About Barbara Harper

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Laudable Linkage

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I have just a short list of good reads to share with you today:

Own Your Faith, HT to Challies. “If God has gifted you with a healthy church and parents that love Christ, be so thankful! See your own faith as connected to theirs, but not dependent. They labored hard so that you would leave and be a beacon for Christ on your own. They desire to see you making godly choices. They want you to make the decision to wake up early and seek God’s face. The time for hand-holding is over. Your parents won’t stand before the judgement seat of Christ for you.”

The Most Profound Aspect of Jesus Saying “I Never Knew You. “Most of the time, the lesson we derive from Matthew 7:21-23 is that there will be people who believe they have a right to enter the Kingdom based upon their religious activities and behavior, but will be rejected. This interpretation is true, but in stopping there we miss something.”

The Supremacy of Christ in Repentance: Understanding True Sorrow vs. Worldly Regret. “There is a significant difference between natural regret and Spirit-driven repentance, between emotional sadness and spiritual surrender. The flesh can feel remorse, acknowledge sin, and feel shame. You can regret in an emotional or intellectual way, but that doesn’t make sorrow spiritual. You can regret sin without having a change of heart. Godly sorrow responds to God’s view of sin. It’s looking at God’s perspective on my sin. It’s vertically oriented—God-ward.”

How to Pray for an Unmet Desire, HT to Challies. “In His most famous of sermons, Jesus tells us to pray, assuring us that the heavenly Father won’t give us a stone when we ask for bread. But sometimes that bread just seems so long in coming. How could a good Father withhold a good thing from His child? After all, our earthly, sinful fathers would never ask their child to starve when they had the means and ability to provide food. How are we to respond in these seasons? What should our prayers look like?”

Nobody ever outgrows Scripture. The book widens and deepens with our years.
–Charles Spurgeon.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Though it’s not quite spring yet, and we still have some cold temperatures ahead, I’m ready to put aside the winter graphics and use spring-like ones. No matter what the season or weather, there are always blessings to be found along the way. Some of us share weekly with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story. Feel free to join in!

1. Men’s prayer breakfasts have been one of Jim’s best ways to get to know other men in some former churches we’ve attended. Some men will come to something like that when they won’t come to other things. Plus there’s more time for conversation and getting to know each other in that setting. It’s hard to “go deep” in Bible study with people you hardly know. He suggested starting one here. They had their first get-together this last Saturday, and around 25 men came.

2. Dinner brought over by Jason and Mittu. They had found some pre-seasoned carne asada beef, I think at Costo, and served it over Spanish rice. It was very good! Plus it was nice to see them and not have to cook dinner.

3. Sunrise. I don’t usually catch a glimpse of the sunrise, but I did one morning when heading to my desk. I didn’t want to go out in the cold, but wanted to get a photo. Even through the blinds and screen, it was lovely.

4. Jim’s birthday. It’s always a joy to celebrate my dear Husband. I am so thankful for him. We had lasagna, salad, and chocolate cake.

5. Encouragement. I’m battling another round of cellulitis this week. Some of you may remember I had an ordeal with that last year. I was discouraged that it happened again, especially after seeing early signs and praying it wouldn’t develop. And then I did something to my back one day. There are people dealing with much worse things, I know. One morning when I was particularly down, Daily Light on the Daily Path was particularly encouraging, as well as various things online and on the radio. God doesn’t always answer prayer just the way we would like, but He does care and walks with us.

Review: Up from the Sea

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Amanda Dykes’ novella, Up from the Sea is a prequel to Whose Waves These Are, one of my all-time favorite Christian novels.

Savannah Mae Thorpe was raised in Georgia, but is taken in by an aunt and uncle in Maine after her parents die. Savannah is more comfortable walking in the forest than the ballroom with her cousins.

When her cousins and their friends tell of an old legend, Savannah recognizes it as a variation on a story her mother told of a young woman who buried a small chest under what came to be known as the Atonement Tree, asking forgiveness while an unknown observer watched.

