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Emotional Life of …
This (insightful!) CCEF article is about a mother of a groom, but really? It’s about every single one of us. We all have fears and idols and escapist tendencies. We all struggle with guilt, envy, and pride. And some of us are prone to “wining” (to quote the author—“no typo”). Read it and be blessed: The Emotional Life of the Mother of the Groom (HT: my FaceBook friend and real-life friend, Bobbi M.)
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Friending Old Flames on FaceBook
Worth the read: Avoiding Old Flames on FaceBook And brings more to the forefront various concerns I’ve had about how some people I really care about, especially young people, interact on FaceBook. I SO don’t want to be the overly-concerned critical adult … but at the same time, I cringe at how much personal information is being revealed and stored PERMANENTLY about these pre-teens and teenagers. I’m not sure they (and their parents) understand the permanence of the internet—college, jobs, ministries, future relationships. I wonder if they understand that the zillion things they “heart” on FaceBook and the zillion groups / causes / fan pages they “like” might affect them…
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Every Dream Lost. Every Dream Fulfilled.
My morning walks with Lilikoi (in real life) and Rev. Dr. Ligon Duncan (via Ipod sermons) continue to be of tremendous help to me. I really credit my relative (for Tara!) emotional and spiritual stability this summer to the fresh air, physical activity, and time to contemplate Holy Scripture and God Himself uninterruptedly. (Thanks for this gift, Fred! And thanks, too, to all of the husbands who take care of young children to give their wives similar BREAKS from the (wonderfully exhausting) constancy of taking care of little ones all day.) Today’s sermon is not to be missed. Especially if you or someone you love is experiencing loss. To paraphrase…
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Equipped to Share the Gospel
I really appreciated Pastor Anyabwile’s summary of these excellent articles by Ligon Duncan: The Gospel and the Local Congregation What is Evangelism? And What is the Gospel? I encourage you to read the entire articles themselves (or at least Thabiti’s summary), here are just a few excerpts to tempt you: “By [gospel culture] I mean: – that your whole congregation would be able to articulate the Gospel, personally, in a compelling and understandable way; – that your whole congregation would deeply care about conversions (and I would lay stress here, that we are talking about real conversions, not numbers; but disciples, not decisions; but changed lives); – that your whole…
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True and Better …
No matter what is on your heart as you wake up this Monday morning, I bet these 3 minutes and 49 seconds will help to reorient you to a God-centered focus that says, “Yes! This is true. Thank You, Lord, that this really is true.” (HT: The Gopel Coalition Blog)
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There Are No Bad Confessions
Uh-oh. In light of something Dave said in our call yesterday, I think I need to change something I’ve said a zillion times—and something that is permanently “out there” in Peacemaking Women and Living the Gospel in Relationships … Even though I usually talk about “bad confessions” when I teach the Peacemaker Ministries Seven A’s of Confession, I think I need to stop using that term. This is the quote from Dave that is convicting me BIG TIME: ‘There is really no such thing as a bad confession. A bad confession is just no confession at all. You have great confessions and you have no confession. You can try to…
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Longing for a Friend? Don’t Waste Time Waiting for Someone to Befriend You
We have another “friend/prayer group” starting up next week and I’m just thrilled. For those of you who haven’t heard my teaching on this topic, the quick bottomline is that a “friend/prayer group” is just a set time that 4 or 5 women meet every week for friendship and for prayer. We don’t read a book or study the Bible. We accomplish no “goals” other than sharing our lives and being friends. It’s wonderful and particularly helpful for people like me—introverts, lots o’ weaknesses, not naturally good at relationships—because it is intentional; and it’s particularly helpful for busy people because it forces you to set aside time and keep a…
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Getting Things Done to the Next Level
This will give some of you the heebie-jeebies, but others may enjoy it: Getting Things Done to the Next Level If you already feel disorganized, overwhelmed, and that you’ll never be able to get a handle on everything in your life, I encourage you to not read it. Instead? Spend time with a friend who LIKES to organize things and can gently, calmly, help you to take one little step at a time into making order out of chaos. But if you LOVE “GTD” or if you just enjoy order and tasklists, etc. etc., enjoy! It’s quite a read. (HT: Challies.com)
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Deciding What Sort of Immortals We Wish to Be
“The great religious struggle is not fought on a spectacular battleground, but within the ordinary human heart, when every morning we awake and feel the pressures of the day crowding in on us, and we must decide what sort of immortals we wish to be.” C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (HT: Christian Cryder)
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Butte Montana with the Lyndes
Our mini-vacation with the Lyndes in beautiful Butte, Montana is coming to a close. We’ve had lots of fun at the An Ri Ra Irish Festival, including a dance class with the internationally renown Chicago-based Trinity Irish Dancers: A visit to the Berkeley Pit: And mostly just hanging out together, having fun: Back to the real world soon! Hope your weekend is a blessed one— Yours, Tara B. PS Here are the two photos that Samaralara likes the best. Especially the second one:
