considerable grace

Our flight from Orlando to MSP was uneventful and we’re heading to our flight to Billings right now. We’re psyched to get to give Lilikoi some cuddles in a few hours! We missed her and wished that spastic hyper Golden puppies could go to Disney. Hah. Wonder why they’re not allowed.

Thanks so much for the emails and blog comments encouraging me re: the criticism I received yesterday. I think it’s going to be taking quite a bit of our family’s time and emotional energy in the next few weeks–and since I am flying to California on Thursday and Canada on the following Wednesday, this could be a rough little stretch. So thanks in advance for your continued prayers.

We’re off to gate G12!

Sending our love–
Tara B. (& Fred & Sophia)

Today was the first day in a week that I didn’t wake up sick and then spend the next fifteen hours doing my best to fulfill my duties all while fighting a headache, fever, nausea, and clammy, dizzy exhaustion. All of that would’ve been unpleasant at home in my bed–but flying a family across a continent and then spending five days in theme parks, water parks, and teaching at this conference? Well.

Let me just say that I was a blessed woman today to be able to walk around in daylight without the pain of a spike going through my eye and forehead. And wow! It’s a lot easier to stand for hours when you’re not doubled over or running to a restroom. SO ... all that to say ... it was a really nice day and I was feeling grateful!

But then I made the mistake of checking my email. Yup. Waiting for me was NOT an encouraging “thanks so much for trying and doing your best Tara even though you were obviously so sick” note. Nope. None of those.

Instead, I have the joy this evening of prayerfully striving to respond with a gentle heart toward a difficult email.

(Man. This life really is nothing but a constant death, isn’t it?)

Sure, there are moments of happiness (Soph’s bright eyes and infectious giggles from the day still make me smile). We have slight seasons of pleasure and comfort; grace and gentleness; kindness and charitable presumptions.

But then, this side of Heaven, there will always be these challenges. So I am praying that God will grant me a heart to respond with gentleness, humility, patience, kindness, and great love. I am praying with the psalmist:

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works." Psalm 73-25-28

I must admit, though, that it’s a drag and I wish that rather than wading through this, Fred and I were enjoying our one date-night-night of this trip.

But still! What a blessed gal I am! So much to be thankful for. And of course I’m 100% willing and eager to apologize to whomever I’ve offended. I want to do everything I can to make it right.

But it’s hard to keep it in perspective, isn’t it?

That’s my battle tonight and I think it’s going to require some time in the Word and prayer to remember the Truth and the true palette of my life–my identity–who I am and what my life is like (and how it is NOT determined by what others say about me).

OK. Enough processing. Time for more praying.

Hope you didn’t have any email surprises waiting for you tonight!

We’re a tired but relatively happy Barthel crew around here–

Sending you love,
Tara B.

Arriving at the Bippity Boppity Boutique ...



And becoming a “REAL” princess ...



We had to stop by the conference to show Prince Charming Daddy!



And we were very blessed to get to meet/hug ALL SIX princesses ...



You know, this was a GREAT age to bring Sophia to Disney. She was incredibly patient even when we were both tired and hot–and she was SOOOOOO excited. By everything. It’s been a great grace to get to share these memories with her.



Of course, all of the above excitement was on Thursday. All day Friday, Sophie had a fun auntie day because my sister, Kali, came down to help out while I teach. I don’t yet have her photos from the day–but I did (CRAZILY!) join them for “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween”, so I have a few photos from the evening:

The two Snow Whites were a huge hit in the park!



I was happy to just be along as the official kid-carrier and photographer. It really was very, very fun. And it was also a testimony to what you really CAN do, even when sick and fighting an almost-migraine IF you are really motivated.

We had TONS of Disney grace at the end of the evening in particular when Sophie was overwhelmed by the fireworks and didn’t want to see them, so we just started pretty much BOOKING it back to the trains. I’m really not exaggerating when I say that we easily walked past TEN THOUSAND+ PEOPLE staring up in the sky in one direction–so we were just walked onto a train, got in our car and LEFT, I’m sure HOURS before we would’ve even been to the parking lot had we stayed for the show. I don’t know that I was ever so grateful that Soph doesn’t like fireworks and I personally can’t stand 'em. I like the lights–but not the sound. And last night, I couldn’t tolerate the lights.

ANYWAY–off to teach all day.
Thanks for any prayers you care to send my direction!
Please pray that I would love well–God and neighbor–and serve well.

Exhaustedly but gratefully,
Tara B.

I met Pastor Anyabwile!



It was such a joy! My face about split open, I was smiling so broadly. He is SUCH a giant for the Lord. And SO radiant in his joy in Christ—I don’t know how you could be around him very long without grinning.

You know ... I usually don’t know who is in the People magazine that I often flip through waiting in an airport. I just don’t know who they are and why they are famous.

But churchmen? I’m a groupie. A junkie. For sure.

- I once taught a Sunday School class at a large church and the teacher ahead of me was Sinclair Ferguson. Couldn’t believe it.

- I still smile when I think about the brief interactions I’ve had with Ligon Duncan over the years–and when I think back on being interviewed on his radio program. He would never remember me, but I remember him. So winsome and gracious. So warm and inviting–to everyone around him. What a great, great man.

- I spoke at a conference once with Henry Blackaby and that was pretty cool. But the poor professor was SO sick that we all felt terrible for him. He hung in there and blessed us all–but I think we all would’ve preferred that he climb into bed somewhere with a nice cup of tea.

- And of course there are my “actual in real life” churchmen friends (Captain Dave, Paul Jensen, my pastors, Alfred Poirier and Jason Barrie).

I think I could go on a bit, but I feel like now I’m just bragging.

And so I’ll sign off ... but if I can, I’ll post some princess pics.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. My cold has only worsened. My ears STILL haven’t “popped” from my flights last TUESDAY, and all of the congestion has given me a splitting headache that thankfully hasn’t moved into complete “MUST stay in a dark room and NOT MOVE” mode, but it’s been teetering on that edge for 24 hours now.

But I survived my workshops and DVD-related stuff yesterday (didn’t do great, but I tried my best!)–

AND (I can’t believe it because I really should’ve been in BED!), I even went out with Kali and Sophie last night. More on that when I have another minute.

Today is going to be very hard. I leave my hotel room at 8AM, teach three workshops, have a DVD/book-signing (with JUDY so that’s great!!), and go right into hosting a table at the banquet this night with Fred. Oh, how I pray that I serve well.

And I hope you enjoy a lovely weekend too!

Yours,
Tara B.

Yesterday when Sophie and I were trying to find our way back to the hotel from SeaWorld (which is, it must be noted, pretty much a STRAIGHT SHOT down ONE, maybe TWO roads max), I saw a sign for “Downtown Disney” (where we have to be this morning) and thought to myself:

"Hey! We have time. We’re not supposed to meet Fred for 40 minutes. This place is supposed to be five minutes away from our hotel. LET’S PRACTICE so that I can be more confident tomorrow morning and FOR SURE not miss Soph’s Bippity Boppity Boutique appointment."

