Friday’s Fave Five

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Friday's Fave Five

It’s hard to fathom we’re at the last Friday of July already. I like to intentionally pause with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to look back at the good things of the week and cultivate thankfulness.

1. Hot spots. Our Internet access was wonky one day this week, so I was glad I could set up a hot spot between my phone and iPad to do the things that needed to get done online that day.

2. A safe trip for Jason, Mittu, and Timothy. They drove to OK for Mittu’s cousin’s wedding reception and saw Mittu’s folks and several friends while they were there.

3. Jason’s birthday was actually last week, the day they left on their trip. So we celebrated last night. Mittu made a banana split trifle instead of a cake. Delicious and pretty!

4. Family group texts. Jason and Mittu shared things they saw on their trip in real time, making us feel a part of it. Pus we all share news or funny memes or reels or concerns that way.

5. Rain. Our area had a dry spell for quite a while there. We haven’t had as much rain as was forecast, but we’ve gotten a good bit.

Happy Friday!

Review: A Month of Summer

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In Lisa Wingate’s novel, A Month of Summer, Rebecca Macklin lives in LA, has a legal practice with her husband, and runs her 9-year-old gymnast daughter to practices and meets.

Then Rebecca receives a devastating phone call. She has not seen her father in over thirty years. She was supposed to spend a month of every summer with him and his new family as part of the custody arrangement of her parents’ divorce when she was twelve. But she refused to go. Her father honored her wishes.

Her stepmother has written over the last couple of years that Rebecca’s father developed dementia and urged her to make peace before it was too late. But Rebecca ignored her. Why bother making contact with him now?

But a phone call from Dallas puts Rebecca in a tough spot. Her step-mother has had a stroke. Her developmentally disabled step-brother was roaming town alone, having gotten on a bus without being able to figure out how to find his way home. Her father was totally confused. The police found Rebecca’s name on a contact list. If she didn’t come to take care of her father and step-brother, Social Services was going to get involved.

Reluctantly, Rebecca makes plans to go. But on the day she leaves, she sees her husband at an outdoor cafe holding hands with one of his clients. Is this why he has been working late? Without time to confront him, she boards her flight, with all the problems of her life weighing her down.

But when she arrives in Dallas, things are worse than she imagined. A housekeeper who was supposed to keep things in order has disappeared. Dirty dishes and molded food are everywhere as is dirty laundry. Wet laundry has mildewed in the washer. And money is missing from her father’s accounts.

The point of view shifts back and forth from Rebecca and her step-mother, Hanna Beth. Hanna Beth is cognizant, but can’t express herself or control her movements. When she learns that Rebecca has come, now of all times, she wonders what will happen. Will Rebecca ship her father and step-brother off to institutions before Hanna Beth can recover enough to go back home?

As each woman painfully peels back layers of the last several years, they learn things aren’t always as they appear.

I saw one reviewer call this a light and easy read. I didn’t think so, myself. It was a good read, but felt very heavy sometimes, except for the knowledge (or at least the hope) that things would work out somehow in the end.

There’s a delightful cast of side characters in the book: a sweet older woman Rebecca meets on the flight who she runs into again later, a talkative older man in Hanna Beth’s nursing center, a stern German physical therapist, a sweet aide with two boys, a nurse from Ghana. I loved one teasing line from the nurse who was trying to get the older man back to his room: “Old rooster, he loud on the fence, quiet in the stew.”

This book is the first in Lisa’s Blue Sky Hill series about a neighborhood in Dallas. I had read the second book in the series, The Summer Kitchen, as well as the fourth, Dandelion Summer. But there were so many years between each read, I could not remember if any of these characters showed up in the later books. I probably would have caught more of the connections if I had read them in order and closer together, but each book does hold up well as a stand-alone.

Review: Read This First

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Gary Millar wrote Read This First: A Simple Guide to Getting the Most from the Bible to “help people who would like to read the Bible but don’t really know where to start or how to go about it” (p. 2, Kindle version). Whether one is a new Christian or has never really gotten into regular reading, Millar hopes you will “read this first and go back to the Bible with the skills and confidence to truly enjoy it (p. 3).

First, Gary deals with the question, “Why bother with the Bible?” and lists reasons people don’t.

