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Review: North! Or Be Eaten

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Barbara Harper

North! Or Be Eaten is the second of Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga for children.

In the first book, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (linked to my review), we met the Igiby family: grandfather Podo, mother Nia, sons Janner and Tink, and daughter Leeli. They lived in Skree, which is under the domination of the Fangs of Dang, headed by Gnag the Nameless.

At the end of the first book (spoiler alert if you haven’t read it), the children are stunned to learn that they are the lost Jewels of fabled Anniera. Their father was the High King.

Unfortunately, the Fangs figure this out as well. They raze the town, burn the Igiby’s home, and pursue them. Podo’s plan is to make it to the Ice Prairies, which the lizard-like Fangs can’t tolerate. Once there, they can decide what to do next.

Thus the family sets out on an epic quest “through many dangers, toils, and snares.”

They are accosted by the Stranders, rough, fierce people who live in Glipwood Forest and have no conscience about stealing and kidnapping. Yet they find a couple of people of character even there.

They get separated at Dugtown, which, oddly, lacks children–and soon find out why.

While searching for the lost Tink, Janner gets whisked away to the deceptively named Fork Factory, where there is no escape.

They are betrayed by those they thought were friends. But they find aid in unexpected sources.

Along the way, they battle not only the enemies pursuing them, but themselves. When the journey is quiet, the children are told more about the kingdom and their established roles in it. Leeli is fine with hers and seems to have been fulfilling it already. But the boys take longer to absorb the news and aren’t so sure they want the responsibility.

However, their trials and hardships bring home to their hearts what is most important. And when things seem at their lowest, “darkness is seldom complete, and even when it is, the pinprick of light is not long in coming–and finer for the great shroud that surrounds it” (p. 312).

One whose hidden past caught up with him “moved through the days in peace and wonder, for his whole story had been told for the first time, and he found that he was still loved” (p. 323).

The first book took a while to set up the characters and situation. This book dove right into the action. There’s a lot less humor in this book than the first, but I felt the first went a little overboard in that department. There aren’t many occasions for full-blown humor in this book, but it’s tucked in here and there.

Besides trusting “the Maker,” family, bravery, and overcoming, it seemed to me that identity was a key theme. Though Janner struggled with his role in the kingdom, remembering who he really was helped him in the Fork Factory, where all the workers were only called “Tools” and treated as such.

The book is wonderfully illustrated by Joe Sutphin. I think the boy on the front cover is supposed to be Tink, who looks a lot like former Monkee Michael Nesmith. 🙂 I don’t think that’s purposeful, as neither author nor illustrator are old enough to have been Monkee’s fans. But it was a fun connection.

I enjoyed the book a lot, especially the latter third of it. There are two more books in the series. I look forward to what happens to the Igiby family next.

Review: The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Barbara Harper

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was the last of Charles Dickens’ novels and only about half-finished when he died.

The story opens in an opium den as a man awakens from his drug-induced stupor, then goes to the cathedral, where he is the choirmaster.

A little later, this man, John Jasper, tells his nephew, Edwin Drood, that he takes opium for a physical condition. The reader is left unsure for a while whether Jasper is telling the truth or leading a double life.

Edwin is a young man engaged to Rosa Bud. They are both orphans, but their fathers were good friends and arranged their marriage. Edwin comments that the prearrangement “flattens” the excitement of their courtship. But he’s willing to go along with the plan. He and Rosa often end up arguing.

Twin siblings, Neville and Helena Landless, also newly orphaned, arrive from Ceylon with their guardian. Neville is to study with the minor canon, Rev. Crisparkle, while Helena will attends the nuns’ boarding school. She and Rosa, also a student there, become good friends.

Nevile has been mistreated by his stepfather and has a quick temper. He is secretly attracted to Rosa and can’t stand the way Edwin treats her. The two young men argue, goaded on by Jasper.

Crisparkle urges the two to settle their differences. The day after they do, Edwin disappears. Neville is immediately suspect, but there’s no proof of his guilt.

