Overcast

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I don’t always have a cheerful, sunny disposition…

The cellulitis I mentioned earlier has not completely cleared up, and since I am on my last day of antibiotics, I need to see the doctor before it relapses like it did before. This is an already busy week, leading into one of the busiest months of my year, and I was so hoping this issue would be resolved so I could get the things done I needed to without having to keep my foot elevated and go another round of antibiotics with their accompanying side effects.

Some part of my mind has been occupied with decisions relating to the month ahead, and there is always a sense of unsettledness and pressure until some of those decisions are made and the next steps of doing can be taken.

Then a couple of hours into the day I began not feeling well — I’ll spare you the details.

Our brief taste of spring has been replaced with a cold front and gray skies, and as I began to rustle up some breakfast and listen to the weather report on the radio of more coolness, cloudiness, rain, and probable coming thunderstorms, my mood matched the overcast scene out the window.

After the weather report, the announcer of the Christian radio station read Ezekiel 34:26, “And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” Instead of cheering me, that verse reminded me of one church we attended where, on on any rainy day, we could count on being asked to sing “Showers of Blessing” or “Heavenly Sunlight” or “Sunshine In My Soul Today” in a manner of seemingly forced cheerfulness which usually had the opposite effect on me.

As I continued on with my breakfast preparations, though, I was reminded that our area has been suffering a drought for months, and a good soaking rain was sorely needed. Rain is often spoken of in the Bible as a blessing: in those days before irrigation was common, crops and livelihoods and health depended on good rains coming at the needed times.

And I began to see the irony of complaining and chafing against something that was essential to growth, health, nutrition and further blessing.

Even though my little irritations of the day can scarcely be compared to some of the serious and awful problems many in my church family and among my Internet friends are going through, I was reminded that trials of all sizes have their purpose, and sometimes they are just the needed thing for the next step of growth and Christlikneness to develop.

Hosea 10:12: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Lord, come and rain Your righteousness on me and forgive me for resenting the means of Your blessings.

(Bottom photo courtesy of the stock.xchng)

Strength for our duties

Posted on March 29, 2008 by Barbara Harper

“Yet the duties God requires of us are not in proportion to the strength we possess in ourselves. Rather, they are proportional to the resources available to us in Christ. We do not have the ability in ourselves to accomplish the least of God’s tasks. This is a law of grace. When we recognize it is impossible for us to perform a duty in our own strength, we will discover the secret of its accomplishment. But alas, this is a secret we often fail to discover.”

John Owen

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt: High

Posted on March 29, 2008 by Barbara Harper

PhotoHunt

Theme: High | Become a Photo Hunter

This wasn’t what I was originally thinking about for “high,” but once I came across it, I just had to use it.

One of my sons has been counting calories, and he had done so well and had so many calories left after dinner one day that he splurged and went out to his favorite coffee shop to get dessert. He got a piece of chocolate cake, but it was so rich he could only eat about half of it. He looked up the nutrition information online afterward, and it was a whopping 1,400 calories!! Here is the half that was left, or about 700 calories worth.

And it sits there looking so innocent.

Chocolate cake is high in calories anyway, but I don’t know what they did to this to make it that high!

And now for a more traditional look at something high:

This the clock tower downtown, picture borrowed from my son.

Come over to TN Chick‘s place to join in on the fun.

Show and Tell Friday: Childhood Jewelry

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I wanted to show today some jewelry left from my childhood through my teen years. I don’t have a lot — I was something of a tomboy back then. 🙂

This bracelet was given to me by a friend in elementary school named Cindy.

I liked hearts even then. 🙂 Cindy was the first person to be kind to me when I first came to that school in the third grade. We were fast friends for a few years, but then drifted away from each other and eventually lost contact when I moved away.

This was from an uncle when he was in the service in Viet Nam.

He and my aunt had three daughters near my age, and we did a lot together when I was young.

I think this was from a friend’s mom when I was a teen-ager. I love this though I don’t like wearing bracelets any more.

I don’t remember for sure who gave this to me:

But it was one of my favorites when I was growing up. The top part opened into a little compartment that held a solid type of perfume — you could run a fingertip over it and dab it on. I thought that was no neat!

This was a necklace from another aunt and uncle when they lived in Jamaica for a time.

