Usually blog-reading is a guilty pleasure for me. Occasionally I stumble across a post that speaks truth in a really profound way, and it’s like finding a five dollar bill in the pocket of favorite jeans: a little extra value in a comfortable, familiar activity.
I’ve read a couple of posts that have encouraged me lately, as I’ve been overwhelmed by the new and exasperating demands placed on me by a little girl-child who has decided to be 1 going on 16. (“I marvel at what a big girl she is, and then in half a second, I can’t figure out why she’s being such a baby!” I lamented to an older friend. “That will last until she’s about 21,” replied the Voice of Experience.)
God has graciously put some books and conversations into my path that have given me good, challenging thoughts to ponder. While I get my head around the big ideas, here are a few nuggets that you can chew on as well:
How to Make & Take a Peace Retreat from A Holy Experience
I love the idea of having a Peace Chair in the house. It’s almost like a voluntary time-out zone, a place to separate from anxieties and provocations and allow God to restore you to peace and equilibrium. Now the question is, how to keep Mom from hogging the Peace Chair all day…
Competence vs. Perfectionism from Like Mother, Like Daughter
Wondering about God’s will for your life? Start here: “It’s not really a secret, and it’s so simple that it seems like it couldn’t possibly be true. It’s just this:
“Trying to do all the stuff you have to do, today, with a loving heart…
“So while you are waiting for the big reveal from on high, and thinking, “If only, if only!” (the number one sentence starter for getting led astray — “If only I lived somewhere else! If only I were married to someone else! If only my children were like her children! If only I could do things easily like she does!) — and wondering what in Heaven’s name God’s will for you could be, and whether you should go reform the slums or climb a Peruvian mountain or rescue flood victims, and maybe those are things you should do, for all I know, it’s not up to me…
“…just make a little list, a short tiny teensy list of things that you should do today where you are: Get supper ready, make sure everyone has something clean to wear tomorrow, make the bed, give the baby a bath, call the doctor to make an appointment, wash the dishes.”
Martin Luther on the Spiritual Attitude Toward Smelling Your Baby’s Stench
Wash these thoughts down with wisdom from Luther. (For the record, I have never verified that this is actually a quote from Martin Luther. It’s what my Facebook friend said when she posted it, and I’m taking her word for it. Regardless, the wisdom is profound.)
And, for dessert:
Why We Need Jane Austen from Front Porch Republic
Devoted readers of my Books page (recently updated, thank you very much, although it’s hard to tell since my reading has slowed way down, thank Abby very much) know that I’m revisiting Jane Austen this spring and summer. So this is a timely and lovely reminder of why these books are classics.
running in circles 