• Uncategorized

    first snow!

    A friend wrote me an email today and mentioned in an aside that it’s 80 degrees where she lives. Can’t say that about Billings. Here are a few pics from our morning …    

  • Uncategorized

    Scout & Samara Visit!

    Sorry I haven’t been able to post anything … I’ve been busy (having fun!) because Samara and Scout arrived last night for a visit! What a blessing to get to be with friends. Hope you enjoy the pics! G’nite and God bless, Tara B.    

  • Sin & Repentance

    Is it REALLY possible to CHANGE?

    I am deep into preparations for my new (“advanced” / “alumni”) women’s retreat. (A church in Texas has already had me teach my “standard” retreat and they asked me to come back next month for another event. So I’m preparing a new set of teachings on Becoming Who You Already Are: How the Gospel Transforms Our Lives and Brings Us Peace.) Does anyone else find it strange (hard? painful? frustrating?) that whenever we have to pray, study, and prepare to teach on a certain topic we invariably start to STRUGGLE regarding it? That has surely been my experience lately. As you may have picked up from some of my recent…

  • Singleness & Marriage

    Personal Testimony Regarding Adultery …

    We have been blessed to hear a personal testimony from someone regarding our previous posts/discussions on adultery. Since I know that not everyone reads all of the comments on every post, I thought I’d move her testimony up to a new blog (and to our discussion board) to make it more accessible for everyone. Let me give you a recap of the discussion so far and then I’ll include her testimony … 1. Original Question: “If two Christians are friends and commit adultery with each other and then repent of their sin of adultery can they still remain friends? Can they be restored to a chaste, pure relationship and reconciled…

  • Relationships & Peacemaking

    Andree Seu on Forgiveness

    Have you purchased Andree Seu’s book yet? If not, I urge you to do so today! Mrs. Seu is simply one of the best writers I have ever read. Let me tempt you with just the opening paragraph from her recent essay in World Magazine: “Forgiving is the hardest thing you will ever do. That’s why most people don’t do it. We talk about it, cheer for it, preach on it, and are sure we’ve practiced it. But mostly the illusion of having forgiven is that the passage of time dulls memory. The ruse will come to light with hair-trigger vengeance when fresh offense hurls in to empty the gunnysack…

  • Just for Fun!

    Welcome to my blog!

    I’ve been receiving quite a few personal emails from people who are visiting my blog this week for the first time, so I thought I’d give a little “tour” to (hopefully!) introduce some key components to you. – FrapprMap & discussion group: In the upper right-hand corner, you’ll see a button that says, “Where are we?” and a link to our discussion group too. If you would like to visually SEE where we are located, the FrapprMap is a fun, free tool that you can join. I’ve also tried to make our dialogues more convenient for you by setting up a discussion board that allows YOU to choose the topics…

  • Singleness & Marriage

    Adultery? And then …

    I received this question via email and I am wondering how YOU would respond: “If two Christians are friends and commit adultery with each other and then repent of their  sin of adultery can they still remain friends?  Can they be restored to a chaste, pure relationship and reconciled with each other as brother and sister in Christ?” What do you think?  

  • Relationships & Peacemaking

    Christian Conciliation & a Solvent Business Model?

    I received an email today from a fellow “recovering lawyer” who is interested in pursuing certification as a Certified Christian Conciliator with the Institute for Christian Conciliation, a division of Peacemaker Ministries. (This is the organization where I used to serve as a director.) She asked some interesting questions and I thought that some of you might be interested as well, so here is a portion of our email exchange. 1. How well utilized is Christian conciliation? Is conciliation fairly well received by churches, in general? Also, about how many certified conciliators are out there right now? The service is well-respected and growing, but not that well utilized by most…

  • Relationships & Peacemaking

    I just knew I wouldn’t like you …

    Last week, at different times, I had two (very well-respected, “successful”) Christians say basically the same thing to me: “The first time I met you, I just knew I wouldn’t like you. At all. And I didn’t.” But THEN, after getting to know me a little bit (AND after they observed me receiving some honor / awards / public acceptance), they said this: “But NOW I think that we really COULD be friends. I sure love you, Tara. I’d love to get to spend time with you and work with you.” Strange, huh? Not strange that they wouldn’t like me–that happens a lot. But strange to have two people in…

  • Grace in Daily Life

    “Near Him” — Another AMAZING Jill Carratini Essay

    Jill Carratini (at RZIM) has written another amazing essay that drew me to the throne of God in worship–and I hope will do the same for you. Please click through and read it! Here’s a snippet just to encourage you to take a few minutes and read this essay:   “Someone once told me that the opposite of Christlikeness is not sinfulness like we might expect but apathy. The idea that follows is that even the worst sinner who cries out to God is actually closer to the heart of Christ than the one who stands apathetically. The woman caught in adultery and clinging to the feet of Christ was…