My friend Ann at From Sinking Sand is disappointed with the new Taste of Home magazine and explains why on her blog here. If you are a fan, or used to be a fan, I’m sure she’d love to hear your thoughts on the discussion at her place.
Saturday Scavenger Photo Hunt: Hanging
Theme: Hanging| Become a Photo Hunter
Though this isn’t the most picturesque view of it, this is Spanish moss which hangs from a lot of trees in the Charleston area.
It’s used a lot if floral arrangements, and at the time we visited it was illegal to just pick it off the trees, because then probably too much would be stripped off.
I thought we had a picture of one place we visited that had a stream and a bridge and full, shady trees just dripping with Spanish moss, which was a really pretty setting — but all I could find was this one.
The Saturday Scavenger Hunt is sponsored by TN Chick.
Show and Tell Friday: Grandma’s albums
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.
My mother-in-law, at the age of 80, has tons of pictures, but there are three albums that are exceptionally special.
One is a scrapbook my nieces made when my in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary several years ago. I didn’t take a picture of the outside of it, as it is just a plain blue scrapbook on the outside. But on the inside there are multitudes of pictures of the various family members and a few close friends who gathered together for that special occasion.
This is my husband, his parents, and his siblings then:
They also passed out a piece of decorative paper to everyone who attended and asked them to write a little something about what Jim’s parents meant to them or congratulating them, etc. My children were — I think ages 3, 9, and 12 — and here are their entries:
The second album is one my husband put together after his dad’s funeral. His dad had an added-on room at the back of the house that they called his “smoke room.” He never was able to kick his smoking habit, but he took it outside, which, of course, can be quite cold in the winter in ID. So this room had a small wood-burning stove, big flannel jackets on nails, a TV, his tools, and various odds and ends. A lot of times early in the mornings or later in the evenings, he could be found out there, and a lot of times the family members gathered out there. My husband took pictures of that room while he was there for the funeral, knowing that someday it would probably be cleaned out or rearranged or just otherwise different, and he wanted to remember it just as it was. He also took pictures of the various family members who were able to come and a few discreet pictures at the funeral (not the part in the church, but at the graveside). All of that seemed too personal to share here, but I did want to share one picture from the funeral that shows two veterans saluting the coffin:
That almost brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.
The final album is another one our nieces made, this time for my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday just before she moved here in July. It was the first time since the funeral in 2002, I think, that all four kids were together.
Her birthday cards were inserted in the back pages.
These albums have become her treasures, and it is special to go back and look through them.
Some of the other things her daughter has sent here from ID are several pictures. We’ll have to figure out which to hang up in her room and which to take out of frames and put into albums, but I’ve enjoyed discovering some of the older ones, like this one of Jim’s Mom — I’m guessing maybe in her 20s.
And this one of his parents I think during their dating days.
Don’t they look like they’re right out of a 40s movie?
Thanks for having a look at these special albums and scrapbooks with me. I’m sorry the pictures aren’t the best quality — I was having trouble with the lighting in the room and the flash with the lights off being too bright, but the pictures without them aren’t terribly clear.
You can find or share more treasures at the site of our hostess, Kelli, at There’s No Place Like Home.
Repost: The Claims of Christ
I first posted this on October 5, 2006, and for some reason it has been on my heart to post it again. Perhaps someone reading needs the truth of these verses.
Some years back I read that someone said that Jesus Christ never claimed to be God. I was astounded that anyone would say or think that. Sure, He never stood on a mountaintop and said, “I am God” in those exact words. But He did proclaim His Deity. The next time I read through the New Testament, I put a “C” (for “claim”) next to every verse I found where Christ claimed something about Himself. Here’s what I found:
1) When the devil tempted Him to throw Himself off the pinacle of the temple if He was the Son of God, Jesus answered, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” I think He was referring not only to the situation of doing something foolish and expecting God to intervene, but I think He was also referring to Himself as God who should not be tempted. (Matthew 4:5-7)
2) He claimed the authority and the ability to forgive sins.
Matthew 9:6: But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. (In Mark 2:5-11 and Luke 5:18-25, those listening to that claim acknowledged that only God can forgive sins, but they did not accept that Jesus was God: they thought He was blaspheming. His subsequent healing of the man was to give them something they could see that demonstrated Who He was.)
3) He claimed to be greater than the temple.
Matthew 12:6: But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
4) He claimed to be greater than Jonah.
Matthew 12:41: The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
5) He claimed to be greater than Solomon.
Matthew 12:42: The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
6) He confirmed that Peter’s proclamation of Him as the Christ, the Son of God, was revealed to Peter by the Father.
