Author Archives: Barbara Harper

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About Barbara Harper

https://barbarah.wordpress.com

Laudable Linkage

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Laudable Linkage

Here are the latest good reads I’ve discovered:

If You Want to Be Like God. “At the root of every sin is some desire for godlikeness. . . . But. Satan didn’t invent this desire. Instead, he hijacked a desire that God had already wired into His creatures. God’s intention for us has always been for us to be like Him – just in a very different way.“

The School of Faith: When God’s Ways Are a Mystery, HT to Challies. “But what about those seasons when God remains silent to prayers? What about that time when you prayed for protection and the very thing you feared and prayed against became a reality? What about that moment when you took a step of faith and followed God’s difficult leading, only to be met with more difficulty and nothing but confusion? Where is God’s love and goodness in those moments?”

A Call to Christian Unity in a Divided Country. “Today, and going forward, may people look at us and know more about the God we serve, than the man or woman we voted for. Shaming, blaming, gloating, laughing, wishing harm, or questioning people’s salvation over their voting choices is not reflective of the One who laid down his life for us.”

A Warning About Having Children. “The surgeon general recently issued a new public health advisory. Forget pandemics or toxic substances; this time the source of this warning is likely sleeping under the same roof as you. The culprit: your own kids. According to the surgeon general’s report, the mental toll of raising children is ‘an urgent public health issue.’ As the mother of a larger-than-average family—we have five children ages 18 months to 18 years—I’d like to think I have a little credibility on this topic.” I’d been mulling over posting about the benefits of children, since so much of society seems to view them as a bother and inconvenience. Jessica Burke does this well and shows the joy and positivity of being around little people.

On Parenting: Are You Bribing Your Way Through? “While our heavenly Father does use the promise of reward as a facet of the motivation He gives believers, it is only a part of the entire diamond that is the relationship we enjoy as His children. We too, can make use of measured, deserved, and appropriate rewards. However, the bribing system, which uses them perpetually to calm situations or direct behavior, deprives children of the biblical wisdom parents are commanded to impart.”

Design: Does Evolution Care About You? “It constantly amazes me to hear those committed to an evolutionary worldview talking about design. They can’t help themselves. Everything is so intricately designed.”

What Cheap Comfort Will Cost You. “What He has spent this year exposing is that I don’t have a shopping problem; I have a comfort problem. All my life, I have been seeking comfort in all the wrong places. The question God’s Word asks is: where do you turn for comfort?”

Toward. “Depending on your opinion and vote, you are either feeling elated or disappointed. And now we each have a choice to make – will we let the outcome continue to be divisive and cause arguments; or will we let it bring us toward one another to encourage one another?

10 Ways Your Pastor Wishes You Would Pray for Him. “I emailed the senior pastor at my church and asked him for his practical input. He responded by telling me that prayer is the most important way that church members can encourage their pastors. This prompted another email and another question: how do you want your congregation to pray for you?“

The Church’s Unsung Hero: The Persevering Sunday School Teacher, HT to Challies. “The most significant contributions to the kingdom often come from those who never stand in the spotlight.”

Announcing Our 10th Annual Bible Reading Challenge. Knowable Word has a challenge to read the Bible in 90 days. I’ve never tried this, but I’ve heard from friends who have that they’ve seen overarching themes and connections that way that they never noticed before. KW is offering some nice prizes as incentive.

I’ve seen recommendations for Advent devotionals popping up this week from Michele Morin and Tim Challies. I’ve not read any on either list except Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, compiled by Nancy Guthrie–and how fun that it was on both lists! It was on my list of recommendations last year, too.

Take heed that we hear, what we hear, and how we hear. Warren Wiersbe

Jesus admonishes us to take heed that we hear (Matt. 13: 9),
take heed what we hear (Mark 4: 24), and
take heed how we hear (Luke 8: 18).
–Warren Wiersbe

Friday’s Fave Five

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Friday's Fave Five

We’re one week into November, and I’m pausing with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to cultivate gratefulness and share God’s blessings.

1. Pretty flowers. Jason and Mittu brought these over last week. I love the dark pink ruffled edges and the way they opened up so prettily.

pink roses

2. A fundraiser dinner. Our church supports a missionary from REAP India, and last Saturday night we attended a fundraiser dinner for the organization. We enjoyed learning more about the ministry. We hadn’t known that there was a long history with that organization and its founders and the former pastor of our church (now with the Lord–we had never met him). A lot of folks from church were there, too.