Remember when chokers were all the rage?

I almost didn’t show this because the velvet ribbon, originally white, is so discolored. As I pulled it out I wondered that my neck had actually fit in it at one time!!

These are three different necklaces:

I know the “B” was from my dad; I don’t remember where the other two came from. The chain on the heart one desperately needs cleaning, but after that it would be wearable today I think.

This was a ring I just loved then.

And I also loved and wore this one a lot:

It was found at my mom’s workplace and no one ever claimed it, so she gave it to me. I don’t know if you can tell, but the area behind the flower is a little mirror.

One piece of jewelry that I no longer have but wish I did is a little pin of an animal — I think it may have been a squirrel — that had little jewels for eyes. It was given to me by a couple of elderly great aunts on my mom’s side. I am afraid I didn’t really like or appreciate it all that much then, but I came to appreciate that these aunts made the effort throughout my life to remember me and keep in touch with me. When I graduated from high school we almost didn’t send them an invitation because we hadn’t been in contact for some time and didn’t want it to seem like we were just sending an invitation in expectation of a present. But we heard that they would be very offended if we did not send them one, so we did. One of them sent me a robe that I loved and used all throughout college in the dorms.

Thanks for joining me on this trip down memory lane. 🙂 You can visit Kelli’s to see more “Show and Tells” and even join in the fun.

Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.

A reminder when I want my “own” way

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I think the essence of sin must be wanting my own way instead of God’s.

One of my sons used to object to Ken Collier’s statement, “Just two choices on the shelf: pleasing God or pleasing self” because it is possible to please both God and self if self is perfectly submitted to God. And that’s true. But we still have a constant pull toward wanting things our own way when God or the authorities He has placed over us want something from us other than what we want at the time.

Some time back I looked up verses containing the word “own” in them and sorted through the ones that speak of our own way in some form. It’s a very convicting study! I found some four pages of verses — too many to reproduce here. But I wanted to share some of them. I know sometimes it is hard to just read through a list of verses, but I would encourage you to look through them, note the dangers of our own way, and apply God’s remedy. Even more, though, I would encourage you to do this study on your own. Looking up these verses one by one had a greater impact than reading them.

Judges 17:6b: Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
II Kings 17:33: They feared the LORD, and served their own gods.
Isa. 53:6: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Prov. 14:14a: The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways
Prov. 21:2: Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Isa. 65:2: I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
Isa. 66:3: Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
Jer 18:12: And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.
Ezek. 13:2: Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
Eze 16:15a: But thou didst trust in thine own beauty,
Mark 7:9: And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Rom. 10:3: For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom. 16:18: For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly
Php 2:21: For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
II Tim. 3:2b: For men shall be lovers of their own selves
Jude 1:16: These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

Results:
Prov. 25:28: He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Ps. 22:29: None can keep alive his own soul.
Ps. 81:12: So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Prov. 1:31: Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Ezek. 11:21b: I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezek. 36:31: Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
Rom. 1:24: Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Remember:
I Cor. 6:19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Ps. 44:3: For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.
Prov. 25:27b: For men to search their own glory is not glory.

Remedy:
I Samuel 15:17: And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
Prov. 3:5: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Prov. 3:7: Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Prov. 12:15b: He that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
Mt. 7:5a: Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye…
I Cor. 10:33: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
I Cor. 13:5: Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil….
II Cor. 8:5: And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
Php 3:9: And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Claiming donated items on tax returns

Posted on March 26, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Did you know that if you itemize your tax deductions, you can claim donations to charities?

To do so, you need to make a specific list of what you are donating and get a receipt when you donate the items. When we have done it, we have simply listed “5 boys’ shirts; 6 men’s slacks,” etc. The recipient does not assign a value to what you have donated: you must do that. There are guides for how much you can claim for donated items at the Goodwill site and the Salvation Army site. I imagine you can use the same guidelines if you donate to a local rescue shelter or children’s home.

For example, you can claim $2-12 for a shirt, $2-10 for pants, $3-20 for a dress, depending on the condition. That’s more than you could make at a yard sale on those items. Household items seem to have about the same value that you might get at a yard sale, maybe a little more (lamp: $4-12; books: $.75-1.50; chair: $5-15).

