Review: Life Without Limits

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Barbara Harper

When Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs, his parents were shocked and grieved. They were concerned about how he could ever grow up to be independent. They were devout Christians yet wondered why God would allow such a thing to happen.

Nick wondered the same thing as he got older.

I have to confess, I wondered the same thing. Even with as much comfort and reassurance I’ve received studying God’s reasons for allowing suffering, and as much as I have come to trust His character and will, thinking of a person growing up in this condition was hard to come to grips with.

Maybe that’s why I had Nick’s book, Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life, on the shelf for so long without picking it up. It was one we had bought for my husband’s mother. I remember her saying her tears were streaming as she read this, and she felt she had nothing to complain about after reading this book.

Recently, I saw several Facebook posts from friends about a young wife and mother they knew who ended up in the hospital with several severe infections. The doctor said her condition was a 10 out of 10 on the scale of a serious illness. The treatment reduced blood flow to her limbs, which resulted in amputation of both arms and legs. She’s been in the hospital since December.

As my heart went out to this family and I’ve been praying for them, I decided to pick up Nick’s book to see how he dealt with his situation.

After his parents’ initial shock, they strove to give him as normal a life as possible. He was a determined little boy and found ways to do most things he wanted to do.

However, school was a different story. His family wanted him to attend regular classes rather than special-needs classes. He faced the cruel remarks of some of his classmates, which was depressing. He was even suicidal at one point until his father encouraged him.

Nick found that often he had to be the one to reach out to make people feel comfortable approaching him. That and a good sense of humor helped people to see he was just a regular guy on the inside.

Discussions with others about how he coped with no limbs led to speaking to student, church, and youth organizations. In the years since, speaking became Nick’s vocation and ministry, not only in his native Australia, but around the world.

This book is part memoir, part motivational encouragement. He does include Christian principles but also a lot of secular motivation (love yourself, etc.).

Some of the quotes that stood out to me:

Experiences like that helped me realize that being “different” just might help me contribute something special to the world. I found that people were willing to listen to me speak because they had only to look at me to know I’d faced and overcome my challenges. I did not lack credibility. Instinctively, people felt I might have something to say that could help them with their own problems (pp. 20-21).

As difficult as it might be to live without limbs, my life still had value to be shared. There was nothing I lacked that would prevent me from making a difference in the world. My joy would be to encourage and inspire others. Even if I didn’t change this planet as much as I would like, I’d still know with certainty that my life would not be wasted. I was and am still determined to make a contribution (p. 24).

Often the very challenges that we think are holding us back are, in fact, making us stronger. You should be open to the possibility that today’s handicap might be tomorrow’s advantage (pp. 43-44).

Nick was encouraged by the man who was born blind in John 2. The disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus responded, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

This book was published in 2010. Since then, Nick has gotten married, had four children, written more books and traveled and spoken to even more people.

I appreciated Nick’s attitude and willingness to help and encourage others.

You might be interested in this piece about Nick on Australia’s 60 Minutes program:

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

The Power of Words

Posted on March 10, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I was surprised to hear in a song recently the line “Love doesn’t need any words.”

The song went on to say that love is “proven by the things we do and not say —
for actions speak louder than words.”

Well, it’s true that actions can belie words. It’s true that actions and words need to line up. It’s true that love needs actions as well as words.

But I wouldn’t say that love doesn’t need words.

If you’re familiar with the five “love languages” as taught by Gary Chapman, you know that words are one of the five. The rest are quality time, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Chapman’s premise is that we all give and receive love in these ways, but usually one or two of them make us most feel loved. He tries to make people understand that if you do things for your loved one all day (acts of service), but their love language is words of affirmation, they are not going to feel loved. Conversely, if their love language is acts of service, and you tell them several times a day that you love them, the words are going to ring hollow if you never help them in the kitchen or do anything for them. So we should try to find the way our loved one most perceives love and express our love that way.

I’ve not read Chapman’s book, but I have heard these things taught many times. There may be some caveats concerning the idea of love languages, but I think the basic idea is sound.