Dickens always has multiple threads and quirky characters woven into his plots. Mr. Durdles is a stonemason and undertaker. Jasper asks Durdles to take him on a nighttime tour of the crypts. “Deputy” is the nickname of a street child who throws rocks at people out at night but who also sees and hears much that goes on. Mr. Sapsea is a somewhat self-important auctioneer who later becomes the mayor. Dick Datchery comes into the story later, a man of independent means supposedly looking for a pleasant place to stay. A former sea captain, Mr. Tartar, arrives later, too, and ends up living next to where Neville is hiding out. At first I thought Tartar was spying on Neville for Jasper, but later I didn’t think so.

One of the most touching moments for me involved Mr. Grewgious, Rosa’s guardian. At first he comes across as a little silly and fussy. But later, as he remembers the women he silently loved, who died long ago, he wonders whether the man she married ever suspected him of having feelings for her. As he catches sight of himself in the mirror, he says “A likely someone, you, to come into anybody’s thoughts in such an aspect! There! There! There! Get to bed, poor man, and cease to jabber!” The narrator notes, “There are such unexplored romantic nooks in the unlikeliest men.”

Another favorite quote, said of Rev. Crisparkle: “He was simply and staunchly true to his duty alike in the large case and in the small. So all true souls ever are. So every true soul ever was, ever is, and ever will be. There is nothing little to the really great in spirit.”

I liked the turn of phrase that a bombastic man targeted another as “kind of human peg to hang his oratorical hat on.” Then, “the remainder of the party lapsed into a sort of gelatinous state, in which there was no flavour or solidity, and very little resistance.”

And this brought a smile: “The two shook hands with the greatest heartiness, and then went the wonderful length—for Englishmen—of laying their hands each on the other’s shoulders, and looking joyfully each into the other’s face.”

Wikipedia lists some of the theories about how Dickens intended to finish the novel. I feel pretty sure I know what happened to Edwin and why and by whom–the clues seem to point one direction. But it would have been fun to learn whether I was right and to see the plot unravel and the bad guy get his comeuppance.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by David Thorn. He did a great job, except I had a little trouble understanding a few of the characters. I also got the Kindle version, which was free at the time, to go over the passages which weren’t clear to me.

Some years ago I set myself a mission to read all the Dickens novels I hadn’t read yet. Now I have read all of them except Barnaby Rudge, which, honestly, doesn’t sound very exciting. But I will still read it some day.

While Edwin Drood isn’t my favorite of Dickens’ novels–those would be A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield--I did enjoy it and got caught up in the mystery.

What Complaining Does

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Barbara Harper

When I was student teaching, another student from my college with his own car offered to drive the rest of us who were teaching at a particular school. There was something about his car that produced a strong sulfur-like smell. Many mornings–maybe every morning–I made some kind of comment about the odor. One day he wearily said, “I know it smells bad, but I can’t help it.”

Suddenly I realized how my complaining must have sounded to him. Not only was I wearing him down with my negativity, but I wasn’t showing any gratitude or consideration for his kindness in driving me to school.

It’s so easy to complain about the least little thing: the weather, other drivers, the neighbor who plays loud music, the restaurant entree that takes too long to arrive, the rude sales clerk, loss of electricity during a storm, and so much more.

Our ladies Bible study is working through Exodus this semester. In Exodus 15:22, the Israelites went three days in the wilderness only to find that the water was too bitter to drink. In the next chapter, they complain because they don’t have food.

Their concern was legitimate. Being without food and water, especially in the wilderness, is a serious problem.

But they had just seen God work miraculously in the ten plagues He had sent to Egypt and then in delivering them from Pharaoh’s army by way of walking through the Red Sea on dry ground. It seems like they’d stop to think that a God who could do that could provide for them. They didn’t even ask Him. They just started to complain–other translations say they grumbled or murmured.

But before we’re too hard on the children of Israel, we need to look at ourselves. How often do I complain at the first minor inconvenience? I don’t stop to ask God if He has something for me to learn from the problem. I might get convicted about that later, but all too often my first response is to grouse.

The night we discussed this passage in our Bible study, our teacher asked us what some of the results of this complaining were as she wrote them on the whiteboard. I wished I had taken notes or taken a photo of the board. But here’s what I remember or what comes to mind as I look at the passage now.

What complaining does:

Minimizes God’s work and maximizes the problem. When we complain, we’re focused on the problem instead of looking to the One who can fix the problem.

