Book Club Selection: A Million Little Ways by Emily Freeman

Have you recovered from yesterday’s disappointing Groundhog Day results? Well, they aren’t all bad. With six more weeks of winter ahead, we have lots more time to cozy up with a good book. Like Emily Freeman’s A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live.

It’s the next pick for the Food for Thought Book Club. Together, we will take in Emily’s thoughts on how God has designed each one of us to bring Him glory and joy—and how we can uncover it, nurture it, and live it each day.

We’ll meet in February to discuss Part 1, in March for Part 2, and in April for Part 3. Let me know by February 10 if you would like to come! You can RSVP in the comments or e-mail me directly. Then I’ll include you on the e-mail thread to set the dates that work for the most gals.

For now, grab a copy of the book and start reading. Mark any parts that are especially meaningful to you.

This is best way I can think of to spend these last weeks of winter! Hope you can come. And by the time we wrap, spring will be here!

A Random Stack of Books Proves to Be Not So Random

Not So Random Beach Retreat Snapshots

Of the 12 books in my Beach Retreat 2013 stack, I’ve ventured into three, plus the Bible. The first was a nonfiction about a lit professor who hosted Jane Austen book clubs throughout Latin America over the course of a year. Her commentary on reading’s benefits and luxury makes me appreciate that I have the time, means, and ability to read and read and read in the days ahead.

Gratitude was a good setting for my heart to process deeper things from A. W. Tozer on spiritual lethargy and Richard Stearns on living for God’s kingdom rather than one of my own making. And truths I’m reading from the Bible—in Romans 5, Luke’s Gospel, and various Psalms—all point to the miracle that God has loved us and pursued relationship with us throughout the ages, finally secured by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus: “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

I see common threads in all I’m reading, and these threads weave a glorious tapestry of God’s love for me, for others. And because of this great love, I can approach the throne of grace and boldly ask for Him to speak, to break my heart, and to send me out to love as He does. Here’s the highlight reel:

Word of God Speak | a personal prayer for more than the status quo
Give me a hearing heart, a heart that hears, for I long for the Great Whisper—the Voice!—to reach my ears, my mind, my soul. Speak of Your love that reaches the outcast, Your mercy that comforts the brokenhearted, Your wisdom for the double-minded, Your peace for the unsettled, Your power for the oppressed, Your healing for the sick. May I follow the sound of every word You say, chasing You into the darkest places where hope is scarce, where I can be Your hands and feet to those who need Your presence.

Break My Heart | The Dangers of a Shallow Faith: Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy, A. W. Tozer
“It is not by reading the Scriptures in the original languages or in some contemporary version that makes us better Christians. Rather, it is getting on our knees with the Scriptures spread before us, and allowing the Spirit of God to break our hearts. Then, when we have been thoroughly broken before God Almighty, we get up off our knees, go out into the world and proclaim the glorious message of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.” (22)

Put Me to Work | Unfinished: Believing Is Only the Beginning, Richard Stearns
“We are indeed trying to topple the prevailing regimes that have oppressed the human race since the fall, those based on power, money, oppression, corruption, and falsehood. And we are seeking to replace them with the good news of God’s rule, based on truth, love, forgiveness, compassion, and justice.” (165)

Beach Retreat 2013 Reading Stack

Beach Retreat 2013 Reading Stack

Oh book stack, how do I love thee!

Beach Retreat allows the time and space to read to my heart’s content. Such a treat! And because I want to read All The Books, I always pack way more than is reasonable for a seven-day stretch. I always hold out hope that I won’t leave one page unturned, one word unread.

Here are my potential reads for the week, from the bottom up:

We Are the New Radicals, Julia Moulden (nf)
Unfinished, Richard Stearns (nf)
Running for My Life, Lopez Lamong (nf)

Why I Don’t Need Reading Resolutions Plus Book Club Invitations

Did you create any reading goals for 2013?

Making resolutions about reading seems rather unnecessary for me considering I want to read All The Books anyway. There is no way I would not read, so it seems sort of silly to make a resolution about something that will happen anyhow. Sort of like resolving to stop eating lima beans when I don’t eat them ever.

Reading Should Be an Olympic Sport

If reading were an Olympic sport, I would be all in. This is the sort of competition I could commit to and sacrifice for. I’m not sure how such events would be scored—perhaps the numbers of pages read per minute? or the reading comprehension rate? hmm . . . or maybe scoring would be more subjective, like in gymnastics or synchronized swimming?

Until reading can earn me Olympic Gold, I will have to settle for a free cookie. That’s what I got for competing in the A.R.K.S. summer reading program hosted at one of our local libraries. Because it’s Adults Reading Kids’ Stuff, each summer I have the chance to nurture my inner child and enhance my creative bent by reading books written for kids.

If A.R.K.S. were an Olympic sport, I would have been an embarrassment to all readers. I scored a pitiful 8 out of 25.* I could make excuses: I was in Colorado for most of July! I forgot to get books from my niece and nephews! I had to work! Yes, I know. That’s silly talk. I could have gone to the library in Boulder, gotten some books from my sis’s kids, and made time to read 17* more children’s books.