(CUE SCARY MUSIC.)

Again, it’s supposed to be “1.5 miles” from our hotel to Downtown Disney. There are signs everywhere. And honestly? I found it without only one wrong turn. Not bad for me! We had a little news on, a little music; we were having fun and I was feeling a relatively functional adult who can possibly take care of her daughter. Possibly.

AND THEN.
Of course.

I started living one of those “no matter what you do, what you try, what direction you turn, whether you do everything that makes sense and you follow all of the directions, up is down and down is up and YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF (feel free to fill in your neurotic fear here ... your high school gymnasium, your childhood church basement, your college’s lunch hall) ... for me? DISNEYWORLD and the surrounding SUBURBS” dreams.

- All righty! There’s the road I need, I just have to go THAT direction ... WHOA! Oh no! Six lanes of rush hour traffic and I’m in the left lane (because THAT’s the direction I need to go, but to exit left, I have to be SIX LANES OVER in the one right turn lane).

- No biggie. No problem. I’ll just keep my sense of direction and exit at the first exit, turn around, and we’ll be ALL SET .... whoa!!! What’s THIS? I’m exiting but it’s not a real exit. It’s eight lanes of a HIGHWAY going to WHERE??? Is there an exit ahead, I’ll just turn around again and ...

- AHHHHHH?!?! What is going on?! Now I’m heading WHAT direction? I see no building, I just want to pull over and look at a map but there are NO shoulders. No pull offs. I’m on HIGHWAYS in HEAVY TRAFFIC I have to maintain speed. OK. Don’t panic. Call Fred, he can find me in any city with two cross streets and a direction. Call call call call call CALL. No Fred. Try Kali. Call call call call CALL. No Kali.

- Now I’m fighting a panic attack because I KNOW that the hotel is EIGHT MINUTES from where I WAS but that was 40 minutes ago. Where am I? How will we get back? I don’t want to be the kind of incompetent mother who scares her child about something so stupid! I would be HAPPY to pull over and ask for directions–but a) there is no way and no place to pull over; and b) I see NO PEOPLE!

I started seeing signs for the fake/created “Celebration Disney” CITY which to me just sounded like STEPFORD CITY (no offense if you live there–I’m sure it’s actually quite nice, but by this time I was really melting down) or someplace out of the TWILIGHT ZONE where, even if I found it, I would probably never make it out of without a trip in a flying saucer.

And yet ...
Here I am. About to get ready for our fun day, so I must’ve survived.
(Thank God that Fred finally picked up!)

And FURTHER ... thank God that I didn’t (immediately) SCREAM into the phone because I did have the (slight) presence of mind to PRAY because I realized that:

When I am THAT SCARED I can be VERY tempted to SIN by being ANGRY/RUDE.

And I didn’t want to do that.

Oh oh oh–adrenaline is a powerful drug.
Great for fighting a bear. Or running away from a bear.
Not so great for keeping your head about you, though, eh?

(Adrenaline KILLS short-term memory and mental-reasoning/functioning–that’s we you fritz out for speeches and/or piano recitals.)

But enough on that topic–
I must dash!

Happy Thursday!

Love,
Tara B.

We had an early morning to start our “day of four airports” travel to Florida ...



But of course it was worth it!



Fred had to work the conference, but Sophie and I had a blast at SeaWorld & Aquatica.



Honestly? I don’t have that many photos because I was really concentrating on just relaxing and being “in the moment” with Soph (rather than trying to restage a fake “moment” to get “the perfect” picture–as I’ve done in the past. Eek!).





I don’t regret my decision AT ALL. We had a great day together. I love watching her excitement and happiness–during the dog & cat (& mouse & duck & doves & pig) show, she was SO excited that one point she just turned to me and said, “I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!!!” with that HUMONGOUS I’M SO HAPPY MY FACE IS ABOUT TO SPLIT OPEN I’M SMILING SO BIG 4-year-old-ness. That alone was worth the price of admission.



So we’re off for my adventures today and then tonight I have to somehow switch gears into my “serve at an event” mode. Hmmmmmmmmm ... I think that’ll take some effort.

Hope your week is going well!

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
I heard from my friend, Mark, and his son survived! And may leave ICU at the end of the week. THANK YOU for praying!! Love – tkb

Today I learned of a prayer request from someone who is that new category in my life of, “haven’t had any contact with that person in 20 years but now we sort of overlap on Facebook” and I would appreciate it if you would please pray for him (Mark) and his family. Here is his request:

"My stepson has a mental illness called schizo effective disorder. Late Saturday night while Kim and I were sleeping he took an overdose of Tylenol. We did not find out until it was too late. The enzyme levels in his liver are dangerously high. He may require a transplant if they cannot stop the damage."

I have his permission–actually his urging–to post this and to ask you to pray.

Thank you!

Yours,
Tara B.

Years ago ... (decades actually! how strange is THAT?!), I sought counsel from my Sunday School teacher (who also happened to be one of my college professors–his philosophy of theology class was one of my all-time favorite classes ever!) ... about how to be a better friend.

(Wow. Sorry about how poorly constructed that sentence is, Anne. I’m embarrassed by the grammar and punctuation–but apparently not enough to fix them.)

ANYWAY ...

This man was the same man who introduced me to Calvin & Luther, sent me to Jonathan Edwards, and made me my first ever xeroxes of scholar-level journal articles on issues of faith. He was and is a “thinker.”

So imagine my surprise in looking back 20 years now (as I prep for my Peacemaker Conference workshops) at the little paperback book he recommended I check out: The Friendship Factor (by Alan Loy McGinnis).

Is this a great book? No.
Is it filled with Christ-exalting, biblical theology? Not really. Nope. I couldn’t say that it is.

But is it worth the read? Yes, I think so–particularly for those of us who (thankfully!) are in biblically-faithful, gospel-preaching churches (so we’re regularly hearing the full counsel of Scripture) and yet we struggle in our relationships. If you can take this little book for what it’s worth, I can honestly say that it helped me back in 1988 and it helped me this weekend upon its re-reading.

It also made me chuckle at times because some of the chapter titles and subtitles are, well, funny. But I often nodded simultaneously in assent because so many struck a chord with me:

- How to Communicate Warmth
- When Kindliness Becomes a Habit
- Be Careful with Criticism
- A Surefire Way to Draw People Close
- Are You the Manipulating Type?
- You Can be Lovable
- Neglect This and Watch Your Friends Flee

(Doesn’t that last one make you want to at least skim the book?)

Honestly? In addition to thanking God for growing me in this area AND for the many friends who consistently enrich my life, I was also very convicted (again) when it came to my relationship with Fred. Oh! I have so far to go in learning to be loving and caring wife. I do pray that our marriage would also be a deep and intimate friendship ... but like so many before us, this season of parenting YOUNG CHILDREN (one young child) has affected our relationship to be sure.

At one point in this book, the author says, "Talking is hard. We must schedule time for conversation because loneliness is never more cruel than when it is felt in close propinquity with someone who has ceased to communicate." Yes, yes. Grace perseveres! And I long to change–not because I fear wrath, but because I long to glorify God by loving Him and loving my neighbor. Especially my closest neighbors (Fred & Sophia)!

So anyway–stick to the CCEF books, CS Lewis’s writings, or Ajith Fernando’s Reclaiming Friendship if you want the really good stuff re: friendship. But if you ever have 30 minutes to flip through a brief paperback, The Friendship Factor might prove edifying to some of you.

Onward to final packing!

Gratefully,
Tara B.

Oh, how blessed our church was yesterday to remember that the Lord sustains us in suffering.

Pastor Alfred led us to give thanks to the Lord–even in our anguish.

Trudy’s music fed us and encouraged us that His grace truly is sufficient and His power is made perfect in weakness.

And then, the Rev. Dr. Victor Nakah of Zimbabwe preached to us from 1 Peter 1:1-17 and reminded us that we are strangers in this world because we have born again into a Living Hope. Our inheritance can never fade–because God sustains both the inheritance and the heirs (us!).

And so? We greatly rejoice even though right now we suffer. We do. And of course, some of us suffer way more than others.

Dr. Nakah pastors a church in a city of over 800,000 people where 1 in 7 adults has H.I.V. Yet there is not one single doctor or nurse. His country has had 13 MILLION percent inflation (no I didn’t mistype that and yes, I checked with news sources to verify that number) and 95% of all adults are unemployed. The age expectancy for women is 34 and for men is 37 (the lowest in the WORLD!) and per capita, Zimbabwe has the highest number of orphans.

And what did he preach? That he can REJOICE because God is doing greater things. And he encouraged us (encouraged us! can you believe it? a church filled with wealthy, overfed, over-amused people!) that even our suffering, though sorrowful, is but a passing thing because our first and primary citizenship is in Heaven. God has radically invaded us and caused us to be born again to Another World. We have died! And our life is now hidden with God in Christ (Colossians 3:4).

So what does it matter what happens to us in this life? If father, mother, employer, pastor, spouse reject us? What does it matter what happens to do us? Kill us or don't–we can trust God in everything (everything!) because we’re already dead. What can you do to a dead man? (And think of the implications of that when you are baptized into Christ in nations where you will lose your job, your entire extended family, your home, your property–and many times, your life.)

But how do we so often respond to these eternal truths? These eternal realities? Often we get more excited about ... (he said “soccer” and “football”, I’ll say a clearance sale at Office Depot or an organized kids' room). We respond to the gospel as though someone just told us, “Yeah, uhh, so ... you’re going to have chicken for lunch.” "OK. Thanks."

Oh, oh, oh! Let us PRAY that God will give us hearts TO REJOICE and PRAISE HIM in response to His saving grace!

He gives us the gift of repentance and faith. He forgives all our sins. He justifies us. He adopts us. He sanctifies us. He protects us. From what? From death? Suffering? No. We don’t need protection from death or suffering. The suffering and death of Christians does not make God panic. He has a design even for our suffering and distress. Our suffering is not because of God’s LACK of plans.

No, what we need protection from is UNBELIEF. And as He leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, He protects us with his Truth. His Son is Truth.

Glory, glory, glory!

My four pages of sermon notes don’t even come close to doing justice to Dr. Nakah’s sermon. Please do check back with our church’s website in the next few days. I hope they post his sermon! I’ll link over to it if I can–but we’ll be a traveling family all week so I just don’t know what my schedule will allow.

Hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Yours,
Tara B.

PS
Thanks for all of the concern re: my seems-to-be-regularly-recurring-fever thing. A number of people have mentioned that it very well could be hormonal and that sounds reasonable to me. I’ll try to bring it up with my doc when I come up for air again mid-October or so. But we’re all doing much better around here. Hooray for Zicam! Blessings–tkb

Couldn’t get back to sleep after 3AM or so. Fred is restless with his fever/getting meds. And I have way too much swimming through my brain re: my workshops for next weekend.

Mostly, I’m wondering WHY, O WHY I ever consented to teaching so many! A) I can’t believe I really have anything that interesting/helpful to say; and B) I’m old and tired! Please remind me next year–if I receive the privilege of an opportunity to serve again–to only teach, you know, ONE workshop. Or maybe two. BUT NOT FIVE.

Anyway ... one of them is on relationships among women especially when we disagree on important topics–and around 5AM this morning, I was blessed to read a great John Newton quote on Calvinists & Controversy that Dr. Ligon Duncan posted over at Reformation21:

"Of all people who engage in controversy, we, who are called Calvinists, are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation. If, indeed, they who differ from us have a power of changing themselves, if they can open their own eyes, and soften their own hearts, then we might with less inconsistency be offended at their obstinacy: but if we believe the very contrary to this, our part is, not to strive, but in meekness to instruct those who oppose. “If peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth.” If you write with a desire of being an instrument of correcting mistakes, you will of course be cautious of laying stumbling blocks in the way of the blind or of using any expressions that may exasperate their passions, confirm them in their principles, and thereby make their conviction, humanly speaking, more impracticable."

Praying that I will exercise gentleness and moderation! With meekness. Especially when it comes to controversial topics. Especially re: relationships with other Christian women (which still don’t come all that easy to me.)

OK. Back to work. I bet the family will start to stir in the next couple or hours or so.

Happy Sunday!
– Tara B.

Sophia Grace received a precious gift in the mail today. Captain Stan J. Beach wrote HER a letter.



Yes, yes, he graciously mentioned Fred and me. And Lilikoi. But really? He blessed my (still very sick! can you see it in her eyes in the photo?) little girl by thanking her for her card, encouraging her to keep praying for our troops and chaplains, AND by sharing a little bit of his personal story with her too.

- Sophie marveled that he was away from his little children for two years when he was in Vietnam ("He must’ve missed them so much!").

- She thanked God that he cared more about his troops than his own safety (he carried many wounded men to safety, multiple times, until his left leg was shattered–and ultimately amputated).

- Sophia couldn’t understand why he spent most of his time in combat zones, but never carried a weapon. ("In a WAR, Mom? Why didn’t he have a gun?!" I told her that lots of people have lots of roles to play in the military–and this man’s job was to minister the gospel, pray, and help his troops.)

- And then she prayed for him.

I am so grateful for all of our chaplains. And military. And military families too.

Please do keep them in prayer!

Gratefully,
Tara B.



(HT: Confessing Me for the great video link.)

Can’t believe we’re only one week away from Pastor Anyabwile’s keynote at the Peacemaker Conference! I’m psyched. I just love his blog. What a churchman!