Distorts reality. It may have looked like Israel was in the desert with no water. But in reality, they were in the hands of the God who redeemed them and promised to lead and take care of them.

Reveals ingratitude. When the people complained in the wilderness, they lamented that they weren’t still enslaved in Egypt. In their grumbling, they didn’t appreciate all God did to free them.

Infects others. Complaining spreads like wildfire, both in spreading from person to person, and spreading to other areas of life.

Places false blame. The people grumbled against Moses, as if the situation was his fault. The church of one of our pastor friends turned against him for “running the church into debt.” We asked one person whether the congregation had voted on the spending proposals. She said yes, but “We figured they knew what they were doing.” How often do we take out our dissatisfaction with a company on the waiter or sales clerk, who are just trying to do their jobs and aren’t responsible for company policy?

Destroys our peace and rest. When we complain, we stir up negativity and discontent in our own hearts rather than resting in our God.

Becomes a bad habit. As we’ll see later in Exodus, the Israelites’ complaining continues throughout their journey. The more we give way to complaining the more that becomes our default response.

Wears others down. Later in Exodus, the peoples’ complaining drives Moses to complain to God (Numbers 11:10-15).

Leads to a worse offense. In Numbers 14, the Israelites come to the land God promised them. But they’re afraid to go in. The spies who scouted out the territory report that there are giants in the land. The people, once again, do not look to God’s promised help. When Joshua and Caleb try to encourage them that God will enable them to claim the land, the people want to stone them. How many decades-long feuds have started because of one disagreement or seeming offense?

Hardens hearts. In Psalm 95:7b-9, the psalmist warns, “Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.” Marah was the name given to the place where the water was bitter back in Exodus 15.

The writer of Hebrews refers to this passage twice in chapter 3 and exhorts readers to “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (verses 12-13).

Complaining is serious business. In Exodus 16:8, Moses tells the people, “The Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” The fact that they are actually grumbling against the Lord is repeated in Numbers 11 and 14.

God didn’t deal with them harshly at first. They’d just come from 400 years of slavery. They probably hadn’t had much opportunity to encourage or teach each other spiritually. But after a while, when they had enough knowledge and experience with God to trust that He would take care of them, He became angry at their complaining, unbelief, and hardness.

Paul refers to the Israelites in the wilderness in 1 Corinthians 10:9-11: “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

And lest we think we’re immune, Paul goes on to say, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (verse 12).

In pondering this topic, I think it’s important to establish what complaining is not.

I don’t think it’s wrong to simply make an observation. When my kids were little, if I said, “Wow, it sure is hot today,” one of them would say, “Complaining is a sin.” I’m not sure where he heard that. I probably tried to teach them not to complain, but not with that sentence in that way.

Likewise, discussing a problem in itself isn’t complaining. I might tell the waiter about a problem with my food so the restaurant knows something is wrong. My husband and I might discuss a problem with a neighbor to ascertain whether there is anything we can do about it.

Lament is also not complaining. The psalms are full of people crying out to the Lord about their problems.

Any of these things can be done in a gripy, complaining way, but aren’t necessarily complaining in themselves. Murmuring and grumbling seem to have some element of annoyance and dissatisfaction. Complaining might involve demeaning or quietly seething or ranting at the waiter or against the neighbor.

What does God want us to do instead of complain? Trust Him. Soften our hearts. Magnify Him, not the problem. Ask Him to intervene and take care of the problem. Remind ourselves of the way He has provided for us in the past. Take the problem to the right people to address it. Wait patiently. Forgive and forbear with each other (Colossians 3:13). Learn what He has for us in allowing the situation.

May God give us grace to do so.

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I found several thought-provoking reads this week:

Why Looking Backwards Keeps You Safe, HT to Challies. “When I face a vexing theological question, I start with what I know for sure and use that to organize the field, eliminate options, and clarify the task. I move from the known to the unknown. In this case, two sound convictions guided my assessment of the ‘revival.'”

Your Father’s Care Is Round You There, HT to Challies. “Good hymns, old and new, have a way of exposing and strengthening our hearts across a seemingly infinite variety of situations. They present us with general truths, anchored in God’s Word, that penetrate into the darkest and most complicated crevices of our circumstances.”