*Correction! After updating my reading page, I realized I left 5 books off my tally. So I actually read 13 A.R.K.S books this summer. Nice!

When I realized the deadline was today and I was nowhere near my goal, I thought about stopping at the library and reading until I reached 25 books. But I decided to give myself grace. I don’t need to read more books just to fill out my form to satiate my drive for perfection. (right? right?!!?!?!)

I read some great books and truly enjoyed them! Here are the books that earned me a cookie:

The Word Snoop, Ursula Dubosarsky
Inside Out & Back Again, Thanhha Lai
If You Were Quotation Marks, Shelly Lyons
If You Were a Comma, Shelly Lyons
If You Were an Exclamation Point, Shelly Lyon
If You Were an Apostrophe, Shelly Lyons
Flamingos and the Roof, Calef Brown
OK Go, Carin Berger
How I Learned Georgraphy, Uri Shulevitz
Sasquatch: Wildman of the Woods, Elaine Landau
Peacocks and Peahens, Joan Kalbacken
Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, Gail Carson Levine
Leaving Emma, Nancy Steele Brokaw

I hope your summer reading has been golden! Do share your summer reading successes and failures—and if you earned yourself a treat for reading.

Beach Retreat 2012 Reading Synopsis

My reading jaunt at Beach Retreat 2012 is coming to a close. [sigh.] It’s been thoroughly enjoyable and greatly filling!

New friends found at Beach Retreat 2012.

At the end of a Beach Retreat, I like to reflect a bit on the books I’ve consumed and how each has nourished me. A theme or thread often emerges between the seemingly random books selected. It’s like they’ve become friends after a week at the beach, discovering little pieces of commonality in their personalities and characters. Here’s the treasure from this year’s stack.

I once wrote a poem with this line: “Let my life be a stage where Your glory is displayed for all to see.” I was reminded of this line while reading Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story. He challenged me to live a life that is a story worth reading about. For me, this includes developing a better awareness of how I spend my moments, because each day has only so many. I want to spend mine wisely, on projects and writing that will make my life story something of a grand play where God’s glory is magnified.

Awareness and focus on the important things such as these are slippery. Anchors keep them moored. Ann Voskamp taught me that gratitude for all the little gifts in everyday life serves as a tether for keeping my eyes fixed on the meaningful. The act of writing down the lovely in life unwraps these important God-gifts, making them tangible. (Also, her poetic writing style fed my writer’s heart.)

Story pops up again in Brian Godwa’s Word Pictures: Knowing God through Story & Imagination. Here I learned how God is the master storyteller, using plenty of examples and parables and characters to tell of who He is. Seeing life through the story lens places the everyday in a different light, making it more of an adventure to unwrap than a day to plod through.

In the midst of stories and gifts, A. W. Tozer tells me not to be a sloth. If it’s gratitude I want, then I will have to purposely unwrap God’s gifts. If it’s a better life story, then I will have to actually live a better life story. If it’s knowing God more intimately, then I will have to actually pursue Him. Sounds practical and easy enough, but I needed to hear it.

The subtitles of these four books say much: How I Learned to Live a Better Story. A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. Knowing God through Story & Inspiration. Expect God to Interrupt Your Life. I would love for my life to be shaped by the richness from these reads!

I also read The Hunger Games, which I enjoyed (made the movie much more understandable). I walk away from that thinking of the girls I met in India. I don’t want to be the clueless Capitol, gussied up and filled with self while all around me there are people starving, brutalized, and neglected. If I’m going to just live life for my own comfort and amusement, I may as well have pink hair and crazy clothing. It’s as ridiculous as it looked in the film.

Finally, I’ve just started Robert Lane Greene’s You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity. It is a commentary on language covering everything from history to usage to common misconceptions. The message so far? What people are saying—the words and phrases they use and misuse—are windows to their very souls. Haughty judgment of how someone speaks is never appropriate, and Greene reminds me that the heart is what is being said rather than how they are saying it.

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Sources
1. Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story(Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson 2009).
2. Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan 2010).
3. Brian Godwa, Word Pictures: Knowing God through Story & Imagination
4. A. W. Tozer,  A Disruptive Faith: Expect God to Interrupt Your Life (Ventura, Cal.: Regal 2011).
5. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (New York, NY: Scholastic 2008).
6. Robert Lane Greene, You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity (New York, NY: Delacorte Press 2011).

Beach Retreat 2012 Reading Jaunt

Beach Retreat Packing Rule #1: You can never have too many books.

A chronicle of my reading on this year’s beach retreat. This post will be updated throughout the week—stay tuned!

Updated Friday, May 4, 2012, 1:15 p.m.

Curiosity Journal for June 7, 2011

Summertime floods me with echoes of my childhood when the days were long, almost endless, and I had time to daydream and read and play and be.

My Curiosity Journal: Summer 2011

It just feels necessary, even as an adult, to shake up my schedule in the summer—sort of like letting the tasks and responsibilities swirl about me like a snow globe storm. As my calendar settles out before me in a fresh pattern, it opens more creative think-time.