Today he linked to a great quote from Between Two Worlds:

The Answer to Practical Problems Must Involve Robust Doctrine

(It’s a great quote, but I’d skip the comments. Nothing too edifying there.)

Here’s a snippet to tempt you:

"Theology exists in order to be applied to the day-to-day problems of the Christian church. Every doctrine has its application ...

(Re: Paul ...) It’s not only that you have the emphasis on the unity between theology and practice but you have the emphasis on the applicability of the profoundest theology to the most mundane and most common-place problems. Who would ever imagine that the response to the glory of the incarnation might be to give to the collection for the poor? Who might imagine that the application of the glories of New Testament Christology might be to stop our quarreling and our divisiveness in the Christian ekklesia?

That is what Paul is doing here. He is telling them: You have these practical problems; the answer is theological; remember your theology and place your behavior in the light of that theology. Place your little problems in the light of the most massive theology."

Amen!

And thanks again, Pastor Anyabwile.

Blessings!
– Tara B.

Fred is reading us The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe and we LOVE it!

I remember enjoying the books whenever I read them in my childhood/teens/young person years. But reading them with a FOUR YEAR OLD who is REALLY REALLY (REALLY!) into them? Well, I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. Plus, her spiritual insights are so edifying to me. I just marvel.

Last night the thing that cracked me up (in that heart-wrenching, makes you cry after you’ve been startled sort of way) was right when everyone had JUST discovered that Edmund was missing from Mr and Mrs Beaver’s home. At first Sophie thought he had been captured–but when she discovered that he had BETRAYED them all? That it was TREACHERY?! Well, Fred kept on reading for a few more lines, but Sophie had the strangest look on her face. And finally she could hold it in no longer and she just cried out,

"EDMUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND! Edmund!! Oh, Edmund!! You should just COME BACK and REPENT and CONFESS and BE FORGIVEN!! Have your painful consequence and BE DONE WITH IT!!"

Fred and I just looked at each other and looked at Sophie and then we talked about it as a family. How treacherous sin is. How sin brings more sin. How many people we hurt when we love our sin.

I think that’s why I’m enjoying this reading so much–because of the conversations we have the entire time we’re reading.

Like the one we had when the four children FIRST go into Narnia together and discover that Mr Tumnus has been taken by the white witch. They’re scared! But they know that the RIGHT thing to do is to continue on into Narnia to help the faun who had helped their youngest sister Lucy. And, in fact, it was LUCY was showed so much COURAGE when it came time to make a decision.

We stopped to talk about courage; and doing the right thing even when we are afraid; and how Jesus said that there is no greater love than this–that a man lay down his life for his friend. And in response, Sophia mentioned how special it is that it was LUCY who was so brave ...

"Because she’s the LITTLEST!"

That’s right, dear.

Even tiny children can do great things because they have a Great God Who most certainly is on the move!

(Oooh–that’s another reason why I love reading these books. Our family keeps adding words, phrases, and teaching points to our daily vocabulary. Like at the VERY end of our reading last night when we encouraged Sophie to keep the entire story arc in mind–how Aslan WILL prevail in the end; how evil WILL FAIL, etc. And she said, “Just like God sending a SEED to CRUSH SATAN’S HEAD. Aslan is going to CRUSH the white witch. That means that He will DESTROY her.” Yes. Yes, He will.)

It was hard to stop reading last night–one of the many blessings of us all being sick is getting to curl up together in bed and read and read. Sophie, in particular, had a hard time stopping. “Please keep reading! Tell me what happens! Does Edmund get turned into a statue?!” and we said she had to WAIT because that’s one of the joys of reading a book–it keeps leaving you long for MORE and you get to LOOK FORWARD to coming back to it.

Off into our day–
Making the most of being sick and glad it’s this weekend instead of next.

(Poor Fred is SO SICK. He’d be in BIG TROUBLE if it were the Peacemaker Conference weekend instead of the “I’ll bring you juice and tissues, here, watch some Cubs on your laptop” weekend.)

Happy Saturday to you and yours!

Love,
Tara B.

Fred’s home sick now too. Soph continues to decline–but she’s such a sweet little trooper. Even tolerates the Zycam NOSE SWAB that neither Fred nor I will put up with.

And yes, I’m disinfecting everything and anything including our toothbrushes. AND thanking God for Aquaphor. (We love Aquaphor!)

Besides caring for an ailing family, I HAVE TO get a paid writing project done today–but other than that, I don’t have many goals for the day.

I don’t know why, but this morning I thought of one of the first poems I ever memorized as a brand-new baby Christian. I must’ve been, what? 14 or 15 years old?

"Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bade thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, wooly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little lamb, I’ll tell thee;
Little lamb, I’ll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a lamb,
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child;
I a child, and thee a Lamb,
We are called by His Name.
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!"

Preach it, Mssr. Blake!

Back to the battle–

Yours,
Tara B.

(Warning to those of you who are currently feeling squeamish: You might want to just SKIP this post.)

SO ... we’re exactly ONE WEEK away from the Bippity Boppity Boutique & Princess luncheon, etc., and as we’re progressing through morning lessons, Sophie’s eyes just look DULL. You know what I mean re: kids & sickness? You can tell something isn’t quite right ... but nothing eventful has happened. Yet.

We crank out Bible & catechism. History is fun because we get to say cool words like Hammurabi and Hyksos. Reading out loud? No prob. Even writing and phonics are fine and we throw in a little Katie Meets the Impressionists, so I’m feeling like, “Hooray! It’s a good school day for us.”

Until we start violin. Well, actually things were OK as we began ... bow circles, note-reading, rhythm studies (super fun new eighth rest introduced!), and book one songs (including our own little made-up “JAZZ” version of two of them) went fine. But then it was time to practice our little “G Major Scale” exercise and AH-CHOOOOOO!!! Not to be too graphic, but something flew out of my daughter and ONTO and INTO her violin that would have been completely comfortable in the special effects boxes of the baby dinosaurs being born from the eggs at Jurrasic Park. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeschk!

And poor, sweet, sick little Sophie bear.
Sleeping that heavy, hot afternoon sleep of a sick kid.

I find it strange that we are fighting so much illness! That kid eats a LOT of fruits and vegetables and drinks ton of water, etc. etc. But then again, lots and LOTS of coughing, boogery children have been, well, EVERYWHERE we’ve gone. So I guess we’re just rolling through another wave of it.

I really hope it goes away by next week. She would never be able to enjoy her big special princess day if she feels like THIS.

So much for trying to get my speaker notes ready today! Hah. Guess that’ll happen some time in the next week or so.

Happy Thursday!

Love,
Tara B.

Our entire church is reading through Isaiah right now and today we reached chapter 30.

Enjoy and be drawn to worship by just a few verses:

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more.

He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it ...”

Oh, I do long for that day, don’t you? But as we wait, I rejoice that the Holy Spirit lives in us! His Kingdom HAS come and IS COMING and WILL COME.

“My only comfort in life and in death is that I am not my own–but belong with all my body and soul to my Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Blessed Thursday to you!

Yours,
Tara B.

The “Peacemaking Church Women’s Study” made it in time to make the truck to Florida yesterday and I saw my first copy today:



(I actually enjoyed more our little “school table” that was in the background when I went to take that picture ...)



We love Math-U-See!

I need to run and put dinner in the oven. (Yes, yes, I actually DO have a plan for dinner. It’s a miracle.)

We’re just home from a very fun princess birthday party:



Hope your day went well! I’m SPENT, but grateful.
Do you know what I think I’m the most grateful for today? FORGIVENESS.
God’s forgiveness. My daughter’s forgiveness. My husband’s forgiveness.
My friend graciously bearing with me. AGAIN.
God’s grace helping ME to forgive ... Sophie, Fred, a family member, a friend.

Where would I be without forgiveness? Hopeless and helpless and lost. Actually? Damned.

Thanking God for forgiveness–

Yours,
Tara B.

If you enjoy Trudy’s Poirier’s music and, in particular, you’ve enjoyed the SONGS included in the original version of my DVD series, then do I have a deal for you!

Trudy has given me special permission to offer you her “Songs of Living the Gospel in Relationships” CD for only $5 (including shipping!).

**PLEASE NOTE: To take advantage of this great deal, please do NOT order from me. Instead, drop Sarah Phillips a note at magisterfour “at” msn.com and she’ll coordinate with you on how to pay via PayPal or mail her a check.

Hope this is a blessing to you! Potential stocking stuffer ideas?

Much love,
Tara B.

Oh, that PastorJollyBlogger! Always pointing us to something important (and helpful!).

Today it was a link to the CGO Forum on Denominational Renewal. The speakers look amazing and I am particularly interested in catching the dialogue that will follow in the weeks to come.

Hope to see you there!

Blessings,
Tara B.

The much-anticipated box of princess goodies arrived from Aunt Kali today and wow! Sophie and I are excited ...



To quote Soph in her thank-you call to Kali:

"These are even more beautiful than I dreamed they would be!"

Ahhhhh ... if only the entire trip stays that way, eh?

But like all things this side of Heaven, I’m sure that the heat and the over-stimulation and the lack of familial routine will, at some point, tempt us all to be grouchy and ungrateful. I do hope that we will be wise and take breaks and REST even amidst the frivolity.

Oh, and that at some point I’ll wrap my heart and mind around the five workshops I’m teaching and prepare a bit to be “interviewed” (or whatever they’re thinking) for the video roll-out during Friday’s plenary session.

(Today I had what was probably my last order ever for the “original version” of the series. Very fun! It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the coming months and years.)

Hope you’re doing well! Small group for us in one hour, so I’d better go clean up the princess wrapping paper from our living room and try to unearth some Bibles ...

Blessings!
– Tara B.

As our pastor preaches through Galatians, our entire church is reading through Martin Luther’s preface to Galatians (the abridgement and paraphrase by Tim Keller–we’re not reading it in German or anything ).

This week we have been encouraged and refreshed by “The Doctrine of Workmanship” (applying Galatians 1.10 - 2.10).

I feel like retyping the entire excerpt! But instead, I’ll just give you a few highlights:

"The word workmanship is very important; it is the Greek word poema–from which we get our word, “poem.” It means that every believer is essentially a work of art–God’s art!

Consider how artists work ... sometimes they do very little, only a stroke here or there. Other times they make massive changes. But always they seek to bring the raw material into line with an artistic vision. Thus Paul is telling us that God labors over all believers throughout our entire lives, intervening and guiding and shaping us to bring us into line with a vision he has for us ...

Paul uses this “doctrine of workmanship” like a pair of spectacles through which to view his entire life."

How grateful I am for God’s work in my life! Protecting me; waking me up to things I had previously doubted and denied; showing me the weaknesses and flaws in myself; showing me my value to Him.

Grace grace grace! I truly am a grateful grace junkie.

Happy Monday to you!

Yours,
Tara B.

I’m SOOOOOO happy!

I woke up at my normal time (a little before 6AM) and felt pretty GOOD. Comparatively? VERY good.

I walked Lilikoi. Came back and puzzled a bit with Soph and did my exercises. And now we’re having a productive day – Fred & Soph are off running errands and I’m home working simultaneously on laundry and a writing project.

This is SO MUCH MORE FUN than being sick! I am grateful.

I also wanted to come up with something interesting to blog, but I’m still a bit of a blank. The best I can come up with has to do with missions (since my writing project is on missions) ...

- Did you know that it takes over $50,000USD per year to support a Western missionary on the field, but Gospel for Asia supports a native missionary evangelist for only $1,080 to $1,800 per year?

- Every day, Sophie and I thank God for our easy access to clean, fresh water. Did you know that 26 nations already suffer from a severe water deficit and by 2025, it is estimated that 3 billion people will have problems accessing fresh water?

- In the least-evangelized part of God’s world, 86% of the world’s people groups live (of which less than 2% are Christians). Oh, and over 80% of the world’s poorest people live there too.

SO ... I am praying for a grateful heart today because I obviously have much for which to be grateful.

Happy, blessed Saturday to you and yours!

Love,
Tara B.

Fred and I were just informed that our mortgage holder had a security breach and some of our personal information was stolen.

(!!)

So after lessons, a quick trip to the post office (I did SO want to take Sophie to the park for some fresh air–but I just couldn’t stay upright that long! Ergh!), and a quick start on a 300 piece puzzle while listening to Peter and the Wolf (Soph is a master puzzler!), I started doing some consumer research as to how best to respond.

Initially, I looked into various “we’ll protect your identity” companies, but after reading the fine print, I think they’re a waste of money. I already do pretty much everything they have listed as “services.”

The one new thing I learned about, though, is a CREDIT FREEZE. I think it’s the way to go, but I’d love to hear your counsel.

Have any of you had your personal information stolen?

Do you have an opinion on credit freezes?

Thanks for any counsel you care to share! We were shocked when we got the letter from our mortgage company. I have to say, I would think twice before financing anything with them again in the future.

OK. Back to bed. I’m actually feeling better (hooray!) but still very tired.

Happy Friday!

Yours,
Tara B.

If you’ve heard my testimony, you know that I was saved by God after having heard the gospel through some friends in public high school when I was a freshman.

As I reflect on God’s grace to me throughout my entire life–especially in the years when I did not even know Him, but He knew me!–I’ve often thought about how many Christians I probably stumbled across without even knowing it. A great aunt or second-cousin-one-removed. A Girl Scout leader here. A band teacher there. How many of the parents of my little friends saw what a messed up kid I was and prayed for me? How many of my friends prayed for me and I didn’t even know it? More than just a few, I am sure.

