Online Journal

Book Review: The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Book Review: The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living

51Whg08igcL._SX328_BO1,204,203,200_Olivia Rawlings’ life could be summed up by how many different colors she dyes her hair: restless, rootless, and ready to run when life gets complicated. The only thing constant in her life is her baking, Salty (her dog), and Hannah, her friend. Even her relationships are complex.

The scene opens up with Olivia setting fire to the restaurant because the restaurant owner is the man she is having an affair with and he won’t leave his wife. She’s not an arsonist. It was the combination of a wobbly food tray, vertigo, and 150-proof rum on sweet desserts set on fire. She finds her way to Guthrie, Vermont after quitting the Emmerson Club and in the employment of Margaret–a troubled and cranky Bed and Breakfast owner who doesn’t keep bakers around for too long.

While two different colored threads seem unrelated, the book begins to bring the fibers together at long last and we learn more about Guthrie, its gossip, its people, and why Margaret is cranky. We learn about Olivia’s friendship with Alfred. It is my sincere hope that Alfred gets his own story in the next book. He was too nice a man not to find his own, “happily ever after.” The only blemish was something that clashed with my own worldview as a Christian, but that part appeared and passed; almost felt preachy. Almost. 

The whole book doesn’t align with Christian beliefs, but it does reflect the rough areas and choices of life. Having worked as a hostess, the people I worked with were like Olivia–jaded and foul-mouthed at times. Olivia’s character is perfectly outlined. She starts out rough, runs as per her character from a perceived situation, and in the end, makes the right choice. We grieve when she grieves and cheers when she finds her way out of the entanglements of her choices and own prejudgments of a town that had come to love this fiery, outspoken, and unusual baker.

I closed the book with a contented sigh. Never prejudge one chapter. I wish Christian fiction would write realistically like this, because we all began broken and God made us whole. We make mistakes, but when we repent, wonderful blessings abound. I love how Olivia became whole again. It’s amazing what happens when you stop running.

Now when does Alfred get his own story? I would love to see him find happiness. 

*Book given by publisher to review. Reviewed from a Christian perspective. 

Coffee and Desserts

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Coffee and Desserts

Can’t help me out financially? 

Consider holding a dessert and coffee at your home or business. I ask that you invite your friends to it. I can provide the dessert, even the coffee. I will do a presentation to your friends, show videos, and talk to them, even answer their questions. If you think you would like to do this, please email me. Let’s work out the details.

Live Prayer Update: Psalm 5

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Live Prayer Update: Psalm 5

Live Prayer is ongoing as we speak. You can view the live version or the recorded version on my social networks. Today’s verse is Psalm 5:

Psalm 5

For the music leader. For the flutes. A psalm of David.

5 Hear my words, Lord!
    Consider my groans!
2     Pay attention to the sound of my cries, my king and my God,
        because I am praying to you!
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
    In the morning I lay it all out before you.
    Then I wait expectantly.
4 Because you aren’t a God
    who enjoys wickedness;
    evil doesn’t live with you.
5 Arrogant people won’t last long
in your sight;
    you hate all evildoers;
6     you destroy liars.
    The Lord despises people who are violent and dishonest.

7 But me? I will enter your house
    because of your abundant, faithful love;
    I will bow down at your holy temple,
        honoring you.
8 Lord, because of many enemies,
    please lead me in your righteousness.
    Make your way clear,
        right in front of me.
9 Because there’s no truth in my enemies’ mouths,
    all they have inside them is destruction.
    Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues slick with talk.
10 Condemn them, God!
    Let them fail by their own plans.
Throw them out for their many sins
    because they’ve rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you celebrate.
    Let them sing out loud forever!
Protect them
    so that all who love your name
    can rejoice in you.
12 Because you, Lord, bless the righteous.
    You cover them with favor like a shield.

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When I Handed Her My Resume

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on When I Handed Her My Resume

When I handed my resume to the woman in the power suit, she took it from me, and bent her head to read it. The marble floors, glass partitions, and rich woods made me more conscious of the black permanent marker I used on my Kmart special black heels to hide a worn spot near the toe or the clear nail polish I used in the parking garage on a run on my panty hose.

A few minutes passed, and she looked up from the paper at me and said: “It sounds like you are applying to be a writer, not a receptionist?”

This was several years ago as a young woman applying to work at a magazine located in downtown Phoenix. There’s value in starting from the bottom. Whether you are a receptionist answering phone calls or a brand new missionary appointee learning cross-cultural communication and the complex issues regarding the peoples on the move, nothing is ever wasted. In fact, coming from a position of a learner and working your way up is better.

  • You get to know the organization.
  • People mentor you and you learn from this.
  • God grows you through the experiences, mistakes, and successes.
  • And no action is “beneath you” to do no matter where you go in life.

Today, I thought about that moment in the magazine office, and when I did, I felt a twinge of worry.

“Lord, how do I do this ministry? There is so much information to absorb and learn!”

Matthew 4:19 in the CEB returned to me:

“Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.”

This time it held new meaning for me. Everyone begins somewhere in a new career. They learn new things, new habits, disciplines, and it can be challenging. God will show me how, not just in technology, but in cross-cultural communication, too. Already, I feel like I am changing as I wrestle with my own prejudices and political beliefs against what the Bible says. That wrestling though didn’t start with my appointment with WorldVenture.

A certain Latino pastor came into my life who started changing my worldview. WorldVenture simply clarified my direction.

Now my daunting task isn’t riding an elevator up a skyscraper and crossing marble floors as quietly as possible in uncomfortable black heels; instead, it is learning about the Peoples on the Move and reaching them through technology. I am not alone. Many wonderful people with WorldVenture and others around the world are taking up that call. I am praying for 100% funding by March, 2017.

When I see that deadline, I feel like that girl again in black heels reaching my resume across the desk to a woman in a power suit.

God says, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” He calls the unqualified.

Incidentally, I did not get the job at the magazine as a receptionist or a writer. As you can see, God had other plans for me.

Live Prayer Update: Psalm 4

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Live Prayer Update: Psalm 4

Live Prayer Going On Now

Go to Facebook page, personal, Periscope, or Twitter between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. 

Psalm 4

For the music leader. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

4 Answer me when I cry out, my righteous God!
    Set me free from my troubles!
        Have mercy on me!
        Listen to my prayer!

2 How long, you people,
    will my reputation be insulted?
How long will you continue
    to love what is worthless
    and go after lies? Selah
3 Know this: the Lord takes
    personal care of the faithful.
The Lord will hear me
    when I cry out to him.
4 So be afraid, and don’t sin!
    Think hard about it in your bed
    and weep over it! Selah
5 Bring righteous offerings,
    and trust the Lord!

6 Many people say,
    “We can’t find goodness anywhere.
    The light of your face has left us, Lord!”
7 But you have filled my heart with more joy
    than when their wheat and wine are everywhere!
8 I will lie down and fall asleep in peace
    because you alone, Lord, let me live in safety.

Common English Bible (CEB)READ MORE

Morning Devotions: Consequences of Sin

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Morning Devotions: Consequences of Sin

I’m in Genesis 19 and Lot’s daughters got their father drunk and lay with him, becoming pregnant. Interestingly enough, the desire to get pregnant outside of the Lord’s will and through sin brought on generations of peoples who worshiped other gods. The Moabites offered human sacrifice to their god, Chemosh. (2 Kings 3:27). The Ammonites, “…joined the Syrians in their wars with the Maccabees and were defeated by Judas (1 Mac 5:6). Their religion was a degrading and cruel superstition. Their chief god was Molech, or Moloch, to whom they offered human sacrifices (1 Kings 11:7) against which Israel was especially warned (Leviticus 20:2-5). This worship was common to other tribes for we find it mentioned among the Phoenicians. (from here)” 

I’m thinking of our world and how the determination to gain something overrides the moral compass. Cutting corners, cheating others, corrupting compassion, taking and never giving, and how some jobs are no better than a sweat shop with a total disregard for humanity, instead craving profit. If our desires go outside of God’s desires, I think of instances like Genesis 19 and I wonder what the consequences will be for generations to come on people and families?
Lastly, Observe that, after this, we never read any more of Lot, nor what became of him: no doubt he repented of his sin, and was pardoned; but from the silence of the scripture concerning him henceforward we may learn that drunkenness, as it makes men forgetful, so it makes them forgotten; and many a name, which otherwise might have been remembered with respect, is buried by it in contempt and oblivion.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. 

Psalm 3 Live Prayer

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Psalm 3 Live Prayer

Live prayer is ongoing on Periscope, Facebook (personal, page, and TRC Magazine), and Twitter. Today we are focused on Psalm 3:

Psalm 3

A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

3 Lord, I have so many enemies!
    So many are standing against me.
2 So many are talking about me:
    “Even God won’t help him.” Selah
3 But you, Lord, are my shield!
    You are my glory!
    You are the one who restores me.
4 I cry out loud to the Lord,
    and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah
5 I lie down, sleep, and wake up
    because the Lord helps me.
6 I won’t be afraid of thousands of people
    surrounding me on all sides.

7 Stand up, Lord!
    Save me, my God!
In fact, hit all my enemies on the jaw;
    shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Rescue comes from the Lord!
    May your blessing be on your people! Selah

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