Works-For-Me Wednesday: Greeting card file

Posted on August 8, 2007 by Barbara Harper

When I buy cards, I like to look at several in the category I’m shopping for before deciding on one, even if I like the first one I pick up (though that practice had to be curtailed when my children were small or when I was in a hurry). That led to sometimes finding more than one card I liked and not being able to decide which to choose right there in the store, so I would buy two or three and take them home and then decide. That led to having excess cards and no way to store them to keep them neat and be able to find them again when I wanted them. So I bought a small accordion file (smaller than the letter-sized and bigger than the check-sized ones) at Wal-Mart and labeled the tabs with different categories: Birthday, Get well, Sympathy, etc. I grouped baby and wedding cards together under “Congratulations” and Mother’s and Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day under “Miscellaneous,” but you could label the categories however you wanted to depending on how many compartments you have and what types of cards you usually buy.

It has helped to have cards on hand for times when I can’t get out to look for one or for when someone else in the family needs one. But even when not under a time crunch, it saves on multiple card-shopping expeditions to have some on hand. Plus sometimes stores have sales to get a card free when you buy a certain number. So now when I go card shopping I look on purpose for a few that I like and bring the extras home and store them in my file.

I have liked this better than buying boxes of all-occasion greeting cards — I usually don’t like all the cards in a particular box.

For more real-life workable tips or to share something that works for you, go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Time Travel Tuesday: Birthing edition

Posted on August 7, 2007 by Barbara Harper

My Life as Annie hosts the weekly Time Travel Tuesday and asks us this week about birthing stories.

With my first pregnancy, we had been married four years and had been wanting to get pregnant for about two. We were beginning to wonder if we should go to the doctor and check things out when I finally got pregnant. My first sign was

(click to read the rest) Continue reading →

I wonder if this kind of thing ever happens to Emeril…

Posted on August 6, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Somehow I don’t think so.

I was making chicken teriyaki for Sunday dinner and thinking that it’s pretty easy to make and wondering why I didn’t think of making it more often.

The last stage of preparing it calls for you to mix a little cornstarch with some cool water, then pour it into the chicken and soy sauce mixture, and stir for just a little while until the sauce thickens. It usually only takes a few seconds for the sauce to get to just the right consistency.

So I poured my concoction in and, instead of the gently, slowly thickening sauce, POOF — a foamy mess instantly formed and rose almost to overflow the pan. I thought, “What in the world….???” as I took the pan over to the sink to skim off the foam.

Then I realized….I had used baking soda instead of cornstarch.

If I had been really smart I would have called my kids in for a teachable moment in chemistry. When we discussed it later and my husband was explaining to them that the baking soda reacted to something in the soy sauce, my oldest said, “Just like those little volcanoes we used to make for science class.”

Yep. Neat for volcanoes. Not so good for dinner.

When I told my husband what happened (and yes, he laughed, and I can’t blame him), he came upstairs to look at it. By that time the bubbles had died down. He stirred and tasted it a little and said he thought it was ok to still use. I thought it might taste too salty, but it seemed ok. I had heard you could add a potato to soups and stews to counteract excess salt, but this was ready-to-serve except for the sauce, so I didn’t know if that would work. I didn’t have any more soy sauce to make new sauce, so I just added the right cornstarch and water concoction this time. It looked fine. It smelled terrible. It tasted way, way salty. None of us could finish our serving.

It took two tall glasses of iced tea to begin to relieve the salty feeling in my mouth. It might have helped if my tea had been sweetened.

It’s a good thing none of us is on a low sodium diet.

Parties, contests, awards, and randomness

Posted on August 6, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Jungle Mom’s Saturday Morning Cartoons about blogging will bring you a lot of smiles.

ArtsyMama is having an Artful Blogger party on Wednesday, August 8, “to celebrate all the amazing creative blogs out there.” Participants can post a tutorial of some art or craft technique, or instructions, or “pictures of how you display your own art or vignettes of art you’ve received from others. Anything goes… whatever artful blogging means to you.” Doesn’t that sound like fun? I don’t know what or if I will post, but I will definitely be seeing what others come up with.

If you haven’t heard by now, the ladies at 5 Minutes For Mom are giving away Insignia® 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, a prize valued at $799.99, courtesy of Best Buy. Can you believe it? All you have to do is go to this post, leave a comment, and create a post on your site linking to the contest post and Best Buy. I wasn’t going to enter at first because we have a somewhat similar TV, but Oldest Son reminded me he will be leaving the nest soon and wouldn’t mind a “pretty TV” as he called it. His birthday is this month, too — wouldn’t that make a great present?

Tamara at Training Hearts is having a “Pass the Button” give-away of 25 different things as a thank you to her readers. She says, “Pass the Button is a family tradition of the past where a family member would secretly bless another family member by doing a chore or deed, and then leave a pillow with a button sewn on it as a token of the deed. The principle of this is to then Pass the Button to another family member by doing a secret chore or deed and leaving the button pillow to keep the blessing going.”

