Dust to Dust: Aging Wisely in an Anti-Aging World

Posted on November 4, 2026 by Barbara Harper

The world tells us older people are irrelevant and out-of-touch, and it’s best to avoid the appearance and effects of aging at all cost.

In Dust to Dust: Aging Wisely in an Anti-Aging World, Jen Wilkin says the Bible tells a different story. Except for the first few books of the Bible, where people lived hundreds of years, people had shorter life spans for much of history. Old age was seen as a gift that not many achieved. The elderly were to be treated with respect and valued for their life experience.

Even as Christians, we’re prone to view aging negatively. It’s hard not to mourn the loss of abilities and possibly influence and importance. But Jen encourages us to embrace greater dependence on the Lord and develop “eulogy virtues” rather than “resume virtues” in our last years.

Jen posits that in Eden, if Adam and Eve had not sinned, they would have continued to age without the negative effects we experience now (something I never considered before). They were told to tend the garden and have children, so it stands to reason that they, their children, and the plants would all have continued to age and develop.

But then sin and its curse entered the world. That doesn’t mean we need to look at the aging process as negative and all downhill. We can see it as a gift and view it as part of God’s purpose to prepare us to live with Him. “If you are in Christ, with an inheritance kept for you in the next life, thinking toward the day of your death can help you live each day with an eternal perspective” (p. 44).

Yet she admits aging is hard: “It’s time to state the issue squarely: Aging is an invitation into suffering and loss. Though we rightly wish to avoid them, suffering and loss are skilled teachers. . . What do they teach? Humility. Patience. Perspective. Holiness. The fruit of the Spirit” (p. 99).

One perspective is that of time and priorities. “The older we grow, the more we recognize the importance of allocating our precious time to the relationships that matter most. Shrinking possibilities bring expanding clarity. They enable us to become thoughtful curators instead of thoughtless consumers of the days on our calendar” (p. 104).

Jen frames her discussion in the form of a literary device used often in the Bible, a chiasm. She describes chasm as a “mirror-image parallelism, using repetition to trace an idea.” In Western thought, we look for the moral or the punch line or the main point at the ending of a discussion. But a chiasm puts the main point in the middle. The first and last points will be parallel, then the second and next-to-last, will be parallel, etc.

At first I thought the explanation of chiasms and trying to fit her points into this structure were going to detract from what she was trying to say. But they didn’t.

There are parallels between our first breath, birth and growth, and then our decline, last breath, and death.Then there are parallels between gaining strength as a child and losing it as an older adult; gaining abilities and possibilities of a young person, then losing them as an older person; caring for children as a young adult, and needing care as an older adult. The midpoint of the chiasm is middle age, which Jen describes as “the place of perspective.”

This book is not primarily comprised of tips for facing old age, though there are a few. And it’s not exclusively for older people. It’s mainly a biblical look at aging and how it differs from the world’s view. We need that biblical view not only for ourselves as we age, but also for how we think about loved ones who are aging.

I love the point she makes that though older people’s “physical needs may revert in many ways to those of a small child, the aged are not children. Their interior lives are shaped by years of experience and learning” (p. 66). When we were taking care of my husband’s mother, I always cringed when someone would say something about us becoming her parents and her becoming our child. No, she was still the parent, deserving of our honor and respect.

A few more quotes that stood out to me:

“I’m also paying attention to how I respond to minor adversity. Am I patient in small afflictions? If so, perhaps I will be better equipped for the bigger ones that come with age” (p. 109).

“The aging process shifts the focus of our joy to the things that matter most: becoming more Christlike and loving God and others with all we have. Yes, old age is not for the faint of heart, but it contains a richness the young don’t even know to hope for. The Lord takes away, but he also gives. We are only old once” (pp. 109-110).

“Godly wisdom views the elderly as people to love, not problems to solve. Worldly wisdom increasingly agrees that the elderly are problems before they are people” (p. 122).

“Middle age grants us a form of invisibility. And much good work can be done when we’re no longer concerned about others finding us attractive” (p. 151).

I only have two complaints about the book. I don’t know what the font size is, but it was a strain to read–which I thought was ironic since the topic was aging.

Secondly, she rightly lays out the biblical directions of families caring for their elderly and shares how that used to be the norm. Families used to live near each other instead of several states away. All that is true. But it is also hard. Since the extended family living near each other is not the usual scenario any more, that means the older ones are usually cared for by one couple: their middle-aged or older children and their spouses. Everyone I have ever talked to who cared for a parent found it difficult, even when the parent was easy to get along with. Add mental issues and combativeness, and the difficulties increase. Also, I’ve never talked to anyone who cared for elderly family members who didn’t wrestle with some degree of guilt. I wouldn’t say Jen was glib about the blessings of taking care of one’s older parents, but I wish she had dealt with the difficulties a little more and encouraged that God will give grace.

Since all of us are getting continually older, aging is a subject we should study to the glory of God rather than dreading it. I’m thankful for Jen’s help in this regard.

A Few Thoughts About Politics

Posted on November 3, 2026 by Barbara Harper

Usually I try to keep this blog fairly free of politics. But I’ve been mulling over some thoughts that I decided I’d share. No political incidents or people prompted this post. I’ve been contemplating it for months, if not years.

I’m one of the most unpolitical people on the planet.

