When I am on vacation, I don’t want any heavy duty reading although I’m likely to spend my lazy summer afternoons with a good book. Here are some suggestions for when you’re stuck inside a tent or motel room while it pours down rain outside.

Her Daddy’s Eyes is the first book I’ve read based on the Viet Nam War. Imagine that you are just a few short weeks from your wedding day. Allie finds some old pictures while sorting through other things. Her Mother hesitates to let her see the pictures but Allie insists. Then she starts asking about her father and why he abandoned them.

Can you imagine her fiancée’s shock when she decides to find the father that abandoned them many years ago? As you might expect he finds it difficult to understand Allie’s desperate need to connect with her father.

Gary E. Parker. Her Daddy’s Eyes. Revell. 2006.

Place of Sage

Does your family have secrets? Are there stories about the past that current family members are try keep from you? Have you reached the point where you simply must find out what the secret is all about?

Place of Sage is the story of Kayla discovering her family secrets. It is told in the context of her taking her children on a trip and finding a new town. Luke, her husband, is away on a job. Kayla is a writer on a mission. She doesn’t quite understand why God is asking her to take this trip and follow some hunches.

Recommendation

You’ll need to read the first book to see how it ends. In some ways, I can see my son in this book. His father has denied him for 25 years now. I can almost see it winding up like this book does – at sometime in the unforeseen future. If you are a single parent, you may see yourself here too. The reasons for the separation may be different, but the ending could easily be the same.

Some of the events in Place of Sage will seem common to all families. Others may find excitement or extreme sadness in the ending of the story. I had mixed emotions. You’ll learn how one writer finally finishes a book! Some books take weeks; others take years. If you are a Christian, the Lord is leading you all the way even when you can’t see his hand.

I was reminded of a time in my life when something I would do in the future was revealed to me. Although it didn’t seem possible to fulfill this action, several years later I was reminded that God leads us even when we don’t realize it. I wound up doing exactly what He had shown me years before. Jamie learns this lesson as she decides to follow God’s plan even when it doesn’t make sense at the time.