When Savannah discovers an updated version of the map her mother drew as a child, she goes with her cousins and Alistair Bliss, a local woodsman and employee of the family, to see if they can find the tree. What they discover has ramifications for all of them.

Along with Savannah’s “fish out of water” story, there are hints of troubled secrets in Alistair’s past, Savannah’s uneasy relationship with the cousin she used to count as a friend, and some Revolutionary War history.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Darkness comes, Savannah my girl. But don’t you let it steal your light.

I have a feeling no matter how mixed up the problem is, the answer’s almost always the most simple thing hiding beneath all our worries. That if we scale it back and look for the simplest truth—there lies the thing to do.

So many dashed hopes between the three women present within, yet it felt like a gathering place. God’s hand moving and weaving, stitching these unlikely hearts to one another.

So far, I have loved everything I’ve read of Amanda’s. This was such a sweet story. I loved the development of Savannah’s relationship with Alistair (who becomes the father of the brothers in Whose Waves These Are). I think both books could be read on their own, but they go well together.

Review: Good Hope Road

Posted on March 4, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Good Hope Road by Lisa Wingate begins with a tornado hitting the small town of Poetry, Missouri. Twenty-one-year-old Jenilee Lane is home alone, her father and brother having gone to a cattle auction in Kansas City.. Their house is spared, but Jenilee discovers her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Gibson, and the woman’s granddaughter trapped under debris across their storm cellar.

Jenilee and her family had not been close to their neighbors. Jenilee’s father had a bad temper and kept the family to themselves. They were often regarded as “white trash” by the townspeople. But Jenilee is the only help available, so she gets her neighbors out from the cellar just before Mrs. Gibson’s son and daughter-in-law come.

To keep busy, Jenilee and Mrs. Gibson go to the armory, the only large building in town still standing. Along the way, Jenilee picks up pieces of debris she finds: parts of letters, pictures, certificates.

The veterinarian is the only medical help at the armory until a doctor stranded in the storm is brought in. Jenilee had worked for the vet and seems to have a natural way of calming frightened people while they wait for help.

Jenilee continues going to the armory while waiting to hear about her father and brother. One day she decides to tape the paraphernalia she found on a wall there so people can find their lost treasures. This blossoms into giving hope to people.

Mrs. Gibson begins to see there is more to Jenilee than she’d thought. She also runs into an injured man at the armory with whom she’d had a long-running feud. At first she can’t spare a kind word for him. But she sees sides to him that she had forgotten were there.

As neighbors help neighbors and helpers come from others areas, they see each other with fresh vision and discover good things can arise from tragedies.

The book touches on multiple themes: the difficulties of an abusive family; how we can too easily misjudge others; the need to let go of the past; the fact that difficulties can bring out the best and worst in people; and faith, hope, and forgiveness

Some of my favorite quotes:

I walked to the kitchen, shuffling the way I do when my knees are like old plow handles and my joints are rusted shut.

It’s humbling to realize maybe you ain’t as good as someone you’ve spent years looking down on.

That part of you that wants to care for other folks is like fresh milk. You might as well pour it out as you go along the path. It don’t . . . keep in a bucket . . . very long.

In town after town, people were building anew. Towns just like our own—small, imperfect places beneath which hid the potential for something larger, something stronger, something we may never have seen, if not for the disaster.

The book is the second in a series of five, the sequel to Tending Roses (linked to my review). It’s been a few months since I read the first book, but I didn’t see any characters I recognized in this one. In the author’s notes at the end of the book, she explains one distant connection with the first book which will be delved into later.

There were a few “damns” and misuses of the Lord’s name. But otherwise, this was a great book.

Defeating the Devil

Posted on March 2, 2025 by Barbara Harper

C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”

When I first became a Christian and hadn’t developed a lot of discernment yet, I came across books about “spiritual warfare” that embodied the second view. They scared me rather than helping. I had an almost superstitious fear of the devil.

