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Book Review: I’m No Angel

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Barbara Harper

I’m No Angel: From Victoria’s Secret Model to Role Model by Kylie Bisutti tells the story of her successful rise through the modeling world only to abandon it at the height of her success.

As a young girl Kylie was thin and pretty with “freakishy long legs,” and constantly people would tell her she looked just like a model or should be a model some day. Kylie makes an important point when she says:

Adults don’t always realize the profound effect their words can have on young kids—girls in particular. These people mean well, of course. What harm could possibly come from telling a little girl she’s pretty? Technically, none—unless that’s the only affirmation she ever hears…

It wasn’t as though I didn’t have anything else going for me…but whenever anyone looked at me, all they seemed to see was model.

As my identity became wrapped up in being pretty, it also became the primary attribute I used to define my value. If people weren’t praising me for my looks, I started feeling like I was lacking somehow, and I would go out of my way to make them like me. This would turn into a cycle that would haunt me for years to come.

In her junior high years, she felt a growing disconnect with her father, who had taken a new job and was working all the time so that she could “have what [he] didn’t have growing up.” She “missed their old life…when we had less money but more time together.” Then her height and thinness started getting her teased at school, with girls saying she was anorexic and boys calling her a giraffe.

So when opportunities for modeling did come her way, the positive attention and affirmation soothed. her. She hoped to “prove something to all the people who had teased me at school” and even to “regain [her] dad’s attention.”

From the very start, at just 14, she was made up and dressed to look older than she was and to appear sultry and sexy and pose provocatively. Being expected to change clothes in a room with models of both sexes made her uncomfortable, but she figured it was part of the job and she needed to get used to it. In addition:

That’s one of the harsh realities I learned early on about the modeling industry: ultimately, your body doesn’t really belong to you. It belongs to the client. Since they’re paying, they figure they can do pretty much whatever they want to you. They can curl your hair, straighten it, dye it, cut it –even shave it. I’ve seen hair extensions being pulled out by the roots and smoke billowing out of flat irons while the hair inside gets singed and fried. I’ve watched models squeeze their feet into shoes so small their feet literally bled, and I’ve seen false eyelashes torn off so quickly that the natural lashes came off with them. Modeling may look glamorous on the outside, but believe me, beauty can be an ugly business.

Some girls even had surgery to remove ribs to look thinner, Kylie herself, at a size 2 and 115 lbs., was referred to as “the big model,” and her agent called her a “fat pig” and a “cow” and told her she needed to lose weight.

After a devastating heartbreak in high school, Kylie was open when a friend invited her to her church’s youth group. She began going to her church and learning about God, Jesus, and salvation for the first time. At a youth camp some time later, she finally put her faith in the Lord Jesus as her Savior. After she came home, her mom saw such a difference that she was open to what Kylie shared about what she was learning.

It still took years, though, for Kylie to come to a realization that there might be a problem with her modeling, especially modeling lingerie. We are saved in a moment, but growth and sanctification are processes that come with time in God’s Word and in His church. Kylie tells how her modeling career continued until she reached what she considered the pinnacle: winning a Victoria’s Secret Runway Angel competition. Aspects of modeling continued to bother her, but at first she just thought it was part of the job, then didn’t want to displease her agent or company or jeopardize her job or risk rejection. Finally she was convicted, but continued to compromise. She “wasn’t mature enough to understand this at the time, but it wasn’t simply a question of what you can or can’t see in those types of photos. My sinful choice was rooted in something deeper: what the photos represented. I can only imagine how sad it made God to see my complete lack of honor and purity and respect, not only for myself, but also for my parents, for my future spouse, and most of all, for Him.”

Had I been further along in my Christian walk and more focused on serving God rather than myself, I might have seen that. But I still had a long way to go in my faith. In my mind, being a Christian meant that God loved me and that He wanted me to be happy, healthy, and successful. I’d been listening to CDs that taught me how to transform my mind, when I should have been immersing myself in the Bible so God could transform my heart through His Word. Up to that point, I’d been treating God like a genie in a lamp, making childish wishes and then waiting for Him to deliver.

But God didn’t send His Son to die on the cross so that one day I could become a famous fashion model. He doesn’t exist to serve me; I exist to serve Him.

When she married, her husband at first didn’t realize all that was involved in her modeling, and once he did, instead of “making” her quit, he just quietly prayed for God to convict her. And He did. “God was opening my eyes to the fact that I couldn’t glorify Him in my life while at the same time taking modeling jobs that compromised His values. The disconnect was too great, and if I kept trying to do both, I would end up despising one. I had to choose. Would I serve the world, or would I serve God?”

