The Chapel Car Bride book review

The story begins in early spring, in the year 1913. A young woman named Hope Irvine was busy tossing flyers about an upcoming prayer meeting to the residents of a small town they were coming to, distributing them from the rear platform of the Chapel Car named Herald of Hope. This was a real railroad car, used as a chapel by Baptist preachers to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to transient railroad workers and coal miners and their families.
See here: http://www.chapelcars.com/
In Judith Miller’s book, The Chapel Car Bride, we get immersed into the world of an itinerant preacher and the life he led with his daughter, as they told people about Jesus Christ and how to be born again. Sometimes they would stop for only a few days, other times they remained until a permanent church and preacher could be established. Hope’s dad was worried about how she might not like traveling and having no roots, but she was a strong, determined Christian woman, and overcame a few obstacles quite well.
I was very interested in the life of miners in West Virginia, and Mrs. Miller did a good job of telling what it must have been like for impoverished families of coal miners in Finch, West Virginia.
Hope meets a nice Christian gentleman who works part time in the coal mines, and their relationship blossoms. In the meantime, a scurrilous mine manager gets involved in some shady dealings amongst the miners, while he is supposed to be helping build up the mine. He carries out a plan to make extra money illegally, and that storyline is exciting to read.
The other storyline between Hope and Luke is equally interesting, and Luke’s growth as a Christian is subtly mentioned during the development of the relationship he has with the preacher’s daughter.
Very clean Christian historical fiction romance story. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a unique look into a little-known part of American history. I look forward to reading more of Judith Miller’s books. Praise Jesus!

Disclosure: this book was given to me free of charge by Bethany House publishers, and I want to Bethany House Publishing for this advanced copy of The Chapel Car Bride!

Grace Livingston Hill Books

If you’ve never read a book by Grace Livingston Hill, you really must do so!  Her books are Christian fiction with a moral to each story, and all ages can and do appreciate her stories.

http://www.gracelivingstonhill.com/grace-livingston-hill-books-by-title

Right now I’m listening to a Librivox recording of GLH’s Marcia Schuyler, and it’s so interesting.  I will tell you more about it later.  It’s time to listen to the radio drama:  Unshackled.

This is a good book, suitable for all ages, a well-written Christian novel about real life situations. Unrequieted love, treachery, sin, patience, virtue, abstaining from the appearance of evil, adultery, and so much more! I think most of the reviewers missed an important part of the story, and that was the intense description Mrs. Hill gave of Kate’s wickedness. She said the devil was manipulating her, and Mrs. Hill showed how ugly sin can make a person. I have not finished the book yet, am around chapter 21, and am listening to it via Librivox audio recordings. (which is a wonderful organization, btw!)

More later!
Romans 10:8-13
John3:16-21

New Charity Knit and Crochet Group

Psalms 138:8 – The LORD will perfect [that which] concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, [endureth] for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

Ephesians 2:10 – For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The Lord has led me to start a charity knitting and crocheting group at our local library!  He has opened so many doors, and made people very willing to assist me in getting the word out about the meetup.

This all started because of my hatred of child sex-trafficking.  I hate pornography of all types, and despise the men who produce these nasty, nauseating sinful products.  More than that, I despise the customers who keep pornography and sex trafficking of women and children going.  I hate it intensely, but I will do what I can to make people aware of the horrors going on around them in a way that gets their attention and inspires them to legally fight against it.

I searched online for organizations that helped redeem women and children who have been raped, pimped, and sold for sex, and found several good ones.  One in particular is The Porch Light.  They happen to be affiliated with Orphan’s Heart and Florida Baptist Children’s Homes.  So, after contacting someone with Porch Light, and she encouraging me to start a craft group to make things for the children and teens, I’ve gotten the ball rolling and am hoping to have a successful first meetup in May!

That’s how God works, I believe.  He takes tragedies and turns them into something good for others.  All we need to do is trust Him, obey Him, and read the King James bible daily, and pray.  Follow where He leads, and know He will equip you with all you need to accomplish His purposes.  Amen!

Romans 8:28King James Version (KJV)

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

The Daring Ladies of Lowell

The Daring Ladies of Lowell

 

An excellent book written by Kate Alcott.  This historical fiction takes place in the late 1800s America, in Lowell, Massachusetts.  Incorporated in 1826 to serve as a mill town, Lowell was named after Francis Cabot Lowell, a local figure in the Industrial Revolution. The city became known as the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution, due to a large series of textile mills and factories. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell,_Massachusetts)

The main character, Alice Barrow, left her family’s farm in order to make an independent living for herself.  She became an employee of one of the cotton mills owned by Hiram Fiske.  She lives with about a dozen other young women, crammed into a small room to sleep at night, and hurriedly eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the long table in the dining room of Booth Hall dormitories.  The girls work from dawn until dusk, a 12 hour day, working the dangerous looms and other machinery.  Even though they were free from parental authority, were able to earn their own money, and had broader educational opportunities, they still were looked down upon by the upper classes, the people who wore the very fabric these Mill Girls worked hard to produce.   Even though the mill owners employed the women, and welcomed them, they thought of the whole idea of working women outside of the home as a radical threat to American life.  Such a contradiction.  Just like today.

Alice made friends with the dorm mate and millworker  whom everyone called Lovey.  Lovey was committing fornication with a local man, and was out late at night, several times.  She lived dangerously, and Alice would try to persuade Lovey to be more circumspect in her behavior.  Lovey ignored that, much to her misfortune.

The book is an exciting look into the real conditions of the working class women in America’s mills.  Kate Alcott wrote a great book and it has caused me to learn more about working conditions before rules and regulations were enforced.  Child labor, no safety equipment, no ventilation, horrible noise levels, no health insurance or workman’s compensation, NOTHING for these employees.  People gripe and complain today about their jobs, they have it so much better than their predecessors.

Read this book, it’s very interesting!

Fears Subsided

Good news, my husband’s cancer is gone, and what the doctors thought was squamous cell carcinoma on the back of my leg was not.  Praise the Lord!

My dad continues to live as an invalid, stuck in his bed all day.  He won’t use the radio or the tape player I bought for him.  I don’t know what else to do.  We talk and he still sounds alert and fairly lucid most of the time, but his memory is bad.

My daughter is getting medical attention for her condition, so for now, it’s ok to coast along on the path of life.