So a private investigator rang our doorbell tonight…

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Barbara Harper

…about 7:30 and said she needed a safe place to stay until about 9:00 and asked if she could stay in her car in front of our house.

Doesn’t that sound bizarre?

What made it seem even more so was that I had just finished making some phone calls on the couch, had just gotten up to leave the room, and was close to the door when the doorbell rang, so it startled me. Jim was in the next room and didn’t know I was in the living room, so he came around the corner, and I accidentally startled him. So we were both a little rattled anyway when we received this strange request.

My first thought was, “I’ve never heard a P.I. ask that on TV,” followed by, “How private is it if you’re telling us?”

Jim told her it was a public street and she could park there if she wanted to. She said she just wanted to let us know what she was doing.

So for the rest of the evening I felt self-conscious every time I walked in front of the living room windows or turned a light on in a room on that side of the house, feeling like someone was watching.

Of course we wonder who she is investigating. Jim said maybe she was just trying to hitch onto our Internet signal.

I don’t know. Weird!

Booking Through Thursday: Discuss!

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Barbara Harper

I haven’t done a Booking Through Thursday for a while, but today they used one of my submitted questions:

I was wanting to try a certain author and wished I knew someone who had read her works so I could get a recommendation when it occurred to me that having a “YOU ask the question” Booking Through Thursday might be fun. Each participant could ask a question they’ve wanted to discuss with other readers. Perhaps, like me, you’d like a recommendation of a certain author’s best work, or perhaps you LOVE a certain genre or series but no one else you know does and you’d just like to discuss it with someone. Or perhaps you want to try a new genre and would like recommendations from seasoned readers.

I’ve been wanting to try something written by Agatha Christie, probably either dealing with Miss Marple or Poirot, but I am open to anything else she has written.

Do you like Agatha Christie? What do you like about her? Which of her novels would you recommend and why?

And thank you for your responses!

If you review books or other products on your blog…

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Barbara Harper

…you might want to read this interview with Richard Cleland of the Federal Trade Commission, which is revising its guidelines concerning bloggers who do product reviews.

I can understand the need to disclose to readers that a post is a paid post or that a book or product being reviewed has been received for free in exchange for a review. But Cleland is mistaken that “there’s an expectation that you’re going to write a positive review.” Well, there may be that expectation on the part of the company sending out products for review, but most reviewers I’ve read don’t hesitate to say when they don’t like an item. But I can understand that some might provide a positive review in exchange for compensation, and the FTC wants to disclose that relationship.

This, however, seems overkill to me:

In the case of books, Cleland saw no problem with a blogger receiving a book, provided there wasn’t a linked advertisement to buy the book and that the blogger did not keep the book after he had finished reviewing it. Keeping the book would, from Cleland’s standpoint, count as “compensation” and require a disclosure.

A link back to a site where the product can be bought seems to me to just save a step in the process for the reader. And if every book reviewer had to send back the books they read, that just seems unnecessarily burdensome. Most books I’ve reviewed average about $12 or so — that seems like awfully small potatoes for the FTC to be worried about. I do know book reviewers who then give away the books they’ve received in connection with their review. I wonder if that is acceptable?

For the record, I mainly review books here that I have purchased just because I enjoy them and want to share them with others who might enjoy them. There have been just a handful that I’ve reviewed after receiving a request to do so and a free copy of the book, and I am pretty sure I have disclosed that in all of the reviews. So far I have turned down requests for reviews of books whose authors I am unfamiliar with.

You can find a good explanation of the FTC’s guidelines at Blogging Basics 101.

Bits and pieces

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Barbara Harper

You know how when you shake a snow globe, everything inside keeps swirling around for a while before it settles down? That’s how my brain feels after a busy week and a half or so. It felt so good yesterday to only have a couple of small errands. Then I thought I’d get tons of stuff done with all my “free time.” I got hardly anything done. I felt like I was in kind of a malaise all day. OK, I thought, I can give myself a day “off.” But I really need to get up and at ’em today. Not doing so well so far.

We’re having a lot of sickness at Jesse’s school, including several cases of swine flu. Several of the teachers are out sick as well as almost half the third grade. They’re thinking about closing down for a few days to slow the spread of it and give people a chance to recuperate. The kids are all for it, of course. Though if we have to close because of bad weather a couple of times this winter as we often do, we’ll have to make those days up somewhere. And one mom pointed out that with the incubation period, anyone who has been exposed might show symptoms about the time they started back to school again, causing another round. But I guess it would help slow exposure to some degree. (Update: they did decide to cancel school for the rest of the week. I don’t mind not setting the alarm clock for the next few days!!)