But this idea of not needing words reminds me of a quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.” I just saw that Francis is not known to have said this. I am not surprised, because it always bothered me. It’s true that our lives should demonstrate what we believe. But someone likened this to saying, “Feed starving children; when necessary use food.”

The gospel is made up of words. It’s “the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16).

Jesus Himself is called the Word of God. He said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). He also said, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3).

Paul said, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17). Paul also said the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

The Bible has much to say about words.

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 12:18).

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits (Proverbs 18:21).

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matthew 12: 36-37).

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29).

There are times not to use words. Ecclesiastes tells us there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (3:7). When Elijah was so discouraged after his encounter with Jezebel, an angel let him sleep and fed him before his encounter with the Lord. Jesus told His disciples at one point, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12).

The Bible says so much more about words: the power of the Word of God, how we use words, what we use them for.

We’re to speak true words, but we’re not to browbeat with them.

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1).

With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone (which Pulpit Commentary says means, “gentle, conciliating words, overcome opposition, and disarm the most determined enemy, and make tender in him that which was hardest and most uncompromising) (Proverbs 25:15).

A gentle (wholesome, healed, soothing in other translations) tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. (Proverbs 15:4).

Words can tear down, wound, and deceive. Words can build up, sooth, and encourage,

May God give us wisdom to know when to speak and when to be silent and grace to help our words and actions to honor and rightly reflect Him.

Death and Life are in the power of the tongue, Proverbs 18:21

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are a few thought-provoking posts from the last week:

7 Blessings Older Saints Offer the Church, HT to Challies. “My grandparents, with their godly example, aren’t alone. Their example of faithfulness is afforded to every saint who lingers on this earth into old age. In fact, older Christians have some of the most important lessons to teach the local church today.”

Be the Church Member You Want Your Church to Have. HT to Challies. “Paul addresses the Romans who are having some disputes, and he starts with this glorious phrase: ‘so far as it depends on you’ (Rom 12:18). In other words, he deflects the attention away from ‘those people’ and shines the light on ‘you’. Paul knows that focusing on ‘those people’ is a dead end street. You can’t do anything, not really, about anyone else. But do you know who you can affect? YOU!”

Visible Grace in Disagreements, HT to Challies. “Here are three things we should strive for: Christians who are willing to confront but aren’t eager for controversy. Christians who pursue a gentle revival, not a holy war. Christians who eavesdrop on Jesus’ intercession instead of joining Satan’s accusations.”

Do You Want My Opinion? HT to Challies. “In the past week, I’ve had two experiences that confirm a need to get a better grip on how I share what I think about current events.”

Elisabeth Elliot, My Dear Mother. This was a blog by Elisabeth Elliot’s daughter, Valerie, and this particular post was written just after Elisabeth passed away in 2015. I don’t remember if I have seen it before, but it was shared this week on the Elisabeth Elliot Quotes Facebook page.

Doesn’t a Library-Themed Hotel sound ideal for a book-lover’s vacation? It’s expensive, and it’s located in NYC, not a place I have any desire to go to. But maybe this idea will catch on with more accessible places and prices. HT to Dan Balow.

“A saint in this life is like gold in the ore, much dross of infirmity cleaves to him, yet we love him for the grace that is in him. A saint is like a fair face with a scar: we love the beautiful face of holiness, though there be a scar in it. The best emerald has its blemishes, the brightest stars their twinklings, and the best of the saints have their failings. You that cannot love another because of his infirmities, how would you have God love you?” Thomas Watson

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 8, 2024 by Barbara Harper

This week has been a mixture: sunshine and clouds, high points and low. I guess that’s life, isn’t it? We like to take time on Friday’s to count the blessings of the week. It’s amazing how many we find when we start to look. Susanne is out hostess at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Moving day for Jesse. Our youngest son moved into his new-to-him house last weekend, and we all pitched in to help. Jason and Timothy weren’t feeling well, but made it our for the afternoon, thankfully. Jason and Mittu thoughtfully brought cleaning supplies, paper products, and brownies. By the end of the day, we had the major furniture in place and the kitchen and bathroom unpacked. So we left him in pretty good shape.

2. New-to-me washer and dryer. Jim has worked on our washer and dryer many times over the years. He said the last time was the actual last time—the next time something went wrong with either of them, we’d replace them.

