In the 1990’s, my Bible college English professor and Advisor soon became a cherished woman of God’s grace to me. I had few Godly examples in my life at the time, and Jackina, was one of the few. A natural story-teller, she captured our hearts with her humor and her passion for God’s word. I admired her life and appreciated her maturity. She inspired me to love literature and to challenge myself in creative writing. Jackina is most certainly one of my bricks, God has used to build a foundation of knowing Him. A brick that always pointed to Jesus and asked how I could best reflect Him in my life. I am truly grateful for God’s “tender grace” in letting me know Jackina.
It is with great pleasure, that I reconnected with her, after many years and found out she was working on her first fiction project. Bethany House has published two of Jackina’s novels. First, Tender Grace. Second,Things Worth Remembering.
A novel written by Mrs. Jackina Stark, Tender Grace was a timely read for me. The main character in the book is Audrey who is in her fifties and has just lost her husband.
“Determined to find healing, Audrey Eaton embarks on a trip to the one place she and her husband always intended to visit but never did. When things don’t go as planned, will she embrace the unexpected graces that guide her journey?”
Jackina weaves together many topics in this novel that are often ignored: widows, loneliness, despair, emptiness, and longings. I became friends with this lovable character, Audrey. I felt her loss and walked with her– in her story of becoming an individual again after the loss of her husband. As Jesus was her comfort, she experienced the natural ebb and flow of pain. Pressing through loneliness, Audrey found joy and grace in the journey. God lovingly provided gifts of grace through new and old relationships along the way and healing in her heart. I loved this book and literally stayed up all night (which I have never done for a book) to finish it.
You will definitely catch on to Jackina’s sense of humor, wit, and joy in the face of sorrow and suffering. With laugh out loud moments and tearful compassion, this book is a must read! NOT at all cheesy or in your face- evangelism. Jackina tells a story of a woman lost in the midst of grief and finds God and herself again.
Just as Audrey drew nearer to God in the face of her pain, I pray that each of us can boldly offer our pain to God as he lovingly redeems our pain– in Christ. The tender grace of Tender Grace is that it reminded me of how loss can reveal our need for a savior, gripped by our pain– we run to the only lasting comfort.
This book is great. I would say it is good for 5-10 year old children. We are thoroughly enjoying reading it nightly with our advent candles lit. After dinner, the kids are enthusiastic about the advent candles and reading the chapter from Jotham’s Journey.
Jotham throws a fit and rebells against his dad and runs away. His sin has consequences. He is lost for a while and journeys through many families and suffers much. He realizes his sin and grows in his faith.
We’ve had great talks with our kids, inspired by little Jotham’s journey. A great devotional opportunity to teach our kids and provoke gospel thoughts.
“Have you discovered that Jesus sometimes gets lost in the middles of the hustle and bustle of His birthday party? Would you like to be able to keep your children’s focus on Jesus and also join them in the wonder of the celebration”
I bought this book two years ago. My favorite activities to do with my kids are the Candy Cane Reindeer and the Happy Birthday Jesus Cake. The cake has different elements symbolizing Gospel Truths. FUN stuff is in this book!
Mostly, I like it for the topical journey it takes you through: lights, trees, advent wreath, caroling, santa claus, etc. Merry Christmas!
One tradition we have at Christmastime is to read a Christmas story at Family Dinner. I have bought our kids a new Christmas book every year and have quite a few now! They squealed with glee today when I brought this stack of books out today:
This is our collection of Christmas books for our children:
One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham
The Legend of Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner
Where’s the Baby King by Karen King
Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett
Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs
The Little Shepherd and the First Christmas by Arch Books
The Newborn King by Dalmation Press
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
Gigi- The Perfect Christmas Gift by Sheila Walsh
The Legend of St. Nicholas, A Story of Christmas Giving by Dandi Daley Mackall
I love this book. This book is now and most likely will forever be in my top ten Christian reading list. Ellen Vaughn convinced me with true Biblical form why gratitude matters. She took me to places I have never learned about; stories of suffering that I never wanted to read about but was glad that I did.
At first, the graphic on the front cover scared me away. A woman jumping in the air with pastel blue sky behind her says to me (judgmental–I know.) “Christian fluffy thoughts and extra biblical insights that aren’t gospel based.” Suspicious thoughts went through my ultra-cool raised eyebrow. I dear woman of God recommended it to me- so I overlooked the jumping lady. ;0
Thankfully, my first impression with the cover was completely wrong.
First, Ellen is a gifted, award winning writer. Part of the reason that I wanted to read this book, was just for Ellen. To learn from her. She is writing to the same audience I hope to write my book to someday. She is sharing truth with women who want to know Jesus in every aspect of their hearts and lives. Secondly, Ellen has a Biblical worldview and framework for her teaching and writing. She weaves ideas together from scripture, which stirs my passion and makes me lower that eyebrow.
The story of the ten lepers that Jesus healed was especially gripping and heart changing for me. OF the ten, only 1 went to find Jesus to thank Him. Ellen tells stories so well, tears streamed down my face many times while reading this book (which rarely happens for me).
