• Hope in Suffering,  Peace Amidst Holiday Strife

    Six Deaths in 36 Days

    On any given day, I love being an early morning riser. I used to love it as a child, when I would follow my dad around the house as he went through his morning routine—I’d even tuck a handkerchief and old men’s wallet and little black comb into MY pants pocket too because I wanted to be just like him. I loved not being tired at 6:30AM jazz band and swing choir rehearsals in high school. And I have always loved the freshness and encouragement of super early morning walks—it’s such a perfect time to be outdoors, take deep breaths, and think, reflect, pray, and enjoy. (My non-early-morning-riser friends undoubtedly disagree with…

  • Eulogy for a Bad Mother,  Redeeming Church Conflicts,  Relationships & Peacemaking,  Sin & Repentance

    “One reason people cling to the hurts they have received is that it gives them an excuse for being angry …”

    My friend and one of my heroes of the faith, Ajith Fernando, graciously gave me permission to share this with you. It includes some of his key teachings from Reclaiming Love: Radical Relationships in a Complex World (which I just ordered and am looking very forward to reading). Ajith has a particular burden for this topic because of the deep hurt that angry Christian leaders can cause. RESIDUAL ANGER Ajith Fernando A few days ago I realised that Paul used the words “rejoice,” “rejoiced,” “joy,” and “glad” a total of sixteen times in the Epistle to the Philippians. The great Bible scholar A. T. Robertson aptly named his classic exposition on Philippians, Paul’s…

  • Uncategorized

    Introductory Course on Logic for our 5th/6th Grade Theology Class

    When school reconvenes in January, I will be teaching our 5th and 6th Grade Theology Class some basic logic. I’ve been listening to podcasts and reading away to try to get myself ready for their questions. (Having never formally studied logic, I feel the weakness of my self-study and self-preparations. But I’m hoping I can stay at least one or two classes ahead of them.) My confidence in this plan for our classes was bolstered this morning when I read this article by Pastor Kevin DeYoung: More Arguments That Are Less Than Meets the Eye In it, he not only summarizes some of the very arguments we will be studying,…

  • Uncategorized

    One of the Cruelest Things I Ever Said to Anyone (And One of the Most Amazing Stories of Forgiveness I Have Ever Experienced)

    When I was a freshman in high school, I was a complete and utter jerk. All I wanted was to fit in with “the cool crowd.” I let a boy I didn’t even like or respect kiss me just so I could wear his football jersey on a game Friday. I gossiped and giggled with girls who were mean—just because I wanted them to not be mean to me. And one day, one terrible day that still fills me with regret, huddling on a school bus, laughing that wicked laugh that only comes from a soil that has been fertilized with the stench of rotting, dead, vile words, I said…

  • Uncategorized

    Greater love hath no man than this …

    I hope that I can live like this man. We don’t call them The Greatest Generation for nothin’ …  (HT: Challies) (Oh! And for the first time in my life, I actually watched the little ad that I could have skipped AND I BOUGHT (well, my sister bought) the item advertised: Goldie Blox and the Spinning Machine. It seemed like a perfect fit for my daughters who are SO into math, science, design, and engineering these days. I’ve been looking and looking for things to inspire and delight them in these spatial, “hard-science”, quantitative areas that I am so particularly weak in.) 

  • Uncategorized

    Oh no! My broken blog software has blocked all of your comments … PLEASE try again! Double entries if you try TODAY!

    I’m SO sorry—I just learned that my blog software has been blocking all of your comments. Yeek! No wonder we’ve had even LESS comments than normal these days. Would you PRETTY PLEASE try one more time to Enter our Family’s Current WIN FREE STUFF GIVEAWAY by clicking through and leaving a comment on this post? I would be ever so grateful. If you enter today (Saturday, November 30, 2013)—OR if you try and let me know if you’ve been foiled again. (Grrrrr.) I’ll give you TWO entries to (hopefully) make up for the inconvenience that my broken software has caused you.   Thanks, friends! G’nite, Tara B. 

  • Child Protection / Abuse in the Church,  Momma Tara~Parenting

    Are you still closing your eyes to the real risk of child sexual abuse in your church?

    In one of my most-read previous blog posts, I tackled a topic that I consider to be one of the most important topics in the church today: child sexual abuse … Child Abuse in the Church: Justice Can Be Grace After reading a link from Challies this morning (The Top Five Reasons Your Church Could Land in Court), I am only that much more convinced that this topic is extremely important and yet, shockingly and naively ignored by most Christians and most church leaders. (Thankfully, not my church leaders and my church administrator. But I know they have to fight tooth and nail, at great personal cost of time and effort, to…

    Comments Off on Are you still closing your eyes to the real risk of child sexual abuse in your church?
  • Uncategorized

    FREE Copy of “How People Change” by Paul Tripp and Tim Lane

          I can’t believe that Crossway is giving away Paul Tripp and Tim Lane’s (phenomenal!!) book, How People Change. But they are!   This book would be in my list of the top ten books that have changed my life. I strongly urge you to get it now.     

    Comments Off on FREE Copy of “How People Change” by Paul Tripp and Tim Lane
  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Wow! Redeeming Church Conflicts is SUPER CHEAP on Amazon right now!

    I have no idea why Amazon is having this HUGE sale on my second book (Redeeming Church Conflicts), but they are: Redeeming Church Conflicts only $6.98 (with Amazon Prime!) and $3.99 Kindle This is MUCH cheaper than even I can buy it from my publisher as the author! If I had any extra cash right now, I’d stock up. Anyhoo … if you’ve even been in a group conflict and struggled to know what to do, I truly believe this book will help you. It is especially good at encouraging HOPE (when things feel hopeless!) because my coauthor, Dave Edling, is one of the most experienced Certified Christian Conciliators working in conflicted organizations and churches ever so he…

    Comments Off on Wow! Redeeming Church Conflicts is SUPER CHEAP on Amazon right now!
  • Uncategorized

    Distinguishing Marks of a Quarrelsome Person (by Kevin DeYoung)

    I was searching for an old blog entry to respond to a conflict coaching request and I came across this old Kevin DeYoung article: Distinguishing Marks of a Quarrelsome Person It is so convicting! But so helpful too. Let me tempt you to click through to read the entire article but summarizing just a few points. You are a quarrelsome person if:   – You defend every conviction with the same degree of intensity. You don’t talk about secondary issues, because there are no secondary issues. – You are quick to speak and slow to listen. You rarely ask questions and when you do it is to accuse or to continue prosecuting…

    Comments Off on Distinguishing Marks of a Quarrelsome Person (by Kevin DeYoung)