thoughts from a sunday

 You couldn't spend your whole life in Campus Crusade for Christ,

or raise your daughter as a Promise Keeper,

or count on groups like the Moral Majority or the Christian Coalition

to sustain your belief system beyond the next election cycle.

For that kind of staying power you [need] a confessional tradition,

a church,

an institution capable of outlasting its charismatic founders.

-Ross Douthat, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics

 

Wisdom lies in anchoring ourselves to the church

as the church is anchoed to Christ.

Across time and culture and trends,

the church remains.

-Peter Greer, Chris Horst, Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities and Churches

 

Jesus Christ is building His church.  This gives me so much hope.  We are not building it.  He is. 
So when we fail, and people fail, and things and lives get broken, and solutions that seemed perfect don't work, when ministry is messy and discipleship is draining, He is still building and He is still extending grace and the Cross is still power to those who believe and His Word is still not returning void.

I am loving this song today.

 

I know there is poor and hideous suffering,

and I've seen the hungry and the guns that go to war.

I have lived pain, and my life can tell:

I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks

for early light dappled through leaves

and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July

and the song of crickets on humid nights a

nd the rivers that run and the stars that rise and the rain that falls

and all the good things that a good God gives.

-Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

Best Yes

We are working through The Best Yes in our Bible study right now and it has been amazing. 

First of all, the teaching segments are shot in London, and having just been there -

(for three hours) 

(in smelly clothes from two days in airports) 

(we were hardly a good representation of Americans to the UK) 

- it's really cool to see in the background. Okay, I know that's totally shallow, but it's still engaging, instead of a tan wall with ferns ala Emerson Eggerich/Tedd Tripp/John Piper/Beth Moore. 

Second, I can't believe how much Scripture Lysa digs into; it's not a book study, or opinion study-- it is totally a Bible study, taking a hard look at how God wants us to prioritize time. 

Third, I appreciate the little quotes Lysa encapsulates in her book, study and in her Instagram account (she's a great person to follow). They stick with me. 

It's easy to think that our daily yes and 

no decisions aren't all that important, but over time, they can add up:  the decisions we make dictate the schedules we keep; the schedules we keep determine the life we live; the life we live determines how we spend our soul - and how we spend our soul matters. - The Best Yes study guide, pg. 19

Wisdom is like a muscle; if we want to be strong in preparation for extraordinary circumstances, we have to give it regular workouts in ordinary circumstances. -pg. 54

We've got to practice wisdom in the everyday places of our lives.  - pg. 86

I have loved the book, as well, and I'm almost finished.  So much practical application: what do you do if someone asks to move in with you indefinitely? Lysa writes/walks through that decision making process and I could hardly turn the pages fast enough-- better than a murder mystery haha! Why does saying yes always feel more loving? Is it actually always loving? 

This is a great, great study to grab some girlfriends and walk through together.  

(See my little Best Yes display? -- propped up there in an effort to remind myself to choose my time and decisions wisely) 

Just 18 Summers by Rene Gutteridge & Michelle Cox

The title says a lot. . .

This is the fictional account of a community who wakes up to the realization that life is short and our days with our children are numbered.

While the plot is not very complex, reflecting the screenwriting strengths of the author, the message is simple and direct: eighteen summers with our children are not that many.  In the form of novelization, the authors address four different parenting angles: single parent, hover-parenting, success-driven parents and relaxed, laid back parenting.  All styles have challenges and regrets and joys, but it's easy to see by walking through the storyline that our children need us, not a formula or method.

This book was an easy read, yet it may take you awhile: every time I started in, I wanted to lay it down to do just what it encourages: enjoy the summers I have left with my little ones.

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from Tyndale House Publishers.

Miss Brenda and the Loveladies by Brenda Spahn

Oh, this book is fun!

When faced with the possibility of prison for a technicality she was unaware of, successful businesswoman Brenda Spahn's eyes were opened wide to the hopeless cycle of incarceration for women.  She sees the despair of new parolees as they are sent back to the exact environments they came from without any hope for change; Brenda decides do jump in and do something out of gratefulness to God for reversing her own prison situation. 