“Some believers seem to be looking for life principles that are just a little more spiritually sexy. Be thankful? Oh, of course. But give me something more exciting, more dramatic, something remarkable that I can do to change my life. ”
“Cultivating a grateful heart is not just an add-on nicety, a civil tip of the hat to God as we steamroll through OUR day. A posture of purposeful, perpetual thanks to God is absolutely central to Christian character. It gives glory to Him. It is the key defense against Satan’s temptations to despair, distrust, and dysfunction.”
The Gospel is the foundation for all gratitude! She taught me many things, but probably the biggest “ah ha” for me was to use gratitude not as an “add-on” but a relational intimate practice in my prayer life daily with God. How thanking Him for specific ways that He is good, holy, and precious to me humbles my heart and puts worry aside and is replaced with more joy and trust in God.
I am grateful for Ellen Vaughn and her willingness to walk the brutal and joyful road of writing for my benefit and blessing. I took notes for my own journey with Jesus but also for my writing development. Thank you God for her and using her to minister grace to me and many others.
Prodigal means recklessly extravagant or having spent everything.
Tim Keller’s newest book is my first book to read in 2009. This book retells the story that Jesus Christ told in Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 of the Prodigal or Lost Son. Through Keller’s exposition, he suggests it should be called the Parable of the Two Lost Sons.
He draws out the sins of both sons and the forgiveness of the father to each son, both undeserving in their rebellion. The younger son has always gotten the most attention, but as Keller unfolded the story for me, it wasn’t long and I realized that the elder brother’s story is familiar to me. The elder brother was proud, religious, and jealous. Instead of celebrating his brother’s return or even going after him in the first place, he angrily rejected his dad and repentant brother.
To both the rebellious swanderer of his blessing and the religious resentful son, the dad gives forgiveness freely and lavishes affection on both sons. The moral son (the good son) was just as evil as the son who ran away to waste all his inheritance.
Religious people categorize people into “good people” and “bad people”. And, they always think that they are “good,” deserve wealth, power, love, forgiveness, etc. The elder brother stood in opposition to the grace the father was giving and with a hard heart missed the gift God was giving their family or reconcilation through repentance! Wow!
“The father also goes out to the angry, resentful elder brother, begging him to come to the feast. This picture is like a double-edged sword. It shows that even the most religious and moral people need the intiating grace of God, that they are just as lost; and it shows that there is hope, yes, even for the Pharisees. This last plea from the father is particularly amazing when we remember Jesus’ audience. He is addressing the religious leaders who are going to hand him over to the Roman authorities to be executed. Yet in the story the elder brother gets not a harsh condemnation but a loving plea to turn from his anger and self-righteousness. Jesus is pleading in love with his deadliest enemies” – page 74
For me, I realized how easily I compare my sin to others sins. Those occassions for me are self-righteous. Any time that I use someone else’s sin, I am either on the side of condemnation or of self-righteous. As God spoke tenderly to me thru this parable, I am truly thankful that though my sin is great, I am forgiven.
God is EXTRAVAGANT with his grace and love for me.
Romans 5: 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Furthermore, my knowledge of God as father is taking more shape. I am trying to grasp the passion of knowing God is father and runs out to me, pursues me like a dad, conquering my enemies, and wiping tears from my eyes. I am sure that the rest of my life will be a series of attaining this belief.
God has recklessly spent everything on me. His life.
This book is helping me shape my own biblical worldview. I have realized how many layers of worldly instruction has formed in my heart. Of the many lessons this book has taught me, the most helpful is to see my children’s need for Christ and a biblical worldview in which all of life, behavior, sin, truth, can be interpreted. It is my calling as a mother to shepherd this view.
“Formative instruction provides children with biblical ways of thinking. It is the process of instruction that enables our children to root all of life in God’s revelation in the Bible. Formative instruction is not focused on correcting something that has gone wrong; it focus is providing ways of interpreting and responding to life that are biblical. “
Thank you, Mr. Tedd Tripp and Mrs. Margy Tripp for your wisdom and giving God glory through your experiences and biblical teaching.
The Tripps are coming September 19th and 20th to Mars Hill Church, for the Shepherding a Child’s Heart Conference. Can’t wait to attend!
In the 1990’s, my Bible college English professor and Advisor soon became a cherished woman of God’s grace to me. I had few Godly examples in my life at the time, and Jackina, was one of the few. A natural story-teller, she captured our hearts with her humor and her passion for God’s word. I admired her life and appreciated her maturity. She inspired me to love literature and to challenge myself in creative writing. Jackina is most certainly one of my bricks, God has used to build a foundation of knowing Him. A brick that always pointed to Jesus and asked how I could best reflect Him in my life. I am truly grateful for God’s “tender grace” in letting me know Jackina.
I love this book. This book is now and most likely will forever be in my top ten Christian reading list. Ellen Vaughn convinced me with true Biblical form why gratitude matters. She took me to places I have never learned about; stories of suffering that I never wanted to read about but was glad that I did.
Prodigal means recklessly extravagant or having spent everything.