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Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Barbara Harper

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

As I thought about this post yesterday and this morning, my initial feeling was, “I ain’t got nothin’ this week.” It hasn’t been a bad week per se, but nothing really stood out to me as a favorite. And then the last day or so I’ve just been in a funk, as we used to say — irritable over several little petty annoyances and possibly hormones. But as I thought about it this morning while driving around on a couple of errands, a few things came to mind. So this will be a little different “Fave Five” post than usual for me.

1. I am glad that God still loves us and is patient with us even when we’re petty, selfish, irritable, or hormonal.

2. I accompanied a family member to an outpatient medical procedure as moral support and the designated driver afterward, and, though happy to do so, I thought at the time how much I hate hospitals and medical buildings. There is just the association with something at the very least unpleasant, possibly painful, and for some, devastating, at those places. But I’ve also been reading about pioneer missionaries in a primitive area on the Amazon River — 18 hours from a doctor, carrying a patient over jungle trails and hills, bouncing along the Amazon in a small boat, sometimes having to do limited medical procedures on their front porch. That makes me shudder. For all it flaws, I think we probably do have the best medical care available in the world here and now.

3. Our family is “on hold” in a couple of ways, waiting and praying for results of the above procedure and waiting and praying concerning a possible major change for us. And, of course, we’d much rather know than wait. But you can’t rush the process, not if you want the best results. I was reminded of the children of Israel in the book of Exodus traversing through the wilderness until the pillar of cloud that was leading them stopped, and then waiting for an unknown amount of time until it moved again. They didn’t know how long they were going to be there or where they were going next. But they could trust the One leading them and patiently and faithfully attend to the duties at hand until it was time for the next step.

4. Several incidents that led to my frustration and irritability had to do with thwarted plans and desires: nothing major, just small things over the course of a few days. It would take too long to list them and there’s no need to rehash them. But it was a painful reminder to me of just how selfish I am that I can get so irritated when things don’t work out my way. I have to remind myself often that I am not just here to do my own thing: I am here to do what God wants me to do and to be available to minister to my family. Even though I have always felt that a woman’s family is her first ministry, I often have to adjust my thinking to that perspective in practical everyday life. And once I do that, whatever changes I have to make are fine. It’s just that mental hurdle.

5. I think I have probably mentioned Christian music a time or two, but I was blessed by it again this morning while driving around running errands. Not only was the music calming and soothing, but the words helped me to set my affection on things above (Colossians 3:1-2).

Friday Flashback: Prom

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Barbara Harper

Mocha With Linda has begun a weekly meme called Flashback Friday. She’ll post a question every Thursday, and then Friday we can link our answers up on her site.

This week she writes:

It’s spring. And for many high schoolers, that means PROM!

Share your prom memories. Did your school have a junior prom or just a senior prom? What did you wear? Was there a party after the prom? Did you go with a date or with friends, and if it was a date, was it a one-time date or a boyfriend/girlfriend scenario? Did you go to more than one prom (like, being someone’s date at another school or year.) Where was your senior prom held? Any particular songs come to mind when you think of prom? As always, pictures are great!

I went to a conservative independent Baptist high school my junior-senior years, and we didn’t have proms. We had Spring Banquets instead. There was a nice catered meal, usually in a hotel meeting room, skits, music, and a speaker. We did “dress up” and could date, but dating wasn’t “pushed” — in fact, whole families could come. My dad and brother went with me my senior year, circa 1975:

I am sorry the photo is so washed out. I dearly loved that dress — blue with pink roses (I liked those elements even then…) My dad rarely wore a suit, and when he did he always wore some kind of western-type tie. I don’t think I ever saw him in a conventional tie except at my wedding.

I was dating a guy at this point, but I don’t know where he was or why he didn’t attend.