Matthew 16:15: He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
7) He claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath (in response to the Pharisees fussing about his activities on the Sabbath).
Mark 2:29: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
8 ) He proclaimed His purpose in coming was to give Himself as a ransom.
Mark 10:45: For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
9) He claimed to be the Christ.*
Mark 14: 61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
10) He claimed to be the One whom Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms foretold and the One in whose name repentance and remission of sins should be preached.
Luke 24: 44-47: And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
11) He claimed to be in heaven even while He was speaking to someone on earth, indicating omnipresence.
John 3:13: And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
12) He claimed that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:14-16: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(Also John 6:47; 10:28-29)
13) He claimed to give “living water.”
John 4:10, 13-14: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water….Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 7:37-39: In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
14) He claimed to be the Messiah.*
John 4: 25-26: The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
15) He claimed to be the Son of God many times over: here are two examples:
John 5: 17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
(The reaction He got indicates they understood what He meant in claiming to be the Son of God.)
John 9: 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
(See also John 10:36)
16) He claimed that whoever heard His word and believed on Him that sent Him would not come into condemnation, but would pass from death unto life.
John 5:24: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
17) He claimed that the Scriptures testified of Him.
John 5:39: Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
18 ) He claimed to be the bread of life.
John 6:35: And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:48: I am that bread of life.
John 6:51: I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
19) He claimed He would raise up those who believe on Him at the last day.
John 6:39-40: And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
20) He claimed to be the light of the world.
John 8:12: Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
(Also John 9:5)
21) He claimed to be from above and not of this world.
John 8:23: And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
22) He claimed that if whoever does not believe in Him would die in their sins.
John 8: 24: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
23) He claimed to be not only before Abraham but to be the “I am” who spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:13-14):
John 8:58: Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
(The reaction to this statement shows they knew exactly what He meant [though they did not accept it] and to me this statement is one of the strongest proofs of Christ’s deity.)
24) He claimed to be the door of the sheep.
John 10: 7-9: Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
25) He claimed He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.
John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
26) He claimed He is the good shepherd.
John 10: 11, 14: I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
27) He claimed to be one with the Father.
John 10:30: I and my Father are one.
28 ) He foretold His betrayal so that when it happened they would know who He was.
John 13:18-19: I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.
29) He claimed to be the true vine without Whom we can do nothing.
John 15: 1, 5-6: I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
30) He claimed that we have peace in Him and that He had overcome the world.
John 16: 33: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
31) He claimed that eternal life is knowing the Father and Himself.
John 17:3: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
*For an explanation of what is meant by the terms “Messiah” or “Christ,” please go here and put the term “Messiah” in the search box. (I couldn’t get the direct link to the definition to work.)
Well, I think that adds up, don’t you? If I have overlooked any, please let me know in your comments. Some of these make more sense and have greater meaning in context. There are other things that attest to Christ’s Deity: the fulfillment of prophecy (something I did at the same time as this study was to also put a “P” in the margin beside every verse in the gospels and the first few chapters of Acts which spoke of some prophecy being fulfilled), His works, the testimony of others, the testimony of the Father (”This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well-pleased.” )
I hope and pray that any of you who have not recognized Him as Lord and Saviour would believe on Him even today, and I hope that the faith of believers will be strengthened by these truths.
(I am submitting this to Thursday Thirteen for the day though there are more than thirteen claims.)
A quirky meme, an award, and a blessing
I’ll start with the blessing first. 🙂 My mother-in-law has been hard of hearing for as long as I have known her, about 30 years. But it has progressively gotten worse. In the last ten or so years she hasn’t been able to hear but about five words of the sermon at church, yet she still went faithfully out of obedience and for the fellowship.
Our church just recently got some sort of hearing device that somehow connects with the sound box through an FM transmitter (I think…I am not entirely sure how it works). My mother-in-law has trouble hearing sometimes even with her hearing aid (she’s getting a new one next week which I hope will help), and she had to take her hearing aid out to use this — but she was able to hear the sermon for the first time in years! She eagerly looked up every passage the pastor referred to and was just delighted. It was so fun just to watch her reaction — and such a rebuke in that I can hear easily and yet get distracted or sleepy so often and forget what a privilege it is to hear the Word of God preached.
Mama Bear at Bear In Exile tagged me for a meme in which I am supposed to:
1) Link to the person who tagged me.
2) Mention the rules.
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them.
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.
Quirky? Me? 😀
Let’s see —
1. I am directionally challenged. If the sun isn’t rising or setting for me to have a reference point, I have no idea which way east or west or any other direction (except at home, of course, where I can remember which way the sun rises and sets). I need to have directions written in exact detail — and even then I sometimes miss a turn.
