Friday’s Fave Fives

Posted on February 7, 2014 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, 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.

It’s been another not-quite-normal week, but a good one overall. Here are the highlights:

1. A changed perspective. It has been overcast much of the week, raining some, and down in the 30s, which would normally cloud my own outlook a bit. But after the ice and snow and 1 degree temperatures a few weeks ago, the weather this week hasn’t bothered me at all.

2. Special services on Sunday. We had the Aaron Coffey team at church for Sunday School and both services. I had heard of him, and our church supports him, but I had never heard him preach or his team sing. Evidently this is the first year they’ve had a team traveling with them. Both the music and the preaching really ministered to me.

3. Watching sports, not a usual thing for our family, but there is something about the Olympics that draws me in. I’ve already enjoyed watching a bit of ice skating last night and look forward to the opening ceremonies tonight. We don’t usually watch football, either, and had no interest in either team in the Super Bowl, but Jason and Mittu were here and we turned it on and got some pizza and chicken wings. It was kind of fun to be in on what so much of the country was watching and to know what people were talking about when they mentioned it on Facebook, even if the game itself was kind of a wash.

4. Not an ER visit, but the fact that it was relatively minor, that my dear family all jumped in in different ways to help, and that the follow-up doctor’s visit concluded that if this is the first time it has happened in several years, we probably don’t need to change anything we’re doing unless it starts happening more frequently.

5. Progress on two fronts. I started exercising again, and as much as I don’t look forward to it, I have to admit I do feel better, more energetic, and more awake when I do it. And Jesse is supposed to do an internship this semester, but so far all the leads he has checked out haven’t worked out. There is a possibility that just came up this week that looks really good and looks like it might work out.

Happy Friday!

An unexpected ER visit

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s been another off-kilter week for me. Tuesday afternoon I had another episode of SVTs, supra-ventricular tachycardia, where the heart rate jumps suddenly into an excessively fast and irregular heartbeat. It hadn’t happened in years, so I was hopeful that the medication I am on was keeping it regulated. If you have to have some kind of irregular heartbeat, this is probably the easiest one to deal with. What I’ve been advised to do in the past is to wait a bit and try some different measures to get it to “convert,” as they say, back to a normal rhythm, and if that doesn’t work, to go to the emergency room. That’s what I ended up having to do on Tuesday. Thankfully Grandma’s aide was here to take care of her, and Jesse was here to drive me to the hospital. Jim met us over there, and Jason and Mittu came to our house to stay with Grandma after her aide left, and Mittu made dinner for us.

My sister asked me once, “Isn’t it the same as a panic attack?” No, it is a specific type of rhythm that they can actually diagnose from the EKG. It involves the electrical part of the heart and doesn’t mean there is any blockage or any other heart problems (although they do check blood enzymes to make sure I haven’t had a heart attack when this happens.) If it doesn’t “convert” on its own, they give me (or at least they have in the past) something called adenosine through an iv which, as I understand it, actually stops the heart for a second and acts as kind of a reset button. It feels really awful for just a second, and then usually everything goes back to normal. This time, thankfully, it converted before they got to that point, and the different ones in the room at that time jokingly took credit for “scaring it out of” me. They did still take an EKG, chest x-ray, lots of blood work, and kept me for a few hours. For some reason this time my blood pressure was low, so low that they wouldn’t release me until it came up a little. My poor dear husband’s attitude was, “We’ve done this before, we know how it works; when the heart rate converts, everything is fine and we should be able to go home.” 🙂 I felt that way a little, too, but this was the first time it happened since we moved here and the first time to deal with it at this hospital, plus it hadn’t happened in about 6 years, so I didn’t mind being put through the paces as much.

I’m supposed to follow up with my doctor, which I am doing today, and the ER doctor advised referral to a cardiologist. On the one hand, a cardiologist is probably going to say the same thing the cardiologist said when this first started happening: they usually attribute this to an “extra” nerve on the heart, and they fix it by going up through a blood vessel in the groin to the heart and zapping the offending nerve with a laser. Since this hasn’t happened all that often – maybe half a dozen times in the last 15 years – I haven’t been inclined to do that. (Now I am kind of wishing I had done it while we lived in SC, because the cardiologist I saw there was reputed to be “the” expert in the state on electrical issues of the heart). On the other hand, since it has been a while, it might be a good idea to see one here. Though I hadn’t had a full blown episode of SVTs for a while, I have been having more palpitations lately, so I’d like to ask about that (I had mentioned those to my family doctor last visit, and he just said if it kept up we’d take the next step to deal with it.) We’ll see what my family doctor advises today.

One of my prevailing thoughts when this first started on Tuesday, and it looked like I was going to have to go in to the hospital, was that this really wasn’t what I wanted to do that day. I had been inwardly rejoicing that I didn’t have to go anywhere that day, and didn’t have anything that “had” to be done, so I had been looking forward to getting some other things done. Then later in the day I read of a friend’s dad who fell and hurt his head and had to go to the hospital, so, I was reminded that we all have to deal with unexpected events that we’d rather not have to deal with some times (he was ok and was released the same day.)

I was trying to work on a post yesterday concerning a recent attack someone made on homemakers, but I was too fuzzy-brained and it just wasn’t coming together. I have another post in the works about the process we have gone through with Jim’s mom as she has needed different levels of care. When we were first having to think about what to do, there were a couple of blogs dealing with such issues that were helpful to me at the time. Those blogs have gone silent now, but I thought perhaps sharing our experiences might help others with older parents. It’s turning out to be rather long, though, so I might have to break it up into parts. But hopefully if available time and working brain cells come together at the same time, I’ll be able to finish those posts soon. 🙂

Book Review: Ida Scudder: Healing Bodies, Touching Hearts

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Barbara Harper

Ida Scudder grew up in India as a sixth child and only daughter of missionary parents in the late 1870s. Her father was a doctor in a poor section of the country where frequent famines and epidemics took their toll. Ida decided early on that she did not want to live in India. The smells, the poverty, the diseases all seemed too much, especially after Ida’s family went back to the US on furlough. When her parents went back to India, Ida was left with an aunt and uncle, but when they decided to go to India, too, Ida was sent to a boarding school. Though she felt lonely and abandoned, she became known for her pranks.

She had to withdraw before graduating because her mother was ill and her parents needed her help in India. Ida was determined that she wouldn’t stay longer than necessary. One night someone came to the door seeking medical assistance for his wife, who was in labor and was having trouble. Ida had answered the door and went to send for her father, but the man stopped her. In their culture at that time, a man would not be allowed to attend a woman in labor, not even a doctor. The man asked Ida to come, but she was untrained and couldn’t help. The man turned away. That was hard enough, but the scenario was repeated two more times that night with two different men. Ida learned the next morning that all three women had died during the night. Ida was deeply affected and realized that her plans and dreams were trivial. She told God that if He wanted her to, she would spend the rest of her life in India helping these women.

She returned to the US, but finances were a problem. Medical school at that time would cost about $150 a year, and she only had $10. It had only been about fifty years since the first woman doctor had begun practice, so it was still a new idea to people. Even churches were hesitant, but one Woman’s Auxiliary Board, after hearing about the night that three women died for lack of female help, decided to support Ida. She enrolled in the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, but when Cornell University opened its doors to women medical students, she transferred and graduated from there.

She returned to India with dreams of helping her father in his practice, but his life ended unexpectedly due to cancer. It took a while for people to open up to Ida, but eventually they did. She established what she called roadside clinics to go out to where the people were diagnose and treat them. She eventually became convinced that she needed a school to help train women to be nurses, and then another school to train women doctors. How God provided funds through a Depression and two wars was miraculous.

Ida was active throughout her life. Once when a friend wanted her to take a real vacation to relax, she decided to go hiking through mountains, and loved it. She received many awards for her medical work and initiatives and remained in India until she died in 1960 just before her 9oth birthday.

I had first read of Ida years ago, but I couldn’t remember which book: I think it was probably The Story of Dr. Ida Scudder of Vellore by Dorothy Clarke Wilson, because the church library that I used at that time had other books by Wilson that I had read. I had wanted to talk about her story for my 31 Days of Missionary Stories, but all I could really remember was that one night when the three men came for help, and that Ida had gone on to become a doctor. I wanted to reacquaint myself with her life, so this time I read Ida Scudder: Healing Bodies, Touching Hearts by Janet and Geoff Benge both because it was a shorter book and because it is part of a Christian Heroes Then and Now series for children that I wanted to check out. I’d still like to go back to Wilson’s book some time, but this one is a good resource.