Well ... yesterday, through the strange wonderfulness of Facebook, I learned about one friend from–I’m not exaggerating!–thirty years ago (1978–third grade!) who, although I never knew it at the time, came from a Christian family. I won’t go into all of the details, but even as just a little eight-year old, he had an impact on my life and I have remembered him for three decades now. How strange to connect in 2008, eh? Strange and good too.

God is so gracious to adopt us into His family!

Hope you enjoy a lovely Friday–

Blessings,
Tara B.

I had the movie Bella on today. (I would say that I watched Bella except that a lot of the time I was just lying in bed with my eyes closed to keep the room from spinning and listening to it. Worked OK for a lot of the movie, but I surely missed some of the nuances of the subtitled scenes that were in Spanish.)

Have you seen this movie? It is definitely worth watching. I don’t want to be a spoiler for you if you haven’t already watched it ... but suffice it to say that afterwards, you’ll definitely hold your children a little closer with even more gratitude to God for them. It is a powerful movie about suffering and forgiveness.

Sophie and I actually did pretty well during our day with me so sick. She is such a little trooper! Doing her little math worksheets. Listening to her history CD (and running up to excitedly tell me that the CD talked about “the unification of upper and lower Egypt by Pharaoh Menes just like her BOOK!!” ... I had to tell her how happy I was but how I, as a 38 year-old with two graduate degrees, had NO IDEA what that was talking about. She said not to worry because Mrs. Meyer would teach us everything we need to know about it when we got there in her history class. )

I did sit upright and hold her for most of her DVD of the Royal Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty. I couldn’t make it all the way through the wedding–but we thoroughly enjoyed the amazing music and ballet.

With her permission, I’ll share one story from our afternoon that might make you smile ...

She had done something wrong. Not a “big deal,” but she had been clearly disobedient and so I had to address it. At one point in our conversation, I asked her:

"Sophia, why did you disobey me right then? What was going on in your heart?"

And she replied, “Momma, I didn’t think that God was looking at my heart right then.”

So this led into a fruitful conversation about the goodness and sovereignty of God–as well as His omnipresence and omniscience, of course.

Mostly? It was a gentle rebuke of my own heart. How often I am prone to “think that God is not looking at my heart right then.” And how foolish I am to, in that moment, love my sin more than God and thus, be blind.

I’m so grateful for His grace!
And for my daughter.

She asked me tonight if I liked being a mother and I said, “No.” You should have seen her face in response! Well, just for the nanosecond it took me to finish my statement. Of course what I said was, “No. I don’t like being a mother. I LOVE being a mother. In particular, I love being YOUR mother.” And then she smiled. AND mentioned how she is praying that God will give us another baby so that she can be a big sister and help to take care of him or her. I said, “Yes! Let’s pray for a baby. But whether God says yes or no, let’s keep on loving God, OK? Because His ways, though often mysterious, are always good.” She agreed.

So Fred is at the banquet, and I’m washed up and ready to sleep. I hope I can sleep and not cough all night. I canceled everything we had scheduled tomorrow–so here’s to hoping for another good day with me pretty much immobile in bed.

I have so much to do before we leave for The Peacemaker Conference. Only twelve days left! How I pray that I turn the corner and get some energy soon.

G'nite & God bless!

Yours,
Tara B.

So ... can you tell I’m sick when I have no blog posts?

Sorry about this week. My arms feel like 200 lb weights and every time I’ve tried to post something my brain was blank. I’ve just had nothing to say! (Very weird for me, eh??)

I’m SO hoping that I’ll turn a corner today and be able to go to the Crisis Pregnancy Center fundraising dinner tonight. Alfred and Trudy Poirier (our pastor and his wife) have invited all of the deacons to attend with them and Fred is presenting a check and receiving some sort of award on behalf of our church. I don’t want to miss it!

But I also REALLY REALLY hate it when sick people go out in public (or send their KIDS to group things!) and then infect everyone around them. So even if I get a wave of energy and can will myself to go tonight, I really doubt that I will go. It just seems so selfish to me to go and spread germs like that when some virus or bacteria is obviously having a good ol' time inside of me. (And there is, apparently, a wave of pneumonia washing over Billings right now.)

Anyway–

Much to rejoice in! It’s actually been a lovely week in many regards.

Hope you’re doing well!

Blessings,
Tara B.

Tim Challies recently posted a link to an article by John Piper on how he handles spiritual training in the home. It’s worth the read! (I’m convicted.)

Sorry for the FREAKING OUT BLOG.

Fred and my web host are installing new software and apparently the process requires everything to FREAK OUT temporarily.

We hope to have it fixed soon.

Blessings,
Tara B.

PS
Sophie just made my entire day. I asked her what her favorite part of today was. (I assumed it would be gymnastics or violin or a new dollar store little pony.) And she said, “Being with you.”

Yeah. How could I ever complain about anything? I am such a blessed woman.

Last night, Sophia was struggling with guilt. Legitimate guilt, to be sure (for she had done something wrong). But forgiven guilt. Guilt that she had confessed to God and the person she had offended. Guilt that was covered. Forgiven. Dealt with.

We reviewed the Scriptures that we (so often!) review at times like this:

- “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness ...”

- “As far as the East is from the West, so far has Your God removed your sins from you ...”

- God promises to, “remember your sins NO MORE!”

But still she struggled.

Finally, she said, “Momma? Where do these voices come from inside of me? I KNOW all of those things you are saying are true, but I STILL feel so BAD!”

And so I reminded her that we have three enemies:

1. Satan ("The Devil?!" she asked. “Yes,” I replied. “The Devil. The Enemy of our Souls. He hates God and he hates us.” "But Jesus rules OVER Satan," Sophie replied. “Yes, He does, my darling! Yes, Jesus most definitely does.”)

2. The Old Man/Our Flesh (This took a little explanation. “What’s THAT?” Sophie asked. I told her, “You know how when God regenerates our hearts, we are JUSTIFIED?” "Yes! God forgives all our sins and accepts us as righteous through Christ," Sophie replied. “Yup! That’s justification. Well, do you also remember how, after we are justified, God SANCTIFIES us?” I asked her. “Yes. God makes us more and more holy in heart and conduct.” (Good ol' Catechism, I thought for the zillionth time.) “Sophie, the sin that remains in us; our temptations to doubt God or not love our neighbor or worship an idol ... that is all the OLD MAN. Our Flesh. Jesus is MAKING us more and more holy, but this Old Man remains until we are perfected in Heaven.” Sophie replied something to the effect of, “I can’t wait for Heaven! No more sin! No more spankings!” Right.)

3. The World/Other People. (I explained to Sophie how sometimes, even though we know the TRUTH that we are forgiven, other people or “the world” will still try to condemn us.)

But really? It is in THESE MOMENTS that the rubber hits the road of our Christianity. It is exactly in moments of temptation to despair just like THIS that we must BELIEVE THE TRUTH more than anything else. More than anything people say; more than that Old Man voice inside of us trying to condemn us; more than Satan.