One reason is that I didn’t grow up in a politically-minded family. I don’t remember politics ever coming up except for an occasional gripe about something the government was doing. I don’t even know if my parents ever voted when I was a child.

The first election I took part in was the 1980 election between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. And I have noticed, in the 46 years since then, that much of the rhetoric seems the same. Yes, new issues and emphases come and go. But many of the same promises and accusations arise each election cycle.

Often, politics seems to be more about posturing than actually getting anything meaningful done. Or rushing to do something so it looks like a politician is getting things done, without considering the bigger or longer-term picture. Or blaming the other side for not getting anything done or doing the wrong thing.

I wonder, too, how much the American public actually knows about anything going on behind the scenes of our national legislature (and to a degree, state and local legislatures as well). Most news outlets are biased one way or the other. How do we know whom to believe?

I also avoid politics because it is so divisive. It always has been, but it seems exponentially more so now. I don’t want someone to miss what I have to say about the Lord because they’re sidetracked by what candidate I vote for.

Ultimately, I don’t believe the answer to our country’s (and the world’s) problems are political, but spiritual. We can make laws to rein in evil, but laws can’t change people’s hearts. If we make disciples, as Jesus told us to, they are changed from the inside out. Even if we had the most perfect government (and there will always be a debate about what that would look like), if people are not saved, they’ll still be in bad shape when they die.

However. . .

All of that said, that doesn’t mean politics doesn’t have its place. We have a hard-won voice in this country and the responsibility to steward it wisely. So it behooves us to be as informed as we can about issues and candidates and vote our conscience.

Some people are called to be more involved in politics than others. And that’s okay. Some might run for office themselves or help finance or promote particular candidates.

Once when we were asked to share prayer requests in a small group meeting at a former church, my husband asked prayer for a particular candidate and expressed the need to try to get good people in office. Another man in the group immediately ranted about how as Christians we don’t need to be involved in things like that. Then he continued his rant in his prayer. And to top it all off, ever afterwards, when he and my husband passed each other in the hallway, this man wouldn’t look at him or greet him.

That’s an extreme example. But it’s certainly not wrong to try to get good people in office. I’ve often lamented that none of the choices for some offices are ones that I would want. It makes sense to support the candidates you’d like to vote for rather than just waiting to see who ends up on the ballot.

A friend who is active in the pro-life movement told me about being in a meeting where she asked prayer for a certain piece of legislation that would affect the unborn. Someone said to her, “That’s just politics.” Perhaps that person felt like we should only pray and not be involved in legislation.

Certainly prayer is the first priority. The Bible tells us that “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

But it’s not wrong or faithless or trusting in man instead of God to let our voices be heard on issues, especially in this country, where the government is supposed to be representative of what the people believe. Romans 13:1-5 says God put government authorities in place to do good and punish evildoers. Encouraging them and informing them of the needs of people for protection is not faithless.

The defeat of slavery in England was largely a political victory. William Wilberforce spent most of his career fighting this issue. Yes, he and Hannah More and others prayed and raised awareness. But slavery likely would not have stopped without legislation.

Do we have examples of people trying to influence government authorities in the Bible? Yes, even those under a dictatorship. Here are a few:

Joseph advised Pharaoh about the best way to manage the coming famine. His governmental service was primarily secular, yet he did it in a way that pointed to the one true God.
Moses confronted Pharaoh to let Israel leave Egypt.
Nathan confronted King David with his sin.
Elijah confronted King Ahab with his sin.
Esther intervened for her people with the king, at great risk to herself, and revealed Haman’s wicked conspiracy.
Daniel was in governmental service to Nebuchadnezzar but also counseled him spiritually.
John the Baptist spoke out about Herod’s wrongdoing in having his brother’s wife.

These days, people are so afraid of Christian nationalism, or being accused of it, that they stay as far away from it as possible. One problem is that there are so many different thoughts about what Christian nationalism even is. Sometimes people discussing it will have totally different concepts in mind.

If Christian nationalism means striving to turn the country into a church with the president as its pastor, that’s going too far. God never told us to establish Christian countries. He told us to make disciples.

All Christians are called to pray, respect, and obey authorities unless they tell us to do or not to do something against God’s word. Some are called to write letters, raise awareness, campaign, donate, even run for office. None of us can be involved in everything, so I am thankful for those who know more about issues than I do so I can consult with them.

Christians also need to maintain spiritual unity even when they differ politically. I was recently struck anew by the fact that Jesus chose two men of opposite politics as His disciples. Before he followed Jesus, Matthew was a tax collector, a Jewish man who taxed his own people for Rome and then charged more for his own pockets. Simon the Zealot wanted to overthrow Rome. I would love to have more information about how they adapted to each other and what kind of conversations they had. Evidently God didn’t deem that we know any more about them. Perhaps after the both became Christ-followers, they were able to put aside their political differences to work together for His kingdom.

We each need to steward the voice and influence we have as we feel led by God. Praying for a political outcome is not wrong. It’s the very thing we should do. We shouldn’t trust politics in place of God, but God can work through politics.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

It Depends on How You Look at It

Posted on November 1, 2026 by Barbara Harper

I once saw a cartoonish drawing of two men sitting on prison cots, each looking at a window while holding a paper with pictures they had evidently drawn. One had drawn a picture of the window with bars. The other had drawn a picture of the trees outside the window (1).

I don’t remember if there was a caption, but the implication was clear. Two men in the exact same space and circumstances had vastly different viewpoints. One saw the bars that kept him imprisoned. One saw past the bars to see the beauty beyond.

There’s an incident in the Bible where people had different outlooks.When God led the children of Israel out of Egypt to Canaan, He told them to send ten men to spy out the land (Numbers 13). The men spent forty days in the land. They came back with a mixed report. The land was fruitful, “flowing with milk and honey.” But the people were strong, the cities large and fortified, and there were even giants that made the men feel like grasshoppers in comparison.

God had told the people in Exodus 23:20-33 that He would send an angel to go before them and bring them to the place He prepared for them. He said He would give them victory over the people of the land “little by little” (verse 30).

Caleb quieted the people and encouraged them that they could take the land (Numbers 13:30). He and Joshua reminded the people that God was with them and would give them the victory (Numbers 14:6-10).

But the people only saw the problems. They wept. They grumbled. They blamed Moses. They blamed God. They wished they had died in the wilderness. They wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to stone Caleb and Joshua.

People in the same situation, with the same promises of God, saw the situation completely differently.

There are other incidents as well. In 2 Kings 6, the king of Syria sent horses and soldiers to surround the city where Elijah was staying. Elijah’s servant panicked, but Elijah said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then he prayed and asked God to open the servant’s eyes. “So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” God’s protection was there, though at first it was unseen.

When Saul’s armies quaked before the giant Goliath, David stood up for God’s honor, believed God, and defeated Goliath in the name of the Lord (1 Samuel 17). All of those trained soldiers, all people who supposedly believe in the one true God, yet none among them but a boy believed God could defeat the giant.

When we’re in the middle of major problems–and sometimes even minor ones–the problem itself looms large until it’s all we can see. Everything else is colored by that issue.

Recently I saw a quote that said something like, “You can look at God through the lens of your problem, or you can look at your problem through the lens of God” (2).

When we view God through our problem, the problem looks big, even insurmountable. But if we look at the problem in light of God’s character and truth, our perspective changes and the problem is reduced to its proper size.

I don’t know why the Lord allowed an illness that took up a large part of last month (forgive me for talking about it so much, but I am still processing it). I admit to feeling down while in the hospital, especially when it looked like there was no improvement for a few days. The whole thing seemed like a big waste of time, keeping me from doing anything more useful. But as I’ve thought about the situation in the following days, I found many things to be thankful for:

Doctors, nurses, medicine, and treatments. Many ailments today are treatable that would have been a death sentence or had an even longer recovery period a hundred years ago.
My husband being retired so he didn’t have to stress about taking time off from work.
Being able to watch live-streamed church services. No, it’s not the same as being there in person, but it’s good when you can’t be there. I remember the days when that wasn’t an option: one had to wait a week or more to get a cassette tape of a service. And before that, you were just out of luck if you missed a service unless you had a friend who took good notes and would share them.
Texts and emails helped alleviate the feeling of isolation and made me feel cared for. That isolation made me appreciate time with friends and loved ones even more.
Even though it was the worst case of cellulitis I’ve ever had, it could have been even worse. Infections can go rogue suddenly and quickly. Our pastor emeritus caught Covid during the pandemic, was in isolation in the hospital for months, and ended up with a lung transplant. Jonah Scott had a strep infection that went toxic, causing much of his skin and tissue to be removed from his arm and side and requiring skin grafts afterward. Ciara Dierking went into the hospital almost three years ago with strep, the flu, and pneumonia which went septic. The treatments to save her life led to gangrene in all four limbs, which all had to be amputated. She had so many health challenges and nearly died, but God kept her alive, and a thriving ministry arose as she recovered. Though my infection was serious, it seems much lighter considering what these folks went through.
God used the situation to stir up a desire to take a more active role in doing what I can to take care of my health.

Looking at trials from a different perspective doesn’t mean we minimize sorrow and loss and just “look on the bright side.” The psalms give us examples of lament in trouble that helps our own hearts today.

But it’s a deliberate looking for God’s hand in our troubles. Jesus said we would have tribulations in this life, but He also promised:

to be with us: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2).
to give us grace: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
to use our trials to help us grow: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).
to use them to work “an exceeding and eternal weight of glory” on our behalf: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NKJV).

Concentration camp survivor Corrie ten Boom has said, “There is no panic in Heaven! God has no problems, only plans.” We may not see His plans. We may never know why He allows certain things in our lives. But we know He is wise, kind, good, and loving, and we can trust Him.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

_____

(1) I’ve searched online to try to find the cartoon again. I’ve found some with a similar idea, but none exactly like the first one I saw.

(2) I’ve searched for this online but haven’t found it.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 31, 2026 by Barbara Harper

Some of the thought-provoking reads found this week:

Euthanizing a Toddler Is Not Compassionate, HT to Challies. “A couple in the Netherlands euthanized their toddler. I read the headline again, sure I’d missed a keyword. I had not. A child with the same diagnosis (and similar disabilities) as my own daughter, Eliza, had died—not from natural causes or a horrific accident but by choice. Her parents, surely overwhelmed by fear and exhaustion, chose euthanasia to end their child’s life. Since 2024, children in the Netherlands ages 1 to 11 who have medical needs ‘without prospect of improvement’ have been legally permitted to have their lives ‘terminated.’ This little one was the first.”