3. Libby is an app that allows you to borrow e-books from your local library. I had tried to use it a few times before, but could never get it to find my library, even though my library’s website says it’s connected. I tried it again this week and saw that somehow they had me in Fayetteville rather than Knoxville. I deleted and reinstalled the app and was able to get connected this time.

4. Biannual closet change-over. I like my spring and summer clothes better than my fall and winter ones. But it’s nice to have the warm and cozy clothes where I can get to them easily. And since my off-season clothes are in the guest room closet, I don’t have to dig them out of storage–just make a few trips back and forth down the hall between bedrooms.

5. Oven meals. There are some meals that I don’t make during the summer, because keeping the oven on for an hour makes it hard for the air conditioner to keep up. It’s been fun to resurrect some of the dishes we haven’t had since last winter. Plus, it’s nice to get dinner ready and then still have an hour to do other things.

Updated to add: How could I have forgotten the biggest event of the week? I am thankful for the election and the fact that, for the most part, it was peaceful and decisive, two things I was praying about in particular. I’m thankful we have an opportunity to choose our leaders.

And that wraps up another week! How was yours?

Review: Mrs. Tim Carries On

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Mrs. Tim Carries On by D. E. Stevenson

Mrs. Tim Carries On is a sequel to Mrs. Tim of the Regiment. Like the first book, this is written in a diary format and based on author D. E. Stevenson’s own experiences.

Major Tim left for France during early 1940, leaving Mrs. Tim—Hester—home in a small English village with their daughter, Betty. Their son, Bryan, is away at preparatory school but comes home on holidays.

Hester writes that she decided to use her diary as an escape from war news and not mention it unless it affects her directly. So, at first she writes of old friends mentioned in the first book, amusing anecdotes of Betty, squabbles among servants, and such. She heads up the “Comfort Depot,” which involves collecting things for the soldiers and setting them out for the men to choose from.

The only mention of the war in the first part of the book has to do with shortages and an increasing number of Polish soldiers who have escaped from Hitler’s advances there. The community seems to receive them generously. Some of them can speak English or French, so they can usually find someone to communicate with.

The daughter of a friend, Pinkie, comes to stay with Hester indefinitely. Pinkie was a little girl the last time she was seen, but now is a beautiful seventeen-year-old, and several of the men fall in love with her. But she sees them only as friends.

Things turn a little somber in Part 3 when several more countries have fallen to Hitler and Hester has not heard from Tim for several months. Then in Part 4, she visits her brother in London and experiences bombs dropping in the streets and constant airplanes buzzing overhead.

There’s one odd new character, a Miss Brown Winters, who thinks she has lived several other lifetimes, mainly in ancient Egypt. Hester doesn’t believe her but finds her “interesting.”

Once again, there’s not much of an overall plot arc–the story is more just reflecting everyday life during that time.

Some of my favorite quotes:

[I] repair to the kitchen in a cheerful frame of mind. Cheerful feelings are soon dissipated. The kitchen is extremely warm, but the moral atmosphere is at zero. Mrs. Fraser, my large and terrifying cook, is waiting for me with a grim smile. I enquire in trembling tones whether anything has gone wrong. Mrs. Fraser replies that that depends. Having long and bitter experience of domestic catastrophes I am prepared for the worst (p. 5, Kindle version).

Her eyes are full of tears and I realise that she must be comforted, so I proceed to explain my own particular method of “carrying on”. None of us could bear the war if we allowed ourselves to brood upon the wickedness of it and the misery it has entailed, so the only thing to do is not to allow oneself to think about it seriously, but just to skitter about on the surface of life like a water beetle. In this way one can carry on and do one’s bit and remain moderately cheerful (p. 12).

“All war is awful,” says Guthrie. “It’s a wrong and horrible thing, war is, but we don’t need to worry about the rights and wrongs of war. We tried our best for peace. We tried for peace to the absolute limit of honour . . . but you can’t have peace when a pack of ravening wolves gets loose” (p. 37).

A day like this is a gift from God—or so it seems to me—and it seems all the more precious when it comes at the end of a long dark dreary winter (p. 52).

The daffodils have come in and are blowing like the bugles of Spring in the flower-shop window (p. 58).