The previous owner of Jesse’s house left the washer and dryer there. It’s a stackable unit, fitting perfectly in the closet space provided for them. Jesse offered to trade his washer and dryer, but they didn’t need them. So he gave them to us! They’re only two or three years old. Jim hasn’t had a chance to change them out with our old ones, but I am looking forward to them.

3. Jim’s birthday. Always a joy to celebrate him.

I got those cute candles, along with plates and napkins with a camping theme, at Party City. I don’t have Mittu’s cake-decorating skills, but I borrowed one of her ideas to chop up Reese’s cups to make a path, and sprinkled green sugar to look like grass.

4. Something found. When I started decorating after we first moved in almost 14 years ago, I couldn’t find a particular favorite piece of wall art that I wanted to put up. I assumed it somehow got lost in the shuffle. Jim found it in a box in the garage last week. I’m not sure where to put it now, but I am happy to have it again. It’s small, about 5×6″. So I should be able to find a spot for it.

5. Everyone better. All of us except Jeremy have wrestled physical issues this week. Jason and Timothy have colds. Mittu had a fever a couple of days. Jesse had nausea and vomiting earlier in the week; Jim was nauseous yesterday. I’ve had a toothache, which led to antibiotics for a tooth infection and an appointment for a tooth extraction in a few weeks. Thankfully, everyone is doing better now, though Jason and Timothy still have a lingering cough.

Happy Friday!

Review: Dandelion Summer

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Barbara Harper

In Dandelion Summer by Lisa Wingate, J. Norman Alvord is a retired widower with heart trouble. As he fades in and out of consciousness from an angina incident, he has a vivid memory of a house with seven chairs and a black maid. His mother never had a maid, and he was an only child. Norman wonders if this is truly a memory or a figment of his imagination. If it’s real, where was this house and who was the woman?

Norman’s daughter, Deborah, is at her wit’s end with her curmudgeonly father. They’ve never gotten along, but she promised her mother she’d take care of him. She tries to nudge him to think about moving to a facility. but he refuses. So for the short term, she hires a woman to come in once a week to clean her father’s house and the woman’s daughter to come in two days a week after school to make dinner, clean up the kitchen, and keep an eye out for her dad.

The daughter, Epiphany, has an Italian mother and black father, though her father is long gone. Epiphany, or Epie, as she is sometimes called, doesn’t feel like she fits in anywhere. She’s bullied at school until the school’s basketball star takes a liking to her. But he is bad news.

Epie and Norman don’t hit it off at first. They are opposites in almost every way. But when Epie agrees to keep some of his secrets, like Norman’s searching for clues about the house in his dreams upstairs, where his daughter has forbidden him to go, Norman grudgingly accepts Epie’s presence. Eventually he tells her what he s searching for and accepts her help bringing boxes from the attic.

Clues and more emerging memories lead Norman and Epie to a road trip for more information. But with Norman’s heart trouble and Epie’s inexperience, will they make it?

The point of view switched back and forth between Norman and Epie. I listened to the audiobook wonderfully read by Jason Culp and Bahni Turpin. Their voices and expressions added so much more to the reading/listening experience.

This book was the fourth in Wingate’s Blue Sky Hill series. I hadn’t read any except the second book, The Summer Kitchen, but I didn’t feel there were any gaps that didn’t make sense. This book stood well enough on its own.

Though I thought the road trip was unlikely in real life, the author made it plausible. I enjoyed the slowly developing relationship between Norman and Epie–first just tolerating each other, then learning to appreciate things about each other, and then coming to truly care for each other like a grandparent and grandchild.

The mystery of Norman’s background was unraveled quite nicely, keeping me curious and invested throughout the book.

I was struck by how both Norman and Epie were misunderstood from the outside. In the book, we’re privy to their thoughts and circumstances that no one else knows. Epie seems like an underachieving student to her teachers, but they have no idea what she has to deal with from the other students and a mom who has gone from man to man. And they don’t take the time to find out what underlying problems there might be. Yet Norman can see her innate intelligence and the need to be nurtured.

