"Uncle Tom's Cabin" Chapters 4-8

I had to make myself stop reading so that I would not get too far in my book!  Eliza escaped with her boy before, Harley, the slave trader could take her boy.  Uncle Tom would not go, because he knew that more slaves would have to go in his stead and that Mr. Shelby would be in trouble if he also ran off. 
Sam, another slave, has been "helping" Harley find Eliza.  Since it was obvious that Mrs. Shelby wanted Eliza to succeed, he has been causing all kind of delays.
Here is a discussion between the slaves about Mr. Harley and the Kingdom:  " 'Serves him right' said Aunt Chloe, indignantly.  'He'll get wus nor uneasy, one of these days, if he don't mend his ways.  His master'll be sending for him, and then see how he'll look! (Which "master" do you think Harley serves?)
'He'll go to torment and no mistake.' said little Jake.
.....'it's like what Mas'r George reads in Ravelations,-souls a callin' under the altar! and a callin' on the Lord for vengeance on sich!......'
'Pray for them that 'spitefully use you, the good book says,' says Tom.
'Pray for 'em!' said Aunt Chloe; 'Lor, it's too tough!  I can't pray for 'em'
'........I'm sure I'd rather be sold, ten thousand times over, than to have all that ar poor crittur's got to answer for."
How often do we forget that we will have to answer for our sins?  The Lord will judge us at the Judgement Seat.  He will judge the unsaved and the saved both.  Are you following the Lord according to His Book?  There is a Heaven and a Hell, where will you be?
Happy reading,
Missy

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" chapters 1-4

I have read the first four chapters of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"  What an easy read!  I am whipping right through it and I have to make myself put it down!  I am a little confused though.  Everything I have read about the book says that it starts off with the death of Uncle Tom.  He hasn't died yet!
It starts off in the first chapter with Mr. Shelby and a slave trader.  Mr. Shelby is a good, kind, Christian man.  He owns Uncle Tom, who is also a Christian.  He owes the slave trader money and is being forced to sell Uncle Tom even though he is his most dependable and trustworthy servant.  The slavetrader also wants to buy another slave's(Eliza)little four year old boy because he is "delightful" and is trying to force this "sale" with Mr. Shelby.  Eliza heard a snatch of the conversation is very worried.  She has never been treated like a slave but like a servant. 
Eliza is married to George who is owned by another plantation owner.  George is rented out to a factory, but when his owner finds out that George is smarter than he is and invents a machine, he forces George to quit and do the most menial tasks he can.  His owner won't let him stay married to Eliza anymore and is going to force him to marry one of his slaves to "sire" more children for him.
There is a side note in my book that there was a machine she describes invented by a young colored man in Kentucky.  Is that note in the newer versions?
George decides to run away to Canada rather than break his marriage vows.
Master George, Mr. Shelby's 13 year old son is teaching Uncle Tom how to read. 
In only four chapters Mrs. Stowe has done a great job of setting up the plot for the book.  I can't wait to read more to find out what happens!
Happy Reading!
Missy

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Introduction)

I have started reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" - finally!  The introduction was kind of boring and did not set my mood very well for the actual story.  Let me start off by saying that my book was published in 1885.  The original copyright date is 1851.    There was originally two titles for the book.  It is titled "Uncle Tom's Cabin or Life Among the Lowly."  I hear people say all the time that Mrs. Stowe was a northerner and did not know the truth.  That is not totally true.  She based several incidents on actual events from slaves and other people.  She knew a slave who's owner would let him travel with money and the slave would always return.  This slave was a christian.  She also let several slave children join her children's homeschool as she taught her children and her family's children.  She had lived for several years in "Ohio on the confines of a slave state, and had thus been made familiar with facts and occurrences in relation to the instution of American slavery.  Some of the most harrowing incidents related in the story had from time to time come to her knowledge in conversation with former slaves now free in Ohio."
She started writing the book as magazine articles in an anti-slavery paper.  "After many years' residence in Ohio, Mrs. Stowe returned to make her abode in New England."  "In New England, as at the west, professed abolitionists were a small, despised, unfashionable band, whose constant remonstrances from year to year had been disregarded as the voices of impracticable fanatics."  Mrs. Stowe was distressed when she heard people say that slavery was a "constitutional right, and that all opposition to it endangered the national Union."  She even saw christians close their hearts and eyes to slavery and even helped return slaves to their owners.  She decided people needed to know the truth about slavery; "and hence arose a purpose to write some sketches which would show to the world slavery as she had herself seen it."
"In shaping her material the author had but one purpose, to show the institution of slavery truly, just as it existed."  She wanted to show that slavery was because of a bad system, not bad people. 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published March 20, 1852.  She says often in her introduction that she did not write the story, but it wrote itself.  She could feel the Lord guiding her as she wrote.  She prayed and cried through the entire book while she was writing.  She could not stop writing until everything was written down.  This is definitely a Christian novel.
The introduction was 49 pages long so I could not include it all.  I thought it would be interesting to know the background of the story before we started.
Happy reading!
Missy