2. I love fall colors (orange, rust, yellow) outside in autumn but don’t like them in decorating or on my clothes.
3. I can’t wear my wedding ring because, since TM, I have sensory problems with my left hand, and wearing my ring causes a hitting-the-funny bone type sensation in my finger.
4. I am a fanatic about hand-washing before eating or handling food. With soap. (I have had to add that in in my instructions before meal times to my kids even through their teen-age years).
5. Susan‘s egg carton quirk reminded me of my own, only mine is opposite to hers. I get my eggs out of the carton first from the middle, then subsequently to the right of the middle and then to the left (ok, I am not so quirky as to go in definite right to left order, but I go from one side to the other), so that the eggs on either end are last to be removed. I do actually have a reason for that. 🙂 Once or twice I picked up the egg carton from one end when all the eggs were at the other, and consequently almost dropped it because all the weight was on one end. So I do it this way so the weight is balanced. Really. It’s not because of any OCD tendencies. 😀
6. I cant stand when people jiggle or bounce their foot up and down when sitting. Somehow I pick up on the vibrations and it feels very disconcerting to me.
OK, now to tag six more people and find out their secret quirks. 🙂 I have actually seen this meme around and can’t remember where all I have seen it, so if I name you and you have already done it, please forgive me. And as always, a tag is not binding — only do it if you have time and want to.
1. Alice at Hello, My Name Is Alice
2. Jen at My 3 boys and I
3. Bet at Dappled Things
4. Ann at From Sinking Sand
5. Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee
6. Susanne at Living To Tell the Story
7. Melli at Insanity Prevails.
…and anyone else who would like to!
Finally, my sweet blog friend Alice awarded me the
Thank you, Alice! I so appreciate it!
I have seen this around, too, and wish I knew where it originated. But I want to pass it on to Ivory Spring, Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee, Susanne at Living To Tell the Story, Susan at By Grace, and Rita at The Jungle Hut.
Have a great Tuesday!
With all our feebleness
Two glad services are ours,
Both the Master loves to bless.
First we serve with all our powers —
Then with all our feebleness.
Nothing else the soul uplifts
Save to serve Him night and day,
Serve Him when He gives His gifts —
Serve Him when He takes away.
C. A. Fox
With my mother-in-law’s moving here plus my husband and I both reaching the half-century mark, I have been thinking a lot about aging and the decline of our strength and abilities. And though originally this post was just going to be about aging, I realized many of the principles also apply to those who are affected by illness or injury.
I discovered the above poem in Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank. L. Houghton preceding the last section of the book which told about Amy’s final years. After spending most of her adult life as a missionary in India, she suffered a fall which rendered her an invalid for twenty years. She remained in India. It is remarkable that these days most mission boards would send an invalid missionary home, yet Amy continued to have a ministry there.
In the early days after my TM diagnosis, though I wasn’t a complete invalid, in my “down” times I would think of the word “invalid,” meaning someone who is ill to the point of not being able to function, and change the accent to the second syllable to mean something that is not longer valid, or in other words, useless. Invalids can feel invalid. But they are not. God has a purpose for every person on the planet.
Our culture tends to glorify youth and vigor. But “God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (I Corinthians 1:27) and to showcase His strength (II Corinthians 12:8-10).
Elisabeth Elliot wrote in A Lamp For My Feet:
But my limitations, placing me in a different category from… anyone else’s, become, in the sovereignty of God, gifts. For it is with the equipment that I have been given that I am to glorify God. It is this job, not that one, that He gave me.
For some, the limitations are not intellectual but physical. The same truth applies. Within the context of their suffering, with whatever strength they have, be it ever so small, they are to glorify God. The apostle Paul actually claimed that he “gloried” in infirmities, because it was there that the power of Christ was made known to him.
If we regard each limitation which we are conscious of today as a gift–that is, as one of the terms of our particular service to the Master–we won’t complain or pity or excuse ourselves. We will rather offer up those gifts as a sacrifice, with thanksgiving.
I used to think, “Lord, I could serve you so much better without these problems.” But it’s as if He were saying, “No, this is what I am using to shape your service for Me.” As life changes, either through illness or aging, we need not lament what we can’t do any more. We can seek God’s will for what to do now.
As I wrote earlier, sometimes God’s purpose for our decline is that other people might learn and grow by ministering to us. This is hard to accept, because we don’t want to trouble them, we don’t want to be an inconvenience, we don’t want to need that kind of help. But graciously accepting that kind of help can be an example and a blessing to others.
