• Grace in Daily Life

    Beyond Generous

    Late last night I emailed a friend to ask him a favor on behalf of our family. It’s always a little hard, isn’t it, to make yourself vulnerable and share of a need you have? I mean, we would have totally understood if this man had said, “Sorry. Can’t help you.” No problem. But it would’ve had a teeny-tiny element of, “Oh WHY did we ask?!?-ness” to it, if you know what I mean. But by this morning, he had already written back with not only an, “Of course I’d love to help!” but also an insistence on (tremendously!) blessing us even MORE as a “condition” of helping. Such a…

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    This Post Made Me Laugh (HT: IX Marks)

    For whatever reason, this post over at IX Marks really made me laugh this morning: What I’ve Been Doing During Mark’s Sabbatical May favorite quote was:   “When people in our congregation move away and ask for advice on finding a church, I always tell them ‘There’s a fine line between Reformed and crazy'”.  

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    Still Having Fun in Mexico …

    Sandcastles & fun at “Dolphin Discovery” (dolphin pics to come later): Beating Kali & Fred at tic-tac-chess: Writing thank you notes & I love you notes & planning our to-do list for the next day:   (“Wake up.” “Eat breakfast.” “Play at the beach.” “Play Uno.” “Play Charades.” “Cuddle” Yeah … this kid has a rough life, eh?) Merry Christmas from the sun-soaked Barthels! Love, Tara B.  

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    Text Patterns

    Thanks, Between Two Worlds, for introducing us to Dr. Alan Jacobs’ new blog: Text Patterns I’m looking forward to reading it. This excerpt is taken from his inaugural post:   “I’m a fifty-year-old professor of English and therefore, as you might suspect, a lifelong reader. Books and magazines have been near the core of my identity since I learned to read at age three. I love the printed word and think that it embodies a set of technologies whose virtues can’t be replaced by other media. But I also have a deep interest in and attachment to the online world; I tend to get pretty excited about what I can…

  • Hope in Suffering

    Good Advice if You Are Discouraged

    Although this IX Marks entry is particularly directed at pastors, I thought it was spot-on for lay people too: Any Discouraged Pastors Out There? If you or someone you love is struggling at sad this holiday season, I encourage you to pop on over and read it. It’s very short–but very wise. My favorite line was: “Believe it or not, there is more to life than the situation that has you discouraged.”   I just don’t think that a person who never struggles with discouragement or depression would’ve written that line. So thanks, Elder Matt Schmucker! And much love to you, dear blog readers– Yours, Tara B.  

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    Advent for “Poor and Imperfect” People

    Jill Carattini’s recent devotional, “Far Away from Home,” quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer at length and it was so rich with the gospel that I wanted to share it with you here: “In a Christmas sermon given December 2, 1928, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, ‘The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, who look forward to something greater to come. For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God in the child in the manger. God comes. The Lord Jesus comes. Christmas comes. Christians rejoice!’ ‘When once again…

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    Fear OR “Faith working through love”

    Yesterday was not the day I planned to have–but there were many blessings anyway. One of them was our reading to prepare for small group. As our pastor preaches through Galatians, our small groups are reading and discussing Tim Keller’s commentary–and it is profound. Convicting? Yes! But comforting, too. Not condemning–well, as long as I keep praying for the grace to look at the Cross and not fixate on myself. (Because whenever I get stuck focusing on my sins and immaturities and lack of faith? I despair!) Toward the end of the reading, there was a list comparing the “two fundamentally different ways to live” — either as “sons” or…

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    Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise

    If you’re so inclined, I hope you will read this slowly and discuss it with your children. It is not only historically accurate, it is encouraging–especially as we continue to pray for the many changes coming soon to our government. The First National Proclamation of Thanksgiving as given by the Continental Congress in 1777: “FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue…

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    Saying Grace

    “Saying Grace” by Norman Rockwell   (By the way–if you ever have a chance to see a Norman Rockwell exhibit, go! A small grouping of his original paintings came through Billings a few years ago and WOW! Did we love seeing the actual artwork in person–as compared to “flat” reproductions in magazines or on shiny-stock posterboard. Real art has so much texture and depth! It is one of the many reasons that I am so grateful for the gifts and generosity of Samara’s husband, Taylor Lynde. His willingness to step out of galleries and put small pieces on an ebay store is why even as I type this, I am…