Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share five of our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

Here are a few highlights from this week:

1. A visit with a dear friend. I’ve mentioned my friend Carol in SC a few times here and there. She and her husband were in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area over the weekend, which is about an hour or so from us, and they drove over for Sunday dinner before heading back home. It was so good to see them again and to have them here!

2. Four Layer Dessert with chocolate this time!

3. A come-from-behind Scrabble move that wins the game. One friend I play Scrabble with via Facebook used to always beat me soundly, until I learned some of her moves (bwahahahaha). Now we go back and forth. In one game she had pulled ahead and it looked like she would win — but then I was able to go out with some unlikely letters and win. I love it when the game is close and suspenseful.

4. Dogwood trees. Back in SC, after the first crocuses, daffodils, and tulips bloom, spring’s next act is the dogwoods and azaleas. We’ve had dogwoods in nearly all of our yards over the years except at our very first home and this one, and I missed them. But in the last week or so I’ve seen many blooming around the neighborhood. Maybe some day we can plant one here, but in the mean time, I’ll enjoy them when I am out.

5. Eastern Redbuds. I’ve noticed these trees with lavender buds on them along the highway between here and church, and they’ve really brightened the view since many other trees don’t have their leaves yet. I wasn’t sure what they were, but a couple of people suggested Redbuds, and I think that’s right.

Sorry, no photos of either tree — I’m in the car when I see them.

Have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Barbara Harper

It’s been a busy week! Here are a few highlights:

1. Special meetings at church with the Frazor Evangelistic Team. I had never been in a church where they held meetings before, but the leader, Jeremy Frazor, used work with the youth at the church here and used to travel with the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team. And….

2. Seeing old friends. Two of the young adults of the church we just came from in SC are traveling with the team. It was so good to see them! One in particular, Aaron, was in school with Jason, and, if there is any one person I could choose from any church we have been in to sing, it would be Aaron. And therefore…

3. A new CD. The Frazor team just recorded their first ever CD, Calvary’s Mountain, and it’s been a special blessing to have the two we mentioned on it! I’m telling myself I need to stop thinking of the CD as “Aaron in a box,” but it is nice now to be able to listen to him any time. He sings “Beneath the Cross,” and he and the other young lady we knew, Jennifer, sing “Sweet Rivers of Mercy,” as well as singing with the rest of the team on other numbers. I’m enjoying both familiar and new songs on the CD.

4. Fellowship. Jason and Mittu wanted to get together with Aaron some time this week and were talking about going for coffee one night, but they ended up coming here and asking Jennifer as well, so we enjoyed having a bit more fellowship than just chatting at church. I hadn’t been sure if they’d be able to get away since they have other responsibilities with the team, so I am glad they could. Mittu made snacks and I just enjoyed it all.

5. Good preaching. We enjoy that weekly, but we’ve been in special meetings in other churches with evangelists whom we felt were maybe a little pushy or manipulative, and it’s been wonderful to hear the Gospel preached well and clearly and strongly but also with a kind and welcoming tone.

Bonuses: The church had a Ladies’ Steak-Out Monday night and a Men’s Steak-Out Tuesday night — steak dinners and special meetings with the team especially designed to bring non-Christian friends to.. My only regret is that I didn’t know anyone to invite. It’s been nice that there have not been any other obligations this week besides the usual laundry, etc, so I’ve been able to take it a little easier in the day time. Being out nearly every night takes more out of me than it used to! Yet I am surprised the week is nearly over already. And I am looking forward to a visit this weekend from my good friend from SC, Carol!

Have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Here are a few of mine:

1. A low-key week. That’s been especially helpful since our church starts a week of special meetings next week. It’s hard to start out that kind of week tired.

2. Going back to bed. Jesse had to be at school at 6 a.m. for a trip to a Fine Arts Festival his choir from school is in today in another town. Getting to school at that time means getting up that much earlier….so pretty soon after he left I went back to bed (thus my lateness in posting today!)

3. My husband taking Jesse to school so early so I didn’t have to.

4. A haircut. No pictures: nothing special or different, I was just overdue for one and finally got to it yesterday. Feels so much better!

5. The hope of heaven. I’m not trivializing that by putting it on a “favorites” list. It’s just especially poignant today as a the step-father of a friend from our church here passed away after a long health struggle. As believers we sorrow when a loved one dies, but not as those who have no hope (I Thessalonians 3:13-14). A verse that often comes to mind when a believer dies is John 17:24: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”

Friday’s Fave Fives

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Barbara Harper

I had to think more than usual to come up with five this week. It wasn’t a bad week, but there weren’t highlights or standouts. But the everyday blessings are just as much evidence of God’s love and care as the “big” ones, and here are a few:

1. Naps. I don’t know if it is due to the time change or what, but I have desperately needed a nap every day this week. I kind of hate to take time out of the day for a nap, but I am glad for the refreshment it brings.

2. Ceiling fans. It’s been a bit on the warm side the last day or two, but not enough to turn on the AC. A ceiling fan on low was just right. And on a related note, after the whopper winter utility bills, it will be nice to have a lower one since we haven’t used the heater much lately.