Repentance: Recognizing How It All Went Wrong. “Biblical repentance is also a seismic shift in one’s entire worldview that begins in a moment of honest introspection: How did I get here? Where have I gone wrong? We must stop defending ourselves, recognize our need, and turn whole-heartedly back to God.”

Finding Hope at Life’s Dead Ends. “Have you ever reached a dead end — a situation beyond your control, when your dreams crumble, hopes fade, and others tell you to give up? Sometimes it takes one word to bring everything to a halt. Words like cancer, divorce, bankruptcy, infertility, and unemployment can make the future seem impossible. There is no such thing as hopelessness when Jesus is present and has the last word!”

Biblical Wisdom on When to Say Yes. “Whatever the season of life we are in, we most likely say life is busy. It moves fast, it’s full of demands, and time is often spread thin. The world around us tells us how to spend our time; the culture we live in pulls us in different directions. Work, volunteer opportunities, hobbies, kids’ activities, social media, and more encourage us to say yes to many things. The opportunities can feel endless, and the challenging part is that many of these yesses are for good things. For each of us, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to navigate what is pulling at us and ask what is best for the season of life God has called us to.”

When We Face a Relational Conflict. “It should be simple, but we all know how hard it is to talk directly to the person we should be talking to. When a situation goes sideways, the anxiety can feel like water bubbling up in a boiling hot pot—it needs somewhere to go, and fast.”

How to Forgive a Loved One After Their Death. “When someone we love passes away, we expect to feel sadness over our loss. But as we move further along in our grief, we may not anticipate the anger some memories trigger. Those who faced their disappointments while the person was alive may not feel this as much. But those who tried to ‘believe the best’ or covered their hurts with excuses may find themselves wrestling with the pain of past wrongs.”

Three Ways to Walk with Those Who Grieve, HT to Challies. “Often, we do not know how to step into spaces of loss. There is a beautiful and godly desire to bring comfort, yet when facing the reality of walking with the grieving, we are also confronted with the limits of the comfort we can actually offer. This holy work often brings with it an acute awareness of how easy it is to say the wrong thing and unintentionally add more pain to the one who is already suffering.”

A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work.
–Liz Curtis Higgs in Mine is the Night

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on October 30, 2026 by Barbara Harper

I hope you’ll forgive me if some of this post overlaps with my end-of-October reflections in yesterday’s post. Some readers come for one or the other. 🙂

I’m linking with Susanne at at Living to Tell the Story to share some of the week’s blessings.

1. Fall color. I think the peak of fall color in the trees usually comes in a little earlier in the month. On the way to church last Sunday, I purposely kept my eyes on the landscape to watch for fall leaves, and saw some. Then Tuesday, we had to go to an area of town where we’d never been. We passed through some woodsy sections that were just gorgeous with a variety of colors. It always does my heart good to drink in some of that beauty before the trees shed their leaves.

2. Early voting. We went to a different place than usual, thinking it would be less busy than our usual place. And it was. We got in and out very quickly.

3. Meals out. Tuesday afternoon involved a long pre-op visit for oral surgery next week. I had one appointment with the oral surgeon, one with patient registration, and one with pre-anesthesia testing. Then we decided to go vote since we were out. By that time it was almost five, and Jim suggested dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I was happy to oblige. Finding low sodium options at restaurants has been a challenge, but they have at least one entree I can eat with confidence.

Then my friend Melanie and I met up for lunch one day. We were going to Red Lobster, and I looked online for some low sodium options there. But when we got to the restaurant, they didn’t have any of those entrees. I chose the one item that sounded the least salty and only ate half of it, and that seemed to work okay. But mostly we enjoyed catching up–it had been a while since we had gotten together.

4. Pain relief. I mentioned yesterday that my dear husband has had what seemed like a sinus infection for over a week. Antibiotics weren’t helping, so he went to see the doctor, thinking to get a stronger antibiotic. She said it wouldn’t help, but suggested a couple of over-the-counter products to try. Those gave him the first relief he’s had in days. He also tested positive for Covid while there. We’re not sure that’s accurate, since his symptoms line up more with a sinus infection. But at least he’s on the mend now.

5. Low sodium convenience food. It hasn’t been too hard to adapt to low sodium cooking at home (making it, anyway–I’m still getting used to eating it). At first I kept running tallies of how much sodium was in every item. It doesn’t take long, though, to learn what items are high sodium and and what’s not. We do like to keep a few convenience foods on hand, but most of those are off the charts in sodium content. I stopped in the store one afternoon and took time to explore. I found a couple of canned soups and frozen entrees that were within the range I was aiming for. I haven’t tried them yet, but I was encouraged that there were choices!

Happy last week of October!

October Reflections

Posted on October 29, 2026 by Barbara Harper

I had thought October would be a fairly uneventful month, besides a couple of appointments and a couple of traditional activities with the kids.

However, as most of you know, I ended up in the hospital for four days on IV antibiotics due to the worst case of cellulitis I’ve ever had. It started with flu-like symptoms the week before, then there were several days of recovery afterward. So a big chunk of the month was taken up with that.

