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    ROI Analysis Please

    It might be hard to believe, but I’m getting worse health-wise. My working hypothesis is that when my immune system was down, I actually acquired FRED’s flu … so rather than getting better, I’m just on the down-tick of another virus. Blech. But all that aside … I DID make Fred laugh today, so that makes me happy. I brought in the mail and told him, “Great news! The Smiths wrote us!” The “Smiths” (not their real name) are these missionaries who, apparently, in 1989 (when Fred was NINETEEN) visited an Intervarsity meeting and Fred checked some sort of “stay in touch” box and now, for almost TWENTY YEARS they…

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    Thanks Crossroads!!

    Just a little SHOUT OUT to say THANK YOU to Crossroads Presbyterian Church for the beautiful and encouraging card today! Perfect timing in light of the grouchy-just over-watered a plant and spilled water everywhere-kind-of-day I’m having. 🙂 ! I am very much looking forward to being with you all! Just a few weeks now. Boy! The time is flying.   Happy Wednesday– Tara B.  

  • Hope in Suffering

    Gospel and Injustice (HT: Pastor Anyabwile)

    Oh my STARS, but I just read one of the finest essays on INJUSTICE and THE GOSPEL that I have ever read: Gospel and Injustice (by Pastor Anyabwile) Please don’t miss it. Let me tempt you with just a brief excerpt: “Examples of injustice abound. From the unkind word spoken to someone made in the image of God (Jam. 3:9) to prejudices and biases against people of a particular gender, ethnicity, or social standing (Jam. 2:1-4) to abuse and murder. Spending any amount of time contemplating the sheer amount of injustice in the world easily overwhelms us. In this world, injustice is intractable … But neither injustice nor the resulting…

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    Sea Scapes by My Dad

    Fred and I are still cooking along in the 101.6 – 102.0 fevered range, so not a lot going on in the Barthel home today. But I did receive a nice email from my dad and his wife with photos of his new “sea scapes” and I wanted to share them with you to honor him:   My father is an engineer by training and life experience, but in his retirement and as he has battled cancer and heart troubles, he has taken to creating these “sea scapes” from sand, shells, and hand-crafted sea creatures. I know he would love to sell them to anyone with an interest in underwater…

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    Not Many “Find Their Place”

    I received an email this morning from a dear woman who was actually one of my very VERY first “Tara’s doing a women’s retreat / not a formal Peacemaker Ministries staff member” event hosts. (I remember how AMAZED Fred and I were that our family had the honor of serving those women, their families, and their churches in that way. We’re still humbled and amazed.) ANYWAY … she made an off-hand comment about some of the ministries in which she is serving. (She is one of those people who serves and serves, but usually in secret–so people have NO IDEA in this life. But we’ll see the jewels in her…

  • Sin & Repentance

    Have to be careful about MONEY

    I am JUST about to walk the dog. (Hah! I’ve been telling myself that for 45 minutes.) But trying to work through emails/paperwork, I am convicted by just how CAREFUL I must learn to be when it comes to $$$$$$$. I’ve had a number of “LITTLE” inconveniences related to money in the last month–and I think they are starting to pile up in my heart. (This is NOT good.) Taken alone, they are no big deal. (Someone doesn’t pay the international shipping charge for something and our family just goes ahead and pays the $21 fee without saying something; someone else makes an error with their own paperwork and in…

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    Best CD and DVD Duplication Company

    If you are ever looking for a duplication company for your CDs or DVDs, I highly recommend: Above All Multimedia Partners, LLC. www.AboveAllMultimedia.com 847.506.0600 I found this company online YEARS ago (back when they were copying TAPES for me!) and I have never had ANY concerns with them. They are incredibly prompt, professional, and courteous. Their prices are competitive (if not down-right DEALS) and they don’t require HUGE orders to reach those competitive prices. I know that their profit margin can’t be that huge–I’m actually always thinking about margin when interacting with any small business … guess I still have a few MBA brain cells left in there–but it is…

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    Migraine

    Well … I’ve been struck completely OUT by the worst migraine I’ve had in YEARS. Started around 5PM, but by 7PM, I was incapacitated in a dark room with an ice pack on my head and STILL vomiting. I had a TINY bit of relief around 4:10AM. Oh! How I thanked God for only throbbing pain rather than excruciating pain. I have no idea how people in such CHRONIC pain (or our soldiers being tortured!) survive. (Not to equate my tiny suffering with theirs! I just marvel at what people can survive when they are REALLY suffering.) ANYWAY … this blog post marks the entirety of the time I will…