Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Charitable Giving While Shopping and Searching

Posted on October 25, 2006 by Barbara Harper

This week I wanted to share a couple of relatively painless ways to give to charity in the course of what you usually do online.

Igive.com is a site for online merchants to register and online shoppers to buy and have a percentage of their purchases donated to the charity of their choice. When you first register on the site, you choose what charity you would like for your purchases to go towards. Igive keeps great records, sends an e-mail when a check for my organization is sent, keeps a list of my orders so that I can track them and make sure the percentages were applied, and lets me print out a page for tax-deductions. They send out e-mails from time to time about which merchants are having special sales or promotions. There are a few merchants I shop from online anyway, so it is no problem to log into Igive first and shop from there (the links take you directly to the merchants’ sites, but you have to begin logged in at Igive for the purchase to register and for a donation to be made). Plus, any time I am looking to buy something online, I can look through the “mall” link at Igive and see if the new merchant I am wanting to buy from is registered there. I’ve used it for years and have been very pleased with it.

I’ve only recently heard of GoodSearch, but it is a search engine which uses funds generated from its advertisers for online donations to the charity of your choice. It is powered by Yahoo, so it should be as good as Yahoo is. You don’t have to register there: just put the name of the charity you are interested in in the “Who do you GoodSearch for?” window, click on “verify,” and then conduct your search. The site “remembers” that charity each time you search, but you can change it any time you want to. I just tried it to search for a product I was looking at earlier today through another search engine, and came up with multitudes of results. I e-mailed GoodSearch to ask if they had a list of the charities supported through them: they replied that they supported 20,000 non-profit organizations and didn’t have a good way to list them all, but users could put any charity in the appropriate window, and if it is not yet supported, they can click on the appropriate link to add it.

And that brings me to the other point I was going to make: I have seen various charities and non-profit organizations linked on various blogs. Perhaps you might want to look into adding your cause to one or both of these sites.

If you’d like to participate in either of these endeavors and don’t yet have a cause that you would be interested in, may I humbly suggest the Transverse Myelitis Association.

See Rocks In My Dryer for more real tips that really work for real people.

Wordless Wednesday: Doing Homework

Posted on October 24, 2006 by Barbara Harper

I continually find Jesse in odd positions while he’s doing homework. Looks uncomfortable to me, but I guess it doesn’t bother him! I think of this as his vulture pose. 🙂

For more Wordless Wednesday photos, go here and here.

“What he wanteth of time…”

Posted on October 23, 2006 by Barbara Harper

As I was thinking yesterday about four-year-old Canon’s home-going and the loss his family feels, something came to mind 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:

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’s 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 Canon is with Him where He is, beholding His glory, free from pain and any more surgeries. We could not wish him 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 Canon’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.”

The ladies at Faith Builders asked if anyone would like to, to post a prayer for the family and link it back to a post there. I am not one to write out my prayers generally (even in Bible study books that tell me to…I’d rather just pray them), yet, during one of my mom’s serious illnesses when I asked many people to pray, many of them sent back prayers they had written out for her. I sent those to her, and it touched and ministered to her heart to know that people she didn’t even know would pray for her. So I pray that these specific prayers will be a comfort to Canon’s family.

“Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for Canon’s family during this time of grief. I pray that your merciful kindness would be for their comfort, that they would take refuge in You and know your everlasting arms underneath them, both now and in the days ahead. I pray that the funeral would honor and glorify you and bring comfort to those attending. I pray that you would help Canon’s mom with the many details she has to take care of. I pray that You would bring people across her path who would be able and willing to help both spiritually and practically. I pray for Canon’s siblings, that You would just help them especially during this time: help them not to be confused and hurt and disappointed, but draw them close to Thyself. Help them not to think that You didn’t answer prayer, but to realize that You did answer it, though in a different way. I pray that this would not be used by the evil one to cause bitterness in anyone’s heart that the outcome wasn’t different. I pray that if there are any who do not know You as Lord and Savior, that these events and the funeral would draw them to faith in You. I pray for Your continuing grace for everyone involved in the weeks and months ahead. Thank You for loving us and ministering to us. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for preparing a place in heaven for Your children. Amen.”