I have the feeling that everyone in the world is asleep—but I know that it is not so. All over Europe there are people—men and women—keeping watch. There are aeroplanes, laden with death, speeding across the sky; there are sailors on the lookout; there are thousands of women like me who cannot sleep because their hearts are torn with anxiety . . . all over Europe the shadow of suffering lies. I sit and think about it, and in some strange way it is a relief to give way to misery. It does nobody any harm, for there is nobody to see. Just for a few moments I can take off the mask of cheerfulness. Just for a few moments I can allow myself to think (pp. 113-114).

I sit down on the window seat and prepare to listen, for if there is one thing I enjoy more than another it is a heart-to-heart talk with my son (p. 140).

[On visiting her childhood home] The dressing-table mirror is spotted with damp, and I am not sorry to see its degeneration, for it was never a kindly friend. It was like the friend who is in the habit of saying, “I feel it is my duty to tell you . . .” and it did its duty well. It was always candid about spots or blemishes or untidy hair. I glance into it as I pass to the window and find that its nature is not ameliorated by the passing years (pp. 215-216).

There’s a lovely poem called “Dunkirk 1940” which Stevenson shows as coming from one of the men. It’s too long to include (but I found a copy here). It tells of the Israelites’ miracle of the Red Sea parting, and the men at Dunkirk wishing for a similar miracle, to escape on dry land. But God provided a different miracle for them: “A double miracle to set us free –
Lion-hearted men, calm sea,” and hundreds of boats of all sizes.

I enjoyed this book much more than the first one. I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe because the characters were familiar to me, or maybe because the story had more touching moments mixed in with the lighter fare..

Praying for the Election

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Praying for the election

As Americans go to the polls this week, there is a lot at stake. These are some of the things I am praying for concerning the 2024 election. I invite you to join me.

That Christians would vote. I’ve seen a meme saying that if Christians don’t participate in politics, the only voices left will be godless ones. Our trust and hope is not in politics, but since God has given us the privilege of having a voice in this country, we need to steward it well.

That the candidates He wants in office will be elected.

That no fraud or anything underhanded or shady will occur.

That no violence will occur on election day or afterward.

That the results would be clear and unmistakable so there would be no contention over who has won.

That Christians would pray for and thank God for whoever is elected, even the ones we didn’t vote for.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

That God would meet our country’s spiritual needs. Our country has come a long way from where it used to be even in my lifetime, and even more from where it was 200 years ago. Some things are better; many are worse. For all the talk about inclusivity and tolerance, our country is as vitriolic and divided as I have ever seen it. Personally, I am praying for another Great Awakening like they had in the 1700s.

Updated to add: Keep praying even after the election, that God would guide our leaders, help them rule justly, work through them to accomplish His will, give them wise counselors, and help them come to know Him if they don’t already.

Can you think of ways to pray for the election that I have not mentioned here?

(Please, no rants for or against particular candidates in the comments.)

God Knows What You Can Take

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God knows how much you can take

Many of us cringe at the popular saying that “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle.” I wonder if people who say that have not experienced many trials in life. God often puts people in situations that bring them to the end of their own strength in order that they might rely on His.

But there are clues in the Bible that God knows how much we can take and adjusts our experiences accordingly.

For instance, there is an often overlooked passage right after the ten plagues in Egypt and the institution of the Passover.

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea (Exodus 13:17-18).

Did you catch that? God didn’t lead the people out of the promised land by the shortest route because they might “change their minds if they see war.” From what I have read, this means that the Philistines would have seen the coming Israelites as an invasion, and Israel, just coming out of 400 years of slavery, would have been frightened out of their wits and tempted to turn back.

But when God takes them through a longer route, they end up caught between the Red Sea and the Egyptians, who had decided to come after then.

Didn’t God know they would still be scared out of their wits? (I’m not judging them: I would have been, too!) Of course He did. But the fact that He led them this way on purpose seems to me to indicate this is a situation they could have have trusted Him for. They had just seen Him challenge and defeat all the Egyptian deities by the plagues He sent. He miraculously delivered them from captivity. He led them with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud to this very place.

Another example even before the exodus was when God called Moses to be Israel’s leader and bring His people out of Egypt. Moses gave every excuse in the book as to why he couldn’t (and I am sure I would have done the same). But God had all the details worked out and would equip Moses for what He called Him to.

