Author Archives: Barbara Harper

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Book Review: Candleford Green

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Candelford Green is the third installment of the Lark Rise to Candleford series, Flora Thompson’s semi-autobiographical account of growing up in a small English village.The books take place in the 1880s and 1890s, and Flora writes as an adult looking back at simpler times and the changes that happened since.

In the first book, Lark Rise, Flora’s alter-ego, Laura, is the oldest daughter in her family, living in the small village of Lark Rise. In the next book, Over to Candleford, Laura spends a lot of time with her relatives in Candleford Green, a slightly bigger village some eight miles away.

In this third book, Candleford Green, Laura works as an assistant in the post office. Young girls often went into service as maids or mother’s helpers at this time. Laura’s mother didn’t feel she was suited for either of those jobs. But when a friend of the Candleford relatives invites Laura to help her out in the Post Office, her family agrees to let her go.

Like the first two books, there’s no real plot. The book is mostly Laura’s observations of how the people lived, worked, celebrated, decorated their homes, etc. Along the way are little vignettes of some of the individuals who make up the village.

Some of the quotes that caught my eye:

Few would care to take that trouble for the sake of a few spoonfuls of jelly in these days. . . it was thought a waste of time in many households. On the face of it, it does seem absurd to spend the inside of a week making a small jelly, and women were soon to have other uses for their time and energy, but those who did such cookery in those days looked upon it as an art, and no time or trouble was thought wasted if the result were perfection. We may call the Victorian woman ignorant, weak, clinging and vapourish—she is not here to answer such charges—but at least we must admit that she knew how to cook.

At fourteen it is intolerable to resign every claim to distinction. Her hair was soft and thick and brown and she had rather nice brown eyes and the fresh complexion of country youth, but those were her only assets in the way of good looks. ‘You’ll never be annoyed by people turning round in the street to have another look at you,’ her mother had often told her, and sometimes, if Laura looked dashed, she would add: ‘But that cuts both ways: if you’re no beauty, be thankful you’re not a freak.’

And she had her own personal experiences: her moments of ecstasy in the contemplation of beauty; her periods of religious doubt and hours of religious faith; her bitter disillusionments on finding some people were not what she had thought them, and her stings of conscience over her own shortcomings. She grieved often for the sorrows of others and sometimes for her own.

‘You’ve got to summer and winter a man before you can pretend to know him’ was an old country maxim much quoted at that time.

This about two single women taking care of elderly parents while trying to run a shop:

No wonder the Pratt girls looked, as some people said, as if they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. They must in reality have carried a biggish burden of trouble, and if they tried to hide it with a show of high spirits and simpering smiles, plus a little harmless pretension, that should have been put down to their credit. Human nature being what it is, their shifts and pretences only served to provoke a little mild amusement.

The new vicar, according to Laura, didn’t mention heaven or hell or sin or repentance, but his sermons made “you feel two inches taller.” The people were what I’d call God-fearing in a general sense, but it doesn’t sound like the gospel was proclaimed except for one or two of the townspeople.

I found the first book sometimes hard to wade through. I didn’t have any problems with the last two: maybe I grew more used to Thompson’s style.

Nowadays, the books are usually packaged together under one title, Lark Rise to Candleford. My copy looks like the one here.

I hope to be able to watch the series, Lark Rise to Candleford. I know some things will be different. Laura is just a teenager in this last book and younger than that in the first two books. Dorcas, the postmistress, doesn’t appear until halfway through the second book, but I understand she’s there at the beginning of the series.

Overall, these were pleasant reads. I’m glad to finally be acquainted with Laura and the villagers.

(Sharing with Booknificent Thursday,  Carole’s Books You Loved)

Book Review: The Red Door Inn

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In The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson, Marie Carrington has been betrayed in the worst way. She flees to Prince Edward Island because she fell in love with the place when she read Anne of Green Gables. Just when her money is about to run out and she doesn’t know what to do, a chance meeting lands her a job decorating a soon-to-open bed-and-breakfast. Now, if only she can conquer her panic attacks, she can start her new life.