Praying for the Impossible and the Simple. When we pray for God to save our lost loved ones, we’re praying for Him to do something only He can do, but something which He delights to do.

God Is Our Guide on Paths We Did not Choose. HT to Challies. “When I was fifteen, I made a promise to the Lord that I would obediently go wherever he led. Back then, I was sure he’d call me to an impoverished country to serve as a missionary. I was open to that. Instead, he has led me into a life marked by physical pain. It’s not exactly what I had in mind. . . . sometimes God guides us to places we could never have imagined for ourselves. His plans for us are good, but they are not always easy. Even so, I’ve learned that when God calls us to walk through a shadowed valley, he has promised to go with us. We can trust his guidance because he provides what we need to persevere through every valley.”

How Reading the Bible Every Day Changes Everything. “It did, indeed, take me fifteen months to finish, but I finished. I did something most Christians will never do. I read the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. In the process, I discovered something unexpected—the key to a dynamic Christian life. Little by little, as I read through my Bible, amazing things began to happen. Some of them were so subtle I didn’t notice them at first. Others took years to fully manifest, but they transformed my life.”

Truth in Small Bites Is Truth Nonetheless. “When life takes a turn, most of us tend to push Bible reading aside until our circumstances return to normal. If you’re not able to sit down at your kitchen table for a quiet hour of in-depth study, you don’t even crack open God’s Word. Somewhere along the way, you’ve told yourself that if you’re not able to feast, you shouldn’t eat at all, not realizing that a handful of almonds in the middle of the night is far better than allowing your soul to starve.”

We Still Need Gentlemen. “We all saw the pictures of men who stood by and watched while 23 year old Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death on a bus. We saw those photos and wondered how we’ve come to this place in history, a time when men have lost their protective instinct. According to scripture, men were created to protect and treasure those more vulnerable than themselves. God calls men to be strong, to be heroes, to be courageous and caring. Sometimes when we turn on the news, we begin to realize that many men have lost their sense of purpose in favor of apathy or self-preservation.”

Watch Your Language, HT to Challies. “Nasty language is a black-magic wand. When you touch it to a person,place or thing, you perform an act of mild (and sometimes not so mild) denigration. When you use everyone’s favorite vulgar word to denote the sexual act, you reduce the act. You gut the spirit life out of it. With profanity, you denigrate what you feel is overvalued. You try to cut it down to size. … When you curse compulsively you produce a view of the world that’s smaller and meaner.”

Welcoming Others with Gospel Hospitality, HT to Challies. “When we hear the word ‘hospitality,’ we may think only of inviting people into our home. The thought of doing so may create a feeling of panic deep within us as we think about cleaning the house or fixing an elaborate meal. Hospitality can feel risky as we think about letting strangers and even friends in our homes and our lives. But gospel hospitality says nothing about a clean house or fancy meals. In fact, nothing about the gospel is fancy or flashy.”

Let Kids Read Dangerous Stories: 3 Thoughts on the Rise of Cozy Fiction, HT to Challies. “I’ve begun noticing a trend in popular fiction books over the past few years, and that’s the word ‘cozy’. Cozy romance, cozy mystery, cozy fantasy. We’re surrounded by books and stories of picture-perfect relationships, dreamy Hallmark settings, and adventures-that-aren’t-really adventurous.” I agree with this writer that these kinds of stories are okay, but not realistic. I like the G. K. Chesterton quote she shares: “Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.”

How God loves us: not because we are lovable but because He is love,
not because He needs to receive but He delights to give.–C. S. Lewis

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on October 10, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I was outside late one afternoon this week, and the weather was absolutely delicious–low humidity, and cool but not chilly. Fall feels truly here!

I’m sharing highlights from this week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Connect Four painting. I mentioned last month the Connect Four program our church ladies’ group does, where everyone who signs up is divided into groups of four, and we’re to meet together once a month over the next four months. Each group can do whatever they want when they get together. Last year, we just met for lunch each month, which was great. This year, we met for dinner one night. When we discussed what to do for the next meeting, someone suggested one of those places where everyone paints the same picture. But that was going to be expensive. One of the ladies said she was doing a Van Gogh paint by number painting, and somehow that morphed into getting together to paint by numbers. 🙂 There were some gorgeous kits on Amazon, but they were 16×20 and very detailed. I wanted something small. I found a pink rose set at Michael’s. It was so relaxing and fun to paint together and talk and get to know each other.

