Book Review: Declutter Your Heart and Your Home

Declutter Your Heart and Your Home: How a Minimalist Life Yields Maximum Joy, by Julia Ubbenga, is a Christian guide to purging unhelpful baggage. Ubbenga writes a minimalism blog called Rich in What Matters, where she encourages readers to seek less stuff to make way for more meaning. If you've read my blog for any time, you know my goal of purging the extra accumulation from years of parenting and, to be honest, hoarding. Now, I don't live with piles of paper and belongings strewn everywhere. I'm not that kind of hoarder, but I can admit I own more things than I'd like to be keeping. My husband has said we need to kick this process into high gear. I'm a deer in the headlights. I hoped this book would jump-start that purging mojo again. One reviewer on Amazon called this book a "game-changer." Alas, I feel more daunted than ever.

Declutter Your Heart and Your Home is chock full of quotes from many minimalists (minimalism IS in vogue). It focuses on spiritual goals for minimalism. It promises the path to peace is purging. I already feel bad about my stuff. Now, I feel guilty, as well. As if I'm being told that my focus is clearly on the wrong things and I need to shift my agenda away from stuff and toward the Lord. I think my heart is already more focused on the Lord, in spite of the stuff I battle. I'd rather praise my way to peace. Purging leaves me drained and discouraged. I'm sure this book is helpful to many Christians who want to break free from bondage to things. I guess, I just don't see myself battling bondage in that camp.

For example, one statistic declared the average household monthly spending on clothing is $160. This number blew me away. Seriously? People are spending that much or more on clothes? I'm a no-frills kind of gal. I'm not concerned with comparing my wardrobe to anyone else's. My main goal is always comfort, not style. Many of my clothes have been in my wardrobe for decades.

Then came another shock to my system. Ubbenga offers this suggestion for what your wardrobe could look like. I did not list jewelry and such, just not my thing. She recommends 4 pairs of shoes, 2 bags, 2 coats/jackets, 2 dresses or skirts, 3 pairs of pants, and 10 tops. I cannot even fathom that. She must do laundry every day. She suggests paring down your kids' clothes to what would fit in a suitcase. This is minimalism on steroids. While I would so like to live with less stuff, I don't think I'm ready to pare down to 3 pairs of pants!

Toward the end of the book, the story of her journey to minimalism winds down. Her life is so much better. Her focus on the Lord is uninterrupted. She said she downsized 75% of their possessions. What is really scary is that when we move from this house (where we have lived for almost 2 decades), we probably DO need to purge 75% of our possessions. How? I can read about it all I want, but that doesn't help make it happen. Perhaps I need to tell myself I only have years to live and that might motivate me to "relinquish the past," as she recommends. Can I tell those sentimental books, letters, and photos they are "no longer welcome?" After reading this book, I'm thinking I'm a hopeless case. 

Mid-month Mention: Another Scavenger Hunt

Lately, I've been encountering new Christian authors through promotional activities. Last month I shared an opportunity for a Christian author scavenger hunt including almost 30 authors. I subscribed to a handful of author newsletters, including one for Jaime Jo Wright. Wright has joined another new-to-me author to create their own small scavenger hunt as introduction to their newest books.

Jaime Jo Wright's newest release is The Bookshop of 99 Doors. It is a Christian dual-timeline mystery set in a Pennsylvania mansion with Civil War secrets. Like Wright's other books, it is atmospheric and suspenseful. Melanie Dobson's The Lost Story of Via Belle is also a dual-timeline historical mystery. It, too, takes place in Pennsylvania. A present-day screenwriter investigates the 1940s disappearance of a romance novelist. I am eager to read both of these novels and then pass on recommendations to my cousin, Karin, who lives in Pennsylvania.

If you want to participate in this smaller scavenger hunt visit this Storydoors website. You will find two portals into photos associated with the novels. Each book showcases four rooms to explore. Some of the images, when clicked on, will send you to informational sites tied to these stories. In each room, there is a hidden clue to copy down. Once you find the 8 hidden clues, you can enter the completed sentences to enter the giveaway (15 Christian fiction titles), which ends on April 29, 2026. There is also an invitation to join a Zoom call with the authors, held on April 30th, to learn more about these stories. The winner will be announced during that Zoom call.

I joined in the fun. A few of the sites held information about author Grace Livingston Hill. My paternal grandmother had numerous Grace Livingston Hill books on her shelves in her upstairs rooms (where my sister and I stayed during visits). I can remember passing time in those novels, although I did not recognize any titles I may have read, since it was years ago (almost half a century). Even if I don't win the scavenger hunt, it was interesting to visit these sites and learn more about these books.

