From the Archives: Third Time's a Charm, by Virginia Smith

Originally posted at Notes in the Key of Life on February 8, 2010

I interview Virginia Smith, author of "Third Time's a Charm"

It appears I'm late to the party! Although I've known Virginia Smith via e-mail from when voiced her book trailer for Age Before Beauty (you can see the trailer here if you like), I had never read any of her books until I recently finished Third Time's a Charm--which is actually the last of her Sister to Sister trilogy.

It was such an enjoyable read that I plan to backtrack and read the other two: Age Before Beauty and Stuck in the Middle.

The books are about the Sanderson sisters, with this final one focusing on the baby of the family, Tori.

While Smith's style is breezy and accessible, don't make the mistake of thinking this is all chick-lit fluff. Along with the fun, she tackles some serious issues in Third Time's a Charm--like how having daddy issues here on earth can often cause young women problems with fully trusting their heavenly Father.

In this short excerpt from our interview, Smith talks about that theme.

Having two sisters myself that I adore, I really enjoyed Smith's obvious firsthand understanding of how sisters relate and interact. There's a good reason for that: she based the Sandersons on herself and her own two sisters.

More about that in this clip from our interview.


Find out all about Virginia Smith and her books here.

From the Archives: A Year of Blind Dates, by Megan Carson

My interview with Megan Carson

(This was originally posted 1/25/10 at my other blog, Notes in the Key of Life)

Even the mention of a blind date is enough to make many people shudder in fear--but what about an entire YEAR of blind dates?

That's what Megan Carson did, and she lived to write about it...and in a humorous, reader-friendly, enjoyable style at that.

Megan's book, A Year of Blind Dates: A Single Girl's Search for The One, chronicles her experiences going out with dates arranged by an agency she refers to as The World's Best Dating Service--as well as several arranged by her own friends and acquaintances.

While some of the dates were tear-inducing, many of them were really funny or downright strange--like the guy who called her "Kiddo" during the entire date, and the math geek who was obsessed with Debbie Gibson.

Probably the most disappointing and even heartbreaking were the guys with whom Megan thought she made a genuine connection, but who ended up never calling her back.

No, she didn't find Mr Right. It wasn't the typical movie "happy ending," but Megan says it was a happy ending nonetheless. She says she ended up becoming a much more confident dater, and she's learned while leaving herself open to the possibilities, she's now content to let God determine the timing of the discovery of her own "One."

Go here to listen to my interview with Megan Carson.

My Review of Wolves Among Us, by Ginger Garrett

We've all seen the depictions--even comedy skits on Saturday Night Live--of innocent women being condemned as witches on the most ridiculous of grounds.

Unfortunately, that really happened--all too often-- in medieval Europe. Author Ginger Garrett tells us that in Germany alone (where this story is set) some 24-thousand women were burned alive for witchcraft.

A woman, a priest...

Wolves Among Us is the story of Mia, who lives in a small German village in 1538. Her situation is bleak: she's married to Bjorn, the local sheriff, who is cold and distant to her; her little daughter, Alma, is chronically ill; and Mia has to care for her senile mother-in-law Margarite.

To add to her problems, the women of the village seem to want nothing to do with her--except for Dame Alice, whose persistent pleas to come into her home and eat with her Mia ignores. She is afraid any affection from anyone will make her crumble, and uncover her own past as an orphaned beggar.

But Wolves Among Us is as much the story of the village priest, Father Stefan, as it is of Mia. Father Stefan often feels bewildered and helpless as he tries to shepherd his little flock. He doesn't even have access to a copy of the Word of God--something William Tyndale has been executed for producing.

When a man and woman are inexplicably murdered in the village, Stefan feels the need to call in an outsider for help--an Inquisitor named Bastion.

Stefan just wants Bastion to root out the problem, take care of it, and leave--but Bastion has other plans. The handsome, charismatic Inquisitor immediately blames the village's problems on witchcraft, and sets about to kill innocent women on the shakiest of charges.

Ultimately, the experience forces both Mia and Father Stefan to change and grow in profound ways...but not before ugliness and violence (in the name of God) tragically grips their village.

A dark story

I'll admit, sometimes one of the things I like most about fiction is being able to live in another place for a while--usually a place I enjoy.

Dinfoil, Germany in 1538 was not a jolly place. At times, I was a bit bogged down in the often depressing and bleak tale, and I wished for a few more moments of lightness.

