RJ Treleaven

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! It has been a week. Last week started out with a visit to my doctor suspecting an earache or possible sinus infection. Instead, I ended up at an endodontist yesterday for a root canal. Root canals are not for sissies. I have to return to my dentist for the permanent filling on Thursday, and hopefully I'll be right as rain before we leave for the lake for the long Memorial Day Weekend.

Today I'm sharing a new book written by a go-getter (I follow this young woman on Instagram) entitled From Dreams to Drive: Trust God's Plan, Embrace Your Gifts, and Walk in Purpose. Taneshia Yerby has written a fantastic book that is the perfect graduation gift. If you have any family members or friends graduating this spring or summer, you might want to consider purchasing copies for them.

About From Dreams to Drive: Trust God’s Plan, Embrace Your Gifts, and Walk in Purpose

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication date: May 12, 2026

In From Dreams to Drive, Taneshia Yerby shows you how to discover your God-given purpose and step boldly into your calling. As the founder of the Christian Entrepreneur Organization, Taneshia shares her personal journey of spiritual and professional growth and combines it with biblical wisdom to guide you toward your mission.

With faith as your guide, you’ll be empowered to overcome obstacles in both your personal and professional life. Taneshia teaches you how to overcome self-doubt and fear by focusing on God’s promises. With prayers, affirmations, and exercises to deepen your faith and trust in God’s plan, From Dreams to Drive offers clear and compelling advice, helping you keeping your eyes on your goals and your faith strong.

You will:

Learn how to ask God the right questions to align your life with His plan.
Break through fear and doubt, and confidently step into the purpose He has for you.
Find the spiritual strength and clarity you need to align your business goals with God’s higher purpose, making sure your efforts are fulfilling and meaningful.

As you build unshakeable faith, you’ll gain the courage to face challenges and stay on your divine path. Taneshia’s powerful message of resilience encourages women to trust in God’s timing, let go of fear, and take action. With a practical three-phase plan, she helps you move from preparation to practice to making bold decisions. From Dreams to Drive will help you replace self-doubt with confidence, impatience with trust, and resistance with obedience. Let the journey begin!

About the Author

Taneshia Yerby is a wife, mom, and entrepreneur living just outside of Washington, D.C. She is the founder of Christian Entrepreneur Organization—widely known as @ceoforwomen on social media—where she equips women with practical, faith-based advice to boldly pursue their God-given purpose. A proud graduate of Norfolk State University, Taneshia holds a degree in Communications and uses her voice to inspire and empower Christian women in business and life.

My Thoughts

This book is lovely because it actually functions as a workbook. I love how it's structured, and it leads the reader through four parts using logic and scripture:

Follow God's Blueprint
Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Identify Homegrown Hurdles
Find the Courage to Move Forward

Each section includes a wrap-up, and there's plenty of room for the reader to write her thoughts and conclusions. I do love the workbook aspect of it!

So now you understand why I think From Dreams to Drive would make a nice graduation gift. But I also think it's a lovely book for readers at any stage of life who might like confirmation of God's purpose for their lives. I'm already working on it myself because we are facing a very happy life change this summer! It truly is an insightful little book.

DISCLOSURE: I received a hardcover copy of From Dreams to Drive from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.

TLC tour schedule:

Monday, May 11th: @beckys_bookshelves

Tuesday, May 12th: @lmw_reads

Wednesday, May 13th: @kati.nicole02 on TikTok

Wednesday, May 13th: @megsbookclub

Thursday, May 14th: @gallaghergirlreads

Friday, May 15th: @nurse_bookie

Sunday, May 17th: @nissa_the.bookworm

Monday, May 18th: @cozycraftyreads

Tuesday, May 19th: The Bookish Dilettante

Until next time...

Happy reading!