When she repented and chose to serve God, at first she thought she would continue t model but avoid jobs that were immodest.

But as I continued to grow in my relationship with the Lord, I started to lose the desire to model at all. Regardless of the type of clothing, I knew that modeling promotes the world’s sense of beauty. This wasn’t the type of beauty I wanted to endorse for girls and women. Not only that, but the temptation would always be there to be thinner, prettier, and more in demand. I’d seen how addictive those desires can become, and I didn’t want any part of it anymore.

Unfortunately a sad consequence of modeling is that the photos that were taken of her will forever be available on the Internet, even some by a unscrupulous photographer who sold some to a porn site. There’s no way to get them back or have them erased. “I could make godly decisions related to my future, but I couldn’t control how others chose to exploit my past.” She chooses to think of them as “a powerful reminder of the consequences of sin and the depths of God’s redemptive grace.”

Now she is married with two children and a ministry encouraging women in their walk with the Lord. She blogs at I’m No Angel.

A few years ago during Victoria’s Secret show on TV, Kylie was watching Twitter and finding mostly negative comments about it, some from women who felt that it was a negative not only because of the immodesty, but because of making “everyday” women feel inadequate. One man tweeted, “I’d rather have a Proverbs 31 woman than a VS model.” Kylie responded, “I quit being a VS model to become a Proverbs 31 wife.” Within minutes she was contacted and asked to do a guest blog post which went viral and led to interviews on a number of news sites. There were some verbal attacks as a result, but there were also words of encouragement in unlikely places in the industry.

At the end of the book is a 30-day devotional section titled “The Master’s Makeover,” with Scripture and words of wisdom about beauty from God’s point of view.

I found this quite an eye-opening book and was blessed by Kylie’s growth. As far as I can tell no one sat her down and had “a talk” about modesty with her, but God dealt with her heart and brought her to conviction Himself. In the few pictures shared in the book, she looks so much healthier and happier, in addition to being more modest, in her more recent photos.

Genre: Autobiography
My rating: 9 out of 10
Objectionable elements: I think Kylie does a good job showing the seamy side of the industry without getting unnecessarily explicit, but there are scenes that might bother some. In addition, a lady preacher is mentioned with whose teaching I would disagree, but I think that was who Kylie was talking about when she referenced listening to CDs teaching that God wanted her to be positive, happy, and successful rather than teaching the whole counsel of God.
Recommendation: Yes.

(Sharing at Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books, Literary Musing Mondays, and Carol‘s Books You Loved)

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Principles For Interpreting the Bible

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Barbara Harper

Have you ever wondered why two people can take the same Bible passage and come up with different meanings for it? Have you ever heard anyone say, “Oh, you can make the Bible say anything you want it to say,” especially when you’re trying to bring spiritual truth to bear on a situation? It’s true that people wrest Scripture to make is say something it wasn’t meant to say. Whole false religions have been created by doing just that. How can we guard against doing that ourselves? By applying good principles of interpretation, called hermeneutics.

“Biblical hermeneutics is all about finding the correct interpretation of the inspired text. The purpose of biblical hermeneutics is to protect us from misapplying Scripture or allowing bias to color our understanding of truth.” (http://www.gotquestions.org/Biblical-hermeneutics.html).

Some of you might think something like, “I will never be a preacher; I’m not even a teacher—so what does it matter how I interpret Scripture?”

It matters, first of all, because we’re instructed to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2:15). Even though that verse was written as instruction to a preacher, it’s also God’s inspired Word to us. Really, is there anyone who shouldn’t rightly divide the Word or study it aright? We want to understand what God said to us and not be led stray by misunderstanding His Word.

It matters, secondly, because each of us has a sphere of influence. Whether we ever stand in front of a classroom or audience or not, we come across people in our daily walk, we have relatives, friends, neighbors. What we read and how we read Scripture forms our understanding of spiritual matters (and our spiritual understanding of practical matters) and will influence our views, which in turn will affect our conversations and character and witness and influence.

Besides paying attention to the words themselves and how they are put together grammatically, like you would do with any reading, here are a few principles for rightly interpreting Scripture:

Pray. In Psalm 119:18, the psalmist prayed, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Several times he asked for God to give him understanding or teach him. In How to Master the English Bible, James Gray said, “The most important rule is the last. Read it prayerfully. Let not the triteness of the observation belittle it, or all is lost. The point is insisted on because, since the Bible is a supernatural book, it can be studied or mastered only by supernatural aid. … Who is so well able to illuminate the pages of a given book as the author who composed it?” (I don’t know anything about the author or book than this, but thought the last two lines especially good.

Take the passage literally unless it’s obviously not meant to be literal. Someone once said about understanding the Bible, “When common sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.” There are some who “spiritualize” much of the OT, saying that the creation account, among other things, is just a myth and there was no real historical Adam. But the Bible presents creation and OT history as literal events in the lives of real, literal people. In Genesis 1, there is no reason to interpret the days of creation as anything other than 24-hour days. But when Jesus speaks of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, we know He is speaking figuratively, partly because of the reaction of the disciples—or lack of reaction they would have had if they thought he was speaking literally.

Context, context, context. Taking a verse or passage out of context is one of the biggest violators of its meaning. Just one example: You can find nice plaques or Pinterest quotes that take Exodus 14:13-14 (“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace”) and condense it down to a pithy saying like, “Be still! Your God will fight for you.” But in the very next verse, God says, “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” And then He tells them what to do. Later, though there were times God supernaturally gave Israel the victory, most of the time they had to take up swords, spears, and shields, and fight. They still couldn’t win unless they were depending on Him rather than their own strength, but they trusted God to work through them.

Sometimes even good people will defend a stand or draw a good principle from a passage that isn’t teaching that principle. If the person you’re speaking with then does go back to look up the passage mentioned, your whole position is weakened if the context doesn’t support it. If the principle arises from the context, however, it is all the stronger and more enriching.

Don’t imprint your thoughts onto the text, but let the text reveal its meaning. A former pastor used to say that when he first started preaching, as he studied the passage he was going to preach on, he would ask himself, “What can I say about this passage?” After some time he realized that was the wrong question. The right one was, “What does this passage say?” For example, for years I heard that the people’s surprise at Peter’s release at the prayer meeting in Acts 12 was evidence that they weren’t praying in faith. But Dr. Layton Talbert, in his book Not By Chance: Learning to Trust a Sovereign God, brings up a different viewpoint. We don’t know that they were praying for Peter’s deliverance from prison. He points out that the text doesn’t say. James was killed by Herod earlier in the chapter: since he was not delivered they may not have expected Peter to be, either. “The only precedent we have for the church’s prayer under similar circumstances is in Acts 4:23-30. There, in the face of recent imprisonment, persecution, and renewed threats, the church made only one request. And it wasn’t for deliverance from prison or persecution; it was for boldness in the face of both (4:29)” (p. 203).

Compare Scripture with Scripture. The Bible is the best commentary on itself. One of the most important reasons for reading it through is to keep balanced and to keep the “big picture” in mind. A lot of theological error comes from emphasizing one part of a truth and neglecting or deemphasizing of the rest of it. Sometimes seemingly contradictory passages balance one another out or present different sides of the same truth. For instance, Proverbs 26:4-5 says, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” Those sound like two different instructions, but there is a time to answer and a time it would be unwise to answer, and we need God’s wisdom to discern when and how.

Consider the genre. Though all the Bible is inspired and true, we would read Deuteronomy, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Romans, and Revelation all a bit differently, taking into account the different kinds of literature each is as we seek to understand them.

Consider the historical setting or culture of the passage. Understand that OT Israel was under a theocracy and was given specific promises (like the promise of a particular piece of land) and were under certain restrictions that New Testament believers are not (Acts 15:1-31). Even though some situations discussed in the Bible, even in the NT, are not ones we have to deal with today (like eating meat offered to idols), it’s still important to read them and discern the principles involved.

Note the difference in passages of direct instruction and passages of example. I once heard a message that used Abraham’s seeking out a bride for his Isaac as a springboard for telling parents how to find spouses for their children. While there are good principles to glean (like seeking a godly spouse, praying, seeking God’s guidance, etc.), it doesn’t mean that since Abraham found a wife for Isaac, parents today need to find spouses for their children. That was the culture then (see #7), but nowhere in the Bible are parents instructed to find spouses for their children in this way.

Note what is said to whom, determine what it meant then, and then determine how it applies to us today. For instance, as a younger Christian I wrestled with whether what Jesus said to the “rich young ruler” in Matthew 19:16-26 about selling his possessions and giving to the poor was something every Christian should do. But then I realized no on else wads told to do that. Though the Bible has a lot of instruction about our possessions (“compare Scripture with Scripture”), that particular admonition was to convict that particular man about his core problem.

Don’t “surface” read. Take time to read carefully and meditate on the passage. Biblical meditation isn’t an emptying of your mind, but rather thinking over and over a passage and “chewing” on it.

There is much more that could be said. In fact, every time I come back to this post I think of something else to add. Whole books have been written about this, so I can’t possibly cover every aspect in one blog post. But this gives us plenty to ponder.

Even with these principles in mind, sometimes good people can differ in their interpretations. There are some mysteries that we won’t be able to resolve until we get to heaven. We need to pray, study it out for ourselves, and consult commentaries of those who have had more time and tools to study. Where the Bible speaks clearly, we need to stand firm. But in those areas that are less clear but aren’t a matter of heresy, we need to give grace to those who might not see it exactly like we do.

I’ve wondered through the years why God did not spell everything out so there could be no mistaking the meaning or application of it. Perhaps one reason is to test our own hearts, to encourage our study, our dependence on Him, and grace toward each other.

(Sharing with Inspire Me Mondays, Literary Musing Mondays, Works For Me Wednesday, Woman Word Filled Wednesday, Thought-Provoking Thursday)

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Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It’s been another busy week. One reason I love FFF is that it helps me recount blessings that I might otherwise gloss over. I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to work in an FFF post, and thought about just skipping it because I didn’t have anything off the top of my head to share. But after just a few minutes of thinking about it, I came up with more than five. I love this opportunity to stop, think, and be grateful for God’s gifts, large and small.

1. Paying only 80 cents a gallon for gas. Our local grocery store has reward points for their gas station based on grocery purchases. This summer they’ve been offering double reward points if you shop on weekends and coupons good for 100 reward points. So at my last gas stop, I only paid 89 cents per gallon. It’s been a long time since that has happened!

2. Safe travels. My husband and youngest son both had trips this week, and for my son, it was his first time to drive a road trip by himself (which made his mom a little antsy). But all went well.

3. Brunch or a late breakfast at my son and daughter-in-law’s house. Most of our get-togethers are here just due to my husband’s mom being here, but we have someone with her in the mornings, so it was fun to go to their place and especially to have Timothy show us around.

4. Help at home. When Jim is gone, his mother’s care falls to me. One of the nights he was away, Jason and Mittu came over and made dinner and cleaned up the kitchen afterward. That’s a blessing any time, but especially when Jim’s away and I’m feeling overloaded.

5. Shopping with Jesse. We had to take Jesse’s car in to be serviced before his trip, and I followed him when he dropped his car off, then he rode back with me. But that meant he had to accompany me on my errands, which he hadn’t done probably since early high school when I’d have errands after I picked him up from school. It was fun taking him in to the baby department at Target – that’s something he generally wouldn’t be interested in, but having a little nephew now, he was showing me clothes he thought were cute and finding toys he wanted to get him at Christmas. It was fun. 🙂 Plus I found this adorable shirt for Timothy.

Happy Friday!

September

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Barbara Harper

September

The morrow was a bright September morn;
The earth was beautiful as if new-born;
There was that nameless splendor everywhere,
That wild exhilaration in the air,
Which makes the passers in the city street
Congratulate each other as they meet.

~ From the longer poem“The Falcon of Sir Federigo” from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Tales of a Wayside Inn”

Fall is coming

The golden-rod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather,
And autumn’s best of cheer.

Excerpts from Helen Hunt Jackson’s “September”

Keep calm

Departing summer hath assumed
An aspect tenderly illumed,
The gentlest look of spring;
That calls from yonder leafy shade
Unfaded, yet prepared to fade,
A timely carolling.

~ William Wordsworth, “September”

I like the line “Unfaded, yet prepared to fade” best. That about describes the leaves here. Some are just starting to turn, but it will be weeks yet before it truly looks and feels fallish. Of course, fall doesn’t officially begin until September 22 this year. But I like September as the turning point, the promise that cooler weather is coming. I’m not too eager for turning leaves and such, though I’ll enjoy then when that happens (I love the beauty, but I’m sad that it heralds the leaves turning loose all too soon). But I am looking forward to some coolness!

September used to mark the start of school, but the schools started here in early August. Since all of mine are out of school, it doesn’t affect me much any more except for trying to avoid roads in school zones at certain times a day. But I remember having mixed emotions when my kids started back: glad for a bit more structured schedule, but not looking forward to the busy-ness; glad to have the house to myself for a few hours a day, but missing their companionship.

For many, September marks the beginning of football season and pumpkin-spiced everything. We’re not big into football, but we’re in the middle of UT Vols territory, and last year we did watch a few games. I like pumpkin pie, bread, cookies, etc., but not pumpkin flavored drinks. Bleah! 🙂

September 1 is also my anniversary of contracting transverse myelitis. Hard to believe it’s been 31 years now! It started with one arm feeling a little funny, like I’d slept on it wrong. Within just a few hours that arm and both legs and my lower torso were numb. That was one of the longest days of my life, with going to one ER, being sent to a doctor’s office only to find they didn’t work with our insurance, to going to another ER and finally being admitted around 10 p.m. (it had all started around 7 a.m. or so). It was a scary time, not knowing what I’d get back and how I’d be able to function in my family. But, thank God, though there are a number of little residual symptoms, I can walk and basically have been able to do what I needed to do as a wife and mom. I wouldn’t want to go through it again, but I am so thankful for God’s nearness and help and all He taught me through it.

What’s On Your Nightstand: August 2016

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Barbara Harper

The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the last Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read.

Between the Olympics, two birthdays, and a ten-day “stay-cation,” it’s been a different kind of month for us. I’ve been wondering how my reading record will go for this month. Let’s see:

Since last time I have completed:

Leaving Oxford by Janet W. Ferguson, reviewed here. Christian fiction about an ad exec who can’t leave her small town due to anxiety issues but falls in love with a coach who has a chance to go to the big leagues in another town. Good story.

More Things in Heaven and Earth by Jeff High, audiobook, reviewed here. A new doctor from Atlanta reluctantly starts his first practice in a small TN town only because of a program that will pay off his school bills and gradually finds good in the town and its people. Some bad language, and it took me a while to warm up to the characters, but ultimately good.

Be Mature (James): Growing Up in Christ and Be Hopeful (1 Peter): How to Make the Best Times Out of Your Worst Times by Warren Wiersbe. Not reviewed but very good.

Tuck Everlasting, reviewed here. Children’s story about a girl who stumbles across a family who are stuck forever at their current ages. Thought-provoking, nice writing.

The Green Ember, reviewed here. Children’s fantasy about rabbits who are preparing for a better world while fighting against wolves and birds of prey who are trying to extinguish them. Fairly good, though there are some odd things about the writing in spots.

Rescuing Finley by Dan Walsh, reviewed here. Heartwarming story about how various lives with various sets of problems intersect with that of a dog in need.

Ten Fingers For God: The Life and Work of Dr. Paul Brand by Paul Brand, reviewed here. A reread from 20 or so years ago, it’s a wonderful biography of a man raised in a small village in India who goes on to become a pioneer surgeon for lepers.

Well, I’m surprised! I read less due to the Olympics but more during our stay-cation, so I guess it averaged out. Plus last month’s last Tuesday for the Nightstand post left us with several days to be counted for this month.

I’m currently reading:

The Promise of Jesse Woods by Chris Fabry, audiobook.

Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson. This one keeps getting pushed behind others – I need to finish it.

Home to Chicory Lane by Deborah Raney

I’m No Angel: From Victoria’s Secret Model to Role Model by Kylie Bisutti

Up Next:

These were all listed as “next up” on last month’s nightstand post – but I didn’t get to them yet:

I’m Still Here: A New Philosophy of Alzheimer’s Care by John Zeisel, HT to Lisa’s review.

June Bug by Chris Fabry

Waiting For Peter by Elizabeth Musser

After that, I’ll choose from my TBR pile (to which I’ve added half a dozen or more books from my birthday) or the multitudes loaded on my Kindle app.

I also did a post about my bookcases. I’d love to see yours!

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Book Review: Rescuing Finley

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Barbara Harper

I don’t read many dog stories, but I have enjoyed past books by Dan Walsh, so when Rescuing Finley came up for sale for the Kindle app, I got it.

Many dog stories are designed to be heartwarming, and Walsh is known for his heartwarming stories. My heart needs warming as much or more than everyone else’s, but when I know a story is aiming for that, I can find myself kind of resistant. But, they got me. I was touched and even in tears for part of the story.

