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Catching up

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Last week was spring break for Jesse. Jim took the week off to start on one of our biggest and most needed projects: painting the house. This is the “before” view:

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The shutters on the left of the house are faded; the shutters on the right are peeling. We didn’t know that the ones on the left were made of plastic until Jim took them down and piece of it broke off. The ones on the right were made of wood.

With a split level, there are odd little places with pieces of roof sticking out from the rest of the house and little patches of paneling. I was inside the “sun room” at the back of the house when Jim and Jeremy were on a little section of roof to paint the wall above that and below the main roof. I took this picture from inside the sun room looking out at them.

Yes, Jim is climbing a ladder on a roof. Yes, I did pray for safety a lot during the week!

Jeremy and Jesse working in the front:

This is the contrast of the new color on the left and the old one on the right:

I was a little alarmed at first because the new color looks more yellowish (though not so much in this picture) when I was trying to avoid a yellow tone. When I told Jim’s mom we were painting it off-white, she said, “Ecru?” Unfortunately there are scores of tints and shades in that color family! But when I look at a wall of the new paint by itself it doesn’t look yellowish, so I think it’s fine. Better be! It’s too late to change it! I was just frustrated with myself in my color choice, but it will be fine in the long run.

Jim working on the front:

More prayers for safety!

Jeremy did most of the shutters and gutters:

While I was walking around taking pictures, I thought the view of the sky through the dogwood tree was pretty:

This is the view this morning — the lighting is a little different because the previous pictures were taken on a sunny day and it is overcast this morning. The old is on the left, the new on the right:

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I like it. It looks a lot lighter and brighter.

When I was looking at colors, I didn’t even think about the area around the windows, but changing that from dark to light makes a lot of difference.

Jim was frustrated that he lost two days of painting due to rain at the beginning of the week. He used the time when it wasn’t actually raining to do some prep work, cleaning and scraping. He had mercy on Jesse and didn’t make him work as much as he could have so he could just relax some over spring break. Jesse did get to have a friend over one night. Jason doesn’t get a spring break from his school and had a heavy week of homework, so he wasn’t able to help much. I felt bad that I didn’t contribute more. I am no good on a ladder: one of the residual effects of TM is balance problems. I did have some extra time on Saturday and offered to help Jeremy with the shutters or gutters, but where he was set up on the patio there wasn’t much room, and he was enjoying listening to his iPod while working and didn’t really need or want help at that point. I did provide lunch and dinner. 🙂 I don’t usually make lunches for all of us: years ago when the kids discovered the joys of sleeping in, they woke up at different times and ate at different times, and if I made them each something to eat whenever they got ready, I would have been in the kitchen all day. So they usually make their own lunches. But this week they usually took a lunch break all together, and I figured having a meal ready was the least I could do. And, of course, I’m the chronicler and photographer. 🙂

The greatest majority of it is done. The wall on the left and a little patch of siding on the right is all of the “big” stuff, and Jim will have to rent a ladder to reach the peak (at least I think and hope he is planning to. He did mention the possibility of putting a ladder on top of the van. :O ) They also need to do the doors. But there is some tedious little stuff left, like the wood parts on the window panes. We’ll just have to fit that in as we can.

Today everyone is back to school and work. I sure enjoyed not setting the alarm clock last week. Funny how 6:30 is “sleeping in” these days!

This Saturday is the ladies’ luncheon at church. We got the favors mostly done at the ladies’ meeting last week, and I have a pretty long to-do list before Saturday, but, though it is going to be a busier than usual week, it doesn’t feel really pressured and overwhelming. Even so, there is a little underlying feeling of nervousness that seems to be a part of planning any event, even though things are going well and there’s nothing to worry about and it is all in God’s hands anyway. I just try to ignore it and carry on. 🙂 But I’d appreciate your prayers that everything go well and especially for the lady doing the presentation of Darlene Diebler Rose’s Evidence Not Seen as she prepares. I’m praying that neither of us is adversely affected by the pollen that is so prevalent this time of year!

I was playing around with StumbleUpon last night after noticing in my blog stats that someone viewed one of my posts via Stumble. I clicked on the link, but it didn’t show me what page was viewed: it just took me to a page saying someone had viewed one of my posts, which I already knew. I had already signed in with them but just hadn’t done a lot with it. I looked around and read several things. I didn’t know if I could “stumble” any of my own posts, and I tried it just to see if I could. I was astounded this morning to see that the posts I had stumbled had all received over 90 views just since last night via StumbleUpon, and one, When there is no hunger for God’s Word, received over 2,000 views! I guess it works!