I haven’t even looked up the symptoms of swine flu. I’m one of those people too prone to feel like I have symptoms I am reading about. So if any of us gets sick, then I’ll look up and compare symptoms.

I got a new purse and wallet a while back and just last night transferred all my stuff over. I am hoping I can find everything when I need it! The last purse was pretty bag-like, and it seemed anything I looked for was always on the bottom. This one has compartments, but sometimes that entails searching several different places before finding what I want. I don’t know which is worse.

I don’t know how people function with little teeny purses.

Isn’t this just rivetingly interesting? 🙂

I have an appointment tomorrow for a mammogram (ugh!) and an x-ray on my knees. The knees are starting to give me trouble if I go up or down stairs much or have them bent much. The office called this morning and left a message on the answering machine to call them back about the appointment. I have several times but it just keeps ringing. What business doesn’t have voice mail these days?

How can the thermostat show 72 when I am cold one time and when I am sweating another time? It does move around, so I know it is not stuck there. I know it probably has to do with humidity and air pressure and activity level and all of that. I’m not quite interested enough to go looking for an answer.

And that’s how my stray thoughts are swirling today. Any other thoughts are even less interesting except for a couple I am pondering for future posts.

Now…I must get up and operate like a productive citizen and family member. Though I do hear a piece of leftover pie calling my name….

A Quiet Spirit

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Barbara Harper

This is something I wrote for our ladies’ ministry booklet for this month, and I thought I’d share it here:

I Peter 3: 3-4 tells us that “the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit…is in the sight of God of great price,” and it is to be more of what we focus on adorning ourselves with than outward ornamentations of jewelry, nice clothes, etc.

I think we have some idea of what meekness is: we’ve all heard the definition of “strength under control,” the illustration of a tamed horse. Meekness isn’t “wimpiness” or a lack of spirit. It is perfectly illustrated by Christ, who was “meek and lowly in heart.”

But I want to focus today on a quiet spirit. Does that mean a quiet person, an introvert? No, I think God created many different kinds of personalities to minister to many different kinds of people. There are certainly times to be quiet of mouth or to rein in an exuberant spirit, but I don’t think that is primarily what this is talking about. Some segments of Christendom have developed this idea into almost mysticism, but I don’t think that’s what the word “quietness” means, either.

Checking some of the Greek words translated “quiet” reveals synonyms like “peaceful, tranquil, restful, undisturbed.”

Why would we need instruction to have a tranquil, undisturbed spirit? Because we can get so easily disquieted in spirit. The Hebrew word for that has a much longer definition: “to murmur, growl, roar, cry aloud, mourn, rage, sound, make noise, tumult, turbulent, be clamorous, be disquieted, be loud, be moved, be troubled, be in an uproar, be in a stir, in a commotion, boisterous, clamorous.” That covers a lot of territory. Ever felt any of that? I sure have. There are numerous examples in Scripture, from the discouraged Psalmist in Psalm 42 to the clamorous foolish woman in Proverbs 9:13 to the contentious and angry woman in Proverbs 21:19 (the wilderness was preferred above dwelling with her) to the “devout and honorable women” who were nonetheless “stirred up” to persecute and expel Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:50.

Obviously, being disquieted in spirit can not only put us in a bad mood, it can negatively effect those in our lives, especially those whom God gave us to minister to.

So how do we cultivate a quiet spirit? I’m still working on it myself, and whole books have been written on the subject, but meditating on these and similar verses helps.

Psalm 131:2: “Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child” (when something beloved and comforting is taken away).

Psalm 1:33: “But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” (Listening to God and His wisdom can quiet us from fear of evil.)

Proverbs 17:1: “Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.”

Ecclesiastes 4:6: “Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.”

Isaiah 30:15 is one of my all-time favorite verses: “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength,” and sadly, the verse goes on to say, “and ye would not.” In whatever situation disquiets us, we need to rest in the Lord, confident that He has everything under control and has reasons for what He is allowing. To me that’s the essence of a quiet spirit — one that is resting in the Lord.

Isaiah 32:17: “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.”

Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 65:7: “Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.”