Tamara also honored me with the Courageous Blogger award. Thanks so much, Tamara! My understanding is that I am supposed to pass this on to five others, so here are five who I think are courageous:

Janeen at Our Story, also known as ChupieandJsMama, has little boys with severe allergies, and I am amazed at how she handles all the details. She probably doesn’t feel very “courageous,” but if I had to deal with all that she does, I would probably crumple into a whimpering heap. I admire her vigilant perseverance in watching over the details of hers sons’ diets and providing creative alternatives for them.

Barb at A Chelsea Morning has shown a lot of courage in the last year in the face of her husband’s employment problems, which would be a trial anyway, but especially during the time a daughter’s wedding was coming up. Then facing and learning to deal with little grandson Cameron’s juvenile diabetes added another layer of pressure and concern. She has handled it all with grace, humor, and courage, and I admire her transparency in letting us in on the hard times.

Laura of My Quotidian Mysteries has just moved to Qatar! It is always hard to move to a new location, but to move to a whole new country and adjust to different customs, to set up a household without the resources you’re used to, to make new friends and find a new church — it can be daunting.

Mopsy at Lifenut is facing her third miscarriage, and my heart has been touched by her faith and her writing, especially today’s post about not having to be “tough,” but admitting it’s ok to feel hurt and to letting yourself be open to others’ comfort.

Rita at The Jungle Hut has been a missionary to Venezuela for several years but has had to leave due to the encroaching policies of President Chavez. She’s excited about preparing for a new ministry in Paraguay, but it takes a lot of courage and grace from the Lord to start all over and leave behind those you love, trusting them to God’s care and protection, knowing that the communistic influence will likely only get worse unless the Lord intervenes.

I want to add a sixth: “Lizzie” at A Dusty Frame has challenged me many times over with her walk of faith. Her husband is incarcerated but has come to repentance. Lizzie faces many challenges awaiting the time until her husband is released and is raising her son as a single mom until that time. I know she probably doesn’t “feel” courageous, either, but she shows true courage every day as her faith and endurance are stretched and replenished by the Lord she loves and depends on.

Finally, Debbie at Counting Our Daily Blessings tagged me with the 8 random things about me meme. The rules are as follows:

1. Post rules before we give you the facts.
2. Start with eight random facts/habits.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their 8 things and post these rules.
4. At the end of the blog, you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names. Leave them a comment to tell them they are tagged.

I did this one a while back and received notice of this when I was working on my 100 Things post, but I am not going to check and see whether I’ve mentioned these before. So there may be a few repeats. 🙂

1. I am a self-confessed germophobe. I’ll spare you the details of how this plays out in everyday life.
2. I have to check to make sure all the doors are locked at night, even if I know someone else already has.
3. I love to play Battle Boggle on the computer.
4. In its natural state my hair looks like an old straw broom.
5. I was the valedictorian of my graduating class of 8 other students. 🙂
6. I am not nearly as organized as I’d like to be, but I have made progress over the years.
7. I am lactose intolerant.
8. I have never been out of the country — and don’t particularly want to venture over the borders at this stage of life.

This one has gone around a lot, so I am not sure who all hasn’t done it yet. But I will tag these, and if you have done it and don;t want to do it again, that’s fine: Jeremy, Bet, Rita, Susan, Janeen, Diane, Jewel, and Ann. And, as always, if you don’t like tags, I won’t be offended if you don’t participate, and if you haven;t been tagged and would like to do this, let me know!

When a little one dies…

Posted on August 5, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Tonight at church we were surprised and saddened to learn that a little baby girl, less than a week old, of one of our newer church families passed away today. She was born prematurely and developed a bowel infection that developed too quickly and extensively to be treated.

The family is grieving, naturally, but solid in their faith in God’s goodness and timing.

When I hear of a little child being taken on to heaven, I often think of a passage from one of my most often read books, Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank Houghton. There is a section quoting Amy’s writing about the death of one of their little ones at Dohnavur and a passage from a letter of Samuel Rutherford’s to a grieving mother over 200 years before which was a comfort then to Amy. I posted this last fall in connection with the death of a little boy, Canon, for whom many in the blogging community had been praying. It came to mind again today, and I wanted to share it:

You have lost a child. Nay, she is not lost to you who is found to Christ; she is not sent away but only sent before, like unto a star which going out of our sight doth not die and vanish, but shineth in another hemisphere: you see her not, yet she doth shine in another country.

If her glass was but a short hour, what she wanteth of time that hath she gotten in Eternity; and you have to rejoice that you have now some treasure laid up in heaven…Your daughter was a part of yourself, and you, being as it were cut and halved, will indeed be grieved; but you have to rejoice that when a part of you is on earth, a great part of you is glorified in heaven…There is less of you out of heaven that the child is there.

I also thought of Jesus’ prayer, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).

We rejoice that this little one is with Him where He is, beholding His glory. We could not wish her back. That was one thought that came to me often after my mom passed away, and I missed her sorely and so wanted to talk to her again and give her a hug…but though I could wish her here for my sake, I really couldn’t wish she were here when I have some small inkling of what she is experiencing there.

