Book Review: Masquerade by Nancy Moser

From the Jacket…

1886. Charlotte Gleason embarks from England with conflicting emotions. She is headed for New York to marry one of America’s wealthiest heirs – a man she has never even met. When her doubts gain the upper hand, she swaps identities with her maid, Dora. But what begins as the whim of a spoiled rich girl becomes a test of survival beyond her blackest nightmare. For Dora, it’s the chance of a lifetime. She is thrust into a fairy tale amid ball gowns and lavish mansions, yet is tormented by the possibility of discovery – and humiliation. And what of the man who believes she is indeed his intended? Is this what her heart truly longs for?

While I usually enjoy a nice easy-read romance novel, I found that Masquerade by Nancy Moser left me wanting something more.  These two young women switch identities in an attempt to find love and adventure, but their youthful selfish outlook and somewhat shallow personalities made them difficult to like as characters.  Now, over time, they did grow in maturity through the circumstances they encountered and they were open to the direction and work of God in their hearts, yet I wish these areas would have been further explored in the story.  I particularly enjoyed a thread in the story where Charlotte Gleason is exposed to issues of poverty and social justice, and I found myself really being touched by this aspect of her journey, but I think I would have enjoyed it even more if this had been a larger focus, since it added depth and emotional impact.

As for the girls’ romantic endeavors, I think the historical setting makes the development of the relationships difficult to relate to, as courting and marriage were approached so differently in those days.  The important decisions about love and marriage seemed to happen based on emotion and infatuation, more than on God’s leading or on discovering a person’s heart over time.  Again, this is probably largely due to the culture of that era, but it made the romance portion of the story less enjoyable for me.  In the end, I think there were several ideas in this novel that were really good or had a lot of potential to be developed, and I still found the story entertaining to read, but I wouldn’t list it among my favorites.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available now at your favorite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Happy 9 Months Rayah!

My little baby girl is already 9 months old and she’s not so little any more!  She weighed in at 23 lb. 12 oz. and is around 29 3/4 inches long.  She officially outgrew her infant carseat, so we purchased one of these combo infant-child-booster seats that can still be used rear-facing for now and which she can grow into as well.  She is a chunky-monkey and I love her chubby rolls – she is so squishable and loveable in all her soft, mushy goodness! 

She has also been teething pretty much all month and has four teeth on the top to show for it!  This has also allowed her to start eating some new foods & loves chomping on rice crackers or a baby carrot or apple slice or french fries.   She often cries while we’re feeding her if we don’t go fast enough or when she’s done her bottle, because she’s so sad it’s over!  Here she is showing off her teeth in her classic under-bite smile.    Oh, and don’t you just love the little curl of hair she has in the  front – so cute!

She loves standing while we hold her hands and it makes her very happy to be standing, which is quite different from Justice, who would just go limp if we tried to hold his hands and have him stand or walk.  She’s also trying to crawl and will desperately try to move forwards toward a toy or something, but inevitably ends up pushing herself backwards into a corner.    However, she can scootch quite a distance acoss the floor while sitting on her bum!

Video – Bouncing

She’s responding to her name and laughing more and has added “mamamama” and “baba” to her extensive vocabulary of “dada”, “gaga” and “yaya”.    The videos below the pictures show her growling noises that she sometimes makes while eating that just crack me up (skip to about 0:35), as well as some funny noises she was making one day during her bath.

Video – Growly Eater

Video – Noisy Bather

She’s sleeping unswaddled on her stomach at night, but I’ve still been swaddling her for her naps, just because it seems to help her sleep better and longer.  She’s also learning how to open drawers and cupboard doors, except that most of them are already babyproofed, much to her frustration.

She loves sitting and playing in the water at the splash park and we’ve really been enjoying going there as a family once or twice a week!

Lastly, I’ve really been noticing several differences this month between Rayah and Justice as her unique personality is really becoming apparent.  She is more serious, more sensitive, more delicate, and more of a mama’s girl (“plays strange” with a lot of people and doesn’t like it if mommy leaves the room) while Justice is always laughing, is tough as nails most times, and loves people!  She’s also really funny – making Justice and Joe and I laugh a lot, determined, curious, and simply beautiful.

The Only One Worthy of Worship

“All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
along with the noise of your harps…
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’”
Isaiah 14:11, 13-14

“…You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…
You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you…
Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor…”
Ezekiel 28:12, 15, 17

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”
Exodus 20:4-5

The scripture tells us that Satan was a guardian cherub, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty who walked amongst the fiery stones on the holy mount of God and who played musical instruments, perhaps leading worship in heaven.  But somewhere along the way, he became corrupted in his heart because he allowed pride to seep in and cause him to consider his own beauty and splendor to be equal to or even greater than that of God.  In his heart he aspired to ascend God’s holy mountain and take over God’s throne so that he might receive worship for himself.  Somewhere along the way, he began to believe that his wisdom and beauty were of his own making and that he was deserving of the worship of heaven, forgetting that it was God who created him and gave him that beauty to begin with.