There is a much more detailed document titled “Determining the Value of Donated Property” on the IRS web site at which covers multitudes of types of donated items. It also warns that there can be a 20-40% penalty if it is discovered that you overstated the value of a donated item. The IRS document on Charitable Contributions details what types of organizations and donations qualify for deductions.

The advantage to a yard sale is that you can get the cash immediately for your items. But if you don’t need the money immediately, you might make out better donating the items and claiming the deductions. Both efforts take time: the yard sale takes time to price things, advertise, and spend a morning actually selling and then packing up what’s left over. Donating to charitable organizations takes time to make lists and assign values and haul your stuff to the donation site (although some charities will pick up items) and then keep up with the paperwork until tax time. It just depends on which method you find less frustrating and confusing.

Of course, if you have things you need to get rid of and you don’t itemize your deductions and don’t want to have a yard sale, you can just take them to a donation site and drop them off without dealing with itemizing or receipts. Or you can donate them to a charity that is holding a yard sale. Some things might do well on eBay, but to list things item by item would be a bit tedious if you have a lot, and I don’t know that common everyday household items would do well. Some items, particularly children’s clothes and women’s clothes, might do well at a consignment store. Mrs. Wilt had a great post about that this week.

See Rocks In My Dryer to find more great tips or share your own with us.

Time Travel Tuesday: To Grandmother’s house we go…

Posted on March 25, 2008 by Barbara Harper

My Life as Annie’s weekly Time Travel Tuesday asks this week:

Travel back to grandmother’s (or aunt… or ?) house.

What are the smells you remember walking in when you were young?

What are things you remember seeing every time you were there?

Any special things you always did with or at grandmother’s house?

We spent some time living with my mother’s father when I was a child. He loved to tease and had a very distinctive laugh. That laugh is what always comes to mind when I think of him. Later on when we moved to another town and he remarried, whenever he came to visit he always brought Dunkin’ Donuts, and when I woke up in the mornings he and my mom were always visiting at the kitchen table.

My grandmother tended to move to be near different ones of her children at different times, so I don’t remember a particular house associated with her. But for some years when she lived near us, I very often went to spend the night with her. We shared a love of reading, and one of my delights was staying up late to read when I spent the night with her. She must have had an additional bed in her room, because I can remember us both being in our respective beds with a book and a lamp on until late at night. Her children were scattered from Texas and Louisiana to Alabama, and she would spend some part of the summers driving around to visit them. Two or three of those summers she took me with her, and though I don’t remember a lot of specifics, I remember that as a special time with her. She also loved to crochet and was almost always working on some project or another if she was sitting still. Sadly I don’t have much of anything that she crocheted except a few coasters and a doily and one baby blanket. But I remember the industriousness and always associate crocheting with her.

Book Review: The Restorer’s Journey

Posted on March 25, 2008 by Barbara Harper

The Restorer’s Journey by Sharon Hinck is the third book in the Sword of Lyric series. In the first book, The Restorer, Mom Susan finds herself pulled through and unexpected portal into another world where she finds herself in an unsought for and unwanted leadership position that she feels totally unqualified for, and she finds God’s grace is sufficient even for all of that. In Book 2, The Restorer’s Son, just as Susan and her husband, Mark, get back to their own world, they discover their son Jake has accidentally gone through the portal, so they have to go back for him and get caught up once again in Lyric’s destiny, it’s enemy, Hazor, and their friend, the reluctant new Restorer, Kieran.

The Restorer’s Journey opens with two problems: Cameron, the evil, self-seeking Council leader, and Medea, a Rhusican whose race specializes in controlling people’s minds and using them against them, have come through the portal back to Susan’s world and disappeared after trashing her house, and she and Mark have no idea where they are and what they want. Secondly, Jake is now showing the signs of the Restorer. The family isn’t sure what that will mean and when and if he should return to Lyric.

After many days Cameron and Medea return with bags of equipment and force Mark and Susan to tell them how to get back to their own world, then they suddenly pull Susan back with them as they go through. Mark and Jake gather the supplies they will need and try to follow, but Mark can’t get through. Jake finds a very different Lyric, tries to find people he knows and determine what is going on and what to do.

The point of view shifts back and forth between Susan and Jake as they are separated through most of the story. Susan finds herself enduring a cruel captivity with the Rhusicans but has to find the grace not to just endure but to pray for her captors. Jake faces a people who feel deserted by the One due to Cameron’s lies and almost gives up to go home, but once he is sure of his calling, he finally earns their trust, but then faces a stunning betrayal.

I loved the spiritual parallels in this book as in the others and the fact that the struggles and lessons are real and true even though couched in a fantasy world.. Cameron had failed to ascend previously while people turned to the Verses, so he undermines the Verses by adding to them. Truth is undermined by a different tactic for Susan as her captors twist the truth, just as those in captivity for their faith in other places have had to deal with the propaganda and psychological torture. It seems that for us to grow, God often calls us beyond what we can do in our own strength, and Susan learns to rest in Him even when mentally beaten and defeated and to go beyond natural instincts to be concerned for and pray for her enemies.

Jake knows what he is called to as the Restorer and thinks he will go in like the cavalry with guns blazing to save the day. It doesn’t quite work that way, and he has to learn to follow and to trust God to lead when he can’t see what to do or what steps to take.

Though the signs of the Restorer are the same for each, each has his or her own different gifts and inclinations. Jake finds he can’t heal others like Kieran did, but songs of praise come to him.

Susan’s story in the first book had parallels to Old Testament Deborah while Kieran in the second book had similarities to Jonah, Jacob, and Gideon. Jake reminds me a lot of a David with his youth, warrior status, and propensity for song.

I had thought this book was the last in the series, but the ending leaves the door open for future stories. I loved each of these books and wouldn’t mind at all another trip through the portal.

Monday Musings

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I love holidays, but part of me is glad when the fuss is all over and life gets back to normal. But I was thinking of that first Resurrection Sunday and how it changed “normal” completely. I hope the impact of the resurrection stays with us even though the time of particular focus on it is over.

My leg is better, but the day after I saw the doctor a dark red splotch developed near where the original wound was and the area under the original wound, which was all clear, now looks a little bruised. Don’t know what that’s all about, but I figured since I am already on antibiotics I’d just keep an eye on it and wait unless it spreads. If it is not all clear by the end of this week I’ll go back and see my regular doctor. Meanwhile I am trying to keep it elevated as much as possible.

Easter time is one of my favorite times to go dress shopping because you can actually find dresses in stores then. But I didn’t get out to look last week. At the end of the week I had to keep my leg up, and before that I just didn’t get to it. Let this be a lesson to me to shop early next time!! There were a couple of shops in particular about 20-25 minutes away I wanted to go to: maybe they’ll still have some items by the time I can get there.

This week is Jesse’s spring break. My thoughts leading up to this week were joyous over not having to set the alarm clock and being able to sleep a little later. I do enjoy not having to set the day’s schedule around the school schedule. But Jesse’s my one who, when left to himself, tends to spend more hours than he should on computer or video games or TV. I could put specific time limits on those activities and might, but I am thinking I should have some other projects for him instead. I don’t want his break to be all work and no fun, but a little work never hurt anyone. 🙂 And since I have to be sitting with my foot up anyway, maybe we can play some games or something. I determined a long time ago that I was not going to be my children’s one-woman entertainment committee — I wanted them to learn to amuse themselves (I know adults who don’t know how to do that) — but Jesse is more of a people person and still young enough that he could use a little direction.

Terry at Ornaments of Grace has an excellent post this morning about the fact that those women who stay home with their children are not always those whose husbands make a lot of money, as the prevailing sentiment seems to be now among feminists. Most that I know have to work at it and sacrifice in some areas and are staying home for greater reasons than economic ease.

When I was lying awake at 3 o’clock this morning, it seems there were other things I was going to post today…but that’s all that’s coming to mind just now! And since my posts seem to always come out longer than I had planned, that’s probably a good thing. I did want to share a couple of amusing videos. Well, the first one is somewhere between amusing and disturbing….if you have too many chocolate Easter bunnies in the house or are trying to diet and need a way to get rid of them, here are a few ideas. The second one shows a a way to keep a dog amused for hours. Love the expressions on the dog’s face!

Alleluia!

Posted on March 22, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day.

– Phillips Brooks, An Easter Carol