Then my poor, dear husband has had a horrible sinus infection for over a week, and antibiotics have not helped. He went to the doctor yesterday and was diagnosed with Covid.

Between those things and scheduling conflicts, we missed our usual October pumpkin decorating and dress-up party with the kids as well as a guys’ camp-out earlier in the month.

So this month has seemed a little depressing at times. But in my weekly gratitude list, Friday Fave Fives, I’ve been able to share some blessings spread throughout the month as well–mostly simple things like a couple of dinners out, hearing from an old friend, humor, hearing about and seeing photos from my oldest son’s trip to Chicago, and more.

Creating

I just made one card this month, for a friend recovering from a broken hip:

The wording was made with a stamp and the two big leaves with the Cuttlebug.

Watching

County Rescue. We had subscribed to Great American Pureflix to watch something else, and while we had it we also watched this three-season Christian series about a young woman who is trying to find her purpose. She has tried various things and quit them all. Now she feels God wants her to work as an EMT. But there’s only one opening and three people are vying for the position. The acting and script are a little amateurish, but the story is good and the show is clean and wholesome.

Ludwig. Brit John Taylor is something of a genius recluse who publishes famous puzzles under the name “Ludwig,” because he listens to Beethoven while he works. He gets a call from his sister-in-law that his twin brother, James, a detective, is missing and left an odd note telling her and their son to hide and not to trust anyone at work. His wife does not hide but asks John to go to the office impersonating his brother to see if he can find out what’s going on. He’s reluctant, but she briefs him on who’s who at the office and finally talks him into it. While there, he gets caught up in using his puzzle skills to solve cases.

This was actually a delightful series, at least what we saw of it. We watched all of the first season and two episodes of the second on Britbox, but then they wanted us to upgrade to Britbox Premium to watch the rest. If we could do that for a month or so, we might consider it. But they charge for Premium by the year rather than the month and don’t refund you if you want to cancel before the year is up. We accidentally did that with another show and could only get out of it by canceling the purchase on our credit card. So we’ll wait until the rest of the series becomes available on regular Britbox or somewhere else.

The episodes we saw were clean–no bad words or bedroom scenes. I hope they keep it that way. Plus it was nice to hear variations of Beethoven’s music in the soundtrack.

Reading

Since last time I have completed (titles link to my review):

Beyond the Snow: The Life and Faith of Elizabeth Goudge by Christine Rawlins. Not the best biography I’ve ever read, but it did help me to learn more about Goudge.
Things We Cannot Keep by Amanda Cox. Tess had left home and changed her name to make a new start. But now she receives a mysterious package addressed to her old name. Then the person who betrayed her shows up, but might be the only one who can help her figure out what to do with the contents of the package. Very good.
Anna and Her Daughters by D. E. Stevenson, audiobook. A widow in London with three young daughters learns that there is not nearly as much money in her husband’s estate as she had thought. She takes her daughters back to her native Scotland where they won’t have servants but will have to do their own work. The oldest rebels, and the younger two blossom. Very good.
The Pilgrim’s Inn by Elizabeth Goudge, audiobook. This is the second in Goudge’s Elliot family trilogy. Family matriarch Lucilla manipulates her son, George, into looking at an old inn that’s for sale, thinking it will help his marriage and family to leave London and live in the country. Her grandson, David, is back from the war but suffering a nervous breakdown. A mysterious nomadic father and daughter come to the inn and end up staying to work there. Another father who is a painter and his daughter visit the inn as well. The daughter falls in love with David, but he’s still in love with someone he can’t have. Themes of home and sacrificial love run through the book. Very good.

I’m currently reading:

In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character by Jen Wilkin with a friend.
James: Walking in Wisdom by Lydia Brownback with the ladies’ Bible study group at church.
The Powerful Purpose of Introverts by Holley Gerth
Dust to Dust: Aging Wisely in an Anti-Aging World by Jen Wilkin
A Dangerous Legacy by Elizabeth Camden, audiobook
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower

I also shared a post with Favorite Novels about Books, Bookshops, and Libraries.

Blogging

Besides the weekly Friday Fave Fives, Saturday Laudable Linkage, and book reviews, I’ve posted these since last time:

What Makes for Good Worship? A good song service at church? The feeling we have when everything flows well and the sermon speaks to our hearts? What about when we don’t know the songs, or they’re not the ones we like, or the technology breaks down, or there are a dozen distractions? Isn’t God still good and worthy of worship?
Why Ask People to Pray? Do I feel like my prayer will be answered the way I want if I get the more people to pray? It doesn’t work like that. But there are good reasons to ask for prayer.
Why Do Christians Dread Death? Why would we fear death if we’re going to heaven? For a number of reasons. But God’s grace is sufficient or each one.
Afraid? Of What? A lovely poem about why we don’t need to fear death.
We Don’t Always Know Where God Is Working. Some have said that we should see where God is working and join in. But we don’t always know where He is working. Often His work is “behind the scenes.” We just need to be faithful wherever He calls us.

Looking ahead

I’m scheduled for oral surgery on a papilloma on my tongue the first week in November. I’m dreading that, but looking forward to getting it over with. It’s been rescheduled a couple of times due to heart rhythm issues, so I am hoping we can get it done this time, Lord willing.

Though you never know what a day, or a month, will bring forth, let’s hope the rest of the month is smooth sailing straight into Thanksgiving!