I don’t have a photo from my junior year, but I wore a green dress that had the type of sleeve that puffed out at the top like a bubble and then straightened down the rest of the sleeve. I don’t know what you call that — it was something like this, only more puffy at the top, and the rest of the sleeve was straight. Anyway — I thought it was so elegant. I had not read Anne of Green Gables at that time, but I think I would have thrilled at having puffed sleeves like Anne.

I don’t have many specific memories of them except that I was in a skit my junior year (an I am so not good at that kind of thing!) and I had to speak at the one my senior year, but I forget in what capacity. I just remember having trouble figuring out how close to be to the mike and one of the musicians loudly whispering, trying to tell me, and me not getting it and getting all embarrassed, then deciding just to get through whatever it was I had to say whether anyone heard me or not so I could sit down. 😳

I was invited to the prom my sophomore year in a public high school, and I don’t remember much about it except the impression that we were playing dress up. We met at some girl’s house beforehand for refreshments, and it seemed funny rather than fun to me to see all the girls with their hair up and wearing formal dresses. It’s kind of sad to me that proms tend these days towards too-adult dress and situations. Of the two I much preferred the banquets: they were something fun we did as a group rather than as couples or individuals, and, of course, in a Christian school, there were not the problems with drinking or the expectations of the wrong kind of behavior.

The school my boys attended used to have a spring banquet, but they haven’t in the last few years. I am not sure why, but I miss having that big end-of-year event. At the school here they also included reading the senior will and things like that, and it was greatly anticipated each year. They always liked to go bowling or play putt-putt in their formals afterward. 🙂

Where Bloggers Create party!

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Barbara Harper

I just learned via Quill Cottage about a Where Bloggers Create party to be given June 19 at My Desert Cottage. You can show your creative space, whether a room or a corner or a table, and there are some great prizes from Jo Packham of the Where Women Create magazines and books.

I think this will motivate me to get my new craft room in order! I have some things set up in it, but need to finish. After all the activities of spring….and the ladies’ luncheon….hopefully I can dig in and fine tune it.

What’s On Your Nightstand: April

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Barbara Harper

What's On Your Nightstand The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read. You can learn more about it by clicking the link or the button.

Wow, it’s so hard to believe it’s the last week of April already!!

The books I finished since last time are:

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter, essays on various aspects of the death and resurrection of Christ from people such as Charles H. Spurgeon and Martin Luther to John MacArthur and Joni Eareckson Tada, compiled by Nancy Guthrie. I reviewed it here.

The Hidden Flame by Janette Oke and Davis Bunn, the second in the Acts of Faith series set during the time of the early church in Acts, reviewed here.

Where My Heart Belongs by Tracie Peterson, about a prodigal daughter who comes home and the older sister who stayed behind, and their conflicts and attempts at reconciliation, reviewed here.

Take 3, the third in the Above the Line series about Christian filmmakers by Karen Kingsbury. I didn’t really review it but mentioned it a bit more here.

A Touch of Grace by Lauraine Snelling is the third in her Daughters on Blessing series about of a Norwegian farming family in North Dakota in the 1900s, reviewed here.

I am currently reading:

Port of Two Brothers by Paul Schlener, a village along the Amazon River in Brazil named for two brother missionaries and their families who worked there.

My Heart Restored, a devotional by June Kimmel.

The Telling, next in the Seasons of Grace series by Beverly Lewis about an Amish mother who left her family without explanation in order to try to make something right from her past.

After these I’d like to get to another classic, maybe Emma by Jane Austen or an Agatha Christie novel. Plus I still have a few left from my Spring Reading Thing list plus a new book I just received by Eva Marie Everson titled This Fine Life.

If you like to read, to share about what you’re reading, and/or to get good ideas for your own reading list, I hope you’ll join us at What’s On Your Nightstand.

Two quick book reviews

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Barbara Harper

Take Three is the third in the Above the Line series by Karen Kingsbury about Christian filmmakers, their families, and the problems they run into. I don’t feel I can say much about the plot without revealing more spoilers than I want to, so I’ll just say it is a continuation of the journey, that Andi faces some serious consequences of her actions, and that there is finally some movement in the Cody/Bailey/Tim storyline. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next installment.

