Author Archives: Barbara Harper

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About Barbara Harper

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Friday’s Fave Five

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I was so sorry to miss last week’s FFF! It was just a busy few days, with very little time at the computer. But I’m glad to join Susanne and friends today to ponder and share some of the good parts of the week.

And this week, there is an abundance!

1. Jason and Mittu’s anniversary. It was fun to remember everything involved with wedding week and to rejoice in their good marriage. I didn’t think we’d see them that day. We’re all still not eating at restaurants, which they would normally do for an anniversary while we watched Timothy. But I figured they’d get take-out from somewhere and eat at a favorite park or something. They did that at lunch. Then they texted asking if we had plans for dinner and could they come over and make something. I said, “On your anniversary?” Jason said, “Why not?” LOL! So he grilled lemon chicken and Mittu made the sides, then they worked together on this gluten-free apple cinnamon cake in a cast-iron pan on the grill. So pretty, and very good, too!

2. A crossed-off to-do list is a rarity. Usually whatever doesn’t get done is transferred to the next list. But I had one satisfying day when everything got done (everything on that list, at least. I have a running list of “things to get to if/when I have time” that will probably never be completed).

3. A church picnic. We’ve still been using Zoom to attend church, though the congregation has been meeting with safety measures in place. As long as cases are still on the rise, we feel we’d better stay home as much as possible. They were having an informal picnic this last Sunday on a pavilion behind the building, with everyone bringing their own lawn chairs and lunches and families seated at a distance from each other. My husband has read studies that outdoor meetings don’t have the same problems with droplets from our breath staying in the air as indoor meetings, so we decided to go. Since we decided to go just the night before, we hadn’t let anyone know we were coming. It was fun to surprise everyone and to see everyone in person. After we ate, people drew chairs closer but still distanced to the different families to talk and visit more.

4. Unexpected visitors. When we got back home from the picnic, we saw two adult turkeys in the yard space between our house and our neighbor’s. We had never seen turkeys in the neighborhood before. My husband stopped to take pictures of them while I unpacked our cooler. When he came in, he showed me there was a whole brood of little turkeys!

I was sorry I didn’t get to see the little ones. We haven’t seen them since, so hopefully they got back to wherever they’ve been living. The neighbors across the street have a big woodsy area behind their house, so the turkeys probably live back in there. It was a fun sighting.

5. A good doctor visit. I had my annual visit with the cardiologist this week. A few weeks ago, I’d had a seven-hour episode of atrial fibrillation—the first time I’ve had anything lasting that long since the ablation a few years ago. Of course, that raised concerns that this was all going to start up again and I’d have to have another procedure. I’ve had a few little blips, where it feels like my heart is trying to turn over into afib, and the doctor said that was normal. He didn’t think this episode was anything to worry about, since it was a single occurrence in the span of a few years. He prescribed another medicine to take if I have any episodes lasting more than an hour (in addition to the metoprolol I take regularly). But the best part of the visit was that I brought a couple of readouts from a device that Jim had gotten for me that detects irregular heartbeats and gives you an EKG-looking readout. I was afraid the doctor would laugh or scoff at it, so I started out by saying, “I know this is not as accurate as what you have here…” But he thought it was a great idea to be able to capture what was going on in the moment.

Bonus 1: I’ve mentioned a little discount store Jim visits almost every week.  He brought me some of my favorite Lindt Lindor truffles in candy bar form from there.

Bonus 2:Timothy was excited about starting school again, and he and his mom had a great first day! They’re using the same online program they used for K-5 last year.

How was your week?

Book Review: 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates:

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I had read a few blog posts by Susan Neal on some writing blogs, so I got her book: 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates: Healthy Eating for Healthy Living with a Low-Carbohydrate, Anti-Inflammatory Diet.