Ricki Jill

Bookish Feature: From Dreams to Drive

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Hello, My Lovelies! Welcome to my Friends and Family Edition of Tales of the Traveling Tote! We have not been traveling much recently, only to visit friends and family in Louisiana and Michigan. We went to Louisiana in December because I was a hostess for our niece's baby shower. We stayed at the lovely Southern Hotel in Covington, Louisiana, which is one of my very favorite small hotels.

La Countess de Monet loves the Southern Hotel, too.

We visited Covington the first weekend in December, and the Southern was decorated for Christmas.

The gardens surrounding the hotel are so beautiful, even in December.

Our niece Molly

I promise we did not coordinate outfits for the baby shower!

It was nice spending time with Molly and seeing her extended family and friends at the shower. Molly and Brandon welcomed a baby girl in late January. Shelley and I had such a nice time, and we love visiting Covington with its quaint shops and lovely restaurants.

In February we visited friends in New Orleans for a Mardi Gras ball and a couple of parties.

The weather was gorgeous while we were in New Orleans. We stayed by Audubon Park and took a couple of walks around the park. We loved our walks!

We did just a little shopping this trip, and one of our favorite stores is the Tasc flagship store on Magazine Street.

Tasc is a New Orleans based business that manufactures activewear made out of bamboo. My son-in-law loves their golf shirts, and I love their yoga pants. I wear them to my stretch and yoga classes.

One of our favorite Mardi Gras parades is presented by Le Krewe D’Etat, a highly satirical krewe that pokes fun at politics and pop culture. The male-only krewe is led by a "Dictator" (The Dic) whose identity is kept secret (I kid you not). We have several friends who are members of this krewe, and they invited us to their den party. A den party allows revelers to preview the floats before the parade. Below is one of my favorites. Keep in mind that no one is safe from this krewe's disdain: They are equal-opportunity lampooners.

Poor Elmo! He's on fire!

Last month, I went to Ann Arbor to visit our daughter and son-in-law. It was a working trip to help them redecorate a special room because:

We are so happy!

We are not really able to take big trips until our home renovation is complete. We are hoping to get away a little this summer to Lake Martin, and of course I will be flying to Ann Arbor a lot!

As far as our renovation goes, I'm still waiting on one project for the library to be finished, and a couple of tweaks in our kitchen. I'm hoping that in two weeks both will be DONE!

The Ferguson people delivered our new bath and bath fixtures for our bathroom today. The bathroom renovation will start soon, and I'm hoping it goes a little more smoothly than our kitchen. Our library went extremely well, though.

I have been doing a little bit of gardening. I planted our giant planters out back, and our New Dawn Rose was spectacular a couple of weeks ago.

Plumbago always performs well in this spot.

Our New Dawn Rose

That's all I have to report for now, but I think I shared some pretty big news!

We are also giving away this lovely tote:

So please leave a comment here on my blog in order to win!

You must have a Google account to leave a comment on my blog; I do no allow anonymous comments.

Please visit the other participating blogs. Links are below!

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader (You're here!)

Until next time...

Blessings!

Ricki Jill

Tales of the Traveling Tote: Friends and Family Edition

Friday, May 15, 2026

Happy Monday, My Lovelies! How was your Mother's Day weekend? We had such a nice one. We watched baseball, went to Mother's Day Brunch at our country club, and relaxed.

I keep intending to share a few of our house renovations projects, but none of our rooms are completely done yet. I want to post the rooms once they're completely finished. It's a process, y'all!

In the interim, I will be sharing a few books and travel here on the blog.

Today I'm featuring a book co-written by a mother/daughter duo about Joseph: God Won't Leave You There.

About God Won’t Leave You There

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication date: March 31, 2026

Print length: 256 pages

God Won’t Leave You There: Joseph’s Story, an incredible testimony of jaw-dropping faith and patient perseverance in the face of devastating trials, will leave you in awe at what God can do in and through one person. It’s a powerful reminder that wherever you find yourself, God is at work putting the pieces of your life together to bring about His sovereign plan.

