Author: LAH

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Reading about Missions

Summer is coming to a close, and a lot of our friends are back from their short-term mission trips. I’ve always been supportive of short-term missions (see my daughter’s post about them), but lately I’ve wondered. Did these missionaries make a difference? Did God change their hearts? Did their trips improve the lives of those they went to serve?

Our friend Bob works for  Partners International, one of my favorite cross-cultural ministries. He has compiled a list of mission books that he recommends. The first two, Serving with Eyes Wide Open, by David Livermore, and When Helping Hurts, by Corbett and Fikkert, address my questions about our short-term mission efforts. I can’t wait to buy and read both of them.

Bob discusses these and other mission books on his blog. Because I know and respect his opinions, I highly recommend his list to you.

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Cheap Fun

We sure complain about the high costs of health care, but did you know that the average American spends about the same amount (5.6% of their income) on fun? Yet no one complains about skyrocketing entertainment prices!

That’s right. According to Visual Economics, the average American earns  just over $50,000 per year. Of that,  around $2,800 goes to amuse ourselves. It’s nearly the same as we spend on healthcare (5.9%, almost $3,000) and much more than we give away to charity (3.4%, $1,700).

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Yet Another Scam…

I was sitting at my computer, catching up with a few friends on Facebook, when a chat window popped up. The name was one of my former students, someone I enjoy reading about, but not a close friend at this time in our lives. Still, I was pleasantly surprised—at first.

Apparently, this scam has been around for a few months now. You may have already been targeted. It’s just another reason to be a bit paranoid online (or in general).

At least this is an easy one to figure out. If the person knows you well enough to ask for a loan, they should be someone with whom you have some special shared memories. Just ask them some questions no one else could figure out.

Also, don’t forget to notify your friend that their account has been hacked. Time to change the password, at the very least!

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Amazing Orange French Toast

Labor Day weekend is here, with an opportunity to spend Monday sleeping late for a change. What better way to celebrate than with a special breakfast—served at noon? This would also be a great breakfast to prepare for your sweetie, served in bed and garnished with a kiss.

While I never encountered French toast in France, it is traditionally made with French bread. Perhaps that’s where the name comes from.

As with so many delicious recipes, this is really not very good for you. But hey, you’re not making a habit of it, are you?

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Say What?

dord

Among the approximately 200,000 words in the English language (give or take a few), “Dord” is unique.

Oh, it’s in the dictionary, or at least it used to be, right there between Dorcopsis (a genus of small kangaroo) and doré (meaning gold). But it doesn’t mean anything. In fact, it was there by accident. Dord isn’t really a word.

Turns out that for five years, from 1934 through 1939 , Webster’s New International Dictionary mistakenly included dord as a real word, defining it as a noun meaning density.

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A Little Advice for Couples: Secrets

Central to every couple is the issue of communication… and central to the ability to connect is the issue of disclosure. I’ve learned a lot about God’s view of secrets this summer. He hates them.

The Bible is full of examples of God having secrets, ranging from the mystery of his plan for mankind to the timing of the Second Coming. There are even cases of God telling people to keep secrets. Those aren’t the kind of secrets I’m talking about here.

The secrets that God hates are those we think we are keeping from Him—or sins we are hiding from one another. God assures us that nothing can be hidden from His sight. Jeremiah 23:24 reads, “’Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.” If we think we’re keeping secrets from God, we are only fooling ourselves.

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A Little Advice for Couples: Submission

The theme for this summer has been “relationships.” Several dear friends are joyfully falling in love, while another close couple is at risk of falling out of it. Those who are unmarried are contemplating marriage. The two who are married are in danger of separation.

Maybe it’s the gray hairs, maybe it’s our 31 years of marriage (and we still like one another!), but Pete and I are being asked for wise counsel in all these relationships. I count this a huge responsibility, and I’ve spent a lot of time begging God to direct my words. (I’m especially asking for godly wisdom, the courage to pass on what He tells me, and a lot of love for everyone involved.)

In the middle of all this relating, I’ve come to realize that there are some commonalities. I would like to address two critical issues in particular: submission and secrets. Today I focus on submission.

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A Few Money-saving Tips

“We’re broke!”
“Our credit cards are maxed out, and I don’t know what to do!”
“I can’t sleep at night—I just lie there and worry about our finances.”

I’ve been hearing a lot of comments like these lately. Many of our close friends are at the end of their financial ropes, and the cords are fraying. While my husband and I are doing all right—we’re paying all our bills, at least—we too are feeling the effects of a challenging economy and several years of missing income.

I knew when Pete made the switch from commercial consulting to full-time ministry that our financial situation would change. We were used to being somewhat frugal—at least we thought of ourselves that way—but this would be on a whole new level. Sensing God telling me we needed to simplify our finances and learn to live with less, I sought counsel from older (and hopefully more mature) members of our church. And I was astonished that no one had any advice for me. All I heard was, “You’re doing fine!” Really?

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I Was Afraid of That

NEWS FLASH: I held a tarantula!

(The photo is actually of Pete’s hand, from several months ago, but the tarantula is the same individual that I held recently.)

If you have been following my other blog, Mountain Plover, you know that I am generally terrified of spiders. In an effort to overcome this phobia, I have been intentionally learning more about them. Last February I wrote about tarantulas, illustrating my post with photos I took through the glass walls of a terrarium. It was a beginning.

In July, I wrote about how spiders are beneficial to us gardeners. Again, photos accompanied that post. This time, there were no glass barriers between my camera lens and my subjects.

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A “Memorial Stone” from 1992 – Part 2

One and a half weeks ago I wrote about the idea of memorial stones—tangible reminders of God’s faithfulness. Last time I posted the first part of a story from 1992. Today I’d like to share the second and third of three related events that happened quite a while ago, but which still feed my faith today. Be sure to especially notice God’s sense of timing.

If you remember, it was October, 1992. Pete had been invited to a mission conference to be held in San Jose, Costa Rica, that included representatives from every Latin American nation….

Having finally made it to Costa Rica, we were proceeding smoothly through customs when the inspector decided that Pete’s large box full of used, donated floppy diskettes looked too valuable to allow in without paying duty (and going through the attendant red tape.) Our limited Spanish was simply not up to explaining that the materials were used, had no commercial value, and were vital for providing computer backups during the international conference we were about to attend.

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