A Touch of Grace by Lauraine Snelling is the third in her Daughters on Blessing series. I had gotten it from a clearance table of a Christian bookstore over a year ago, and though I knew it was part of a series at first, I had forgotten that when I finally picked it up. At first I felt like I had been dropped in the middle of something, and realizing that I was in the middle of a series helped. I finally decided to stop trying to keep the characters straight except for the main ones, and eventually it all became clear.

Grace Knutson is the daughter of a Norwegian farming family in North Dakota in the 1900s. Though she is deaf, she copes well and works as hard as the others. Jonathan Gould is the son of an old family friend who happens to be wealthy and who thinks his son can learn hard work and responsibility by living with the Knutsons during the summer before he goes to college. Grace likes a young man named Toby whom her family disapproves of, but begins to be aware that Jonathan has feelings for her. Jonathan, for his part, finds that he loves farm work, but knows that his parents would never approve of his turning to a life of farming as a career.

I thought the story was a good depiction of farm life in that time, though perhaps a little too detailed in such instances as a thorough description of biscuit-making (though maybe I am mistaken in thinking that most people already know how it is done), and eventually I was drawn in to the characters and the conflicts they faced. At this time I don’t plan to go back and read the first two books in the series, but I’d like to read the ones that follow.

We Rest On Thee

Posted on April 25, 2010 by Barbara Harper

Last night we watched End of the Spear, about Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the other three men who were speared to death by the Indians (then known as Aucas, now as Waodani, their name for themselves) they wanted to try to reach for the Lord over 50 years ago. I had seen it before and thought the others had, but they didn’t remember it. There was so much more of the story I wished they could know: I’d recommend the companion documentary, Beyond the Gates of Splendor.

The story made the national news at the time, and then in the following years Elisabeth Elliot told it in more detail in the book Through Gates of Splendor. The title comes from this hymn which the men used to sing together — I am thinking they sang it the night before they went out, but I don’t remember for sure.

We Rest On Thee

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

Yes, in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

~ Edith G. Cherry

The tune is to Finlandia by Sibelius, by which we also sing “Be Still My Soul.” Oddly, I have never heard it sung in church. I’ve only heard it on the radio. But many times when I think of these men, this hymn come to mind. The first few lines of the third verse especially resonate with me.

By the way, the foe they were going against was not the Aucas/Waodani. The foe was Satan, “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (II Corinthians 4:3-4)

Ephesians 6:10-13: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Updated to add: My friend Bobbi found this version on You Tube, which sounds like the recording I hear on the radio:

Crafty goodness and contests

Posted on April 24, 2010 by Barbara Harper

There is something about seeing what other people are creating that inspires me, even if I don’t do their particular craft. In that vein I wanted to share with you some of the really neat stuff I’ve seen lately.

But first, I wanted to share a couple of contests that a couple of friends are having.

My friend Susan at By Grace who is a missionary pastor’s wife in Canada, is hosting a contest for her daughter who does nice work making jewelry. She has an Etsy shop called edcdbeadz, and if I recall correctly, I think she is trying to earn money toward college (though even a teen earning her own spending money is a help to a parent. 🙂 ) Anyway, she is giving away this handcrafted necklace:

See this post or click on the photo to enter.

Then Jeanne Winters of Inspiring Ideas, who designs the “Simply Inspiring” line for Hallmark, is hosting a Mother’s Day giveaway of this from her line here.

Amy at inspire co. is hosting a stitch-along that I am really tempted to do. The idea arose after several crafters did a 39 squares stitch-along: they created a grid of 39 one-inch squares and stitched one square a day, showing us their progress along the way. Besides Amy‘s, I also followed Dawn‘s progress. Amy enjoyed it so much, she wanted to do another stitch-along. this time with the theme of counting our blessings. She created a separate blog for it called, not coincidentally :), Counting My Blessings with a list of participants on the sidebar. Already through that I’ve found another crafty blogger whose style I love at Dishy Vintage. It’s been a long time since I did any embroider besides cross stitch, but I love the depth and dimension of embroidery. I’ve never designed my own, though. And between now and the ladies’ luncheon is the busiest time of year for me, next to Christmas. But I am still tempted…it would be so much fun. Or I might just enjoy watching a few others and then maybe doing my own this summer.

