Choking anxieties

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Busy, busy day today — I won’t be able to participate in the usual Friday memes. I will get around to visit you all hopefully later today or this evening.

In the meantime, I wanted to share something the Lord used to speak to me this morning. While showering and getting ready, my mind was running through the coming day, and I kept feeling anxiety well up and kept having to beat it back with Philippians 4:6-7. Then what should I come to in today’s reading from Our Daily Walk by F. B. Meyer but this:

PRACTICING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

“…the Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.”– Phi 4:5-6.

THE WORD anxiety comes from the same root as anger, and suggests the idea of choking. Worry chokes the life of faith. It does not help us to overcome our difficulties, but unfits us for dealing with them. No weapon that is formed against us shall prosper; every tongue that shall rise against us shall be condemned; our bread shall be given, and our water sure. God will perfect that which concerneth us, and His goodness and mercy shall never cease. Roll thyself and thy burden on the Lord, and leave them there. Too many take them back again!

In the darkening autumn evenings, we light our lamps earlier, or turn on the switch, and lo! there is a burst of light which had been waiting to be called upon. So let us keep a smile upon our faces. As we put off our heavy and rain-soaked clothes in the vestibule, so let us leave our anxieties with God, until we have to resume our destined path.

The Lord is at hand! Let us often repeat these words, amid the commonplaces of life, as well as when anticipating His near Advent! Say it when Euodia and Syntyche are giving you trouble! Say it when you are irritated and think that there is no reason why you should accept rebuffs and slights so meekly! Say it when you are worried and anxious! Say it, till you come again into that Presence, which is as the light of the morning when the sun riseth. Practise the Presence of God! Hold fellowship with Him! Even in business, or in the midst Of daily toil, often lift your heart for a moment into the atmosphere of His presence! There is a great difference between faith and its intellectual expression. We must rise above the intellectual into spiritual fellowship with God. It is not for us to excite a transient feeling of love towards God. This will soon evanesce. Our business is the absolute surrender of the heart to Him. Not the rapture of the mystic, but the consciousness of the spirit, which is aware of an unimpeded union with the life of the Infinite. To be ever, tranquilly, joyously, and strenuously, at one with the blessed Will of God–that is the Heavenly Paradise, and each of us, by His grace, may walk with Him in happy fellowship, as Enoch did of old, and then we can make known our requests!

Though I am a big stickler for reading things in context, in all the times I have read, quoted to myself, or heard Philippians 4:6-7 preached, it has never been coupled with verse 5.

The anxieties of my day are nothing major in the grand scheme of things: in fact, it is almost easier to trust the Lord for the major things. My mind has a tendency to get over-anxious about little things, and, as Meyer brought out, it has a choking effect. But the Lord is at hand! Therefore, on that basis, I can lay aside anxiety and trust everything to Him.

Then, I’ve been reading a little bit of Passionate Housewives Desperate For God by Jennie Chauncey and Stacy McDonald each morning, and in the section I read today was the NKJV translation of Psalm 94:19:

In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.

Praise God for his comfort, direction, and instruction.

Booking Through Thursday: Collectibles

Posted on February 26, 2009 by Barbara Harper

The weekly Booking Through Thursday question for today is:

Hardcover? Or paperback?
Illustrations? Or just text?
First editions? Or you don’t care?
Signed by the author? Or not?

Mostly I just collect what I like to read, in whatever format. I like the idea of first editions, but not enough to pay the extra price. Books signed by the author are nice, too, and I have a few, but I don’t really seek them out. Most of my biographies, Christian fiction, and Christian non-fiction are paperback because most are easily available that way — some might be in hardback but would be harder to find. I do like the classics I’ve collected to be hardback, and most of them are. It just seems more…classic. Plus I would like to pass them on to my children: though currently none of them are really interested in the classics, maybe some day their wives or children might like them. Illustrations? In general it just depends on the particular book. I think most of my classics are pretty much just plain text; some have drawings at the beginnings of chapters. There is one I bought, though, for the illustrations even though I already had a copy, and that’s Little Women, one of my all-time favorites. I saw this one in a bookstore in the mall (which, sadly, all seem to have gone out of business, at least here locally, and I miss them), and it reminded me of the types of books I used to read when I was young. The cover is gorgeous, and it has many colored illustrations inside.

I’d love for at least all of my children’s classics to look like this. It might be a bit daunting to a child, though, as it is a pretty thick book — about 3 “, due to the larger type as well as the illustrations. But I do have dreams of reading this with a granddaughter some day.

