Lost Lake

"Lost Lake" by Sarah Addison Allen

This was a really great book, really great.  I now want to read all the books this author has written.  Kate spent the summer at Lost Lake when she was 12.  It was the last best summer she had.  Now she is grown up, coming out of the fog of losing her husband.  She has a daughter to raise and her mother in law has taken over in her fog of grief.  On a whim Kate decides to give her daughter one last best summer at Lost Lake.  Will it still be there?  Will her great aunt still be running the place?  Eby, her great aunt, has decided to sell Lost Lake.  She is old and so are the cabins.  People come to say their goodbyes, but can Lost Lake be saved before it's too late?  "Children always know when their mothers are crazy-they just never admit it, not out loud, to anyone."  Children know more than we give them credit for.  "She wanted to say that waking up is the most important part of grieving, that so many women in their family failed to do it, and she was proud of Kate for fighting her way back."  Coming back from, or out of grief really is the hardest thing.  It takes being willing to live again and after you've lost someone you love so much living is the hardest thing to do, it takes the most courage.  "If we measured life in the things that almost happened, we wouldn't get anywhere."  We can't live in the almost.  "No amount of love and no amount of money would change people who didn't want to change." Amen to that.  Prayer and God is what changes things.  "When your cup is empty, you do not mourn what is gone.  Because if you do, you will miss the opportunity to fill it again."   A good book filled with laughable moments and moments that will make you think.  A funny book with depth.

Her Daughter's Dream

"Her Daughter's Dream" by Francine Rivers

This is the second and last book in the series Marta's Legacy.  I enjoyed this book more than the first although they were both very good.  As I said of the first book, they are long, more than 500 pages, but they read easily.  I finished both in less than two weeks.  This book carries on the struggles between mothers and daughters.  How we have the best of intentions and yet are misunderstood.  The past has a tendency to repeat it self when not dealt with and talked about.  In this book it took the faith of a daughter to mend all the mother daughter relationships in her family.  It took realizing that life is fleeting to remember relationships are worth mending and fighting for.  "Love people for who they are, pray, and leave them in God's hands."  Good words to take to heart.  We all want to be loved for who we are not who others want us to be.  "Life isn't easy.  We do the best we can with what God gives us.  I've made a complete mess of everything.  It's not about what you've done.  It's about what you're going to do now."  Let the past be the past, it's not what matters.  What matters is what you are going to choose to do with that past.  "In this life, we will not love perfectly.  In the next, God promises we will.  I hold on to that hope.  I cling to that dream."  We are in a fallen world, we can not love perfectly, but God does.  With Him we can love better.  And in the next life all love will be perfect love.  What a wonderful thing to look forward to.  "Man might plan, but God will prevail."  God has the best plans for us, we just need to let go and let God.  Let Him take our lives, trusting He has what is best for us.  "May the Lord bless you and keep you.  He goes ahead of you.  He stands at your side.  He dwells within you.  He is your rear guard."  I love that.  I think it would be a great prayer to say every time your children go out the door.  It is so reassuring.  "God won't take you where His love won't protect you."

Her Mother's Hope

"Her Mother's Hope" by Francine Rivers

This is the first in a two book series.  They are long books, over 500 pages, but good reads.  The book is about a daughter whose father belittles her and a mother who encourages her to fly.  It is about the relationship of mothers and daughters.  Marta, the daughter, grows up and longs for a better life.  She strives for a better life for her children.  But she has found that only the strong survive and so her tough love is often misunderstood.  Marta's daughter, Hildie, feels the rebuff the most.  When she has a family of her own she vows to do it differently.  Tragedy strikes and mother daughter relationships are pushed to the breaking point.  We all have moms who loved us, who did their best.  And as moms we vow to do one better.  We are fallen people and so our relationships mirror that.  "We grieve for those we've lost, but it's the living that cause us the most pain."  Relationships are hard and they can hurt.  But what is life without them? Life not worth living.  God created us to live in community.  "Sometimes all you need is one true friend, just one you can depend upon to love you no matter what."  That one friend, who loves you through it all, is priceless.  If you have a friend like that hold on for dear life.  If you don't, find one, your life will be better for it.  "You are not going to let that man turn you into a prisoner to your fears."  Let go of the past, those who have hurt you.  Forgive so that you can be set free, don't let them have any more say in your life.  "Brian belongs to You, Lord, not me.  I give him into Your mighty, healing hands.  Your will, not mine, be done..."  A good prayer to remember to pray for those we love.  They are just on loan to us, they belong to the Lord and He is the one watching over them.  "They're afraid.  Fear makes people mean.  Fear makes people act stupid."  This was a good book, a book that made me think about my relationship with my two daughters.  It made me think about why I do things and how often we misunderstand each other.