You know how kids will find something they like the sound of, and say it over and over until everyone is sick of hearing it? (Please tell me it’s not just my kids that do that.) Well, Bennett heard Jeffrey say, “Deja vu,” one day. Jeffrey knows what it means. Bennett doesn’t. Nor does he care. It’s become his default phrase. If you say something he doesn’t like (like “Don’t hit your brother.”), or something he doesn’t understand, or if he’s embarrassed, or if he just thinks he needs something to say, he says, “Deja vu.” Except that he can’t really pronounce it correctly, so it’s more like, “Debah boo.”

He’s gotten back into Blue’s Clues recently, so he’s been “skidoo-ing” all over the house.

He also loves Toy Story (except the parts in the first one with that future serial killer, Sid), but can’t get him to stop calling them all “Toy Story 3”. Makes it a little hard to figure out which one he wants to watch.

He’s still working on finding the correct word for things. You know how little ones mix stuff up. (And I know that’s not just my kids.) He was trotting around the house one day with his little flashlight. When I asked what he was doing, he told me, “I’m finding for my ball.”

Something just occurred to me this week. When Bennett was in speech therapy last year, his therapist said something about him having trouble connecting words to objects. Like there was a bridge missing or something. I can’t remember the details, although I probably put it in an email to someone at some point and could possibly look it up if it were crucial information. I don’t believe it is. I do wonder, though, if that might have something to do with him saying, “What it called?” all the time. He doesn’t just do it with things he’s unfamiliar with. He will mention something, then in the next sentence say, “What it called?” when trying to continue the conversation.

He still thinks batteries are the answer to everything. Netflix (or our internet) was being flaky this afternoon, and Bennett told us, “The TV needs new batteries.”

Here Burns My Candle is the first of a two-novel series, an updated version of the Biblical story of Naomi and Ruth. Not completely updated; the story takes place during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. If you know me, you know I love historical fiction, so I did enjoy book. Knowing how the Rebellion ended, though, did put a bit of a damper on the story, as well as the fact that I’d already read the teaser for the second book. Combining those two factors meant that I knew how the book would end; I just didn’t know the details that would get us there.

I also didn’t like most of the main characters, which made it hard to trudge through at first. The writing is great, and the pacing is fine. It was just that I wanted to get to the stuff I didn’t already know. Once I got about halfway (or thereabouts) through, I just wanted to know how things were going to unfold. That sounds like the definition of a good book to me: one you want to keep reading even when you already know how it ends.

I liked watching Elisabeth discover God. At the same time, her mother-in-law is rediscovering God. It’s very sweet to watch their journey together. By the end of the book, I even liked the mother-in-law. She had become a completely different person.

Now I’m off to read the second book, Mine Is the Night, as soon as I can get my hands on it.

You can read an excerpt of Here Burns My Candle here.

Rank this review for a chance to win your own copy of Here Burns My Candle.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

As little girls, we loved fairy tales. Once we reach big-girl status, we’ve either decided that fairy tales are entertaining, but ridiculous, or that there is a prince and a perfect life out there “somewhere” if we could just get past all the frogs. In Keeping a Princess Heart in a Not-So-Fairy-Tale World, Nicole Johnson tells us that fairy tales are essential. We are worthy of love and attention, and there is nothing wrong with believing that. We are daughters of the King, so we are Princesses.

We just have to strike a balance between dreaming of castles in the sky and locking ourselves in the dungeon of a heart that has given up.  Johnson gives practical and Biblical advice on how to be satisfied and content with your life without giving up your dreams.

This review is part of my Women of Faith Author Series. Stay tuned for more reviews.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”


John 10:10 is one of my favorite Bible verses. Obviously, it’s one of Luci Swindoll’s, as well. In I Married Adventure: Looking At Life Through the Lens of Possibility, she shares her delight in once-in-a-lifetime events, such as seeing leopards on an African safari. She also encourages us to enjoy every seemingly-mundane minute. Watching a bird in our own backyard can be just as wondrous as viewing exotic animals on another continent, as long as we have the right attitude. Every moment is a gift from God and He wants us to love and appreciate our lives for the time we have here. 


This review is part of my Women of Faith Author Series. Stay tuned for future reviews.