Jack Sloane had come to the island fifteen years ago with his beloved wife, Rose. She loved the area and always dreamed of opening a bed-and-breakfast there. She had passed away, but Jack meant to fulfill her dream. He was woefully inept with colors and decorations and furnishings, so he was glad when Marie came along. Besides, the kid looked like she could use help.

Jack’s nephew, Seth, is helping him get the inn ready. Seth is at a low point since his former fiance conned him and cleaned out his bank account. Because he has so recently been burned, and because Marie is not forthcoming about her background, he doesn’t trust her.

Of course, you can guess that Marie and Seth will be mutually attracted even though wary of each other. But can they work past their mistrust and painful pasts?

It took me a long time to warm up to Seth—he seemed extremely harsh at first, even considering his background. But that and his protectiveness of his uncle are good reasons for him to be suspicious.

A couple of the secondary characters—an antique shop owner and a baker—are quirky and delightful.

One thing Marie has to work through is her concept of God as a father. Her own father had failed her in many ways, and Marie can’t seem to disassociate her idea of God as a father from the characteristics of her own father. But she sees another example of a father in Jack, even though he never had his own children.

Overall, I found this to be a sweet story.

(Sharing with Books You Loved, Booknificent Thursday)

 

God’s Word: Our Sure Guide

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My husband sat on the Zoning Board of Appeals in the town where we used to live. People would come before the board to settle disputes over property lines or usage or appeal a ruling. The board had a thick book of zoning regulations which the members were to consult in order to make their decisions.

Sometimes people would appeal to all the work they had put into a structure that they had placed in a wrong area without checking the zoning regulations first. “It’s already there. It’s not hurting anyone. Can’t we just leave it?”

Sometimes the board sympathized with the plaintiff. Occasionally public sentiment swung heavily toward one side.

But the board members could only make their decisions based on the zoning regulations.

Why? Because they were Pharisaical hard-nosed rule-followers who only cared about regulations?

No. The regulations were there to insure the greatest efficiency and happiness of the people and businesses of the city. To allow a structure in a wrong place or a usage of land that went against the zoning ordinances would cause problems for other people down the line.

This need to go back to the book, to make every decision in accord with the zoning regulations already in place, reminded me of the Bible.

People don’t want to hear their choices are harmful, they are worshiping a false god, they’re going in the wrong direction.

Sometimes it’s easier to go with the flow. “If I take a stand on this issue, I’ll only stir up a hornet’s nest.” But we don’t do people any favors by hiding truth.

There are some issues where the Bible allows for differences (Romans 14). We don’t die on those hills. We pray and study God’s Word and make the best informed decision we can, and we allow others to do the same.

But where God draws the line in the sand, we need to draw the line also. We speak the truth in love, with kindness and compassion.

Satan still questions, attacks, and twists God’s Word today just as he did with Adam and Eve. He even masks his falsehood by seeming as an angel of light.

Our church is almost finished reading through the major and minor prophets in the Old Testament. Many of the prophets had to contend with false prophets who told the people what they wanted to hear. When Jeremiah warned that God was sending the Babylonians to take Judah into captivity, he was considered a traitor. Who wouldn’t rather listen to the prophets who said everything was going to be all right? But who would be better prepared to face what was coming—those who listened to Jeremiah or those who listened to false prophets?

The New Testament warns:

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2 Timothy 4:3-5).

Who do we listen to? Those who make everything pleasant, who never mention sin and repentance, who never take unpopular stands, who promise prosperity and blessing no matter what? Or the ones who tell the truth according to God’s Word, even when it’s hard, even when it’s painful, trusting that He is good and right and true and kind and will work everything out for good in the long run?

Do we go to the doctor who says everything is okay when we have an insidious cancer growing in us? Or the one who says, “We have to treat this thing aggressively or it’s going to kill you?”

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). John said, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). The KJV says His commandments are not “grievous.”

But His Word is not just about rules.

Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors (Psalm 119:24).

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (John 17:17)

Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life (Psalm 119:49-50).

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130).

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord,  and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither (Psalm 1:1-3).

What a treasure trove we have in God’s Word! We can echo the psalmist: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17). How we need to consult His Word every day and build our lives around it.

(Sharing with Hearth and Home, Inspire Me Monday, Global Blogging, Senior Salon,
Purposeful Faith, InstaEncouragement, Recharge Wednesday,
Share a Link Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee, Heart Encouragement,
Grace and Truth, Blogger Voices Network)

Laudable Linkage

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Here are some of the latest good reads I’ve come across. This also might be a good time to remind that linking doesn’t imply 100% agreement. In some cases, I have never before read the writer, but I followed a link someone else provided. In some cases, I might agree with the majority of the article, but the small thing I have a difference with isn’t worth mentioning.

Counseling Children Who Have Professed Faith in Christ. “Like many children who’ve grown up in a Christian home, Clara professed faith in Christ at an early age. But, like so many other young people who professed faith early, she struggles with doubts.”

No One Shared the Gospel with Me, HT to Challies. “Rather than hate that lost person because he or she is doing what any biblically informed Christian should expect a totally depraved sinner to do, namely sin, we should pray for them. Show them the compassion and love of Christ. Tell them that life is not meaningless. Tell them that with Christ, there is light at the end of the tunnel, eternal light. We cannot simply assume that a lost person is a lost cause.”

Love is Inconvenient, HT to Challies. “Love is inconvenient. It actually has the audacity to ask us to drop what we’re doing in order to attend to the needs of another.”

How to Respond to Social Media Enemies.

The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. “Shrier writes as one who is sympathetic to people who have diagnosable gender dysphoria and for such people she affirms their decision to transition. But she is dismayed that ideologues have made transgenderism a valid and desirable option to those who are not truly diagnosable. She laments the way it has spread among young women as a kind of social contagion. She fears that many of them will go on to have regrets but be left with permanently damaged bodies.”

Not White Fragility—Mutual Responsibility, HT to Challies. This makes better sense to me than anything else I’ve read on race relations. “The concept of white fragility is an academic way to tell white people to be quiet and listen. Bottling up the expressions of white people, though, is not the path to addressing our society’s racial alienation. Indeed, it’s a path that will continue to frustrate attempts at correcting racism’s genuine effects.”

It’s Alright To Just Be Pals, HT to Challies. “They wanted to formalise something that, as far as I was concerned, didn’t need formalising. They wanted to stick a label on something . . . that we were essentially already doing as mates.” Yes! I agree that we don’t have to formalize and label relationships in order for them to be beneficial.

Maher panel blasts ‘cancel culture’: It’s a form of ‘social murder.’ HT to my husband. I don’t follow Fox News (or CNN) and would rarely agree with Maher, but I agree with these concerns. ” If conversation with people that we disagree with becomes impossible, what is the way that we solve conflict?”

Delight in Loveliness for the Glory of God. Productivity is important, but it’s not everything.

And to end with a smile:

Happy Saturday

Friday’s Fave Five

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Here we are at the last day of July! It’s time to pause with Susanne and friends to note and appreciate some of the highlights of the week.

1. Good news. Some of you know that we’d had to cancel my oldest son’s visit last April due to the pandemic, and it looked like we might have to cancel August’s visit as well. He wasn’t comfortable with flying yet nor staying in a hotel if he drove (neither were we). Then my husbands colleague mentioned going somewhere in a sleeper car of a train, where he could basically keep to himself. We checked on prices and station locations, then ran the idea by my son. He thought that sounded feasible—so he’s coming in August! We’re so excited. We won’t be able to go and do like we usually do when he’s here, but we’ll get to see him in person, and he’ll get a break from his apartment. And I’m sure we’ll do lots of hanging out and playing games.

2. Early voting for our state’s primary will hopefully mean less of a crowd. My son and d-i-l voted yesterday and I am planning to before they close.

3. Jeopardy. My husband and I usually watch weeknights after dinner. Lately they pulled out some early episodes. It’s been fun to see how the program have changed over the years.

4. Kind comments. I so appreciated your kind remarks on my blog birthday and my ponderings about my direction.

5. My husband’s indulgence. I got to the end of Wednesday afternoon with little to no desire to cook, and suggested maybe getting takeout pizza. We usually save that kind of thing for weekends, but my husband graciously agreed.

Bonus: My husband stopped by my son and daughter-in-law’s house for something, and Timothy had just lost his front tooth. So he sent a selfie of Timothy’s snaggletooth smile—a phrase my mom used to say based on a cartoon character way back.

How was your week?

End-of-July Reflections

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JulyWow, July has gone by fast, hasn’t it?

We’ve had a fairly quiet month. Our local COVID-19 cases and deaths are still rising rapidly, so we’ve pretty much been staying at home as much as possible. We do get together with my son and daughter-in-law and grandson since they’re mostly sheltering at home as well.

The heat and humidity would be keeping us inside even if the virus wasn’t.

We had a fairly traditional 4th of July with grilled burgers. All the major fireworks displays were canceled, but we saw several around the neighborhood.

Jason’s family and my husband camped out in their yard and then in ours to get Timothy used to it before camping away from home. He enjoyed it!

Timothyisms

Once again I have none! There have been a few times he’s said something cute, and I’ve thought, “I need to write that down.” But then I forget.

He’s in the tooth-losing stage of life and currently has three out in front. So cute!

Creating

Jason’s birthday was this month. Since he had asked for some camping equipment, I went with that theme for his card:

The Cricut has some designs that can be printed out, and this was one. It came out darker than it looked on the computer. The things in the corners are some button-like stickers.

I don’t usually show the insides of the cards I make, but they can be the hardest part. I don’t want to say the same thing every time. With this one, all sorts of camping terms flooded my mind, so I wrote them down to see what I could come up with.

Watching

While riding my exercise bike, I’ve worked my way through a few movies. Watching something keeps me there for the allotted time more than listening to something, even an engaging audiobook.

To Catch a Thief was an old Hitchcock film with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. A burglar known as “The Cat,” played by Grant, had served his time and changed his ways. But now someone else has committed a string of burglaries using his MO, and he sets out to catch his imitator.

Funny Face was another old one with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. He’s a photographer for a high-profile women’s magazine who “discovers” her in a book shop and thinks she’s the face for the magazine’s new campaign. The only reason she agrees is to be able to go to Paris. It started out a little weird, but ended up being sweet and cute.

Beyond the Mask is a Christian film set during the Revolutionary War. The main mercenary for the East India Company wants to quit and is betrayed. He ends up working against the EIC . . . and falling in love with his rescuer and meeting Benjamin Franklin. I don’t think I have ever seen a Christian film with such extensive costuming and setting. I enjoyed it. And the two main characters are married in real life.

Waiting for Anya was just released this year. A young shepherd boy in France who is not very responsible at first ends up helping a stranger smuggle Jewish children into Spain during WWII. It was pretty good! I’d like to look up the book it’s based on.

I think I watched all these on Amazon Prime, but they may be available elsewhere as well.

Reading

This month I finished (titles link back to my reviews):

  • Monday’s Child by Linda Chaikin. I had finished but not reviewed this last month. Set after WWII, a model serves as a courier for Interpol but soon learns not everyone is what they appear to be. Excellent!
  • Rain Song by Alice J. Wisler. A Southern young woman was born in Japan, where her mother died. She has determined never to fly and never to go back to Japan—until she’s attracted to a man online who lives there. Loved this one, too.
  • If We Make It Home: A Novel of Faith and Survival in the Oregon Wilderness by Christina Suzann Nelson. Former roommates meet up for a 25th anniversary and go on a wilderness camping trip, which doesn’t go as planned. Very good.
  • Hurricane Season by Laura K. Denton. One sister leaves her two children with the other sister for two weeks, but ends up staying away much longer, which strains relationships. Very good.
  • Waves of Mercy by Lynn Austin. A Dutch immigrant looks back on her experiences coming to and trying to make it in America through much hardship. She finds an unusual connection with a young woman at a crossroads in her life. Very good.
  • Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott, sequel to Eight Cousins (audiobook). Rose, the orphaned and only female cousin in the Campbell family, grows up. Sweet, old-fashioned story.
  • Billy Budd by Herman Melville (audiobook). Melville’s last novel, about a winsome young sailor who accidentally kills a superior officer.
  • The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (audiobook). A mysterious “opera ghost” manipulates the opera house managers and his young protege.
  • Be Concerned (Minor Prophets): Making a Difference in Your Lifetime by Warren Wiersbe covers Amos, Obadiah, Micah, and Zephaniah.
  • The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson (just finished, not reviewed yet)

I plowed through a lot of Christian fiction on the Kindle app in the evenings.

I’m currently reading:

  • Candleford Green by Flora Thompson, the last of the Lark Rise trilogy
  • Write Better by Andrew Le Peau
  • None Like Him by Jen Wilkin
  • A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (audiobook)
  • Be Heroic (Minor Prophets): Demonstrating Bravery by Your Walk by Warren Wiersbe
  • 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates: Healthy Eating for Healthy Living with a Low-Carbohydrate, Anti-Inflammatory Diet (Healthy Living Series Book 1) by Susan Neal

Blogging:

Some of my posts this month, besides the weekly Friday’s Fave Fives and occasional Laudable Linkages:

Writing

I got some good sessions in on my book-in-progress. I was especially thankful for a long work session where I got the basic information down for what I think is my most difficult chapter to put together.

And that wraps up July! We have some things to look forward to in August while we hope and pray for deliverance from the coronavirus.

I hope you’re keeping cool and well this summer! How was your July?

(Sharing with Grace and Truth, Hearth and Home, Inspire Me Monday, Global Blogging, Senior Salon, InstaEncouragement, Let’s Have Coffee)

Blog Birthdays and Musings

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Blog birthday and brand musingMonday marked my blog’s 14th anniversary.

And just like any other adolescent, it’s wrestling with what it wants to be when it grows up. 🙂

When I first started blogging, bloggers were like neighbors visiting over the back fence. Blogs—at least the kind I ran into—were chatty and varied. Some were fun, some were serious, some were inspirational. But my favorites were a combination.

Then blogs became Business.

And now, while learning all I can about publishing to be ready when I get my book finished, I find writers are encouraged to develop their “brand” so readers know what to expect from them. Readers who like Amish fiction, for instance, don’t want to pick up their favorite author’s new book only to find they’ve switched to science fiction.

I see the wisdom in developing a brand. But I think it’s possible to make a brand too narrow. If someone writes only about finances, I know I can seek out their books if I have a questions about finances. But I don’t read about finances often. I love WWII fiction, but I don’t want to read only WWII fiction. I love writers like Kristy Cambron, who writes historical fiction, but in a variety of times and places. I’m told it’s hard to drum up a whole new audience if you write both fiction and nonfiction or different types within each. But I think some of the audience would follow a favorite author into different forays. I’ve read books in a different genre because an author I liked crossed over to it.

So as I consider what elements I’m passionate about and what might make up my brand, these come to mind:

  • I want to encourage women to develop their own relationship with God.
  • I want to encourage women in their walk with God in whatever stage of life they are in.
  • I want to encourage women to get into the Bible for themselves, not as an end in itself, but to get to know God better. My book-in-progress is on this topic.
  • I want to encourage women to look at everything through the lens of Scripture.