The book tells the story of a few different people. One is Amy Wallace, a young woman who has been in trouble with drug addiction and stealing. Her family has cut ties with her, and when she’s caught shoplifting, the value of the item she stole lands her in prison.

Chris Segar is a minesweeper while in the Marines in Afghanistan, who steps on a silent mine, losing a leg and coming home with PTSD.

Then there’s Alicia Perez, whose son is killed in Afghanistan. She had been taking care of his dog, Finley, but she can’t handle him any more and takes him to the pound.

Kim Harper is an “Animal Behavior Manger and dog trainer” for the place where Finley is taken.

And then there is Finley himself, depressed by the loss of his owner and confused by his circumstances.

Walsh weaves their stories all together into a very satisfying book. You may even be able to guess where the story goes, but it’s worth the journey.

The sections from Finley’s point of view could have come across as cheesy, but I thought Walsh did a good job suggesting what Finley might be thinking without going that far.

I enjoyed the Author’s Note at the end, where he explains that, after his wife finished homeschooling all of their children, he encouraged her to do something she enjoyed. She wanted to train and be certified as a dog trainer. He explains that the book isn’t directly based on her or the organization she works with, but they greatly informed his story, along with the other research he did.

There are a few odd mistakes in the book (accept for except, bare for bear, our for are, etc.) that I was really surprised at. I don’t remember seeing anything like this in any of the author’s previous books: I’m wondering if something weird happened when formatting it for the Kindle. But I know it’s possible for little things to be missed in the process between writing and publishing.

This was a really nice read. It would make a great Hallmark movie.

Genre: Christian fiction
My rating: 10 out of 10
Objectionable elements: None.
Recommendation: Yes, I gladly recommend it.

(Sharing at Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books)

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Book Review: Ten Fingers For God

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Barbara Harper

I first read Ten Fingers For God about Dr. Paul Brand by Dorothy Clarke Wilson some 25-30 years ago when we attended a church with a solid lending library of mostly biographies. After reading this book I read the same author’s book about Paul’s mother, Granny Brand, and I believe I also read her Take My Hands: The Remarkable Story of Dr. Mary Verghese, after seeing her story mentioned in this book. I reread Granny Brand a few years ago, and that caused me to want to reread Ten Fingers, so I found an inexpensive used copy online.

Originally my primary interest in Ten Fingers For God was stirred when I was told it mentioned Dr. John Dreisbach, who attended our church whenever he was in the country. But I was soon caught up in Paul’s story on it’s own merits.

He was the son of unconventional pioneer missionaries to India, Jesse and Evelyn Brand. He and his sister were allowed to roam pretty freely, his mother even letting him do his school work up in a tree and drop finished assignments down to her. “If [his work] was wrong, he had to climb down and get [it], reascend, and start over again” (p. 14). So it was a pretty strong shock to his system when, at the age of 9, I believe, he was taken to live with two maiden aunts in England for his schooling. Some of my favorite parts of the book are his and his sister’s antics there, like hanging upside down on the crosspiece of a streetlight in front of the aunt’s house, smiling at passers-by, or pretending the floor was lava and trying to make it around the room on the furniture without touching the floor. The aunties handled it as well as they could.

Paul’s father died when he was 15, and his mother returned to England for a time, devastated, but eventually she went back to India. It was understood that Paul would follow. Initially his main interest was in carpentry, so he apprenticed to a man his mother knew. When he applied to be a missionary, however, he was turned down. His father had had to build structures, which is one reason why Paul was interested in building, but it wasn’t accepted as a main missionary occupation. Medicine had originally been repulsive to him, with memories of his father treating gross and disgusting conditions. But once Paul decided to go that way and got into it, he marveled at the way God created the body and its systems and saw it as a wonderful way to help people.

He married and went to India and was thrust into more than full time medical ministry. Leprosy was still a mystery with a huge stigma attached. Sadly, most lepers were not actively contagious, but once the disease began they were ostracized. It was thought that their flesh wasted away, so much so that they couldn’t even be operated on, but Paul discovered that the cause for their ulcers and even lost digits was lack of pain sensation. He pioneered a surgery to transform their hands from their clawed version to workable, usable hands.

But that actually created more problems. People would not hire them because of the stigma of leprosy, but they couldn’t successfully beg any more because they no longer could garner the sympathy their clawed hands had elicited. Paul found employment for some at the hospital, but of course he could not do that for all of them. Eventually a training center was built where patients could not only learn a trade, but learn how to handle their tools in safe ways that wouldn’t damage hands that couldn’t feel, and in turn, as Paul and his crew became aware of problem areas, they could adapt tools or processes to the patients’ needs. Paul’s carpentry experience was valuable many times over in these endeavors.