Skip To My Lou has some great teacher appreciation ideas along with links to past posts along the same lines. Great for unique end-of-the year teacher’s gifts. She also shows how to make sachets out of vintage hankies that you don’t want to cut up and easy and inexpensive floral centerpieces that I think even I could do.

Tipnut has a link to this cute salvaged patchwork bulletin board.

Crazy Mom Quilts shares how she organizes scraps of fabric and a quilt made from scraps about 1″ wide.

And though I don’t quilt, I enjoyed Sew, Mama, Sew’s article on Maintaining Your Quilting Momentum. It has some great tips for storing fabric — which I do have a lot of — and need to do something with. I just clicked on the site of the author of that particular post, Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio, and saw she is having a Spring to Finish Challenge to motivate to finish a project of some kind this spring.

And though I don’t crochet, I know some of you do, and Vanilla Joy has had several crocheting videos and tutorials lately.

So many neat things to do, so little time…….:-) But I still enjoy them vicariously. 🙂

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Barbara Harper

1. My Swiffer Wet-Jet. No, this is not a paid product placement. It doesn’t totally eliminate the need for an occasional deeper cleaning, but it is great for a quick mop-up.

2. This bug zapper.

It smaller than a tennis racket but larger than a fly swatter, which is nice because that makes it easier to actually connect with the bug. You press a button on the side while swinging at a bug, and when it connects it zaps it. Jesse even saw smoke ascending from a wasp he zapped. 🙂 That may sound cruel, but it is probably better than drowning it in bug spray or whapping it with a fly swatter and having it flail around til someone can grab it with a tissue and flush it.

3. I know I mentioned Texas Sheet Cake last summer when Jeremy made one for my birthday last summer, but I had a hankering for it again, so I made one. So good. Officially my favorite cake. I need to find or figure out a way to make a smaller version, though. It makes a cake the size of a cookie sheet, and though it’s flat, it’s very rich. It was all too easy to cut off a little square every time I went into the kitchen. To cut it down to just enough for everyone to have one serving would be perfect.

4. Ladies who extend themselves to my mother-in-law. She is friendly when people speak to her but has never been one to initiate friendships. She’s uncomfortable around a lot of people and has always been content to have just a few special friends. So it has been nice since we moved her here that a few ladies at church make a special point to come over and hug her and talk with her, and a couple of them go to see her about once a week. That’s a blessing to us as well as to her.

5. Fun family conversations, especially when we’re all together. This was a while back, but Jeremy was showing us some of these photos resulting from a man who gets up in the wee hours of the morning to take pictures of sleeping bugs covered in heavy dew. Though the shots are amazing, Jason remarked how odd it would seem to be on a date with a girl and try to explain doing this for a living.

I wish I could remember the exact words, because the conversation was so funny, but it developed into a scenario of the guy then throwing water on the girl so he could take her picture and the date not ending well.

I love my family! ♥

And just one more: I know I have mentioned this before as well, but I am amazed and grateful that the Lord meets our needs for the day so aptly in His Word. I was reading something a while back about how the writer preferred church services that were spontaneous and wanted the preacher to say whatever came to him at the moment rather than studying and planning ahead, as if the only way the Holy Spirit works is by spontaneity, giving someone what they need in the moment. He may do that sometimes, but He also works through preparation, planning, and study as we seek Him through the whole process. And this is a perfect example, when a passage I am reading in the course of progressing through the Bible, written thousands of years ago, or a devotional book written decades or even hundreds of years ago, has exactly what I need today when no one but the Lord could have known what my particular needs for the day would have been. Marvelous!

