December 24, 2020

 Merry Christmas to everyone. Today i've made one of my earliest posts the Featured Post.  May you be inspired by the mother of our Lord as we celebrate His birth.

Gratitude Attitude in a Confusing Scary World

   William Cowper (pronounced Cooper) left us many beautiful, sadly nearly forgotten hymns in his troubled life.

  My favorite Bible study teacher, Dee Brestin, shared in her email list a link to a beautiful video of a song of his i'd never heard of. 

  May you find your celebration of Thanksgiving enhanced by the words and music.

  Links disappeared in the text?  Here they are separately:

New Post on my other blog

i don't use my other blog very much, but i did just make a post.
It's more of a Christian and Bible emphasis blog.  You might want to check it out.
https://judges2.blogspot.com/2020/07/waiting.html

Words on Wednesday: Current Reading

  My sister is clearing out books again, a never-ending job.  She loves reading as do i.
  i don't know if these are all of her Robin Jones Gunn books.  i know she's still got a couple of Sisterchicks  titles of mine somewhere, so maybe there are more of these.
  Something she said about these books got to me.

Recent Reading, AKA Words on "Wednesday," a day late

Some of my Recent Reading

In the photo, but no particular order:

Saturday Sisters: Looking at a Fictional Character

  When i began this blog, and the Saturday Sisters, i never thought i would write about a totally fictitious character.  But this one is hits a place a lot of us have wondered about.

2018 Reading List

  Lately i've been doing a lot of reading.  Possibly too much, but hey, to read i don't have to move those pesky knees.
  Anyway, i've compiled a list of many of the books i've read this year, with a few scattered comments.   Hope you enjoy!

Saturday Sisters: Novels about Sarah

  This week i've read these two Sarah novels off my shelf.  They are actually

Come to My Church (Be Sure & Listen Close the 1st time. . . .)

  i've generally made it a policy to not mention by name the churches & schools i'm associated with.  Not that there's anything wrong with them, but, in the natural course of events, life does not flow smoothly when humans get together. And, to a certain extent, the heart of blogging is discussing problems.
  My idea in this reticence is

The New Testament "Picture Book"

Lyrics from ApolegetiX, Keep Your Arms Steady
Parody of "Detroit Rock City" by Kiss

  What is going on here? 

MidWeek Photos: Scrapbook Pages without Photos

Title Page

Saturday Sisters: Dorcas Women

Today my friend Debbie Scales is a guest blogger.  Thank you, Debbie, for your regular encouraging words!

I know several women like Dorcas and want to tell you about one of them.
This Dorcas woman

The Ruth Project: Part 1

 

Seeds: From Another Garden

   i think this project actually began last November. Eva Etzioni-Halevy's novels in our local library may have been its genesis.

   Actually it was the not-Ruth novel, The Song of Hannah, that i read first. It upended all i had been taught about Hannah, Elkanah's the barren wife.  Wasn't she the first, older wife? And Peninnah the sharp-tongued, the second, younger wife, mother of Elkanah's children?

   Well, yes, to some of the assumptions. Peninnah has the children, she makes Hannah's life miserable (but maybe Hannah would've been miserable without Peninnah's needling? i can totally see Peninnah's "needling" as an attempt to say Hannah had the better lot in life.)

   Etzioni-Halevy's novel turns the situation on its head. She depicts Hannah, at her best friend Pninah's wedding, determining to also marry the attractive groom.

   The The Garden of Ruth had a similarly unsuspected premise: 

Christians Reading Fiction

Words on Wednesday: This Year's Reading List, so far, sort of

Actually the lower right book is the study guide for my CD lecture series

Saturday Sisters: Rhoda

Acts 12:13-14, The Message

This is a story i need to back into. . . . 
       (or you can skip to Parts 4 & 5 for the actual Rhoda meditation)

Saturday Sisters: Phoebe

Faithful

Who was Phoebe anyway? This is the only place we hear of her in Scripture:

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church, which is at Cenchrea; Romans 16:1

Stories: Real-Life and Allegorical

A stirring rescue account and a facebook giveaway. . . .

Wordless Wednesday: Not Your Typical Window

This room, the one i'm inside, was a small cubby-type place, used for our church library.  Later, the library was discontinued, the room emptied, and now the windows are gone.  There's french doors leading to a small cubby for the (volunteer) receptionist, not to be confused with the (paid) admin assistant.

Words on Wednesday: Reading about Joseph

  One of the things i loved about Angela Elwell Hunt's Legacies of the Ancient River series is how not only don't we lose track of book one's main character throughout, but he's actually a key figure in them all, sometimes primary, sometimes secondary, but always in the forefront.