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

The Third Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Barbara Harper

Welcome to the third annual Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge! We hold it in February because her birthday (February 7, 1867) and the day of her death (February 10, 1957) both occurred in February, so this seemed a fitting time to commemorate her.

Many of us grew up reading the Little House books. I don’t know if there has ever been a time when there wasn’t interest in the Little House series since it first came out. They are enjoyable as children’s books, but they are enjoyable for adults as well. It’s fascinating to explore real pioneer roots and heartening to read of the family relationships and values.

Some of Laura’s other writing has been bundled into books, as well: her newspaper columns have been compiled in Little House in the Ozarks: the Rediscovered Writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Stephen Hines, and some of her letters have been compiled in West From Home and other books (links are to my reviews).

Then, of course, there are any number of biographies and books about Laura or the Ingalls family. Let the Hurricane Roar by Laura’s daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, and isa fictionalized account of some of her grandparent’s experiences. The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure, Laura fan extraordinaire, is unique in that it is one woman’s attempt to capture as many “Laura moments” as she can by doing some of the activities Laura did (like churning butter) and going to some of the sites where Laura lived. I Remember Laura by Stephen W. Hines is a collection or articles and interviews of people who actually knew Laura. Those are just a few that I’ve read: there are many more out there I’d like to get to some day. I listed a few others under Books Related to Laura Ingalls Wilder, but that list is by no means exhaustive.

For the reading challenge in February, you can read anything by, about, or relating to Laura. You can read alone or with your children or a friend. You can read just one book or several throughout the month — whatever works with your schedule. If you’d like to prepare some food or crafts somehow relating to Laura or her books, that would be really neat too.

Let us know in the comments whether you’ll be participating and what you think you’d like to read this month. That way we can peek in on each other through the month and see how it’s going (that’s half the fun of a reading challenge). On Feb. 28, I’ll have another post where you can share with us links to your wrap-up post. Of course if you want to post through the month as you read, that would be great. You don’t have to have a blog to participate: you can just leave your impressions in the comments if you like. And I just may have a prize at the end of the month for one participant. 🙂

My own plans are to read The Farmer Boy about Almanzo’s childhood. I may go on to By the Shores of Silver Lake, but I haven’t decided yet – I’m participating in so many other reading challenges this year, I want to be careful to pace myself.

Feel free to grab the button for the challenge to use in your post:

<div align="center"><a href="http://wp.me/p1mPv-32b" title="Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge"><img src="https://barbaraleeharper.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/liw.jpg"   alt="" width="144" height="184""" alt="Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

By the way, Carrie chose Little House on the Prairie as her Classics Book Club selection for February to dovetail with this challenge, so if you’d like to read that book you can complete something for two challenges with one book. 🙂

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Barbara Harper

I almost didn’t do a FFF today – I wasn’t sure if I would have time, at least not until later in the day. It was a strange and off-kilter week with a dentist appointment that I thought was for a cleaning turning out to be for a gingivectomy I had forgotten about, Jim’s mom’s caregiver’s accident, a distressing day for his mom with getting confused and disoriented – nothing “favorite” about it really stood out at first. But sometimes it’s that kind of week when it is most helpful to actively look for bright spots. So here are some faves from this week:

1. Safety on the roads. I mentioned yesterday that my mother-in-law’s caregiver left early when it snowed on Tuesday, and ended up in a ditch that had some boulders in it. Thankfully she wasn’t hurt, and her husband picked her up, with AAA advising her to leave the car there since it was off the road, and they’d get to it when they could. Then, after they left, another car went into the ditch behind her and crashed into her car from behind. 😦 I’m just thankful she wasn’t still in it waiting for her husband when that happened. Then Jesse and Jim made it home safely – I was especially concerned about Jesse since he hasn’t had much experience driving in the snow.

I know some folks from up North get amused at us Southerners about dealing with snow, but they just can’t invest in all the snow plows and such here when they would only need them once or twice a year. In fact, I saw this on Facebook:

Be patient. We only have one snow plow.

🙂 Seriously, though, snow is slippery, and we truly don’t have the resources the North has to take care of the roads, and most people here aren’t used to driving in it, so all of that combined creates driving hazards.

2. Warmth. It’s been another bitterly cold week, and I’m so glad for central heating and the power not going out and pipes not freezing.