I confess I went into the book not planning to get off sugar completely—I mainly wanted to keep sugar consumption under better control. Plus, nutritional studies can be confusing because many of them contradict each other. For instance, it seems like one year, studies say caffeine is bad for you. Then another study another year will say it’s beneficial. And back and forth it goes. But even though I wasn’t sure what to believe about all the facts Susan shared, I knew I generally need to eat more healthy foods and less sugar and fewer carbs.

Susan goes into why sugar is so addicting. For one thing, consuming sugar releases the feel-good chemical dopamine which can lead to addiction. And probably for some people, sugar needs to be eliminated completely.

Susan also goes into why wheat causes so many problems for people today. It has been crossbred to resist drought and changed so much in the process that the body doesn’t recognize it as food. On the other hand, some people seem to eat it with no apparent problem, so perhaps some are more sensitive to it than others.

In addition,

These crops are genetically engineered to be resistant to the carcinogen glyphosate, which is the primary ingredient in the herbicide Roundup. Farmers who produce Roundup Ready crops are free to spray Roundup on their fields throughout the growing season, as the plants are resistant to this herbicide. In the United States most of the nation’s corn, wheat, oats, soy, and sugar beets are Roundup Ready crops.

My son had also found this news about Roundup in his research after his wife and son became gluten-intolerant.

Besides all that, many foods today are so processed and developed for a longer shelf life that little nutrition is left.

Susan recommends eating foods that are as close to their original form as possible and as few processed foods as possible. She acknowledges that this probably can’t be done all the time due to eating out, visiting others, and considering other family members’ choices.

Susan also deals with the spiritual side of fighting temptation to eat the wrong food by encouraging the use and memorization of Scripture and dependence on the Lord. Though we agree in many areas, I think we must come from different faith traditions, especially in the area of spiritual warfare. I wouldn’t agree with everything in this section of the book, I very much appreciated the spiritual emphasis.

Susan shares a multitude of studies, tips, facts, outside resources, and recipes.

I also read through Susan’s Christian Study Guide for 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates. It’s designed for a group study accompaniment to the original 7 Steps book, but it can also be used by individuals.

Overall, this is a good source of information and encouragement toward more healthy eating.

(Sharing with Carole’s Books You Loved)

Blind Spots

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My oldest son’s first car was a used convertible. When I borrowed it once for an errand, I commented to him that the car had a huge blind spot. The corner between the small plexiglass back windshield and the door window was wider than in most cars. If I looked back over my right shoulder, I could hardly see anything. My son responded, “Yeah, but if the top is down, there’s no blind spot!”

We know that vehicles have blind spots—areas where we can’t see what’s around the car. So we use mirrors, signals, and occasionally other passengers to help make sure the way is clear when we need to change lanes.

If you’ve ever read about the blind spots of an 18-wheeler, you know not to drive your car next to the truck in a spot where you can’t be seen.

But somehow we go barreling through life without thinking that we might have personal blind spots.

Our church has just finished reading through Malachi, where God brings up several different issues with His people. But their response to each charge is basically, “What are you talking about? We’re doing fine.”

God said of the Laodicean church in Revelation, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).

You’ve probably read online conversations, as I have, where someone lashes out at others over some issue, and then complains about feeling judged. But somehow these folks miss their own judging of others that they’ve just displayed. The irony would be been funny if it wasn’t so serious.

And then, just about the time I get all stirred up about other people’s blind spots, God reminds me that I have a few of my own.

What causes blind spots?

We think we know more than we do—at least, more than the other person.

We’re too busy looking at the speck in another person’s eye to see the log in our own.

We haven’t given enough thought or prayer to a subject.

We assume we know the other person’s meaning and motives.

We haven’t studied the Bible enough to know what it says on certain issues, or we study with preconceived conclusions in mind.

We don’t want to change our views on a subject, so we don’t listen to other perspectives.

How can we combat blind spots? What tools, mirrors, assistance, or signals can help us navigate and avoid collisions?

