The Storm and the Rainbow

Posted on January 6, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Yesterday had been grey and drizzly all day. When I was waiting in the car line at my son’s school in the afternoon, a computerized voice on the radio broke into the regular programming to warn of a fast-moving storm which had conditions that could produce a tornado, and a tornado warning was in effect for the next 45 minutes. Right on cue, raindrops began splattering hard and fast against the windshield, and as I drove up to where my son was waiting, he made a mad dash for the car. Just then I saw another mother and friend herding several children into the cafeteria. She saw me, made a swirling motion with her hand, and mouthed, “Tornado.” I nodded to indicate that I had heard the warning, but I felt sure we could make it home all right. We only live a short distance away — 3 minutes if the lights are green, 10 minutes at most.

As I drove towards the main road, though, I saw low, dark, swirling clouds that had not been there when I came to the school. The rain pounded harder and harder, the sudden onslaught almost flooding the roads. My original plans had been to take my son home and then go run an errand for which I knew he would not want to accompany me, but with the conditions, I decided I’d better stay home until this storm blew over. I had almost not taken the tornado warning seriously, but now it looked as though a tornado could materialize out of the sky at any moment, and I was anxious to get home.

Just before we got to the turn into our subdivision, I was aware of a bright light behind us. The sun was shining! As I waited in the turn lane, I thought I saw a bit of color — I had to blink a couple of times, and it seemed like a rainbow appeared almost right before my eyes. It was a perfect arc, seeming to start on one side of a little red brick church and going over our neighborhood, coming down on the other side. It looked like you could reach out and touch it. It made you want to go look for the end of it just to see if it touched the ground.

Then I noticed that, though the rain had slowed, just above the rainbow the sky was still dark grey. The sunlight was coming from behind us. Just below the rainbow, the sky wasn’t daylight blue, but it was definitely lighter and brighter than the stormy sky. It made the whole area under the arc look like a light-filled globe. I wished I had my camera, but probably neither my camera nor I had the skills to capture the beauty of it.

I have always loved the ethereal beauty of rainbows, and I’ve always loved associating them with God’s promise in Gen. 9:11-17. When my older boys were toddlers they would say the rainbow was “God’s pwomise.” Yet this morning, thinking about the rainbow yesterday being the dividing line between the grey skies and the brighter sky, I realized that God’s promises are often the dividing line between hope and despair in the storms of life. Whether a sudden squall of disaster assails us or a slow-brewing storm erupts over us, only the solid, unmoving, unchangeable promises of God keep up anchored. He has promised that He loves His children and always will. He has promised to supply our needs. He has promised sufficient grace. He has promised to work all things together for good to those who love Him. He has promised new mercies every morning and unfailing compassion. There are multitudes of His promises that we can cling to through the storms of life that will make our skies brighter in comparison to the storm clouds above.

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Isaiah 25:4.

The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. Nahum 1:3.

Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psalm 107:28-31

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. Psalm 57:1-2.

(Rainbow photo courtesy of the stock.xchng)

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt: Memory

Posted on January 5, 2007 by Barbara Harper

This is my sixth grade school picture. I have very, very, very straight hair, and I had to sleep all night in curlers with my hair drenched in Dippity-Doo to even get this much curl (this was before hot curlers and curling irons). I rarely curled it because of all that, but for some reason just wanted to for this picture. Someone in PE that day commented, “Someone in here smells like Dippity-Doo!” (Isn’t that a silly name for a product?) But this is one of my favorite pictures of myself.

For more about the Photo Hunt, visit here.

2007 New Year Meditations

Posted on January 5, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Laurel Wreath has invited us to share our New Year Meditations, the hopes, dreams, and goals we have for 2007.

This post has been simmering on the back burner for several days. I had some other obligations and deadlines this week, and then when I did sit down to write about this, I couldn’t quite think through what I wanted to say. I’ve been experiencing a bit of brain fog with a cold this week. I think what I’ll do is divide my thoughts into categories.

Spiritual Goals:

The thoughts that come to mind are “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them” (II Timothy 3:14) and “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18a). For instance, years ago the Lord dealt with me about spending regular time in His Word. Once that is settled, however, the temptation some days is to just drag my eyes down the page to get that part of the day done and then go on. I need to keep in the Word, but I also need to stay engaged mentally, to remember I am there to meet with the Lord and have Him speak to me, not just fulfill an obligation. Then through His Word, both read on my own and preached and taught about at church, He continues to develop my relationship with Him, shows me things that need to be dealt with, areas in which I need to grow, etc. We probably never have a virtue or character trait down perfectly in this life: we will always need to nurture and cultivate those traits. And we continually need our “blind spots” to our sin and selfishness revealed. So spiritually I want to stay the course, keep in God’s Word, keep growing, maturing, and to gain ground over my “besetting sins.”