How was your October? Looking forward to anything in November?

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

The Pilgrim’s Inn

Posted on October 27, 2026 by Barbara Harper

The Pilgrim’s Inn is the second book in the Elliot family trilogy. For some reason, the British version has a different title, The Herb of Grace.

In the first book, The Bird in the Tree, family matriarch Lucilla Elliot fought hard to reunite her son, George, with his estranged wife, Nadine. When Nadine fell in love with Lucilla’s grandson, David, reconciliation looked impossible. (It sounds weird that a woman would fall in love with her husband’s nephew, but apparently she was much younger than her husband and a little older than David.) This is a spoiler alert if you haven’t read that book, but eventually David and Nadine broke up and Nadine went back to her husband.

As The Pilgrim’s Inn opens, seven years have passed. George and Nadine had a set of twins in addition to the three children they had before. David had gone off to war (WW2) and came back a broken man in need of quiet and rest.

Though David and Nadine did the right thing, their hearts aren’t all the way in the right place yet. They’re not doing anything inappropriate. Lucilla feels George and Nadine would have a better chance in the country rather than London (where Nadine wants to live). Lucilla manipulates circumstances to get George and the children to view an old inn that’s for sale, the Herb of Grace. An older lady had run it, but it was getting beyond her capabilities now. George and the children fall in love with the place, as Lucilla knew they would. Nadine ends up agreeing.

Their oldest son, Ben, who is a pre-teen or young teenager, discovers the house was a “pilgrim’s inn”–a hostel run by the monks of a local abbey. The family lives there and restores the place, thinking at a later point they’ll open it to guests. But then a man and woman who live in a boat and say they are father and daughter come along and help with the repairs while taking their meals at the inn. Nadine is drawn to the young woman, Annie-Laurie, in a maternal way that she hasn’t felt with her own children. “She was not an unloving mother, but she was not naturally a lover of children, and she was so desperately tired” (p. 35, Kindle version). Everyone feels there’s something a little off with Annie-Laurie and her “father,” but their story doesn’t come out til later.

Meanwhile, David runs into a young woman named Sally Adair at a London party. Sally’s father is an artist, and she recognizes David from one of her father’s paintings. She is drawn to David but senses that his heart isn’t free. Plus, he is a famous actor, and she feels herself too plain and ordinary.

Sally maligned herself when she said that she had no intellect. It was true that at school she had never passed any examination by anything except the skin of her teeth, but when it came to the business of living she was a clever woman. She liked everyone she met, and she enjoyed everything she did so intensely that her relationships and her activities were touched with that spark of light that men call genius. She was not an artist in the accepted sense of the word, but when she cooked a meal or tidied a room she was yet unmistakably her father’s daughter. A room arranged by Sally, a meal she had cooked, were as unforgettable as her father’s pictures. Imaginative, deft touches here and there were like the glimmer of light on water that without it would have been opaque and dull (p. 8).

When Sally’s father books them at an inn called the Herb of Grace for a few weeks, she’s surprised to learn that the children are the same ones she saw regularly at the grocer’s in London, and that David is staying with his grandmother nearby.

The inn, as well as Lucllla’s house, Damrosehay, are almost characters in themselves. Much is made of the fact that people feel safe and welcomed there, not just from the residents, but from the houses.

There’s a lot that takes place in the woods as well as several mentions of The Wind in the Willows.

This is the second book of Goudge’s I have read which had child characters who were unruly and self-willed, yet somehow supposedly adorable. It doesn’t usually work like that in real life.

Though I felt Lucilla came across as manipulative in this book (even though meaning well and having everyone’s good in mind), and a couple of characters were way more intuitive than anyone I’ve known in real life, I loved this story.

All of Elizabeth’s books seem to have a theme. This one appeared to be the importance of home, especially in the aftermath of WW2, still dealing with shortages and healing from the war and what it did to individuals and families :

It was homemaking that mattered. Every home was a brick in the great wall of decent living that men erected over and over again as a bulwark against the perpetual flooding in of evil. But women made the bricks, and the durableness of each civilization depended upon their quality, and it was no good weakening oneself for the brick-making by thinking too much about the flood (p. 58).

A few other quotes that stood out to me:

Funny thing, memory . . . Like a storeroom full of cupboards. Something makes one of the doors fly open, and out falls a lot of stuff you didn’t even know you had (p. 254).

Excessive shame was just as distorting to the judgment as excessive arrogance (p. 342).

I know of no better incentive for the building of a decent world than the possession of children who must live in the world you’ve built (p. 360).

I listened to the audiobook which was nicely read by Elisabeth Martin, except she had an annoying habit of pronouncing words that end with a “d” sound as if they ended with a “t.” You don’t realize how many words end with a “d” until someone does that. Plus, this is an English book, and she is American. Though she reads the narration in an American accent, she does a great job with the different voices of the characters. I also borrowed the ebook via LIbby to look up some quotations and read a few sections in more depth.

Unfortunately, the third book in the series, The Heart of the Family, doesn’t come out in audiobook form until next week. But I look forward to listening the last book of Goudge’s Eliot trilogy.

We Don’t Always Know Where God Is Working

Posted on October 25, 2026 by Barbara Harper

Perhaps you’ve seen the advice that, when trying to decide where to go and what to do with your life, you should find where God is at work and go there. I don’t know where this first originated, but I see some version of it from time to time.

