• Uncategorized

    Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.

    My pastor was preachin’ in this morning! I really think I need to go back and listen to the entire sermon again, not just for my own edification but because I’m prepping a new women’s retreat on fear (to be given for the first time in March 2011) and MAN am I convince that the first session needs to anchor on the doctrine of justification—our only hope (and our confident assurance!) for peace with God. This was one of my pastor’s many points and I won’t try to restate them all for you. But I will give you the one quote that has stuck with me all day long: “Fear…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Are You Ready to be a Leader?

    I’m not familiar with this book (Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders), but even just the summary questions listed by Kevin DeYoung in a recent blog post are worth contemplating: Are You Ready to be a Leader? In reflecting on my own strengths and weaknesses, and in thinking (and praying!) about potential future leaders for our church’s women’s Bible study, I was particularly challenged by these: 2. Do you retain control of yourself when things go wrong? The leader who loses self-control in testing circumstances forfeits respect and loses influence. He must be calm in crisis and resilient in adversity and disappointment. 4. Can you handle criticism objectively and remain…

  • Uncategorized

    Helping Someone re: Clutter/Hoarding (and NOT being critical/judgmental while you do so)

    Beginning with my sister’s bedroom when I was not even seven years old, I’ve helped lots of people to organize big messes. I truly enjoy pulling out piles and piles from underneath beds, stuffed in boxes / closets / drawers / piled on desks and dressers. I like to get everything “out there” and then sort by genre and status (garbage / give away / sell / archive / currently useful). And then my favorite part comes—a trip to The Container Store for new systems (!). It’s like a big ol’ back-breaking, brain-relaxing party to me. (Some of you will relate, you office-supply-lovin-folks! And others will just shake their heads…

  • Momma Tara~Parenting

    Healthy Childhood S*xual Development

    Thanks to my FaceBook Friend, Rebecca S., I learned that the Focus on the Family broadcast for today has to do with children and p*rnography, so I clicked over to their website to check things out. And then I found this excellent series of articles that I encourage you to read too: Healthy Childhood S*xual Development It was particularly helpful to me because I often downplay or forget entirely just how great an impact my early childhood had on my teen and young adult years. The author’s three reminders towards the end of the first article really struck me: “S*xual development is designed to occur over time without injury or…

  • Momma Tara~Parenting

    Superior Pleasures

    I was blessed, and saddened, when Sophia (age 6) asked to talk with me last night about something that had been troubling her. It had to do with images in her head about people kissing “in a husband-wife way.” Oh! I was so grateful that she talks so openly with me about hard topics. But doubly-oh! I was sad that, even though we have been so careful about exposing our children to influences in our hyper-erotic society, apparently something had gotten into her precious little mind. So we talked and prayed together. One of the things I asked her was whether she knew from where she had seen or learned…