But he says, “I’ve written this book to help you meet a person—a living, loving, being like no other—through the pages of a book like no other. . . He made us, he loves us, he knows us inside out, and he speaks to us. And he does that through the Bible. That’s why reading the Bible matters so much—because when we read it, we meet the one and only God ” ( p. 10).

Millar assures that “the Bible was written to be understood by ordinary people like us. It doesn’t need insider knowledge or a special code to make sense of it. It’s not written for experts and professionals. It’s written for people like you and me (pp. 17-18).

Millar then gives tips on how to read, to pick up what he calls the “vibe” of a given passage, to understand different genres within the Bible, to discern meaning, and to apply what we’ve learned.

Every chapter ends with a couple of examples of Scripture to work through using the skills detailed in that chapter.

The appendix, titled “What Is the Bible?” gives a little background such as the difference between the two testaments, how we got the chapter and verse references that weren’t in the original manuscripts, and more.

Gary writes in a warm and simple style, so this book would be accessible to almost anyone.

This would be an excellent resource for someone new to reading the Bible or to anyone who feels they need a refresher course in how to do so.

Fading with Age

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Fading with age

I remember sometime in my youth talking with an elderly person and noting that not only was his hair very white, but his skin was pale almost to the point of being white as well. Even his eyes seemed faded. I wondered, “Is that what happens when you get old? Do you just . . . fade away?”

Now that I’m nearer the category of “old,” I’ve learned that not everyone gets paler as they age. And no one ages in quite the same way: we’ve known people well into their eighties who traveled internationally as public speakers and even got married.

But it does seem we fade a bit in many ways. Win Couchman called it “The Grace to Be Diminished.”

First, energy decreases. We may not be able to do all we once did. We can’t push ourselves like we used to. Physical issues of various forms may creep up.

Then our influence can decrease. When we first visited a particular church in one state, a young woman was showing us where our Sunday School class would meet. As we passed one room, she said, “You don’t want to go there; that’s the old people’s class.” I suppose I should have felt gratified that she didn’t think I belonged in the old people’s class yet. But the attitude disturbed me. Later, in the same church, when facilitating a ladies’ group, a younger woman maybe in her mid-thirties told me she didn’t come to the ladies’ meetings because the attendees were all older women. Most of us were in our forties and fifties—we were by no means ancient. But I remember being shocked and hurt that someone would not want to be with us just because of our age.

We can lose our jobs and ministries as we retire.

We lose our independence as we have to give up our car keys and may not be able to live alone any more.

We lose our dignity as someone else has to feed and change us.

And eventually, we lose life itself.

That would all sound pretty dreary if that were the end of things.

But we were told that life would be fleeting.

“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle” (Job 7:6).

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away (Psalm 90:10).

“We all do fade as a leaf” (Isaiah 64:6, KJV).

A radio preacher said one reason our bodies start falling apart as we get older is to encourage us to let loose of them. We need the reminder that this life is not forever.

C. S. Lewis said in The Problem of Pain, “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.” “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). This world, as the old song says, is not our ultimate home. Our transitions as we age help prepare us for our true home.

Does that mean when we reach a certain age, we just sit in our rocking chairs and wait to die? By no means.

Elisabeth Elliot has said that our limitations don’t hinder our ministry; they define our ministry. We may not be able to coordinate VBS for 100 children any more (if you can, go for it!) But we can pray with the psalmist, “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come” (Psalm 71:17-18).

How we proclaim His might and wondrous deeds may vary. We might be able to teach a class, write a book, or speak to groups. However, I’ve often thought that when Paul told older men and women to teach the younger, he probably didn’t have classes and retreats in mind. There’s nothing wrong with those; I have been blessed by many of them. But they probably weren’t done in Bible times. I think he probably had in mind interaction in the everyday course of life.

Godly women have influenced my life in just that way. One family had me over frequently as a teenager who came to church alone. I don’t think the wife of the family thought of me as a “project.” She was just being hospitable. Yet visiting their family and seeing her interact as a wife, mother, and homemaker was instructive for me.

Another woman passed along a vital piece of advice as we worked on a church bulletin board together that shaped my thinking in parenting teens. Another said something in passing while we worked in the church nursery that greatly encouraged me. Another was an invaluable and unwitting example to me as she was trying to prepare an event for a group, and her husband asked her for something in a critical moment. She didn’t snap; she closed her eyes briefly and then calmly directed him to what he needed.

Jesus said that we speak with our mouths out of the abundance of our hearts. As we fill our souls with God’s presence and Word and seek His guidance, then we will be able to share about Him in odd moments as we interact with others.

As another psalmist said, we can tell “things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,and the wonders that he has done. . . that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Psalm 78:3-4, 6-7).

We don’t have to approach our old age with dread.

God has promised to take care of us: “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

He has promised our fruitfulness: “They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him” (Psalm 92:14-15).

He has promised a bright future to those who know Him. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

As we look back at His faithfulness all our lives, we can trust Him for the future. These stanzas from John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem, “My Birthday,” encourage me: I hope they’ll encourage you as well.

I grieve not with the moaning wind
As if a loss befell;
Before me, even as behind,
God is, and all is well!

His light shines on me from above,
His low voice speaks within,–
The patience of immortal love
Outwearying mortal sin.

Not mindless of the growing years
Of care and loss and pain,
My eyes are wet with thankful tears
For blessings which remain.

Let winds that blow from heaven refresh,
Dear Lord, the languid air;
And let the weakness of the flesh
Thy strength of spirit share.

And, if the eye must fail of light,
The ear forget to hear,
Make clearer still the spirit’s sight,
More fine the inward ear!

Be near me in mine hours of need
To soothe, or cheer, or warn,
And down these slopes of sunset lead
As up the hills of morn!

Psalm 71:18

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

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Laudable Linkage

Here are some of the good reads found this week:

Contentment Isn’t Only for Hard Times, HT to Challies. “I was about as happy as a person could be. I say ‘about’ because one unwelcome thought intruded: It’s not going to last. I was only visiting for a couple of weeks, and then I’d be back to the daily grind of work and responsibilities. In that moment, amid deep joy, the grace of contentment was just as essential as it is when my life is falling apart. I need contentment to receive God’s immense blessings gratefully, even knowing they’re temporary.”

It’s OK to Be OK, HT to Challies. “We need to fight two battles at once. We need to keep telling people that life is hard, the world is fallen, and we all fall short in sin. It’s OK to struggle, and when we do, we need to ask for help . . . However, we don’t need to equate authenticity with struggle. We need to leave room for people to be authentically happy—for life to go well sometimes.”

On Magic. “What is magic, in essence? It’s an attempt to get the gods to do what you want. And that is to turn the universe upside down and inside out. God is not our servant; he is not here to do what we want. We are here to do what he wants. If I do this or this or that, God will do what I want. That’s, ironically, godless thinking.”

Don’t Be Proud of What You Had No Say In, HT to Challies. “Many of the things that people tend to be proud of are things that we have no say in at all,” like height, natural beauty and abilities. “There is a difference between a gift and a talent. A gift is something you receive that you did not earn. A talent is something that you have developed over time, often based on a gift you have received.”

15 Resolves for Maintaining Spiritual Balance in Severe Interpersonal Conflicts, HT to Challies. I’d add one that has been a help to me: remembering the other person is beloved by God, and God wants the highest and best for that person, too.

Beware the Instagram Bible. I think I shared this a few years ago, but I needed to look it up again this week. “Beware the Instagram Bible, my daughters—those filtered frames festooned with feathered verses, adorned in all manner of loops and tails, bedecked with blossoms, saturated with sunsets, culled and curated just for you. Beware lest it become for you your source of daily bread. It’s telling a partial truth.”

When You Can’t Forgive Yourself After an Abortion, HT to Challies. Although the context is about abortion, the truths here are good for anyone who feels they can’t forgive themselves for something they have done.

Updated to add: I stay away from politics here on the blog, but I wanted to say I was saddened and shocked by the events of last weekend. Violence is not the answer no matter what party one is in.

D. L. Moody quote about what God can do with a nobody

Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; 40 years learning he was nobody,
and 40 discovering what God can do with a nobody. — D.L. Moody

Friday’s Fave Five

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Friday's Fave Five

I’m pausing for a moment with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to look back at the good things of the week.

1. Freezer organization. We have a side-by-side freezer and refrigerator. I keep the frozen items I use most often in this freezer and save the bigger or lesser-used frozen foods for the chest freezer in the garage. The one in the kitchen was full of bagged things that probably save space, but slide around. Plus I couldn’t see what was in the very back and bottom. So on Saturday, I dragged the table over, put most of the freezer contents on it, and put like things together. I got rid of a couple of things. Jim unstuck the bottom drawer for me, and I pulled it out out to clean it. It felt good to get reacquainted with what was there and have things in better order.

2. Surprise sausage. One of the freezer items I hadn’t realized I had was a partial roll of ground sausage. I’m not sure what it was doing there—I don’t get it often, and I usually brown it all at once when I do have it. I thawed it out, browned it, used some for these crescent sausage rolls for dinner, some for a breakfast burrito the next day, and sprinkled some on a couple of pieces of leftover pizza. And I still have some left!

3. Trying something new. After church on Sunday, Timothy suggested going out to a restaurant. 🙂 We hadn’t done that in a while–often their care group or ours meets for Sunday lunch. But none of us had anything scheduled that day. Our first choice of restaurant was crowded, with a line extending out the door. So they suggested a nearby Mexican restaurant we hadn’t been to before. The menu didn’t have my usual Mexican food entree choices, but something called Cozumel Rice caught my eye–grilled shrimp with Mexican rice, topped with cheese sauce. It was so good.

4. A good visit. Mittu’s aunt and uncle from OK were traveling nearby in TN and stopped to spend a few hours at Jason and Mittu’s house. J&M invited us over as well. We enjoyed the time visiting with them–we hadn’t seen them since Jason and Mittu’s wedding.

5. Lindor Lindt Milk Chocolate Truffles, my favorite candy. Jim saw them on sale at the grocery store and brought back a couple of bags. I try to keep consummation of them under control by rationing one or occasionally two a day.

Bonus: We had much-needed soaking rain yesterday.

Any special blessings from your week?

Review: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

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Several weeks ago, we watched The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music, the story of the family from The Sound of Music, from the viewpoint of Agathe, the oldest daughter (Liesel from the film). There were quite a few differences between the two films, though the basic story line was the same. I remembered I had a book in my Kindle app about the family written by Maria, so I thought it was high time I got around to reading it.

I had wondered which came first: did the book inspire the movie, or was the movie made first and then the book written to “set the record straight.” The book was published in 1949, and a musical based on it began in 1959. The movie we all know came out in 1965.

Maria was training to be a nun when she was asked to tutor Captain von Trapp’s daughter, also named Maria, who had been ill. Eventually she began helping with the other six children as well.

The book doesn’t mention any animosity between Maria and the children at the beginning. There also didn’t seem to be any distance between the children and their father as the film suggests. Later Maria write in passing that they had their share of normal family squabbles.

The Captain fell in love with Maria over time. She had never given any thought to marriage, so she went back to the convent to ask what to do. She was told it was God’s will to marry the Captain. She loved the children like a mother, but it took her a while to love their father. They went on to have three more children together but also experienced several miscarriages due to a kidney condition of Maria’s.

The family loved to sing together in the evenings. Once while singing outdoors, a well-known soprano heard them and encouraged them to sing publicly, saying “You must not keep that for yourselves . . You have to share this with the people” (p. 121, Kindle version). The Captain was mortified at first, but eventually decided they wouldn’t be doing anything wrong. Then they were invited to sing on the radio, then someone heard them and wanted to sign them up for some concerts, and one thing led to another.

A bank failure led to the loss of most of the family’s cash. As the children took everything well and pitched in to help, Maria thought it lucky that they had lost the money. “How would we ever have found out what fine fellows the children are?” (p. 115). She was happy to find out that “we were not really rich, we just happened to have a lot of money. That’s why we can never be poor” (p. 115).

They took in boarders to supplement heir income, but eventually their singing hobby had to become their profession.

The Nazis invaded Austria, something Hitler had promised not to do. When the Chancellor announced on the radio that he was “yielding to force” and the next voice on the radio proclaimed Austria was dead and the Reich was in control, the Captain tearfully said, “Austria, you are not dead. You will live on in our hearts. This is only a sleep. We promise you to do all we can to help you wake up again” (p. 130).