3. Pizza. My favorite pizza is from a local place that my husband doesn’t care for, so one night this week when he had a dinner he had to attend, I splurged and got pizza.

4. Helpers. I also mentioned yesterday that Grandma’s caregiver being away for a day and a half made me appreciate her all the more, since it was the first time I had had to care for Grandma alone for that amount of time. I was praying the time would go smoothly, especially as she’d had a distressing evening before, and God graciously answered. Then our weekend helper got a full time job and therefore quit her weekend one, and the service we use has been searching for someone to replace her. They sent someone to fill in last weekend, but we were hoping we wouldn’t have several weekends of fill-ins – Jim didn’t want to spend every weekend showing someone new the ropes. But a new person just applied and was hired this week, and she has been out a couple of times to train with the regular caregiver, so hopefully she’ll work out and be a regular.

5. The end of January. Someone that seems like a giant leap toward spring.

Bonus: The ladies’ newsletter for church coming together, especially during a week when so much else was going on. It’s interesting when I get started and I’m not sure what to put in the different sections, and then somehow God lays different things on my heart, and it all falls together. God answers prayer even about newsletters and caregivers and smooth days after rough ones.

A long, odd day

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Barbara Harper

We got our share of the Polar Vortex this week. Not only has it gotten down to 1 degree at night, but Tuesday we got about 4 inches of snow. The odd thing was that snow has been forecast several times without our getting any, but this time, there was no snow on the weather app I check in the mornings, but it started coming down around 9:30 or 10 a.m. Grandma’s aide was nervous about driving home, so she left about 11 – and ran into a ditch with boulders in it on her way home. She wasn’t hurt, but the front of her car was smashed in. She called her husband to pick her up and called AAA to get the car, who told them to leave it and go on home, because it would be a while before they could get out to it. So they did, and in the meantime another car ran off into the ditch and crashed into her car from behind. I’m glad she wasn’t in it at the time.

I didn’t know any of this was going on until later. Meanwhile, I was home with Grandma for the longest stretch I had ever been before. I also fed her lunch for the first time ever, and thankfully that went well.

For months now she has not been very verbal: she’ll answer questions, say something here or there, sometimes talk a bit more, but then fall silent again. But Monday night she kept giggling as we got ready for bed (we never did figure out what was so funny) and woke up talking off and on through the night. Tuesday morning she was in rare form, talking up a storm and laughing. By lunchtime she kept asking me if I had seen her daughter lately. Her daughter lives in ID and we’re in TN, so, no, I hadn’t seen her. By midafternoon she was asking if I knew where Jim was and if he could take her home. I tried to explain that she lived here now and had for five months, but we kept having the same conversation over and over. Finally I just started saying that Jim wasn’t home yet. By evening, she was wanting Jim to take her to her daughter’s. Instead of trying to straighten her thinking, he just kept telling her that it was snowing outside, so we were going to sleep here tonight. But again her mind kept running along the same track: when we tried to put her to bed, we couldn’t get to the door before she was calling out for Jim. Finally he positioned her so she could see the TV and turned on The Waltons, hoping to get her mind going in a different direction.

When we changed her Wed. morning, she kept saying, “How did you find me?” Jim teased, “I knew where to look!” and she laughed, but she kept running on that track for a while. Once the night before she asked if I had seen a blue pickup, and I said, “No, who owns a blue pickup?” She said, “My husband!” Jim said the blue pickup was from a long time ago, and then when she started asking about relatives who had passed away a long time ago, he realized that in her mind she had forgotten about moving here and having been in SC before we moved here. She asked at one point how in the world she ended up in TN. He got out a scrapbook a granddaughter had made for her of a get-together they had right before she left ID, and he talked to her about that and how we moved her to SC to live near us and then we all moved to TN. She seemed to understand.

Her aide wasn’t going to come in at all on Wed. both because she thought the roads would be icy plus she needed to take care of the details with her car. I was ~~a little~~ antsy about spending the whole day alone with Grandma in light of the tracks of thought she kept getting stuck in the day before, but Wed. she was back to being mostly silent. She had been awake much more than usual for two days, but Wed. she slept most of the day. Jim and I have been scratching our heads trying to figure out what caused the difference for a day or two and what caused things to revert back again afterward. We have no idea!