Book Review: The Battle of the Bookshops

Since I enjoyed Poppy Alexander's The Littlest Library, I checked out her newest book, The Battle of the Bookshops. It is clearly meant to be a modern retelling loosely mixing Romeo and Juliet with You've Got Mail. The names are ridiculously similar. Jules Capelthorne helps her aging great-aunt run a tiny bookstore in Portneath. It is the only bookstore in the tiny seaside town and is approaching its hundredth birthday. Enter the dashing young man from a feuding family, Roman Montbeau. Of course, he opens a flashy, new bookstore across the street. Unlike You've Got Mail, the rivalry is right out in the open, but like Romeo and Juliet, the two cannot keep themselves apart, despite family animosity.

The book was predictable, and yet, somewhat delightful. If you need something easy to read and are seeking romance, this book hits both boxes. I wasn't so absorbed that I read it in one sitting, but it only took a few days. It would make a quick beach read. I think The Littlest Library is still my favorite from this author. 

Movie Review: A Great Awakening

If my goal is to spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ (2 Cor. 2:14) this year, I cannot think of a better movie to watch for inspiration than A Great Awakening. I love history. I love exploring God's hand in the past as encouragement for the present (and boy, do I need encouragement, a reminder that God is alive and moving). My supplemental devotional readings have taken me into the life and ministry of Jonathan Edwards. When I saw advertisements for this movie about the relationship between George Whitefield (another revivalist of The Great Awakening) and Benjamin Franklin, I added it to my movie 2026 Baby Bucket List. For this film, I was determined. I attempted to lure someone from my Bible study to attend with me after our Tuesday morning time, but not one person joined me (how sad, given that it was a marvelous, uplifting movie). So, I went alone.

Powerful! That is the word that resonated in my brain and on my lips when I left the theater. I haven't seen a movie like it in many years. Sometimes, Christian movies suffer from poor acting and weak scripts. Not so with A Great Awakening! The movie sucked me into the historical context. George Whitefield was born in the early 1700s and worked in his family's inn. Thanks to someone's referral, he ended up attending Oxford as a servant/student (working to earn his keep and study). His great goal was to become an actor on a Shakespearean stage. However, when he came into contact with the Wesley brothers (Charles and John), his life and dreams changed. 

He became a preacher with tremendous impact and crossed the seas to reach souls in America. His elocutionary skills aided him in reaching tens of thousands of people at one time. Benjamin Franklin was not a believer, but rather a practical deist intent upon rational thought and moralistic living of virtues. Yet, his interest in capturing Whitefield's story, led Franklin into relationship with this preacher. This movie is a faithful portrayal of history. But, more than that, it is a convicting story of the gospel.

At several points, I cried over the beauty of this sound gospel testimony. I loved that it presents Christ as key. Indeed, Whitefield often said something to the effect of "let my name be nothing and Christ's be exalted." Early in his story, he attempted to align his will to the will of God. Wesley argued Whitefield wasn't seeing the gospel clearly. What he truly needed was new birth and recognition of God's undeserved grace. Salvation brings a new birth, something that is tangibly demonstrated in God's Biblically mandated baptism. I cried at Whitefield's baptism. I cried when he baptised the filthy workers in a coal mine (such a powerful image of the filth of sin being washed away through the blood of Christ).

This was a great man of God! Yet, his humility was stunning. He did not want to draw attention to himself, but put all focus on Christ. When he was shunned from the pulpits, he took to the streets to awaken dead souls to life in Christ. He probably won many thousands into the kingdom of God. So convicting! What have I done? I want to be more effective in wooing others to the Lord, in calling out sin and declaring the grace that saves men's souls from damnation and transfers them (Christ's righteousness applied and the Holy Spirit given as a seal of inheritance) into God's family where no man can snatch them from His hold (John 10:27-29).

If you only go to see one movie this year, make it A Great Awakening (although for many theaters, TODAY is the last day it will be showing)! If you are a believer, it will stokes fires within you to reach the lost. If you are not a believer, perhaps George Whitefield's message from the grave will bring you from death to life in Christ. Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, God will meet you in this movie! And if all you take from it is a history lesson, even still the time will be well spent. For me, I cannot wait to see this movie again and hope to take my husband along before it leaves our area (it appears to be showing through next Thursday in towns further away). If you see the movie, please leave a comment letting me know if it impacted you as strongly as it did me. Would that my life witnessed for Christ one-tenth of the magnitude of George Whitefield's flame!

Here is a trailer for this powerful film.