My mother-in-law and I were discussing some of the…indignities of aging and wondering why the Lord allowed people to have to go through those kinds of things. Of course, our bodies are affected by the effects of the Fall of man and the entrance of sin in the world, one of those effects being decline and death. But years ago I heard one preacher say that our bodies fall apart as we age to make us willing to let loose of them. We have such a strong instinct of self-preservation, of wanting to live to see our children grow up, then our grandchildren, etc. But God can use the gradual decline of our bodies and their functions in order to wean us away from this world, to remind us that this body is just a temporary tabernacle, and to set our minds on getting ready for heaven.
Titus 2:3-5 tells us that older women are to teach the younger a multitude of things. I don’t think this always has to be in a classroom setting. It can be, in our culture, but at the time it was written there probably were not such things as seminars and retreats for women. But by their example and specific opportunities to say a word or give a testimony or share something learned along the way of life, older women can both teach and model those characteristics mentioned in Titus.
Psalm 71:16-18 says, “I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.”
That’s our ultimate purpose: to show forth His strength and His power.
Psalm 78:2-8:
2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
Living on machines
For some people, the thought of being hooked up to a machine in order to live is daunting. No, more than daunting…more like being the living dead.
This was the view of my brother’s fiancee when my father was found unconscious in his apartment after suffering what was apparently a small stroke several years ago. She had worked in a nursing home and had seen many people put on a ventilator for the rest of their lives. She felt if he needed a machine to live it was his time to go.
I believe she was wrong, though well-intentioned. Thankfully she was over-ruled.
My father was on a ventilator for about a week. We were called in from out of state, and thankfully he improved. Unfortunately he was taken off the ventilator only the day we had to leave, so we were only able to talk that one day, but we had been able to communicate through notes, eye contact, holding hands.
That last day in the hospital was the last we saw of him. He lived another six months before passing away in his sleep.
Some would say, “Well, the ventilator only bought him six more months. Was it worth it for so short a time?”
Yes, it was. A lot of good things happened in those six months. He lived with his son, who had often lived with him. Their relationship had not always been smooth, and I think it did my brother a world of good to give back to his dad in that way in his last months. My dad was able to attend his son’s wedding. He had lost a leg while in the hospital, but even with his physical limitations, he had an enjoyable final six months.
There are some people who actually live active lives on a ventilator full time for years. One of my heroes, Jim Lubin, has been on a portable ventilator for about ten years, since being paralyzed from the neck down with transverse myelitis. He began the Transverse Myelitis Internet Club, which has been one of my lifelines since my own diagnosis. He set up and maintains the disABILITY Information and Resources site, a Quad List Discussion Group, a Vent-Users Support Page, the Transverse Myelitis Association’s web site and others, all with a sip-and-puff method of using the computer, which you can see here (Jim is the second man speaking and later demonstrates how he uses the computer):
Some years ago I read a book called Charlie’s Victory by Charlie Wedemeyer, a coach who develops ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. When his disease began to impact his breathing, his wife took him to a hospital, where the doctor told her it was time to let him go. A nurse told her about portable ventilators, and the doctor was actually angry when Mrs. Wedemeyer told him she wanted to try the portable ventilator. But she insisted, and Charlie left the hospital having many more years…in public motivational speaking!
Living on a ventilator would not be anyone’s first choice of lifestyle, of course. But these and many others are proof that being on a ventilator is not living death.
I know there are complicated situations, and I don’t presume to have pat answers to them. Joni Eareckson Tada very ably wrestles with such questions in her book When Is It Right To Die? She discusses there the difference between sustaining life and prolonging death.
But for this particular moment, the main point I want to make is that, if the time comes when someone suggests a ventilator or other machine for yourself or a loved one, don’t immediately dismiss it. Machines can be a great aid to many more enjoyable and productive years.
Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt: What IS that?
Theme: What IS that?| Become a Photo Hunter
This was an interesting one! I drew a complete blank until this morning when this caught my eye:
Any ideas? Parched ground during a drought? A close-up of my dry skin? Dried cookie dough?
Click –>here<– to see what it is.
Updated: I am sorry the link isn’t working!! My settings are for public viewing. I tested it and it worked fine for me, but when I tried it in Internet Explorer it came back “Private.” Grr!!
Anyway, here it is:
This goes along with the theme, too: it’s hard to tell what a finished project will look like while it is in progress, perhaps making onlookers wonder what it is:
But the details and finishing touches bring it into focus.
It reminds me of that saying, “Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.” We are all works-in-progress.
Visit TN Chick for more Photo Hunters.