One more: when God called Gideon to deliver Israel from the Midianites, Gideon obeyed, but with some trepidation. In Judges 7, right before a major battle, God whittled his army down to 300 men to face “the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East . . . like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.” God told Gideon He had given the Midianite camp into Gideon’s hands. But, God said, “If you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.“

So they went down to the enemy camp and overheard one of the soldiers telling about a dream in which a barley cake rolled into the camp and hit a tent so hard that the tent fell, turned upside down, and then lay flat. “His comrade answered, ‘This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.’”

Gideon responded by worshiping God and then arousing the Israelite camp with confidence. The confidence wasn’t in himself. The main reason God had reduced the army to 300 was so that Israel couldn’t boast in saving themselves. It was still a task they couldn’t do on their own. But God “knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust“ (Psalm 10:14), and He stoops to our weakness, as one old hymn says.

For a New Testament example, 1 Corinthians 10 tells of several in the Old Testament who failed in some way. Then Paul writes, “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.” There’s the warning: take heed. Don’t trust in yourself. But there’s also reassurance: God is faithful and will provide a way of escape.

In John 15, Jesus tells us to abide in Him, for without Him we can do nothing. And Philippians 4:13 says we “can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

God does bring us to more than we can handle in ourselves. Paul says in 1 Corinthians he had been at a point where he was “so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself”. But, he said, “that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (verses 8-9).

When God brings us to a situation that seems too much to handle, we can ask Him for deliverance. I’ve always been heartened by the fact that Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

But if God doesn’t remove the situation, we can trust Him for the grace to go through it. He knows our limits and weaknesses. He wants to grow our faith, character, and reliance on Him, and that will take us out of our comfort zone many times. Warren Wiersbe says, “When God puts us in the furnace, His hand is on the thermostat and His eye is on the clock.” He won’t keep us there longer than necessary. He promises His strength for our weakness, His presence, and His care for every step of the way.

1 Corinthians 10:13

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

Laudable Linkage

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Laudable Linkage

Comfort and Joy: How God Used the Loss of a Loved One to Save the Life of Another, HT to Challies. “Grief is painful, angry, messy, and real. But God does not abandon us in the midst of it. In fact, from soil soaked by tears, He can cultivate healing, goodness, and beauty—even if our broken hearts can’t see it right away.”

Christianity Is not Colonial: An Autobiographical Account, HT to Challies. “According to this ‘Christianity is colonial’ narrative, Christianity is the ‘white,’ ‘western’ religion which permitted all the above. Therefore, the Christian God is himself a racist colonialist who deserves, not to be worshiped, but to be denounced. This association of Christianity with colonialism is so out of step with reality as to be literally ridiculous.”

COVID’s Gift: The Gem We Should Now See We Were Missing. “If I asked you to make a list of the ten two-word phrases most common in the New Testament, the phrase ‘in Christ’ wouldn’t make it on most of our lists. Yet that phrase and its variants occur more times in the New Testament than the phrases ‘the cross,’ ‘eternal life,’ or even ‘Jesus Christ.'” The author posits that understanding our unity in Christ would reignite our love and understanding of the church. The best part of the article is under the heading “How are believers unified with Jesus?”

I’m Fine! “How are you today? No, I mean really, how are you today? I know you know the socially, western culturally correct response is that you are fine, however, that’s not what we’re about here, in this space.”

Purposes of Predictive Prophecy. “Certainly prophecy is intended to have a present impact on the believer’s faith and practice. No one should dispute that. But some posit that viewing eschatological prophecy as a detailed prediction of specific events short-circuits the ethical intention of such prophecy. I am positing that God tells us about the future because He actually wants us to know what is going to happen and expects us to believe that it is going to happen just as He says.”

We Need to Sing More Than Songs of Praise, HT to Challies. I agree, though I think singing does more than express emotion.

Sanctification and Sexual Purity: God’s Will for Your Life, HT to Challies. “There is a direct link between our holiness and our sexual purity. There’s a direct link between your body which is united to Christ and what you do with your body. And that my friends is not popular.”

Finally, I don’t know David and Ciara Dierking, but evidently many of my friends do, because I started seeing requests for prayer all over Facebook back in December when Ciara and her young son Colton became ill. Colton had COVID and strep, I believe, and two abscesses of infection in his neck. Once he had surgery to drain those, he was well on the road to recovery. Ciara had influenza B, group A strep, severe pneumonia, which sent her into toxic shock (sepsis). She nearly died. The medicine to treat the sepsis narrowed her blood vessels to the point that her extremities couldn’t get enough oxygen. She ended up having both arms and both legs amputated.