Personal Goals:

Incorporate some form of regular exercise into my life.
Learn and incorporate healthier and more moderate eating.
Get back into sewing. I have fabric and patterns (I used to work in a fabric store) and I can rarely find things I like that fit well and are affordable.
Make a winter reading list. I read all the time, anyway, but I discovered with the Fall Reading Challenge that it only takes a little planning and making a list to include some of those books I’ve “always wanted to read some day.”
I tend to be “task-oriented” and need to be more “people-oriented.”

Family Goals:

There are specific areas I am praying about for each member. I want to continue to treasure the time I have with them. My oldest is likely going to “leave the nest” some time in the next year or so. I am sure that will be a shock to my system.

House goals:

Do some sorting and organizing in the attic and shed.
Make or buy curtains for the family room.

I am sure new things will come to light as the year progresses. But these will keep me busy for a very long while. 🙂

Odds and Ends

Posted on January 4, 2007 by Barbara Harper

One thing. I read one of the neatest posts yesterday at 2nd cup of coffee based on the phrase “one thing” in the Bible. It was not only inspiring but simplifies any resolutions we need to make.

200 calories. My oldest son sent me this interesting link titled “What Does 200 Calories Look Like?” (Shouldn’t that be “do” rather than “does,” though? In my brain fog [see below] it doesn’t look quite right.) Anyway, it has pictures of the 200-calorie equivalent of various foods. In what should be a no-brainer, you can get a lot more celery and broccoli for 200 calories than you can peanut butter and Hershey’s kisses (if only those didn’t taste so good…) Though we know that on one level, it is an eye-opener to see it. I only wish the site had used something other than grams for its measurements, like cups or tablespoons.

Blogging helper. Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer and Chilihead @ Don’t Try This At Home have launched a new site to help beginning bloggers called Blogging Basics 101. I think it is a great idea. Probably most of us wish something like this had been around when we started.

Bleah. Somehow we all got through the Christmas season without getting sick, except for my husband. He had a horrible cold and still has a pretty bad cough. Tuesday I started having a sore throat and runny nose, progressed to coughing and feeling this morning like my cheeks are about to fall off. I hope it doesn’t spread to the rest of the family just as everyone is getting back to school and work. I’d rather have this, though, than the stomach thing some others have been going through. A lot of people around here have had it as have a number of bloggers’ families. In fact, as I have read about it, I’ve wanted to keep my distance from the screen and disinfect the keyboard lest germs sneak though. 🙂

Thursday Thirteen #19: Life’s Little Pleasures

Posted on January 4, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Life’s Little Pleasures

1. Fresh sheets on the bed.

2. The scent of cookies baking.

3. Good books.

4. Music.

5. Friends.

6. A great church.

7. Days when you don’t have to set the alarm clock.

8. Fast-food breakfasts.

9. Chocolate.

10. Seeing pink and purple in the sky through the trees outside my kitchen window at sunrise.

11. A task completed.

12. My husband’s grilled specialties for dinner.

13. New calendars

Bonus: Baby toes.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on January 2, 2007 by Barbara Harper

See more Wordless Wednesdays or submit your own at 5 Minutes for Mom and the Wordless Wednesday HQ.

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Keeping on top of kitchen clean-up

Posted on January 2, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Some years ago when I was very sick and out of commission for several weeks, and my poor dear husband had the household duties heaped on top of his work schedule and caring for the kids, he implemented something that I thought was a great idea. Every night following the usual kitchen duties of cleaning up after the meal, loading the dishwasher, wiping off the table and counters, etc., he would do one “extra” kitchen job, like cleaning the hood over the range or cleaning the microwave. That way all those extra little jobs didn’t pile up into the need for a big major overhaul which he didn’t have time for.

I don’t do that every night, but I do it occasionally, and it does help maintain the kitchen in a better level of cleanliness.

For more helpful workable tips or to link to your own, see Rocks In My Dryer.

Reading the Bible

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Often around this time of year people think about the need to read their Bibles more. I highly recommend it! (See Thirteen Reasons to Read the Bible.)

I wrote in an earlier post about devotional tips:

When I first became a Christian as a teen-ager, the church I was in then had a strong emphasis on reading the Bible through in a year. I am so glad, because I think that, more than anything else, got me grounded spiritually. There are many advantages to reading the Bible through in a year: it kept me focused; I knew where to read next instead of wandering around aimlessly; I discovered choice nuggets in places like II Chronicles and Zephaniah that I probably would never have discovered otherwise; it kept me balanced; it helped me understand passages in their context; and each time through I would understand the passage more.