Many of us are familiar with that story and we might think ourselves wiser and above falling for the same deception, yet I’m afraid that the desire to receive worship is a common iniquity within us all.  As fallen, sinful humans, there is a part of our flesh that longs for others to recognize our beauty, our talents, our abilities, our riches, our admirable qualities, our power, etc. etc.  In fact, humans receive worship from each other all the time – politicians, musicians, athletes, celebrities, wealthy business people – and secretly, we love it.  We love to be admired, adored, praised and told by others how wonderful we are!  Now, I’m not talking about the healthy desire for words of affirmation and love from those who care about us – I’m talking about the deep, hidden desire that we wish wasn’t there that longs to be worshiped.

The Holy Spirit constantly has to remind me of this trap of the enemy, as it is so easy to get caught up in this, especially when you are involved in any kind of leadership role where people are looking up to you.  I don’t know about others, but I’m guessing that this isn’t uncommon even for worship leaders, musicians and singers whose sole purpose is to lead people to worship God.  Now, I believe that even deeper, there is the sincere and completely pure desire to have all worship go only to God and that He sees that desire more than He sees our weakness and sinfulness, so I hope I’m not communicating any sort of judgment or shame!  I know that God sees my true longings to praise and adore Him, but I also know that He is absolutely not willing to share any of His worship with me or any other person, and that He loves me so much, that He will do anything to rid my heart of these idolatrous roots!

Lastly, something I’ve been thinking about is that one of the attributes of God that makes Him God is that He alone is the only One worthy of worship or praise.  Like I already said, He will share His worship with no one – not an angel, not an animal, not the sun or moon or stars, not a demon, not any created thing in the universe, and certainly not any human!!  For Him to allow anything or anyone other than Himself to receive worship would mean that He would cease to be God, because then He would be saying that this thing or person is equal to or greater than Himself. 

However, there is one amazing exception to this, in that part of His perfect plan to redeem humankind involved sending His One and Only Son, His equal in every way, to become a man forever, and He set it up that Jesus will one day receive the worship and praise of every man, woman and child, every angel and demon and living creature, and they will all confess that Jesus is Lord!!!  Jesus is the ONLY man who is and will ever be worthy of receiving worship, because though He is now fully a man, He is also still fully God!  Through God’s sovereign and supernatural workings, He made it possible for a man to receive worship, while not relinquishing any of His own Divinity. since He chose to express His very own nature and form in Jesus, making what was once invisible now visible to mankind!  It’s sort of hard to wrap your mind around, but it’s pretty awesome!

In the end, I am so grateful that it is Jesus who will receive all the worship of all creation and that nobody and no thing will be able to any longer take any worship for themselves…including myself.

A Home for Sanctuary House of Prayer – Part 2

Read Part 1 here…

Back in Calgary a few months later and we found ourselves at a fork in the road with several different options before us.  Joe had been offered a really great job opportunity that would require us to move to a different city.  We were also being asked to help head up the leadership of a ministry by a great couple who had mentored us in prayer and intercession.  And then I think it was me who decided to throw in the monkey wrench of proposing that we move to Winnipeg to be a part of this new budding house of prayer.  The thought of it was scary and crazy, but so tempting!  Yet these other options were also really great and we were having a really hard time deciding which path to take?  Finally, we felt the Lord say that it was our choice and that He would bless us no matter which one we chose.  In the end, we had to follow the desire of our hearts to be in a place where the main focus was simply to minister to the Lord in worship and prayer – we could think of nothing better!

After taking a trip that summer to visit Sanctuary House of Prayer and meet all the awesome people who were a part of it, our decision was final and in September 2006 we picked up and moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to join them!  I vividly remember the first time I attended and sat down in the back row by myself (Joe was still in Calgary and would be coming in a couple weeks) and as I opened my Bible and journal, with the prophetic worship happening on stage, I broke down in tears, I was so happy to be there!  It didn’t matter that it was small, that the sound system was terrible, that the musicians and singers were amateurs, that there was no air conditioning – these people loved Jesus, the presence of the Holy Spirit was there, and I felt His delight over it all.  Something in my heart came alive and I knew we were where we were supposed to be.

Fast forward nearly 4 years and I don’t think any of us expected that we would still be in that small building with bad sound and no air conditioning – ha!  I think we’ve grown as musicians and singers over the years, but the most important thing is still that it’s all about Jesus, His presence, and ministering to Him.  Joe and I have had the privilege of hosting hundreds of prayer meetings in our own home as well, which has been an incredible blessing to us and our family.  There have been many challenges and trials, growing experiences, joyful and fun times, intense encounters with God, tears, laughter, and hours of prayer and worship that have brought us to a new season at our little house of prayer.  As of September, exactly 4 years since Joe and I moved here, we will no longer be able to use the building that has been graciously provided to us by the church who owns it.  We have longed and yearned and searched and prayed for a building of our own probably ever since we began, but the time has come where our prayers are now being lifted up in earnest, as we need a place of our own more than ever!

