In a search for new books I have come across several recommendations. I am pleased to dive into Notes from a Blue Bike soon and have peeked in on a few other recommendations... while searching I noticed a theme of books about purpose, calling and dreaming/living the dream. I read some descriptions (most of which start off with 'ever wonder why you feel restless/distant/dis-satisfied..." The women who write these books are Christians, mothers, writers probably with loads to do in their lives. So they write about women needing to find purpose in their lives - God's purpose.
I heard a sermon once where the pastor said, "I get young people coming to me all the time asking what their purpose is, afraid they can't figure out their calling. I tell them, start with what God has called all of us to do - serve, love, give, forgive... They don't like that response - they want something special and unique."
"Special and unique" may be the unspoken criteria to which we ask God about our purpose and calling. Maybe that leads to the restlessness... we don't like what we've been called to so we don't put our whole heart in it, we do things half-way, always wanting the special calling, the thing that will make us stand out. In a sense we want a calling that is going to make others look at us with admiration, respect...envy?
I admit I spend time thinking about that, too. Wondering if the time to do something special has passed. But as my husband and I were talking last night I really started to see roots form in the things we listed were really good about our lives. We live in a very small apartment the three of us, but it's a nice place, well maintained (mostly) and it meets our needs. I have to work full-time, but I get flexibility in my schedule and work with some good people. Hubby is in school and has to take care of our little one which means he has to shoehorn in study time most days, but he's doing well and our daughter is happy at home... I've thought of our time while he's been in school as "transition" until he graduates and works, but it's not true. This is it. This is our life. Breathe deeply, this is it. It's not some future state or future calling. It's now. We are not more than what we are, but we aren't less either.
We are not missionaries, world leaders, famous writers, but we are a family, teachers to our daughter... maybe not special and unique, but specific and real. I don't think God needs to call me to something really outrageous or even "special". Being a mommy is special, being a wife is special. It's not unique, but it is impactful. It's where I teach and learn and grow. It's where I can glorify God. Why would I want to trade that in for something else?
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Best Carrot Berry Nut Muffins (no lie)
Carrot Berry Nut Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup mixed dried fruit from Trader Joe's (contains golden raisins, blueberries, cranberries and cherries). No need to re-hydrate as the moisture from the cooking process will plump up the fruit.
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup mixed dried fruit from Trader Joe's (contains golden raisins, blueberries, cranberries and cherries). No need to re-hydrate as the moisture from the cooking process will plump up the fruit.
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. pistachio meat (sold without the shell at Trader Joe's)
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
3 c peeled and grated carrots
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1. Preheat 350 degrees. Line and grease muffin pan lightly. Make sure the pan gets some spray, too as these are big muffins and you don't want the tops to rip off when you take them out just because they stick to the pan around the muffin liner.
2. Combine fruit, nuts and dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then stir in carrots and oil. Add to dry ingredients all at once, stirring just until moistened. Then add your applesauce. It will look a little thick, you'll want to add water. Don't. They'll be all right.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops spring back when touched. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then pop them out to finish cooling on a rack. But do yourself a favor and eat one while it's warm. And then eat another.
1/2 tsp salt
3 c peeled and grated carrots
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1. Preheat 350 degrees. Line and grease muffin pan lightly. Make sure the pan gets some spray, too as these are big muffins and you don't want the tops to rip off when you take them out just because they stick to the pan around the muffin liner.
2. Combine fruit, nuts and dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then stir in carrots and oil. Add to dry ingredients all at once, stirring just until moistened. Then add your applesauce. It will look a little thick, you'll want to add water. Don't. They'll be all right.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops spring back when touched. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then pop them out to finish cooling on a rack. But do yourself a favor and eat one while it's warm. And then eat another.
Been Awhile
I have thought about blogging, but have virtually abandoned it for months. Pace picked up in our life around early November and the back-burner got full.
Things that were a priority were my daughter turning one, celebrating my Dad's life on the first anniversary of his death, Christmas, Thanksgiving... all good things.