Before the Throne of God Above

Posted on October 21, 2006 by Barbara Harper

This is another old hymn that is fairly new to me. I first heard it on the Soundforth CD Freedom Through Christ, then later on the CD A Quiet Heart. I wish it were still in our hymnbooks. I looked up and printed out the words soon after I heard it and listened to it over and over again. I can’t tell you how it has ministered to my heart.

Before the Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

— Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863

Photo Scavenger Hunt: Dreaming

Posted on October 21, 2006 by Barbara Harper

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Richard Armour

Posted on October 20, 2006 by Barbara Harper

Some years ago I came across a poem by Richard Armour in a book that was a collection of quotes and poems about home and family. I just loved his poem — it was both sweet and funny. I began to research to try to find out more about Amour and to find the book this poem came from. It turns out he was a prolific writer who used to have a newspaper column called “Armour’s Armory.” He’s written about home and family, history, Shakespeare, and a lot of other topics. Unfortunately most of his books appear to be out of print, but fortunately you can find many at amazon.com for a dollar or two plus shipping. I ordered three in order to try and find this poem (plus one book on a different topic, Going Like Sixty. No, I wont be sixty for a while yet, but thought this book would be funny, and wanted to get it while it is available).

I did finally find the poem I was seeking in The Spouse in the House. The book jacket calls his verse “playful” and “human as well as humorous.”

Here’s the poem that first intrigued me and started my search:

Teamwork

A splendid team, my wife and I:
She washes dishes, and I dry.
I sometimes pass her back a dish
To give another cleansing swish.
She sometimes holds up to the light
A glass I haven’t dried just right.
But mostly there is no complaint,
Or it is courteous and faint,
For I would never care to see
The washing job consigned to me,
And though the things I dry still drip,
She keeps me for companionship.

Here’s another:

Down the Tube

I’ve seen my wife with anger burn
At something that I never learn:
The toothpaste tube I squeeze and bend
At top and middle, not the end.

She scolds me, pointing out my error,
Makes use of scorn and taunts and terror,
But I forget and go on squeezing
The toothpaste tube in ways displeasing.

In larger things we are convivial:
What causes trouble is the trivial.

I’ve marked a few more, but I don’t want to bore you by going on too long. I’ll leave you with the last one in the book:

Well, Come In

You can have your Welcome mats.
I ask for just a little more
When I come home from work, and that’s
A Welcome mate inside my door.

That’s a bit convicting to me — too often I’m a distracted mate.

Of course, since as far as I can tell he is not a saved man, there might be some objectionable things in his writings. I haven’t found any yet beyond an occasional mention of alcohol, but I wanted to be careful with a disclaimer in case someone else finds something.

The book was such easy reading that I finished it in a few days and added it to my fall reading list in my side bar. I’m looking forward to reading the others I bought and probably even buying some more. Hope you enjoyed them, too — you might be seeing more quotes from Armour in the future. 🙂

Thursday Thirteen: Things you might not know about me

Posted on October 19, 2006 by Barbara Harper

I’ve enjoyed doing “Thursday Thirteens” for weeks now, but today I had a hard time pulling something together. I had two different ideas, but they are not coming together very well, so I put them in storage for another time. 🙂 Barb over at A Chelsea Morning had the idea of posting “Thirteen Things You Might Not Know About Me” since part of this meme is to get to know other bloggers, and I thought that might be a good idea, too….so I hope she doesn’t mind if I borrow it. 🙂

1) I think most anyone who has read this blog for very long knows that I am a born-again Christian, but I wanted to mention that first and foremost. 🙂 I was saved when I was 17 — over 30 years ago.

2) I have been married to Jim for over 26 years and have three sons.

3) I prefer being called “Barbara” rather than “Barb.”

4) I grew up in Texas, though I don’t have a Texas accent. When I was in college and people found out I was from Texas, they’d often ask where my accent was. I was tempted to say, “Back on the ranch with my ten-gallon hat and tumbleweed.” 😀 Actually, most people I know in TX don’t sound like people think Texans sound like. 🙂

5) I’ve spent most of my adult life in South Carolina and love it. I consider this “home.”