2. Cini Minis. Burger King used to make these, and I’ve never quite forgiven them for discontinuing them. I have fond memories of dividing them with the kids. But we saw a commercial this week advertising that they were back. One morning Jim got some, as well as a ham and egg croissanwich, for breakfast.

3. Setting aside things for the thrift store. I have a box where I place things to give away as I come to them. But I also had a few other things in mind to add to it. I didn’t do a massive whole-house purge, but I was glad to finally get these things boxed up to go out soon.

4. Several odd jobs completed like cleaning out my purse, a stack of catalogs, and the catch-all baskets on my desk and kitchen counter.

5. Pre-order discounts. A favorite author has a book coming out soon. I saw on her Instagram account that her publisher was offering a 40% discount and free shipping on the book.

Bonus: These gripper things that help open jars and bottles. I was trying to get a container open this morning with no success and was about to go find my husband for help. Then I remembered I had a couple of these in a kitchen drawer.

I hope your week has been a pleasant one!

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Barbara Harper

If you’ve read much writing instruction, you may have seen this well-known paragraph:

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say, “Listen to this; it is important” (p. 58).

The author of that masterpiece is Gary Provost, who wrote “more than a thousand published article and stories” (p. 160) as well as two dozen books. He was also a writing teacher and the founder of a semiannual Writer’s Retreat Workshop.

101 Ways to Improve Your Writing: Proven Professional Techniques for Writing with Style and Power was his second instructional book about writing, The Freelance Writer’s Handbook being the first. Some of the material here originally appeared in the Writer’s Digest magazine. The first edition of the book came out in 1985. This 2019 edition has been updated, mostly concerning changes in technology, by his wife, Gail Provost Stockwell, and one of his students who became a teacher and then the director of his writer’s conference, Carol Dougherty.

This book is laid out in eleven sections which are divided into several fairly short topics within the section. Some sections cover broad topics like overcoming writer’s block, developing style, giving words power, and making your writing likeable. But others get into the minutia of grammar, punctuation, and editing. The short pieces on each topic make this book very readable. Since they were so short, I read a handful at a time. But when I read this again, I think I might take one or maybe two at a time and digest them before moving on.

Gary sprinkles succinct but helpful side-by-side good and bad examples to illustrate what he advises.

One aspect of his writing I really appreciated was his saying that his tips are just that: “Tips, not laws” (p. 159). For example:

Never violate a rule of grammar unless you have a good reason, one that improves the writing. But never choose good grammar over good writing. There is nothing virtuous about good grammar that does not work. Your goal is good writing. Good grammar is only one of the tools you use to achieve it (pp. 118-119).

Try to use the active voice. But realize that there are times when you will need to use the passive. If the object of the action is the important thing, then you will want to emphasize it by mentioning it first. When that’s the case, you will use the passive voice (pp. 78-79).

For the past several years, I’ve tried to read at least one book about writing each year, as well as blogs about writing. Much of the information in this book wasn’t new to me, but I benefited from the reminders and the different way of expressing them. Plus, even though I have heard and read many of these things, I certainly haven’t mastered them yet. However, some of the advice touched on subjects we discussed in my last session with my critique group and helped me think through those issues.

I think this book would be an excellent introduction for new writers and a great “refresher course” for more experienced writers.

Look to Jesus

Posted on October 5, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Do you ever hear or even sometimes use a phrase and then one day suddenly wonder, “What exactly does that mean? How do we even do that?”

I thought that recently in regards to “looking to Jesus.” That phrase comes from Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Other translations say “fix our eyes on Jesus.” To me, that implies purpose, intention. Some say “keep looking,” which indicates a sustained, continuous look–not a quick glance. According to the Strong definitions at the bottom of this page for the Greek word for “Let us fix our eyes,” it means, “To look away from (something else) to, see distinctly . . . to consider attentively.”

How can we look to Jesus when He is not physically on Earth any more? He wasn’t when Hebrews was written, either, so the author did not have a physical view in mind. Where do we see Him these days? In His Word.

What would that look like in everyday life?

