Purposeful Learning - Purposefully living for Jesus, one day at a time.

Painted Memories: Book Review, Blog Tour, and Giveaway!

March 11, 2021 // Esther Filbrun 5 Comments

When I saw that one of my more recently favorite authors was running a blog tour for her newest release, Painted Memories, I knew I wanted to join in—I didn’t want to miss out on reading this book!

I read the first book in this series, Dance With Me (which can easily be a standalone title), a couple of years ago. Though I had seen A.M. Heath’s name floating around different places, I never actually had read any of her books…until that one. And although that pushed me out of my reading comfort zone a bit, I quickly realized this was a talented author I was dealing with.

Her second book in the Art of Love series, Painted Memories, is quite possibly my favorites of hers now. I believe I’ve only read three from her—but this one had such depth that it eclipsed my former favorite by Heath!

Note: Links in this post may be affiliate links, which help support this blog at no added expense to you. Thanks! Also, the author gave me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

About the book:

She moved on when the love of her life died in the war, but what will happen when she finds out he’s alive?

Olivia Jernigan never thought she’d get over Grady. But three years after his death, she’s on the verge of marrying Kenneth Wade when she receives a new painting by her deceased fiancé. Olivia flees home to learn what really happened to the man she thought died in the Korean War. The man she thought loved her enough to come home for her.

Grady Barnes woke up three years ago in a hospital room with no knowledge of his identity. The only memory to resurface is the image of a woman he can’t stop painting. When she suddenly shows up at his painting class, she may help him discover where he really belongs or she may disrupt the life he was building for himself.

Olivia and Grady have a history. But now, they wonder if they still have a future … or perhaps, their love is just a painted memory.

Buy your own copy here.

My thoughts:

I’ve always been intrigued by brain-related injury stories. Perhaps hearing Dr. Ben Carson’s Gifted Hands early on had something to do with it, but that’s always been a point of interest for me. And though I didn’t take the time to read the synopsis of Painted Memories before reading it (going in blind is so much more fun, right?), I was immediately sucked in, and it didn’t take long to finish the story!

I could so relate to both characters. Both were experiencing grief in their own ways, and though I really wanted to shake one of them a couple of times (“Okay, it’s been long enough now—snap out of it!”), it also felt very realistic.

One thing I really enjoyed about this story was the setting. The era around the Korean war is not widely used in fiction yet—perhaps it’s too recent, or at least I haven’t seen it in the Christian fiction I’m familiar with—so I loved seeing that time come to life! It’s not so different from our time, but the 50s were a time of great change in our world, and getting a little piece of that here was quite special.

A great read overall. I didn’t feel like the writing style stood out, but I couldn’t put the book down the entire time I was reading it—despite the fact the characters sort-of annoyed me! This is a bittersweet story—so many lovely, lovely things in here, and yet so much grief, too. And the ending…I found that highly satisfactory, although I wasn’t sure I would when I first read it!

A recommended read if you like historical fiction, the arts, and love stories in general.

I requested a free review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

Giveaway!

To celebrate her tour, A.M. Heath is giving away the grand prize package of a Grace is Sufficient mug and a copy of the book. Be sure to comment on the blog stops (below) for nine extra entries into the giveaway. Go here to enter, or click the picture above.

About the author:

Besides being an Indie Author, I’m a wife, mother of four, children’s Sunday School teacher, sweet tea drinker, history fanatic, romantic, bubbly, lover of broccoli, and a retired cake decorator who has a soft spot for Christmas trees, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What I’m not is a laundress (or at least not one who keeps up very well), a duster, tall, or patient in a doctor’s office. (Check her out at her website: Christian Author A.M. Heath)

The other blog stops:

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, March 9
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, March 10
Purposeful Learning, March 10
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 11
Texas Book-aholic, March 12
Blossoms and Blessings, March 12
Locks, Hooks and Books, March 13
Inklings and notions, March 14
Batya’s Bits, March 14
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, March 15
deb’s Book Review, March 16
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, March 16 (Author Interview)
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, March 17
For Him and My Family, March 18
Jeanette’s Thoughts, March 18
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 19
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 20
Mary Hake, March 20
Adventures Of A Travelers Wife, March 21
Connie’s History Classroom, March 22
Live. Love. Read. , March 22

What fiction have you been reading lately? Have you had any stick with you for quite a while, as this one has for me?

Family Trip #03: Aviation Museum and Mackenzie Country

March 4, 2021 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

Well, it’s been a busy few weeks! I’ve been away from home again, helping a family for the past month, so I haven’t had a lot of time (or brain space) to get a post out. But today I have a bit of extra time, since my work finished a couple of hours early.