We say, “Silence! No more with these lies! God says He has forgiven me. He HAS forgiven me. It is DONE. It is FINISHED.”

And do you know how Sophie replied? She sat there for a few minutes in her car seat, just thinking to herself, and then she said with an actual SMILE:

"Mom, I just had the BEST thought! I could picture all three of those things SO TINY and SO SMALL that they were like WORMS. And God is SO BIG. And now I don’t feel so bad any more."

This, of course, led into a great conversation about HOW BIG GOD ACTUALLY IS. (Made more fun by the fact that we were driving in the dark with gorgeous stars overhead and a brilliant half-moon shining. “God is even bigger than OUTER SPACE?!” "Yes, darling. EVEN BIGGER." “Even bigger than ...” "Yes. Yes. Our minds cannot conceive of the greatness and glory of God.")

Tucking her into bed, I believed everything I said to her. But after yet another difficult conversation with Fred; after yet another painfully lonely night; with more and more burdens crashing down on me even as I just wake up this morning and turn on my computer ...

Once again, here I sit, struggling to believe what I believe; to believe for MYSELF what I so heartily believe for Sophia. For others. For you.

Spurgeon says,

"We often talk of unbelief as if it were an affliction to be pitied instead of a crime to be condemned."

Eek! He’s right!

Please forgive my unbelief, God. Please forgive my treason against You! And please help me to change.

(He does! He does!)

"When a king (David) has lost his throne, when a father has his own child in rebellion against him, one says, “Whatever may have been his faults, this is not the time to mention them.” When the poor heart is bleeding and the man is already suffering the very extremity of misery, who would wish to add a single ounce to the crushing weight that he has to carry?" (Spurgeon)

"As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:13)

Praying that you will believe God this morning–and NOT those three little enemy worms that might tempt you to doubt today.

Your bruised and tired, but pressing-on friend–
Tara B.

Barbara Curtis (MommyLife.net) just posted a GREAT link to sing-along songs for children:

Young and Young at Heart

I can’t wait to go through them all with Sophia. We sing CONSTANTLY around here and we LOVE the “oldies but goodies.”

Hope you enjoy!

And hope your Sunday is going well–

Yours,
Tara B.

An email/blog/becoming “real life” friend signed off a recent email with this line:

"Remember that God delights in you, is the one who fights your battles, and to speak kindly to yourself in the midst of this difficult time ..."

Good advice, eh? To speak kindly to myself. 'Twould be a grace.

(Thanks, Amy.)

Yours,
Tara B.

Did I mention back in June that my doctor was one step away from putting me on MEDS for my ever-increasing triglyceride count?

Every blood relative I know of (other than Sophie) is already on such meds ... but I really did NOT want to have to go on them. So in addition to the spiritual battle re: my heart and the lifestyle goals of longing for more energy / better sleep / a stronger and more healthful body, I was also motivated this summer to really try again re: food/exercise because I wanted to get that triglyceride count DOWN.

And guess what?
Great news!

I found out today that since June (in only three months!) I dropped my triglyceride count from 279 to 158. That’s ALMOST in the normal range and (I’m hoping!) well out of the “you’re one step away from meds” range. Hooray! Hooray! It was the one piece of good news in an otherwise troubled and troubling day.

(Major stuff brewing. Again. Blergh!)

I continue to pray for faith to believe God! And for a heart that worships God rightly. I’m often SUCH a wreck. But hey! At least I’m a wreck with slightly better heart-disease-numbers.

Sending you love–

Yours,
Tara B.

Thanks so much for the kind thoughts and prayers! I’m still not feeling well–but I’m not in the imminent path of a (literal) hurricane, so I need to count my blessings, eh? (Praying for you, Nancy, and everyone on our southern coastline!)

I’m grateful that Sophie and I were able to sleep last night. (Did I mention that she’s sick too?) Often, congestion + kids = a sleepless night for Momma. But we slept well, so that’s a grace.

I did wake up with my heart deep IN THE BATTLE, though. It has to do with a relationship (of course–if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know it’s either a relationship or FOOD with me!) ...

It’s hard to persevere and I am praying for faith to love well and do well and LIVE well.

Reviewed some of C. Plantinga’s (AMAZING!) book, Not The Way It’s Supposed to Be–A Breviary of Sin this morning to remind me of Truth:

"We keep company with God only by adopting God’s purposes for us and following through on them even when it is difficult or initially painful to do so ...

None of our lives is an accident.
We have been called into existence, expected, awaited, equipped, and assigned.

We have been called to undertake the stewardship of a good creation, to create sturdy and buoyant families that pulse with the glad give-and-take of the generations.

By the sins of attack, we vandalize shalom.
By the sins of flight we abandon it.

When we flee responsibility, we turn our backs on God’s presence and blessing and begin the slow process of converting ourselves into derelicts.

We “hate the light and do not come to the light” (John 3:20)

[BUT!] Don’t forget the resolve of God!

God wants shalom and will pay any price to get it back.

Human sin is stubborn but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so ready to suffer to win its way."

Banking on the resolve of God–

Yours feveredly,
Tara B.

What a happy title for a blog!

But it accurate ... I am stressed, sick, and tired.

Stressed because of something challenging that happened yesterday that our family has to keep addressing this morning. (Very hard!)

Sick because, well, apparently some little virus or bug is having a happy time inside of me–but it’s making all of the normal sick symptoms fuzz up my brain and knock my energy level down to zilch.

Which leads me right to TIRED.

Oh well! Every day isn’t like this, right?
Makes me appreciate the days I wake up before the alarm and happily head out the door to walk Lilikoi.

Hope you’re feeling better than me!
And that your day is a blessed one.

I’ll close with another thought from Ajith Fernando ...

Blessings to you!
– Tara B.

PAIN DOES ITS WORK, AND GRACE TAKES OVER
Written by Ajith Fernando while traveling abroad

I left home on a trip abroad feeling very discouraged and hurt because of some problems. This is normal in the Christian life, and these are emotions I must not deny. Sorrow and pain must be permitted to do their work. They

- deepen our commitment and mould our character, especially teaching us patience;
- lead us to confess sin and show the fruit of repentance;
- prepare us to face greater suffering;
- bring us closer to suffering humanity;
- make us more effective ministers; and
- increase our joy by causing us to depend more on God and his grace than on earthly things and ourselves.

But we cannot go on living life overwhelmed by our problems. Once discouragement and hurt have done their work we must return to the normal Christian life which I like to define as “being overwhelmed by grace."

... One of the things which help us to return to the attitude of being overwhelmed by grace is exposure to the simple, but beautifully profound, truths of Christianity. God did that to me during my retreat through the book, Out of my Mind, by Joseph Bayly (Zondervan). He had a column by the same name in the now defunct Eternity Magazine. It was my favourite monthly reading in my early years in the ministry. Three of Bayly’s sons died aged four years, three weeks and eighteen years. Each of his other four children ended up in ministry. He was known as a prophet to our generation, but his writing oozes with the deep grace of God learned through suffering.