I’ve written a lot about having a quiet time with God in His Word, but that’s not all I write about. I’ve written a little about marriage, parenthood, becoming an “older” woman, caregiving—not as an expert in any of those fields, but sharing what I’ve learned along the way. Occasionally I’ll ponder current issues and try to view them through the truth of God’s Word. I love reading and love sharing good books I’ve found. When I did a blogging preference poll a couple of years ago, people’s preferences about what kinds of posts they liked best varied.

When I saw that well-known Christian blogger Tim Challies called himself a generalist, a light bulb went on in my mind. Maybe that’s what I am, too!

I’ve tried to narrow things down a bit, yet not too much, to hopefully present to a future publisher. If I needed to sum it up in one sentence, it would be that I want to encourage women in their walk with God. I don’t know if that’s catchy or original enough, but that’s my desire.

By the way, although I have women in mind as I write, I don’t mind if men read along.

Thank you all for being here. I didn’t know, when I started blogging, that I’d make so many dear friends that I’ll likely not meet in person until heaven. Your kind comments encourage me and make my day.

I’d love to know what you think about author and blogger “brands” or anything else I’ve mentioned here. Do you read or follow those who write in particular niches, or those who write generally?

(Sharing with Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee)

Book Review: The Phantom of the Opera

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Born in 1868, Gaston Leroux was a French court reporter and newspaper drama critic who liked Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle. He started writing detective stories which were serialized in the newspaper. He became intrigued with the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris, which had an underground lake and suffered a famous chandelier crash. Leroux wove these details into Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, or The Phantom of the Opera.

Leroux lays the plot out as a detective sharing the details of his investigation into rumors of an “opera ghost.”

Two new managers have taken over the opera house, and the old managers showed them a memorandum book with the ghost’s requirements of a certain sum of money each month and Box 5 to be always available for his use. The new managers think the old ones are pulling their leg, so they ignore the instructions despite increasing threats.

During one performance, the lead singer, Carlotta, is too ill too sing. Her understudy, Christine Daaé, performs the role beautifully. The Vicomte Raoul de Chagny was in the audience and recognizes Christine as his old playmate from childhood. Raoul tries to see Christine after the performance, but goes into a jealous rage when he hears another man talking in her dressing room.

However, Christine and Raoul do meet later. She tries to keep aloof from Raoul, but falls in love with him. She tells him that the man he heard is her teacher, the Angel of Music that her father promised to send her when he died. But the Angel of Music—also known as the Opera Ghost or O. G. or Erik—is very jealous and dangerous.

The O. G. continues leaving instructions for the new managers. He wants Christine to sing the lead in Faust. When Carlotta sings instead, she starts croaking during her aria. Then the great chandelier falls, killing one person.

Now the new managers are angry, believing that someone is trying to extort them.

Christine begins to seek a way to be with Raoul. She plans to sing one last time for Erik and then escape with Raoul. But at the height of her aria, everything goes dark for an instant. When the light comes back on, Christine is gone.

Raoul, of course, goes to search for her and learns more about O. G. in the process.

So, though the format is a crime story, the novel also has several elements of a gothic romance. Parts of it reminded me of Beauty and the Beast and Frankenstein.

As you’re probably aware, there was a famous 1925 movie based on the book with Lon Chaney as the Phantom. Andrew Lloyd Weber wrote a successful musical based on the story in the 1980s which is still being performed today and which was turned into a movie in 2004.

I had read this book several years ago, but forgotten much of it. Though gothic romances aren’t my favorite genre, and parts of this one are a little overwrought, overall I enjoyed getting reacquainted with the story.

I read, or rather listened to this for the Classics in Translation category of the Back to the Classics Reading Challenge.

Have you read Phantom? What did you think?

(Sharing with Books You Loved, Booknificent Thursday)

Finding Ways to Minister

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How to find ways to ministerWe’ve attended large, active churches with multiple ministries happening at any given time. And we’ve attended very small churches with few official church ministries. Neither is right or wrong. Each church has its own personality.

On the plus side, participation in some aspect of church ministry is usually where I got to know people and began to feel part of the church. It’s hard to get to know others in just a few minutes before or after a service. Working side by side provides opportunities for further fellowship.

Church ministry also helps with organization, so the new mom doesn’t receive five casseroles on one day.

Church ministry is a good outlet for service. When I first started attending church, I didn’t really know what my niche was. After trying several things over the years, now I know where I feel my particular skill set fits best.

However, what God calls us to do doesn’t always fit with our skills. When Moses told God he was slow of speech, God didn’t contradict him. He just promised, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (Exodus 4:10-12). God called Gideon to lead His army when Gideon was hiding away—not a promising beginning, humanly speaking. I’m not gifted in caregiving, but I was called to it for five years. Sometimes God calls us to do what we don’t feel naturally gifted to do to show “that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Church ministry has some drawbacks. People tend to compartmentalize their service. When they participate in whatever church ministries they’re involved in, they think their ministry is done for the week.

Witnessing? Yes, I attended church visitation. Check.

At one church we visited, the only time anyone spoke to us or even looked at us was during the visitor greeting time of the service. It was like they crammed all their interaction with visitors into those few minutes instead of being alert to visitors and welcoming before and after the service.

Ministry isn’t something we turn off and on. We’re always on, in a sense. Yes, we need time to rest. But if a need comes up, we don’t say, “Sorry, I already put in my time this week” or “We only do that at the scheduled time.” Opportunities to minister don’t always come in convenient, pre-planned situations.

Then, too, we can be so busy in church ministry that we don’t have time to just slow down and interact with people. I can remember hoping someone else would greet the nearby visitor because I had to catch five different people before they left church for the day.

Some new church members’ first meeting with a pastor is almost like a job interview, as he considers where he can “plug you in.”

My son and daughter-in-law’s church has no organized ministries except for a few small Bible studies. That’s partly because they don’t have their own building yet. But it’s mostly church philosophy. They want people to be free to exercise hospitality and to minister to one another’s needs as they arise.

Our own church currently doesn’t have any organized ministries, either, partly because we don’t have our own building, partly because we’re very small. And I have found it so restful. Sometimes I look back at how busy I used to be, and I can’t believe I used to do all that. I was younger then: I’m sure that makes a big difference.

But people in both these churches do minister in other ways.

God has something for everyone to do. He has distributed to everyone spiritual gifts. But the ministry He wants you to partake in may or may not be through an organized church ministry.

Here’s what you can do if you’re searching for a way to minister:

Pray for God’s guidance and leading.

Minister from an overflow of your relationship with the Lord. There are times we do what we have to do, no matter how we feel. But God often works on our being inwardly before our doing outwardly. I love what Sue Donaldson says here:

Ministry is spillage. We have something worth spilling out to another—whether it’s our little ones, our mother-in-law, or a work colleague—when we are filled up to all the fullness of God. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:19 . . . “ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” I want to start and end my day with God and His Word, otherwise I don’t get filled up. And if I’m not filled up with Him, I can’t spill out for Him.

What’s on your heart? Some years ago, a lady in our church came to me occasionally to urge the ladies’ group to form some kind of ministry to the elderly ladies of our church. We did a couple of things, but I was too swamped to start any kind of regular ministry. I did wonder, though, if perhaps this lady needed a little nudge or encouragement to start something. If this was on her heart, probably God wanted her to do something about it.

Be willing to step out of your comfort zone. One ladies’ group leader used to say, “You can’t say no until you pray about it.” We all know we can’t say yes to every opportunity: we’d be quickly weighed down. But neither should we say no automatically. The times I’ve grown the most have been times I didn’t feel up to the job, but I didn’t feel the liberty to say no, either.