I got up to the second day of our family trip last, so I thought I’d continue that today. Here’s day three.

Our second night out, we stayed with some of the friends I helped last year. While there earlier last year, I learned about the church a family member owned, but never got to see it. On our way to Ashburton the morning of our third day, Mom and I found it and stopped to have a look! It’s a lovely wee thing, always open to whoever wants to go in and pray or have a few quiet moments with the Lord.

The cactus outside was blooming (I guess you can tell how dry this climate is in the summer…!). So pretty!

While Mom and I went to a used bookstore (lots of fun), my brothers went to an aviation museum. They didn’t find the aviation museum quite as interesting as they had hoped, but they still enjoyed having a look at the 20+ planes there. This (second picture below) is one of the earliest planes to be flown in NZ, I believe.

Mom and I, meanwhile, found a stack of books to buy—whether we needed them or not! (Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the bookstore or our stack of books.) The museum was interesting, although I was thankful I didn’t have to be there the whole morning. There were some fascinating plane designs, as well as some older planes. When we finished looking around after lunch, we were all ready to get on the road again!

After the morning in Ashburton, we took off for the Mackenzie country! Such a difference from the coast; it’s a very dry part of the country. But what it might lack in green, it makes up for in majesty!

There are multiple canals in the area, but the parts that are undoubtedly my favorite are the lakes and mountains. The first lake you get to is Lake Tekapo, and it was a beautiful blue the day we went through. Every time we’ve gone past, we’ve tended to stop somewhere for pictures, and this time we got to see the new bridge and the old church. It was a beautiful day, although it was a bit cloudy!

I am so thankful for the two sisters the Lord has given me!

The younger ones loved exploring around the water.

I loved the lupins there!

My baby sister thought it was the perfect chance to do some rock throwing!

That night, we stayed with friends who own the hardware shop in Twizel, Jake’s Hardware. They’ve been good friends for years, and it was wonderful to get to catch up with them again!

Second Day of Our Family Trip

January 18, 2021 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

The second day of our trip dawned cold and clear, and by breakfast time, there was sunlight coming through the trees, so we soaked that up while we ate—a breakfast of fried eggs, bread and condiments, and granola (muesli) for those who wanted it.

We were on the road by 10:30 or so, and our first stop was Cave Stream. Dad and my oldest brother walked through there four years ago, but this time all the boys and my oldest sister wanted to make the trek, so they did that. While they were underground in the freezing, sometimes waist- or a bit higher water, Mom, my baby sister, and I walked the trail on top and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery!

I admit it. I took far too many pictures while we were driving. But I love mountains!

Looking up toward the Torlesse (?) Mountain range, down the Broken River valley.

It was such a gorgeous area!

My brothers at the cave opening, where Cave Stream runs out to join the Broken River.

Dad and my oldest sister also went through the cave.

The Broken River, downstream.

Cave opening where my brothers came out.

This is the kind of area I’d love to live in, except for the fact that it’s so remote!

Lunch break.

After lunch, we went to Castle Hill, where my brothers had fun climbing the gigantic rock outcrops. I carried my baby sister up there, hoping she’d fall asleep, but she ended up staying awake until we got back to the van.

Meanwhile, Mom and I got to do a little exploring in the area—that was beautiful! I love how rugged it is and seeing the mountains in the background.

My brothers were quite exhausted by the time they got back! They aren’t used to quite such strenuous work most of the time!

Switchbacks on Porter’s Pass.

Baby sister was tired!

That evening, we stayed the night with friends, ones I lived with for six weeks this past May/June. It was lovely to catch up with them again!

The next day, Mom and I went to a used book store, and my brothers went to an aviation museum. Post coming soonish, hopefully. 🙂

First Day of Our Family Trip

January 2, 2021 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

We’ve had a delightful family trip so far! We left fairly late Monday afternoon, and got up to Arthur’s Pass in time for a quick hour’s walk before we needed to set up for the night. I’ve been wanting to show the Devil’s Punchbowl Waterfall to the family for quite a while, so that’s what we did. I counted the steps on the way up—401 one way, not counting all the parts of the path that were not steps either up or down! Needless to say, we were all a bit puffed by the time we got to the top!

But the views…just gorgeous! This is from when we were heading out to the road to the pass.

Heading up the Arthur’s Pass Viaduct…a gorgeous, sunny day!

The Devil’s Punchbowl Waterfall:

After climbing up to the viewing platform, all of us children went on to the base of the falls.

Brothers in the rainbow. 🙂 Baby sister wasn’t very impressed, though, and wanted to go back to “Mum, Mum!”

My wonderful parents!

Baby sister had fun climbing down some of those 401 steps by herself!

View down the pass valley—this is the Bealey river.

Enjoying the sunshine and company at the end of the walk.

That evening, since it was cold out and the sandflies were attacking, we all gathered in the back of one of the vans on Dad and Mom’s bed and played a game of Ricochet Robots (a recommended game, by the way).

And thus was the end of our first day of traveling. The next were fairly eventful, as well—perhaps I can take time to get some more posts together about that!

Tuis! …and a Bellbird

January 1, 2021 // Esther Filbrun 2 Comments

Well, I’ve been writing a good many blog posts in my head, but haven’t managed to get any onto digital paper yet. Perhaps this one will make it there—we’ll see!

Life has been full. Full and wonderful.

My job working with a disabled girl finished at the beginning of November, and aside from a few trips, I’ve been home ever since. Three people in our family have had medical emergencies in that time, one requiring a three-night stay in the hospital (!), so my time home certainly hasn’t been dull! But there have been some beautiful moments, too.

And one I’d like to share with you today is…the tuis!

Two years ago, the New Zealand native flax bush just outside our dining room window bloomed. We had a profusion of birds come through that year to suck the nectar—tui, bellbird, wax eye, sparrow, starling, just to name a few. It lasted for about a month, and it was the most lovely experience to have the birds feeding within a few feet of where we stand at the windows!

A year ago, I was disappointed that the flax bushes didn’t bloom (still don’t know why; do they have a biannual schedule or something?).

But this year, they are blooming again! And for the most part, the tui have been harvesting them. We have seen the occasional starling, sparrow, or bellbird come through, but the tui have been far and away the most common. Sometimes, we’ll get up to three at once out there, but generally only one. If there are two fairly close together, one or both end up fluffing their feathers out and giving the other a good scolding, which in turn generally sends one or the other away in a hurry!

Notice the orange increasing on their heads as the season progressed? That’s when the flowers opened up more, and the pollen was released.

And then I was able to get a couple pictures of a bellbird!

Here’s a picture of two of them fighting about who gets to stay to eat (even their fighting language is musical, though).

It’s been a lovely experience the past month to get to watch these beautiful birds so close-up. This is one time I’m thankful we have great big bushes fairly close to the house!

Faithful in All Seasons

September 1, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

It was a warm, windy day here when I got back to North Canterbury on Sunday afternoon. Today, rain is coming through in gusts, with a definite chill in the air heralding a southerly wind pushing up from south of New Zealand. Some parts of the island have had snowfall, and though we aren’t supposed to get any due to our low altitude, you can definitely tell from the air that it’s somewhere around! I’m looking forward to tomorrow, when the clouds roll away and I can get a glimpse at the hills and mountains surrounding us—I expect they will be quite beautiful!

It’s amazing how life follows the same patterns weather does—sometimes, things are bleak and shot-through with sorrow, and other times, sunlight comes in on the gentle wings of a breeze, coaxing the daffodils and hyacinths into the full, rich blossom of springtime.

When I went home a week ago, the tree outside my bedroom was a mass of dark greeny-grey branches and twigs. Now, little clusters of light green have sprung from what looked lifeless, and the tree’s branches are suddenly a haze of growth and beauty.

These past weeks haven’t been easy, for a variety of reasons, but you know—the Lord is so faithful. Even when I feel like I’m distanced from Him, that I can’t get much out of His Word, He still reaches through and touches me.

I’ve been blessed to be part of a HelloMornings study group for the past two weeks, and one question about a week ago was, what songs do we cling to in hard times? I shared a couple from my “Valley of Hope” playlist—one compiled years ago—and was reminded of just how faithful the Lord has been over the years.

When we walked through losing my brother, He held us up.

When Mom miscarried little ones we were looking forward to meeting, He held our hands—and even provided a rainbow in the sky on our way into the hospital the last time!

When my youngest sister was born, our joy in His goodness overflowed.

When I struggled to give up my idea in preference for what He was asking from me, He gave me the grace to say “yes”.

When a hoped-for journey came to an abrupt end, He gave peace.

Whatever you’re facing, friend, I hope you will keep your hope and trust in the Lord today. No matter what your current weather season is, He will always bring life and hope again!

And, for your enjoyment and perhaps encouragement, here is my “Valley of Hope” playlist.

What songs touch you when you’re walking through hard things? Comment below; I’m always on the lookout for other encouraging ones!