I think that about catches us up with the goings-on here. This will be a busy week preparing for the ladies’ luncheon; next week I’ll have the ladies ministry newsletter/booklet to do; Jason graduates in May, and his fiancee and future mother-in-law are coming for that, so there are some house projects I’d like to get done before that. Jesse has a sports banquet coming up as well as a piano recital and choir concert in May. Then when his school gets out later in the month, I’ll have a breather for a while — until Jason’s wedding in August!!

Look, Ye Saints

Posted on April 19, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Look, ye saints! the sight is glorious:
See the Man of Sorrows now;
From the fight returned victorious,
Every knee to Him shall bow;
Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, crown Him,
Crowns become the Victor’s brow,
Crowns become the Victor’s brow.

Crown the Savior! angels, crown Him;
Rich the trophies Jesus brings;
In the seat of power enthrone Him,
While the vault of heaven rings;
Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown the Savior King of kings,
Crown the Savior King of kings.

Sinners in derision scorned Him,
Mocking thus the Savior’s claim;
Saints and angels crowd around Him,
Own His title, praise His name;
Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, crown Him,
Spread abroad the Victor’s fame,
Spread abroad the Victor’s fame.

Hark, those bursts of acclamation!
Hark, those loud triumphant chords!
Jesus takes the highest station;
O what joy the sight affords!
Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, crown Him,
King of kings and Lord of lords!
King of kings and Lord of lords!

~ Thomas Kelly, 1809

I’ve only sung this congregationally maybe three times and heard it sung once or twice. I don’t know why we don’t sing or hear it more often. It’s a great old hymn. The thought of Christ finally taking His rightful place make me want to cheer!

Photo Scavenger Hunt and Laudable Linkage

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Barbara Harper

I started to make these two separate posts, and then I thought….Why? Sometimes if I post twice in one day, only the top one gets seen. So — feel free to peruse whichever part you might be interested in!

PhotoHunt

Theme: Purple | Become a Photo Hunter

I haven’t done the Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt in a long while…either I didn’t have time to visit the others participating, or I just drew a blank with the topic. But the theme this week is “Purple,” and while this is more lavender that purple, I think it’s related enough to count:

This was taken last June. The hydrangeas are starting to get green leaves now but won’t bloom for a while yet.

You can visit TN Chick‘s place on Saturday for more posts of purple pictures.

Here are some interesting things seen around the ‘net lately:

Do you still have Easter ham leftovers? Tipnut.com has 12 ideas for leftover ham, the Common Room shared Fettuccine and Ham, and one of my own most searched for posts after Christmas and Easter is Swiss Ham Ring Around (we had this one night this week!)

A man decorated his basement with Sharpie markers — and it looks pretty good! HT to Lizzie.

I thought for sure I had included this link before, but I can’t find it if I did: a humorously told story of a new husband’s first experience with the dishwasher.

The Common Room also has a good post that runs counter to what you often hear about decorating when there is a man in the house. Bottom line: talk about it, don’t make assumptions one way or another. My husband has often said the walls would probably be bare if he lived alone, but he likes the personal decorating touches that make it “home.”

Organizing Junkie has a few links to different kinds of master grocery shopping lists. I have been needing to make one, but I think I’ll try one or two of these. I so often end up going twice a week (or more!) to the store or discovering after I’ve shopped that I’ve forgotten something, and I’d like to get that more under control.

Encouraging Caregivers linked to an article about how caring for parents and children differs, though there are some similarities. One difference I’ve found that wasn’t mentioned is that, with children, you have the expectation that their learning curve will grow along with them, that as you teach and model how to act, they’ll learn, and they’ll improve in the area of hygiene, manners, etc. With elderly parents it is just the opposite: it is likely going to get worse. It’s just one of those things you have to accept and work with, but is a factor, and realizing that helped relieve a bit of frustration.

Nancy Wilson at Femina had many good posts this week: a convicting yet instructive one on self control; how preventative prayer can help ward off wrong reactions and prepare you to deal with problems in a more godly way (I did this earlier this week, praying Colossians 1:11 when walking into a situation I knew was going to try my patience); and the importance of setting things right in relationships as soon as possible. A favorite quote from the last:

To illustrate this principle, my husband uses the example of a home where things are picked up compared to a home where things are knee deep. In both homes people drop things on the floor. But in the one home they are picked up right away. In the other home, things accumulate until you just can’t even see the floor and you have no idea where or how to begin. In the first home, having a pick-up policy not only keeps the house clean, but it acts as a a deterrent on how much stuff is dropped. Of course no home will be perfect. Things get dropped and can be picked up every day. But if you let things pile up, you can hit the point where you just don’t care anymore. And many people just walk away rather than face the consequences of picking up years of junk.