We are restoring now, planning on slimming down our lives (including my butt), listening to what our lives, minds, bodies are asking of us. Trying to fine tune ourselves to the voices that need to be heard (our daughter, each other, God) and letting the rest go.
Cooking is going to be fun. Cleaning is going to be fun. We're looking forward to it!
Things that were a priority were my daughter turning one, celebrating my Dad's life on the first anniversary of his death, Christmas, Thanksgiving... all good things.
We are restoring now, planning on slimming down our lives (including my butt), listening to what our lives, minds, bodies are asking of us. Trying to fine tune ourselves to the voices that need to be heard (our daughter, each other, God) and letting the rest go.
Cooking is going to be fun. Cleaning is going to be fun. We're looking forward to it!
Saturday, October 5, 2013
When I'm happy...
- anytime I'm with my baby girl
- anytime I'm with my husband
- when I'm watching Anne of Green Gables
- after I've exercised
- when I discover a new writer I'm excited about
- when I get an unexpected note in the mail from a friend
- when our apartment is fully clean
- when I find a new way to save money
- when I feel God's presence
- when I feel there's poetry moving through my ordinary moments
- when my little girl lights up when I walk in the door
- when she kisses my cheek
- when I have time to write
- when I give something to someone that truly makes them happy
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Tattler's Branch
It's easy to tell when an author loves her characters. Someone has taken time to ensure they don't say trite things or move in conventional ways. The author has spent time with them, thinking them into full human beings, giving them circumstances in which their humanity raises up or flags under trial. Setting them in a specific time and place. It's wonderful to read a book that has been shaped so lovingly.
Tattler's Branch is a charming and tense read. The laborious opening descriptions of this apparently southern, or simply backwoods, community almost had me moving on, but I stayed in Skip Rock and was glad to meet Lilly. I thought this was an incredibly thoughtful and well rounded character. There was a strength to Lilly that I appreciated, but only because it was coupled with her honest fear in some of the more suspenseful scenarios of the book.
Impressed with her tenderness towards the people in her community I found the revelation regarding Lilly's pregnancies to be particularly touching and well written section of the book. The touching metaphor closing the chapter of this painful loss left me with a lump in my throat. "The breeze teased the petals just out of reach when she bent to pick them up. They danced across the yard and out of sight. Lilly lifted the vase and studied the peonies. They wouldn't last long either, but they were no less lovely, no less significant, for the briefness of their time. She would enjoy them while she could."
The book was more suspenseful than I had expected, but didn't seep into the margins of soap-opera-esque dramatics. I felt the tension of flesh and bone, love and failure, good and evil in every bend of the story. The only course it took towards the end was a little heavy handed in it's hope for Shade's salvation. I didn't think Lilly was out of line when she tells him that "we're all sinners...the ground at the foot of the cross is even", but I wasn't clear that Shade's response was genuinely redemptive. His perspective on things is lost by the end, we don't really know what he's thinking or how he's calculating thing, what's churning inside of him once the story stays with Lilly.
Overall, the story is a charming puzzler and one I would read again. I kept looking for traces of inauthenticity, but the characters feel true and the story is not overblown. The only detraction for me was the cover art. Why in the world would make a period piece and then put a woman on the cover who looks like a model in 2013? The only thing that tells you this might not be a modern-day story is the dress she's wearing. I guess even Christian fiction has to look Vogue.
You can read more from Jan Watson here.
This review has also been posted to Amazon and Goodreads.
Tattler's Branch is a charming and tense read. The laborious opening descriptions of this apparently southern, or simply backwoods, community almost had me moving on, but I stayed in Skip Rock and was glad to meet Lilly. I thought this was an incredibly thoughtful and well rounded character. There was a strength to Lilly that I appreciated, but only because it was coupled with her honest fear in some of the more suspenseful scenarios of the book.