Yet we are “indeed grieved” by the loss of our loved ones’ presence and fellowship. I know this child’s family will feel this intensely both now and for many days to come. A verse that someone shared with me that was a great help (I am including the preceding and following verses as well) was from Psalm 119: 75-77: “I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.”

God’s Messengers

Posted on August 5, 2007 by Barbara Harper

From A Lamp For My Feet by Elisabeth Elliot:

How can this person who so annoys or offends me be God’s messenger? Is God so unkind as to send that sort across my path? Insofar as his treatment of me requires more kindness than I can find in my own heart, demands love of a quality I do not possess, asks of me patience which only the Spirit of God can produce in me, he is God’s messenger. God sends him in order that he may send me running to God for help.

One Candle To Burn

Posted on August 4, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Our church family has known “Grandma Washer” for several years. One of her sons and daughters-in-law goes to our church, and one grandson was our youth pastor for five years; another is our youth pastor now. She has spoken to our ladies’ group and youth group. Even before meeting her, I had heard wonderful things about the ministry Dal and Kay Washer has had in Togo, West Africa for many years.

One saying Dal is known for is, “I have but one candle of life to burn and would rather burn it out where people are dying in darkness than in a land which is flooded with light.” (I had thought that was his saying, but it was a quote from John Keith Falconer.) So when I saw Kay’s daughter-in-law at church with a stack of books with the title One Candle To Burn, I immediately went to her and asked if Kay had written a book. And she had! I bought one on the spot.

It has been pure joy to read. It begins with Dallas and Kay’s childhood and call to the ministry, how the Lord led them together (she at first thought her sister was just right for him), a year of learning the language and Muslim customs in Algiers, then ministry first in Niger and then in Togo. There are many stories of open doors of ministry, people turning from darkness to light, and answers to prayer such as provision of land and finding a source of water for land for a hospital during the last attempt to drill for it. Compassion for the blind, who could only provide for themselves by begging, led Kay to take courses in Braille during one family vacation, then to teaching a few blind boys how to read, then eventually to the establishment of blind school where students get a regular academic education plus learn certain crafts or skills. She was surprised to be honored with the civilian medal of honor by Togo’s President Eyadema. You get some idea of where the Washer adventurousness comes from when you read of Kay lying on her stomach strapped to the floor of a small plane with the door removed so she could film the maiden voyage of boat used as a floating mission station.

When people asked about her children’s safety and exposure to disease, she told them about an lawn mower accident resulting in the loss of toes of one of her sons — in America.

My heart was especially touched by the chapters dealing with Dallas’s death and later Kay’s serious fall which resulted in a broken arm and two broken bones in her leg and the long, complicated recovery period. At first she chafed under what felt like imprisonment, but later came to accept that this was God’s will for her at the time and to allow Him to work in and through her for a different kind of ministry.

There are many remarkable stories tracing God’s hand at work, laced with good humor and touching moments and lessons learned — all the more remarkable because the events are true. Love for God, for family, and for the people of Africa shines throughout.

I don’t want to tell too many of the details, because I don’t want to take away from the discovery and enjoyment of the book, and I hope you’ll read it for yourself. I am so glad to see this book. As much as I love the missionary classics, I believe it is incredibly important for missionaries of our time to record what the Lord has done. The same God who worked through Hudson Taylor and Amy Carmichael is still at work today!

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt: Funky

Posted on August 4, 2007 by Barbara Harper

(Friday’s “Show and Tell” post is below this one.)

PhotoHunt

Theme: Funky | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

I didn’t know the word “funky” had so many varied definitions until I was trying to find something for this photo hunt! I’ve always thought of it as “mod,” “cool,” or “retro,” so that’s how I’ll use it today.

Since I was a child of the 60s and in high school and college in the 70s, I would have had a lot of “funky” things in that sense over the years — but I’ve gotten rid of it all. The closest I could come is this picture from a few years ago of the boys trying to make their poor, patient doggy, Suzie, look “cool.”

And….she can be “funky” by one of the other definitions as well in sometimes having a bad smell. 🙂

I sure missed the photo hunt last week! With a wide-open theme like “creative,” that would’ve been such fun. But it was a busy week, and I just couldn’t come up with anything…creative.

Children keep you humble

Posted on August 3, 2007 by Barbara Harper

One day earlier this week, I happened to look in the mirror on the visor in the car, which, in natural light, was much more revealing than any mirror in the house. “Augh!” I remarked. “I’m getting so many wrinkles!”

Jesse, my thirteen year old, looked at me carefully and said, “Yeah, and your hair is turning gray, too.”

Thanks, hon, for helping me keep things in perspective.

Show and Tell Friday: Bear

Posted on August 3, 2007 by Barbara Harper

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.“

I made this little bear some years ago, I think before we even had children. I don’t remember where I got the pattern – -I think perhaps from a local program that used to be on years ago with a lady who did the kinds of things you find on HGTV now, only in one half-hour local show. 🙂

I did learn enough from doing this to realize I don’t want to make stuffed toys for a living. It was kind of tedious. But I’ve enjoyed having him around.