The February 25 reading of Daily Light on the Daily Path shared a collection of verses dealing with Satan, embodying things I had learned about him over the years. I thought I’d use them as a base and expand on them.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:11, “We would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” It helps to learn about an enemy and his tactics. But that doesn’t mean we need to study the occult. I once read a Christian fiction book about rescuing someone from a satanic cult that went into far more detail than I needed to know. I was troubled by some of that information for a long time.

The Bible tells us Satan’s tricks.

Accuses. Revelation 12:10 calls Satan “the accuser of our brothers . . . who accuses them day and night before our God.” We see this in the first chapter of Job. When God points out “my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil,” Satan responds that Job only serves God because of His blessings. Satan suggests that if God took away what He had given Job, Job would curse God. The rest of the book disproves Satan’s accusations. God knew Job would be faithful. But he had things to do in Job’s heart and ours by what He allowed Job to endure.

But what if Satan’s accusations are right? What if we failed in an area where we promised to change? What if we committed the same sin we repented of yesterday?

Romans 8:33-35 and 37-39 tells us:

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Questions God’s Word. When Satan talked with Eve in the garden of Eden, he asked, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Yes, God did say that. But when Satan questions what God has said, we sometimes start questioning, too.

Contradicts God’s Word. After questioning God’s Word in Genesis 3, Satan flat out contradicts it.

Misrepresents God and His Word. Satan planted in Eve’s mind that God had ulterior motives for keeping Adam and Eve from the forbidden fruit. When Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4, he quoted Scripture out of context and misapplied it. Peter wrote that “There are some things in [Paul’s writings] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16).

Lies. Jesus said Satan “does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan lies about us to God, about God to us, and about everyone and everything else.

Pretends to be an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11: 13-15 tells us, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” Most of the books of the Bible warn about false prophets and false teachers.

Murders. Jesus said Satan “was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). I think Satan must be behind mass murders even if the murderers don’t consciously follow or acknowledge Satan. Who else would inspire people to kill so many others?

But the Bible also links hatred with murder (Matthew 5:21-22 and 1 John 3:15). Jen Wilkin comments on this in Ten Words to Live By, her book about the Ten Commandments.:

Is Jesus adding to the law by broadening our attention from murder to anger and contempt? By no means. He is pointing out the seedling that grows into the thorny vine that chokes out life. He is appealing to us to fastidiously weed the garden of our personal holiness. He is teaching that if every person dealt with anger quickly and rightly, there would be no need for the sixth [commandment] at all (p. 94).

First, I am angry with you in response to a hurt. Next, I begin to question your character with an insult. Then, I begin to question your worth as a person. As anger degrades into contempt, the personhood of another is devalued (p. 93).

How then do we defeat Satan?

Awareness. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Prayer. “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41),

Resist him. “Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9).

Submit to God. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Put on God’s armor in Ephesians 6:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Know God’s Word. The “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” and prayer are the only offensive spiritual weapons given to us. Jesus responded to each of Satan’s temptations with Scripture. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Whether wrong thoughts about God are whispered into our hearts, or we’re reading something false about God, we counteract those thoughts with the truth of God’s Word.

Live for God, by His grace. “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:8b-11). “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). The passage goes on to say that if you used to steal, now work to give to those in need, use edifying rather than corrupting speech, and so on. Don’t just focus on what you’re not supposed to do: actively do the right thing.

Look for the way of escape. “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). Too often I look for ways to justify what I want to do rather than looking for a way to avoid temptation.

Don’t give Satan a foothold. “Give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). This may involve being careful about what we read and watch and where we go.

I don’t go looking for the devil behind every trouble. Once, when discussing a misunderstanding with a neighbor, she blamed the devil for our lack of communication. But the problem was in our human failures. I don’t give the devil more credit than he is due.

I don’t rebuke him: I leave that to God, like the archangel Michael did. “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you'” (Jude 9).

Satan is stronger than I am, but God is stronger than Satan. “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on March 1, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Here are some good reads for the first weekend in March.