Happy Friday, and I hope you have a great weekend!

Flashback Friday: Funerals

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Barbara Harper

Mocha With Linda has begun a weekly meme called Flashback Friday. She’ll post a question every Thursday, and then Friday we can link our answers up on her site.

This week she writes:

I’ve had our bloggy friend Lidna on my heart as she is grieving the loss of a dear friend. And while I don’t want this to be a gloomy or painful Flashback Friday, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on how we experienced grief in our early years.

How old were you (approximately) when you attended your first funeral? Did your parents shield you from death and grief or was it viewed as a natural part of life? Did you experience any significant loss(es) in your growing up years? What were your early impressions of death and dying? And while I do not intend this in any irreverent way, are there any amusing memories associated with a death or funeral? If you have kids, how have you handled this subject with them? Feel free to share as vulnerably or as shallowly as you want!

As always, the questions are simply suggestions to prompt your memory and give you a starting point. You don’t have to answer them specifically, but you are welcome to. I know there are likely some tender memories on this subject, and most of our FF’s will be more lighthearted, but both our fun and our serious memories have made us who we are today.

My mother’s mother passed away when I was about 4, but I don’t remember much about her. I wasn’t taken to the funeral. My grief in relation to her is more from wishing I’d had a chance to get to know her better. A great uncle passed away when I was a little older, and I was not taken to his funeral either. I don’t really remember much from my childhood having to do with death, dying, or funerals.

I did not attend my first funeral until after I was married. Someone from our church had passed away, and I thought I would feel very uncomfortable going to the viewing and talking to people while a dead body was in the room, but it was fine. It was actually a kind of reassurance, in an odd way, that the person really was no longer there, that the body is just a shell and the real person had gone on. And I thought I would dread funerals, but they were actually wonderful opportunities to support one another and put everything into perspective.For a Christian, the Bible says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” Psalm 116:15 and that when we leave this body, we’re present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:7-9.) As much as we would wish to have out loved ones back, to talk with them or hug them once more, we couldn’t wish them back to this world of sin and pain, away from the presence of the Lord. So we seek His grace while missing them, with the expectation that we’ll see them again. I can’t imagine not having that hope to hang onto.

I missed the funerals of both of my remaining grandparents: my last grandmother passed away on a Christmas Eve of a year when I had two small children, and the thought of taking a sudden trip at that time just seemed overwhelming. Then my last grandfather passed away a few years later when my own father was visiting and gravely ill, so I could not leave. At the time I consoled myself with the thought that the ones who had passed on weren’t really there, so they would not mind whether or not I came. But later I regretted not attending and having the opportunity to share those moments with my extended family.

The first funeral I attended of a close family member was my father’s several years ago, and then my mother’s just a few years ago. Though hard, my mother’s especially, is a precious memory. There were times that week I thought I would never make it through the events to come, but God wonderfully supplied His sustaining grace.

The only funny thing that I can recall was at my mother’s. The viewing was the night before the funeral, and the family arrived an hour before anyone else was scheduled to come to have a private time. For those of us coming from out of town, it was the first time to see my mom since our last visit; for those who had been at the hospital when she died, it was the first time they had seen her since that day. It was hard for us all. But after each having a moment to spend some time at my mom’s side, we all sat down on the couches in various states of tearfulness, and my mom’s sister said something that cracked us all up. I wish I could remember exactly what it was, but it was something like, “If you breathe through your mouth, you can’t cry.” It was just what was needed to change the mood in the room a little bit. Then she had her daughter read a very sweet tribute that she had written, which they asked my husband to read at the funeral the next day. Someone made a copy of it for all of us, and I keep it with the program from her funeral.

With my own children, we have always taken them with us to funerals. I felt that it was better to teach them how to deal with death than to shield them from it until it happened to someone they were particularly close to and have it then be a much harder experience. Though it is uncomfortable and no one likes death, it is actually therapeutic to visit with family and friends and to remind ourselves of the reality of heaven.