About Barbara Harper

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Laudable Linkage

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Happy Saturday! Here are a few good reads found this week:

The Privilege and Responsibility of Freedom. Though Independence Day has passed, rightly considering our freedom is a timeless topic.

There Is No Pit So Deep that He Is not Deeper Still, HT to Challies. “Life had been incredibly hard for years, but this latest trial felt like more than I could bear. To be honest, I felt utterly hopeless. I didn’t want to live in my diseased and hurting body; I didn’t want to live in the chaos of our special-needs challenges; and I certainly didn’t want to live in a flea-infested home. Everything in me wanted to escape, but I had nowhere to run.”

The Stranger, a neat, short film (about 12 minutes) based on a true story about a stranger who shows up in the middle of the night to attend a mission conference.

Three Lies of Comparison: How to Help Your Teen Find the Truth. “If she’s like most teens, there came a day when her eyes fluttered open to comparison. Her sunny giggle faded, and her carefree personality fell as she began placing her measuring cup next to someone else’s, asking, ‘How do I measure up?’ So, what can you do? How can you help? How can you keep her from retreating to dark corners of isolation and insecurity? How can you stop her from driving herself to exhaustion with endless perfectionism?”

A Time to Be Tired, HT to Challies. “There are times when we must save our strength. The question is: what are we saving it for? Our strength may be limited, but it is real. God gave it to us, and he gave it for a reason. There has never been a shortage of meaningful work to do, people to love, and problems to solve. In all our talk of looking after ourselves, I wonder if we sometimes forget that overprotecting ourselves is at least as dangerous as burnout—it is one of the quickest roads to weakness.”

Tattoos as Confession, HT to Challies. “Gullett says many Americans instinctively judge tattoos — deciding whether they approve of the image or the act of getting inked at all. But he and Dayhoff encourage a different approach: suspend judgment, ask about the story, and listen.”

We do not study the Bible just to get to know the Bible.
We study the Bible that we might get to know God better.
Warren Wiersbe

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Barbara Harper

It’s been a good and relatively quiet week here. We’ve had a slight break in temperatures–80s instead of 90s–and a bit of welcome rain. I’m pausing once again with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to recount the good things from the week.

1. Independence Day. The kids came over for burgers, made by Jason, Mittu, and Timothy this time. They also brought over some non-fireworks fireworks–“Pop-its,” which you throw on the ground, where they make noise when they hit, and these other things shaped like a cone or bottle where you pull a string, and it makes a loud pop and shoots out colored streamers. We saw a few larger fireworks from other places in-between trees. We played a few games and ate cookies with red, white, and blue sugar toppings. A good day, all in all.

2. Sunday lunch. We usually get take-out on the way home from church. This last Sunday, I wasn’t in the mood for any of our fast-food choices. I had a hankering for Cracker Barrel’s meatloaf, so I asked Jim what he thought about eating there. That’s not his favorite place, but he’ll indulge me every now and then. 🙂 Thankfully, his food was great (as was mine, but I always like the food there) and we had an excellent waiter, so it was a fun experience. There was a long wait, so I don’t know if I’d suggest it for Sundays again. But by the time we were finishing up, the restaurant was starting to clear out and quiet down.

3. The Princess Bride was scheduled to be on regular TV last Sunday night. Even though I know it well, I thought it would be fun to watch it again. Coincidentally, our pastor had made a passing reference to one of the characters in the movie that morning. So when I asked Jim if he wanted to watch it, he said, he needed to because he didn’t get the pastor’s reference. 😀 Once we started watching, he remembered having seen it before. It was fun seeing again and anticipating favorite parts.

4. Good lab reports. I had a six-month follow-up visit from my physical with my doctor this week, which mostly involved checking blood work. I’m not diabetic, but my blood sugar is slightly elevated. I get the lab work done a day ahead of time, so I got the results before I went in. I thought I read that my A1C, which measures blood sugar, was 7, which is way high–they want you to be around 5.7, and my last test was 6.2. I was bracing myself for a scolding. But when I got there, they said it was 6, lower than last time. Whew! I looked back at the report when I got home, and it did say 6–I don’t know how 7 got into my mind. And my cholesterol and everything else was normal. So the doctor and I were both pleased.