BlogHop ’08
Pensieve is hosting a BlogHop — kind of a meet-and-greet event for bloggers. More details are here: the sign-up list is here where you can add your link and peruse others. I just discovered it last night, but I think it’s ok if the party extends through the weekend. 🙂
She suggests we include a brief intro, and perhaps links to our favorite posts and maybe even a few recipes (you can’t have a party without food, right?)
So…Hello, my name is Barbara. 🙂 I usually sign myself as Barbara H. to distinguish myself from other Barbara bloggers. I am a SAHM of three boys, ages 23, 20, and 14, and I have been married to a wonderful man named Jim for 28 years. My blog is about…my stray thoughts. It’s a mixture of the serious and funny, the spiritual and the homey, everyday happenings and heavenly contemplations. Some of my passions are to encourage us to spend more quality time in the Word of God, to draw closer to Him in everyday life, to see Him for Who He is, and to encourage women in whatever walk of life to be their best for Him and to lean on Him for grace and strength.
Some of my favorite posts are listed in my sidebar. I am not a great cook, but some of my favorite recipes are listed here. Chicken Enchilada Bake is a family favorite, as are Pudding Chip Cookies.
Thanks for stopping by — you’re welcome any time!
Book Review: The Count of Monte Cristo
I was only vaguely aware of the title of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas until…I saw the Wishbone version on PBS years ago. (Don’t laugh — I benefited from a lot of culture on children’s programming. 🙂 ) But that put the intriguing story on my mental list of books I wanted to read some day. I have been working my way through some of the classics over the last few years and have just finished reading the Count.
In the past I had read The Three Musketeers and The Man In the Iron Mask by Dumas, and I have to say I was disappointed in them, in the darkness of the latter especially. The ending differs from any film version of it I have seen. So I approached the Count with a little bit of trepidation, but it is my favorite of these three Dumas books.
Originally published in the 1840s, the story is that of Edmund Dantes, a young sailor on the verge of being promoted to captain of his ship and of marrying his longtime sweetheart, Mercedes, in France during the era just before Napoleon’s Hundred Days. Edmund has enemies he is not wary enough of, a jealous shipmate and another who loves Mercedes, and these two plot together to implicate him as a Bonapartist traitor. The main piece of evidence comes into the hands of one prosecutor who could potentially be harmed by its contents, so to protect himself he destroys the evidence and lets Edmund go to prison.
Edmund, of course, despairs, tries to see the governor of the prison to plead his cause, and is rewarded with bring thrown further into the dungeon. He decides to starve himself until he hears the faint sounds of digging, and the possibility of interacting with another human being other than his jailer revives his desire to live. He and the other prisoner, Abbe Faria, do make contact, and the Abbe becomes something of a mentor to Edmund, teaching him all he knows both of education and society. Thus his fourteen years in prison actually serve to make him the man he later becomes.
When the Abbe dies, Edmund sees his chance to escape by placing the Abbe’s body in his cell and hiding himself in the Abbe’s burial shroud, which is tosses into the river. The Abbe had told him of and bequeathed to him a treasure buried on the island of Monte Cristo, which Edmund finds and the uses to perfect his new persona as the Count of Monte Cristo. He then sets himself to reward those who were loyal to him and stood by him and to exact vengeance on the three men who were instrumental in imprisoning him.
The story is quite intriguing as the reader understands the Count’s ultimate purpose but wonders exactly what he is up to as events unfold. Some characters who appear at first to be a distraction to the main plot are found actually to be integral to it. Though at first his designs fall into place perfectly, the Count eventually finds many unintended consequences of his actions and has to wrestle with his conscience before God to determine the best way to ultimately do the right thing by the various people affected by his actions.
Wikipedia describes this as an adventure novel, and it certainly is that, but it is full of intrigue as well. Though I would not call it a Christian book, there are many Christian principles throughout. Modern readers would find it a bit melodramatic in places — at least six times, various people threaten to kill themselves due to shame or loss. I don’t know if that was a popular mode of dealing with problems at the time or popular literary plot device. Though it does drag a bit in places overall the book is very well crafted.
The 1998 Tom Doherty associates version that I read says that it is complete and unabridged, which is what I wanted, but I was disappointed to find that it was not complete: in reading over the Wikipedia summary, I found several strands of the plot that were not in this book. Some of the situations now make more sense to me. I wouldn’t look at the Wikipedia listing, though, until after you have read the book as it does detail most of the plot and you’ll lose the fun of discovery if you read it.
I’ve seen reference to several film versions, and if you have read the book and seen any of the films I’d love to know which film version you think is best.
Stray Thoughts 