There are a number of plans online for reading the Bible through. One here is based, I believe, on the One Year Bible plan. BibleGateway.com has a few different ones: a comprehensive one for reading the Bible through in a year, a 121-day biographical one covering some of the major people in the Bible, a 61-day survey schedule, and a 61-day chronological reading plan.

I mentioned in that post on devotional tips that I no longer read the Bible through in a year, but I do still read it through, for all the reasons mentioned above. But by going at my own pace I can take more time with particular passages if needed.

One resource I would highly, highly recommend is the book What Do I Know About My God by Mardi Collier. Whether you do her particular plan or not, the testimonies of how God has used His word in her life are inspiring. Another good resource is Alone With God by Jason Janz.

Anything is better than nothing, so I encourage you, if you’ve never made reading the Bible every day a part of your life, or you have but you’ve let it slip, it’s a worthy investment of your time. Whether you’re just starting or you’ve been reading it for years, I pray you’ll have a blessed year of getting to know God better and drawing ever closer to Him.

(Graphic courtesy of Creative Ladies Ministry.)

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Several years ago, a teacher in my Christian college shared a passage at the beginning of the year that continually comes back to my thoughts with each new year:

But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a
land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain
of heaven: A land which the LORD thy God careth for:
the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from
the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

Deuteronomy 11:11-12

How wonderful that the eyes of the Lord our God
will be upon His children
throughout the hills and valleys of this coming year,
and no matter what happens,
He is with us and cares for us.

(Graphic courtesy of Anne’s Place)

Quotes for the new year

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Barbara Harper

There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. Joshua 13:1

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12

From Joy and Strength compiled by Mary Wilder Tileston:

Be strong and of good courage … fear not, nor be dismayed; for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 1 Chronicles 28:20:

That we should serve in newness of spirit.. Romans 7:6:

Help us, O Lord! behold we enter
Upon another year today;
In Thee our hopes and thoughts now centre,
Renew our courage for the way;
New life, new strength, new happiness,
We ask of Thee; oh, hear, and bless!

— Johann Rist

The year begins; and all its pages are as blank… Let us begin it with high resolution; then let us take all its limitations, all its hindrances, its disappointments, its narrow and common-place conditions, and meet them as the Master did in Nazareth, with patience, with obedience, putting ourselves in cheerful subjection, serving our apprenticeship. Who knows what opportunity may come to us this year? Let us live in a great spirit, then we shall be ready for a great occasion.

— George Hodges

From Our Daily Walk by F. B. Meyer:

We can all start afresh! However far we have ascended, there is something higher; and however far we have fallen, it is always possible to make a fresh start. We need to take our place in the School of Christ and be taught by Him (Eph. 4:20-21). If the Holy Spirit be ungrieved, He will witness to our sonship. He will enthrone Christ as King of our life; He will keep the self-life in the place of death; He will give us a hunger for the things of God; He will give power in witness-bearing. In order to have a strong and blessed Christian experience, the one thing is to see that we do not grieve the Spirit. I do not think that we can grieve Him away, but we may greatly limit and restrain His gracious work by insincerity of speech, the nursing of an unforgiving spirit, any kind of over-reaching or fraudulent dealing, impurity of speech, or failure in love. We may be bound, so as not to move our arms, by a number of cotton threads, quite as tightly as by a strong rope…Let us take care not to grieve Him by such inconsistencies.

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman:

Today, dear friends, we stand upon the verge of the unknown. There lies before us the new year and we are going forth to possess it. Who can tell what we shall find? What new experiences, what changes will come, what new needs shall arise?
All our supply is to come from the Lord. Here are springs that shall never dry; here are fountains and streams that shall never be cut off. Here, anxious one, is the gracious pledge of the Heavenly Father. If He be the Source of our mercies they can never fail us. No heat, no draught can parch that river, “the streams whereof make glad the city of God.”
We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing. Trust only. The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It shall be a good, a blessed new year!

From My Daily Meditation by John Henry Jowett:

He went out not knowing whither he went (Heb. 11:6-10). Abraham took “one step” and he did not “ask to see the distant scene.” And that is faith. Faith is not concerned with the entire chain; its devoted attention is fixed upon the immediate link. Faith is not knowledge of a moral process; it is fidelity in a moral act. Faith leaves something to the Lord; it obeys His immediate commandment and leaves to Him direction and destiny.
And so faith is accompanied by serenity. “He that believeth shall not make haste ‘ — or, more literally, “shall not get into a fuss.” He shall not get into a panic, neither fetching fears from his yesterdays nor from his tomorrows. Concerning his yesterdays faith says, “Thou hast beset me behind.” Concerning his tomorrows faith says, “Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me.” That is enough, just to feel the pressure of the guiding hand.

Face the New Year with the Old Book.
Face the new needs with the old promises.
Face the new problems with the old Gospel.

–Author Unknown

(Graphic courtesy of Antique Clipart)