Book Review: The Return by Nicholas Sparks

Psalm 37:8 (NET) Do not be angry and frustrated. Do not fret. That only leads to trouble.

 Book Review: The Return by Nicholas Sparks

The Return is a great reflective read!
                                               

Publishers Description

In the romantic tradition of Dear John, Nicholas Sparks returns with the story of an injured Navy doctor -- and two women whose secrets will change the course of his life in this #1 New York Times bestseller.

Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he'd inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any.

Tending to his grandfather's beloved beehives, Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local . . . yet, from their very first encounter, Trevor feels a connection with deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson that he can't ignore. But even as she seems to reciprocate his feelings, she remains frustratingly distant, making Trevor wonder what she's hiding.

Further complicating his stay in New Bern is the presence of a sullen teenage girl, Callie, who lives in the trailer park down the road. Trevor hopes Callie can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather's death, but she offers few clues -- until a crisis triggers a race to uncover the true nature of Callie's past, one more intertwined with the elderly man's passing than Trevor could ever have imagined.

In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness . . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began.

My Personal Review

The Return by Nicholas Sparks is an entertaining and engaging read! 

I patiently waited until Veterans Day to post this review. Why? Because it's main character is a Navy Veteran who struggles with PTSD. I can't think of a better day than today to champion a book that will not only entertain, but also bring potential help to a population of our countries's heroes who might suffer with emotional trauma. Now, lest you think this is a self help book, think again, it's definitely not! True to his previous works, Sparks will not disappoint you as he holds to a model of chivalrous relationships and endearing romance woven throughout the book.

 

The author manages to craft a story of mystery, love, and hope while gently giving glimmers of perspective into the life of an injured war veteran, Dr. Trevor Benson, the narrator in the story. His voice is very authentic as he shares his trials with both the physical and mental manifestations of PTSD. 

The gem in this work, however, is the way in which the author cleverly interjects tools to assist those that are experiencing this delayed stress syndrome. The novel, The Return utilizes the main character, Trevor, to model a very healthful lifestyle of conscious choices to regain his life back. The tools presented to the reader include, but are not limited to Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and honest evaluations of one's own feelings of fear. 

The acknowledgment that some of the greatest challenges to a healthy mental life circle around the fear of rejection, judgement, anger, and disappointment is clearly presented in this book. Recognizing that we can only control our own behaviors and as such we are not responsible for other's behaviors is also a theme tucked away within the story. 

Here's my takeaway after reading The Return. I love it! It's good for someone who is wanting to escape and relax with a good mystery, as well as those introspective folks like myself who are always thinking beyond the words. You really get two for the price of one in this book...entertainment and advice! The Return captures your attention from the beginning, as a trail of clues grows throughout the chapters and the reader is left to figure it out. There are also stepping stones of hope carefully placed at equal distance throughout the book. The author's mission to impart wisdom with threads of tangible help to victims of PTSD while still entertaining the audience is priceless.

Yep....this is a good one. It's strikingly obvious to me why The Return by Nicholas Sparks is on the "#1 New York Best Sellers" list, along with all of his other novels; It's uplifting, relaxing, tender, intelligently written and has a steady rhythm that 2020 so desperately needs! Enjoy!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing an imprint of Hachette Book Group for the complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review of this book, but simply asked to read the work in it's entirety and give my honest opinion.

Book Review: Forties on Fire: Honor Your Moods, Rediscover Your Sexuality, and Thrive Throughout Your 40s by Kathryn Kos

Proverbs 3:8

This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Publisher's Description

Take Your Forties by Storm with Simple, No-Nonsense Steps to Balance and Wholeness

Your 30s and 40s are loaded with surprises. More fatigue. Less “You Time.” Trampled romance. Dissatisfaction with your body.  Mood swings. The often overlooked season of perimenopause lurking around every corner.

Sound familiar?

Now raise your hand if you wish you could move past these symptoms of imbalance and live the life you’ve always dreamed.

You would, right?

Good news: Kathryn Kos is here to help, with her myth-busting, action-boosting book, Forties on Fire: Rediscover your Sexuality, Learn to Honor Your Moods, and Thrive Throughout Your 40s and Beyond. 

Kos is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner with an M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling and by taking a functional approach to health, Kos helps her clients find the root causes of their conditions to help them find healing once and for all.

Now she’s bringing these insights to readers, in a compassionate, compelling guide jam-packed with tips you can put to use today.

Inside this book, you’ll learn:

• How to honor your emotions without letting them rule your life
• How to turn back aging – mentally, physically and emotionally
• Why sunlight matters so much to your health
• How to recapture your sexuality and feel like a teenager again (in a good way)
• How to add simple movement back into your life
• The importance of R&R in grounding and fulfilling you
• The role of perimenopause in how you feel and how you can embrace it in your life
• … and more.

For anyone interested in simple personal development, holistic wellness and vibrant sexuality, this is a must-read. Filled with simple steps to help you take action and improve your own life, you’ll find it easy to rediscover the real you.

If you’re ready to wake up with pizzazz and reach bedtime with enough energy left to read or … ahem … anything else, it’s time you hear what experienced nutrition and wellness counselor Kathryn Kos has to say.

Ready to meet the strong, cheerful, actualized woman you know you can be?

Don’t wait. Buy this book NOW to build the happier, healthier, stronger business you’ve always known you could have.

My Personal Review

This book is a great resource for women as they travel into the perimenopauseal phase of life!

I loved this quick read, Forties On Fire written by Kathryn Kos. Her credentials as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner with an M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling bring a validity to her message that transfers easily to the reader. From the beginning of the book, where the author explains what is happening within our bodies during perimenopause, and throughout the remainder of the book, which is directed toward healthful habits to ensure a smooth transition into the next season of life, you will find a steady stream of applicable information.

Kos’ communication style is a good balance between lay person terms and clinical jargon. She manages to educate us without tipping over into verboseness and confusing the reader. She infuses encouragement and wise counsel throughout the book. One such nugget was, “How we feel does not define who we are. You are not your thoughts!” This is a truth that I think many women are still trying to figure out. She challenges us to find the root cause for our emotional state of being, because there is definitely a mind-body connection. Her message that, “You are always enough,” is a breath of fresh air.

The summation of Forties on Fire is that our spirituality, nutrition, supplementation, sex, grounding, prayer/meditation, sleep, play, and sunlight all work together to provide a beautiful canvas for an eminently salubrious life. Kos has done the research in these areas and provides the reader with plenty of references for further study if so desired. It appears to me that each one of the afore mentioned categories could be a book unto themselves, and if I’m not mistaken, I think that is the point of this book….to dig a little deeper and own your health!

I am a Registered Nurse with over fifteen years experience working in our local hospital’s Cardiac Intensive Care. I have always found it odd that we are called “Healthcare” Workers. “Healthcare” Workers isn’t really what we are at all. In fact, we are actually “Diseasecare" Workers. We take care of people with illnesses and chronic diseases when they reveal their ugly heads. What if we could get to a place where we rarely ever needed the hospital? Wouldn’t that be fantastic?! Reading this book could be a step into your whole person health. Kos’ gives a message to find a Functional Medicine Practitioner. That is excellent advice! Forties On Fire by Kathryn Kos is a spring board into a healthier version of you…the whole you…mind, body, and spirit.

Thank you to Archangel Ink for this review copy of Forties on Fire: Honor Your Moods, Rediscover Your Sexuality , and Thrive Throughout Your 40’s by Kathryn Kos. I was not required to write a favorable review, but simply to give my opinion of it’s content upon a thorough reading.

I Thought Better Of It

Psalm 119:47-48(MSG)
I cherish Your commandments--oh, how I love them!  Relishing every fragment of Your counsel. 

It's so true!  This verse, I mean.  I do cherish the Word of God.  His words bring such comfort, clarity, confirmation and strength to any situation we find ourselves in.  The full counsel of God will find you wherever you are and minister sweetly to your soul. 