5. Picture hung. I found this picture online and requested and received it for Mother’s Day. I hadn’t hung it up yet because it turned out to be a little small for the space I had in mind. So I was pondering other places to put it, then finally decided to go ahead and put it where I wanted it in the first place, in my bedroom above a small bookcase.

I love the verse, the colors, everything about it. I love that it looks like it could have been painted in our area, with the Blue Ridge mountains in the background.

Bonus: Jim is cleaning out our shed and brought in some boxes for us to go through. One contained mostly school and Sunday school papers from when our oldest two were younger, but we found some treasures in their notes to each other, Jeremy’s plans for a boys club with “no girls aloud” and “no smoking” but with snacks, postcards Jim had sent from his travels, etc. Another box had some of Jim’s and my high school and college notebooks. My high school Algebra and college Zoology notebooks went straight into the trash (I was never sure why Zoology was needed for a Home Economics major. All I remember from it was some worm that could get into people’s skin in tropical watery places, grow the length of their leg, and have to be slowly pulled out centimeter by centimeter lest it break. Bleah.). But we found some fun treasures in that box, too, like this unusual to-do list:

Miss Barker was the Dean of Women. We got married over Christmas break my second senior year (I crammed four years into five, as the saying goes . . .). I had to see her for “permission” to get married and do whatever paperwork was involved. Then Mrs. Forsythe was the director of the girls’ extension ministries–groups from the college that went out to various places, like kids’ Bible clubs and nursing homes. I was going to need to drop out of the nursing home ministry I was in after we got married. We both had a laugh over this list, especially seeing the Dean about marriage.

Well, that wraps up another week here. How was yours?

Stray Thoughts

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Occasionally I post a series of random thoughts.

Can we get rid of the phrase, “Unless you’ve been living under a rock . . .”? It’s used to indicate a subject that most people know. But if you’re not aware of the subject being discussed, it sounds like a put-down.
_____

Why do people start sentences with “I’ll be honest . . . ?” Are they not honest unless they add that qualifier?
_____

I read of a group of women meeting for lunch at a restaurant who were offended at male the server calling them “ladies,” as in “What can I get you ladies?” I don’t understand why. This was long before the gender confusion of our day.

I commented to the writer that when I facilitated a ladies’ group at church, I usually used that word when addressing them (especially when trying to call the meeting to order). Neither “women” nor “females” sounded right in that context. “Girls” made me cringe; “gals” even more so. “People” sounded passive-aggressive, “folks” too . . . folksy.

The writer backed down a little from her stance. But I still didn’t understand the reason for the objection.

I suppose the poor server could have avoided an appellation at all and just said, “What can I get you to drink?”

For a brief time in my teens I worked in the bakery department of a grocery store. Once when I came into the stockroom for something, several of the teen guy employees were there. One of them said, “Watch your mouths, guys. A lady entered the room.” I felt honored, not offended.
_____

In my twenties and thirties, yearly physical exams were very hands-on, literally. Nowadays, a physical consists primarily of the doctor looking at the computer discussing lab work. Is this a trend of medicine in general? Or something that happens as one gets older?
_____

Speaking of doctors–I had on my list of things to discuss with him a recurring pain at the top of my shin, right below my kneecap. But as I prepared to go to my exam, I realized I had not felt that pain in some time. Perhaps it was some injury that had righted itself. So I skipped asking about it.

Guess where I felt pain the very next day?
_____

I’ve mentioned Elisabeth Elliot many times as my mentor-from-afar. Her books and newsletters shaped my thinking about Christianity in general and Christian service and womanhood in particular.