I wanted to share a little bit about our journey and how we came to Sanctuary House of Prayer because I wanted to give you a glimpse into why we love this place and why we are passionate about seeing this ministry unto God continue in our city.  Not only do we want to be able to continue to gather to worship and intercede on behalf of Winnipeg as we have been up until now, but we long to be able to one day do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Jesus said that He would return to the earth to bring justice in response to day and night prayer, so that is what we want to do!  Not only because we desire to see justice and righteousness established on the earth, but simply because He is worthy and deserving of non-stop, continuous worship and adoration!  In heaven, there is ceaseless worship around the throne of God, and Jesus Himself taught us to pray, “on earth as it is in heaven”, so we would love to see this happen here and now.

Recently we held an assembly where we gathered for a focused time of worship and prayer and brought in a guest speaker and worship leader, Justin Rizzo, from IHOP.  While he was here, he shared many things that really encouraged us in what we’re doing, but one thing that really struck home was a prophetic word he gave us where he shared about a vision that he had seen of a whirlwind of God’s presence that was in the place where we currently meet.  Similar to the cloud and pillar of fire that was with the Israelites in Exodus and which led them through the desert, Justin shared with us that he felt we would move when the whirlwind moved – as God’s presence leads us, that is how we will know where to go – it won’t be us moving and hoping He follows us! So, this is the place we find ourselves – needing to trust in God’s perfect leadership and that He will truly lead us to where He wants us to go.  He is not surprised by these events and He knows exactly what He’s doing!  He is the One who is building His house of prayer in this city and He wants it even more than we do!

So, for anyone who reads this blog, in the weeks ahead, I would like to ask you to partner with us as we pray and seek God for a home for Sanctuary House of Prayer…

1.  PRAY!  Please pray for a building for us, that we will find the right one, that the Lord will provide the resources needed, and that we will follow His leadership throughout the process.

2.  SHARE!  Tell your friends and your friends’ friends, your relatives and your relatives’ relatives, your co-workers, your neighbors – anyone and everyone!  You never know where there might be a connection that could help us find our new home!

3.  HELP!  If you see or know of a suitable building for sale – tell us, if you have millions of dollars you want to get rid of – by all means do share, if you have or know of a space for rent or lease or free – we’ll take a look at that too!  Any lead or donation or anything would be super helpful to us at this stage in our journey.

While we do not know exactly how the future will unfold, we are excited for whatever God has in store and to see how He is going to write the next chapter in our story.  Thanks for reading and for joining with us in this adventure!

A Home for Sanctuary House of Prayer – Part 1

I want to share a little about our journey that has brought my husband and I to Sanctuary House of Prayer and what God is currently doing in our midst…

Before I met my husband Joe, I knew nothing about the International House of Prayer (IHOP) and was simply enjoying life in Calgary, Alberta where I had been living for over four years.  I loved Jesus, was going to school for Computer Programming, volunteered part-time at my church, and figured I would probably stay there forever?  Then my life got turned upside down when this handsome, tall, charming man entered my life and swept me off my feet with poetic, romantic words from the Song of Songs, wooing my heart with words about my Bridegroom Jesus that I never thought I’d hear coming from any man!  To find someone who was this in love with Jesus felt like a direct answer to my prayers and it wasn’t long before I was head over heels in love.

During our dating months, I began to learn that Joe had learned all this wonderful language about Jesus as our Bridegroom from teachings he had listened to by Mike Bickle at IHOP and my first personal experience came when he bought me Mike Bickle’s 20 session series on the Song of Songs.  From then on, I was hooked, and soon began to learn all about intercession, harp and bowl worship & prayer, the End-Times, the Bridal Paradigm, and more.  Joe and I both knew that this was something we wanted to be a part of!

After we got married, we seriously considered moving to Kansas City so that Joe could do an internship at IHOP, but we felt like the Lord told us to stay put.  We then got involved at our church in a leadership role for the prayer ministry of the young adult service and we started to implement anything and everything we could from IHOP’s harp and bowl worship and prayer model.  We loved it and were experiencing some really enjoyable times of prayer!  But we longed for more…

In January of 2006, as I was reading the blog of an old friend from highschool (Kristi), I discovered that her husband(Shane) was going to become a full-time intercessory missionary as they launched Sanctuary House of Prayer back in Winnipeg, Manitoba!  Joe and I were so excited just to hear about another young, married couple with the same desires and passions and that there was going to be a house of prayer in Canada!  We had not heard of anyone else doing anything like this in Canada and were simply happy for them.  As we made plans to visit my family for my dad’s birthday that March, we knew we just had to get together for coffee with Shane & Kristi to chat with them about their new endeavor.  When we met up at Cora’s for brunch, we immediately connected and felt like there was finally someone speaking our language!  They encouraged us in what we were doing back at our church and we encouraged them in what they were doing and we left that coffee date not thinking much of it.

To be continued…

(You can read Part 2 here)

Next Page »