Impressed with her tenderness towards the people in her community I found the revelation regarding Lilly's pregnancies to be particularly touching and well written section of the book. The touching metaphor closing the chapter of this painful loss left me with a lump in my throat. "The breeze teased the petals just out of reach when she bent to pick them up. They danced across the yard and out of sight. Lilly lifted the vase and studied the peonies. They wouldn't last long either, but they were no less lovely, no less significant, for the briefness of their time. She would enjoy them while she could."
The book was more suspenseful than I had expected, but didn't seep into the margins of soap-opera-esque dramatics. I felt the tension of flesh and bone, love and failure, good and evil in every bend of the story. The only course it took towards the end was a little heavy handed in it's hope for Shade's salvation. I didn't think Lilly was out of line when she tells him that "we're all sinners...the ground at the foot of the cross is even", but I wasn't clear that Shade's response was genuinely redemptive. His perspective on things is lost by the end, we don't really know what he's thinking or how he's calculating thing, what's churning inside of him once the story stays with Lilly.
Overall, the story is a charming puzzler and one I would read again. I kept looking for traces of inauthenticity, but the characters feel true and the story is not overblown. The only detraction for me was the cover art. Why in the world would make a period piece and then put a woman on the cover who looks like a model in 2013? The only thing that tells you this might not be a modern-day story is the dress she's wearing. I guess even Christian fiction has to look Vogue.
You can read more from Jan Watson here.
This review has also been posted to Amazon and Goodreads.
Friday, September 6, 2013
The Blessed Woman (Idea)
I appreciated this book after having to have read a rather
obnoxious Christian self-help book for women this summer with my church. I have
grown very tired of Christian middle-school topics being pitched to mature
Christian women and everyone “loving it”. I was ready for something more
grown-up by the end of the summer study and this seemed like a good turn:
reading about women of the bible and learning from them. What a refreshing idea!
The concept of the book was appealing to me: finding mentors
in the bible when you can’t find them in real life. I don’t think there was
anything terribly earth-shattering in terms of biblical study in this book, but
it was mostly well written and with some good analysis of the characters. While
I found the last chapter a bit trite (and unfair in her categorization and
condemnation of Orpah), I did like what Morris had to say about the idea of
maturity and leadership, teaching and bringing others along in the journey. In
its usefulness I can see this book being more productive as a discussion with
other women (utilizing the book study in the back of the book would be a good
starting point) where you can ease away from denominational doctrine and
boundaries.
Of particular interest were the chapters on Eve for her
depiction of a woman without the benefit of a community of women who had gone
before her; Mary for her devotion to God while facing an uncertain future; and Hannah
for giving her heart’s desire back to God again and again (even when
fulfilled).
There were drawbacks to this otherwise benign study: Her
criticism of some women appeared to be too harsh. This is only compounded by
the last chapter that encourages women not to tear one another down to get
ahead. Morris seems fine with tearing down some of the women in scripture to
make her points. Also, I don’t know that this book was really written for women
who aren’t married with children. Nearly every non-scriptural analogy Morris
offered hinged on her husband or children. I am married with a child, but I’d
like to think I could offer some teaching from my life that didn’t start off
with “So, my husband and I…“ or “when I talk to my daughter…” Further, her
constant need to refer to her husband was tolerable in the beginning of the
book (frankly, I’d probably write a fair amount about my husband if I were
writing about my life), but as the book went on I realized she couldn’t really
go that long without mentioning him. It became an annoyance that she didn’t
really seem to have much to say that wasn’t about or credited to her husband.
I didn’t know anything about Morris or her husband when I
selected this book to read. It had an attractive title, subtitle and inviting
cover, so I picked it. Apparently Morris’ husband has a big church in Texas
(I’ve never heard of him or his church), but I kind of got the feeling that she
assumed everyone knows who her [big shot?] husband is, calling him one of his
generations ‘greatest speakers’. I try to avoid biographical information about
authors prior to reading their books simply because I believe someone’s work
should stand on its own and insecure writers tend to put their pedigree in the
pages. I kind of wish Morris’ editor had extracted more of the information
plugging their church and her husband’s ministry.