Through the lens of Joseph’s remarkable journey, Anne Graham Lotz and Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright reveal how one man’s life was turned upside down and set on a path he would have never chosen himself but one that would lead to God’s ultimate purpose for his life.

With Scripture, personal stories of hardship, and the unshakable hope found in God’s promises, this book offers encouragement for anyone facing life’s deepest struggles or just needing reassurance that God is in the details. Through Joseph’s story, we are reminded of these profound truths about God:

He is with you.
He is guiding you.
He will bring you through.

Whether you’re navigating betrayal, seeking purpose, or longing for reconciliation, Joseph’s story offers hope and wisdom for today. Discover how God can use even the most broken circumstances to bring about His perfect plan. No matter how desperate you feel, you can rest in the God who is trustworthy, knowing He won’t leave you there!

About the Authors

Called “the best preacher in the family” by her late father, Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz speaks around the globe with the wisdom and authority of years spent studying God’s Word.

The New York Times named Anne one of the five most influential evangelists of her generation. Her Just Give Me Jesus revivals have been held in more than thirty cities in twelve different countries, to hundreds of thousands of attendees.

Anne is a bestselling and award-winning author of twenty-one books. She is the President of AnGeL Ministries in Raleigh, North Carolina, and previously served as Chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

Whether contributing opinion pieces to a national newspaper or a groundbreaking speaker on platforms throughout the world, Anne’s aim is clear – to bring revival to the hearts of God’s people. And her message is consistent – calling people into a personal relationship with God through His Word.

Rachel-Ruth Wright is the daughter of Anne Graham Lotz and granddaughter of Billy Graham. She is married to Steven Wright and has three daughters and one son-in-law. Rachel-Ruth is Vice President of AnGeL Ministries and has shared God’s Word as a speaker around the world. She teaches an online Bible study that reaches over 137 different countries with thousands of registered attendees. Rachel-Ruth and her mother, Anne Graham Lotz, have coauthored two books: Jesus Followers and Preparing to Meet Jesus.

My Thoughts

I was so excited when TLC Book Tours asked me to be a part of the tour for this book because I have always loved the biblical story of Joseph. He was his father Jacob's eleventh and favorite son (out of twelve), and his brothers resented him to the point that they wanted to kill him. Instead, they sold him to Egyptian slave traders, and lied to their father and said that a wild animal had killed him. Joseph was the oldest son of Jacob's favorite wife Rachel, and he was devastated when he heard the news. Although tragic, Joseph's life story doesn't end there. He becomes an official in the Egyptian government, thrown in prison for a crime he didn't commit, and eventually restored and promoted to the second highest in command in Egypt. This placed Joseph into a very unique position to not only save his family during a famine, but to also save his country. It's such a wonderful story to read about and study because readers throughout history can see God's hand in Joseph's story. His story and heart have encouraged people for millennia. The grace that Joseph extends his brothers after their betrayal warms my heart.

This book does a deep dive into the story of Joseph and his family. The authors do a very good job applying the biblical truths of this story to our lives today. But my very favorite chapter of the entire book is Chapter Eleven. Entitled "God will Bring You Through By His Grace," it is mostly about when Jacob blesses and prophesies over all of his sons. It was fun reading about how these prophecies play out. Of course my very favorite is Judah's blessing because he had made so many egregious mistakes in his life.....yet he changed, and his father recognized it. And you probably recall that Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Again, the application in this chapter is so helpful as it asks if you can relate to the good and bad characteristics of each son.

I found this book fascinating and encouraging, which is what I want in Christian nonfiction books. I highly recommend it because if God through his grace can bring Joseph out of a dire situation and completely use it for good, then God can and will move mountains in our lives, too.

DISCLOSURE: I was given a hardcover copy of God Won't Leave You There from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.