In Isaiah 45:21b-22, God says, “There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Some other translations say “Look to me.” The first way we need to look to Him is for salvation. As He said, He is the only true God and Savior. God took on flesh in Jesus and bore all our sins on the cross so that when we turn from our sins and our own self-righteousness and trust in Him as our Savior, we’re forgiven, made a child of God, and given eternal life.

Then we can look to Him as an example.

When harried with a constant stream of people with needs to be met, look to Jesus. He was never impatient. He was compassionate.

When it’s hard to find time alone with God, look to Jesus. He sought creative times and places to spend with His Father. He didn’t get frustrated when people interrupted His prayer time.

When angry and wanting to just let someone have it, look to Jesus. “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (2 Peter 2:23).

When it’s hard to forgive others, look to Jesus. He freely forgave us. He died for us when we were His enemies.

When others are tough to love, look to Jesus. He loved those who had no interest in Him. He loved those who crucified Him.

When it’s difficult to serve others, look to Jesus. When He washed the disciples’ feet, He said He had “given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15). “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 5-7).

When you don’t want to give, look to Jesus. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

When people don’t understand you, look to Jesus. His own parents and brothers didn’t always understand Him, nor did the disciples. He patiently kept doing His Father’s will, and eventually understanding dawned for His loved ones.

When storms come, look to Jesus. He was so trustful in His father’s care that He could sleep in a storm-tossed boat.

When God’s will seems hard, look to Jesus. He poured out His heart to His Father and even asked if the cup He was to partake of might be removed. Yet, ultimately He said, “Not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:42).

When suffering, look to Jesus. “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

But, you say, He’s Jesus. He’s God. He’s sinless. Of course He perfectly trusted and obeyed.

We’re not God and never will be. How does looking to Him help us when we’re so far from what He is?

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

He’s more than just an example. Somehow, as we behold Him, we’re gradually changed to be more like Him. Colossians 3 talks about putting off the old self and putting on “the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (verses 9-10). We put on the new self not just by changing habits, but by being renewed in the knowledge of Him.

As we see the living Word of God (John 1) in the written Word of God, we see His glory, our minds are renewed, and we’re changed to be more like Him.

There’s an old hymn titled “Take Time to Be Holy” by William D. Longstaff. Someone has adapted the words to say “Take Time to Behold Him“–which is how we become holy.

Take time to behold Him,
Speak oft with Thy Lord,
Abide in Him always,
And feed on His Word.
Wait thou in His presence,
Submissive and meek,
Forgetting in nothing
His blessing to seek.

Take time to behold Him,
The world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret
With Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus
Like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends, in thy conduct,
His likeness shall see.

Take time to behold Him,
Let Him be thy guide;
And run not before Him
Whatever betide;
In joy or in sorrow
Still follow thy Lord,
And, looking to Jesus,
Still trust in His Word.

Take time to behold Him,
Be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each temper
Beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit
To fountains of love,
Thou then shalt be fitted
His mercy to prove.

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on October 4, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Here’s a short list of good reads found this week:

Can I Trust the Bible? “For years, my Bible reading raised more questions than answers. In college, I joined a small group Bible study that changed everything. These women read the Bible as if it meant what it said. Do I hear a ‘Duh’?”

Every Excuse Is a Reason to Meditate on Scripture. HT to Challies. Some of the excuses that seem to keep us from reading the Bible are the very reasons we need to read it.

We’ve Got a Hunger Problem: Learning to Long for God’s Word. “We’ve got a hunger problem—or rather a fullness problem. Our lives are so packed and cluttered that we barely notice the empty place in our hearts that only God can fill. If we never feel the ache of real hunger, if we never experience longing in the quiet or the discomfort of waiting, we will never crave what is meant to nourish our souls. So, how do we prepare our hearts for the feast of God’s Word?”

I Am not Charlie Kirk. “I can understand why people want to be like Charlie but the more I started hearing people chanting ‘I am Charlie Kirk’, the more uncomfortable it felt. There was, and will always be, just one Charlie Kirk… and that’s what made him so special. And I want to believe that even Charlie himself would tell you… it’s not him you want to be like… but it’s the Christ who lived in him and through him. And just like there was only one Charlie Kirk… there’s also only one of you.”