Consider timing. Our families are our first ministry. Though God has something for all of us to do at any time, that big idea on our heart may have to be put on a back burner if we have little ones or a full-time job or an elderly member in need of caregiving.

What’s in front of you? We may be thinking about ministry as something big and grand. Too often we overlook the small opportunities right in front of us to say a kind word of encouragement or to help someone in some small way. I can tell you, after visiting several new churches due to moves with our family, the warm, heartfelt, spontaneous greeting from church members means more than the loud welcome of the official church greeter.

I’ve mentioned this lady before, but I was encouraged and instructed by the example of an older woman I knew in one of our former churches. She had taught school for decades, but had to retire early. She could have been bitter and disgruntled due to the situation. Instead, she just quietly looked for other ways to serve. She greeted visitors who were sitting alone and invited them to sit with her. She invited a couple of ladies at a time over for lunch—not for any agenda, but just to fellowship. She began a couple of ladies’ Bible studies.  Another older lady I knew would stay with new moms for a couple of days if their own moms couldn’t be with them. Another sweet lady used to apologize for not being able to participate in our ladies’ group very much. But she took care of her adult special needs son, helped her widowed mother, was the on-call babysitter for her extended family. Her whole life was a ministry, even though she couldn’t participate in “official” church ministries as much as she would have liked.

One of our former pastors preached a message from 1 Timothy 5 about the kinds of things women were to be honored for. The context is determining how the church should minister to widows who had no one else to help them. After telling Pastor Timothy to “Honor widows who are truly widows” (verse 3), Paul lists everyday, ordinary characteristics: This woman has taken care of her family, is not self-indulgent, prayed, “shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work” (verses 5, 10). No mention there of a worldwide TV ministry or writing a best-selling book or leading a conference of thousands of women. There’s nothing wrong with those things, if God has called someone to them. But most of our ministry will be in small efforts.

I’ve benefited from official church ministry and from someone’s behind-the-scenes thoughtfulness.

God has something for everyone to do. If you can find a ministry outlet within your church, that’s great. If not, seek Him about ways you can minister, and then be alert for ways you can help people. Maybe you can assist someone in their ministry. Maybe God will use you to start a ministry. Maybe not. Maybe, like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, all those small acts that you don’t think much about will make big differences in others’ lives.

Minister with the ability God givesSee also:

Myths and Maxims of Ministry

The Ministry of the Mundane

Faithful in Obscurity

Rethinking Spiritual Gifts

Manufactured Spirituality

(Sharing with Inspire Me Monday, Global Blogging, Hearth and Home,
Senior Salon, Purposeful Faith, Tell His Story, InstaEncouragement,
Recharge Wednesday, Share a Link Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee,
Grace and Truth, Blogger Voices Network)

 

Laudable Linkage

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A collection of good reading onlineHere’s my latest short collection of thought-provoking reads found online:

White Fragility and the Bible’s Big Story. “I want to turn to the Bible to suggest how it might help us understand issues of race and racism, for it also contains a narrative structure. It describes the world and the history of humanity as kind of unified story whose plot unfolds through a number of movements. We can title these movements Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration.”

Learning to Read People’s Eyes. “So instead of shouting to the world on social media about all the horrible things that are happening, how about finding some people like Isaiah mentions here? Let’s find the poor, brokenhearted, captives, prisoners, and mourners. They are all around us. Look at those fearful and wearied eyes peeking out from behind all those masks.”

You Can’t Avoid Criticism, and responding in kind doesn’t help. But we can evaluate and learn from it.

Sex Offenders Can Find Hope in Christ But Not Necessarily a Place at Church, HT to Challies. It can be tricky to try to minister to sex offenders and help them change while also protecting the congregation, particularly children, from abuse.

Since we’ve recently roasted marshmallows for s’mores, this was timely from xkcd:

Happy Saturday!