• Uncategorized

    Marcy Won the Leadership Series!

    Congratulations to Marcy! YOU WON the $179 Peacemaker Leadership Resource. Please just email me your mailing address by November 18 and it’s yours! (And if you get me your address by this Tuesday, I’ll send it out this week. Otherwise, I won’t send it until after the 18th.) Congratulations again and thanks to everyone who joined in the fun!   G’nite and God bless, Tara B.  

  • Sin & Repentance

    Add in one good thing …

    Years ago, my dear friend Joe Adams gave me some great advice re: disciplines / health goals, etc. I was trying to cut back on my soda consumption. (Yes, yes, I know how HORRIBLE soda is. Truly. But it’s still hard for me to give up.) And he encouraged me to NOT think of it as “giving up soda,” but instead to have a nice big glass of cold water (from a GLASS glass, not something plastic because glass makes it taste so much better) BEFORE I have a soda. Because just by adding in something good, my desire of something less health/redemptive would lessen. And he was right. Plus,…

  • Uncategorized

    Paul does not glory in …

    I am rereading (and enjoying thoroughly) Eugene Peterson’s “Traveling Light: Meditations on St. Paul’s Letter of Freedom”. (Thanks again, Pastor Bostrom, for the wonderful gift of this book for our family!) My current chapter is on Galatians 6:11-18: “See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast…

  • Uncategorized

    One Conscious Hour Not Influenced by the Lord’s Return?

    We are almost done with our women’s study on 1 & 2 Thessalonians (“Living the Gospel to the End” by Kathleen Buswell Nielson—if you’re not familiar with all of her excellent, gospel-centered, rigorous Bible studies, I encourage you to get to know them!) … And I have to say, I am much more mindful of Christ’s imminent return than I was before we began the study. Still, this quote from the IX Marks blog set me back on my heels simply because of the depth of love and devotion to Christ (and confidence in the Lord!) that it reflected: “I do not think in the last forty years I have…

  • Uncategorized

    Prodigal God Resources are Now Available

    Great news! Tim Keller’s Prodigal God resources are now available! If you haven’t already read this book and shared it with others, you are going to LOVE it. And having led a group of women through it already WITHOUT the study helps, I’m particularly excited that now there are guides/questions/etc. available.   Enjoy!  

  • Uncategorized

    Rachelle and Joe are Here!

    We are so enjoying our visit with Joe and his beautiful fiance, Rachelle. (Joe, you may recall, is the ONLY reason why my video series, Living the Gospel in Relationships, EXISTS. He labored for hundreds and hundreds of hours, unpaid, to complete all of the post-production and editing of the series. Without him the project never would have gotten started and it NEVER would’ve been completed.) (Plus, Joe is just a dear, dear friend who never fails to make Fred and me laugh. 🙂 ) Here are some pics from our day …   Fun stuff! We’re hoping to make it to West Yellowstone on Wednesday, but these record cold…

  • Relationships & Peacemaking

    Bad Relationships End in Cravings

    My friend and I are continuing to work through Ed Welch’s addictions curriculum, “Crossroads”. It is definitely worth the read, especially if you appreciated his book, “Addictions: A Banquet at the Grave”, if you struggle with an addiction, and/or if you know and love someone who struggles with an addiction. Today’s lesson included two quotes (one in the facilitator’s guide and the other in the basic material) that I wanted to share with you: “Are you frustrated with someone? Don’t bury it. Someday it will come out as a craving for your addiction.” “Bad relationships left to stew and ferment end in cravings.” Isn’t that SO true? Even if you…