A great example of the way God uses His word to shape us and grow our confidence in Him happened the day after I wrote the previous post.  (Click here if you would like to read it and didn't get a chance to.)  I was reading along in my yearly Bible when I came to a few chapters in Ezekiel.  (Chapters 18-20).  If you have a few minutes, you should read this incredible prophet's dealings with the Israelites and his obedience to the Lord.  It will leave you refreshed, encouraged, and challenged all at the same time. 

There were several parts that jumped off the page at me, however, the portion that ended up confirming my previous reflections on choosing not to act on our feelings, was repeated by God through the spoken words of the prophet Ezekiel four different times in chapter 20. 

Here is what God said in response to a rebellious people who would not listen to the Lord's instruction about letting go of the vile things they were addicted to.

Ezekiel 20:8-10(MSG) 
I seriously considered inflicting my anger on them in force right there in Egypt.  Then I thought better of it.  I acted out of who I was, not by how I felt.  And I acted in a way that would evoke honor, not blasphemy, from the nations around them. 
(Italics my own.)

I was so encouraged by God's words in this passage.  He goes on to repeat a similar message three more times within this chapter.

Ezekiel 20:14-15(MSG)

Tropical Storm Debby appears angry as she begins to
unleash her fury in the Gulf of Mexico.

I seriously considered unleashing my anger on them right there in the desert.  But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out.   (Italics my own.)

Ezekiel 20:21-22 (MSG)
"'But the children also rebelled against me.  They neither followed my statutes nor kept my laws for living upright and well.  And they desecrated my Sabbaths.  I seriously considered dumping my anger on them, right there in the desert.  But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out.  (Italics my own.)

Ezekiel 20:44 (MSG)
"'But, dear Israel, you'll also realize that I am God when I respond to you out of who I am, not by what I feel about the evil lives you've lived, the corrupt history you've compiled...".  (Italics my own.)

To read these directions straight from God, gives me courage.  It helps me understand that the emotions I feel are first of all the way I was created.  I have been made in the image of God, so therefore, I too will have intense emotions.  What freedom to know that I am not a slave to those emotions.  I can respond in a manner that is different than how I may feel.  Why?  Because "the nations" are watching.  Who are the "nations"?  My children.  My spouse.  My neighbors.  My friends.  My coworkers.  

When I am feeling mad, I can choose to be calm.  When I am experiencing frustration, I can respond with patience.  When I am afraid, I can speak peace.  When I am saturated with timidity, I can pour out boldness.  When I am overwhelmed with grief, I can allow His comfort to flow out of my heart.  How?  Through Christ who supplies my every need in His strength! 

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)~I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. 

Lord,
Thank You for teaching us to "think better".  Thank You for modeling what it looks like to stop and choose our actions rather than respond to our emotions.  As the verse says tonight, I truly  relish Your counsel.  It is clear and concise and full of the unending love that You have for us! 
In Christ's Name,
Amen

Promises....Promises...

Psalm 119:38(MSG)
Affirm Your promises to me--
promises made to all who fear You.

Cease His promises!

As you read this today, you may find yourself in the middle of a heartbreaking situation.  I want you to hear that God is good!  I want you to know that He promises you a hope and a future.  That He has not forgotten you!  That He loves you.....deeply...beyond what you or I in our human mind can conceive.  He sees and hears you today.....I promise...and more importantly....He promises!  His love never quits!  His love never fails! (Psalm 136)

Lord,
I know that there are those with heavy burdens today.  Lighten their loads and give them Your assurance that You will see them through.
In Jesus Name,
Amen




  

My "Jonah Mood"

Proverbs 5:17 (MSG)
Your spring water is for you and you only, not to be passed around among strangers.

That word "strangers" has me thinking about the mood I am in today.  I would call it a  "Jonah Mood".  What does that mean?  Well, going forward from Proverbs to the book of Jonah, we find this guy that has received alot of attention on flannel boards in the kids Sunday School departments throughout history.  Usually, the focus gets put on the "big fish" that swallows Jonah alive, where he then lives in the belly of the gargantuan creature for three days and three nights before getting spit out on dry land....unharmed I might add.    Pretty cool story in and of itself, but that misses my "mood" portion.  Let me try to explain.

