Author Archives: Barbara Harper

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About Barbara Harper

https://barbarah.wordpress.com

Show and Tell Friday: Sampler and raisin rack

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Show and Tell Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.“

I’ve mentioned before that, though I’ve cross-stitched several things over the years, most were for gifts and I don’t have many in my home. One of the pieces I do have is not one of my favorites. I probably should change that and work on some new ones, huh? 🙂

When I first started cross-stitching, samplers were very popular, as was the whole Early American look. So I made this.

 Sampler

I do still like it ok when I really look at it again, but there are so many more beautiful patterns that have come out since then.

At one time we wanted to build a log cabin, and this would have fit right in. Now, though, I’m leaning more toward almost Victorian decor.

Around the same time I bought this, which I was told was a rack that used to be used for drying raisins. This one was decoupaged.

Raisin rack

I don’t know if it is an authentic antique-ish raisin rack, but I liked the idea and liked the picture on it.

I have these hanging together in my family room. I think they complement each other.

Sampler and raisin rack

Know and Tell Friday

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To Know Him hosts Know and Tell Friday and asks this week:

Question 1
What is your favorite fairy tale?

Beauty and the Beast. Not only does it have a happy ending (a lot of fairy tales don’t in their original form), but the symbolism is pretty clear. We first watched the Disney version when my middle son was pretty young, and he got even then that the prince was acting like a beast and that’s why he was portrayed as one.

 Question 2
If you could be guaranteed a spot on the reality show “Survivor”, would you go?

Nope! Nada. No way.

Question 3
Meanest thing you ever did to a sibling??? I know…. what kind of question is this 🙂

Ugh! I’m ashamed to say I hit one of my sisters — not when we were toddlers (though I probably did then, too) but when I was a teen-ager and old enough to know better. I don’t recall that I or any of my siblings (one brother, four sisters) ever got physical very often, but for some reason I did then, and I’ve regretted it ever since.

Question 4
Best Fashion Era… 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s or now…

Maybe this is displaying my lack of fashion sense, but I can’t recall specifics of fashion for any era except the 60s, and I wouldn’t call that the best. I have some idea of what the 40s and 50s were, too (I love the 40s styles). One day in a store I overheard a mom and daughter talking about the daughter’s dressing up like a “70s lady,” and I thought, “Huh? What was there distinctive about the 70s styles?” Maybe I’ll be educated by the other answers. 🙂

Question 5
Have you ever skipped to the end of a book before you finished reading the book? 

I did when I was younger, but that really does ruin the experience. Now sometimes I even cover the bottom of the page I am on with my hand so I don’t accidentally see an important piece of information too soon.

Bonus Questions (I found these questions through a website, and boy are these challenging…)
Question 6
What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

Saving the souls of family members who at this point are totally uninterested and do not want to discuss it.

Question 7
What is one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

It’s my conviction that the Enemy will always try to sabotage our efforts to spend time with the Lord. Even when we get into the habit of regular times of devotions, we can breeze through them too quickly just to have them done or we can be unfocused. Of course, that’s not always the devil’s fault — too often it’s our own flesh. As I mentioned in this post recently, I want to spend more time beholding Him.

If you’d like to join in on Know and Tell Fridays, please do! Questions are posted at To Know Him usually on Thursday evenings.

Snackalicious Super Dishes

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supersnackssmall_2.jpgRobin at Pensieve is hosting a Snackalicious Super Dishes round-up. She says:

Any time between now and Friday, January 25, post a recipe for your favorite crowd-pleasin’ dish–it can be a main course, appetizer or dessert, but I’m thinking anything that would make for a tailgating good time–Super Bowl Sunday or at your next pot luck. On January 25th, link your recipe post to the Mr. Linky that will be displayed at Pensieve.

And she’s giving away cookbooks!

The details are here (or click the button above). The other entries for today are here.

I don’t know that I would take this tailgating, but I often take this to potlucks or fellowships, even an occasional shower.

