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PCA WIC International Conference (next week!!)
Next week I’ll be heading to Atlanta to teach at the PCA International Women in the Church (WIC) Conference. (Will any of you be there? If so, I hope that you will stop by and say hello!) One of my freebie giveaways is an article I wrote based on the surveys I’ve been taking this year on the relationships among women in the Church. If you’re interested, you can read it here. Joy to you all! Yours, Tara B.
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Homeschooling & Public Schooling & Christian Schooling …
Our church has home schoolers, public schoolers, Christian schoolers, Classical-education schoolers (sorry, I’m not sure what the right term is for that), and probably anything and everything that might fall somewhere in between. It’s great because Fred and I have a wealth of wisdom just waiting to be tapped as we seek to discern how best to educate our daughter. It’s also great because–honestly, truly!–the parents experience true friendship and God-honoring unity even though they disagree about this important issue. Let me give you an example from last week … I was at a party visiting with some friends who just started homeschooling for the first time. (Boy! Did they…
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Vulnerability & True Fellowship
The other day I heard a compliment about a young man in our church. My friends were in a Bible study with him and they described him like this: “Dave (not his real name) is so willing to be vulnerable during our small group. He shares openly and honestly about his struggles with sin, temptation, unbelief … and we are all always left even more encouraged to believe on the goodness of God as a result of Dave’s genuineness and openness.” Isn’t that the kind of compliment that you would want to receive one day? And isn’t “Dave’s” openness and vulnerability a beautiful and God-honoring example of the only way…
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On contrition …
More from Jill Carattini (at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries); this time on Willful Heartache: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). The heart most open toward God is a heart that is broken before Him. Contrition is a word we now use infrequently, though it remains a powerful call to one of the deepest places of worship. As David discovered, it is not an easy call to answer; it runs counter to our instinct to run, calling us instead to come near with a broken heart. The word “contrite” derives from the Latin word contritus, meaning…
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A tormented conscience …
Yet again, I have been incredibly helped (and challenged!) by the wise writings of Jill Carattini at Ravi Zacharias Ministries. Last month she wrote an essay on “vital signs” — and I URGE you to read it on this very Sabbath day. I could tempt you with line after line, but I’ll just share with you her closing paragraph: “There is life to be found even in gauges we’d rather ignore. He who made us has given us vital signs of his presence, gauges that point us to life. Empty tank or tormented conscience, might it drive us into the arms of God.” As a woman who has been struggling…
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DON’T YOU DARE MAKE MY FRIEND CRY!!!!
One of my dearest friends in the whole world is suffering terribly right now. – Someone is treating her CRUELLY. – The same person is treating someone she LOVES cruelly. – It’s breaking her heart; bringing out righteous anger (and probably some sinful anger too); and mostly just burdening her from the moment she wakes up until she (fitfully) sleeps again at night. My reaction is incredibly mixed-up. (Just like me.) Of course I want to MAKE THIS PERSON STOP HURTING MY FRIEND!!!!!!!! (But I can’t.) Of course I want to protect her and shield her and throw my body in front of the bullet of meanness that is ripping…
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Peacemaking & The Fall
Incredibly keen insights from GH (in Maryland) … I am going to mull on them for awhile. Happy Tuesday! Love, Tara B. “Dear Tara, I was too busy studying and preparing lessons for the young Moms’ class at VBS when your e-mail came inviting participation in your on-line survey. However, I am finally freer than I have been in a while and wanted to open some lines of discussion with you. I don’t know that I have a great deal to offer on the subject. Most has been learned in the school of hard knocks. However, having been involved in [women’s ministry] now for 25+ years, I have had many…
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Wow! What a praise!
I received this email from a woman who won a prize for completing my “peacemaking women” survey and boy! It was SO encouraging that I thought I would share it with you too. Love to all, Tara B. “I just had to let you know how our sovereign God works through others. I received your package in the mail today and was in disbelief when I opened the package. You sent me a copy of Dr. Welch’s book on depression and there is no way you could have known that I had been trying to figure out a quick way to get a copy to give a friend of mine.…
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Submission and Headship at 100 Feet Below the Ocean
On two of our ten SCUBA dives last week, Fred’s depth gauge broke. (Bummer!) It wasn’t dangerous or anything, but it meant that our normal dive buddy pattern had to adjust even after we had descended. (Usually, Fred checks his depth gauge and air level CONSTANTLY during our dives and I’m more of a “check it occasionally” person. It’s funny because I often think, “MAN, Fred checks his gauges a lot” and Fred says that he often thinks, “MAN, Tara should check her gauges more often.” Isn’t marriage a hoot?) ANYWAY … normally when we dive, I like to let Fred take the “lead” so that I’m responsible for adjusting…
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Discussion Board Logins?
If you’ve tried to join our discussion board and NOT received a password/login, would you PLEASE email me and let me know? As some of you may have noticed, we’re having a bit of a struggle keeping SPAM (especially pornography SPAM! Ick!!!) off of my blog and our discussion board, so some legitimate friends may have been denied a login. SO sorry for the inconvenience! Thanks for letting me know. (Oh — and if you email me, you’ll probably get my “out of the office until 8/22” autoreply, as soon as I can get to my computer and Fred is awake, I’ll try to cancel that. But please trust…
