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Helping Someone re: Clutter/Hoarding (and NOT being critical/judgmental while you do so)
Beginning with my sister’s bedroom when I was not even seven years old, I’ve helped lots of people to organize big messes. I truly enjoy pulling out piles and piles from underneath beds, stuffed in boxes / closets / drawers / piled on desks and dressers. I like to get everything “out there” and then sort by genre and status (garbage / give away / sell / archive / currently useful). And then my favorite part comes—a trip to The Container Store for new systems (!). It’s like a big ol’ back-breaking, brain-relaxing party to me. (Some of you will relate, you office-supply-lovin-folks! And others will just shake their heads…
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Healthy Childhood S*xual Development
Thanks to my FaceBook Friend, Rebecca S., I learned that the Focus on the Family broadcast for today has to do with children and p*rnography, so I clicked over to their website to check things out. And then I found this excellent series of articles that I encourage you to read too: Healthy Childhood S*xual Development It was particularly helpful to me because I often downplay or forget entirely just how great an impact my early childhood had on my teen and young adult years. The author’s three reminders towards the end of the first article really struck me: “S*xual development is designed to occur over time without injury or…
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Superior Pleasures
I was blessed, and saddened, when Sophia (age 6) asked to talk with me last night about something that had been troubling her. It had to do with images in her head about people kissing “in a husband-wife way.” Oh! I was so grateful that she talks so openly with me about hard topics. But doubly-oh! I was sad that, even though we have been so careful about exposing our children to influences in our hyper-erotic society, apparently something had gotten into her precious little mind. So we talked and prayed together. One of the things I asked her was whether she knew from where she had seen or learned…
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Why I Love Pumpkin Patch Time (!)
We’re not into the ghosts and goblins and, you know, evil-worship-creepy stuff that some people enjoy and celebrate this month. But we LOVE Pumpkin’ Patch Time! And here are just a few reasons why …
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Prayer and the True Woman Conferences
Loved this post from Tim Challies on prayer and the True Woman Conferences: Prayer Warriors And am thoroughly enjoying Carolyn McCulley’s updates from the conference on FaceBook too. (As a former, kinda proud, “shun FaceBook” person, I really appreciate things like that.)
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Please Pray for the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism
If you are not yet familiar with (and praying for!) the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism, I hope that you will consider clicking through to their website, learning about their (astounding and yet necessary) goals, and then praying for all of the participants, expositors, and presenters. A dear friend of mine is serving during one of the main plenary sessions, so I have been praying for Lausanne for months now. And this morning, I learned that Ken Sande and Manfred Kohl will also be attending and serving, so now I am praying specifically for them too. I hope you will join me in lifting up the thousands of Christians…
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Ed Welch: “I Can Help You in Six Words.”
I have to admit, when I first started this article (I Can Help You in Six Words), all I could think about was that old t.v. show, Name That Tune. Do you remember it? “I can name that tune in 3 notes!” “Well, I can name that tune in 2 notes!” “I can help you in SIX words!” “Well, can help you in FIVE words.” But even as I inwardly chuckled at my 1970’s memory, I knew I was in for a great read because a) Ed Welch is a great man and a great author (still currently my favorite contemporary author even though Kevin DeYoung is gaining on him…
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Extending That Same Grace to Others and Ourselves
Oh, what a joy it was to me to serve these dear, beloved women this weekend in Utah! A true privilege and I did my best to serve well—but of course I lost my train of thought more than once. (Is that an over-40 thing? A tired momma thing? Or have I always done that / is it just a Tara thing? Hmmmm ….) One of the teaching points I wish I had stuck closer to my speaker notes on and taught better was how important it is to understand the differences between justification and sanctification. So just to refresh myself, and also to serve any of my new friends…
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Rykens on Men, Women and Marriage
Many thanks to Justin Taylor for posting these great links. I’ve only listened to one of them, but I’m looking forward streaming them all just as soon as I have the time: The Rykens on Men, Women and Marriage The one I listened to is entitled, “The first twenty years are the hardest.” Apparently, Dr. Ryken’s mother used to tell them as they were newlyweds, “The first year is the hardest.” Then, the next year, she told them, “The second year is the hardest.” And at their twentieth anniversary celebration, she told them, “The first twenty years are the hardest.” What she meant was, “Relationships are hard work. Marriage takes…
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Sometimes Even Bloggers Can Be Gracious (Hooray!)
I taught 2 Timothy 2:24-25 to my students this past Tuesday (and encouraged them to memorize it and live it out): “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth …” And then in our (3 hour!) call yesterday, Cap’n Dave was en fuego re: redeeming church conflicts, and in particular this idea of not being quarrelsome, but instead being kind, patiently enduring, gently correcting. So imagine my pleasure at seeing this exchange from two bloggers that I read (and enjoy) daily: A…
