Archive | April 2022

Book Review: Bitter Truth by Canadian writer, Janet Sketchley

Apr25

Bobby Hawke and Landon Smith are on a drive to the ocean. Landon has just completed her first day at a new university and is nervous about the challenges ahead. The last thing she needs is for Dylan Tremblay, a local police officer, to pull them over and deliver some disturbing news. This is only the beginning. When a friend of Landon’s is attacked in a public setting during the day, Landon finds herself in a dilemma. Should she become involved or leave the matter in the hands of the police? The race for justice begins in this page-turning novel.

Bitter Truth is the third book in the Green Dory Inn series. While reading the books in sequence provides a fuller understanding of the characters, plus a sense of belonging to an ongoing story, Bitter Truth can stand alone.

Janet places clues and red herrings in such a way that readers have the fun of guessing and then backtracking on their sleuthing conclusions. While the ending is definitely a surprise, there are clues subtly planted in the novel.

A delightful character in the third Green Dory Inn novel is Moxie, a pampered Chihuahua who not only provides comic relief but manages to find himself in less than savoury circumstances.

The novel is set in the beautiful county of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, with the hospital scenes at the South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater. The characters in the Green Dory Inn series are so vivid that one day when my husband and I were in Bridgewater, I saw a police car, and thought. “Oh, that must be Dylan!” The scenes in the hospital brought back warm memories for me because, in July of 2020, I practically tripped over myself, racing into the lobby and up the elevator, to be present for the birth of our first grandchild.

Mentioning my grandson may seem irrelevant to the novel, but it isn’t completely. This child brought hope during the dark months of the pandemic. Janet tackles tough issues such as unspeakable loss, human trafficking, and the sometimes conflicting principles of forgiveness and justice. She also offers great hope through the powerful, healing love of Jesus, through whom we find new birth and life in the midst of bitter truth.

Janet is an Atlantic Canadian writer from Nova Scotia. She has a number of writing credits, including the Redemption’s Edge series, and several devotional books entitled, A Year of Tenacity: 365 Daily Devotions and Tenacity at Christmas: 31 Daily Devotions for December. Check out her website at janetskethcley.ca for purchasing details and information on her books.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone wanting an exciting mystery, with unforgettable characters, and the ever-present awareness of redemption.  Discussion questions are available for individual or group study.

 

I have received a complimentary copy of the book from the author with no requirement to write a review. My opinions are my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Way or God’s Way?

Apr14

Frank Sinatra, in his famous song, “My Way,” expresses how at the end of his life, the most important thing for him to be able to say is that he lived it in the way he personally chose. While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with choosing our paths and being true to ourselves, Easter calls us to evaluate this sentiment in a deeper context.

If anyone had a right to do it his way, it was Jesus. As the Son of God, equal to the Father, Jesus could have used his power for his desires. Jesus chose a different way. For three years, he travelled with his disciples from village to village, preaching, encouraging, healing, and offering hope to a broken world.  We think of the deity of Christ but he lived his earthly life in a human body. He became tired, slept in the back of a boat and walked for long distances on dusty roads. He experienced hunger, thirst, rejection, grief, and misunderstanding.

Many thought that Jesus would liberate them from the Romans, but his purpose was not an overthrow of the government. He said, “…render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21, NASB). His mission was to set people free by bringing them into God’s kingdom.

Jesus knew what bringing people into the kingdom of God would cost him. When he rode on the back of a donkey into Jerusalem, the people cried “Hosanna!” and placed palm branches on the ground. He entered Jerusalem as a king but knew that some who welcomed him would later, influenced by the religious leaders, clamour for his death.

What would have happened if the biblical narrative had ended here? What would have happened if Jesus had decided to do it his way, to exercise his rights and freedoms as the Son of God and turn away from the cross? When a follower of Jesus took out a sword and cut off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants, Jesus condemned the action and said, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than ten legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53, NIV). What would have happened if Jesus had done that?

No cross, no Saviour, no resurrection, no hope, and no importance to the stable birth of the infant Christ.

Jesus chose to do it the Father’s way.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39, NIV). Jesus chose the cross out of obedience and trust. He knew there was no other way for people to enter the kingdom of God than for him to pay for the sins of the world on the cross.

There are numerous opportunities in life to do it our way. We all have different interests, desires, passions and dreams. At this time of year, I love seeing colourful spring flowers blooming in my garden and anticipate getting my hands in the soil. What the story of Easter teaches us is that there are times when we may need to set aside what we think of as our rights and consider the individual and collective good of others. John Donne wrote: “No man is an island entire of itself.” Rights and responsibilities go hand in hand.

Jesus did it God’s way.

Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!