Some quotes that stood out to me:

Maybe not everyone got the mom who baked cupcakes and showed up at all the school parties. There weren’t enough of those to go around, so maybe God used other people, like Mrs. Lora and J. Norm, to make sure you learned how to shell a purple hull pea or find Saturn in the night sky.

I would have lived more fully in the moment, realize how easily a perfect day can slip by unnoticed. Any day is the glory day if you choose to see the glory in it.

It’s funny how mistakes are so much clearer after you’ve already made them.

Wingate has a penchant for sometimes halting the flow of dialogue by putting extra information between the speaker’s answers (one of my writing pet peeves). But overall, I really enjoyed this book.

Do You Have Access?

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Barbara Harper

It’s so frustrating to click on a link and then see the message “You do not have permission to view this page.”

Or to forget a password and then have to go through several steps to finally get into your account.

Or to be told you’re not dressed right or you don’t have the proper credentials to enter a venue.

Or to race to a business only to find it closed.

Or to call the doctor’s office at 4 p.m. Friday and hear a recording that their phone lines are closed for the week.

I think in America, especially, we’re so used to our freedoms that our blood boils when we’re denied access to something we think we have a right to.

But the fact remains that we don’t have access to everything. We need the right permissions, passwords, attire, level of security, or timing to get where we need to go.

If you read the first few books of the Old Testament in the Bible, you see that not everyone had access to every part of the temple. Oh, people could pray wherever they were. But God prescribed a detailed sacrificial system. Only certain animals in perfect condition could be brought as sacrifices. The different kinds of sacrifice had different procedures. Only the priests could perform certain functions. Only the high priest could go into the inner part of the temple, the most holy place, or the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year. There was a thick curtain between the Holy Place and Most Holy Place.

Some loved God and wanted to be as close to Him as possible. David, the man after God’s own heart, longed for the courts of the Lord and said he’d rather be a doorkeeper in God’s house than to dwell in tents of wickedness (Psalm 84).

Many people followed the rules and brought whatever sacrifices were required because that was just how things were. Some performed the outer rituals, but lived whatever way they pleased away from the temple.

One king, Uzziah, who presumed to go into the temple to burn incense was struck with leprosy.

The message was loud and clear: You do not have access!

That’s why it was so remarkable that when Jesus died, the thick curtain blocking the way in the Holy of Holies was “torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51).

That would have been utterly shocking to the Jewish people at the time.

What many people missed was that the whole sacrificial system pointed to Christ. He was the perfect sacrifice, the perfect high priest. The book of Hebrews wonderfully shows how everything in the sacrificial system pointed to Christ.

Because He lived a righteous life in our place, because we couldn’t, and He took our sin on Himself, He is the access to being right before God.

The writer of Hebrews says:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:19-23).

Jesus did not create a way to God only for the Jews, but for everyone else as well:

Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:12-19).

That’s why Jesus could say, “I am the door of the sheep. . . . If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:7,9) and “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Have you gone through that Door? Do you have access to God through Christ? If not, you can today. For more information, read here. Then you can “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”

Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me" John 14:6

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the noteworthy reads found this week:

Was It All a Waste? HT to Challies. “Maybe you know the crush of rejection, the feel of wasted effort and time. Possibly, you know the sting of unappreciated labor.”

What Makes for a Rich and Meaningful Devotional Life? “One of the most frequent questions I’ve been asked over the years (and one I struggled with myself as a young woman) is this: ’I know I’m supposed to be having a devotional time with God every day. What does that look like?’ The short answer is that there’s no short answer to that question!”

How Not to Apply the Bible, HT to Challies. “Here are four questions that will help you arrive at reliable applications of any section of the Bible.”

On the same topic, Examples of Wrestling through the Prescriptive/Descriptive Debate. “Is this passage prescribing something we should imitate (or avoid), or is it simply describing what the characters did in their setting? I proposed that we can often eliminate the need for such a debate if we focus on applying the passage’s main point.”

Wherever He Leads, He’ll Go, HT to Challies. “I nearly invited him to test me, telling him in a long, journaled prayer that wherever he led, I would most certainly go. I banked on my obedience. I would be stalwart, no matter what came. But life came. And the Lord led me to places I longed to escape from.”