TLC review tour schedule:

Monday, April 20th: @simplystevienicole on TikTok

Wednesday, April 22nd: @deannaturnsthepage

Thursday, April 23rd: @readingpastdark.marcia

Friday, April 24th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Monday, April 27th: @cozycraftyreads

Friday, May 1st: @beckys_bookshelves

Sunday, May 3rd: @nissa_the.bookworm

Monday, May 4th: @danamarielovestoread

Wednesday, May 6th: The Bookish Dilettante

Friday, May 8th: @readingintheheartland

Until next time....

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Bookish Feature: God Won't Leave You There

Monday, May 11, 2026

Hello, My Lovelies! How is your May so far? I love this time of year in Central Alabama: It's Blackberry Winter, the sun is warm, the breeze is cool, and it's my favorite time of the year to enjoy nature and dining alfresco.

Other than dining alfresco, I also enjoy reading outside these first couple of weeks of May. I'm currently reading a book that is changing the way I think daily, and it's what I'm featuring on this week's What I'm Reading Wednesday post. The Divine Counselor by Alex Seeley is about how the Holy Spirit wants to guide you and heal your soul. Who wouldn't want to benefit from His Divine Counsel?

About The Divine Counselor: Renew Your Mind, Heal Your Soul, and Discover Your Purpose Through the Guidance of the Holy Spirit

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication date: April 7, 2026

Print length: 240 pages

Pastor Alex Seeley, co-founder of The Belonging Co., reveals how the Holy Spirit provides the deep healing, peace, and purpose beyond what therapy alone can provide.

At a time when many feel anxious and discouraged, the idea of living whole, healed, and empowered sounds wonderful–but often out of reach. Counseling, self-help books, and podcasts seem to offer temporary relief, but what about life-changing transformation?

In The Divine Counselor, Pastor Alex Seeley introduces readers to the best therapist they’ll ever meet: the Holy Spirit. Drawing on biblical insights and personal stories, Alex endeavors to answer readers’ deepest questions and doubts, while showing how the Holy Spirit . . .

advocates on their behalf, interceding when they don’t have the words to pray;
guides them toward healing, connecting spiritual health and emotional wellness;
helps them change mind-sets, to bring freedom from destructive labels and past experiences;
speaks with clarity and wisdom, helping believers discern His voice from their own; and
equips them to live in victory, empowering them to overcome.

With an infectious passion for this often misunderstood and overlooked person of the Trinity, Alex inspires readers to embrace the Holy Spirit as their closest friend and trusted counselor–the One they were created to know intimately. As they invite the ultimate Comforter into their everyday lives, this book will help readers experience lasting peace and live a life of freedom and joy.

About the Author

Alex Seeley was born and raised in Australia and spent 17 years pastoring there. It is also where she met and married her husband, Henry. After relocating to Nashville in 2012, they founded The Belonging Co., a church where they minister together to thousands of people each week. She is a passionate teacher of the Word with the unique ability to reveal how the Word of God is applicable to our everyday lives.

My Thoughts So Far

One aspect of this book that has been interesting is how Alex Seeley refers to the Holy Spirit. She calls him Holy Spirit as if it's his name based on a remarkable encounter her husband had with Him during a Youth Camp. It has changed my thinking to the point that I want to edit the book blurb and delete all of the "thes" before Holy Spirit! And this truly helps illustrate the truth that "Holy Spirit Is Not a What, He's a Who" which happens to be the chapter of the book I'm currently reading. I can't wait to read one of the latter chapters entitled Learning to Know His Voice. Holy Spirit has spoken to me, but my problem is being still and listening for His voice. Having quiet time to communicate with Him is becoming more of a priority for me.

Although I'm enjoying the personal anecdotes in the book (I skipped ahead a little to the chapter entitled "The Proof Is In the Pudding"), I am most appreciative of the the prayers and challenges at the end of each chapter. I have flagged a couple of them, and I know I will refer back to them often.

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.

~ John 14:16–17

This book needs to be on every Christian nonfiction shelf. It's a lovely primer on Holy Spirit's love for us and the role He wants to play in our lives. It is such a life changing and encouraging read.