She used to say that whenever she spoke on a particular subject, she would be tested on that subject before or after her talk. I have found the same to be true in my writing. When I posted about irritability last week, I had the worst problem with irritation for several days.
_____

Speaking of Elisabeth Elliot, I got an email from the Elisabeth Elliot Foundation this week on the occasion of their fifth anniversary. Years ago, I remember seeing a video of Elisabeth’s daughter, Valerie, saying she felt the legacy of both her parents was too heavy. I’m thankful this foundation was formed, both so it could do far more than Valerie could do on her own, plus it would outlive her. Many of Elisabeth’s books are being repackaged and republished, digitized, and turned into audiobooks. Many are being translated to other languages. Elisabeth’s newsletters and radio programs are being gathered and added to the resources at the web site. An exhibit of her life was at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, and is now traveling around the country.

When Elisabeth died in 2015, I was afraid her influence and wisdom would die out over the next several years. I’m so thankful to see that it hasn’t and won’t for a long time to come.

Sharing Our Struggles, not Our Perfection

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Several years ago, our ladies’ group asked some older married women in the church to be on a panel for discussion about marriage at a ladies’ meeting. We didn’t want to put them on the spot: we just figured they had more experience, and we wanted to glean their wisdom.

However, we had the hardest time getting anyone to agree to be on the panel. Some ladies didn’t want to participate because they thought their own marriages were far from perfect. Some felt that they were still learning: rather than answering other women’s questions, they still had plenty of their own.

In hindsight, it probably would have been better not to have particular women on a panel in front of everyone. One advantage to a panel is having known and trusted people there, whereas opening questions to the crowd in general might lead to some questionable answers. But perhaps the disadvantages outweighed the advantages.

Still, the evening ended up going very well (details are here). One even said we needed a session like that once a year.

Many of us would shy away from portrayal as an expert in most areas, especially areas of Christian life. We know we fall short. We don’t want anyone looking to us for answers, because we still struggle ourselves.

But an experienced Christian is not the same as an expert Christian.

When we’re struggling in a given area–marriage, devotions, hospitality, motherhood, work environments, or life in general–we’re not drawn to those who have their act together, whose lives are perfect, who never seem to struggle.

We want to hear from people who have been in the trenches, who know how we feel, who won’t give us pat answers, who have experienced the things we have and overcome them.

Andrew Peterson writes in Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making:

“O God,” you pray, “I’m so small and the universe is so big. What can I possibly say? What can I add to this explosion of glory? My mind is slow and unsteady, my heart is twisted and tired, my hands are smudged with sin. I have nothing—nothing—to offer.

Write about that.

“What do you mean?”

Write about your smallness. Write about your sin, your heart, your inability to say anything worth saying. Watch what happens (p. 11, Kindle version).

Though Peterson was praying about song-writing here, the principle is true in any area of life.

We can’t bless others with packaged advice from a position of perfection. Even if we could, our ministrations would probably be rejected as cold and unfeeling.

But God says His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

One day on a hillside, over 5,000 people came to hear Jesus teach. Jesus had compassion on their physical needs as well as their spiritual needs. He told the disciples, “You give them something to eat.”

Of course, the disciples didn’t have the means to feed so many people. Philip indicated they didn’t have enough money to buy even a little food for everyone. Andrew found a boy with five barley loaves and two fish, but then asked, “what are they for so many?”

Jesus already knew what He was going to do to provide for the people. But He wanted the disciples to realize that they could not meet the need on their own.

Jesus had the people sit down, gave thanks, and then distributed the food to the disciples, who gave it to the people. Not only did they have “as much as they wanted,” but they gathered twelve baskets of leftovers.

We don’t have the wherewithal to feed people spiritually. But when we give ourselves to Him, He can work through us to help others. He will take our not-enoughness and work through us to display His more-than-enoughness.

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on July 5, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I have a short but good list of reads to share today:

Why It’s Good (and Christian) to Love Your Country, HT to Challies. “American Christians have also been pretty angsty about patriotism. In the last few years, many academics, journalists, and even some pastors have equated any love for the country with idolatry or worse, fascism and theocracy. So many well-meaning American Christians have shied away from expressions of patriotism because they don’t want to engage in false worship.”

Keep Reading Your Bible, Even if You Don’t Understand It, HT to Knowable Word. There are times to stop and dig deep in a passage we’re reading. But sometimes a passage won’t make sense until we’ve read more of the rest of the Bible.

You Don’t Need Another Prayer Technique, HT to Challies. “While my new system does help me be more organized and varied in my petitions, it hasn’t turned me into an Olympic runner in prayer. My best training came instead from an unexpected source.”

Dumb Dads: 3 Ways The Stereotype Is Harming The Archetype, HT to Challies. “By watching movies, reading stories, and entertaining the distorted pictures of dumb dads as a stereotype, we have forgotten the archetype of fatherhood. God didn’t create men and fathers to be weak and foolish. He created them to be so much more than what modern culture is preaching to our children.”

The Sandwich Generation, HT to Challies. “We are still parenting young-adult children, while at the same time attempting to gracefully maneuver through the aging years of our parents with honor. The similarities are endless; how to love our family without becoming a dictator, how to aid them in making their own decisions, how to help them navigate the path which will provide the best outcome for their future.”

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

Katharine Lee Bates, from “America the Beautiful”

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Not only is is a new month, but we’re officially halfway through the year! Time’s a-flying. But in an effort not to let the blessings of the week fly by unnoticed, I join up with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story on Fridays to share our blessings.

1. Visit from a dear friend. One of my friends since early married days was traveling from SC to OH and went out of her way to stop and see us in TN. It was so good to visit in person and catch up with each other. She took us out to lunch at a nearby local restaurant, and then my kids came over for dinner while she was here.

2. My dear husband’s help in preparing for my friend’s visit. He cleaned bathrooms and vacuumed, among other things.

3. A dinner gift. I forgot to mention this last week. I got a text from Timothy saying his mom was making dinner for us that day. A pleasant surprise!

4. Impromptu lunch out. Our church has “care groups” that meet a couple of times a month. Jason and Mittu are in a different one than Jim and I are in. Both our groups meet after church for Sunday lunch. Sometimes our groups meet the same Sundays–sometimes we meet on different Sundays. This last Sunday, none of us had our care groups, so we went out to lunch.

5. Applesauce cake made with oat flour. Such good stuff. We had this while my friend was here. I don’t make the cream cheese frosting in the recipe–I make a vanilla buttercream from my forty-plus-year-old Betty Crocker cookbook. In the past, I’ve ground oatmeal for the flour. Oatmeal is gluten-free in itself, but some brands say their oats are grown near wheat fields, so there might be some cross-contamination. I found Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour at the grocery store–not only did that save time, but I was assured it was gluten-free for our gluten-sensitive family members.

Bonus: A couple of times a year when I have early-morning fasting lab work at the doctor’s office, I reward myself with a breakfast biscuit. This time it was a steak and egg biscuit from Bojangles along with their Bo-Berry Biscuit. Those are the only things I like there.

Funny story: one time when Jim and I went through their drive-through, Jim asked for a couple of blueberry biscuits. The person at the window said, “Two BO-Berry biscuits. Anything else?” Throughout the rest of the interaction, he kept emphasizing the “BO.” That’s (however much money) for your BO-Berry biscuits, sir.” “Here are your “BO-Berry biscuits.” We got the idea–they’re BO-Berry, not blueberry biscuits at Bojangles. 🙂

Happy Independence Day to my American friends!

Review: Larkspur Cove

Posted on July 2, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Larkspur Cove is the first of Lisa Wingate’s Shores of Moses Lake series.

Andrea Henderson has moved into her parents’ lake house in Texas with her teenage son after her husband’s betrayal and abandonment. She’s found a job as a social worker and wants to make a new start for herself and her son.

Her son, Dustin, is having a hard time making the transition. Left alone while his mom works, he ventures out with some new friends into an area of Moses Lake where boats are not supposed to go, ignoring the posted warning signs. Mart McClendon, the fish and game warden (or “boat cop,” as some call him), takes the teens in and calls their parents.

When Mart and Andrea meet, sparks fly. She thinks he is overreacting. He thinks she is some over-busy rich mom who doesn’t keep an eye on her son.

