‘Course I’ll never listen to them (because hearing my own voice gives me the heebie-jeebies), but if you’re interested in hearing some recordings from a recent event I did, the  church was kind enough to send me a link: Willow Creek Ladies’ Conference (April 2010) These are pretty much equivalent to my standard retreat sessions 2a/2b & 3.  

We continue to live off of charitable grants from the Kent Family Foundation (of adorable hand-me-downs from six years ago) and gifts from Auntie Kali and Uncle Fred … and I am so grateful for them both! Without generous gifts from friends and family, I could never enjoy such pink & frilly girls on a Sunday morning: Sorry that my blog was dead all day long. Technology problems. Hopefully they’re squared away (or SQL’d away) or whatever technie term is appropriate. And hope you had a great Monday!   G’nite, Tara B.  

Tim Challies quoting Max McLean: “The Bible is its own evangelist. I came to faith because I was deeply affected by the words of the Bible. The famous British preacher Charles Spurgeon was once asked how he responded to criticisms of the Bible. “Very easy,” he responded. “I defend the Bible the same way I defend a lion. I simply let it out of its cage.” That quote captures our vision for this book and for the growth of ministries that are committed to the passionate, articulate, and powerful reading of Scripture. Isn’t it time to let the Bible out of the cage, or (to borrow from the title of…

I enjoyed so many of his posts, that I’m temped to just link to David Murray’s blog and say, “Read backwards for awhile!” But just to tempt you by the titles, here are some favorites from just the past week or so: – Two Essential Traits of Great Leaders – “To Do” (Today) or Tomorrow — Let’s Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow – Successful Ministry? Or Happy Marriage?   I could keep going, but I have to scoot now. So just go backwards and read for awhile! 🙂 Blessed Saturday to you, Tara B.  

Practical Shepherding is staying strong as one of the few blogs I read on a regular basis. This wise and experienced pastor is ministering to many other pastors, I am sure. But as a sheep, I love it too! Not only because it (hopefully) helps me to be a better sheep (and help / encourage / pray for my leaders), but also because the lessons are so often transferable to situations in my own lay-person life. Take this post: What Can I Pray When Praying with the Sick in the Hospital? Yes, this is great advice for pastors. But isn’t it great advice for ALL Christians? I mean, how many…

If you’ve ever thought about publishing a book, Tim Challies has an exciting announcement for you: Announcing Cruciform Press Proposals and manuscripts are invited! I encourage you to check it out. The men involved in the creation of this company sound top-notch. And of course, we’re huge Challies.com fans around here. Blessings to you as you seek to serve through the written word!   Yours, Tara B.  

Tim Challies has a great offer up at his blog: Become a Friend of The Blog For $39 you get a TON of great resources immediately, the chance to win a Kindle, and I’m sure more great offers will come soon too. I was going to buy the Tim Keller DVD series anyway, so that alone practically pays for the subscription. Well done, Challies.com! Hope you all enjoy— Yours, Tara B. PS  This is the list of current goodies: – A $10 gift certificate from Westminster Books – A $20 gift certificate from ChristianAudio (for the first 250 Friends only so don’t dawdle! They will go fast.) – You choose…

Chris Brauns is guest posting over at TakeYourVitaminZ and his post is worth the read: Have You Ever Made a Big Deal Out Of Something That Wasn’t a Big Deal? Read this post. It might help you to drop stuff in the future. We’re doing OK here. Kind of a long night, but today’s a new day! Great news: The vet said that Lili did not decline further in the night. They’re going to keep her on fluids and gradually introduce foods and see how she does. This morning Soph and I wrestled through subdividing some complex rhythms in a violin piece. Like so many musicians, she plays very well…

Just a quick update on my, ummm, challenging day. THANK YOU for praying and for the kind emails/fb comments/blog comments. I truly appreciate it. My day was certainly a challenging one to begin, but I had a lovely conversation with a friend mid-day, so that was great. But my dental work was excruciating and still is—plus, it’s now morphed into a throbbing, blinding, nauseating migraine. No fun. But the girls and I are getting through it. (Soph did our Bible reading tonight. 🙂 ) The most stressful part of my day is related to my sweet Golden, Lilikoi: I’m just SO grateful that I followed my instincts and took her…

One of my favorite memories from my law school days was the time that Dr. Paul Jensen (who also happened to be a law student at the same time—long story) facilitated a discussion during Easter Week on the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and what would a jury say? He was his usual humble, brilliant self. And, as one of the leaders of the law school’s Christian Legal Society student group (who was sponsoring the discussion), I was thrilled that it was standing-room only. I’d have to dig up my old notes to review all of his points. But I remember that he was careful to include only…