However, to realistically portray this moment in history, Garrett couldn't take us on a walk in the park. And I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to tell you that there's pay-off in an ultimately redemptive, uplifting and even joyful conclusion.

A story with profound implications

This beautifully-written book brings out so many issues, including the role of women in the church through the ages. In medieval times, women had no voice at all. Even when the Bible became accessible, they were often forbidden to read it (assuming they even knew how to read)...and they often turned to folk magic to help them with everyday health and personal issues.

Women were blamed for sin--as Garrett puts it in an afterword, "evil existed outside of men and inside of women." The atmosphere was perfect for labeling women as witches and cruelly executing them.

Our attitude toward modern-day witches

In Garrett's fascinating afterword, she tells us she wanted to find out what makes modern-day witches and Wiccans tick, so she arranged a face-to-face with several of them. What she saw surprised her.

"The women I met were...lovely, wounded, searching, fascinated by a world beyond our own, generous and open." Garrett says in many cases, the women had sought answers in churches but had been rebuffed.

Garrett calls on Christians to deal with such women with kindness, not berating or hostility. She says: "As with any opportunity to evangelize, we must earn the right to tell others of our experiences or opinons."

An unusual book

I don't know how I've come this far without reading anything by Ginger Garrett (especially since her last name is my maiden name!) I will definitely be reading more by her.

Wolves Among Us is one of the best Christian fiction books I've read in terms of addressing profound issues thoughtfully and caringly.

But more than that, it's a great read! Garrett made me care deeply about the characters, and her excellent writing kept me turning the pages as she deftly built a tale of suspense, evil, tragedy and ultimately hope. I highly recommend it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Wynn-Wynn Media. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Flashback: My interview with Noel Piper about Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God

"God uses the weak things"


"I think one of the reasons there are so many stories of people in the Bible is that we learn by seeing what happens in other people's lives. God could have just given us a book of teachings, but but he gave us a lot of people's stories."--Noel Piper

In April 2005. I did a radio interview with Noel Piper about her book, Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God. I'm not a big reader of nonfiction, but I do love biographies. and this book adds a true spiritual dimension to the stories of these remarkable women.

Here's a re-posting:

CINDY: I recently read a book that both blessed me and really challenged me in my walk with Christ. That book was Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God, by Noel Piper. The book tells the stories of five Christian women who faced difficulty and sacrifice, and the amazing things that God did through them. And I'm delighted to have as my guest today the author of that book, Noel Piper. Noel, welcome to Weekend Rockford.

NOEL: Thank you, I'm glad to be here.

CINDY: I know that you are a pastor's wife, and that you are the wife of John Piper of Desiring God ministries. Noel, tell me a little about yourself and your family and your husband and your ministry.

NOEL: Well, we have five children--four grown-up boys who are all married, our youngest just got married this spring, and a nine-year-old daughter who I home school. She's at camp this week for the first time ever, so we have an empty house, unusually.(laughing)

We're at Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis, Minnesota), and we're celebrating our 25th anniversary this year of my husband being one of the pastors there, the preaching pastor.

CINDY: Noel, this book--I've got to tell you--it's just really impacted me. I remarked to myself that it's been a long, long time since I read a book that so impacted me spiritually, I've got to tell you that. I sat there reading just in awe and amazement--

NOEL: Well, that's a real answer to my prayers for what the book would be.

CINDY: Not only is it an entertaining book in its way, in the fact that it tells fascinating stories that you just want to keep reading, but it really impacted me because all of these women that you profile--Sarah Edwards, Lillias Trotter, Gladys Aylward, Esther Ahn Kim and Helen Roseveare--I had heard snippets about all of these women and read snippets about them, but reading their entire stories just honestly blew me away, they were so amazing.

What led you to write a book about Christian women of the past?


NOEL: For several years now I've been each year focusing on one woman that I would do research on and find her story to prepare to tell to the women at our church in a special summer Sunday School class. And then I find myself when I'm speaking at retreats, whatever the Biblical topic is I'm speaking about, one of the sessions would be, I would use one of these biographies as a lived-out example of what we were talking about.

Because I think one of the reasons there are so many stories of people in the Bible is that we learn by seeing what happens in other people's lives. God could have just given us a book of teachings, but but he gave us a lot of people's stories.

And so, there are people after the Bible as well--we can just look at the people next to us, for that matter, to see how God is working, and sometimes we can see it more clearly in somebody else's life than can in our own.


Sarah Edwards

CINDY: Let's just take a look at some of the women in particular. Sarah Edwards was the wife of Jonathan Edwards--best known, probably, for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"--

NOEL: Ah, but so much more than that (laughing).

CINDY: But so much more than that, you're right...and the profile you give of Sarah really gives us a lot of insight into Jonathan as well. This woman raised 11 children. She died at the age of 48, which is the age I am, which touched me right there. But one thing you point out, and I had heard this before, but the descendants of Jonathan and Sarah, according to a study that was done by a man comparing two different families--their descendants just did remarkable things. Can you kind of share that?

NOEL: Well, I list here in the book, all the pastors, teachers, government officials, authors, missionaries "by the droves"--this was in 1900, so about 150 years after Sarah and Jonathan were living.

One biographer says, "Can there be any other mother in America who has contributed so much to America?" and I take that--not that I'll ever have as many descendants as Sarah Edwards, for one thing (chuckling)--but as an encouragement.

She was just drudging along every day, doing things that took a lot more effort for her to do than for me to do, and she had no way of knowing how God was going to use that in the lives of her children and on through the years.


Esther Ahn Kim

CINDY: One of the stories that impacted me the most, I think, was the one of Esther Ahn Kim, because she endured amazing amount of persecution that there's no way we as Americans could ever identify with. Tell us a little about her story.

NOEL: She's Korean--she's dead now, but she lived at the time of the Japanese occupation of Korea. And the burning issue for Christians then was whether to bow at the Shinto shrines, which was required by the Japanese in their country. She refused, and she was a teacher in a school, so that made her a leader of sorts.

So she was imprisoned for six years. And one of the things that really struck me was how much Scripture she had just right at the tip of her mind's tongue to speak to herself--not time to pull a Bible out, or look up in a concordance, "Where's that verse about what?" And so, I think that's one of the powerful things about her story is the power of Scripture that is hidden away in our hearts.

CINDY: One thing that I think we can all gain encouragement from is the fact that none of these women were really remarkable women in their own right--well, of course, Helen Roseveare was a doctor, but you know, most of them were just ordinary women.

Gladys Aylward, in fact was deemed too uneducated to be approved as a missionary by the China Inland Mission. Tell us a litte about Gladys; her story is amazing as well.


Gladys Aylward

NOEL: She was a parlour maid. She decided she felt God was calling her to China. She had about two cents and her Bible, not much more than that. But she said God said to her, "I'm the God of Nehemiah, I'm the God of Moses; if I can do for them, I can do for you." And so she just saved up her money and went to China on her own.

That is truly a story of how God uses the weak things. I really see that as a theme through this book.

They were women who didn't think of themselves as doing anything extraordinary. They were what 2nd Corinthians says "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." That would be a main theme of all these stories. It's God who is powerful.

CINDY: Absolutely...it was actually God doing these amazing things through these women.

What do you hope that we as Christians, and particularly Christian women, take away from reading the stories of these women?

NOEL: I'm glad there are five stories in this book, because I think it will be different for different women.

For someone who reads Gladys Aylward's story, it might be an encouragement that ou don't have to have a college degree in order for God to do great things.

For Sarah Edwards' story, it might be that you don't have to be away from home doing things out in the world; you can be doing the daily mundane things, wiping noses and dirty bottoms and whatever, and God is using you through that and doing His work through that.

For Helen Roseveare, who was a doctor in Congo, she felt inadequate almost entirely because she didn't feel like she was trained specifically for the kind of work she was called to do, but she saw God working through her weakness as well. She underwent terror and attack during the revolution that was happening there, and she saw God saying, "They're not attacking you, they're attacking Me."

So, each of these stories is for a different woman in a way, although I hope they're all for all of us.

CINDY: A couple of the things that I took away from the book was that every single one of these women--and it sounds so basic--but reading God's word and praying were just major in their lives...

NOEL: Absolutely necessary.

CINDY: ...And then just the power of prayer in all of these women's lives, how they just relied on that so much.

NOEL: Here's another thing that I would hope women would see from this. What I see in my life and the women around me, is that the women who want to be the best mothers, the women who are most involved in ministry, are the ones for whom it is the very hardest to find the regular time in God's word and praying. And we are the ones who need it most--I mean, if it can be said anybody needs God more than somebody else. But here are women whose lives dictated against them having any time in God's word, and yet, it was crucial to them.

**********

You may want to check out Noel's other books:

Treasuring God in Our Traditions

and a children's book, Most of All, God Loves You