3. Garage. I may have mentioned this before — but it is still a favorite. 🙂 This is the first house we’ve ever had with a garage (though we had one with a carport) and it is so nice to bring groceries in without having to do so in the rain and go out to a semi-warm garage in the morning rather than shivering in the car til it warms up.

4. Sunshine. I think I have mentioned this before, too, but it has been an overcast week, and the occasional sunshine really lifts my spirits.

5. Kids who pitch in. Last Sunday Jason, Mittu and I were all home from church not feeling well. I woke up from a nap to realize it was time to start dinner, and when I came out into the kitchen, they had already started it and had the table set. And then Jesse is always good about doing anything I ask him with generally a good attitude.

It might be tomorrow before I am able to visit some of you — company tonight means housecleaning and food prep today. 🙂 Have a good weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Here are some highlights of the last week:

1. My dear hubby’s birthday.

2. Spring break! It’s a little earlier than we’re used to, but I enjoy it any time. 🙂 My favorite part of spring break: no alarm clocks! (Funny how 6 or 7 a.m. is “sleeping late” these days.)

3. Jesse’s visit. For months now Jesse had been wanting to go visit his old school in SC over spring break because theirs isn’t until later. Jim had some work he needed to do on our old house, so they went down for a couple of days this week. Jesse told one of his friends (both to arrange to spend some time with him at his house after school and to make sure the class wasn’t going to be away on a field trip or something), and we contacted the school office ahead of time, but otherwise he wanted to surprise the rest of his old class. What was really funny was that one girl wrote last week on his Facebook page that they all missed him and he should come down for lunch Monday — not knowing that he was planning to do just that! So that added some fun to it. A bunch of them even got together with him for dinner one night. He had a great time.

4. Daffodils. I mentioned before I had wanted to plant some daffodils last fall, but then thought maybe I should wait to see what might already be here — this is our first spring in this house and I don’t know what might already be planted. But so far I hadn’t seen any signs of them — until yesterday. As I pulled up into the driveway, I saw a whole patch of them — behind the shed, of all places. Would it be silly to say they almost brought tears to my eyes? They’re not my favorite flowers, but I love them because they’re a cheerful first sign of spring.

5. My blog host, WordPress, survived an attack with relatively little trouble. I was working on my Marriage Monday post when I noticed it wasn’t auto-saving like usual. I clicked on “Save Draft” — and poof, everything but the first paragraph disappeared. I was….upset, to put it mildly. But later I learned that WP was subject to a large attack of some kind. So losing one blog post and having some slower than usual loading times on other WP blogs were comparatively minor annoyances. Thanks to those at WP who worked so hard to keep it up and running. And I DID learn to copy my text first in case anything like that ever happens again.

I could also add I’m glad we did not have any serious flooding this week — we’ve had a bunch more rain, and the ground was still pretty saturated from last week’s flooding. There were roads where the water was almost to the edge of the road, but at least in out area, that was mostly it: only one road on my regular route had some standing water on one side. I am more than ready for a little sunshine!

Have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Here are some highlights of the last week:

1. A Ladies’ Birthday Party! We had an activity at church last Saturday celebrating all the ladies’ birthdays at once. We signed up under the month our birthday was in, and everyone in that month got together to decide on table settings and decorations to somehow reflect that month, and the tables would be judged in a contest. (Months with not as many people were combined together). People in the different months were designated to bring different foods (finger sandwiches, pasta salads, and fruit trays).

I didn’t think to bring a camera, but took a few shots with my cell phone. Our August table had a picnic theme:

One lady made these super-cute place cards:

I didn’t get a picture of every month — some were still working on their tables when I took pictures. But here is February:

And April:

And November:

So elegant! But I have to say, I was very glad at clean-up time that our table had used paper plates. 🙂

And the winning table was May — I’m sorry this one is so blurry!

Someone made this tree and had birds and fruit in it and verses about fruitfulness.

A very talented lady made cakes that looked like gifts:

We played a few games, sang happy birthday to each other, and then two ladies gave their testimonies of their spiritual birthdays when they came to know the Lord. They were from different backgrounds — one was a “good church kid” who was doing right for the wrong reasons (approval, etc.) but didn’t trust in Christ alone for salvation til her college years. The other was from an atheistic family in another country whose brother was saved, but the family wasn’t interested. But on an internship to the States she met other Christians and was given a Bible ad eventually came to believe. It was such a blessing to hear these two accounts! The whole event was very enjoyable.

2. ISI — which in my son’s youth group stands for Iron Sharpening Iron, what they call their occasional fellowships after Sunday evening services. And every now and then they invite parents. I hate to admit that at first I didn’t want to go — I wanted to go home and kick off my shoes and grab a book and get comfy. 🙂 But I am glad I did go — it was a very enjoyable time of singing, testimonies, and information about a summer mission trip.

3. Safety during the flash flooding we had earlier this week. Thank you, Lord!

4. Signs of spring. A tree outside my mother-in-law’s window is starting to bud, and a yard in the neighborhood has a row of daffodils across the front starting to blossom. The grass is getting greener. These little flowers are the first things I saw blooming at our house:

I don’t know if they’re violets or just weeds — but they brightened up the back yard!