The Bible says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us of all our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we step out and begin to seek forgiveness for specific offenses, God will bring more to mind. As we keep confessing, He scrubs off the layers of dirt, we experience real cleansing, and our hearts are washed.We are restored, put right with God and put right with one another.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 17, 2009 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.

My favorite moments from this week:

1. Easter weekend and the Living Gallery performance that Jason was a part of.

2. Spring/Easter break! No alarm clocks! And Jim, Jeremy, and Jesse are beginning to paint the outside of the house.

3. Favorite funny moment of the week: Jim gets a car allowance through his work because he uses his car so much for his job, and he was really in need of a new car: his old one was starting to, as he said, not nickel and dime us to death but $100 and $200 us to death, and it was just becoming unreliable. He found a good deal on an Explorer, and it is a newer model than he usually buys, with a few bells and whistles, one of which is a hands-free phone set up: there is a place to plug in his cell phone, and he can give voice commands to dial a certain number, then the conversation comes in through the speakers. When he took his mom for a spin in it and demonstrated the phone system by calling the house, she said, “I feel like I’m in Star Trek!”

4. I received the “mother of the groom” dress I ordered (shown at the bottom of this post). I like it! It’s going to need a little bit of altering, but overall I am very pleased.

5. One of my favorite quotes of the week from Nancy Wilson at Femina the day after Easter:

But secondly, when the disciples heard and really believed that Christ was risen, the celebration didn’t end the next morning. We live in the light of the risen Christ. The good news continues to be good news from one morning to the next. So, even though I’m mopping up from the feasting, the rejoicing extends from one Sunday to the next, all year long.

Appearances

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Have you seen the video seen round the world, Susan Boyle’s surprising performance in Britain’s Got Talent?

What a magnificent voice! And what a sweet little lady she seems to be. Diane has some more information on her here: evidently she suffered a bit of brain damage at birth, has been taking care of her mother for years, was unable to sing for two years since her mother’s death, and went on the show because her mother had wanted her to.

But as fun as the “Cinderella story” is, I am just appalled at the audience’s initial reaction and at the reports that Susan was picked on as a child. Think of the utter ridicule she would have suffered on that stage if she had not had a good voice — and how sad it would be that people would think such ridicule is justified. Why, with all the emphasis on tolerance in the last several years, has society missed the most basic tolerance that people should be valued because we are all created in God’s image whether we’re “beautiful” by society’s standards or young or old or talented or not or whatever.

I appreciate and agree with the article Diane linked to, The Beauty That Matters Is Always Inside by Colette Douglas Home of The Herald, especially the last two paragraphs.

Melli’s ABC Photo Challenge: Y and Z

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Barbara Harper

It’s time for the last edition of Melli’s ABC photo challenge! Most of you know the drill by now, but in case there is anyone new, Melli challenged us to find letters of the alphabet in the things around us. We’re not to make the letter out of anything or take a picture of the letter itself in a sign: we’re supposed to find it “as is” in nature or in an object where you wouldn’t normally look for a letter. We’ve been taking two at a time, and this week we’ve been looking for Y and Z.

I had planned to have this up last night because some of the ABC participants come by pretty early. But I forgot to take a picture of my Z — even though I pass by it every day and have been planning to use it for weeks! So I had to wait til this morning, but here I finally am.

I see a lot of Ys here:

I think I counted over 11 — not including the reflection on the car windshield.

And here’s my Z:

I’ll be curious to see what others found, especially for the Z. If you like you can see what they came up with at f Melli’s .

Thanks, f Melli and everyone! This has been fun!

Pop quiz!

Posted on April 14, 2009 by Barbara Harper

You Are Stylish

You look good, but you aren’t trendy or over the top about it.There’s a good chance you know what works for you. You have an established look.

You know how to dress well, but you may have trouble breaking out of your comfort zone.

Try a new color or new accessory. Staying stylish is about trying new things and taking risks.

Are You Stylish?

Hmm. I would never have thought of myself as stylish, at least not by Stacy and Clinton’s standards, but I don’t think I am totally out of touch, either.

You Were the Brainy Kid

In high school, you were acing AP classes or hanging out in the computer lab.

You may have been a bit of a geek back then, but now you’re a total success!

Who Were You In High School?

Pretty much. Geek, that is.

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you lovable – even if you don’t love them!

You are usually feeling: Logical – you rarely let your emotions rule you

You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil

How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

I’m not sure why the little borders around each quiz aren’t showing up like they were before I hit “publish” and why some things are centered and some off to the side when it is all centered when I edit it…but, oh well!