You can imagine how devastating that would be, especially for a young wife and mother. As I have prayed over and ached with this sweet family these last several months, there have been so many signs of God’s hand on them.

Ciara was rereading Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s book, Choosing Gratitude, when all of this happened. As her family put excerpts from the book that Ciara had underlined on their Facebook page, somehow Nancy learned of it and asked if she could interview Ciara and David. That episode will air November 11 and 12 on the Revive Our Hearts app or website or podcast. But as part of that interview, ROH made this video. I encourage you to watch, be encouraged, and pray for this family. They’ve all overcome many challenges, but still have many more ahead. I’m going to leave this here in place of my usual Saturday morning graphic.

Friday’s Fave Five

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Friday's Fave Five

The first Friday of a new month! I try to pause the swift passage of time on Friday’s to reflect on the blessings of the week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. A new calendar page. I’m not sure why, but turning the calendar to a new page each month is one of life’s little pleasures.

2. Kid’s Club costumes. The kids could dress up as a Bible character or animal this last Wednesday night. Timothy went as—Timothy! I thought the scroll was a great touch.

Timothy from the Bible

3. Annual family dress-up party. We started this during the Covid pandemic. Unfortunately, Jesse wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t come.

Halloween costumes

Mittu is dressed like Timothy. 🙂 Timothy is the Buc-ee’s Beaver. Jason and I are the skeleton crew. 🙂 It’s funny, mine came with a “sewing kit” to stitch up the neck opening and reuse as a tablecloth after using as a costume—if I ever have need of a skeleton tablecloth. 😀

I thought Jim’s costume was the best this year. I asked if he was a mad scientist. He said no, he was a scientist involved in a lab explosion. 🙂

Mad scientist

4. Pumpkin decorating. We usually do this earlier in the month but just didn’t get to it until last night.

Pumpkin decorating

I especially liked Mittu’s:

Thankful pumpkin

5. Homemade caramel corn and apple cider are our usual snack foods while pumpkin decorating. Even though it takes a while to make the caramel corn, the end result is worth it. Jim says it’s “better than Cracker Jacks.”

Did you have a good last week of October?

Review: The Edge of Belonging

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The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox opens with a homeless man, Harvey James, finding a newborn baby abandoned near his camp. He cleans her up and decides to look for a nice house with toys in the yard. A family with children would know what she needed. But none of the places he sees seem suitable.

He names her Ivy for the way she wound her way around his heart so quickly.

When he stumbles upon a pantry at a church with baby supplies, he begins to wonder if he could take care of her after all. At least for a while.

Twenty-four years later, Ivy is engaged and working her dream job as a counselor in a school when she learns that her grandmother has passed away. None of her family is related by blood, but their bond is strong as if they were. She goes home for the funeral, but her fiance’s selfishness in not wanting her to go makes her realize how controlling and emotionally abusive he has been.

She receives a letter her grandmother sent before her death, asking Ivy to take care of some of her things and telling her about a journal detailing her origin.

Ivy had always been told she had been left on her adopted parents’ doorstep as a baby, and they took her in. But her grandmother indicates there was more to the story.

After breaking up with her fiance and losing her job, Ivy travels back to her grandmother’s house. But the journal is missing. Her parents and uncle won’t answer any questions about her birth, saying the past is better left behind. But Ivy feels she needs to know where she came from to determine where she should go next. She begins to piece together clues found in her grandmother’s belongings.

The story switches back and forth from the events after her birth in 1994 and the present day, with the people and circumstances in Ivy’s and Harvey’s lives slowly revealed.

I loved this book. Some of the themes involve the nature of family, healing of wounded souls, the nature of sacrificial love, reaching out to help others even when they might reject it. The book also touches on homelessness, PTSD, depression, infertility, the foster care system, sex trafficking, and more. Everyone has a story, and that’s true of all of the main characters here.

Although I enjoyed Ivy’s journey, Harvey is my favorite character. At the beginning, he’s so skittish he can barely hold a conversation. He’s been shuffled aside so many times, he’s closed off to everyone. But his love for Ivy pushes him to extend himself far beyond his comfort zone.