6) I was a Home Economics Education major in college, but I wish I had majored in English. For a long time I felt I had totally missed out on the Lord’s will and wasted time and money in college (though time in a good Christian college is valuable and never wasted even if you don’t “use” your major professionally) but eventually came to see maybe the Lord did have a purpose in it after all (it’s a long story).

7) I was painfully shy growing up. In group settings, if someone would try to draw me into the conversation I would almost panic. Thankfully the Lord has helped me with that over the years, but it still overcomes me sometimes.

8 ) Maybe because of the above, I’ve always felt that I expressed myself better in writing than in talking.

9) I collect Boyd’s Bear figurines and heart-shaped objects or things that have heart shapes (pink, not red) on them. I have heart-shaped bowls, serving platters, mirrors, and I have a number of heart-shaped ornaments hanging from pegs on a rack. Some of them are from different places we’ve visited.

10) I’m very hot-natured. My husband says I keep the house like a meat locker. 🙂 I remind him and the boys that they can always put on more clothes to get warm — I can only take so much off to get cool!

11) I love soft, pastel colors, especially pink, blue, and sage green.

12) My favorite flowers are pink roses, white carnations, and purple hydrangeas, but I do not have a green thumb.

13) My favorite hobby has always been reading. I also enjoy writing, have just gotten into scrapbooking and photography, and used to sew, cross-stitch, stencil, and stamp. I’d love to learn how to knit or crochet some day and get back into sewing and cross-stitch — but I think I’d have trouble seeing it these days. 🙂 I’d also love to learn how to do a little bit of tole-painting.

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!
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(Thursday Thirteen header courtesy of Amanda.)

Wordless Wednesday: ‘Tis the last rose of summer….

Posted on October 18, 2006 by Barbara Harper

…or one of the last ones, anyway. There are still a few unopened buds. I am so glad my roses keep blooming so long, especially when I am not very attentive to them.

You can find more Wordless Wednesday pictures, or link to your own, here and here.

Edited to add: A few people asked whether the water droplets were sprayed on or natural. They were natural. It had rained the whole day before. and I think that plus the natural morning dew made it more “dewy” than usual. I noticed it after getting home from taking my son to school. It was opened just the right amount (in fact, later the same day the outer petals looked floppy) and I knew I had to capture that moment of beauty. Thanks for all the kind comments!!

What we have in the Lord

Posted on October 17, 2006 by Barbara Harper

One of the passages from today’s selection in Daily Light on the Daily Path was from Isaiah 45:24: “In the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.” That gave me a lot to meditate on during the rest of my morning routine.

When I buy new t-shirts and put them in the drawers next to the old ones, I’m appalled at how grey the old ones look — the ones that looked white before. That’s just a paltry comparison of what our righteousness would look like next to God’s. Even what might look like righteousness to ourselves and others is only filthy rags. I am so glad the Lord is my righteousness! I certainly don’t have any of my own. I’m so thankful He made a way that we could be made righteous through Christ.

And then I also have strength in Him! I couldn’t get by a day without it.

“All that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.” Though in some ways I am looking forward to the day when the mockers and scorners of the world are set right, my hope is that as many as possible will see Him aright before it’s too late.

A short while after I read these verses, I was a reminded of a study I did some years ago about what we have in Christ. I’d recommend that study to you: it’s enriching in many ways. I looked up in my Online Bible program (you could use BibleGateway as well — it’s helpful to put the words you are looking for in quotation marks when you are looking for an exact phrase) phrases like “in Christ,” “in Jesus,” “in the Lord,” “in him” (though with the last one you would have to sort through to find the ones specifically about the Lord) and then listed them and underlined what we have in Him. Here are a few:

Romans 3:24: ” Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

I Corinthians 1:30: ” But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

Acts 17:28: ” For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

I John 1:5: ” This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Colossians 2:9: ” For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

This study not only rejoices our hearts and strengthens us as we’re reminded of all that we have in Christ, but we can’t help but overflow with praise to Him for all that He is!

(Graphic courtesy of Creative Ladies Ministries.)