• Momma Tara~Parenting

    Does Motherhood Narrow the Mind?

    Last week, in our church’s Introduction to Theology and Logic class, I was privileged to discuss three extremely important topics with three extremely wonderful pre-teen girls: The Ordo Salutis God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Free Will The Problem of Evil I hadn’t planned on discussing these topics–but I teach by the Socratic method and thus, I go where the class takes us. And our initial discussion (that I had planned for the day) on whether you can prove Christianity scientifically landed us smack-dab on top of the three topics above. So that’s what we spend the majority of our time on—on those topics and looking at Ephesians 1. As I debriefed with the girls’ mothers after class,…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    If you do not live a life marked by love toward others, the Bible has no encouragement for you to think that you’re a Christian. None.

    Quoting from Stop Dating the Church (by Joshua Harris): “To be part of the universal church isn’t enough … Every Christian is called to be passionately committed to a specific local church. Why? Because the local church is the key to spiritual health and growth for a Christian. And because as the visible ‘body of Christ’ in the world, the local church is central to God’s plan for every generation.” Quoting Mark Dever from a talk he frequently gives on college campuses about the local church … “… in the New Testament it seems that the local church is there to verify or falsify our claims to be Christians. The…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    A Multitude of Faithful, Risk-Taking, Plodders …

    Yesterday, I was researching something for one of my pastors and I came across a bunch of emails from one of the hardest-working women in our little church. Her wisdom, wit, and passion (along with her faithful, long-term service to our church family) reminded me of one of my favorite Kevin DeYoung articles that I encourage you to read in its entirety:  The Glory of Plodding A few snippets to hopefully tempt you to click through: “The best churches are full of gospel-saturated people holding tenaciously to a vision of godly obedience and God’s glory, and pursuing that godliness and glory with relentless, often unnoticed, plodding consistency … That’s my dream for…

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  • Hope in Suffering,  Momma Tara~Parenting

    Remembering As We Are Dying

    Easter always makes me think a lot about death. Of course, Good Friday is the main impetus for my thoughts. The worst day ever, leading to the best day ever. But I also think about our second child who slipped from my womb the afternoon of Easter, 2007. The Day of Life reminds me of death. Every year. Plus, I miss my mom. Sure, she was all about the bonnets and the gloves and the bunnies—what we call “Springtime Fun” in our home (as opposed to the Real Easter). But it was still very spring-y and very fun. So I miss her smoker’s laugh at the girls’ egg-hunting, baskets-overflowing hilarity. I…

  • Eulogy for a Bad Mother,  How to Love a Mentally Ill Addict,  Perfectionism & Shame,  Sin & Repentance,  Surviving a Childhood of Neglect and Abuse

    Sane Faith in the Insanity of Life (David Powlison)

    I’m rereading some of my old CCEF Journal of Biblical Counseling articles (on good old fashioned paper) and I’m also beginning to get acquainted with their online library. This classic series from David Powlison is on the CCEF website and I encourage you to slowly read and process it, especially if, like me, you are convicted that some areas of your life are in need of serious change: Sane Faith in the Insanity of Life In it, he discusses five people struggling with various challenges in life: “Each of these five stories describes a person who needs help in order to face up, to deal, to change. But these people…

  • Relationships & Peacemaking

    Forgiving even your husband’s murderer? (Forgiving “just as in Christ, you have been forgiven …”?)

    The call to forgive is found throughout the Old and New Testament. Consider just a few examples: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:12-13 “Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against…

  • Uncategorized

    What To Do When Your Flight is Canceled Because of Weather

    I am currently stuck in New York City, trying hard to make my way home to Montana from Florida. (Yes. Yes. I know that’s not a geographically-efficient routing, but that’s air travel! What can you do?) Last night, a giant snow and ice storm paralyzed all of the New York airports and as I watched the activity at my gate, it struck me that most of the people I was observing had no idea what to do. One little old lady even came up to me, shaking with anger and fear (fearful people often present as angry people), and asked if I was on the Cincinnati flight—a flight that had been…