The biggest problem I have with this instruction is that it’s not always obvious where God is working. The Bible sometimes likens God’s work to planted seeds. For a while, the bare dirt looks like nothing is going on. But there’s a lot happening underground until green shoots begin to make their way through the soil.

The father of what I called my adopted spiritual family told of how, as a young person, he was giving a girl a ride home from some activity when she asked him if he was saved. He answered somewhat harshly, “Of course I am!” But after he dropped her off, he asked himself what in the world she was talking about. That was the starting point that eventually led to his salvation as he learned more of what it meant to be a Christian. One moment. there was apparently no spiritual interest. But in the moments after an innocent question, the wheels started turning in his mind.

My own father was not an easy person to talk to. I was never courageous enough to speak to him face to face about spiritual things after I became a Christian as a teenager. But when I wrote to him from college, I would often write out salvation verses at the end of my letters. He never said anything about them, so I assumed he just skipped over them.

Fast forward about ten years. My father came to visit us, became gravely ill, and was admitted to the ICU in the hospital for a time. He was open to having our pastor visit, so he came out to see him several times. Then my father astounded us by saying he had believed on Jesus as his Lord and Savior that day when the pastor visited. Our pastor told us later that my father said, “My daughter has been trying to get me to do this for years” and mentioned the verses I used to write out in my letters. All that time, I had thought that there was nothing going on spiritually in his heart. But God was at work.

Adoniram Judson spent seven long and difficult years in Burma before one Burmese person believed in Christ. When you consider how very different the cultures, religions, and ways of thinking were between the American missionary and the Burmese nationals, it’s not altogether surprising that it took so many years of patient work before hearts were able to understand and be willing to change. But in the moment, it had to be discouraging when it looked like no progress was being made.

We have numerous incidents in the Bible of waiting on God while it seemed nothing was happening. Many times, the psalmists asked “How long?” when it seemed like God wasn’t moving on their behalf. Abraham was promised a son twenty-five years before he received Isaac. David was anointed king about fifteen years before actually becoming king and spent much of that time running for his life. The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt 400 years before Moses came. There were another 400 years between the Old and New Testaments where, as far as is recorded in the Bible, there was no prophetic word from God. Yet we know God was at work because He always has a remnant of His people. Simeon and Anna, Zachariah and Elisabeth, Mary and Joseph were all faithful believers at the end of that period.

Yet God is always working. Jesus said, ““My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17, NIV). He has not forgotten His promises or forsaken His servants. Sometimes His work is hidden, like yeast in dough, until it becomes obvious.

Sure, there were times Jesus told His disciples to depart and shake the dust of cities off their feet when people wouldn’t hear or receive the truth. But that’s a different thing from looking around and saying, “God doesn’t seem to be working here” and moving on. Sometimes, like the girl who spoke to my spiritual father, or Adoniram Judson in Burma, or Paul, who wanted to preach where Christ was not yet known, God wants to use people to begin a work.

There may be times to leave a field or a particular area of service. It may not have anything to do with whether God is working there or not. In Acts 8, Phillip has a thriving ministry in Samaria. But later in the chapter, an angel of the Lord told him to go down to a desert place where there was one man who was ready to hear the gospel and believe.

There may be times to leave a particular individual alone. Peter tells wives whose husbands are not believers to let their conduct and “the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” be a testimony to him (1 Peter 3:1-6). I don’t think this means she can never share the gospel. But it would be tempting in that situation to urge him too often and come across as nagging or pushing. He needs to see the changes Jesus has wrought in her life. God is still working, but through a different means.

So to me, the important question isn’t so much, “Where is God working so I can join in?” God can work any time, any where, and His work is not always visible to us. I think the better question is, “Where does God want me to work?” It may be somewhere new. It may be where others have begun and need help. It may be in a productive, fruitful field ripe unto harvest. It might be in a difficult field where there are many rocks and weeds to be removed. It may look like nothing is happening. We may not see the results, yet God promises His Word will never return empty, but will accomplish His purpose. We can be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 24, 2026 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the good reads found this week:

When Imperfect Faith Meets a Perfect Savior. “Sometimes we come to Jesus with strong faith. Other times, our faith is trembling, confused, and imperfect. We may even wonder whether we have enough faith to approach Him. The story of the woman with the issue of blood reminds us of a wonderful truth: We do not come to a perfect Savior because our faith is perfect, we come because He is perfect.”

I’m Rich! (in Hope). “Somehow I ran across a post on social media in a group for ‘unhinged’ homeschool moms. The atheist poster was lamenting that another child told her six year old that there is a Heaven. She said her child doesn’t need an ‘eternal security blanket’ because ‘his life is so wonderfully built for his well-being that he has nothing to seek eternal comfort from.’ When I saw her words I was struck by how pitifully inexperienced this woman is in some of the harder realities of life, and I wondered how long she might be able to maintain the illusion that she has this much power over her child’s existence.”

Joseph, Daniel, and the Secret to Changing the World. “According to the Bible, God often works through the weak, unimpressive work of people the elite of the world write off. But is this always the case? The Old Testament in particular gives us two somewhat surprising stories that buck this trend.”