Not many doctors were treating leprosy patients, so when possible, Paul traveled to other parts of the world to gain more insight (which led him to Dr. Dreisbach in Africa).

Eventually treatment expanded to include operations on feet, noses, and restoration of eyebrows. Paul’s wife, Margaret, became an expert in her own right on how leprosy affects the eyes.

I had forgotten that Paul worked in the ministry founded by Dr. Isa Scudder, someone else whose biography I enjoyed.

The last third or so of the book was not quite as interesting to me, as it got further away from Paul himself and more into how his procedures and methods gained worldwide attention, what organizations he became affiliated with, which organizations sent people or set up additional centers in Vellore, etc. There’s a nice epilogue in this edition which I don’t believe was in the one I first read, telling what happened in the lives of Paul, his wife, and each of his children.

He was so incredibly busy, I don’t know how he found time to even have a family. Yet he was known for being unflappable in just about any circumstance.

A lot of his insights into pain are in this book, but perhaps his best known book was originally titled Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants, which I’ve not read. It’s been republished and retitled The Gift of Pain with Philip Yancey, but I don’t know if the text has been altered or what Yancey’s contribution to the book was. They did collaborate on other books, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and In His Image (I’ve not read these, either.)

Overall this was a fascinating look into a unique and remarkable man, perfectly fitted to what God called him to. I’m glad I read it again.

Genre: Biography
My rating: 10 out of 10
Objectionable elements: None
Recommendation: Yes, I highly recommend it.

(Sharing at Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books)

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Laudable Linkage

Posted on August 27, 2016 by Barbara Harper

Here are some interesting reads rounded up from the last couple of weeks:

Dr. George H. Guthrie has been publishing a series dealing with Bible translations that I have found very helpful, especially these (HT to Challies):

6 Reasons We Shouldn’t Freak Out over Word Variations in our Modern Translations

6 Surprising Ideas the KJV Translators Had about Other Bible Translations. The preface to the KJV is pretty fascinating if your Bible contains it and if you can read it. A couple of the fascinating ideas: they used and endorsed other translations and never claimed that theirs was the only one that should be used.

4 Interesting Facts about the Production of the King James Translation

Some Things You Should Know About Christians Who Struggle With Anxiety.

What the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life Miss About Simone Biles

Top 10 things I Wish Worship Leaders Would Stop Saying and Top 10 Things I Love That Worship Leaders Do

With Love, Your Single Daughter

10 Things to DO Instead of Asking, “What Can I Do to Help?”

A couple about writing:

Avoid These Sneaky (But Deadly) Point of View Mistakes.

A Quick Lesson in the Writing Process.

And finally, this is just adorable:

Happy Saturday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It’s been a great week in these parts! Here’s why:

1. My birthday. My husband made his famous Grilled Chicken Teriyaki, everyone contributed to the rest of the meal and set-up/clean up, and Mittu made the GF Texas Sheet Cake. Yummy! Plus they took me to Cheddar’s the night before! It wasn’t our best experience at this restaurant, but the food was great. And I loved everyone’s thoughtful cards and gifts.

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2. The rest of our stay-cation. I wrote about it more here, but it was a nice blend of activities and relaxation. I enjoyed the time with the family so much. My oldest son headed back to RI Monday – that seems so long ago already! I think this is the first time I have adopted the mentality that I’m on vacation, too. Usually I don’t feel that way because I still have my regular tasks to do. But really, the housework was done before my son came, and besides dealing with meals and dishes, which others helped with, and a bit of laundry and occasional crumb sweep-up, I was pretty much “off,” too. I enjoyed a lot of reading and resting when we weren’t doing other things.

3. 4 days off from cooking. Between my birthday, getting meals out, and other people cooking during the ten days or so everyone was here, I think I had about 4 days in a row that I didn’t cook. It was nice to have such a break! And that helped me feel a little more like I was on vacation, too.

4. Learning that the print could be enlarged on my phone. I was lamenting that I couldn’t make out much on my phone without whipping out my glasses, and my husband told me I could enlarge the text. On the iPhone you go to Settings, click General, click Accessibility, then Larger Text, and you can manage how big you want it. That has helped a lot!!!

