So Surreal...

Most of you know we moved to Texas almost a year ago. We moved here to be near my husbands parents - however, hearing them talk about the drought and living in it are two different things. The water reservoirs here are expected to hit an all time low this year (read about it here). Entire towns have ran out of water - they are literally bringing in water with trucks to these poor people. Yet, in the cities they are still watering their grass (we would of course get fined majorly for doing so here in our small town).

It's dry, hot, and well... dry. We have no grass in our yard. Just dirt with a few drought resistant weeds that are sucking up what little water there is. hundred year old trees are dying from lack of water. The ground is cracked and brittle. I believe someone said that the top 4-6 inches of soil are completely cooked - meaning that even when we get rain, there are no nutrients left in which to grow anything. It's bad.

We moved here last November from Colorado. This morning I spent an hour on the internet looking at all the devastation that is going on there due to the massive flood conditions. They are calling it a 100-year flood. We lived in Colorado for years - it never flooded. The last flood on record was in 1999. The worst flood on record was in 1976 - that flood killed over 130 people. The current flood conditions have already surpassed those condition, thankfully only three have died.

It's surreal to sit here praying for rain to come to Texa, and for it to stop raining in Colorado.

It's surreal to look at the footage of the trails we use to hike on, streets we use to drive on, and buildings we use to go to, being swept away by rushing water.

It's surreal to know my friends and church family are stranded in their mountain homes, while we can come and go freely.

It's surreal - but I have to trust in God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. I have to trust that He has a plan, and that it is for the best.

It's surreal to trust His will, yet pray for the safety of those I love, and the provision for those around me.

Book Review: The Miner's Lady

I'll admit, I went into this book tainted. 

Not too long ago, I read "Distant Dreams" which is a book that Tracie Peterson wrote with Judith Pella - and after that horrible experience, I was determined never to pick up a book by either author again... so much to my horror, "The Miner's Lady" by Tracie Peterson arrived in the mail less than a week later. I had requested a free copy from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review - so I had to read it. 

The positives - unlike, "Distant Dreams" this was a full length novel - with an ending and everything. And as with all of Tracie's books that I've read, it actually had a really good story line. The characters were believable and it was just an all around good story... just not good enough for me to chance another disaster of a book without an ending. Had I read this before "Distant Dreams." I might have given it 5-stars. But the damage has already been done, and this book just didn't make it up to me.

Overall, if you like Tracie Peterson, then you will probably like this book. In fact, if you like Christian Historical Fiction, then this book will probably be a good read for you. I just can't say the same for Tracie's other books.

As stated above, I did receive a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.