Ladies, it was nice to be together Thursday.   Diane, we missed you!  Welcome to Eva and Anne ---  you will add so much to our discussions!   We decided to read "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles.  The other books that were suggested were "That We May Be One" by Tom Christofferson and "Hero of the Empire:  The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill" by Candice Millard.   Looking forward to another wonderful year of friendship.

Calendar 2018

January: Janet W
February:  Ellen
March:  Julie
April:  Janet H
May:  Sue
June Laverne
July:  Eva
August:  Molly
September:  Anne
October:  Missy
November/December:

Coming up on Final 2017 Book Club Lunch

Julie,

Thanks for hosting us last week, we will miss you!!  I love hearing stories from you ladies that have been in book club for many years.  It's fun to hear who has been in and how long the group has been together.

Everyone chose to read Leonardo DaVinci by Walter Isaacson.  It's a long read but we have until the end of January to finish it.  Some ladies are also reading Hercule Poirot's Christmas for fun.  We'll be meeting at Ellen's next and she'll send out the info when she's ready.  We'll be talking about Sheri Dew's book, Worth the Wrestle.

Eva Smith is going to join us for the Nov/Dec lunch.  Did Anne Kratzer decide to give it a try?

new Book To Read

Ladies,

My apologies for not getting the new information posted until now.  We had a nice luncheon last week.  A shout out of thanks to Nese, who shared her thoughts and comments from the other side of the world.  It's always nice to hear everyone's insight and feelings about a book.  Now we all know a little more about our 20th president, James Garfield.

Next month Julie is hosting and the book is Moon over Manifest.  In November it will be at Ellen's and the book we chose is Worth the Wrestle by Sheri Dew.  Just think by time we reach Ellen's we will have all read 11 more books.  Do this for a decade and you're at 110.  That is totally cool!!

Happy Reading,
Molly

Lunch on Thursday

Hello Ladies,

Book Club is this Thursday and the discussion will be about the assassination of our 20th president, James Garfield.  Currently we have no one hosting, if someone would like to do it let us know.  Otherwise, come to my house at 12:30 to enjoy a light fall lunch.  Next month the book is Moon Over Manifest and Julie will be hosting.

Molly

Recap of lunch

Okay ladies, this is a long post so please do not feel that you have to read it.  Last week when I invited everyone to book club, Nese responded that she would not be able to make it (heehee) but would I please include a description of all of the books that were suggested.  I miss Nese, she has been such a sweet friend to all of us, I want to write just a little about our discussion so that she can feel a part of our group or even contribute her thoughts.  Love you Nese.

Sometimes we have a great discussion about the book we've read and sometimes we talk about other things.  I love when we talk about God, faith, hope, survival, eternity.  Last week I learned so much as each of you shared some of your experiences with faith, hope, prayer and fasting during trials in your life.  My mind has returned again and again to the idea of how trials require from us a deeper level of faith.  We pray harder, we fast with more diligence, our hearts yearn for comfort and answers, we plead and we continue to pray.  I love the idea that even as we go to a deeper level of faith, we can see that the levels continue to be deeper.  I have reflected on our last TFOT lesson where President Nelson taught "When you reach up for the Lord's power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours.  When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him-when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life-you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do.  When you spiritually stretch beyond anything you have ever done before then His power will flow into you."  My thought is mayhaps, this is one reason for adversity, for it will make us turn to God in our brokenness and give our hearts completely to him.

Thank you ladies, always for how much you make my life better!!

Okay on to the books.  We chose Moon Over Manifest.  This is a short novel, winner of the Newbery Award.  I hope you love this book as much as I did.  It's sweet, touching and made me both laugh and cry.  We chose it because we will next read a little more dense history book and this will be a lighter read after that.

The second suggestion was Same Kind of Different as Me.  I loved this book.  It's the story of a homeless man and a wealthy art dealer and the woman who brings them together.  I don't know if you are experiencing this or not, but I am having more interaction with homeless people and those who would be considered "on the fringe".  The prayer in my heart is to see each person as a child of God in eternity and to treat them as such.  It's much easier said than done, but this book, because it is true, was very inspirational.  I also love that God will work through anyone who is willing to listen to Him.

Finally, I offered I Can Do Hard Things with God.  This is a collection of stories from LDS women of faith who have had or continue to have  challenging mortal experiences and they share their faith.  For instance one story is titled "Will You Be Poor for Me?", another is "You're the One Who's Bipolar, So How Come I'm Going Crazy?'.  I think all of us have experienced hardships that are out of our control - maybe yourself, your child, your spouse, your neighbor.  I think this book gives us insight into how others feel and how we can be better supports to each other.  Less judgement, More Mercy!!  Here is a thought from one author, "Even if I was a burden, God would remain God.  He would take my lowly burdens and carry them easily forever.  I didn't need to save Him work.  Somehow I understood more clearly that my Father in Heaven was my father.  When I was low, sad, tired, and imperfect, I could go to Him, and He wanted me to.  He knew all my broken parts.  [My sisters death by suicide] taught me that I was imperfect by design but that God wanted me this way so I would turn to Him with humility and meekness.  Then His grace would be made manifest through me."

You can always go to Amazon if you would like to read the "official description of each book.  A lovely luncheon, thank you ladies for coming.  Next month we will be discussing Destiny of a Republic.

August Book Club

Hi Ladies,

Book Club will be next Thursday the 31st at my house.  Hope to see you at 12:30.  Please send me a text or email and let me know if you will be joining us.  We will be discussing The Forgotten Garden.

Molly

Hi Ladies! We had a lovely luncheon with just a few of us on Thursday. This next month for August we are reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. We picked the book Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. We will be reading this book in September.

June Book Club

Hi Ladies,

Hope you're having a wonderful summer!!  Laverne will be hosting our gathering on June 29th at 12:30.  We are talking about What Alice Forgot.  Hope to see you there.  Please take a minute and RSVP by texting to Laverne at 209.769.2510 or send her an email.  Thanks

Blogspot address

Book club girls...our blog address is:
2joburgers.blogspot.com
or
2joburgers.blogspot.co.za

I'm not sure which one you put in.  try one...then the other?  Would love to hear from you.  Nese.

Hi friends. Just a note to let you know we've arrived in South Africa. David is snoring away and I've been up since 3:00. Jet lag is not my friend. We thought we had a light temple schedule.... the temple web site says sessions at 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00. Yesterday we arrived at 11:00 and didn't get home until 8:30 last night!  Everybody is very busy doing everything and the hours go by very quickly. We have felt very welcomed and needed here. People are over the moon that I have a French minor (many people come through from Madagascar and DRC) ...they just don't realize it's been 45 years since I've dredged up le langue!  But memorizing the French is easier for me than the Spanish was. It took me months to learn the Spanish veil and after a couple of hours I've already got a good handle on the French. I'm encouraged. Thinking of you all! Love, Nese

March Lunch

Thanks Diane for hosting us today.  It's always lovely to visit together while enjoying a delicious lunch.  Next month we will talk about The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Speare, and today we chose to read Woman of God by James Patterson for May.  We missed the ladies who didn't make it today, hope to see you next time.

Be Still My Soul

The text to this hymn was written by Katharina von Schlegel, a woman about whom little is know.  She probably dedicated herself to a religious life in the Protestant equivalent of a convent setting.  One fact is certain: she knew her scriptures well, both the Old and the New Testaments.  In her hymn, she wove together in a creative and remarkable way a whole series of scriptural themes and references to biblical events.

The opening line of the hymn was suggested by Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God."

"Bear thy cross of grief or pain" of course refers to the Savior's journey to Calvary, when he bore his cross. (See John 19:17)

"Leave to thy God to order and provide" reflects the spirit of many scriptures, including Psalm 37:7: "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him."

"All now mysterious shall be bright at last" relates to many biblical passages (1 Corinthians 2: 7-16 is just one example) and also to Latter-day Saint scriptures such as 1 Nephi 10:19: "The mysteries of God shall be unfolded to them, by the power of the Holy Ghost."

"The waves and winds still know/His voice" recalls the story of Jesus stilling the waves on Galilee.  (Matthew 8:23-27)

The spirit of the entire third verse may be compared with such scriptures as 1 Thess. 4:17: "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."

The tune is written by Jean Sibelius.

(Karen Lynn Davidson)

I loved singing with you ladies yesterday, the feeling, the music, the spirit still lingers in my soul.

Our book for next month is Dead Wake by Erik Larson.  The book for April will be The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.  Our next lunch will be in Diane's home on March 30th at 12:30.