I can say that Morris’ idea was one that I will follow,
rather than reading this book again, I think I’ll just take my time and do my
own study on the women I find inspiring from scripture.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Tracking
No artificial sweeteners - check!
Walking three times per week - check!
Eating mostly natural foods - check!
Limiting stress - ummm....
Why is it that eliminating stress in my life feels like playing whack-a-mole these days? I think I can categorize my stress into a few levels:
LOW: every-day to-dos: errands, cleaning, shopping, planning, budgeting... I need to do better about this, but I'm pretty good at it already, so I'm not really sure what else I can do to organized my time around my work and family any better than I already am. The juggling can be a lot to manage.
MED: I am participating in a weekly book study on "She's Got Issues" which I can't say I've enjoyed. I did start off the study enjoying the women in my group, but last week I was really irritated with the talkers taking over. Why must women dominate others?
Being the group leader I feel the pressure to bridge the gap for others, to slow down the dominators and pump up the quieter ones... but I am failing miserably at this. I walked away feeling frustrated at the dominators, but mostly mad at myself for not being able to get a handle on these women. I asked our overall group facilitator to join us for this week to see if she can help reign in this group and get us back on track. It's a failure, but it causes some stress for that reason.
MED: managing myself - the new parameters around food & drink, making sure I'm exercising, taking time for myself... not very good at this last part yet.
HIGH: relationships. Hubby - wonderful; baby- lovely; everyone else - eeeehhhhh. I see my sister a lot during the week and sometimes it can be a bit much to be together so often. Friends - I don't have as much time anymore to call on the phone, get together. I think my best friend from Indiana is miffed at me for not wanting to go on a girls weekend with her. I really just want to be with my little one as much as possible. I can sense she's ticked though. Other assorted questioning, insecurities and nonsense that can be distractingly stressful.
So stress wins as the thing I can't really get a handle on now. I know eliminating stress has a lot to do with just slimming down one's life, but it sure is hard. I hope to get some ideas on this soon.
Walking three times per week - check!
Eating mostly natural foods - check!
Limiting stress - ummm....
Why is it that eliminating stress in my life feels like playing whack-a-mole these days? I think I can categorize my stress into a few levels:
LOW: every-day to-dos: errands, cleaning, shopping, planning, budgeting... I need to do better about this, but I'm pretty good at it already, so I'm not really sure what else I can do to organized my time around my work and family any better than I already am. The juggling can be a lot to manage.
MED: I am participating in a weekly book study on "She's Got Issues" which I can't say I've enjoyed. I did start off the study enjoying the women in my group, but last week I was really irritated with the talkers taking over. Why must women dominate others?
Being the group leader I feel the pressure to bridge the gap for others, to slow down the dominators and pump up the quieter ones... but I am failing miserably at this. I walked away feeling frustrated at the dominators, but mostly mad at myself for not being able to get a handle on these women. I asked our overall group facilitator to join us for this week to see if she can help reign in this group and get us back on track. It's a failure, but it causes some stress for that reason.
MED: managing myself - the new parameters around food & drink, making sure I'm exercising, taking time for myself... not very good at this last part yet.
HIGH: relationships. Hubby - wonderful; baby- lovely; everyone else - eeeehhhhh. I see my sister a lot during the week and sometimes it can be a bit much to be together so often. Friends - I don't have as much time anymore to call on the phone, get together. I think my best friend from Indiana is miffed at me for not wanting to go on a girls weekend with her. I really just want to be with my little one as much as possible. I can sense she's ticked though. Other assorted questioning, insecurities and nonsense that can be distractingly stressful.
So stress wins as the thing I can't really get a handle on now. I know eliminating stress has a lot to do with just slimming down one's life, but it sure is hard. I hope to get some ideas on this soon.
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