The family found themselves unable to comply with several demands of the new regime. They knew that would not be tolerated for long, so they looked for a way to leave the country. Someone in America had invited them to come and give some concerts, loaning them the money to do so.

Their adjustments to American customs bewildered them but also provided a lot of humor. For instance, they put their shoes outside their hotel doors at night so they could be shined, like they always had. They were informed that not only would their shoes not be shined, but they might disappear. They were confused when a couple of them found they could get their shoes shined in the barber shop, of all places.

Maria applied logic to learning English: if the past tense of freeze was frozen, then it followed that the past tense of squeeze should be squozen and sneeze/snozen. If a drunkard was someone who drank too much, then a thunkard was someone who thought too much (p. 162). Unfortunately for them, English is not that logical.

Someone had taught her what to say in various instances–“If you want someone to leave the room quickly, just say . . . scram” (p. 168). When she and a Bishop caused a traffic jam, wanting him to go first, she told him to please scram. His entourage was “petrified,” but thankfully he laughed (p. 168).

They experienced adventures and trials along the way til they eventually were allowed to become US citizens and settled in Vermont, which they found to be much like Austria.

They had a penchant—or at least Maria did—for getting into ventures that were over their heads and having to figure things out as they went.

It was interesting and touching to read of the last years that were unmentioned in both films.

Some parts of the family’s story were more exciting than others—which I suppose could be said of anyone. It was a little disappointing that some parts of the movie weren’t true to life. I disagreed with much of the theology in the book. But overall, I enjoyed learning what happened to the real Trapp family.

The blurb of the book on Amazon says it contains pictures, and there’s even a copyright notification in the book for pictures—but, sadly, there are no pictures in the Kindle version I have except for the cover. However, I found several online.

This is a cute interchange between Julie Andrews, who played Maria in the film, and the real Maria:

Be Careful of Your Strengths

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Be careful of your strengths

I don’t consider myself to be good at public speaking. Even in a few interviews I’ve done, when I’m responding and not talking by myself, I don’t feel I do well. I don’t think quickly “on my feet.” It takes me a moment to process and respond (which is one reason I like writing better).

The nerves usually calm down exponentially once I get started. But for days afterward, I think of things I should have said or could have said better.

But I want to be faithful with opportunities the Lord gives me. So when they come, I spend time in prayer while I prepare. It comforts me that Paul told the Corinthians that he had been with them “in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3), though it probably wasn’t public speaking itself that made him feel that way.

Hopefully, these skills will improve over time.

I told someone recently that these things would be so much easier if I could turn off the nervousness. But then I realized those nerves probably keep me dependent on the Lord, so ultimately they’re good.

When we’re asked to do something that we’re not sure we can do, that feels too big for us, that isn’t in an area where we feel gifted, it’s almost instinctive to run to the Lord.

When we attempt something that we failed at before, we plead for and depend on the Lord’s help.

When we know we might be facing a big temptation in an area where we’re weak, we fortify ourselves with prayer and Scripture.

But what about the areas where we feel strong, where we feel our best gifts are, where we feel we can function well? Those things that we do without even thinking to pray?

It’s not that we can’t approach some tasks with confidence or the assurance that comes from experience. But we often forget we need God’s help in those areas, too. Whatever gifts we have, He gave them to us. We don’t hold them in perfection yet: we’re still growing and learning. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

One of the most chilling Scripture passages to me is the story of Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26. He began to reign in Judah at the age of sixteen. “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper” (verses 4 and 5).

The next several verses tell about Uzziah’s victory in battle, his buildings, herds, crops, army, and machines. He was skilled in many areas. “And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong” (verse 15).

“But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense” (verse 16).

It’s sadly possible to receive God’s grace and help for a task and then get puffed up as if we accomplished what He wanted us to do on our own.

He forgot where his strength, gifts, and skills came from. His pride led to presumption. Only the priests were consecrated to burn incense in the temple. They withstood him. He got angry.

Then leprosy broke out on his forehead. In that era, leprosy required quarantine. He lived the rest of his days in a separate house, and his son reigned in his stead.

His situation reminds me a bit of Samson, who took his gifts casually and flirted with the wrong kind of woman who tried to find the secret of his strength in order to tell his enemies. When she told him the Philistines were coming for him, “he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him” (Judges 16:20).

Jerry Bridges said in The Discipline of Grace, “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells us, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,’ declares the Lord.”

I don’t want to go about my tasks without God’s power. I want to remember that I don’t have anything except what I have received from Him. I want to be just as dependent on Him when I feel sure of myself as when I feel overwhelmed. I want to remember that every good gift comes from Him and is to be used for Him.

The prayer in the song “O Great God” is what I want to express for myself. The last stanza talks about living a life dependent on His grace, for His glory:

2 Chronicles 26:15-16a

Some additional songs that help my thinking:

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

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Laudable Linkage

I have just a short list to share with you today:

The Living and Abiding Word of God, HT to Challies. “A farmer doesn’t cause seeds to grow but faithfully plants and waters them. Despite his careful tending, the seeds he sows sometimes lay dormant for a long time—which is Peter’s point. It’s not our cleverly devised arguments or our life’s example that brings about new life but the powerful life-producing work of God’s imperishable and never-fading Word.”

Look Up In Faith, HT to the Story Warren. “On my way to school, I drove with my eyes fixed on the road, praying I would be ready to meet my twenty-six early morning students in just a few minutes. And then I saw it, a pinkish orange hue highlighting a sky full of cotton puffs. I couldn’t believe it. How many years had I been making this drive and I just now noticed? If I’m honest, I’ve always had a hard time looking up.”

Does the Bible Blame Women for Rape? HT to Challies. Wendy Alsup thinks through a difficult passage in Deuteronomy.

Why Is Proverbs So Negative About Women? “So a fairly new believer asked me a simple question afterward. ‘Why is the Bible so hard on women?’ I am glad she felt the freedom to ask the question. I would much rather get it out in the open than have women wonder silently. Let’s tackle the question for a moment.”

How to Identify a Great Deacon, HT to Challies. Churches have different ways of choosing deacons: some appoint them, others have the congregation vote on them. If you’re in the position of nominating or voting on deacons, this article has great points to consider.

J. C. Ryle quote

Before you use God’s Word as a sword, use it first as a mirror.
J. C. Ryle

Friday’s Fave Five

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Friday's Fave Five

Friday is here again, time to pause with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story and count the week’s blessings. Mine are mostly simple pleasures this week.

1. A grocery delivery snafu that worked out. On Saturday, I stopped to look out the front door window, and noticed a bunch of groceries on our front porch. We hadn’t ordered any. The name on the bags wasn’t anyone we knew. I called the store, but they said we could keep them–even if they came to pick them back up, they couldn’t deliver them to the original customer after the goods had been out of the store’s hands. They said they’d send the customer a refund.

Before we brought the groceries in, though, we decided to call one neighbor who knows everyone on the next three streets to see if she knew the name on the bags. While we were doing that, someone pulled up and said she thought the groceries were hers. She turned out to be the granddaughter of one of our neighbors. I’m glad it all worked out okay and she got her stuff without having to order them all over again.

2. Flowers. We had planted wildflowers from seeds, and they are really taking off now! It’s so pretty to see them from the kitchen window.

Wildflowers

As they were coming up, we weren’t sure what was flower and what was weed until they started blooming. So I think some weeds are mixed in there. 🙂 I’m not sure what that tall feathery thing is.

In addition, the planters are filling out nicely. We had planted zinnias from seeds for the first time, and they’re coming up well, too, though they haven’t bloomed yet.

flowers
planter

I’m thankful my husband faithfully keeps everything watered

3. Our first squash. We haven’t planted vegetables in many years, but my husband planted yellow squash and tomatoes this year. Both are coming along, and he brought in our first squash today (Thursday).

4. Hummingbirds. We didn’t see any even though I put the feeder out several weeks ago. I decided to make a new batch and have seen several now. The wildflowers we planted are supposed to be the kind that attracts them, so hopefully we’ll see more.

5. An Apple gift card. I’d had one for some time, but hadn’t loaded into my account so it wouldn’t get frittered away. I wish Apple and Amazon would let us adjust settings so they don’t automatically use gift cards as the first payment option. The Apple gift card can be used for iTunes, and I was able to buy a few songs this week.

How was your week?