The Great Danger is to Assume We Are All Headed for Heaven, HT to Challies. “For every American who believes they’re going to Hell, there are 120 who believe they’re going to Heaven. This optimism stands in stark contrast to Christ’s words in Matthew 7:13-14: ‘…wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’”

The Sacred Mundane, HT to Challies. “What about the ordinary and mundane tasks of the homemaker? Can they possibly be more than they are? the making of breakfasts, of lunches and dinners, the folding of laundry, wiping of counters, changing of diapers, the picking up, and the dropping off. Can these have meaning beyond the day after day ‘sameness?’”

All My Heroes Are Broken. “Disappointment. Once again, a Christian leader has fallen off the pedestal. Of course, I should never have placed them on it. But in my mind, they are not what they once were. Maybe they never were. I need good examples–role models who live out what it means to walk by faith and reflect God’s glory. My heart cries out for inspiration to live for God day by day. Can I really do what God made me and saved me to do? How have others done this before me?”

A Congregation Is a Voting Body. I share this because it never occurred to me anyone would think otherwise until a few years ago, when I heard someone say that they didn’t have the church vote on things because there was no instance of it in Scripture. But there is.

You Probably Won’t Get a Book Deal. But We Still Need You to Write, HT to Challies. “It’s difficult to be published. Unless you have a large following, or catch a break, you may face an uphill battle in getting your book published. And yet, I would argue, it’s still important for you to write for at least a couple of reasons.”

The Three Lost Pieces of a Good Romance, HT to Challies. “Today, I’ll be discussing the three essential elements of a good romance novel that have gradually been vanishing from mainstream romance tales, and why these three elements are necessary for a good story.”

“But tho’ there is much to be puzzled about, there is nothing to be worried about.”
–C. S. Lewis

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 28, 2025 by Barbara Harper

It’s the last day of February! Twenty days until spring! It’s time to once again reflect on the last week and look for the highlights and blessings God places in our path along with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. My daughter-in-law’s birthday was actually the week before, but they took a short trip to Chattanooga, saw Ruby Falls (a waterfall in a cave), and took a train ride that week. We celebrated her birthday Sunday by going to lunch at Kern’s Food Hall–a big food court with a lot of ethnic cooking to choose from. Not being an adventurous eater, I stayed with pizza. 🙂 But Mittu, Timothy, and Jim got Indian food while Jason got Mexican and Jesse got sushi. Then we went to their house for presents and cake. Mittu made her own cake–a black forest cheesecake. Jason or I have made her cakes in the past, but she wanted to do this one. We Face-timed with Jeremy while there and enjoyed the afternoon.

2. A schedule adjustment. With an empty nest and a retired husband, I don’t have to get up at any set time most days. I’ve been sleeping later and later until it feels like I don’t have a lot of the morning left to accomplish anything. Though I’ve loved not having to set an alarm, I’m starting to time it for about half an hour earlier than I’ve been getting up. So far, that’s going well. Once I get used to that, I’ll set it back another half hour. The key–and the hard part– is getting to bed earlier. I’m naturally a night owl, but I get more done during the day than I do at night.

3. Nice weather. A lot of our winter weather has looked like the picture at the top. But we’ve had some lovely days this week–sunshine and afternoons in the 60s and 70s.

4. Lunch with Melanie. We talked about trying someplace different, but we ended up at one of our favorite places–Cracker Barrel. I always enjoy the time together, and I had enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

5. Daffodil leaves peeking through the soil. They’re not my favorite flower, but I love that they signal spring is coming.

Happy last day of February!

February Reflections

Posted on February 27, 2025 by Barbara Harper

February is an odd month that seems both long and short. With fewer days, it flies by even more quickly than the other months. But it also contains the worst of winter weather, making us eager for the month to get over.

Two bright spots in February are Valentine’s Day and my daughter-in-law’s birthday. We also enjoyed a mission’s emphasis at church over three Sundays rather than cramming it into a single week with extra services.

Jim spent much of the last several weeks painting the interior of the house–family room, small living room, kitchen/dining area, two hallways, the master bedroom, many of the ceilings, and an extra coat in the master bathroom (which is the first room he painted a few years ago). Along the way, he repaired cracks, thoroughly dusted everything on the walls, washed windows, and cleaned or replaced window blinds. I washed the curtains and helped with some of the dusting, but he usually had most of that done before I knew about it. The house looks so nice, and it feels good to know all the nooks and crannies have had a thorough cleaning.

It worked out nicely that he could get a room done during the first part of a week and then have a few days to rest or attend to other things before starting the next one.

Though I think he still wants to paint a couple of ceilings, the main part of the house is done. He’s taking a break before doing smaller areas like the laundry room, pantry, and closets. The pantry and closets will require taking everything off shelves, so it will be a good time to sort through things before putting them away again. That will be a big job, but I should be up for it in a couple of weeks.

Creating

February is a busy card month. I make Valentines for the immediate family plus a card for my daughter-in-law’s birthday.

This was Jim’s. I would normally choose more masculine colors for his, but this came from a pack of Valentine-themed paper and expressed what I wanted to say.

This was for Jeremy, my oldest son, who likes foxes.

The fox is a sticker, and I added the heart with a foam square so it stands out from the card.

This was Jason’s. I looked through Valentine images on the Cricut machine, and this caught my eye. He’s not into gnomes, but he does have a long brown beard. 🙂

This was Mittu’s.

I used a lacy corner punch on the bottom of the heart.

This was the outside of Timothy’s.

And the inside:

I had seen this idea on a reel on Instagram and had to watch it several times to see what to do.

This was Jesse’s.

And this was for Mittu’s birthday, with the image done on the Cricut.

Watching

We really enjoy the new version of All Creatures Great and Small, which just finished its latest season. Its seasons are two short!

We watched the end of the second season of The Rings of Power, based on Tolkien’s stories which take place before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Two of my favorite things from it are the Old Tom Bombadil song with Tolkien’s lyrics and this quote from Celebrimbor, the elven smith. In the penultimate episode, in a moment where almost all hope is lost, Celebrimbor and Galadriel lament that Sauron deceived and used them. Galadriel says she wished she had been stronger. Celebrimbor says: “It is not strength that overcomes darkness, but light. Armies may rise, hearts may fail, yet still, light endures, and is mightier than strength. For in its presence, all darkness must flee.” That almost made me cry. I don’t know if the quote is taken from Tolkien’s writings or if the screenwriter came up with it, but it’s so true.

The actor that played Celebrimbor, Charles Edwards, did an excellent job (others did as well, but he stood out to me). When he is deceived by Sauron and not in his right mind, and then comes back to himself and realizes what Sauron has been up to–such a range of emotions!

Another good one was The Last Rifleman, about an Irish WWII vet who escapes his nursing home to attend a D-Day celebration in France. It’s based on a true story of Bernard Jordan, but apparently only in a broad sense. It was still moving, though. On the negative side, there were a few instances of taking Jesus’ name in vain.

We also enjoyed Mr. Malcolm’s List, which seemed Jane Austen-ish. When a wealthy suitor doesn’t call on a young woman any more, she is indignant to learn that she hasn’t met the qualifications on his list for a potential bride. She ropes her friend into a scheme of revenge, but the plan doesn’t work out as hoped. The only objectionable thing here is that some of the dresses are low-cut.

Reading

Since last time I have finished:

Ezekiel: The God of Glory by Tim Chester, a six-week Bible study. Though I did gain some benefit from the book, I didn’t really like the format. It was meant to be just a “whistle-stop tour” of Ezekiel. But I’m not sure Ezekiel is best studied that way.
The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar, fiction. A librarian’s assistant in Saint-Milo, France, tries to hide and protect books while suffering the effects of a Nazi takeover during WWII. I didn’t really connect with the main character, and the ending fell flat to me.
Between the Sound and the Sea by Amanda Cox, fiction, audiobook. A young woman is hired to restore an old lighthouse. She finds lighthouse keeper’s logs which don’t match up with the official ones, inspiring her to find out where they came from. Very good, with multiple layers.
The Tiny Crown by Susan Barnett Braun, fiction. A teenager discontent with her mundane life gets to go on an unexpected trip to England, the land of her dreams. While there, she tumbles through a wall into another realm and finds out royal life isn’t quite what she thought. Though this is a YA book, I enjoyed it a lot.