Humility. We don’t know all there is to know on any issue. We don’t know every perspective. Sometimes we’re quick to jump on and expound upon a topic because we’ve read and studied it out before. Still, even if we’re an expert in an area, we have to be careful of appearing arrogant. And there might just be a thing or two we could still learn about it.

Ask for others’ feedback. Just as a fellow passenger can see what we can’t from their viewpoint, a friend or mentor can give us a kind but honest assessment.The first time I turned in a partial manuscript for a paid critique, I was astounded and humbled at the number of mistakes the editor discovered. The experience was a painful but necessary step to improvement.

Prayer. David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” This is something we should be doing regularly. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Other versions say “desperately  wicked” or “incurable.” We’re probably deceived about ourselves more than anyone or anything else.

Listening. James 1:19 says, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” If I am getting riled up about something, that’s usually a clue that I need to step back rather than launch in. And before I share what I think, I need to really hear what the other person is saying and look at it from their point of view. I still might not agree with them, but I might understand them better.

Read and listen to God’s Word. Anatomically speaking, we all have a blind spot where nerves pass through our retina. At the spot where they pass through, there are no rods or cones, so our eyes don’t see light there. The brain usually fills in what we don’t actually see. Spiritually, though, we don’t need to have any blind spots. We need God to turn His searchlight on to show us things we need to confess to Him and seek His help to overcome. If something keeps coming up in our Bible reading, books, sermons, and conversations, God might be trying to get our attention about it. Instead of being quick to brush it off, we need to take it before the Lord.

Listen to criticism and correction. Sometimes criticism is totally unfounded. But instead of getting defensive, we need to examine criticism for any truth in it. “The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise” (Proverbs 15:31).

Proceed cautiously. I was extra-careful in my son’s convertible since I knew I couldn’t see traffic in one area well. Similarly, there’s a turn on our way home that’s right on top of a hill. I can’t see oncoming traffic until I get to the top, so I am careful not to turn early. Ephesians 5:15 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.”

I usually use a Swiffer sweeper on our hardwood floors, because it gets dust and hair more efficiently. But one day I got the broom and dust pan to sweep up some crumbs.The sunlight was streaming in the windows as I swept, and I saw a cloud of dust swirling almost chest high from my efforts. Without the light shining in, I would never have known that I was stirring up more dust than I was getting rid of.

How desperately we need God’s truth to shine in on our lives and show us what we wouldn’t otherwise see. How we need His wisdom, cleansing, and guidance.

To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Acts 26:18).

Clara H. Scott wrote a hymn in 1895, asking God to open her eyes, ears, mind, and heart to His truth. It’s a good prayer for us today:

Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.

Refrain 1:
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my ears, that I may hear
Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
Everything false will disappear.

Refrain 2:
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my mind, that I may read
More of Thy love in word and deed;
What shall I fear while yet Thou dost lead?
Only for light from Thee I plead.

Refrain 3:
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my mind, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my mouth, and let me bear,
Gladly the warm truth everywhere;
Open my heart and let me prepare
Love with Thy children thus to share.

Refrain 4:
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my heart, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

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

Late Laudable Linkage

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A collection of good reading onlineI‘m sorry I missed the Friday’s Fave Fives yesterday! I know some of you especially like those posts. I just had a lot of things that had to get done the last few days, so I haven’t been at the computer for very long at a time since Thursday morning.

I was going to save the “Laudable Linkage” for next week since it’s late in the day and I haven’t even finished reading every post in my Feedly account. But I decided to go ahead and pop in and say hello and share what I have so far.

Busy Day? Keep Quiet Time Simple (Bible Study Tips), HT to Lisa. Our other relationships vary with how much time we spend together on any given day. We forget sometimes that our quiet time is about our relationship with the Lord, not just our routines.

You Keep Using That Word, HT to Challies. “If you have heard, for example, that critical theory or some other -ism is making inroads into the church and you are concerned, do some homework before saying anything. When we do not do this, the possibility of our violating the ninth commandment goes up exponentially.”