Brenda is a rich lady.  Rich, rich.  While it is super heartwarming and movie-like to read the account of  seven ex-cons living with an extremely wealthy woman, the heart of  the story is clear: get involved. It's so easy to throw money at a situation rather than sacrificially giving oneself. 

This is the story of a woman who embraced the unlovable at great personal cost, and her courage moves you to reach out of your comfort zone. Whether it's taking newly released women shopping for undergarments at Walmart or bringing chocolate covered strawberries to prisoners, you will be motivated by all of the practical ways to speak life and Christ into those around you.

Disclaimer: Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianityby Nabeel Qureshi

What if everything you knew to be true wasn't truth?  Would you embrace the truth even if it meant walking away from everything you've ever known?  Would you choose truth over family? Truth at deep personal cost?

Raised in Western culture, Nabeel Qureshi traces his childhood steeped in Islamic tradition to his adulthood and his deep desire to seek truth.

Although I was reading to understand my Muslim friends and their background, I found my own faith strengthened as he wrestled with the difficult questions of Christianity: did Jesus really die? what about the swoon theory? what about the conundrum of the Trinity- isn't that polytheism? As Nabeel tackles these questions with intense scrutiny and deep skepticism, he finds over and over that science and history prove the Bible to be true.

Another thread running through this excellent account of a man's search for truth is the power of a friend who won't let go.  Nabeel's friend David doesn't just love him to Christ - he prays, he spends years building a relationship,  he doesn't shrink from the tough questions, and most importantly, Nabeel knew beyond any doubt that David loved him. 

I chose to read this book because I'm interested in apologetics and usually this genre of book is slow reading and a lot to digest: however I read this in a weekend and couldn't put it down.  The chapters are intense and deep, but also short.  Because of the comprehensive glossary throughout, there's so many aha moments for anyone who cares about Muslim people that you are compelled to keep reading so you can understand your friends even more.

This is a fantastic book for anyone who is interested in Islam, anyone who loves a Muslim friend and wants to understand their culture, and for anyone who is seeking truth. 

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free from Zondervan's blogger review program, BookLook. I was not required to write a positive review.

A Godward Heart by John Piper

Despite the rather vague title, I was drawn in by this collection of 50 short essays from the great thinker, John Piper.  Since each chapter stood alone, it was a great book to take in during my new reading style which consists of short bursts of time.

Covering tragedy (Putting My Daughter to Bed After the Bridge Collapsed), parenting (Why Require Unregenerate Children ot  Act Like They're Good), social media (Creating Pointers to the Greatness of Christ), the human failure of leaders (If You Can Be Godly and Wrong, Does Truth Matter?) and every topic in between, A Godward Heart is a great book to discuss and mull over. 
Some brief quotes:

Human language is precious. It sets us apart from animals. (pg. 41)

Christianity is not withdrawal from business. (pg. 48)

It is right and risky to aim at being worthy of emulation. It is more foundationally right to aim at being helpful. (pg. 133)

I chose to read this, actually my first Piper book, because we are currently going through the Don't Waste Your Life video curriculum with our small group.  I found A Godward Heart to be even more practical, applicable and succint than the (also excellent)  Don't Waste Your Life material. I underlined many, many passages, texted excerpts to Daniel, posted quotes on Instagram, and discussed the parenting chapter with my sister in law. This is a book you can use right now.

I received this book for free from Multnomah's blogger review program, Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review.

Notes From a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider

Any book with an entire appendix on how Dave Ramsey changed the author's life story will get some attention from me. 

Take a subject that I can't get enough of: the art of living intentionally in a chaotic world and add beautifully written brief - yet - deep chapters on things I struggle to keep simple: work, food, education, travel, entertainment, revival, and I'm definitely interested.

Tsh Oxenreider writes about how much is enough, why it's so hard to develop relationships in America, her longing for the slower pace of other cultures, and why boredom for children is so tragic and unnecessary.  She brings the unique perspective world travel gives to the frenetic American conundrum of full lives and empty spirits, with practical ways to avoid succumbing to the chaos.

My only hesitation with the simple living, fair trade chocolate, ride your bike everywhere movement is that sometimes it can isolate us from the people God calls us to reach here in our own weary, overworked and under-loved culture.  Sometimes living simply to me means not slow food, but  mixing up some refined white flour pancakes (dotted with chocolate chips from Aldi) for lunch + very fake maple syrup for a snow day with friends. 

Fair trade chocolate aside,  I appreciated the encouragement to be intentional and drink in life with my little ones.  Beautiful book!

I received this book for free from BookLook.  I was not required to write a positive review.

And Life Comes Back by Tricia Lott Williford

What if you thought your husband had the flu and you slept on the couch and then when you went up to check on him, he died?  In your arms? 

And then what if you had to be a mama to your children and miss your husband and figure out how to grieve?

I sat down with this book and didn't even stop reading until past midnight and past page one hundred; Tricia didn't wait to write her story until all the loose ends were tied up and her grief was wrapped into a neat package.  It's raw and real and stunningly honest. 

It would have been easy to gloss over some of the odd and frustrating and funny things about grief, but the author doesn't, sharing openly the difficulty of going to church, coping with her suddenly non-existent love life, her choice to get a tattoo, marking the loss on her skin,  a weird grief advocate lady who talked about pets dying when their owners die.  Anyone who has walked through loss knows all of these realities and it was refreshing to hear someone put words to the whole picture, not only just the sad and spiritual parts.

And Life Comes Back is a perfect title: life can come back, even after the deepest tragedies.  Life returning doesn't mean everything is fixed, but it does mean that laughter returns and joy and breathing without breaking down.

{I recieved this book for free from Blogging for Books.  I was not required to write a positive review.}

10 Days Without by Daniel Ryan Day

"It's risky to believe that it's our responsibility as individuals to change the entire world- and I'm not sure it's healthy to try. . . but God does call us to make a difference in the world of the individual.

So maybe instead of trying to change the world, we need to focus on changing someone's world."

10 Days Without, Daniel Ryan Day, page 49

These words sum up the challenge of this brief, brave little book full of practical ways to jump out of your comfort zone and open your eyes to the needs right in front of our own homes. In the first chapter, Daniel Day painfully concludes that his life is too comfortable and too full of good intentions that never actually happen: so he decides to start going without  some comforts in order to force himself and others to pay attention to the broken world we live in.

Topics include going without shoes (addressing disease), furniture (poverty), legs (disabilities), media (distractions), voice (modern day slavery) and human touch (untouchables - orphans, widows, prisoners). Each chapter starts with an explanation of what and why Daniel Day is going without; he chronicles the ten days and his experiences and ends with projects for you to do and get involved in.

I read this book in a weekend and shared a lot with the kids and Daniel;  it's light reading, yet honest and refreshing.  I appreciated the author's heart and willingness to jump in where he was at; I also appreciated his wife's encouraging, enthusiastic attitude throughout the projects.  My favorite chapter was Ten Days Without Legs; the author addresses disabilities and volunteers at a retreat for families touched by handicapped children.  I learned a lot from from the practical, hopeful, encouraging suggestions in this chapter to compassionately do something, not nothing.

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free from Blogging for Books.  I was not required to write a positive review.

The Question That Never Goes Away by Philip Yancey

Why?

It is a question that cries out for an answer when we can't wrap our minds around the Hand of God allowing pain. 

Yancey writes with clarity and honesty, never deviating from the strong belief that God is Love, even in the darkest moments: Sarajevo, tsunamis, twenty little kindergarteners whose lives are snuffed out at Christmastime. Is God there? Does He care? Yancey examines these questions from a variety of religions and world views, including atheism, concluding logically that only Christianity provides hope and redemption for the heartache and pain of humanity. 

Just 154 pages, this is an excellent book to give someone who has experienced great loss.  Yancey's crisp, sweeping, journalistic style of writing includes thoughts from some of my favorite writers on the subject of pain: C.S. Lewis, Nouwen, Jerry Sittser.  Because of Yancey's extensive research, many short quotes from other sources are shared. Two rather confusing ones made me pause though: one, an evolutionary view of how humans show compassion, and the other referring to "the God of 14 billion years since the beginning of the universe." Elsewhere the author affirms his own views on our Creator God, but the lack of clarification would make me hesitate a bit before I gave the book to an unbeliever. 

Having experienced the loss of a child, I know that some of the greatest healing came to my heart from reading books people gave to me.  I have a shelf dedicated to grief and loss and it's kind of a revolving library because I give away the best ones to others who would benefit. The Question That Never Goes Away is already headed to a friend of mine, so I will have to order my own copy to restock my bookshelf. 

This hopeful, clear, healing little book validates pain while pointing to our Creator Who sent His Son to die so that pain and sin wouldn't define humanity forever.

Disclosure: I received this book for free through the blogger review program, BookSneeze.  I was not required to write a positive review. 

#mondayquotes

"When we neglect the systems and structures that are intended to bring us life, we not only rob ourselves and those around us, but we also rob those to whom we would minister." 

- Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams Into Your Comfortable Life (Jeff Goins) 

. . .and life itself is grace

- Frederick Buechner, Now and Then,  [and taken from Philip Yancey's Soul Survivor: how my faith survived the church]

forced rest

Sometimes God brings my life to a screeching halt through the . . .

dumbest

things.

Like a tooth infection ?!?!

Isn't that for people who are . . . y'know. . . gross and just drink pop and eat candy? 

Well anyway,

here I am, in bed, flattened and unable to do . . .really anything. 

It's a great time to catch up on the neglected blog, huh?

I don't have time to rest.

But then, suddenly, you do. 

Between Daniel (my rx go-fer/handholder/medical advice giver) and my mom (who has a direct line to my local Hy-Vee delivery) and my mother-in-law (who is cleaning my kids up from the camping trip among other necessities) (they still reeked of smoke and literally had sand in their hair when she picked them up)  I am being cared for quite well.  

If my mouth would stop being swollen, that would be awesome.  (Is God trying to tell me something? Do I have a big mouth? Hmmm. . .)

Stuff I'm reading right now:

(between school, soccer, piano, toddler-attitude-intervention, awana, and house renovations)


Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church  by Philip Yancey

Yancey is a fantastic writer and his explanation of why he chose to embrace the Church despite it's many flaws is a collection of stories:  the life stories of thirteen people who have deeply impacted him.  You may recognise some of the names, but others are quite obscure; and some are not even believers. So far I've read through Dr. King, (truth need not be violent) G.K. Chesterton, (humor combined with truth is refreshing) Dr. Paul Brand, (pain is a gift and not a curse) and Dr. Robert Coles (sometimes the greatest wisdom comes from the lowly and obscure). One of the most thought provoking books I've read in a very long time.


Extravagant Grace by Barbara R. Duguid (why do Christians sin?)

Fit to Burst by Rachel Jankovic (motherhood)

The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing by Jeff Goins (learning to live in the space between the "major moments")

7: an experimental mutiny against excess by Jen Hatmaker

Jen Hatmaker is hilarious breath of fresh air to my soul.  I love how serious her walk with God is and the humor that she uses to challenge people to reevaluate their priorities and goals.  My very favorite part of this book is when Jen and her husband splurge and buy each other way-out-of-their-budget cowboy boots (they're from Texas), wear them to a church service where unbeknowst to them, the theme of the morning service is not only giving to those in need, but "leave your shoes at the altar and go home barefoot."  I guess you'll have to read the book to find out what they did.  :)

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: an english professor's journey into christian faith by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Rosaria was a lesbian English professor at Syracuse University; she did not "become saved and everything was wonderful."  She describes her story as a train wreck at the hand of the Almighty: "Conversion put me in a complicated and comprehensive chaos.  I sometimes wonder, when I hear other Christians pray for the salvation of the "lost," if they realise that this comprehensive chaos is the desired end of such prayers. . . Sometimes in crisis, we don't really learn lessons.  Sometimes the result is simpler and more profound: sometimes our character is simply transformed."  Read this if you want a refresher course in why to open your home (love love love the pastor and his wife who invited Rosaria and her honest questions to their dinner table for years); read this if you want to be reminded that while deeply held beliefs on marriage are Biblical, so is reaching the lost with love and compassion;  read this if you need a fresh perspective on very current issues from a passionately Biblical perspective. 

** not pictured and already given away: (this is what I do with books-- buy them, start them, give them away, buy them again. . . .hahaha)

The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning (the title says volumes.  beautiful, intense writing)

Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist (open your home, share your life)

Gods at War by Kyle Idleman (we still have idols today- they might look a little different than golden statues)

To Make a Life by Daniel Walser (grief, loss - stunning parallels between grief and a burning house. Truth.  So healing. )

But who has time to read anyway? 

It's not a secret that I love chalk:  I use it everywhere.  Did you know you can chalk on regular walls and then just wipe it off? That's what I did in Cambria's room:

But then she added a little post-it note to the wall.  When I tried to peel it off, I found that it had been glue-sticked firmly to the wall. 

Jacob dearly wants to have a collection, but doesn't know what to collect.  I told him that a collection just kinda happens.  Suddenly you realize you just love something and then you keep looking for more of that item.  He thinks he's found his collection: metal signs.  :)  3 down, many to come.   (looking at the other things that he loves, it could be worse: furs, animal skulls, handcuffs, ammo boxes. . . . .) The desk? He found it in a neighbor's trash down the street and dragged it home using a little red wagon. He is so my child. 

A million things to write about. . .  back to my forced rest now. :) (there is no swollen face smiley emoticon)

**embarrassed footnote:  I'm also in the middle of Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson. 

Frosties & Freeeeeeeedom!!!

Well I turned thirty-one on Tuesday and we finished school.

Guess which event made me happier? ? ?

Oh yes I have half of my life back!!!

(Just half.)

I have not been on Pinterest in . . . months?

And my poor blog. . . so neglected. . .

my poor cupboards. . .

my poor flowers. . .

the garden. . .

ahhhhhh I cannot believe the weight lifted off! 

The kids feel a similar joy.

Wednesday morning found Cambria paging through her finished books, I think just so that she could put them down and walk away.  wink wink

I wandered upstairs with my camera to see what Jacob was up to.  He had MercyMe in his little cd player filling the room with This Life  and here is what I found:

 
I am so happy for him to be able to just kick back and relax.  He has worked so stinkin hard this year; he's earned his summer vacation.

Um, hi Mom?!  I was just sitting in the Little People toy basket looking bald and cute. . . is that ok?!


And we had pop-tarts for breakfast. . .  oh the joy.  :) 

I have a whole stack of books to read and my family bought me enough birthday coffee to last until July so my mornings are planned until August.

I'm halfway through

The Wisdom of Tenderness -Brennan Manning

just finished

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness -Tim Keller

and ready to go:

The Checklist Manifesto -Atul Gawande

Look Again -Lisa Scottoline

Try Fear  -James Scott Bell

Seven -Jen Hatmaker



This overly cheery post brought to you by an overly cheery me. 

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I should probably go to the Y and burn off some of my a) happy energy and b) homemade chocolate ice cream. (made by Daniel, recipe below.)


Wendy's Copycat Chocolate Frosty

1/2 gallon chocolate milk
8 oz Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix in large bowl, pour into ice cream freezer and freeze per manufacturer instructions. 

Tastes just like Wendy's!

#mondayquotes

#mondayquotes

I tiptoed into the library today while the kids were at choir and finished this beautiful little book. . .

It's not often that I borrow a book, read it, and then want to buy it and read it again in another month.  This is one of those. 

While finishing Anne Lindbergh's book today, I was struck once again with how applicable her words are to my own overwhelmed life. . .  I dug in my bag for a pen and the only paper I could find, an envelope, and scribbled.

Here's what stood out to me:

The interrelatedness of the world links us constantly with more people than our hearts can hold. . .
 

. . .My life cannot implement in action the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds.

. . .Because we cannot deal with the complexity of the present we often override it and live in a simplified dream of the future.  Because we cannot solve our own problems right here at home, we talk about problems out there in the world. . .
 

. . .Can one make the future a substitute for the present?  And what guarantee have we that the future will be any better if we neglect the present?  Can one solve world problems when one is unable to solve one's own?
 

. . .Have we been successful, working at the periphery of the circle and not at the center?

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Gift from the Sea, page 116, 117

#mondayquotes

"Those who lived in villas never spoke to those in huts.  Villa-dwellers pretended no one else was there.
 