I was glad to learn by experience that I could take care of Grandma alone if need be. I don’t think I could have when we first brought her home – I was too intimidated. Though I appreciated her aide anyway, I really appreciated her after she was gone for a day and a half! When I was alone with Grandma, even when was sleeping, there was almost a constant pressure to check on her and make sure she was doing ok, and it’s nice, when the aide is here, to be able let that go mentally.

Thankfully everyone else in the family was safe on the snowy roads: I was concerned about Jesse coming home from school since he’s not used to driving in the snow, but he was fine, although it took him over twice as long to make it and he said he did slide a few times.

It’s supposed to get into the high 40s Friday, which will be very welcome. I’m about ready for winter to be over.

Luther on Music

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Barbara Harper

Photo Courtesy of morguefile.com

This may seem totally random (this blog is called Stray Thoughts after all 🙂 ), but I came across a quote from Martin Luther about music, and that got me searching for what else he might have to say about music. I found these quotes but couldn’t find their source – if anyone knows, please do enlighten me.

Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.

Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.

My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.

You will find that from the beginning of the world [music] has been instilled and implanted in all creatures, individually and collectively. For nothing is without sound or harmony… Music is a gift and largesse of God, not a human gift. Praise through word and music is a sermon in sound.”

This was balm to my own heart as music minsters to me in a unique way. My husband and I have had many discussions about music in church. He prefers congregational singing, partly because he feels like he is participating. I enjoy congregational singing most of the time, but I have a hard time keeping my mind on the words. I “feel” (I hate to use that word but can’t think of a better one) more worshipful when listening to someone minister in music (what we sometimes call “special music,” but some object to that term). Arrangements for an individual or small group usually allow for more expressiveness in style than a congregational song, and the musician’s giftedness can enhance the message. For some reason I can fully focus on a song that someone else is singing or playing better than I can when I’m singing with others.

But either venue can and does glorify God and and ministers to our own hearts in the meantime. I am thankful to God for it and for those who minister in that way.

What’s On Your Nightstand: January 2014

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Barbara Harper

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.

Usually I anticipate the Nightstand posts and have them ready, but for some reason this month I completely forgot about it until I saw Nightstand posts listed on several of my friends’ blogs in my Feedly! So I’m going to whip this one together.

It has been a good month for reading!

Since last time I have completed:

Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions by Lysa TerKeurst, reviewed here.

Jennifer: An O’Malley Love Story by Dee Henderson, short review here.

Unspoken by Dee Henderson, reviewed here.

The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery, reviewed here. for Carrie’s January selection for her Reading to Know Classics Book Club her L. M. Montgomery Reading Challenge.

Lost and Found by Ginny Yttrup, reviewed here.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book IV: The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood, short review here.

A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, audiobook, reviewed here.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, audiobook, reviewed here.

A Tale of Two Cities, audiobook, by Charles Dickens for Carrie’s Reading to Know Book Club for December.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas was finished months ago but I just reviewed it here.

Two devotional books I read through last year were A Quiet Place: Daily Devotional Readings by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and One Year Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, both reviewed just briefly here.

I also listed my top ten books read in 2013 here.

I’m currently reading:

Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire With God, Not Food by Lisa TerKeurst along with a online Bible study using Made to Crave hosted by Proverbs 31 Ministries. I will probably post a general review of the book here when I finish it, but I’m blogging about the individual chapters on my I Corinthians 10:31 blog under the label Made to Crave study.

Walking From East to West: God in the Shadows by Ravi Zacharias

Crowded to Christ by L. E. Maxwell

Ida Scudder: Healing Bodies, Touching Hearts by Janet and Geoff Benge

Next up:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I’ve never read him before but he was a contemporary of Dickens and all reviews of this book are high.

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder for my Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge (more on that below).

Other than that I am not sure, but it will be something from the book challenges I am participating in here and here. Those challenges are really spurring me on!

I invite you to participate in the Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge which runs through February, where we read books by or about or somehow related to LIW. I’ll have a post up Feb 1. where you can share what you plan to read and check out what others are reading.

Happy reading!

Book Review: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Barbara Harper

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is the forerunner of the heroes with a secret identity genre, at least according to Wikipedia. It was originally published as a play in 1903, then as a novel in 1905.

A scarlet pimpernel is a small red flower in England, and it’s also adopted as the name and sign of an English man who dons different disguises to help rescue those slated for the guillotine in France during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution in 1792. He is rumored to have 19 men under his command, and his exploits have made him the talk of England, with everyone wondering about his true identity.

Citizen Chauvelin is an agent who has come from France specifically to find out the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel and to stop him. He calls on an old friend, Lady Marguerite Blakeney, a Frenchwoman married to the very rich but very foppish English Sir Percy Blakeney. Chauvelin is convinced that in the circles in which Marguerite moves, she is sure to hear something that might be helpful to him. To ensure her cooperation, he threatens the safety of her brother with papers that show that he is in league with the Scarlet Pimpernel and therefore in danger of his life.

Marguerite wrestles with her conscience: she is as enamored of the Scarlet Pimpernel as everyone else and does not want to be the downfall of a brave man. Though she is French, she feels her countrymen have gone way too far in the Revolution. On the other hand, her she loves her brother dearly, and he is her only remaining family member.

She considers turning to her husband for help, but they have been estranged since the first days of their marriage, although they put up a good front for everyone else. Marguerite had once spoken out against the Marquis de St. Cyr, unwittingly causing him to be arrested and sent to the guillotine. Her husband can’t forgive her for that and doesn’t trust her. Besides, he’s slow, lazy, and dimwitted, so she doesn’t feel she can confide in him.

I’ll leave the plot there so as not to spoil it. I wouldn’t say Baroness Orczy is the best writer – there are places in the book that are tedious, other places a bit overwrought – but this is certainly an exciting book, with intrigue, suspense, danger, and everything we love about heroes in disguise.

I first came across this story years ago as a film starring Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews (and a young Ian McKellen [Gandalf] as Chauvelin), which I loved. There is a good bit more swashbuckling and derring-do in the film than in the book, and the film shows the audience who the Scarlet Pimpernel is right off the bat, whereas the book slowly unfolds it. The film is based not only on the book The Scarlet Pimpernel but also Eldorado (which I haven’t read), which includes more about Marguerite’s brother and the rescue of the captive Dauphin. Many of the details are changed or in a different order, but they did keep the overall story arc the same, and they especially captured the angst of Marguerite and Percy’s love for each other that they each keep hidden at first because of their misunderstandings.

For those who would want to know, there is smattering of “damns” and “dems” and “demmed.” There are also what I did not recognize as minced oaths, but when I looked them up I saw that they were. I wish those weren’t there. But otherwise this is a fun story.

I listened to the audiobook read by a Mary Sarah, who was not the best narrator, but the book was still enjoyable.

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

This also completes one of my requirements for the Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate.

Laudable Linkage and Videos

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Barbara Harper

Here are just a few good reads from the past week, with more commentary than usual:

A Tale of Two Comparisons. Most times we get into trouble when we compare ourselves with others, and the Bible warns against the wrong kinds of comparisons that provoke jealousy, envy, discouragement, or discontent. But we can do so in a way that spurs us on to grow and to follow them as they follow Christ.

7 Do’s and Don’ts of Welcoming People to Your Congregation.

Gary Thomas’ ‘Sacred Marriage’: Not the Last Word on Marriage, HT to Challies. I kept thinking “Yes!” as I read through this. The author takes issue with the premise “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” by pointing out that marriage was created before the fall and its purpose is primarily companionship rather than sanctification (although God can use it in our sanctification, but I have read so many “holy, not happy” posts about marriage that if I weren’t married and read those things, I’d be discouraged from ever getting married, because they made it sound so dreary.)

Let Your Husband Love You, HT to Challies. “I get it. The kids have been climbing on you all day…you’re sick of being clawed at, sucked on, licked, punched, kicked, pulled, snotted on, cried on, spit up on, pooped on, and peed on….I know you don’t want to be touched and for some reason, an innocent compliment can offend you. But…” Excellent. She also responds here to some of the feedback she got from her post.

My friend Lou Ann has been conducting a survey of singles and shares some results of it in The Singles Survey: Introduction and Part 2. Very important. We so often unwittingly wound our single friends..

And here are a couple of short videos that made me smile:

Shared by my son, a little girl meets her father’s twin brother for the first time and gets confused. The look on her face is priceless.

And I clicked on this after looking at one The Story Warren shared about a camera shaped like an egg in a penguin colony. That was pretty neat, but this one was funny: