proudly proclaimed she would be: “I’ll just tell you, Sherman may have burned the South, but kudzu will engulf it.” But for that to happen Renata’s got to face some not-so-genteel ghosts from her past, discover the truth about the mother she desperately misses, and make peace with the first man who abandoned her and broke her heart—her handsome and distant father.

Review: This book starts out in a light and quirky way. Renata reads an article in a tabloid paper that suggests her longtime boyfriend is cheating on her. Upset, she misplaces her current work-in-progress and as she is searching for it, she comes across a letter from her mother urging to find her grandmother to fill in the holes in her past. Renata heads to visit her relatives and embarks on a journey of discovery.

I genuinely enjoyed reading about Renata’s life. The point of view is mostly first person Renata, but there are a few chapters told first person from other points of views. There were times when I wished her friends and relatives would just go ahead and tell her everything, but I suppose that wouldn’t make for a very interesting book. There are many pieces to her past that she has misunderstood and they slowly get revealed to her throughout the course of the book.

The characters are fun and quirky and the story is touching and interesting. The conclusion is sweet and satisfying. An enjoyable read.

Now you have the chance to read it! One lucky reader will win a signed copy of Mermaids in the Basement! To enter, please leave a comment with a valid e-mail address. You must have a United States address to enter. Thank you so much! This giveaway ends Friday January 30th at midnight and is part of the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival

My Girl Jenny
Tammy’s Fish
Frosty
Beaner
Jazzy and Me

Jazzy is a 5 year old Gordon setter with a full coat of beautiful flowing feathers and eyes that say “I’m adorable”. I love my girl but she can be very frustrating, as she is an independent thinker. That translates into, “Let’s do it Jazzy’s way”.

Thank goodness she is also very smart, and learned the basics of obedience despite my ignorance in training. Jazzy should wear a sign that says she will work for treats. She knows how to stare me down when given a command until she sees the hand go near the treat pocket.

Her brilliance also extends to ruling our other dog. If Heidi is in Jazzy’s favorite snoozing spot, Jazzy will scratch at the door to go out. Heidi, not wanting to miss out on any outdoor fun, races to the door. By time I get the door open and Heidi is heading out, Jazzy has snagged that prime cushion.

From the day Jazzy came in contact with her first young person, she has been in love with children. I took advantage of this love, and we trained for Therapy Dog Certification. We would go to the library or school, and students with reading difficulties would read to Jazzy. It takes lots of practice to be a reading dog, or so Jazzy says. She loves to sit on the porch swing with me and practice reading. She is so insistent that we keep up the work, she has me sitting bundled up with book in hand all winter long.

Jazzy rules our home and my heart. But she is always there for me when I need a warm hug and a sloppy kiss.

Last Christmas, my family surprised me with a Chihuahua reject. Apparently, there was a dachshund in her woodpile, so to speak, and I inherited a Chiweiner.

We named her Cocoa Bean. She chose the name “Beaner”. That’s all she would respond to, and it fits, because this pooch has attitude! She has the saddest little eyes, but they express a world of meaning.

At first, I didn’t want her. More work for mom, puppy-training and all. And she chewed EVERYTHING. She chewed up the last pair of sandals my mom bought me before she died, my son’s new water-boarding shoes, underwear…my daughter’s ‘unmentionable’…everything!

We lost two PSP chargers in ONE DAY due to her baby teething! It was night-marish.

Then she caught parvo. I almost died myself at the thought. My husband took her to the vet to have her put down humanely, so I didn’t have to watch her suffer. I wept like my best friend had died–and I didn’t even LIKE her!

But, our stimulus check came that day and it was exactly what we needed for her treatment. The vet warned us that it might not work and she may die anyway, but we spent the money willingly.

It took three days of phone calls and waiting…but the furry monster came home. Now she’s digging holes and our terrier escapes through her tunnels. We’re dog-proofing the house, the back yard, and we bought her a kennel–we do NOT trust her UNSUPERVISED IN OUR HOUSE!

Since she’s been well she’s eaten another dozen pairs of underwear, two pairs of Happy Bunny socks, the bottom of my pj pants, another charger, chewed the corners off the throw pillows on the sofa, peed on the carpet countless times…

…and it was the best $$ I’ve ever spent on a pet. I thank God for Beaner every day…and ask Him to heal her of peeing and chewing. I think He laughs at it…’cause it keeps me humble and on my toes:-)

We’re actually thinking of breeding the little devil–I mean pooch. Anyone want a puppy??

I’ve had many pets that I’ve loved. But when I was a child, we had a Queensland Heeler and I had a tetherball set up in the backyard. Playing tetherball alone is a drag, but Frosty got interested in the fast-moving ball. I taught him to play with me by gently pushing the ball toward him. He’d jump up, jaws open and bump the ball, snapping his teeth shut. Sometimes he’d win just because all the dog spit flying around was too much for me. Other times, I’d miss because the ball was too slimy. He lived to be an old pup with a grey muzzle, and we still miss him!

My favorite pet was never truly owned by me but it was mine just the same. You see, when I was ten years old, we moved to the country and our ten acres were set against a small river. I loved to go to the river almost everyday and watch the toads, frogs, and turtles. One day as I was sitting on the bank near a fallen log that extended into the river, I noticed a very colorful fish not much bigger than my hand. It had come from under the log, swam over near me, and I swear it looked me in the eye. The moment that I moved it darted quickly under the log. I told my dad about it that night and he just laughed saying I’d probably never see it again. So I went out by the log the next day and waited patiently. I couldn’t believe my eyes! There was my fish right in front of me. As soon as I moved, it was gone. I continued to watch the fish everyday. It became less skittish and would stare at me for long periods of time before swimming away. I mentioned the strange behavior of the fish to my dad and once again he laughed me off as a kid with a wild imagination. Then one day, he was home doing some yardwork and I was sitting by the river eye to eye with my pet fish. I decided I would prove to him that I had a pet fish. I leaned forward and grabbed the fish, ran as fast as I could to my dad, and asked him what kind of fish it was. He was speechless as I raced back to the river and carefully placed my fish back into the water near the log. My dad was amazed and asked me a lot of questions about it that evening. My fish and I continued our daily meetings the rest of that summer and I think my dad gained a little more respect for my childish fish tales (as he had originally declared my stories of my pet). Winter came and went and I spent many summer days the next year looking for my friend. I never saw it again but I’ve never forgotten the bond we had. That is the true story of my favorite pet that wasn’t really mine yet was.