I also finished an audiobook recommended by a blog friend, but it had numerous problems. I haven’t decided whether to review it.

I’m currently reading:

Hebrews for You by Michael Kruger with the ladies’ Bible study group.
Daniel for You by David Helm.
What’s a Disorganized Person to Do? by Stacey Platt. I’m still slogging away at this, but I’ve made progress.
The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950 – 1963, compiled by Walter Hooper. My Kindle app says I am only 26% through this book though I read from it often. The hardback is over 1800 pages.
The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien, which I was inspired to read by The Rings of Power series since I wasn’t familiar with much of the lore The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was based on.
Good Hope Road by Lisa Wingate
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Volume 1 of the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson. This is a children’s or teen’s series, but I’ve heard it’s good. It’s been made into an animated series, so I want to check into the both the books and animation to see if I’d recommend them for my grandson.

Blogging

Besides the weekly Friday Fave Fives, Saturday Laudable Linkage, and book reviews, I’ve posted these since last time:

Writing

My next chapter is due for presentation to our critique group mid-March. I’m combining what was originally two chapters. I got a good running start at it but it still needs work.

Looking ahead

One good thing about the end of February is that we’re one step closer to spring! We have my husband’s birthday to look forward to the first week of March and “Pi/Pie Day” on the 14th. And a lot of cleaning and sorting when Jim starts painting closets and the pantry. 🙂

How was your February?

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

When We’re Shaken

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I was sitting at my desk one day when suddenly the floor felt like it was vibrating. The windows rattled. Confused, I looked around the house to see if anything was shaking or swaying. Within just a few minutes, the rattling and vibrating stopped, and everything went back to normal.

I did a quick check online, and, sure enough, what I suspected was true: our area was right on the edge of a distant earthquake. My Facebook feed was filled with posts asking, “Did you all feel that?” *

Even though this was a very small sampling of an earthquake, it was enough to be disconcerting. Questions flooded my mind:

What’s happening?

Is this for real?

What do I do?

How long is this going to last?

How bad will it be?

Is it going to happen again?

Our area is more prone to tornadoes, so we have an action plan when tornado warnings sound. We know to get into an inner room of the house that doesn’t have windows. But, not ever having experienced an earthquake before, I had no idea what the protocol was.

We have some of the same questions when our world is shaken. An unexpected diagnosis, a car wreck, a lost job, a house fire, a broken relationship–any of these and other scenarios can send us reeling. At first, we might be paralyzed with disbelief or confusion. Then when reality sets in, so does the pain. How are we ever going to put our world back together?

King David wrote many psalms during various kinds of trouble. In Psalm 62, David is being attacked and lied about. In verse 2, he prays, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

A few verses later, he says, “He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.“

I love that David goes from not being greatly shaken to more firmly and confidently declaring, “I shall not be shaken.”

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, ““Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:46-49).

Hearing and obeying God’s Word builds our lives on the bedrock of truth. We’d all probably admit to being shaken to some degree in the face of devastating news. But when we remind ourselves of the truth of God’s Word about who our God is, how much He loves us, how powerful and kind and wise He is, we can leave everything in His hands. Whatever He allows, He goes through with us. He promises to be with us and meet our needs.

Samuel Rutherford said, “Believe God’s word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your Rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows, but your sea.”

Many Bible verses refer to God’s final judgment of the earth as a violent shaking. The writer of Hebrews says:

This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:27-28).

C. H. Spurgeon said of this passage in the June 22 reading of Morning and Evening:

We have many things in our possession at the present moment which can be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian man to set much store by them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet, we have certain ‘things which cannot be shaken,’ and I invite you this evening to think of them, that if the things which can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken, which will remain.

This seems like a paltry illustration, but it reminds me a bit of the machine that shakes live Christmas trees before someone wraps them up and ties them to the top of your car. The shaking gets rid of the dried needles, pine cones, dust, and bugs, so you’re only taking home your lovely tree.

Sometimes God shakes up our lives to let the wasteful, harmful, or needless stuff loose. When we’re shaken, we begin to clarify what’s true and what’s important.

Psalm 46:1-3 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” Seeing mountains fall into the sea sounds pretty scary to me. But with God as our refuge and strength, we stand on firm ground even then. The psalmist concludes this psalm with, “‘Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.“

I love how the song “Still, My Soul, Be Still” by the Gettys and Stuart Townend incorporates these truths. They urge listeners, “Hold onto His ways, With shield of faith” and “Do not forsake The Truth you learned in the beginning.” The chorus repeats the prayer:

God, You are my God,
And I will trust in You and not be shaken.
Lord of peace, renew
A steadfast spirit within me
To rest in You alone.

It can be troubling when our world is shaken. But when God is our rock, we’ll be secure.

*This earthquake occurred a few years ago, not recently.

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on February 22, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I’m still behind on my blog reading due to last week’s busyness. But I did find a few thought-provoking reads I wanted to share:

Break Shame’s Chains Through Christ, HT to Challies. “Self-shaming is a defense mechanism rooted in the belief that we’re unlovable to God and others. We voice the harsh words we fear others are thinking—as if beating them to the punch might soften the blow or inspire us to change. Ironically, self-shaming doesn’t protect us; it only perpetuates harmful lies and keeps us in bondage.”

The Spiritual Discipline of Remembrance, HT to Challies. “Over and over, God commands his people to remember how hard, dark, sad, and ugly things were. And then, to celebrate the incredible contrast of his love, goodness, and might that rescued them from adversity of all kinds. The remembrance we’re called to isn’t a ‘focus on the positive’ outlook that skims past the hard and onto the happy ending. In order to truly understand the depths from which we have been saved, we have to admit how deep those depths were.”

Love Is Patient, HT to the Story Warren. “It’s tempting to approach marriage with a renovation mindset—seeing our spouse as a project to be improved upon. We’ve all heard women say things like, ‘It took me years to train him.’ While usually meant to be humorous, such comments reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s work in marriage. Our spouses don’t need to be trained—they need to be encouraged and supported in their sanctification, just as we do. Love is patient.”

Pray for Protection for your Missionaries Today, HT to Challies. A good list of ways in which missionaries need protecting.

Don’t Let Your Fears Hold Back Your Children. “As Christian parents, we want to discern not only what is safe for our children, but also what will strengthen them spiritually. Kids need to have enough freedom to learn reliance on God, and maybe that is where the line gets fuzzy for us at times: what is healthy freedom, and what is reckless?”

The Conundrum of Celebrity Christians, HT to Challies. “We must first proceed with some degree of caution when a celebrity professes faith in Christ. While this principle is true no matter who claims to have recently been converted, it is especially true when dealing with someone who is a high-profile new believer.”

Straining gluten-free and non-alcoholic gnats whilst swallowing camels, HT to Challies. “It is the rankest of hypocrisy to be splitting hairs over whether gluten-free bread and non-alcoholic wine are quite bready and winey enough for us to use in communion, in the face of genuine needs amongst our people, and claim it overturns ‘settled church positions’ when much bigger, gospel-denying positions that overturn not just the formal teaching of the Church of England held throughout its history, but that of all churches since the Apostolic-era, can be adopted.”

The Blender, the Toaster, and the Body of Christ. A nice fable with a good application.

No, I Don’t Want AI to Write for Me, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “But AI writing feels very different from using a calculator to help us multiply things. When a piece of software takes what you have written and completely changes it, you may end up with something that is technically perfect. But you lose yourself—and more importantly your voice—in the process.”

Prayer is the greatest power God has given us.
Use it with great assurance, for it brings us into alignment with His will and purposes.
–Mary Slessor