Do Not Neglect the Give You Have, HT to Challies. “You may not have big dreams for your life. You may not expect God to do great things through you. You may seem, like Saul, ‘little in your own eyes’ (1 Samuel 15:17) — not very talented or charismatic, not much of a leader. But in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has given you a gift. And as Paul told the young Timothy, so God tells his young men today: ‘Do not neglect the gift you have’ (1 Timothy 4:14).”

No Service Is Too Small, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “Most days we don’t get married, receive a positive pregnancy test, or achieve a breakthrough in our field. Most days, we’re commuting, studying, parenting, working, doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, or paying the bills. Do those activities count in God’s eyes? Does the mundane matter to him?”

Grace for the Birth Story You Didn’t Expect, HT to Challies. “The truth of it is, things in the world don’t work as they should. Your friend’s birth story might be one of empowerment and candlelight, while yours might be one of operating rooms and oxygen masks. You may not even have been conscious when your child entered the world. You may question if you made the right decisions. Or, if it was an emergency situation, if those in control made the right decisions.”

“When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.” ― A.W. Tozer

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on October 3, 2025 by Barbara Harper

This first Friday of October still doesn’t quite feel or look like fall, but we’ll get there eventually. I’ve had what I call half a headache off and on this week–not severe, not incapacitating, but just enough to make me feel draggy. But–there are always blessings if we look for them. I’m sharing mine this week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Lunch with family and a friend. One of Mittu’s friends from her hometown, who was one of her bridesmaids, was visiting last weekend. She came to church with them and then we had lunch at Mittu’s and Jason’s house.

2. Timothy’s first youth activity. Our church lets 6th grade kids and their parents decide whether they stay with the elementary kids or go into the youth group–I guess because 6th grade is elementary school in some places but middle school in others. Timothy wanted to go into the youth group, and they had their first activity at a splatter paint room last weekend. He seemed to enjoy it.

3. A refurbished dresser. I mentioned last week that Jim had started this, and he got it done this week. The process had its problems, but he persevered. 🙂

One reason it took me so long to decide what to do with this dresser is that I wanted it white, but the other furniture in the room is wooden. But then I figured the wooden items on the dresser would tie it in. Plus, we’re usually the only ones who see it, so who cares whether it “goes” or not if we like it? 🙂 Then, I had originally planned to leave the top of it stained like the desk Jim refurbished a few years ago–but I wasn’t sure if it would look right with the white mirror. So I decided to keep it all white with vintage-looking hardware found at Hobby Lobby.

A closer look:

He even lined the drawers with pretty paper.

4. A new dishwasher. Ours died on Tuesday–while fully loaded–about an hour after Jim brought the dresser in. It filled up with water to start the cycle, but then just never did anything else. We pushed buttons, turned it off and on, even turned the breaker off and on, with no results. While I unloaded dishes and started handwashing them, Jim scooped the water out and inspected it. He thought about replacing the motor. But he had said the last time he worked on it that he wasn’t going to mess with it any more. And why put a new motor in when everything else about it is old.

So we went to Lowe’s that afternoon. They had a simple one like I wanted in white, which is getting harder to find these days as most appliances in stores here seem to be stainless steel. They even had it in stock, so we were able to take it home that day. (The Home Depot here doesn’t keep any major appliances in stock any more. They just have floor models to look at, but will only deliver from their warehouse. When we ordered a hot water heater a couple of years ago, it took over a week to arrive. So we look at Lowe’s first now!)

5. Lunch with Melanie at Red Lobster with some gift cards from my family. Great conversation, great food, and we had an excellent waiter.

How was your week?

Review: The Collector of Burned Books

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Barbara Harper

The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White takes place in Paris during WWII, opening with the Nazi takeover of the city.

Corinne Bastien is a professor at the Sorbonne, but looks more like a student. Secretly, she oversees the Library of Burned Books, a collection of books that have been banned by the Nazis. She encodes some of them with war news and send them out to some of her students, who send encoded messages back. The others Jewish authors who worked with the library fled before the Nazis arrived.