Living Gallery and Easter 09

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Barbara Harper

Saturday we drove over to Jason’s college to attend the Living Gallery that he was a part of this year. A famous painting is depicted on stage, and the “living” part of the living gallery are the people who are positioned into place as some of the characters in a painting. Musical numbers are performed while the paintings are on stage, and in between the painting and music there is a play going on. This year the crucifixion and Easter story were depicted through the eyes of Joseph of Arimethea, “an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus” in order to bury it in his own tomb. (Mark 15:43.) He had been “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38), and the play depicted the struggle he probably underwent from being a secret disciple to making this bold request, which would have then branded him as a follower or at least a sympathizer.

Everything was so well done. The music was beautiful and touching. The story realistically portrayed not only Joseph’s struggle, but the effect of the events of the crucifixion on everyone from Pilate and his wife to the disciples. Then the confusion, disbelief, and finally understanding joy of His own when they learned He was alive! When the program ended with the Hallelujah chorus, though I am not a hand-waver in worship by nature, even I felt like raising my arms or at least placing my hand over my heart. I smiled as a little child somewhere near us was humming along — I wanted to sing along myself! And I did, in my heart.

The painting Jason was in was Ecce Homo (meaning “Behold the Man“) by Antonio Ciseri.

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This is just the painting: I don’t have any pictures of the performance with the live people in place — understandably we weren’t allowed to take pictures during the performance. It would have distracted from the music and program. Jason portrayed the guy at the far left with his hand on his hip.

But up close he looked more like a zombie:

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Striking his pose:

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For some of the paintings, like Da Vinci’s Last Supper and Rembrandt’s The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (one of my all-time favorites), at first they had the live people moving a bit, then the lights flashed off, then when they came back on the people were all “frozen” in place like the painting. For most of the paintings they also did different things with the lighting that brought out different aspects of it. The live people gave it 3-D effect. I found it ironic that my child who was the least “still” of my three had to stand still for this production. I don’t know how any of them held their poses for so long, but Jason said each scene was only up for about 3 minutes. It sure seemed longer! I don’t think I could have done it. Some of them, like the ones in the sculpture of Sansovino’s Descent from the Cross (couldn’t find a picture) were held in harnesses because the Christ figure was in a horizontal position while being taken down from the cross.

All together 9 paintings and 3 sculptures were portrayed. They did a wonderful, amazing job, and it blessed my heart immensely.

It was a great way to celebrate Easter as well!

Easter morning we had our traditional Resurrection Rolls with breakfast, a good Easter service at church, a good dinner, our unique Easter egg hunt, a bit of a nap, a great musical and narrative presentation at church Sunday night, and strawberry shortcake to top the evening off!

Hope you had a blessed Easter as well.

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Jesse is out of school for Easter break this week, and Jim took off to begin painting the house — but it is raining today. I’m in high gear preparing for the ladies’ meeting tonight and the luncheon in a couple of weeks.
Happy Monday!

He Is Risen!

Posted on April 12, 2009 by Barbara Harper

cradle

The Cradle is empty, because Jesus had to grow up a righteous man, fulfilling the prophecies of the Messiah, and take our sins on Himself, that we might be made the righteousness of God.

cross

The Cross is empty, because when He said, “It is finished”, it was. And He died.

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The Tomb is empty, because death could not hold Jesus, and He is risen, and in some mysterious way is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, making intercession for us, and yet amazingly dwells in His children, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.

The Cradle, the Cross and the Tomb are all empty, that we might be filled with His Life.

~ Terry Rayburn

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Morning breaks upon the tomb,
Jesus scatters all its gloom.
Day of triumph through the skies–
See the glorious Saviour rise.
Christians! Dry your flowing tears,
Chase those unbelieving fears;
Look on his deserted grave,
Doubt no more his power to save.
Ye who are of death afraid,
Triumph in the scattered shade:
Drive your anxious cares away,
See the place where Jesus lay.

~ William Bengo Collyer
1782-1854

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Far be sorrow, tears and sighing!
Waves are calming, storms are dying,
Moses hath o’erpassed the sea,
Israel’s captive hosts are free;
Life by death slew death and saved us,
In His blood the Lamb hath saved us,
Clothing us with victory.

Jesus Christ from death has risen,
Lo! His Godhead bursts the prison,
While His Manhood passes free,
Vanquishing our misery.
Rise we free from condemnation;
Through our God’s humiliation,
Ours is now the victory.

Vain the foe’s despair and madness!
See the dayspring of our gladness!
Slaves no more of Satan we;
Children, by the Son set free;
Rise, for life with death has striven,
All the snares of hell are riven,
Rise and claim the victory.

~ Unknown author, possibly 13th century