5. The car starting – after it didn’t. I had just loaded a huge supply of groceries into the back of the van and got in to start the car, and it just clicked. I tried several times and the tried to call and text Jim. I was just getting ready to call my youngest son, Jesse, to come and rescue the groceries and me when I decided to try one more time. It started rather weakly, and I gave it a little gas, and it did fine. Jim took it to have the battery tested when he got home (it started fine for him!), and found that was the problem. It had a two-year warranty, and we’d had it four years, so it was about time to replace it. It was a relief to know it was fixed and not fear to drive it in case it wouldn’t start again. And though I was distressed (not to mentioned drenched in sweat in a hot car in August), it relatively was short-lived.

That’s my week. How was yours?

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Book Review: The Green Ember

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Barbara Harper

The Green Ember by S. D. Smith is a children’s story about rabbits. Brother and sister Heather and Picket live a normal (for storybook rabbits), almost idyllic life with their parents and baby brother until one day when a mysterious stranger comes to talk with their parents. Heather and Picket are shooed out to pick berries, but while they are gone, their home is attacked by wolves and burned. Not knowing where their parents are and being spotted by wolves, they try for a harrowing escape, being rescued at the last minute by an uncle they didn’t know they had and his adopted son, Smalls.

Their uncle, Wilfred, and Smalls take them to a community of rabbits hidden away. They see and hear evidences of other wolf attacks. While rabbit forces are training to fight the wolves, rabbit artisans and workmen are keeping their skills honed for a time when the heir of their fallen king will rise up and claim his place and lead them to a season of peace. When injustices or suffering occur, they comfort themselves with the saying, “It shall not be so in the Mended Wood.” Meanwhile discord threatens the community, and Heather and Picket struggle to find their place, especially when they learn their family’s history with the king.

My thoughts:

I don’t read children’s stories other than classics often, though I agree with C. S. Lewis that a good children’s story should appeal to adults, too.

I was expecting to be wowed, and maybe that’s the biggest problem with why I wasn’t. I think when expectations are so high, that can actually set one up for disappointment. I’ve seen it compared to Narnia, and though there are similarities, I think such a comparison helps set up those lofty expectations and the resulting letdown.

It’s not a bad story at all. It has a lot of great elements. I tend to enjoy “coming of age during adversity” type stories generally. I bought and looked back through the Kindle version after listening to the audio, and the things that bothered me while listening didn’t stand out so much while reading. I am not sure if that’s because it lends itself better to being read than listened to or if I was already familiar with it, so certain things did not then stand out.

I don’t mean to sound nitpicky and critical. I really don’t read or listen to books with an editing pen handy, ready to pounce on any little infraction. But there were a few things that were like speed bumps, pulling me out of the story to wonder why some things were phrased the way they were.

I think the arc of the story, the characters, the conflict, and most everything else is fine: it’s just these little things that could be tightened up to make it stronger, or at least provide fewer distractions.

To be fair, let me share some of the great quotes that stood out to me:

“If you aren’t angry about the wicked things happening in the world all around, then you don’t have a soul.”

“Why not just apologize to Smalls, to everyone, and move on? But he couldn’t do it. It would feel too much like surrendering ground he felt entitled to.” Thought that was quite insightful – that’s exactly how one feels when not wanting to apologize.

“All of life is a battle against fear. We fight it on one front, and it sneaks around to our flank.”

My place beside you,
My life for yours,
‘Til the Green Ember rises
Or the end of the world!

I like the way the community is not just surviving, but also focusing on and preparing for the time to come: “Here we anticipate the Mended Wood, the Great Wood healed. Those painters are seeing what is not yet but we hope will be. They are really seeing, but it’s a different kind of sight. They anticipate the Mended Wood. So do all in this community in our various ways. We sing about it. We paint it. We make crutches and soups and have gardens and weddings and babies. This is a place out of time. A window into the past and the future world. We are heralds, you see, my dear, saying what will surely come. And we prepare with all our might, to be ready when once again we are free.”

The story ends rather abruptly, obviously setting up for a sequel, which is due out in September: Ember Falls. Between these two a prequel was published, The Black Star of Kingston.

It’s not an overtly Christian book, but there are spiritual parallels, mainly of a fractured, hurting world longing for its king to come, and many spiritual truths along the way. A good discussion of this aspect is in this review.

The illustrations by Zach Franzen are gorgeous. I was glad the Kindle included them.

If you’d like to read a much more enthusiastic review, the great majority on Amazon or Goodreads are positive.

(Sharing at Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books)

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