Irene Hannon
is one of my favorite writers and I was excited to read her newest book Windswept
Way, the ninth book in the Hope Harbor series.
Ashley Scott is taking a leap of faith when she reaches out and sends
a letter to Rose Fitzgerald, a reclusive 80-year-old woman who owns a mansion
in Hope Harbor. Ashley has an unusual
proposal for Rose to preserve the history of her home and bring back the love
and joy which inspired Edgecliff to be built.
The huge undertaking to make renovations and restore the Edgecliff gardens,
will take time, hard work, money, and compromise.
Relationships will be forged, not only between Ashley and Rose, but
also with the grounds-keeper Jonathan Gray.
A man who prefers to stay in the background. The wounds he bears from his military service
are more than skin deep. Will Ashley
look beyond his outward appearance and see the proven character of this
man?
Reading a novel in the Hope Harbor series is like coming
home to a friendly place where you want to stay for a while. I really enjoyed the main characters in this
book. Ashley, Rose, and Jonathan were
all dealing with their own feelings, trials, and history. The characters were likable and I enjoyed
watching them grow, change, and challenge themselves.
I enjoyed seeing the return of some of the town’s people in Hope
Harbor, especially Charlie, a wise and caring man who reaches out and,
befriends all sorts of people. He makes
time for everyone he meets. The town’s
clergymen were back too. I would like to
have seen a little more depth to their relationship and get to know the men
behind the jesting.
Faith was a part of the story, but I would have liked to have seen more
of it in the character’s lives. I
appreciated that the novel was clean and without sexual immorality and
profanity. I would have like to have seen Ashley’s
mother further developed.
I enjoy reading Irene Hannon’s books and recommend Windswept
Way, which is part of the Hope Harbor series. Hope Harbor is a beautiful place I’d want to
visit and stay for a while. The people
are kind and caring, and make amends when they fall short.
I would like to thank Revell Publishing and NetGalley for the
opportunity to read a complimentary copy of Windswept Way by Irene
Hannon. I was under no obligation to
give a favorable review.
Last week I listened to several programs from Focus on the Family in which Fred Stoeker talked about his struggle with pornography and how he was able to overcome the addiction by God’s grace.
Not only was he able to overcome the addiction…but God who is able to do abundantly, exceedingly, more than we ask or imagine…changed the course of his family. While Fred’s father was addicted to pornography and passed that sin along to his son…Fred was able to draw a line in the sand and say no further. His son Jason is a man who is committed to purity and stands along with his dad in living and promoting purity.
It was an amazing story. I felt many emotions while listening to the program. I felt deeply grieved and saddened. No more so than to hear about pornography’s hold on Christian males and young people (both men and women). It’s significant and the ramifications are huge for the body of Christ. It renders the men and women that God has called to serve Him ineffective because they are caught in sin.
Any of us who has been caught in sin’s web know how effectively Satan uses it to trap, condemn and bind us. When we are trapped in our own sin…we don’t want to confront people in their sin…because we know that we are hypocrites. We are unwilling to take a stand for the truth because we are deeply embedded in our own sin. We don’t want to serve because we feel unworthy. There is always the nagging doubt…what if someone finds out?
Fred then made a comment about how God instructs husbands to be the leaders of their home and to love their wife as Christ so loves the church.
That thought…of a husband loving his wife as Christ so loved the church…took hold of me. What would that look like…if a husband really loved his wife that way?
What would it look like if Christians loved people as Christ loved the church? How would it affect our actions and how we treat people? What would our words be like?
Obviously, I feel inadequate and lacking when I measure myself against that standard of love. But then I thought…would I want how I love people to be the measure by which Christ loved me?
If Jesus Christ had the measure of love that I have…would He have gone to the cross? Would He have loved me…who denied Him and sinned against Him for far too many years? Would He have forgiven me of my sin?
In my sinful imperfect self…my love is very far from loving others as Christ so loved the church. Yet…as I submit myself to Jesus Christ and the Father’s will for me…if I yield more and more, day by day to the Holy Spirit…if I seek to know God through the study of His word and through prayer…I can grow in sanctification.