Ivy’s Grandma Pearl is another favorite, but I can’t tell you too much about her without spoiling the story. Though both sides of the dual timeline focus on Ivy, Pearl is in many ways the hub of the wheel that connects all the characters. She says of herself, “If the story of my life could say one thing, I’d hope it would show the importance of venturing into the highways and the hedges to let invisible people know they’re seen and loved. To invite them in.”

A couple of other sentences that stood out to me:

I’m starting to see that when I let go of my grip on my pain, I make space for new things. Things that bless me in a way I never would have imagined. I’m getting there little by little—learning how to release my disappointments and embrace the gifts I have (pp. 295-296).

It’s not about my pain versus your pain. It’s about sharing in the human experience and knowing what it is to hurt. It takes courage—stepping forward and healing when it’s so tempting, so safe, to stay and worship the altars we’ve built to our pain (p. 297).

I started out listening to the audiobook, nicely read by Leah Horowitz, which was free from Audible’s Plus Catalog. But Audible rotates titles in and out of their free offerings, and this book rotated out about a day before I could finish it, so I lost the quotes I had marked in the early part of the book. Thankfully, our library had a copy, so I could finish the book.

This book was Amanda’s debut novel in 2020. I’m looking forward to reading the books she has written since then.

October Reflections

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October Reflections

I agree with Anne of Green Gables in saying I am so glad I live in a work with Octobers. We’ve had beautiful color in the area and mostly moderate temperatures. I love this respite between the extremes of summer and winter.

I mentioned at the end of September that we had a few more social occasions than usual on the calendar for October. A couple of them fell through for various reasons–the illness of one friend and another traveling from OH to SC had to take a different route due to damage from Hurricane Helene in NC.

We did have one couple from church over along with Jason, Mittu, and Timothy. And Jason’s family and my youngest son, Jesse, went with us to the Medieval Faire about an hour a way. It was the first time we had done that, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Otherwise, it’s been a fairly quiet month.

Partly due to anticipating company, I got some little “extra” jobs done around the house that felt good to accomplish.

A year ago this month, Jim had prostate surgery which turned into a bigger ordeal than we had planned when the doctors found an undiagnosed hernia in his abdominal wall with some of his intestines poking through. (He had felt a bulge there and asked two doctors about it, but they said it was just a fatty deposit.) He had a long, uncomfortable recovery, but, thankfully, has not had any long-term problems since then.

We didn’t have any family birthdays this month, so I didn’t make any cards. So I’ll plunge right into this month’s reading round-up.

Reading

Since last month, I’ve completed (titles link to my reviews):

  • Be Alert (2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude): Beware of the Religious Impostors by Warren W. Wiersbe
  • Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know For Sure You Are Saved by J. D. Greear. Excellent resource for anyone struggling with assurance of their salvation.
  • Tending Roses by Lisa Wingate, fiction. Kate goes to hold down the fort and keep things safe at her forgetful grandmother’s house until the rest of the family can come for Christmas and make arrangement for Grandma’s care. But Kate begins to wonder if they are making a mistake.Very good.
  • Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D. E. Stevenson, fiction, audiobook. A fictionalized diary of an army wife in the 1930s. Amusing in places.
  • Written on the Wind by Elizabeth Camden, fiction, audiobook (This was finished at the end of September but not reviewed until October). A man heading the Trans-Siberian Railway project witnesses violent crime at the hands of soldiers, and escapes from Russia to share with the world what happened. The only person he cam trust is the woman at the bank in New York that has been financing the project. Very good.

I’m currently reading:

  • 2 Corinthians for You by Gary Millar with our ladies’ Bible study
  • Ezekiel: The God of Glory by Tim Chester
  • Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives—Including Your Own by A. J. Harper. Making progress!
  • What’s a Disorganized Person to Do? by Stacey Platt. Reading this in spurts.
  • The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950 – 1963, compiled by Walter Hooper. I’m just reading a few pages of this at a time.
  • Mrs. Tim Carries On by D. E. Stevenson, audiobook
  • The Painted Castle by Kristy Cambron
  • The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox

Blogging

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

Writing

I’ve started another piece for Christian Devotions, but have not gotten back to my manuscript’s rough draft. Since I’m in the stage of revising my first draft, I feel like I need a large swath of time available to work on it. But then I can only do that kind of revising for an hour or so before decision fatigue sets in.

However, I did listen to a few writing-related videos.

The Christian Writer’s Institute hosted a Zoom Q&A with literary agent Bob Hostleter that was enjoyable and informative.