Veggie Pizza Squares

2 8-oz. packages refrigerated crescent rolls
2 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 c. mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1 tsp. dill weed
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. minced onion
1 1/2 c. each fresh chopped cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots
1 1/2 c. grated mild cheddar cheese

Roll out crescents rolls onto a 15 x 10 inch baking sheet; seal seams. Bake 15 minutes at 375 or until browned. Cool. Mix cream cheese, mayo or Miracle Whip, dill, garlic powder, onion. Spread over crust; sprinkle with vegetables and cheese and press down slightly. Refrigerate for two hours before serving. Cut into small squares.

The vegetables listed are my favorites to use, but others could be substituted or added, such as sprouts, celery, radishes, peas, etc.

Playing tag

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Liz tagged me several days ago for a meme about wish lists. Sorry to be so long getting to it, Liz! This took some thought.

The rules are as follows:

1. Each player starts with 5 gifts that they would want for the New Year.
2. People who are “CARDED” (let’s call it tagged) need to write their own Blog about their 5 things & post these rules.
3. At the end of your Blog, you need to choose 5 people to get “CARDED” and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a COMMENT telling them they’re “CARDED”, and to read your Blog.

Most of the folks I have seen who have done this have also provided a spiritual wish list

My materialistic wish list:

1. Books. 🙂  Reading is my favorite pastimes. I keep a running list of books I want to read. I send most of them on to my mother-in-law, so I don’t feel too guilty about the money spent on them.

2. Scrabble Express. I love to play word games, but my family doesn’t much. This shorter version might be a good compromise.

3. A new bedspread. Ours is falling apart. The thing that makes this hard is that the caret in our room has a floral print, which I love, but I don’t want a solid colored spread, and finding one with a pattern that doesn’t class or make the room look too busy is tricky.

4. This likely isn’t for this year, but we need to replace our living room furniture some time. The fabric is shredding in places. But with tuition for two kids and one needing glasses and braces, I don’t this will be able to happen any time soon. I’m just starting to look at slipcovers as a temporary alternative.

5. This also is not for any time soon, but when one of my sons moves out, I want to convert his room into a sewing/craft/guest room.

Spiritual wish list:

1. Less selfshness.

2. More love.

3. Less lethargy

4. More self-discipline.

5. Wisdom to know which ministries to pursue and which to lay aside.

I’m not going to tag anyone specifically for this, but let me know if you do it and I will stop by to see your lists. Or you can answer in the comments.

The means of change

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Recently, as happens so often, I came face to face with an issue involving my own selfishness.

After confessing such incidents to the Lord, I tend to have a couple of responses. One is to just acknowledge it as one of my “besetting sins” and to forget about it until the next time. Yet deep down I know that’s just an excuse.

Another response is to decide I need to make a plan of action. That’s not bad in itself, but it usually fizzles out like New Year’s resolutions.

I may even decide to look up and meditate on various Scripture verses on the subject at hand. That’s a good response as far as it goes. Romans 12:2 tells us we’re transformed by the renewing of our minds, and one way we do that is by changing our thinking, lining it up with what God’s Word says, putting specific Scriptures in our minds that the Holy Spirit can then use to remind us.

But my problem isn’t just isolated individual sins. It’s a nature that is totally and completely self-focused, self-serving, self-promoting, self-loving. Though we receive a new nature when we become Christians, that old one is still there and will be til we get to heaven. How do we resist that constant pull? How can our new nature grow and become more like Christ?

II Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Beholding His glory….how little we do that. How often do we approach the Scripture just to fulfill our quota of Bible reading for the day, or even just to “get something” to carry us through the day?

We need to — I need to — remember to seek Him in the Scriptures, to behold His glory. Sometimes a study of His attributes would be more helpful than just studying about my particular sin, though both are necessary.

I read a quote once in a missionary biography (I haven’t been able to find it again: I thought it was Rosalind Goforth’s, but I didn’t see it in my last reading) that this particular person was having a hard time being loving. For years she constantly looked at herself and her lack of love and told herself over and over that she needed to be more loving. Yet she didn’t grow in love, only in discouragement. She began to meditate on God’s love for her…and without even realizing it, she began to slowly change to the point where others commented to her husband on the change in her.

We know what it is to gaze on an object of love. We smile indulgently at a young couple’s doe-eyed peering at each other. We understand a mother’s loving, wondering gaze of her new baby. We love to behold and contemplate the beauty of a perfect rose or a masterful painting.