5 Ways to Personalize the Lord’s Prayer. “Prayer can feel difficult sometimes—knowing how and when to do it or what and how to say it. We can find comfort in knowing we aren’t alone with our uncertainties and questions. Even Jesus’ disciples asked Him how to pray and He provides a direct answer—what we know as the Lord’s prayer.”

7 Parenting Errors That Can Influence Adult Children to Leave the Faith, HT to Challies. “When we married back in the 1980s, we dreamed of imparting a lifelong faith to our children and thus helping sustain Christ’s kingdom for the next generation. But it didn’t work out that way.” This is a multi-faceted issue. Children have their own will, and no parent is free of mistakes. But the errors mentioned here are worthy of consideration.

Order, Preparation, and the Spirit’s Leading, HT to Challies. I’ve heard exaltation of spontaneity over preparation as more spiritual in activities besides preaching and worship as well. I appreciate what Jacob says here. “Why don’t we see that a pastor’s careful pouring over the Scriptures in prayer and quiet meditation as just as much the Spirit’s leading as a passion-filled moment in the pulpit? How do we think the depths of Scripture are plumbed? ‘These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God’ (1 Cor 2:10). Planning and preparation are not enemies of the Spirit.”

Such changes are for us decreed;
Believers have their winters too;
But spring shall certainly succeed,
And all their former life renew.
–From the hymn “Though Cloudy Skies and Northern Blasts”
by John Newton

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Barbara Harper

I love to turn the calendar to a new month’s page. In one sense, it’s just the next day after the last one. But there’s something about looking ahead to birthdays and holidays of the month as well as the unfilled days.

Fridays, though, we look back at the week that so quickly passed by to search for and acknowledge the good things before their memory slips away from us. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts this weekly gathering. Feel free to join in!

1. A visit to the Ark Encounter in KY, which I described here. (My apologies to those of you who have seen this referenced three times this week. 🙂 Some who read my monthly recaps or Friday’s Fave Five only visit here for those posts.) The opportunity came through a friend of Jason and Mittu’s offering us free tickets, good through February.

2. Amazon gift cards. I was looking through gift cards I had received but had not put in my purse yet, and was surprised to find two Amazon gift cards I had forgotten about. It was like receiving a gift all over again.

3. Hand towels from Mittu’s mother. She visited them for a long weekend and gave me some hand towels that she had crocheted a strap for, as well as some trivets. These are nice to keep the towel from sliding off the rod.

4. An agreeable prescription. I mentioned last time that my bone density test had shown “a little thinning.” I was called in to talk to the doctor about it and was a little miffed that we couldn’t just discuss it over the phone. But he agreed that since the bone loss was so minimal at this point, I could just take calcium supplements and engage in weight-bearing exercises. He mentioned a few available medications, but I didn’t want to start those if I didn’t have to. One bonus about being there in person, though, was that I was able to ask him about the wounds that caused me so much trouble over the last several weeks. They had healed over but were still discolored. The doctor said they looked fine and the redness in some areas did not indicate infection.

5. Closing for Jesse’s house. We had a couple more hiccups in the process this week, but finally all the papers were signed. He’s excited to move in this weekend.

Bonus: Daffodils are blooming already!

That wraps up February!

February Reflections

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Barbara Harper

February has been a much better month that January. It’s gone by awfully fast, though, even with an extra day.

As a family, we enjoyed Valentine’s Day and my daughter-in-law’s birthday, as well as a visit from her mom and an excursion to the Ark Encounter, which I told about here.

Toward the end of last month, we watched Timothy early one morning while his parents went to a parenting seminar at church. That happened to be the day Jim takes the garbage and recycling out (we don’t have city pick-up where we live). He asked Timothy if he wanted to go with him to the recycling center, and he did. And he’s gone every week since then. 🙂 I don’t know if he liked watching the big machines that crush the garbage, or what. I imagine he’ll get tired of it pretty soon, but Jim has been enjoying the time with him.

Jesse, my youngest son, has had everything finally fall into place for his first house purchase. He’ closed yesterday after a couple of hiccups in the process. Shakespeare said, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” I think that could apply to house purchasing as well. Jesse is due to move in this weekend, so we’ll be helping with that.