. . .How easy it is to let lives go unnoticed.  Lord, keep me from letting any life slip by."
 

from Behind the Veils of Yemen

Audra Grace Shelby 

 

stockings from sweaters (how-to)

if you're one of those brilliantly gifted people who can just flash your needles together and turn out beautiful scarves and hats and socks, then disregard this bumbling tutorial.

And please don't laugh too hard at my lumpy toes.  I know yours would look nicer.

I can't knit. I can't crochet either. I wish I could do both just so that I could sit in the little downtown yarn shop we have and drink in all the glorious color. (and clack my fingers together to make some pretty stuff, too.)

So a long time ago, I made the kids stockings out of a sweater I had.

The knit was perfectly chunky and my very favorite shade of green. They were ridiculously easy to make and I kept my eyes peeled for the American Eagle green chunky knit sweater so I could make matching ones for the rest of the fam.

I found one at Loren's clothing swap party this summer and then I noticed another one in Cassie's profile picture the other day. The only problem was that the sweater was Cassie's friend, Linda, and I don't know Linda at all. But I jumped out on a limb and told Cassie if her friend ever wanted to get rid of her sweater, I'd happily buy.

Well, on Friday, Cassie showed up on my front porch with the sweater, further proof that living in a small town is the best thing ever. I'm convinced. (Thank you Linda for not being weirded out!)

Anyway, here are some super simple instructions.

You can easily make your own.

You can see here that I didn't even use a pattern, resulting in a short fat toe for the stocking on the left.  But that's okay, they really don't have to be perfect.

By the way, I'm thinking the left over sleeves could make some really cute leg warmers.  (Can't believe those are popular again. . . at least they are in calmer colors than the last time I wore them.)

So I just use the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine and sew along the outside edge of the sweater stocking.   I am a lazy seamstress anyway, but I see no reason not to use the existing seam in the sweater.  It makes for a preeettty quick project.

Then you turn them inside out and hang them up.  I usually thread a ribbon through, whatever the "color of the year" is.  Here I just used wooden thumbtacks.  That worked too.

*** advent today. . . Christmas library books.  I have to bring a crate into our library every three weeks.  I should probably start using a wheelbarrow.

Favorite Christmas Titles:

On Christmas Eve, Margaret Wise Brown

The Little Fir Tree, Margaret Wise Brown

Christmas in the Barn, Margaret Wise Brown

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, Susan Wojciechowski

The Christmas Party, Adrienne Adams

Arthur's Christmas Cookies, Lillian Hoban

Peter Spier's Christmas, Peter Spier

The Doll's Christmas, Tasha Tudor

Erik and the Christmas Horse, Hans Peterson



And the last two. . . well, it is hard for me to say which I like more.  Oh my.  It's like choosing which child is your favorite.  You can't.  You just love them all. 

Which reminds me, JD asked me tonight as I sat on his  bed:  "Mom, which of us is your favorite child?"

I gave the standard reply that any thinking parent would give and then asked. . . "wait. . . who do YOU think is my favorite?"

He said that he thought it was Eli, right away, so then we had a nice chat about how Eli definitely demads the most of my time right now, but that doesn't mean I love him more. And if one was measuring time spent, Eli gets less time from me at 14 months than Jacob did at 14 months.  Hopefully that will give him something to mull over.  UGH, parenting. 

Anyway, the last two on my faves list:

The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas, Madeleine L'Engle

favorite because the story captures the essence of hopes and unrealistic expectations, the beauty of Christmas even when it doesn't turn out the way we had planned. Plus, in true Madeleine L'Engle style, it is fascinating, funny and sweet.

Christmas in Noisy Village, Astrid Lindgren

Because Noisy Village is where my family lives. 

monday quotes

Mondays are hard for me to get used to.

I know, there have been thirty years of Mondays for me, and I still don't like them.

But my creative soul has a new idea to motivate my Mondays.  I can dump all the quotes I collect in my  head here in the blog on Mondays.  I hate to overwhelm FB with quotes (you know, no one wants to be the annoying person cluttering the newsfeed) but if you're here, you chose to be here, so you won't care. 

Of course, this Monday motivator can't even begin to top my mom's.  All through my high school years she dubbed Mondays "Fun Mon" and they began with Krispy Kreme's for breakfast.  After that the day was. . . well, still a Monday.  But you couldn't help looking forward to a sour cream glazed doughnut when you went to bed on Sunday night.

Quotes are just a little less fun.

But they're still fun to me.

I'm always reading something.

My soul would die, I think, if I couldn't read.  This week I'm in the middle of

Habits of a Healthy Home (Bill Carmichael)

Home is the school for building relationships.  Home teaches us how to get along with people and how to connect with others.  There are no shortcuts.
Chapter 6, pg. 181

Ten Days (Janet Gilsdorf)
I found this book haunting.  It reached my heart in such a deep way because it explored the relationship of a young doctor husband and his wife as they spend ten life-altering days in the ICU with their six month old son.  Their son lived.  Ours didn't.  But something about the book just grabbed me.  Men and women think and grieve so differently.  Janet Gilsdorf skillfully highlights those unique differences.  Here, they are taking their son home.

He stood in the doorway, incredulous.  "Anna," he said, "you aren't packed."

She was slumped in a chair, her back toward him.  He couldn't see her face.
 

. . .he watched her shoulders tremble as she turned back toward [their son]. . .she seemed utterly helpless.  And yet. . . he stared at the woman he thought he knew so well and thought of his patients, those with bone cancer or multiple fractures or new amputations.  Sometimes they needed a buffer against the storm that roared around them, and they needed it from him. . . maybe she, too needed some kind of protection.
Ten Days, pg. 259,260
 

Risking Church (Jim Kallam, Jr.)

This paragraph is so true, but I couldn't help just cracking up at the last line. 

There's a problem with [approaching ministry as a project to be managed], a rather big one.  Life is unmanageable.  Shepherding is messy business.  It involves caring for, feeding, binding wounds, protecting, leading. . . to further complicate matters, some sheep don't want guidance or help.
Ch.3, pg. 29
 

Don't Waste Your Life (John Piper)

The thought of a risk free life is a mirage.

 

And from my very favorite writer  . . . well. . . he isn't a writer, but I found this Social Studies paper today in the attic while searching for Christmas bins.

This is my Daniel, such a unique mix of carefree bliss and extreme pessimism.  He hasn't changed a bit since age eleven.

Question:  Are you worried about what kind of place the world will be when you grow up?

 Not really, but their [sic] are lots of things to be worried about like muder, the aids virus, who & what our next president will be like, drugs, L.A. riots, racism, terrisim, hostiages, threat of war, What will happen in Russia, Iraq, Ethnic Groups.  I think that all the people are the problem.  They make all the problems I listed above & if their heart would change they would change. 
 

I laughed about this all afternoon.  Nope, not worried a bit!  Only about 500 catastrophes on my mind! 


***

Christmas advent activity today:  personal bedroom trees.  See if you notice which one is the GIRL tree and which one is the BOY tree. 

Yes.  Jacob is already dealing with a fire in his Christmas tree.  Oh dear.  Should have gone with artificial.

oh such a copycat

Oh, Pinterest. . .

I did this today with the kids.

Not my idea, wagon or house pictured above.

{But it's super super cute and we have one now.}

I've been thinking today about what a shameless copycat I am. . . it's really quite pathetic.

As a new gym member, do I come up with my own exercise routine?  No, I trot after Deeann, panting trying to keep up, and just copy hers.

Do I come up with my own homeschool curriculum ideas?  Nope, just copy my mother in law.  If my kids graduate from college two years early like Daniel's little brothers with degrees in physics engineering and political science. . .I'm good with whatever curriculum got them to that point.

I worry after reading Ann Voskamp that I'm going to blog like her.  *hit return key five times*  deep, thoughtful sentence.  *hit return key five times*

Hmm.  I try to copy my sister in law's unbelievably organized household.

I want to copy my mom's easy, relaxed hospitality.

I wish I could copy my little sisters' crazy-amazing hairstyles.  (How do you backcomb again?)

I think about copying the mommy-bloggers like my friend Michelle who resolve to not spend any money in January.  (I think I just heard my husband laughing his head off ten blocks away at the FD.)

Sigh.

Nothing's original here, folks.  It's all duplicated from some other brilliant soul.