When Mart offers to let the teens take a water safety course in lieu of a fine, Andrea agrees despite Dustin’s protests.

Andrea’s work takes her into remote areas. One day when she sees an older man with a little girl in his truck, she suspects something is wrong. The little girl is not in a seat-belt and her hair is tangled with bits of leaves.

Later, Mart’s friends at a diner tell of seeing an old man with a little girl in the hills across the lake. The man, Len, is not known to have a family. He hasn’t been right mentally since he returned from Viet Nam. But he has seemed harmless. Yet, where had this little girl come from, and can a recluse like Len take care of her?

As Mart and Andrea investigate the situation, they learn more than Len’s situation. They discover their own purposes and more about each other.

I enjoyed this story. The little community around Moses Lake seems like real people, characters without being caricatures.

The Waterbird Bait and Grocery has a “wall of wisdom” where people write little sayings, and these proverbs and observations begin each chapter.

Some of the themes: first impressions aren’t always accurate; the best solutions are not always the most obvious; it takes time to heal from trauma, and others.

The audiobook was nicely read by two narrators, Johanna Parker and Scott Sowers. It was free from Audible’s Plus Catalog at the time I listened.

My only complaint is that this author has a penchant for putting several paragraphs of description or backstory in-between lines of dialogue. It can make discussions seem really stilted, especially while listening to an audiobook. I picture the other characters waiting patiently for the one with the next line to come back out of his or her thoughts and speak.

But otherwise, this was a great story. I’m looking forward to the rest.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)

Irritating or Irritable?

Posted on June 29, 2025 by Barbara Harper

When one of my sons was a child, he got hold of the word “irritating” – as in, “Mo-ooom, he’s irritating me.”

We tried to teach our boys not to irritate each other on purpose, not to hit, tease, “bother,” bait, infringe on the possessions or person of the other, etc. But sometimes in everyday living together, we’re going to irritate each other.

After listening to whatever had irritated my young son, I would deal with the issue. But when the complaints of irritation grew, I would say something like, “You need to work on not being so irritate-able” (pronounced on purpose for emphasis). That was not a satisfying answer. The problem is with the other guy, Mom! You need to make him stop!

I need to heed my own advice. I find myself getting far too irritated far too often. Sometimes it’s the other thing or person that is being irritating, or causing the issue: the ~~stupid~~ recalcitrant computer, the driver who wasn’t watching what he was doing, the Alexa device that can’t handle a simple request, etc.

But too often, it’s just a matter of my own irritate-ableness. Touchiness, my mom used to call it.

Honestly, little irritations trip me up spiritually much more often than major trials.

So what can I do when I am feeling irritable?

Remember we live in a fallen world. Appliances and cars break down at the most inconvenient times. Traffic jams seem to occur when I am most in a hurry. We all have sin natures that won’t be completely eradicated until we get to heaven. I shouldn’t be surprised when things go wrong or when there are occasional misunderstandings.

Fix the issue, if possible. Find out if there is something wrong with the computer, leave early so every red light isn’t aggravating, slow down and take the necessary time to accomplish something so haste doesn’t create more problems, gently ask the other person to refrain from or change whatever they are doing,etc.

Forbear. A former pastor used to say forbearing was just good old-fashioned putting up with each other. Ephesians 4:1-3 goes a step further and speaks of “forbearing one another in love” (“bearing with” in some translations).

Humble myself. The verses mentioned speak of humility and meekness. Who am I to think that the entire world should revolve around my preferences? Colossians 3:12-14 also speaks of forbearance in the context of “kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering,” and forgiveness.

Focus on the other person. When I am fixated on an irritating behavior in someone else, I view the whole person through that lens. Instead, I need to focus on that person as another child of the Father whom He loves every bit as much as He loves me and seek ways to serve him or her.

Do unto others as I would have them do unto me. I need to remember that I’m probably unwittingly irritating someone else who is being forbearing with me. I need to handle the irritations that come from other people as graciously as I would want them to handle mine.