Watching

We enjoyed the rest of All Creatures Great and Small, though the season seemed much too short.

The only other noteworthy program we saw was a movie based on a true story, The Hill. Rickey Hill had a degenerative spinal disease and wore leg braces as a child. But he loved baseball and was something of a batting phenom. His pastor father (wonderfully played by Dennis Quaid) wanted him to go into the ministry. He tried to discourage him away from baseball so he wouldn’t be injured. Rickey eventually signed with the Montreal Expos.

Creating

February was a busy month for card-making.

This was Jim’s Valentine card:

This turned out to be one of my favorite cards that I’ve made. The “To my Valentine” was done with the Cricut.

This was Jeremy’s:

He likes foxes, so I try to incorporate them.

This was Jason’s:

I had seen this design on the Cricut while looking for the wording for Jim’s and liked it. With this one, the Cricut sends the design to our prtinter, then calibrates how to cut out around it.

This was Mittu’s:

When I try to decide what to make, I might peruse Pinterest or the Cricut files, or I might just start looking through my supplies to see what materializes. I came up with Mittu’s card the latter way. The background paper and “Happy Valentine’s Day” were in a package of scrapbooking paper. I had the purple trim for the top and bottom in my supplies.

This was Timothy’s:

The heart is made of multiple layers of felt. I think I got the idea for this card fairly soon after finding a package of these hearts at Hobby Lobby.

This was Jesse’s:

I got the idea for this and Jim’s on Pinterest, but I try not to copy the cards there exactly.

I don’t think I have ever made one for my friend Melanie before, but as I was sorting through my supplies to make Mittu’s card, I thought Melanie would like this. They both like purple.

Then this card was for Mittu’s birthday:

Mittu likes sunflowers as well. The ones at the corners were multi-layered stickers. The greeting was done on the computer.

Then this time I wanted to share the cards I received.

The 3D card was from Jim. Cute!

For a closer look at the cards made by Timothy and Mittu:

I loved them all, but I am especially in awe of the one Mittu drew. I can’t draw much at all without it looking pre-schoolish, so I admire people who can. Jim looks a little like the older man in the movie “Up.” 🙂

Reading

Since last time, I finished (linked to my reviews):

Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making by Andrew Peterson. I loved this book. It both inspired me and brought me to tears. I immediately started reading it again after I finished.
When I Close My Eyes by Elizabeth Musser, fiction, audiobook. A desperate father takes on a hit job to get extra money for his son’s major heart surgery. But he succeeds only in putting his target in a coma. Then he finds out she is a best-selling author. So he starts reading her books. Meanwhile, the woman remembers her past while in a coma and eventually decides she needs to tell her family her secrets. Mostly good.
The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson, fiction. An American woman who helps smuggle Jewish children out of Vichy France takes two of them to raise as her own. But the children’s trauma isn’t over just because they’re on American soil. Very good.
Dear Henry, Love Edith by Becca Kinzer, fiction. A romantic comedy of errors ensues when a man opens his upstairs to board what he thinks is an elderly widowed missionary lady. They keep missing each other, sustaining their mistaken impressions of the other. They leave notes for each other, which sets off their relationship. Not my usual fare, but it was okay.
Take a Chance on Me by Susan May Warren. Ivy Madison moves to Deep Haven, Minnesota as the new assistant county attorney. She unexpectedly falls in love with Darek, a single dad who helps his parents run a resort. But then she realizes she is the one who crafted a plea deal for the man responsible for Darek’s wife’s death, before she knew any of the people involved. Good..
Organizing for the Rest of Us: 100 Realistic Strategies for Keeping Your House Under Control by Dana K. White. nonfiction. Lots of good, practical tips.

I only listened to a bit of Susan Meissner’s A Bridge Across the Ocean, then I returned the audiobook. The story opened with a woman’s ghost roaming the deck of a ship just before it launches, and one woman senses her presence and speaks to her. I’ve enjoyed several of Susan ‘s books and was astonished to hear this. It’s not just that I don’t care for ghost stories. But Christian fiction (which I assume this was as everything else I’ve read from Susan has been) generally wouldn’t promote the idea of dead spirits on earth because that’s not what the Bible says happens to the dead.

