Dear friends, hope you enjoy this week’s hodgepodge!
books
I love children’s literature. Here are some recent ones I enjoyed:
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
music
Vibing to these 4 new tracks by Blessings Offor. Broke into a smile when I heard Dolly Parton on the last song—the collab I didn’t know I needed!
current reads
Sometimes I like focusing on one book at a time. Sometimes I have squirrel brain and like popping around. Here is some popcorn:
Practicing the Power: Welcoming the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Your Life by Sam Storms. A friend invited me to join their book discussion. I love getting text messages like this. Immediately purchased and am halfway through. This book articulates a great deal of what I’ve been experiencing, but haven’t had a framework for.
Faith & Work: Galvanizing Your Church for Everyday Impact by Missy Wallace and Lauren Gill. Another friend (unbeknownst to me at the time) sent me this book in the mail. My love language 🤓. A v practical way of spurring the church to be the church throughout our 40+ hour work week.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. A literary friend highly recommended this. I’m finding the relational dynamics of the family fascinating.
BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity by Ruth Whippman. I’m not a mom. But I love the boys in my life, particularly my smol nephews. I like hearing from others how they are navigating this world of raising young men.
a poem
An excerpt I like from In Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver:
To live in this world
you must be able to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it against your bones
knowing your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
recurring themes
I’ve been meditating on the proverbs. The fear of the Lord is a frequent refrain.
Our church has been going through the sermon on the mount. Our spiritual poverty is a consistent pattern.
Many conversations with friends have left us reflecting on how there is deep joy when we obey God asking us to move towards others in love.
A prayer I find myself praying daily for me and others: to delight in my Father who first delights in me.
be well, friends! happy 80 mondays in a row to this newsletter! (eight-zero!!!) thank you to everyone who is enjoying this creative outlet with me even when it’s nonsense. Celebrating by wearing sunscreen with smol nephew and contemplating whether to tromp around in public fountains:
love,
reb
oh i love the war that saved my life / the war i finally won! heartbreakingly beautiful. there’s something so simple and comforting about well-written children’s literature, i think <3
I’ve also been reading Mary Oliver’s works lately and proverbs lately. Having read the black water poem several times she makes life appear so gentle and lowly. Just like Jesus :)