Melli’s ABC Challenge: K and L

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Melli is hosting an ABC photo challenge in which we’re supposed to look for letters in common everyday things or in nature without actually manipulating anything to make the letter and without photographing the letter itself in a word or sign. We’re doing two letters a week, and this week it is K and L.

K was by far the hardest one for me so far and the one I spent the most time looking for. Somehow I thought I’d find one in tree branches, and I was hoping my neighbors wouldn’t come out while I was walking around with my camera in hand and ask me what I was doing.

“I’m looking for a K.”

“A ‘K’? What do you mean?”

“I need to find something in the shape of a K.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to post it on the Internet.”

“Ooooookaaaay…”

I don’t know my neighbors very well, and I can imagine the impression this would make…

But thankfully no one came out while I was scouting for a K.

When I picked Jesse up from basketball practice, I drove around the parking lot looking at trees and such, but I saw no Ks there, either. I did tell him what I was doing. It’s OK, he’s used to me by now. 🙂

Then he saw one on the way home, and took this picture for me while we were at the red light, so I could keep my eyes on the light, cars, and everything else a responsible driver is supposed to be watching rather than looking for Ks.

This is the side support structure for the crossbar that goes over the overpass from which traffic lights are hung.

Ls were much easier to find:

Wouldn’t you know I wouldn’t see that speck under the end table until after I had taken the picture, downloaded it, then uploaded it. But I will leave it because it is late and I need to go to bed, and so you’ll know my house isn’t perfectly kept. Just in case you entertained any thoughts that it might be.

You can check Melli‘s for other people’s adventures with K and L this week.

Happy half-way-through-the-week day!

Complete in Thee!

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7.

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 3:10.

Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee.

Refrain:
Yea, justified! O blessed thought!
And sanctified! Salvation wrought!
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified, I too, shall be!

Complete in Thee! no more shall sin,
Thy grace hath conquered, reign within;
Thy voice shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee— each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied;
Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be,
I ask no more, complete in Thee.

Dear Saviour! when before Thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among Thy chosen will I be,
At Thy right hand, complete in Thee.

— Aaron R. Wolfe, 1821-1902
Refrain, James M. Gray, 1851-1935

Sound clip may be heard here.

Stray thoughts here and there

Posted on February 21, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Here are some other people’s thoughts that have blessed, encouraged, instructed me, and made me think recently:

Why we need the arts.

Herb Cookery: Vintage Tip Sheet.

Being vs. doing.

Mothering, chores, and consequences. Favorite quote: “…one theme that seems to keep coming up in some of the episodes we watch, and that’s women feeling as if they’re hopeless about getting their children to do chores. ‘They never clean up! They see me cleaning, but they never help, and finally I give up because it’s not worth the hassle and arguments they give me!’ Where did women ever get the idea that they were this hopeless? They are the MOTHERS. They can make their children clean up.”

10 good reasons to exercise hospitality. The posts linked to there are good reading as well. This is an area where I fall short consistently.

Valentine’s Day Single.

Reassurance for parents of young ones. Quote: “…the first few years are the hardest, if you do them right. Picture discipline like a pyramid: you discipline a lot in the first few years, and then when they’re older you don’t have to do very much. What’s required gets smaller and smaller because they internalize good morals (and hopefully a relationship with God).”

Raising sons, raising heroes. Quote: “I’ve been wondering lately,though, about the wisdom of always counseling my guys to avoid risks. Truth is, there are plenty of times in life that you need a guy around who is bold enough to take a risk. To do something.”

20 tips for living on one income.

Write as you read — different approaches to Bible study and getting more out of devotions.

A vision for women’s ministry. Quote: “Women’s ministry is not about women’s rights or about women’s feats, it’s about expressing our love for Jesus and His church – his body.” — Mrs. Susan Hunt

What we call “traditional” gender roles. Quote: “Far too often a couple who claims to be following the Scriptural model for gender roles are actually following a cultural tradition without any foundation.”

Collected thoughts for the new mom.

Fabric boxes.

My son pointed me to the This is why you’re fat blog (that sounds funny…he shared it because he thought it was interesting, not because he was hinting that I was fat…), a site showing “deliciously gross food,” like this Deep fried cupcake with chocolate syrup and sprinkles, the Bacon Cheese Pizza Burger, which uses pizzas as the top and bottom of a burger, or this Bacon-wrapped meatloaf with a layer of macaroni and cheese.

Some of it is pretty gross — some of it actually looks good — but only in small portions!!

