Some of My Thoughts About John Dye...

I can't even begin to say how deeply affected I was by John Dye's death. I recently read a press article stating that he died on Monday but that the news wasn't available to the public until Friday. That's not entirely true, however, because I heard the news on Tuesday morning. Growing up just a little over an hour away from his hometown, we heard the news locally fairly quickly. I was stunned. I was literally shaking for awhile. I couldn't have ever imagined that a celebrity's death would ever effect me that much, but his did. Like many people my age, I grew up watching Touched by an Angel with my grandparents. I still remember the very first time he was on the show. I had to have only been about 5 or 6 at the time, but I still remember my grandmother saying "That's John Dye. He's from Amory!" Wow, Amory. I went there all the time. haha. I guess I just instantly felt connected to him. He was my first crush -- a crush on an angel, just imagine. :) But John's portrayal of the angel Andrew was far more than acting; it was from his heart. I heard that stated so many times at his memorial service this Saturday.

One of my sisters and I decided to drive to Amory to attend John's memorial service because we knew it would be an experience that we'd never forget. How many people can say that they went to a celebrity's funeral service, after all? Not many that I know. Also, while I didn't know John or his family personally, I know several people who did. For example, a former high school English teacher of mine taught him in 10th grade the first year she taught school, and she still remembers where he sat in the class. There were times when I felt that almost everyone I knew had known John, EXCEPT me! :) The tributes to John at the service were so touching. Many of them brought tears to my eyes. You could just tell that everyone who knew John was touched by him. The look on Roma Downey's face at the service still makes me so sad, because you could tell that she was hurting so much over the loss of John.

I hope, and believe, that John is in the presence of God right now, and that John knows all the love and peace that he gave so many people -- people that he knew personally and people that he didn't -- but most of all, I hope he feels the pure, unconditional, eternal love and peace of God. R.I.P., John Dye. You are greatly missed.

Review of The Secrets Beneath

Bekah Yoder is a curious yet well-meaning Amish girl living in Middlefield. Her story here begins when she sees a stranger poking around the deserted house next door. Then, Bekah's sister Amanda comes to live with her and her family for the school-year, yet Bekah's parents will not tell her why. Bekah tries desperately to pry Amanda out of her shell as well as to resist her nosiness about the stranger next door. Bekah's curiosity eventually gets the best of her, however, putting her in serious danger. Fans of mystery should really enjoy this story.

The very first words I read upon opening this book was the author's dedication at the beginning: “To tweens and teens everywhere.” Since I am neither, I initially wondered if the book would be able to keep my attention the whole way through. My second hesitation was when I saw the list of Amish words to refer to from the text of the book; did I really want to have to keep referring to a list at the beginning of the book to understand the story? Thankfully, however, my fears were quickly allayed. The book definitely kept my attention all throughout the story, and the Amish words were easy enough to understand and clear enough in context that I rarely ever had to look back at the list. This was a wonderful book, and I feel that it's great for all ages, not just for the target “tweens and teens” audience.

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a part of their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review; my opinions, therefore, are completely unbiased.