When You Can’t Say, “I’m Sorry”: Finding Freedom from Regret. “When you can’t say ‘I’m sorry’ to someone who has died, how do you find peace with your regrets? God offers a way forward through His forgiveness.”

This Is Why Your Marriage Conflicts Never Get Resolved, HT to Challies. “People enter marriage because they love each other. But if they don’t learn how to navigate their differences and handle conflicts well, they end up tearing down the very person they committed their lives to. And because marriage is so intimate, words said in anger and conflicts that turn ugly hurt more than in any other relationship. If your conflicts don’t get resolved, there may be one or more of these three problems getting in the way.”

You Become What You Listen To; You Are Formed by What You Read, HT to Challies. “Podcasts are like information fast food. Hosts ask questions and are given answers that are rarely cited. Each answer is given out of context by the very nature of fast consumption. What I mean is that you don’t really have time, as you do with a book, to think through and process a claim. Instead, you are forced to either accept the information or forget it. Rarely does one hear something on a podcast and dig into the historical record to verify it.”

Your Life Will Slip Through Your Fingers, , HT to Challies. “Your family, your health, your work, your wealth – all of these are good gifts from the Lord. And if you live long enough, you will likely have to watch some (or all) of them fade away in slow-motion. The Lord will ask you to let go your hold on many of the things that made your life your life. Yet he does not do this out of cruelty, but out of love. The losses we face in our aging, though worth grieving, though they are a real form of suffering, are opportunities to taste Christ as our greatest treasure. And they are opportunities to let go of that which we cannot keep so that we will more deeply desire and anticipate and dream of that which we can: treasures in heaven.”

When Journalism Crosses a Moral Line, HT to Challies. I’ll say it sure did here. It’s hard to fathom that Christianity Today published an article positing that Elisabeth Elliot might have been bisexual. Denny Burke discusses the article and what’s wrong with its reasoning. “In spite of Austen’s historical caveats and theological error about same-sex attraction, her article ends up giving oxygen to the idea that Elliot was a bisexual. But this claim goes far beyond anything supported by the evidence she provides. Readers would do well to leave this salacious theory behind.”

Help Your Children Understand AI’s Place: 3 Foundational Truths for AI Use, HT to Challies. “AI is an amazing tool. As a teacher, I have used it to compile research, format communications, and spark creative output and interaction for students. It has saved me hours and headaches creating review games and practice standardized tests. However, as a parent and a teacher, I have an important, overarching concern about AI. I regularly witness AI strangle creativity and critical thinking skills.”

Why I Don’t Like Smartwatch “Sleep Scores,” HT to Zak Mellgren. “I have a Garmin smartwatch, but I hate the sleep score feature. So much so that I take my watch off before I go to bed so it records no data at all on my sleep. Why am I against it? Here are four reasons.”

“We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and privacy: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” C. S. Lewis

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on October 23, 2026 by Barbara Harper

This month is winding down quickly. I’m pausing for a bit to recount the week’s blessings with Susanne at at Living to Tell the Story.

1. A good visit with my primary care doctor. He has a tendency sometimes to brush off concerns that I have, so I prayed that he would be attentive and unrushed. This was probably the best visit I’ve ever had with him. I felt we had a good discussion and was satisfied with his counsel, even though it differed from what I originally wanted to do.

2. Rediscovering my son’s old blog. Jason had a blog for a while after Timothy was born, sharing experiences from the NICU and life with a preemie to encourage other parents. In the course of providing for and caring for his family, the blog was eventually forgotten and taken down by whoever was hosting it. I was always sorry those posts had been lost.

A few days ago, I was scrolling through the blog feeds I follow through Feedly and came to some that had not posted in years. I was considering deleting some of them when I came across Jason’s old blog. When I tried to click through to the site, I got an error message. But the posts themselves were still there on Feedly. So I copied and pasted them into a Word document. It was so good to reread them and see into Jason’s heart at that time and God’s grace in their lives.

3. Dinner out. Eating out is going to be a challenge with trying to maintain a low sodium diet. I looked up some articles on low sodium choices at restaurants and found a recommendation for Texas Roadhouse’s barbecue chicken. I only had half of it there and got a salad and fresh vegetables instead of their salt-encrusted (and delicious) baked potato. It was so nice to find I had some good options for restaurant food.

4. Getting back out among people. Between the hospital and illness, we’d felt kind of isolated for the last few weeks. So we had Jason, Mittu, Timothy, and Jesse over for dinner Friday night. Some of us sat in lawn chairs and talked while the guys played basketball, then we went in to play some games. Though I always love having them over, that was an especially good night. Then it was good, too, to make it out to church and our small group last Sunday.

5. A good dentist’s visit. I’ve had visits where I thought everything was fine only to be told I had a problem somewhere in my mouth. So it’s always a sigh of relief to get the all-clear. In addition, I’ve gotten vertigo pretty badly my last few times at the dentist when they sit me back up. The hygienist said she could lean me back just slightly and stand to do the cleaning. That worked great. I was so thankful she was willing to do that.

Bonuses: Getting my hair cut, and having a coupon for $8.99. Finally getting our microwave back after four weeks of waiting for parts and repairs. Jason and Mittu’s HVAC getting repaired after a couple of weeks of it not working (due to waiting on a part). Roses that Jason, Mittu, and Timothy brought over that are opening beautifully.