Have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details.

My favorites from this week:

1. Getting past the halfway point in the unabridged Les Miserables! I am on page 769 of this 1,463 page book.

2. My husband’s grilling. We love everything he grills. Sunday he made his special chicken teriyaki (I don’t have a recipe — I don’t know what all he puts in it or in what increments.)

3. KFC’s Mashed Potato Bowls — mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, popcorn chicken, and grated cheese all in one bowl. I know, I know, they’re probably not the healthiest thing on the planet.

4. Pockets of solitude. I seem to need a certain amount of quiet time alone to think and regroup, and God seems to orchestrate those just when I most need them.

5. Getting the theme and speaker set for the upcoming ladies’ luncheon. That is a huge relief and sets the direction for everything else. I am excited! More details later…

Happy Friday!

Booking Through Thursday: Storage

Posted on February 19, 2009 by Barbara Harper

The weekly Booking Through Thursday question for today is suggested by Kat:

I recently got new bookshelves for my room, and I’m just loving them. Spent the afternoon putting up my books and sharing it on my blog . One of my friends asked a question and I thought it would be a great BTT question. So from Tina & myself, we’d like to know “How do you arrange your books on your shelves? Is it by author, by genre, or you just put it where it falls on?”

I wasn’t going to answer this question originally because the answer that came to mind was only a couple of words. But reading Sally‘s and Janet‘s answers inspired me to elaborate.

The short answer is: by subject and genre. More or less.

We have four main bookcases, two in the family room and two in the sunroom. They used to all be together until we got furniture for the living room that was larger than what we’d had before, so we had to move two bookcases out. The ones in the family room are technically only half-bookshelves: the upper half has bookshelves with glass doors, the bottom half has shelves with solid doors which hold games, wedding and baby albums, and the boxes I keep for each of my children with special cards and keepsakes. (It sounds more organized than it is. The shelves with keepsakes are stuffed with such things that I squirrel away in there during a quick clean-up, but periodically I sort through and put the right items in the right boxes and make hard decisions about throwing some away (To my husband: I really do, honey, though it looks like I never throw anything away. 🙂 ) The books in the upper shelves are mainly Christian non-fiction. Some of my husband’s books, which are mainly on the subject of creationism and science, are in those bookcases as well.

The ones in the sunroom have six shelves each and four of those are double-stacked — they have two rows of books on them (you’d think a sunroom would have white walls, billowy curtains over open windows, wicker furniture, and plants everywhere. Not ours. 🙂 Ours has dark wood paneling and a hodgepodge of stuff that won’t fit in other rooms: two computer desks, bookshelves, treadmill, a table with assorted craft supplies on it, filing cabinets, tools, and boxes of my mother-in-law’s storage. The previous owners had a hot tub and exercise equipment in here.) Anyway, the bookshelves in here house my most-read books: biographies, classics, and fiction. I read a lot of Christian fiction but I don’t keep a lot of it: most of it used to be passed on to my mom before she died and is still passed on to my mother-in-law. I have one box set side for my sister. Some gets donated to thrift stores. I have a lot of “mom” books and organizational books, for some reason, spread out over two different bookcases (which I guess means I need to put some of the organizational ones to good use.) I also have a couple of shelves of craft books in here. If I ever get my sewing/craft room, hopefully I can move those there. One of the “double-stacked” rows is to-be-read books; another holds books I put away in a quick clean-up but need to move to their rightful spot (but usually there is no room left on the shelf where they would belong…)

Within each of those broad categories, books on like subject are grouped together.

I also have a small bookcase of cookbooks in the kitchen as well as a shelf of cookbooks on a baker’s rack. Each of my children has bookcases in their rooms, and we have boxes of children’s books in the attic (which I am really glad I kept in light of the CPSIA). I hope to have very bookish grandchildren to share them with some day. There are a few books on my nightstand and a few end tables and, of course, in the bathroom.

Once when I hinted to my husband that we needed more bookshelves, he said we needed to get rid of some books. 🙂 It’s true — there really is no space for more shelves. He once said he didn’t see the need to keep a book once it had been read, but he is very patient with my book collection. Believe or not, I have purged it a few times, and it is probably time to do so again, but I don’t want to do so hurriedly. Books are an investment, and it would cost more to replace them than to keep them, so I like to go through them carefully, making really sure I don’t think I’ll ever use a book again before parting with it. I admit I do keep some out of sentimentality. I almost tossed my college literature books out recently since most of their content can be easily found elsewhere, but when I paged through them and saw various notes and underlinings, I just couldn’t.

friedmanlibrary217x271 I once thought it would be nice to have a room designated officially as the library like you read about or see in films in old English manors, complete with the little rolling ladder (that I really don’t think I have the balance to actually use.) But I am not so sure I’d really like that. Books are some of my best friends, and it is nice to have a few close at hand in most of the rooms.