How much more should we behold the One who loves us most, who is more beautiful than anything we can imagine, who is perfect holiness and righteousness.

Exodus 33:18-23; 34: 5-6:

And [Moses] said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth…

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4.

May that be our desire as well.

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Wreath storage

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I have a few wreaths that I like to change around through the year. The autumn and Christmas ones are stored with other seasonal decorations in the attic, but I didn’t want to have to go up there every time I wanted to change just a wreath. So I began to store them on the inside of a storage closet door in the living room.

Wreath storage

The front door is just opposite and parallel to the closet door, so it’s really convenient to switch them as desired. Works for me!

As with most Wednesdays, you can find a load of great tried-and-true tips at Shannon’s.

One of the worst anniversaries

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One of the saddest days in the history of our country was when the Roe v. Wade decision 35 years ago today. Crystal at Biblical Womanhood has a post here and another post here that convey my sentiments, plus a video of a testimony of one girl’s abortion at the latter. It’s heartbreaking.

Psalm Sunday: Psalm 59

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Psalms Sundays are hosted by Erica of Butterfly Kisses. 

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies.
For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.

1 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.

2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.

3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.

4 They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.

5 Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.

6 They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

7 Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?

8 But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.

9 Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.

10 The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.

11 Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.

12 For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.

13 Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.

14 And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

15 Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.

16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.

Once again David is beseeching God for protection from very real enemies sent to watch his house in order to kill him, and once again, though few of us have been in that exact situation, we can draw from David’s experience.

I don’t think it’s at all hard to understand that his first words here are cries for deliverance. They remind me of Peter’s cry: “Lord, save me.” When we’re in dire straits we get right down to business.

In many of David’s psalms he either acknowledges that his sins are causing his problems and confesses them or, as in this one, he proclaims his innocence. He was close enough in his relationship to God to know the difference between chastening or an outside attack. It’s good for us to examine our hearts with the Lord’s help and confess any sin there. But sometimes we do face an enemy’s unprovoked attack, and we can go to the Lord with a clean conscience.

One aspect of the Psalms I have a hard time reconciling is the imprecatory nature of some of David’s prayers, calling for God’s judgment against his enemies. One thing to remember is that this era was a different dispensation: the New Testament teachings about loving your enemy weren’t written yet (although one or two proverbs foreshadow them). Another aspect is that every person has an opportunity to respond to God’s grace, but if they continue in their own ways, they will face His judgment. We think of that judgment coming most often at the end of life when we stand before God, but certainly many times in the Bible people faced His judgment during the course of their own lives. Sometimes it brings them to repentance; sometimes it serves as a warning to others. I have prayed that certain national enemies would be saved and brought to repentance, but asked the Lord, if He knows they won’t come to that point, to take them out so they won’t cause any more trouble. I’d be interested to hear whether others interpret or apply this differently.

Of course, since I don’t have personal enemies in the same sense as David did, I tend to apply these verses to mankind’s greatest enemy, Satan.

My two favorite parts of the Psalm and the parts that minister to and remain with me are verses 9, 16, and 17:

Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.

But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.

Satan is stronger than we are, but he that is in us is stronger than him. We can praise God for His deliverance, defense. power, strength, mercy, and refuge.

Update on prayer request

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Second update Monday afternoon: Katie Ruth declined this morning with an oxygen rate of 90 plummeting rapidly to 60 (anything above 85 is acceptable). They thought the Lord was going to take her home even today, but He allowed the doctors to find a way to help her. Please continue to pray for this little one and her family.

First update Sunday night: Good news! Katie Ruth was able to come off the ECMO machine! She’s still on a ventilator but may be able to be moved closer to home soon.

The little baby girl I asked you to pray for in an earlier post, Katie Ruth, will be undergoing a trial Sunday morning beginning around 8 a.m. to see if she can be taken off the ECMO machine. If she does well, they will begin to take her off the machine over the next day or two. If not, there’s not much else that can be done for her.

Please pray that her lungs will be healed and able to handle increased ventilator settings, that the rest of her body would continue to do well, that the Lord’s perfect will be done, and for grace and strength for her parents and family.

Thank you.