As I love God and yield and submit myself…He will help me to grow and learn how to do what’s impossible to do without Him. This side of heaven…I’ll never achieve that perfect love. But that shouldn’t stop me from doing what God has commanded me to do. To have that perfect love...to love as Christ Jesus loved…requires that I deny myself daily.
But oh… to think how marvelous heaven will be…when all the saints around us are able to love with a more perfect love. Love untainted by sin and selfishness.
Theirs was a leftover kind of love Surely it didn’t start out that way But before they knew it All they had left at the end of the day Was bits and pieces Scraps from their day
The morning comes early Goodness knows there is never enough sleep One rises more easily The other has a slow wake-up call An extra cup of coffee Helps them to keep running on empty
Soon they are off and running Going their separate ways There may be a text message To say I love you A phone call in the middle of the day Just to check in
Their jobs are most demanding Of time, energy and attention Their very best is given each day To a company of relative strangers Of course there is shopping and errands Necessary to run their household so efficiently
When they arrive home There is much work that still needs to be done Lawns to be mowed Bills that must be paid Cleaning and laundry And a meal to prepare
They sit down at the table Hold hands and say a grace Both are so tired from their day Conversation may not ensue Sometimes they wonder What’s it all for
Activities abound Responsibilities call Bible study, worship and prayer Serving the body of Christ It’s all good and yet… With each demand…there’s a little less to give one another
A sense of accomplishment is never felt For there are walls left unpainted Boxes still unpacked A garden that needs tending Poems left unwritten Books yet to be read
At the end of the day Both fall into bed With nothing left to give Exhaustion lures one to sleep The other reads to quiet the mind Until a welcome sleep finally comes
In the middle of the night They awaken ever so briefly Look over at the one To whom they pledged their life and love And wonder…how can our marriage survive On leftover love
Susan Bunts Wachtel August 14, 2009
While I know our situation is not unique…we are finding it a challenge with the demands and necessities of life to find the time to spend together as husband and wife.
On a path She did not choose Yet it will willed by God
Slowly Eventually all Would be taken from her
Even there Blessings were found In the midst of Alzheimer’s
Once unable To openly express love She unashamedly offers hugs and affection
Susan Bunts Wachtel April 2009
While unpacking the remaining boxes from our move I discovered a writing tablet that I used to carry with me on my visits to see my mom. I discovered this poem that I had written just before her death. The exact date is unknown…but it was in late April 2008 shortly before her death.
My mother Gayle Lorenat feared Alzheimer’s because her sister had died from it. She saw its effects and the devastation first hand. I hated it because it took a smart, bright, proper woman…and robbed her of dignity. Yet at the end of her life…after six years of Alzheimer’s I had to admit…there were a few blessings from God in the midst. One of those blessings was that my mother who had never been one to be affectionate or say I love you was finally able to freely express love.
The picture above was taken of my mother, Gayle Lorenat shortly after we moved her into Brighton Gardens. She was more with it at that time and tried to give the appearance of normal. She had to wear a bracelet that would set off an alarm because she liked to “escape”. I called it her “LoJack” bracelet. She would walk away and have no idea how to get back. She was unable to communicate coherently.
And we are most grateful to fall into each others arms
Is it love
That says “I love you”
When everyday is like a fairy tale
Or is it true love
When I come home weary from fighting the battle
And find…the one will stand with me
Or is it true love
When I’m swimming against the tide…about to drown
And out reaches a hand…to hold me up
Or is it true love
That says…I’m committed
And would marry you all over again…no matter what
Susan Bunts Wachtel
November 1, 2008
To Chris…the one I love.Thank you for sticking around…fighting the good fight…holding me up in prayer before the throne room of God.Thanks for being willing to pursue a mature love that sticks with it in good times and bad…who doesn’t get weak-kneed and afraid…when the challenges don’t stop and the tough times outweigh the good.
Or those who have been deceived and bought the feminist lie
Have a desire to share their life
Know what it is to feel loved, honored and cherished
All too vividly
I remember the pain
Of a lifetime spent alone
With no end was in sight
Each passing year was harder
The pain was always there and cut like a knife
The rejoicing at the blessings of others,
Was followed by a tears shed in the solitude
It is with gratitude and thanksgiving I prepare,
To walk down the aisle
Veiled in white lace
Join hands with my love and say, “I do”
Even as I rejoice in God’s grace towards me
For love unmerited and undeserved
May I be humble and remember in prayer
The heart of the woman who still dreams of “that day”
By Susan Bunts
August 12, 2008
At no time have I been more aware of the ubiquitous desire of women to be married and be loved by a husband than when a precious friend who has the heart and mind of a child shared her desire to one day marry.
I spent far too many years alone.I had bought...hook, line and sinker...the feminist lies.You know the ones I mean.The line that “a woman needs a man, like a fish needs a bicycle” or that “men and women are basically the same”.Yeah right!Anyone who has spent time with the opposite sex...knows darn good and well...that men and women are very different.It’s not something cultural...however culture may shape the way it’s expressed.But instead it’s inherent...those difference were built in by our Designer.
Those differences are not something good or bad.They simply are.One sex is not superior to the other.One is not good and the other a wretch.Instead God designed us to complement each other and to keep things interesting...and challenging...He made us very different from one another.
That’s not to say...we don’t have our challenges.The differences inherent in our personalities and those between men and women present a challenge to our relationship every day.Add on top of that...the stresses of planning a wedding...and oh baby, baby you’ve got “stress”.
While it’s not always easy it has been wonderful to fall in love, grow in love, to be in love.There is something noticeably different that I can’t quite put my finger on.My sister Denise commented recently that I seem to be more peaceful.I think that’s true...the anxiety and concerns that I will I be alone for the rest of my life are gone.The questioning...am I so unlovable that no body will ever love me...has been answered.
While I know I’m a lot less than perfect...I am most grateful to God for bringing Chris.A man who is mature in his faith.One who sees my flaws but has been able to look past them to see something good that God has given me.He is willing to work through the uncomfortable challenges and differences in us.Working through those times...and coming out on the other side have helped us to become closer.
When my precious childlike friend commented that she desires to one day marry...it was so painful.When I turn and see so many wonderful women around me...women who are smarter or prettier or better than me in so many respects...when I see them in the same predicament that I was for so many years...it hurts.I hurt for them because the pain of unending singleness and lack of romantic love is still very fresh.I know it well and it left many a scar.Part of me is tempted to cry out "Why...I don’t understand it".
Yet...I know in part it’s the consequences and outworking of a society that has replaced marriage and family...with uncommitted sex and self-fulfillment.The millions of single men and women who are alone and lonely have reaped the consequences that have come from poor judgment and sin.Even those who are not outwardly sinning and breaking God’s commands are bearing the brunt of the increasing tidal wave of consequences.
I am so grateful to God for acting on my behalf.Fulfilling my life long dream to be married.For going before both Chris and I...preparing us and fitting us so perfectly for one another.By His divine plan and providence bring two people who otherwise would have never met, much less taken a second look at one another and allowing us to enter into the covenant of marriage.How marvelous and miraculous are Your ways oh God?
God answered my prayer for a husband and Chris’ prayer to be stretched and taken out of his comfort zone...in one fell swoop...by bringing us together.By removing our impaired vision when we first met and allowing us to see one another’s heart.By moving and stirring in our hearts that could have so easily been hardened and settled.By holding our hands as we crossed a mighty river of fear into the unknown.By helping and guiding us to say, “yes God”, when we encountered the scary territories of trusting God and learning to trust each other.
Dare I think that my mighty God who had compassion upon me...He who heard my cries does not hear the cries of my sisters who remain single not by choice?Do I think that God will not be moved to go before them...and give them the desires of their heart?
God is no respecter of persons.What He’s done for me...He is more than able to do the same and mightier works than these...for those whom He chooses to act.
Thus...I must lift up my sisters in prayer.Those whose pain...I know all to well.I also know my God.I know firsthand the compassionate, mighty, out working of His plan according to His perfect will and timing.
