July 2023 Newsletter

June Journey, July Jubilation

I hope this newsletter finds everyone well & thankful for each of our journeys throughout the month of June. Here at the bookshop, I loved journeying with you as you celebrated the graduates in your life, helping you select encouraging gifts for those turning their tassels & taking their next steps. I also enjoyed honoring our fathers/father figures. It warmed my heart anytime someone came in searching for a special gift for their dad.

Lastly, I was excited to host the first ever book signing for local author & illustrator Rachel Harris for her first children’s book, "Mrs. Pearl & the Pearl of Great Price." If you didn’t get to make it to this author event, signed copies of Harris’ book are available in the bookshop. What a wonderful journey the month of June was!

Now, I look forward to a jubilant July as we celebrate Independence Day, the birthday of our

nation. As you visit the bookshop this month, be sure to check out all of the patriotic items, including books for children & adults, caps & t-shirts, pocket copies of our Constitution, garden flags & yard signs, prayer guides, & more!

While our country has its share of problems & isn’t all that it should be, there’s still no other place I’d rather be. We are truly blessed to live in this great country, & she is worth contending for. How might we do that this month?

I think prayer is the best place to start. Let’s pray for individual & national repentance. Let’s pray for eyes to be opened & hearts to turn back to God. Let’s pray for all of our leaders - local, state, & national. Let’s pray about upcoming elections. Let’s pray, asking for wisdom, courage, & mercy. Let’s pray, seeking God’s guidance as to what actions to take following prayer. Let’s pray, lifting up our nation to the only One who can forgive, redeem, & heal.

Book of the Month

For July’s featured book, I’ve chosen "If You Can Keep It" by NYT bestselling author Eric Metaxas. In this very accessible & engaging read, Metaxas serves up a poignant review of our nation & its founding, highlighting all that makes America unique, supremely the unprecedented idea of liberty & freedom for all. He also urgently reminds us as citizens of the critical role we play in maintaining what our founding fathers entrusted to us.

In Metaxas’ own words, “We are ourselves in this moment the keepers of the flame of liberty and the ones charged by Franklin and the other founders and by history past, present, & future with keeping this grand promise (of America as a constitutional republic)…I’ve written this book to inform you of what you’ve gotten yourself into, because we really ought to know. In fact, if we haven’t known about this, and most of us have not, there has been a profound disconnect in our relationship with our country. If we Americans cease to know that we are part of the group charged with the terrible and wonderful burden of keeping this glorious promise, the promise is already being broken…So Franklin’s question is to you and to me: Can we keep it? And how?” (pgs. 11-12).

In just 7 chapters, Mextaxas outlines, both with inspiring, faith-filled words & practical, actionable advice, how we can indeed keep our republic, for ourselves & for future generations, if only we will.

On a personal note, I first read this book back in 2020, which seems both ironic & very fitting. As I read, I highlighted, underlined, & made notes; by the end, I’d pretty much highlighted the whole book! It’s one of the few books that I return to reread and that I count among the top 10 best books I’ve ever read. I’ve often said that it should be required reading in high school. So I hope you’ll join me in reading this book during this month of July as we remember & celebrate America’s founding.

*In observance of Independence Day, the bookshop will be closed on Tuesday, July 4th*