How to Pray in Perilous Times. I love that the Bible teaches us how to pray both by instruction and example. This prayer of David’s has much to consider.

Is White Fragility a Helpful Resource for Christians? I know this is a delicate and sensitive topic right now, but that’s all the more reason to think Biblically about it. I have not read this book, but I’ve had some of these same concerns just from reading others’ comments on it.

When Homeschooling Wasn’t Your Plan: 10 Tips to Help. I wish I had read something like this during the few years we homeschooled, even without a pandemic.

I saw some of this sweet story on “The Greatest #AtHome Videos” TV show on Friday night on CBS. A pregnant wife had to spend several weeks in the hospital when her water broke prematurely at 20 weeks. Her husband couldn’t be with her due to COVID restrictions. So he set up “date nights” where he would send food up to her room and have his outside her window so she could see him and they could sort-of be together. When they aired the show, she had had the baby and all was well. In their honor, the hospital was going to install a bench where this man used to set up his chair, so other patients could “visit” their loved ones that way.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Book Review: Be Amazed

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Be Amazed (Minor Prophets): Restoring an Attitude of Wonder and Worship is Warren W. Wiersbe’s commentary on Hosea, Joel, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Malachi. He covers the rest of the twelve minor prophets in two other books. As I said in an earlier review of Be Concerned, these books are considered “minor” only because they are much shorter than the “major” prophets.

And, as with the previous book, Wiersbe gives a little background of each of these prophets, the times they lived, the kings who were in power at the time, and the prophets’ major messages and concerns, a suggested outline of the books, and his commentary.

There are commentaries much longer and more detailed than Wiersbe’s “Be” series, but these are a nice size, easy to use with one’s Bible study.

Wiersbe says in his introduction:

We should be amazed as Hosea describes God’s jealous love and Joel pictures God’s glorious kingdom. Jonah and Nahum both deal with the wicked city of Nineveh and amaze us with God’s gracious long-suffering. Habakkuk watches the enemy approaching and invites us to be amazed at God’s righteous judgment. Malachi amazes us with his revelation of God’s contemptuous people, weary of serving the Lord.

Too many sleepy saints have lost their sense of wonder. The Minor Prophets shout at us to awaken us and invite us to open our eyes and be amazed at what God is doing in this world.

The Lord Jesus admonishes us “to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24: 25), and that includes the Minor Prophets. May we be faithful to receive and believe their messages and to obey what God tells us to do.

I won’t get into any more of the individual books than that, since there are six of them. But here are a few of the many quotes I highlighted:

One of the greatest judgments God can inflict on any people is to let them have their own way.

The essence of idolatry is enjoying the gifts but not honoring the Giver.

Until people experience the guilt of conviction, they can’t enjoy the glory of conversion.

In their trials, they turned to God for help, but in their prosperity, they became proud and turned away from God to idols.

Idols are dead substitutes for the living God (Ps. 115). Whatever people delight in other than God, whatever they are devoted to and sacrifice for, whatever they couldn’t bear to be without, is an idol and therefore under the condemnation of God.

But wrestling with these challenges is the only way for our “faith muscles” to grow. To avoid tough questions, or to settle for half-truths and superficial pat answers it to remain immature, but to face questions honestly and talk them through with the Lord is to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3: 18).

When God’s people deliberately disobey Him, they sin against a flood of light and an ocean of love.

The one thing that encourages us to repent and return to the Lord is the character of God. Knowing that He is indeed “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (Joel 2:13 NIV) ought to motivate us to seek His face.

This sounds eerily like our times:

Their concern was for healing and not for cleansing. They saw their nation in difficulty and wanted God to “make things right,” but they did not come with broken hearts and surrendered wills. They wanted happiness, not holiness, a change of circumstances, but not a change in character.

I’m thankful once again for Dr. Wiersbe’s insights into these books.

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

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?