Posts by Barbara Harper

When I was in college, the dorm rooms were formed into smaller prayer groups, usually three dorm rooms to a group, that met almost every night for devotions. The people in the rooms took turns sharing a devotional each night, then we spent a few minutes in prayer before getting ready for bed. One of…

You’ve probably seen those lists people post on social media from time to time – the ones that say something like, “The man speeding on the highway? Maybe his wife is in labor, and they are racing to the hospital. The woman who passed you in the hallway without speaking? Maybe she’s worried about a…

I imagine we all talk to ourselves throughout the day. Sometimes we ask things like, “Where did I put my phone?” Or “What did I come in here for?” Sometimes we commiserate with ourselves about the driver who just cut us off in traffic or the rude salesperson. We might berate ourselves when we’ve done…

Do you have anything on the back burner, the place where we let hopes and dreams simmer until the time is right for them? My “back burner” dream was writing. I loved being a mother and homemaker. I enjoyed being actively involved in church ministries. Just when my “nest” was emptying, we cared for my…

C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” When I first became a Christian and hadn’t developed a…

It’s strange that we’re so prone to pride. We didn’t create ourselves; we have nothing that we weren’t given. “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Even when we do something for the Lord,…

My husband and I aren’t rah rah people. I didn’t care for pep rallies in school. We cheer at games, especially when our kids are playing. But otherwise, we’re pretty quiet people. I’ve cringed when I’ve occasionally heard preachers rebuke people for being more excited at a football game than at church. I understand their point, but…