Book Review: Triumphs of the Heart

I plucked Triumphs of the Heart: The Promise of Joyful Living from my shelves to accompany my morning devotional studies. Cheryl Ford does an excellent job of bringing women of the Bible to life in these mini-biographies. Each chapter seemed to spur me along to consider aspects of the heart. How I want to incorporate some of these encouragements into my daily living! This is a book I will hold onto, even in my efforts to purge belongings.

The author highlights eight women in the Bible with characteristics to emulate. I mentioned, at the end of this post, that my verse this year was drawn from Ford's first chapter on Anna (the watchful heart). I hope to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. I hope to watch, as Anna did, for our Redeemer's return. Other types of hearts are mentioned, too: a tenacious heart, a searching heart, a valiant heart, a daring heart, a liberated heart, and a sacrificial heart. 

It was no coincidence that I read the fifth chapter, exploring Esther, during the weeks my Bible Study Fellowship class was focused on Esther. Then, the final chapter on the woman at the well (the good-news heart), seemed something the Lord wanted to drive home to me. While I read that chapter, I heard two different sermons from two different churches and both considered the woman at the well. Then, I saw a Facebook post highlighting this woman's example. In the end, I decided God was trying to remind me to draw from His living water, rather than coming up empty with my own resources in my daily battles. He was also encouraging me to spread the good news as she did. I love when God repeats the lesson until He drives it home. I also love that books fall into our hands at specific moments of need. Isn't that the coolest! 

Book Review: The Life She Forgot

Almost a year ago, I discovered and joined a Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt. It was not only fun, but also introduced me to a host of new-to-me authors. I signed on for several author newsletters and that is how I first came to know about Joanna Davidson Politano's books. I borrowed The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House from my library. Sadly, my stack of current reads kept me from it and other readers in the hold line were eager for their turn. When she mentioned a launch team for The Life She Forgot in her newsletter, I jumped at the chance.

The Life She Forgot is an Edwardian dual-timeline historical mystery set on the Cornish coast. It is the first book in Politano's House on the Edge of the Cliff series. You can pre-order the Kindle version and it will be auto-delivered on April 21, 2026.

It is 1913 and Merryn cannot remember who she is or where she is from. Three years ago, Lady St. Laurent took her in, grateful that Merryn saved her 7-year-old grandson Cecil from being hit by a car (the act that brought on her amnesia). At Lady St. Laurent's death, her will stipulates that Merryn will receive a small fortune and guardianship of the boy. However, Lady St. Laurent's daughter Sabine will receive the house. Sabine feels cheated and is determined to have Merryn declared unfit and sent to an asylum.

Merryn's only hope seems to be in proposing marriage to the young man she met at the park three weeks ago, A.J. Winthrop. She doesn't know herself, let alone anything about this young man, but she is desperate to retrieve her memory and prove her ability to care for Cecil. Can she trust A.J.? Will he help her restore her memories? Then, memories of another man and another wedding begin to surface. She hopes a trip to Cornwall will bring clarity, but she is being followed and time is running out.

In 1947, William Thatcher is plagued by memories of the war. He leaves his wife behind (thinking it is in her best interest) when he inherits Dunn Cottage on the Cornish coast. He doesn't even know Anwen Dunn. Why would she leave him the cottage? He is drawn to a painting of a woman and determined to find out the story and value of the portrait. Can he prove its provenance and secure enough funds to send back to his wife? Why does he think she'd be better off without him?

Although there are several storylines and characters to keep track of, the two timelines interweave, even to the point of sharing ending and beginning lines in chapters. I enjoyed so many things about this novel. On the one hand, memories can plague a person. On the other hand, losing memory is like losing the essence of yourself. Multiple questions lure the reader and ramp up the plot repeatedly. Merryn is in a race against time to retrieve her memory so she can save herself and Cecil.

This book considers identity, parenting, greed, and marriage. Both William and Merryn have made mistakes in the past that haunt them in the present. Both struggle with their marriages. I loved the line, "Marriage is the Russian Roulette of humanity--deposit yourself firmly in the arms of another and hope they deign to catch you every day of your life." We all enter marriages unaware of what the future holds. Sometimes we wound one another. Sometimes we save one another. If you're looking for a Christian historical novel full of intrigue in a beautiful coastal setting, The Life She Forgot, will woo you and win you.

2026 - First Quarterly Review

To assist my blog readers, I summarize my reading four times a year, providing a brief description, genre, the page count, and a grading scale (💖5 page-turner - highly recommend, 4 page-turner - enjoyed, 3 page-turner - good, 2 page-turner - meh, and 1 page-turner - regret, wishing I could get back the time invested). I read the following books during the first quarter of 2026 (links to full reviews can be found in the side-bar, or after 2026, found through the search bar at the right):

A Bramble House Christmas by C. J. Carmichael - Sent to investigate the recipient of his father's bequest, Finn finds a young mother and son enjoying a holiday at Bramble House. Finn's opinion of his father and this nurse change. Christmas Romance. 224 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 5 hours), 📃📃📃

Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature's Most Intriguing Dedications by Marlene Wagman-Geller - A compilation of 50 stories about the dedications authors wrote in the front of their books. Interesting, informative, and well-researched. Nonfiction. 336 pages, 📃📃📃

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate - A dual-timeline novel about the historical practice of stealing land from orphans. Well-researched, but a bit long to get to the point. Historical Fiction. 368 pages (I listened in audio form, 11 CDs, 14 hours), 📃📃📃

The Second Story Bookshop by Denise Hunter - An enemies to lovers, second-chance romance set in an inherited bookstore. Shelby wonders why her grandmother left the shop to both Shelby and her ex-boyfriend. Can they work together to make it profitable again? Clean Contemporary Romance. 368 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 9-3/4 hours), 📃📃📃-1/2

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans - Sybil van Antwerp is losing her sight. This is a scary threat to someone who has spent her life sending and receiving letters. Among letters to her brother, her friends, authors, and young people, she also keeps up one unsent letter. The explanation will gut you! Epistolary Novel. 304 pages, 📃📃📃📃-1/2

Answers to Prayer from George Muller's Narratives by George Muller - This great man of prayer outlines his intense prayer efforts and God's consistent faithfulness. We must pray boldly, depending only on prayer, and believing He is capable of meeting our needs. Christian Living. 70 pages (I read the e-book on Hoopla, 76 pages), 📃📃📃

The Little Liar by Mitch Albom - The lives of four individuals intersect during World War II. This is a tale of atrocities filtered through the narration of Truth. Inspirational/Historical Fiction. 352 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 7-3/4 hours), 📃📃📃📃

Light in the Darkness by Roy McKay - BBC Talks pamphlet from the late 1950's. No idea where or when I got it, but bolstered by the encouraging words. Broadcast Religious Talks. 16 pages, 📃📃📃

The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson - A very old pamphlet (purchased in Edinburgh many years ago) of a famous, meaningful poem. Beautiful copy. Poetry. 25 pages, 📃📃📃📃

Jonathan Edwards: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought by Stephen J. Nichols - Excellent biography of a seminal thinker and preacher in early American history. 247 pages, 📃📃📃📃

Statistically Speaking by Debbie Johnson - A British story of a woman who, at 16, gave up her baby for adoption. She is on a journey to find family. Feel-good, British Women's Fiction. 336 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 9-1/2 hours), 📃📃📃📃

I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney - A hilarious, yet meaningful, consideration of life, death, and second chances. This was worth overlooking mild unsavory aspects to reach the laughter and the lessons. Humorous Fiction. 304 pages, 📃📃📃📃

Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry - A brief foray into what it took to see the classic "Back to the Future" make it to the big screen. Michael J. Fox's endurance and vision are inspiring. Hollywood Memoir. 156 pages, 📃📃📃📃

💖When Life Feels Empty: 7 Ancient Practices to Cultivate Meaning by Isaac Serrano - Materialism causes us to live horizontally. These 7 practices help us to look up and live vertically, which in turn fills our lives with meaning. Christian Living. 192 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 5-1/2 hours), 📃📃📃📃📃

Every Hour Until Then by Gabrielle Meyer - A time-travel book set in Jack-the-Ripper's 1888 London and 1938 London on the cusp of World War II. Interesting premise. A bit heavy on the spiritual applications. Christian Historical Fiction. 339 pages, 📃📃📃-1/2

Reconnected: How 7 Screen-Free Weeks With Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human by Carlos Whittaker - On this 7-week sabbatical from his phone, Whittaker learns to value savoring, walking, community, and intentionality. Interesting experiment. Convicting commentary. Christian Self-Help. 210 pages, 📃📃📃📃

Uneasy Street by Becky Wade - Part 3 of the Sons of Scandal trilogy. A friends to enemies to lovers story. Sloane and Max have history, but can hurt on both sides be overcome to start anew? Christian Romance. 386 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 10-1/4 hours), 📃📃📃📃

Companions in the Darkness: Seven Saints Who Struggled with Depression and Doubt by Diana Gruver - Focusing on greats like Spurgeon, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther, who dealt with chronic depression in spite of their intense faith. Battling depression does not mean you are a lesser Christian, or faithless; it means God, and his children, will walk with you through the darkness. Christian Living. 157 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 6-1/2 hours), 📃📃📃📃-1/2