Don’t make excuses. There are certain times, seasons, hormones, and circumstances that make one more susceptible to irritability. I admit it is really hard for me to be civil, much less loving, when I haven’t had enough sleep. And during certain hormonal surges I’ve wondered how in the world not to blow up at someone. But God’s promises and requirements don’t have exception clauses for “those” times. He gives more grace when we ask Him and rely on Him for it.

Behold our God. II Corinthians 3:18 says we’re changed more and more into Christ’s likeness as we behold Him. When I look inside and tell myself I need to be more kind, loving, forbearing, etc., I get discouraged and fail because I don’t have it in myself (Romans 7:18). But when I look at Him, that irritability seems to just melt away.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made (Psalm 145:8-9).

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. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 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 (! Peter 2:21-23).

Pray. I often pray Colossians 1:9-14 for myself and my loved ones. Verse 11 says, “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” We need God’s strength to be patient. Along with His power, He also gives us joy.

Trust God to work through even this. Author and missionary Elisabeth Elliot has been my “mentor from afar” for most of my adult life. She was honest about her human failings and struggles. She wrote in A Lamp for My Feet:

How can this person who so annoys or offends me be God’s messenger? Is God so unkind as to send that sort across my path? Insofar as his treatment of me requires more kindness than I can find in my own heart, demands love of a quality I do not possess, asks of me patience which only the Spirit of God can produce in me, he is God’s messenger. God sends him in order that he may send me running to God for help.

It encouraged me that Elisabeth had some of the same feelings I wrestle with.

God uses some people and circumstances as sandpaper to smooth our rough edges. Romans 5:3-5 tells us “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” That’s true of “little” sufferings as well as the big ones.

(Revised from the archives.)

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on June 28, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I’m behind on blog-reading this week, but I found some thought-provoking posts to share.

Being the Best You Can Be. “It is good to be the best you can be. It is noble to attempt to maximize your potential and to make the greatest good on even the least gift. God calls each one of us to be faithful stewards of all that he has entrusted to us. Yet there is a world of difference between being the best you can be and wanting to be known as the best.”

Be a Man-Pleaser, Not a Man-Pleaser, HT to Challies. In other words, our people-pleasing can be good or bad, depending on our motives.

Bible Reading Blues? Study Your Stop. “If you were sitting across from me and you mentioned that you’d abandoned your Bible reading plan, I wouldn’t ask you about what went well. We’d talk about what didn’t work. We’d start with what made you stop because understanding why you didn’t finish could be the key to helping you begin again.”

Guarding the Gospel: Understanding the Dangers of Syncretism. “Syncretism is the combination or synthesis of two or more different religions or philosophies. Syncretism happens in Christian missions when people profess Christ by believing an altered version of the gospel message that lines up with their previous beliefs.”

ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “Researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity across 32 regions, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and ‘consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.’ Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.”

He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be anything more. Charles Spurgeon.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on June 27, 2025 by Barbara Harper

It’s hard to believe we’re at the last Friday in June already. Even though we’re only officially into summer by a week or so, to me it seems summer is a third of the way over with the end of June in sight. I’m fighting the heat wave and fostering gratitude by pausing for a few moments with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to focus on the blessings of the week.

1. An old video. My Facebook memories pulled up a video Jason published eleven years ago. Timothy had been born ten and a half weeks early and spent that amount of time in the NICU. He got to go home on his original due date in June. Jason made a video showing Timothy’s progress and homecoming. It always makes me a little teary and abundantly grateful.

2. Amazon gift cards. I had a couple on hand for a few months, waiting to enter them until I knew what I wanted to spend them on. Otherwise they get frittered away. I finally used them this week. It’s like extending Mother’s Day and Christmas.

3. Air conditioning and ceiling fans. I imagine a lot of us will list those this week. I don’t know how people survived summer heat and humidity before AC.

4. Nowhere to go this week. First time that’s happened in a long time.

5. Getting “extras” done. One of my dearest friends is coming to visit next week. I got over the idea that I needed to practically spring-clean when company was coming long ago. But there are always little extras we like to tend to before they get here.

How was your last full week of June?