"Lasso Her Heart" by Anna Schmidt

"Lasso Her Heart" is a short novella by Anna Schmidt.  It is an older book.  You have the modern day cowboy and the city girl who have both suffered losses.  They both have guilt over the loved ones' deaths.  She does not want ot get close to anyone, whereas he has learned to "go with the flow".  She keeps pushing him away but he sees the vuneribility in her eyes and keeps trying to help.  She has to overcome her fears before he can get close.  It has a good storyline and flows smoothly.  It is a very good book and I would recommend reading it.
Happy reading!
Missy

Author's comments

Okay, how cool is it that Irene Hammon read my review (or should I say comments?) about her book!  She even left a comment.  I have read a lot of her books and liked them all.
For my readers out there, I would just like to say it is very hard to tell you about the book I am reading with out giving any of the "fun" stuff away.
I'm trying to read Uncle Tom's Cabin, but I have not gotten past the introduction yet.  Since my book is almost 150 years old, there is a lot of information to process!
Happy reading!
Missy

"Rainbow's End" by Irene Hannon

Rainbow's End is a very good book about three people who have been scarred in different ways.  You have the recluse woman who stays hidden from the world.  She expresses herself through her art and has a personal relationship with God.  You have the mysterious man who deals with his pain by running from God and everybody he loves while searching for answers from God.  You have the mysterious little boy who shows up and won't talk to anybody.  God brought all three of these people together to teach them how to open up to other people and start loving again.  Not all scars are on the outside that can be seen, some are hidden deep inside your heart. 
I like this quote:  "When I inquired how  ..(to find peace with God).. the reply was simple: 'I stopped  searching for answers.  I stopped asking why.'....God doesn't call us to understand, instead He calls us to trust and understand.""
This is a good book that I would recommend.
I'm going to start reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin"  tonight. 
Happy Reading!
Missy

"Idle Hours" by Kathleen Y'Barbo

I'm already halfway through with another book, but I was busy decorating cakes this weekend and I have not had a chance to tell ya'll about the last story in Kentucky Keepers.  "Idle Hours" was very short, a little over 100 pages.  Kathleen did a pretty good job ending the book with a character who had been in every story, Joe.  A new woman moved to town (there had to be a woman or it wouldn't be a romance), Lia, who had to leave her previous job because of health.  She's good friends with Ruby(remember Ruby from the first story?)  You'll have to read Kentucky Keepers to find out what happens.
I was wondering about something though.  They went to the same church but did not realize it.  She went to the contemporary first service and he went to the more traditional noon service.  What is wrong with traditional services?  Why does a church need to change to get members?  Does that mean God should change to have people follow Him?  That's like going to your dad and saying "Dad, I love you, but if you want me to hang out with you, you will have to become more worldly".  That is wrong!  God says to separate yourself from the world, but so many churches are "changing" to attract the world.  I think it is more important for us to change and become more like Christ.
Let me know your comments!! 
I'll be reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in a few days.  If you haven't read it yet, go ahead and start reading it so that we can share our thoughts!
Happy Reading!
Missy

"Lured By Love" by Gail Sattler

"Lured by Love" by Gail Sattler is the third story in the KY Keepers book.  This one is about trust in a relationship.  Both people had been "burned" by someone they thought they had been in love with and had hard time trusting someone else. 
Here are some qoutes I like:
"Most people will say they believe in God, but they don't really.  It's like when you're halfway to work and it runs through your head that you've left the element on when you were making your breakfast.  If you did, that means there's the chance that your house will burn down.  If you really believed that, you'd turn around, knowing it would make you late for work, and you'd go home and turn it off.  But if you didn't really believe it, you'd continue on to work and forget about it.  The belief you need to get to heaven is the kind that makes you late for work."
"...mankind has found after years of research that a lot of things in the Bible are based on scientific fact, except God established those things long before man had the capability to analyze or prove or disprove them....."
There is a lot more good qoutes in this book, but you'll just have to read the book to find out what they are!
She has a lot of good lessons woven into this story.  It is a must read!
Happy Reading!
Missy