Matthew 11:28-29: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Peter begins the passage about having a meek and quiet spirit with the word ”likewise.” The verses he is referring back to there are at the end of I Peter 2 dealing with how Christ suffered at the hands of others without guile, without reviling. In the midst of pain and mistreatment by those whom He loved, He “committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.”

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

~ John Greenleaf Whittier

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Hope you’re doing well this fine fall day!

Still have a lot to get done today, but I wanted to share some good things seen around the Web lately:

How can I know I have a heart for God at By Grace.

The waiting is the hardest part of waiting by Big Mama. Quotes: “…f you can’t find contentment and security as a single woman, then you’re not going to find it in marriage” and “Marriage wasn’t going to take away all my fears, insecurities, and worries….marriage tends to just amplify whatever junk is in your life.”

Homemaking Internship

Study to show yourself an SAHM

Being merry with our husbands by nannykim.

I am my husband’s girlfriend by Candy.

Bless others with food: practical ideas and organizational tools for helping others by bringing food.

What about the culture? by Jungle Mom: answers from a missionary against the charge that missionaries adversely affect the culture they minister to.

How far is enough? Wonderful testimony from a missionary (husband of Jungle Mom).

Craft station out of a crate.

How fiction can powerfully inform the practical application of truth, part one and part two by Jeanne Damoff, whom I had never read before, but whom I now want to read more of. Quote: “God is good in what He forbids.”

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on October 2, 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, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

This is going to be short (which some would say is an improvement. 🙂 ) but hopefully sweet as I have a lot to get done today.

1. Cooler temperatures.

2. Good reports from doctor visits and lab work. Nothing wrong besides the usual issues — just catching up on check-ups.

3. The Lord lifting up and encouraging when I was down and frustrated and providing grace and strength and guidance for things I needed to do.

4. This cracked me up:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

5. And this touched my heart — one of the neatest things I have ever seen:

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Hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Melli’s September Photo Scavenger Hunt

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Melli dreamed up and planned out a Photo Scavenger Hunt. She told us about it a month ago…but somehow time got away from me and I have only been working on it the last few days. And this happens to be one of the busiest weeks in a long time for me with my monthly ladies’ booklet due plus five different medical appointments for three of us (nothing wrong — just catching up with check-ups, eye exams, etc.) . All of that to say…I didn’t find all the items on the list. 😳 I wish I had started earlier. I don’t know if you have to have them all to participate — but I don’t want to waste the photos I do have — so I’ll post what I’ve got and then get my 50 lashes… (Edited to add: I did find more than I thought I would…but that’s one reason this is being posted so late in the day. 🙂 )

1.) Something in flight

2.) A gas pump

Sorry, nothing for this one. I was trying to find a picture of a toy one the kids used to love to play with.

3.) Graffiti … or street art

4.) Soap or soapy

5.) An herb

6.) Something vinyl

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7.) A bottle of perfume/cologne

Pretty uncreative here — Jim doesn’t care for perfumes or cologne and most of them give me a headache, so I just got a picture at a store. These caught my eye because I used to wear this in high school. I almost bought it just to see if it smelled like I remembered and wouldn’t bother me, but figured that would be a waste. I would have loved to have found one of those old-fashioned atomizer bottles.

8.) Snazzy Shoes

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Another store photo — all of our shoes are pretty basic.

9.) A worm

Sorry, nothing for this either. The only ones I saw were dead and shriveled. I was going to go to the children’s or babies’ section on W-Mart to see if there were any toy ones, and I forgot.

10.) A city bus

11.) Something curly

12.) A key

13.) Something cold

14.) Sports Memorabilia

From our school. NOT from me — I am totally unathletic!

15.) A feather/feathers

16.) Something twisted

17.) A hole

18.) A leprechaun

Sorry. Where else was I going to find a leprechaun this time of year? 😀

19.) Something lacy

20.) Something nutty

21.) Sheet music

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22.) A splash

23.) An apple/apples/apple something

24.) A shovel

25.) Something empty.

26.) A triangle

27.) Something purple

28.) Juicy

29.) Noisy

30.) Something sad

Veteran salute at my father-in-law’s funeral. Sad, but poignant and honorable.

I did enjoy this challenge very much. Next time I will start earlier — I like thinking outside the box a little bit and taking time to find something interesting or unique. I was very pleased with a few of these. Some are new just today! Some are from years ago.

It may be later tonight or even the weekend before I am able to visit the other participants, but you can find links to them at Melli‘s.