Living by Design hosted a Zoom call as well for training in writing for the internet (for their site specifically, but much of the instruction would apply generally as well).

Thankfully, both these Zoom meetings were recorded. I wasn’t able to to attend either “live,” so I appreciated being able to watch them later.

I had bought a course on Writing Nonfiction on sale from Serious Writer some time ago, but had not watched it yet. They sent a notice that they were closing down that side of their organization, so we’d need to finish courses before the end of the month or lose them.

So I made time to watch them. I was a little disappointed. The course had eleven different “modules,” but each was only two to six minutes. The material could have been put in a couple of blog posts–and, honestly, I would have preferred it that way. But it did have some helpful information.

Looking ahead to November, it looks like it will be a fairly quiet month until Thanksgiving week. I have an eye doctor appointment and the last of our church’s “Connect Four” get-togethers (where we divide up into groups of four women each and meet once a month over four months to get to know each other. So far, we’ve met for lunch each time). I also hope to get together for lunch with my friend who had to cancel earlier this month.

How was your October? Are you looking forward to anything in November?

Silence, Shouting, or Singing

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Silence, Shouting, or Singing

My husband and I aren’t rah rah people. I didn’t care for pep rallies in school. We cheer at games, especially when our kids are playing. But otherwise, we’re pretty quiet people.

I’ve cringed when I’ve occasionally heard preachers rebuke people for being more excited at a football game than at church. I understand their point, but I’ve thought, “Do you really want the cacophony of a ball game in here?”

So I was encouraged when our Sunday School teacher recently pointed out a verse about silence.

She said that translations vary in how they render the first verse of Psalm 65. The ESV says, “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed.”

But many other translations mention silence, like the NASB: “There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, God, And the vow will be fulfilled for You.”

The difference seems to be in the word “awaits,” which means, in the Greek, “A silence, a quiet waiting, repose” (according to the bottom of this page).

Worship in silence.

Personally, I feel most worshipful in silence before the Lord. I resonate with David in another psalm when he says, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:1-2).

But sometimes silence results not just from personality, but from awe. Job understandably cries out about his suffering and wonders what God is doing in his life for multiple chapters of the book bearing his name.

And then God speaks. He doesn’t answer Job’s questions. But He reveals his power and care over all His creation.

Job responds, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.”

The only response to such majesty, power, and greatness was humility and silence. There are just no words. As God said in Habakkuk 2:20: “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Sometimes silence before the Lord comes from depth of feeling, as when “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

Sometimes we’re silent in God’s presence because we have no excuses. We know we’ve done wrong and deserve whatever chastisement we’re experiencing. We understand the author of Lamentations when he says, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope” (3:25-29). He reminds himself just a few verses later, “For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (3:31-32).

We also need silence to listen and learn. As many a teacher has said, “You can’t listen while you’re talking.”

Worship with shouting.

But, as Ecclesiastes says, there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (3:7).

David goes on in the psalm our class was studying, Psalm 65, to talk about the blessings of answered prayer, forgiveness, and God’s presence. He exalts God for His “awesome deeds,” for creation, for God’s care of all He has made. And then he mentions shouting: “You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy” (verse 8b).

Multitudes of verses talk about shouting, many of them coupled with joy:

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalm 32:11).

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright (Psalm 33:1).

Though I am not a shouter by nature, the closest I get to that exuberant joy that can’t be contained, that has to burst out somehow, is when someone is baptized.

Worship with singing.

Psalm 65 closes with singing in verse 13: “The meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.”

Perhaps we associate singing with worship more than any other activity, though all of a church service and all of our lives can be acts of worship if done as unto the Lord.

Of course, there are a plethora of verses that talk about worshiping the Lord through song:

Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day (Psalm 96:1-2).

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you (Psalm 5:11).

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me (Psalm 13:5-6).

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).

I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise (Hebrews 2:12).

I especially love passages that say God is our song, like Isaiah 12:2: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Psalm 65 starts with silence and ends with shouting and singing. Sometimes our silent worship and contemplation of God’s word and character will erupt into boisterous praise. Sometimes singing God’s songs with other believers will give us something to take home and think about in silence. Some days, and some seasons of life, lend themselves to silence, others to loud praise. Whether we come before the Lord in silence or with singing and shouting, we know He is with us and will hear us.

Psalm 65:1-2

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