I’m currently reading:

Be Skillful (Proverbs): God’s Guidebook to Wise Living by Warren Wiersbe, nonfiction
Be Comforted (Isaiah): Feeling Secure in the Arms of God by Warren W. Wiersbe, nonfiction
Isaiah for You by Tim Chester, nonfiction
Proverbs for Life for Women, nonfiction
Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life by Nick Vulicic, nonfiction
Dandelion Summer by Lisa Wingate, fiction, audiobook

Blogging

Besides the weekly Friday Fave Fives, Saturday Laudable Linkage, and book reviews, I’ve posted these since last time:

As we turn the Calendar page to March tomorrow, I’m looking forward to my husband’s birthday, “Pi Day” on the 14th, the official beginning of spring as well as more signs of it, and Easter.

How was your February? What are you looking forward to in March?

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

Review: Take a Chance on Me

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Barbara Harper

In Take a Chance on Me by Susan May Warren, Darek Christiansen is a single father working with his parents on the resort they’ve had for years: Evergreen Lake Resort in Minnesota. Darek had been a firefighter, but when his wife died, he worked at the resort to help take care of his son.

He and his wife, Felicity, and friends Jensen and Claire had grown up together in the area. But Jensen was responsible for Felicity’s death. Darek is angry at Jensen, at himself, at God.

Ivy Madison has just moved to the area as the new assistant county attorney. When she bids on Darek for a date at a charity auction, she doesn’t know what to make of his curmudgeonly behavior. But she sees a tender side of him when he’s with his son.

Ivy had grown up in the foster care system, and Darek’s family feels like the one she had always longed for.

But then she has a stunning realization. Before moving here, she had been asked to write a proposed plea deal for a man guilty of vehicular homicide. Since the incident was an accident, she suggested that the man do hours of community service rather than jail time.

After learning Derak’s story, Ivy realizes Jensen is the man whose plea deal she crafted. When Darek learns that Ivy was the one who kept Jensen out of jail, will he forgive her?

Meanwhile, a wildfire rages nearby. Firefighters are on it, but can they keep it from engulfing the town and resort?

Another plot line involves Claire, her unrequited love for Jensen, and her desire to stay in town while her missionary parents want her to go to college at age 25. There’s also a tussle when Claire’s grandfather has an accident. She wants to take care of him; her parents want to move him to a home.

I thought this was the first Susan May Warren book I had read, but I see I had read a few of her Christmas books in past years: Evergreen: A Christiansen Winter Novella (which I just realized involved the family from this book), The Great Christmas Bowl, and Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

The point of view switches back and forth between Darek, Ivy, Jensen, and Claire. One interesting thing about this story is that at first, Darek seems like the innocent wounded party and Jensen seems like the bad guy. But as we learn more of what happened and get to know them better, we see Darek (as well as Felicity) has done things he’s not proud of, and Jensen has good qualities no one appreciates at first.

I thought the faith element was woven in naturally.

Favorite quotes:

I knew your future would take you far from Evergreen Lake. I feared it would take you far, also, from your legacy of faith. Watching your son leave your arms has no comparison to watching him leave God’s. You never seemed to question the beliefs your father and I taught you. Perhaps that is what unsettled me the most. Because without questioning, I wondered how there could be true understanding.

“Small acts of justice can make great ripples in the community.” “Or tear it apart.”

We can’t hold onto something so hard that it destroys everything else we love.

I disagreed with one character saying that God acts almost entirely out of the emotion of love. Love isn’t just an emotion. And I wouldn’t say God acts primarily on emotion.

And I was disappointed Susan spelled out a metaphor that arose with the wildfire and something that was going on in the plot. It was kind of neat to make that connection, and I felt it would have been stronger if the reader had been allowed to make it for herself rather than being told.

But overall I liked getting to know the characters and their situations and where everyone ended up in their journeys. I enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Carol Monda. I didn’t realize that this book was the first of seven involving the Christiansen family. I was able to find several of them for free with Audible’s Plus Catalog,