Betrothed

I stayed up until 1am last night re-reading (and finishing) SOPHIE'S HEART by Lori Wick. It was Lori's first contemporary romance and she nailed it. Lori Wick has incredible talents in creating female characters with such strength and vulnerability all wrapped up into one. This book wove a story of a young woman from a foreign country who comes to find herself becoming housekeeper and nurturer to a family grieving the loss of its mom and wife. The depth of "tenderness and rescue" in this book actually have my stomach fluttering as I read it- that is the skill of this author. With that said, however, I have found myself very disappointed as time has gone on with her writing in current book releases. I feel like she has tried to follow the same formula and it's not even worth trying for me (I let Michele read it and most of the time that's what she says).

But, this book - a great one. Perhaps some would find it cheesy, but I was pulled in to the entire process of a family losing "it's heart" and coming to accept new love - and of course, for the redemptive power of Christ to heal. Worth the staying up, but I wish I had turned off the 6:30 wake up alarm in the other room, as I never fell back asleep again. Yes, poor pitiful me.... what a terribly, tough life I have.

Speaking of romance.....the next set of pictures here are from when we dropped the boys off at Camp Harlow. Michele's Ellie and Amy's Jackson have had an "on again, off again" relationship since they first met. For whatever reason, this last spring, things seemed to be "off" for them, Jackson was under the impression that she "just wasn't that into him anymore" and his siblings tried to encourage him that he was free to pursue the other pretty girls in his pre-school class. However, Monday night, apparently at the dinner table, Jackson put his chin to his fist in discouragement and declared, "I just can't believe Ellie and I are broke up". Of course, the family was in stitches and decided to help him win back his first love by appearing with roses for her at camp. Based on the pictures, the plan did indeed work - and the two moms are now back to planning their wedding........