Now, however, Goebbels has sent a “library protector,” Christian Bauer, to take over all the libraries in Paris. Christian is not sure how he got the position. He’s a professor, not a soldier. With his record of speaking out against the Nazis, he’s surprised he hasn’t been arrested. All he can figure is that his friend in the police force, who was absorbed into the Gestapo, has adjusted his records.

He and his friend, Erik, had many discussions about the best way to combat the madness surrounding them–whether to fight against it overtly, only to be arrested, or to battle quietly from within while seeming to go along. They decide on the latter course. Christian knows many of the French Jewish authors personally. Perhaps he can mitigate the damage done to them and their works. At the very least, he can insist on civility among the soldiers assigned to him.

Christian arrives at Corinne’s flat with a list of books checked out by her mother from the Library of Burned Books. He only wants then returned. Corinne plays dumb. Her mother is out of the country and is not very organized–she doesn’t know where the books could be.

As Christian visits repeatedly to search for the books, they discover they have much in common. Corinne still regards him as an enemy, but she realizes he is not like the others.

Eventually, some surprising twists lead them to the truth about each other. And then a shocking betrayal threatens everything they’ve worked for.

Another part of the story involves hiding a boy with birth defects whom the German authorities wanted to have euthanized.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

These students had it all wrong—backward. Books didn’t burn. Books ignited. They lit the burning in others. Not with paper and match. With ideas. But then, that was their very argument (p. 1, Kindle version).

The only way to defeat a bully was to win him over. The only way to truly defend what you believe is to make your enemy believe it too (p. 4).

The words we hear, the words we read, the words we sing along to on the radio and study in the papers with our morning coffee, become our thoughts. I think our thoughts become our beliefs. And I think our beliefs become our actions. That is why Goebbels sent us here, Kraus. Because words form the foundation of society. Ideas create culture. Control them, and you can control . . . everything (p. 76).

He would tell you to think, next time, before you blindly chase your ideology. He would ask you to think, not just to feel. To ask, always, if you could be wrong. To listen, always listen, to the other points of view. Because the moment we stop granting someone the right to disagree, Kraus, this is what happens. Do you understand me? This is what turns men into tyrants. This is what leads to fear and death (p. 265).

God could well have said no. Today, he’d extended his mercy. His grace. But as too many in Germany had already learned, sometimes he didn’t intervene. Sometimes he let the monsters come. Sometimes good people, good Christians, good Jews were dragged off in the night, no matter the prayers they cried. He’d promised to be with his people through persecutions—not to prevent them (p. 304).

Read novels, because they will put you in someone else’s skin. Read poetry, because it will give wings to your soul. Read science, because it will show you what’s possible. Read politics, because it will teach you how strongly people care about how their fellow men are treated, wherever they stand on what the best way is. . . . Read things you hate and things you love and things you never thought you’d understand. And never, never accept the excuse that you’re not strong enough to handle it if you read something that offends you. You are. You’re strong enough to be offended and then try to understand why. You’re strong enough to grant that someone can be different and still be worthy of dignity. And if you aren’t? . . . Then read more, until you are (pp. 315-316).

Roseanna is a master storyteller who creates wonderful characters and intricately interwoven plots. I enjoyed both of these characters immensely.

I also enjoyed Roseanna’s notes at the end of the book, where she shares what’s historically accurate and what’s made up. There really was a Library of Burned Books. There really was an anti-Nazi professor who was given a special assignment, though not the one detailed in the book.

There were even some fun surprises, like a character from Roseanna’s Shadows Over England series showing up. This was the first series of Roseanna’s I read, and I loved them. Though there were clues, I didn’t recognize him until his real last name was revealed and he shared a bit of his history. There was a tie-in with another previous character from Yesterday’s Tides, but I didn’t remember him or his situation at all.

The faith element is Catholic, which would have been accurate for the setting and characters. There was mention of some practices I couldn’t agree with–a priest forgiving sins, the need for penance, praying to Mary and saints, the supposed healing power of the Eucharist. But the overall tenor of the characters’ hope in God was touching and inspiring.

I listened to the audiobook, superbly read by Lisa Flanagan. This time, the audiobook did include the author’s notes, which I appreciated. But I also had a Kindle version for reference.

Roseanna mention in her notes that one character will be getting his own story in another book. I don’t know if it will be a sequel, exactly, but I look forward to it.