Pictures of your brain

Friendship and roasted soup

Dec 04, 2023

Dallas Willard once said: “The first act of love is always the giving of attention.”

To all my friends who have subscribed to my little newsletter thus far: thank you for your love and attention. I do not take it for granted <3

a song

The warm tones of Blessing Offor’s Like A Child has been on repeat for me this week:

Loving the season like a child
Keep on believing like a child
Where miracles happen if you just imagine like a child
My heart is tender like a child
I will surrender like a child
For born to us both meek and mild was a child

a recipe

I fell sick this weekend. A beastly sore throat, fever, the works. As someone with a weaker immune system, I am used to operating in zombie mode. I tumble into a blurry rhythm of: hydrate-nap-pee. Once I’ve restored enough energy, I poke around the kitchen to check my food rations. O what a Christmas miracle it was when I opened the fridge to see how earlier-that-week-Reb left me some roasted chicken and fresh root vegetables. I googled to see if “roasted soup” wasn’t a fevered-delirium idea, and seeing the existence of this recipe gave me all the confidence I needed to chuck everything into my dutch oven.

an indulgence

I promised myself to not subject you all to yet another plant photo this week. But. The fiddle is sprouting its fourth leaf in less than a 3-week period. This is unprecedented. Thank you for indulging this plant mom:

a podcast

I’ve recently started Rebecca McLaughlin’s book No Greater Love: A Biblical Vision for Friendship. I’ll keep you posted on my thoughts, but I’m already a great appreciator of her writing (one of my favorite reads last year was her Jesus Through the Eyes of Women). She chats with Sam Allberry in this podcast episode:

My takeaways: 1. Being a good friend is rooted in our own experience of friendship with Jesus. 2. How amazing that Jesus calls us his friends 🥹

a doodle

Speaking of friends. I am the kind who would never ever laugh at you if you call me on the phone, crying and on the verge of a panic attack. Until recently 🙈 A friend rang me to recount her distressing few days navigating a convoluted new insurance policy, to no avail: “Reb, no one can give me a straight answer. It’s supposed to be a better plan, but who knows if I’ve got coverage! Everyone is telling me something different!! MRIs are so expensive. I’m going to be homeless. On the side of the road. With nothing to my name but scans of my brain.”

This is when compassion should have kicked in. I should have comforted her. Said I’m so sorry. How can I help. Anything that would help her feel heard and cared for. But nope. I wheezed out something resembling a cackle because all I could see in my silly head was:

Thankfully, my friend is a better friend than I am and did not renounce me as a terrible human being. We prayed together. And we’ll buckle up to see what unfolds one day at a time. My parting farewell to her on the phone: God is not going to leave you on the side of the road with just pictures of your brain. And then I drew her this picture of her holding a picture of her brain. Hehe.

Thank you for reading! May your immunity be stronger than mine. May your soups be delectably roasted. And may your insurance claims be fully reimbursed within thirty days.