“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 nature, but should not doubt his nurture. He will not harm those who are covered in the righteousness of his own Son and who, thus, are…

“Authority exercised with humility, and obedience accepted with delight are  the very lines along which our spirits live.” C.S. Lewis 

(Georgianne’s beautiful  photo from her beautiful blog. If you’re not reading Georgianne? Well. I really don’t know why.) (Thank you, Anne.) 

Oh. My.   (HT: Z) 

Inspired by my real-life friend, Anne, getting back into blogging with a Tim Keller giveaway, I decided to do two things: Encourage you to READ HER BLOG. It’s excellent! I have missed it while she was on a break. Her writing comforts me and challenges me and makes me think. As a result of reading her blog, I love more deeply, am more grateful and faith-filled, and I laugh too! Because she is brilliant and funny and kind; plus she has suffered greatly, so she is profoundly real. Please do check out her blog and enter her giveaway. Do a GIVEAWAY TOO! Mine is a “dead tree version” (to use Anne’s term) of my…

If you have any insights into this topic, would you please drop me an email or a note on FaceBook or leave a comment and let me know? Do you think there may be some women who would be blessed by the Peacemaker Women’s Study (Living the Gospel in Relationships) in Spanish? I ask because I will be serving at a large conference in Lima, Peru this summer and I keep having this strong burden to try to get the attendees some resources in their own language to take back to their communities / churches / homes. Fred and I are even talking about trying to take out a personal loan to fund…

A 5AM car to the airport in Michigan and I’m back to my real life in Montana … pretty much straight to our Christmas Eve dress rehearsal wherein Eleanor is an angel!                           Merry Christmas Eve-Eve! Yours, Tara B. 

It was a great honor to speak at my mother’s memorial service this morning. The room was packed with people from every station of life and many people shared beautiful stories of how much my mother had helped and encouraged them. My sister’s eulogy was phenomenal! And I managed to make it through mine with only a little crying. All in all, a beautiful day. Now I am packing up to be ready for my 5AM ride to the airport. Merry Almost Christmas! And thanks again for the prayers and sweet notes– Yours, Tara B.                     

We hope to be of comfort and help to her  and to our stepfather, Charlie, and to say goodbye. Thank you. 

I’ve always appreciated my Jewish friends who graciously reply to people who say, “Merry Christmas!” And I likewise appreciate Christians who don’t freak out over “Happy Holidays!” This cartoonist nails it: