Finding Emmeline Book Review

Here is the latest review of "Finding Emmeline" posted on Amazon. Thank you reader for your review. Happy you enjoyed the read:

I have read and enjoyed the three Patch Town series books, and now Finding Emmeline, the first book in the Brain Box Detective Club series. This book tells the story of finding and rescuing Emmeline Quinn and her eight year old daughter from the bondage imposed by Emmeline’s landlord and employer, Charles Hobbs. Along the way there is adventure and danger, set in the backdrop of the beautiful Pocono Mountain region of northeastern Pennsylvania.

A central theme in each of Mr. Parlante’s books is that we only become truly free when we forgive those who have hurt us. The main character of the books, Martin Gilmore, works hard to overcome past anger and grow beyond it through forgiveness, but as we all know, this is not an easy task.

I find that I have become attached to the characters in the Patch Town/Brain Box Detective books. They are simple, everyday people that struggle with the very recognizable difficulties of daily life. Martin has lots of anxieties, but manages to love. He has overcome past difficulties with being able to hold onto a job. Though devastated by the loss of his first wife, he was able to find Linda and her daughter Kati, and begin to build a new life. The adventure added to each book makes it fun to spend time with these very tangible people.

Robert Parlante

CALLONME!

Pulled up behind a SUV in the Home Depot parking lot and I was struck by the vanity license plate on the vehicle. It said “Callonme”, and in my instant reverie, I immediately began channeling Carole King singing “You’ve Got a Friend.”

“When you’re down and troubled and you need a helping hand … you just call out my name and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running.”

The song was written by Carole King, and she recorded it for her album titled Tapestry, one of the bestselling in all recording history.

While still silently humming the song, a contractor type person showed up and unlocked the vehicle and got in.

"Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you’ve got to do is call, and I’ll be there. You’ve got a friend.”

But a reality check soon overcame my fixation with music decades old. Instead of a Scripture text being the immediate thing to come to mind, I thought of Carole King. Maybe having recently seen the stage musical of her life and music, titled “Beautiful”, may have had much to do with that focus. But look at how much more it could have been

There is Psalm 50:15 – Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.

Jeremiah 33:3 – Call to me and I will answer and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Psalm 91:15 – When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.

Keep Colossians 3:2 in mind when you feel your focus going awry. “Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

Robert Parlante

The Seven Last Words of Christ

Last week I had the opportunity to hear a string quartet presentation of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Last Seven Words of Christ on the Cross. The musical piece is a series of sonatas for each of the seven phrases uttered by Christ during his final hours. During the chamber music presentation, various audio clips of various preachers preceded the different sonatas. Words by Evangelist Billy Graham and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. were among the excerpts.

As the sonatas approach the end, the final comments by Christ were particularly compelling – “It is finished” (John 19:30) and “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).

At the close of the sonatas all you hear is a single musical note being plucked on a string instrument. Initially, it sounded like a rapidly beating heart dealing with the agony of crucifixion. The heart beats slowed, and the time between beats begins to grow longer, then more intermittent, and culminating with a final single, solitary beat.

Stillness followed. It was over. Christ was dead. It was a somber moment intensified by the moving Haydn music, even in its silence. I found myself wanting to gasp for more air.

On Good Friday, we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But as believers, we know it’s not over. Yes, Christ died, but there’s more to the story! On that day, we also wait with anticipation for greater things.

There is Resurrection Sunday. There is personal redemption for those who believe and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Even in silence, the voice of Jesus Christ and his work on the cross can still speak volumes.

Robert Parlante

Good Friday 2017

Make Your Bed!

One of the first life lessons I learned while growing up was to make my bed every morning. It did not matter how well you made the bed __ it just had to be made! The bedsheets did not require sharp military corners. I usually just flipped the quilt over the heap of sheets underneath looking like I was covering up evidence 0f a crime.

Some mornings I would be running late, and I would skip the chore. My bedroom was on the second floor and did not get “inspected” until late morning. When I had gotten home from school I was reminded firmly to not leave the house without making your bed. Now as an adult I can still hear the words “make your bed before you leave for the day.”

The Internet and YouTube have enumerable videos and articles from military personnel touting the reasons for making one’s bed. Let me give you the one that works for me. It feels great to start the day accomplishing something. It feels like I’m prepped to have a full and positive day of possible accomplishments.

Naval Admiral William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command was the commencement speaker at The University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014. In his speech, he offered several life lessons to graduates on how to change the world. I’m only focusing on his first suggestion to be an agent of change. Check out the YouTube video of Admiral McRaven for his complete speech.

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. “If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”

We all have our morning routines. Researcher are saying we are not eating breakfast at home like we did decades ago. No time to make coffee. Grab a muffin. Eat on the run.

For starters, just grab your bed spread or quilt and flip it over your crumpled sheets. Who knows, by the end of the week you might even be doing military folds at the corners of the bed.

And next week? God only knows! The world is waiting!

Robert Parlante

April 2017