Bayly reminded me that, in the life made beautiful by grace, there are some things which are normal but which the world despises. We must accept these things as basic to the Christian life and not be overly upset by the more negative ones among them. Here are some of those things:

- a simple trust in Christ and an enjoyment of his love which causes us to be thrilled with life;
- sacrificial love for others including our family members;
- suffering for our principles;
- following the way of the cross even though the world sees it as going down on the status scale;
- proactively seeking to bring people to faith in Christ because that is their only hope for escaping eternal damnation and finding eternal salvation;
- accepting every disappointment and hurt as a means used by God to bless us;
- opposing wrong, however out of step we may seem with the rest of society;
- studying the challenges to Christian thinking in contemporary society and formulating responses to them so that Christians will be warned and armed to face them and non-Christians will be challenged to change their minds;
- refusing to allow the sham values of our superficial, media-dominated society to influence our values, lifestyle and methods.

... God made us humans with eternity in our hearts (Eccl. 3:11). We are too exalted to be satisfied with mere earthly honour. Only the joy and peace of the eternal God can truly satisfy our souls. John Wesley said, “O what a pearl of what great a price is the lowest degree of the peace of God.” It is a treasure so valuable that it is worthwhile sacrificing everything in order to obtain it.

Woke up with a fever of 101.5 and it’s only been going up up up and since then.

Amazed at God’s grace in helping me to get Sophie through ALL of her lessons first thing this morning (even with me lying prone because the room was spinning and I moved into “grab a bucket” mode–ick!) ... and then that our dear friend would call RIGHT THEN and say, “Let me swing by and take Sophie for a playdate so you can sleep!” What grace.

Now I’m trying to return the most urgent emails and GET TO SLEEP.

But I saw this great post over at TheResurgence and wanted to be sure to share it with you before I climb back into bed:

Six Study Essentials

Hope you’re not sick too!

Happy Thursday–

Love,
Tara B.

HT to Randy Alcorn for this great video:



And to our dear friend, Melodie, for reminding us of the WONDER of Team Hoyt during her leadership of the Peacemaker devotions this morning!



Oh oh oh! Thank You God, for these glimpses of grace.

We’re off to bed now–
Hope you are too! (Unless you are one of my Australia / New Zealand gals–then, “Good Morning to you!”

Yours,
Tara B.

Oh, how SWEET grace is!

For me? Today? It came pouring over me when I tried to tackle my cooking fears. Again.

The recipe was something that my sweet friend typed up for me as only a real friend would do because it was just so SIMPLE. Chicken that had been marinated. A pasta salad with vegis and an Italian dressing. A cole-slaw salad. The kind of thing that you REAL cooks just “TOSS TOGETHER.”

We had eaten it last weekend at these friends' home and it was SO delicious that I asked my friend if a) she thought I might be able to do it (she knows that cooking gives me anxiety attacks!); and b) if so, if she might please give me the recipes.

She happily typed up the recipes (with special “Tara-necessary” instructions) and gradually, over the last few days, I’ve been trying them all:

1. Thanks to her instructions, I discovered that the grocery store has REALLY COOL little marinade packages that you can mix up with just oil and vinegar and water and make delicious meat dishes ("Baja Lime"–YUM!). I never saw them in the grocery store until my friend told me about them.

2. I can make bow-tie pasta! AND chop up vegis, put them on top of the steaming pasta (to “lightly steam” them) AND add super-cool (feels like we’re eating in a restaurant!) Feta cheese and fresh Italian dressing. It didn’t even hurt!

3. Costco sells a DELICIOUS ginger-soy dressing that, again, I never even knew existed.

4. I can make that crunchy cabbage roasted almond salad thingy that I love at church potlucks! Hooray!

But then it came time to marinate the meat. My friend’s note said that she uses the Ginger Soy from Costco and one of those “Baja Lime” packets.

There I sat. I had the packet. I had the ginger-soy. My chicken was thawed and I was psychologically prepared to touch raw chicken (BLECH! NOT MY FAVORITE PART OF COOKING!). But I just had NO IDEA how MUCH of each I should combine for the marinade. I looked at the packet. I looked at the ginger soy. I looked at the chicken. I looked BACK at what my friend wrote and I knew I would have to do the thing that I really didn’t want to have to do ... CALL MY FRIEND AND ASK FOR HELP.

So I did.

The grace was that she was 100% encouraging, cheering me on, proud of me for trying, CONFIDENT it was going to taste great, “You can do it, Tara! You can do it! Rah rah rah!” And here is the clarification you need to know:

There are TWO chickens. ONE has the ginger soy dressing and the OTHER has the Baja Lime.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh! That makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE!!!!!!! So it was OK that I called rather than listening to that teeny little trying to condemn me voice inside saying, “I can’t believe you can’t just put a little of each in until it FEELS right! That’s what a REAL COOK would do!” By calling, I learned that they are SEPARATE marinades and I should NOT combine them. Ah. Makes perfect sense now.



And you know the nicest, most gracious part of this call is that my friend didn’t make me feel a burden. She didn’t mock my stupidity or question “what kind of a stay at home wife and mother ARE YOU?!?” Nope. Instead she said, “Oh, Tara! Call me ANYTIME. It is my PLEASURE to help you because the truth is, if women in the church hadn’t taught ME these things over the years, I would not know how to do them either. So please call ANY time. We love you!”

Now that’s grace. And I’m grateful.

Hope your day had moments of sweet encouragement too!

Trying to get back to sleep (pulling a little 4AM-6AM shift here b/c of knee pain waking me up)–

Yours,
Tara B.

Joe Adams made me laugh (again) by posting a great “1950’s Yearbook” photo of himself on his blog, so I ran over to YearbookYourself.com and made photos of myself from the 1960's:



And one from the 1990’s that Fred would probably identify as looking (scarily) just like the version of me that he met in 1993:



So what would YOU look like in the 50’s, 60', or 70’s?



Smilingly,
Tara B.

Way back when (mid 70’s?) in the thriving metropolis of German Valley, Illinois (population right around 400), a sweet pastor’s wife by the name of Ruthann Poppen taught FTY ("Fred the Youngest" of the five Barthel brothers) a little song to memorize the order of the books of the Bible.

Thirty years later, Fred taught Sophie and me the song–and now we’re teaching it to the children in our church’s co-op.

I just You-Tubed a video of Soph singing it so that if the kids want to practice during the week they can–and I thought you might enjoy it too:



Hope you’re enjoying your Labor Day! We slept late, Lili and I took a long walk in misty rain (nice! we hardly EVER get rain around here!), did a puzzle, played a little violin, and now we’re all relaxing and enjoying a quiet afternoon.

Blessings to you & yours!
– Tara B.