(Note: This is not a picture of my bookcases: this is a picture of a “dream library.”)

Melli’s ABC Challenge and other things I see in odd places

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Do you remember the Magic Eye craze several years ago: a picture of squiggly lines or confused images which didn’t make sense, but if you stared at it in just the right way, you’d see a 3D image.

I could never make those things work.

But we had wallpaper in our bedroom and bathroom made up of swirly images that, if I stared off into space for a while, thinking of something else, suddenly I’d see a picture take shape in the wallpaper.

I guess you could call it an optical illusion, or sometimes it is the optical version of a homonym — a shape or object that can look like several different objects. There probably is an official word for such things.

That is kind of the premise behind Melli‘s ABC challenge. We’re supposed to find everyday objects that resemble letters of the alphabet, but we’re not to put something together to make the shape, and we’re not supposed to photograph letters themselves in a sign. We’re taking two letters at a time, and this week we’re looking for I and J. But along with this challenge I wanted to share some other optical homonyms. I am saving the best for last!

First my I and J. You can see straight lines that could be used for an I everywhere, but I really wanted to find something with the top and bottom crossbar (I would have loved to have found a lower case i — I’ll be interested to see if any of the other participants did.) The closest I could come is this — the side of the CD holder on the computer desk.

The J I noticed a while back: this is a hook outside which will support hanging plants when the weather gets consistently warmer.

Some years back when this piano was new, the one thing I didn’t like about it was that I thought the book support on it looked like kidneys:

Then a friend pointed out that it also looked like an insect’s eyes or twin embryos. I don’t know if that made me like it any better, but it was interesting!

Our “sunroom” has wooden paneling, and right above the computer desk is what looks to me like an eye:

Also on the ceiling of this room is what looks to me like an animal’s face. It’s a high ceiling and I can’t get quite close enough to get a good picture of it, but here’s the best:

In real life it does look like a 3D image: it looks like it is emerging from the paneling.

For the record, I really don’t like Southwest-style decorating, either the color or the shapes (no offense to those who do), but other room renovations have taken precedence over this one, and we just haven’t gotten to it yet. This long shape looks like some kind of bug to me:

And this looks like a man with a Mohawk wearing a gray suit:

Finally, our church has a “ladies’ lounge” connected to the restroom.

The wallpaper is made of these white-on-white urns or vases with bouquets and garlands of flowers:

But I noticed one day that from across the room it looked like a series of Gene Shalit faces, complete with bow tie:

Don’t you think?

gene_shalit_list_view

(For my international readers, Gene Shalit is a book and film critic whose trademark look includes bushy hair and a bow tie.)

Interests and Issues

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Gina at Chats With an Old Lady is running a series on Titus 2 women, sharing testimonies of women who have emphasized the Titus 2 characteristics of an older woman teaching and being an example to a younger one. If you don’t have someone like this in your life, perhaps these testimonies would give you an idea of the kind of person to look for and pray for. Some of us need to get used to the idea that we’re supposed to be on the other end — being a Titus 2 woman to someone — and these will give us some idea how to do that.

Those of you who pray, I’d appreciate your prayers for the talks in Washington about the auto industry bailout. I don’t pretend to have any idea what the best course of action would be, but this concerns not only the auto industry but also myriad other industries that contribute to it. Some of the big car companies are some of the biggest customers of my husband’s company, so anything that affects the “big” business affects his as well.

Frank Sansone brought my attention to something I had not heard of: the fact that President Obama has nominated David Ogden for the position of Deputy Attorney General. This is alarming because of Ogden’s record on pornography, as delineated in the article article: David Ogden and the New Pornographers: Why the Senate Should Reject His Nomination:

In addition to making it harder to prosecute those who sell images of child molestation and rape, Ogden has sought to ensure that pornography can be easily distributed and readily accessed in almost any medium or location. He has fought cases in Puerto Rico to allow Playboy to broadcast explicit programming on TV. He represented Philip Harvey, a man who runs the nation’s largest mail-order pornography shop out of North Carolina, in his attempt to deflect a Department of Justice investigation of his business. Completing a sort of multi-media grand slam, Ogden has sued to allow sexually-explicit content to be transmitted over the phone. Taking this quest to its absurd limits, he has even claimed in court that there is a constitutional right for pornography to be kept in firehouses. Ogden’s position is good for the industry groups he has represented but bad for female firefighters who could be subjected to humiliating and harassing images in the workplace. With an equal disregard for the comfort and protection of children, in 2000 Ogden sued to allow pornography to be accessed in public libraries

Albert Mohler has some additional thoughts here. I hope you will contact your senators to reject this nomination.
The Common Room rightly describes as “Deeply disturbing, heartbreaking” this news and these clips from Palestinian children’s programming glorifying hate, war, and antisemitism.
I’ve been saddened and even sickened by the ramifications of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Sherry at Semicolon has a good summary of it here. The main purpose of it is to keep our children from being poisoned by lead in toys — a good and worthy goal. But it has spun off into senseless mania. Retailers, thrift shops, and others are having to do away with multitudes of children’s books even though there has never been a known instance of someone getting lead contamination from a book. The Headmistress has been blogging about this for days — I would encourage you read even a portion of the info. there on it. It is absolutely mind-boggling.

Finally, I have also been greatly frustrated at the push for the economic stimulus package. Again, I know very little about what would be the best thing for the economy, but what frustrates me is the push to get it voted through before it could even be read. On a local radio interview with my state senator, Jim DeMint, he said he was trying to get them to delay for a week so they could take and read the thing, but that didn’t happen. It’s just irresponsible to push for a vote on something when very few have any idea of the specifics, and I have heard the bill contains some alarming policy changes. One of President Obama’s campaign promises was that the people would have five days to view any bill once it reaches his desk before he signs it. I hope he keeps that promise, but it would be nice for lawmakers to have at least that long to study a bill before signing it.

Sorry to be so depressing. 🙂 I am not feeling depressed — just bothered. I started to look for something cute or funny to end up with, but I decided to leave this post as is to encourage our alertness and prayers for our country and our world.

Blue Monday: Blue Poetry

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Smiling Sally hosts a Blue Monday in which we can post about anything blue — pretty, ugly, serious or funny — and then link up to other Blue Monday participants.

I rechecked Sally’s guidelines to make sure this was ok and that our blue item didn’t have to be an actual object (I didn’t think so as Sally’s pretty creative in other memes she participates in, too. 🙂 ). But over the weekend I was reminded of two poems that mentioned blue, both of which touch my heart for many reasons.

The first is “The Blue Bowl,” which I discovered a while back in Lanier Ivester‘s article, “I Am a Stay-at-Home Wife,” which is excellent reading. This poem has to do with a wife’s loving ministrations for her husband throughout the day.

The Blue Bowl

All day long I did the little things,
The little things that do not show;
I brought the kindling for the fire,
I set the candles in a row,
I filled a bowl with marigolds—
The shallow bowl you love the best—
And made the house a pleasant place
Where weariness may take its rest.

The hours sped on, my eager feet
Could not keep pace with my desire.
So much to do! So little time!
I could not let my body tire.
Yet when the coming of the night
Blotted the garden from my sight,
And on the narrow graveled walks
Between the guarding flower stalks
I heard your step, I was not through
With services I meant for you.

You came into the quiet room
That glowed enchanted with the bloom
Of yellow flame. I saw your face;
Illumined by the firelit space,
Slowly grow still and comforted—
“It’s good to be at home,” you said.

~ Blanch Bane Kuder

The second is one I first saw referenced on Janet’s blog, titled “The Blue Robe” by Wendell Berry.

The Blue Robe

How joyful to be together, alone
as when we first were joined
in our little house by the river
long ago, except that now we know

each other, as we did not then;
and now instead of two stories fumbling
to meet, we belong to one story
that the two, joining, made. And now

we touch each other with the tenderness
of mortals, who know themselves:
how joyful to feel the heart quake

at the sight of a grandmother,
old friend in the morning light,
beautiful in her blue robe!

— Wendell Berry, from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry

I like the depiction of “old love,” of two who have known and loved each other for years, and I especially like the last four lines. I’ve enjoyed discovering more of Berry’s poems since this one, such as To Tanya on My Sixtieth Birthday, They Sit Together on the Porch (both of these similarly themed about “old love,” but the second almost makes me teary with the symbolism at the end of which will go “first through the dark doorway, bidding Goodnight, and which sits on a while alone”), and To My Mother.

The tenderness in both of these poems really touches me.