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Redemptive Love Makes a Difference
Last Sunday, our church was blessed to receive a message from Dr. David A. Baer of Overseas Council International (sorry I couldn’t find a link for you!). He preached on Isaiah 2 and encouraged us all that as we believe God’s Word, we simply cannot be pessimistic. Because, although at times we will grieve in this life–ultimately, one day, God will have His way. I took two pages of notes on his sermon and I won’t type them all in for you now, but here are just a few nuggets that I keep mulling on and praying over as I go through my (busy!) week: – The gospel makes a…
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Trying to stay on top of the SPAM comments …
Just a quick note to let you all know that I am TRYING to stay on top of (and DELETE!) all of the icky SPAM comments that keep sneaking onto this blog. (I hate SPAM!!!) Today I was up before 5:00 and thought, “Cool! I’ll be so on time/early today!” But instead, I just spent 45 minutes trying to delete and block all of the SPAMMERS. (!!) Anyway–please know that I am aware of the problem and trying to eradicate it. Hope your week is off to a better start than all this. Blech. Happy Monday! Yours, Tara B.
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Our Summer …
Dancing … Swimming … Reading … Fourth of July with (Spiritual) “Grandpa & Grandma” Mizell … Oh! The riches of a simple life. I am praying for a quiet heart. Asking God to help me to do the task before me this day. With joy. With gratitude. And asking Him to bless you with an assurance of His saving grace! Yours, Tara B.
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Deleting blogs off of my “Favorites” …
Whenever I stumble onto a blog that I like, I add it to my “Favorites” and also take a few minutes to check out the blogs that THEY like. If I find something that holds my attention, I add IT to my Favorites too … and then I just check in on them periodically. Then, every few (weeks? months?) I glance at my growing list and ask, “Now who am I REALLY reading on a regular basis?” If the answer is, “Not THAT blog,” delete-o-rama. (RARE is the blog that I read every day.) I assume that you all do that too … And to all of you who haven’t…
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The Power of Mercy
I’ve been enjoying Bryan Chapell’s Holiness by Grace–Delighting in the Joy that is Our Strength and I thought that a little excerpt might encourage you to: “Christians gain spiritual power from the certainty of God’s support. Self-preserving, human efforts may result from fear of a God who will get you if you get out of line, but such works mistake outer conformity to God’s standards with holiness from the heart. “Spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1)–the selfless actions and inner desire to honor God–cannot result from threats. Proper fear of God in his people is not a concern for his wrath but a reverence for his holiness. We must reverentially fear his…
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Backup! Backup! Backup!
Here’s a little tip that has nothing to do with biblical peacemaking but I hope blesses you nonetheless: If you use computers for any projects, BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP! I shared this advice with a new friend this week and found out yesterday that she had a big ol’ computer crash on Thursday and would have lost ALL of her work for the week if she hadn’t … HOORAY! … listened to my advice and backed-up like a crazy gal as she worked. Here is how I backup/save my work on big projects: 1. I save EVERY SINGLE TIME I type. Every. Even if it’s just a word or two. I…
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Couldn’t we just give them a BREAK?!
The next time someone fails to meet our expectations and desires … Isn’t quite as friendly and warm as we’d like … Doesn’t say the right thing or do the right thing or even look the right way to us … I wonder: Couldn’t we just give them a BREAK?! You know–cut them some slack. Give them the benefit of the doubt. (I.e., maybe she’s not a JERK. Maybe she’s scared. Tired. Maybe she just received another horribly harsh call from her mother-in-law. Maybe she’s TRYING to relate well, but she can’t quite keep up with the conversation and then she feels stupid and thinks the better thing to do…
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Counter-Cultural Beauty (HT SoloFemininity!)
Many thanks, again, to Carolyn McCulley! This dear and wise sister continues to hit it out of the park on her blog, SoloFemininity.com. Quoting Michael Lawrence on counter-cultural beauty, she posted this: “Finally, immerse yourself in a counter-cultural understanding of beauty. I stand by what I said at the beginning: Beauty is culturally determined and we cannot escape our culture. If you are surrounded by people and media that say beauty is merely a matter of body shape and color, then you will find it almost impossible to be attracted to anything else. But if you are in regular conversation with people who think otherwise, if you are listening to…
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Does it sound like I’m the worst person in the world?
So do you think that I am the worst person in the whole world when I tell you that I am hyper-crazy-Tara-vigilant about staying off of people’s home-based business mailing lists? I never (never!) go to parties for cooking supplies, makeup, jewelry, lotions, stationery, candles … whatever. And I almost always gently request that people remove me from their mailing marketing lists (especially email lists). There. Now. I’ve said it. I’ve admitted it. Don’t you just think I’m a terrible, horrible person? I mean–these are all businesses by women. Women who are prayerfully and wisely contributing to their family budgets. Women I respect and enjoy and admire and love! But…
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Peacemaking in Your Church?
OK, team. I have a request … Would you pretty please take 30 seconds and respond to three questions for me? I would REALLY REALLY REALLY appreciate it. (You can leave a comment–TOTALLY ANONYMOUSLY IS JUST FINE!!–or send me an email or whatever you are most comfortable with.) Here are the questions: 1. Does your church (and ANY church you know) practice biblical peacemaking? 2. If YES, do you have any idea HOW the church got interested in peacemaking? (I.e., Did someone have a conflict? Was there a Bible study or Sunday School class on peacemaking? Did the leaders get excited about peacemaking and then “implement it”?) 3. Do you…