You see, the way I figure it, when you start at the very beginning of the book, you have a man feeling pretty much the way I'm feeling right now.  He's feeling sorry for himself and doesn't want to do what God, very directly, told him to do. 

Listen to it in Jonah 1:1-4(MSG) "One day long ago, God's Word came to Jonah, Amittai's son:  "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh!  Preach to them.  They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer."  But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God.  He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish.  He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish--as far away from God as he could get.

Are you catching his mood?  He doesn't want to do what God has asked him to do.  He really seems to be a little ticked off at God.  We know that he certainly wants to run away from God!!  Why on earth would he want to run away from God?  Weird huh?  Well, Jonah gets thrown into the water by the crew thinking that he has made His God mad and created this storm.  (I figure that Jonah probably did make God a little cranky.)   That's when the whale enters the story.  As Jonah is being tossed over....cue the whale.....he is scooped up and saved by the whale and placed in the beast's belly.   After a very touching prayer in the belly of the fish, Jonah is spit out on dry land. 

That is the part of the story that gets most of the attention.  But, if you keep reading, you find out what this is all about....in my estimation anyway.  It seems that the second directive to Jonah from God is identical to the first~Jonah 3:1-2, but this time the response from Jonah is totally different!  Jonah 3:3~"This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying God's orders to the letter."  He told the people that "In forty days Nineveh will be smashed!"

The immediate response of the king of Nineveh was to throw down his royal robes, dress in burlap and sit in the dirt.  He ordered everyone else in his kingdom to due the same, including all herds and flocks.  The king told them to turn from their evil and violent ways, quit eating and drinking (even water), and cry out to God for help.  He proceeded to tell them that if they did this, then just maybe God would let them live.  He must have been a pretty impressive leader, because the people did exactly what they were told to do.  

Pretty cool thing happens next....if I didn't think that talking to God can sometimes alter the course of His plans...I got my proof in this story cuz....guess what?  Yeap...Almighty God decides to let them all live and not smash the city to smithereens.  I know...isn't that the coolest??! 

That's where my friend Jonah's mood comes in.  Listen to it in Jonah 4:1-2(MSG) "Jonah was furious.  He lost his temper.  He yelled at God, 'God!  I knew it--I knew it--when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen!  That's why I ran off to Tarshish!  I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!'" (emphasis mine)  It's like Jonah is irate because God is going to help a bunch of no good strangers that aren't even worthy of His attention.  But check out what God says to him.  God replies to Jonah, "What do you have to be angry about?"  Jonah doesn't answer...he just walks out of the city and sits down.

The story continues outside in the hot sun, where God grows a tree for Jonah to have shade and then sends a worm the next day to eat it.  When that makes Jonah mad, God refers back to the fact that Jonah neither planted nor watered it...had nothing to do with it.  It is the same with the people of Ninevah, God explains, and if God wants to spare it....who is Jonah to get all mad about it!!?

Yeap....I'm definitely in a Jonah Mood.  Mad because I understand God's sheer grace and mercy is extended to each of us with a plan for forgiveness....even the those who hurt us and betray our trust.  The problem with living in this anger is that I hear His gentle voice asking me, just as He did Jonah, "What do you have to be angry about?  Did you create this person?  Were you anywhere around when I designed this life?"  My answer to Him is: nothing, nope, and absolutely not!  Please forgive me Lord! 

So, I can live in my Jonah Mood for awhile, I suppose.  I can curl up in the bottom of the boat and try to go to sleep with the storms of life tossing me to and fro.  Or, I can get up and walk on...living in my convictions....not my emotions?  Huh?  What are my convictions you ask?  Pretty simple.....God is a good God and does all things well.  God is a loving and just God and will care for my needs and the needs of my family.  God sees all of our hurts and cares deeply for us as we weep. 

Praying tonight for God to help me to grow in my convictions and to pull me out of my Jonah Mood!!  Praising Him tonight for giving me His word to freely read and reminding me of stories about plan old people like myself.