5. This quote from a friend’s Facebook status:

“Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.”

Have a great weekend! I’m getting ready for hubby’s birthday on Sunday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

1. The birthday of my daughter-in-law, Mittu. We went out to eat at Olive Garden Friday night — only my second time ever to have eaten there. Then on Sunday when the whole family was here we had a special meal, cake, and presents. Jeremy was able to join us via Skype.

It was such fun to buy girl things and wrap them in girly paper!

2. The end of basketball season. I do love that Jesse gets to play, but it’s always kind of nice when it’s over and we have practice and game times back.

3. A new Dinner For Six group. I’ve mentioned “Dinner For Six” before — it’s a program in our new church where people who want to participate are divided into groups of six and they take turns hosting each other for a meal for a few months, each bringing different parts of the meal. Our whole group in the last rotation ended up getting together only once due to illness and holidays and one family forgetting an appointed time. We signed up for the new rotation and met for dinner with our new group this week and really enjoyed getting to know them better.

4. Getting some organizational projects done. It would be too long and boring to give a detailed account, but I’d had a couple of ideas to try around the house and finally was able to work on them this week. One turned out well, the other I’m still contemplating and may have to try something different.

5. A writing project. I’ve had several ideas for writing floating around in my mind, and one just came into clear focus this week and I was able to make a beginning. I’ll tell you more about it if/when it comes to anything. 😀 In the meantime, if you’re so led, I’d appreciate your prayers.

Bonus: I finished a great book this week! I wanted to read it over again, but have too many others waiting for me.

Have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Barbara Harper

1. A perfect Saturday: didn’t have any place I had to be, got some work done, but had time to read and relax, too.

2. Sunshine and 70s! There was only one time I noticed the temperature was up to 70, but it was in the high 60s for much of the week. I’ve known that the daylight has been increasing ever since Dec. 21, but this week is the first time I’ve really noticed that it has been getting dark later. Spring is coming soon!!!

3. Wellness. As I mentioned here, both Jesse and the dog have been very sick recently, and it’s nice to have everyone doing better — and nice as well that it didn’t spread to all the rest of us.

4. Our Valentine’s Day.

5. Emile Pandolfi. I have a few of his CDs but somehow had forgotten about them for a while. I wanted to play some love songs while making our special Valentine’s Day meal and dessert, and went through parts of The King’s Singers‘ Chanson d’Amour and the Irish Tenors‘ Heritage CDs, then decided I wanted just something instrumental, flipped through my CDs, and saw a few of Emile’s. Love his style and can’t believe I hadn’t played these in so long. Perfect. Beautiful, Peaceful. Just what I wanted. This first clip is from one of the songs I listened to, the second is one I discovered while searching YouTube, excerpts from one of his concerts. He even lived in our area of SC when we were there, but somehow I never went to see him. Wish I had now!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Here are a few favorites from the past week:

1. Blue skies. It’s still been cold — in the 30s most days — but it has been so uplifting to see blue sky instead of gray overcast.

2. New uses for old things. We talk with my oldest son via “face time” on the iPod 4, but you get tired of holding it after a while, and it’s not easy to prop up. He sent us this business card holder, which works great to hold the iPod while we’re talking.

3. New, eagerly anticipated books —

— even though I already have a stack more than twice that high on my nightstand….

4. Finishing two non-fiction books. It’s unusual for me to have two non-fiction going at a time — they do usually take me a little longer to get through, and I’ve been reading a little here and there from one for months. I enjoyed it, but it felt great to get it finished. I reviewed it earlier this week and hope to have a review for the other one soon.

5. This, in light of Sunday’s big game.

And a bonus — peanut butter Rice Krispie treats with melted chocolate chips on top:

🙂 Hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for those who prayed for Jesse — he was doing better yesterday but was sick again this morning. I am praying he is back to normal soon — and that none of the rest of us gets it.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Here are a few favorites from the past week:

1. Fifth Sunday Fellowship. Our church had one of these last Sunday night. It’s kind of funny that I can approach these things with a first-day-of-school type anxiety (“Will I find anyone to talk to?”) But some people did sit with us and talk to us, and we had an enjoyable time.

2. Thoughtfulness. My husband had to eat dinner with a visitor at work but brought a piece of chocolate cake home for me. Very sweet. Both hubby and the cake. 🙂

3. The end of January! One month closer to spring! We had a few nice days in the 60s, but now it is back to the 30s. Thankfully the big “snowpocalypse” missed us. But my daughter-in-law’s mother lives in OK and was stranded at the hospital where she works for four days. That’s not a bad place to be stranded, but still, no one likes to be stranded anywhere.

4. Living room chairs. Finally. We had ordered them months ago, but first one problem after another came up — first the manufacturer ran out of the material we ordered, and then the store delivered the wrong chair –with several weeks of waiting for each problem to be resolved. We got two just alike which face each other. They’re very comfy, and it’s nice to have that room be more usable and closer to being finished — now I can figure out where to place the rest of the wall decorations.

5. An adorable commercial. I included this in my previous post — but I love it, and not every one who reads that post will read this one, and vice versa.