So that’s why I’m using the summer months to follow Ann Kroeker’s lead in recording a Curiosity Journal here at The Patch. A Curiosity Journal is a place to record what I’m reading, playing with, learning of, reacting to, and writing about. (Check out Ann’s entries here.)

Although I had planned for this to be an online-only journal, I remembered this journal my sister-in-law gave me. With its eclectic mix of pages—both notepaper as well as pages from books and dictionaries—I decided it would be the perfect place to record a tangible creative journal.

I’m not sure I’ll have a weekly update here, but I will give a regular report of what’s going on in my creative life. I’ll see how it settles out before me.

Here’s my first offering. Enjoy, and may you be inspired to curiosity this summer. And please join the summer fun by commenting here (and include your post link if you’ve written one) and then popping over to add your link at Ann’s.

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Reading: This past week was the kick-off for our public library’s summer reading program for adults called A.R.K.S. (Adults Reading Kids Stuff). This year’s theme is A Midsummer Knight’s Read. Cute, eh? My sister also participates in A.R.K.S. and her kids do the children’s program. So this year, I’ve asked each of the kids to choose one book they want me to read. Miss HM’s pick for me is from The Tiara Club series by Vivian French: Princess Charlotte and the Birthday Ball. Sounds dreamy! Her choice made me smile in that heart-deep sort of way.

I’m also reading several other books that I would like to wrap up because I have too many going at once! Of great interest today though is this read: Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer. It’s just the sort of quirky real-life reading I adore!

Playing: My mom and my sister and I are taking my sis’s kids on a road trip to the beach! So I’m playing around with making personalized travel journals for the kids. I’ve included the route, the state maps, car games, and a verse for the week.

Learning: I met my nephew Jullian for the first time this week! Mike’s brother and sister-in-law (and little J) live in Hong Kong, and they are here for a visit. Jullian is 18 months old and completely adorable. I joined him as he watched one of his favorite videos, called Pororo (The Little Penguin).

Pororo and Friends

Jullian is learning to speak in a bilingual home, so as he used his sweet little voice, I got to hear some words and phrases in Chinese. And although I watched Pororo in Chinese, I don’t think any of that has stuck in my brain! Jullian’s limited vocabulary is already larger than mine in that language. I would love to become familiar with the language. It’s on my list of things to do when I have nothing else to do . . . but I think I’m going to have to carve out some time for it instead.

Reacting: My church has adopted a local elementary school and will be partnering with it to provide support for the kids both academically and spiritually. After attending the meeting, I was so excited about the vision for going to serve and to love! I’ve decided to help by listening to kids as they practice their reading. This is something I’ve done periodically with my sister’s kids, and it has been such a joy. I am looking forward to meeting a new kid and investing in the future of his or her education.

Travel Journals for the Kids

Writing: My writing is in a steady groove now with some regular posts due each week. Here’s what I’ve been working on:

• Snap Judgments of the Positive Sort: High Calling Blogs book club post
• Mixed Signals: Is Nutella Guilty of False Advertising?: my Friday column at Christ and Pop Culture
• Why I Run: feature article at Christ and Pop Culture
• Which Word Wednesday: Green Superhero Edition
• Web site content for Zdi (new site to be unveiled soon!)
• travel journals for my nephews and niece

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Image Credits
1. My Curiosity Journal: Summer 2011 by Erin Straza
2. A.R.K.S. by Normal Public Library
3. Pororo and Friends by Pororo at http://www.pororo.net/en/
4. Travel Journals for the Kids by Erin Straza

Beach Retreat Reading Synopsis

My time at Beach Retreat 2011 is winding down. [sigh]

A week of rest, reading, and fellowship has filled my heart full. The Scripture I’ve pondered, the books I’ve read, the conversations I’ve had—all these will likely toss about in me for weeks to come so that the end result would be something permanent, lasting, meaningful.

All week I saw interesting parallels in the very different books I read. I would not have guessed it! But God has drawn these lines and I am amazed.

Michael Card taught me that true friends define each other, just as Jesus and Peter defined each other (see Matthew 16:15–17). As I acknowledge who Jesus is in all His beauty and splendor, He will define me and make me who I am to be.¹

In this defining process, the reality that God is all and my life is hidden in Him will grow. Andrew Murray taught me that this is true humility, “the place of entire dependence upon God” and “yielding to God His place.”²

In humility, I can be honest about who God is and who I am—a mixed bag of emotions, thoughts, and deeds that are in constant need of grace from God and others. TrueFaced calls me to live in the Grace Room where I depend wholly on God and therefore can live an authentic life in fellowship with others.³

Fellowship with other believers is more than church attendance, however. Tim Chester tells me in his A Meal with Jesus that true community is spending time in the daily patterns of life, especially around the dining table.⁴ As we nourish our bodies, we nourish each other—more so when we come with humble hearts, presenting our true selves. There, around the table, we define each other.

Living authentically among others allows God to use others to mature and refine me (more humility needed for that one). In maturity—humble dependence upon God—I walk out the calling He has designed me for. And that calling is summarized in David Platt’s Radical: “The challenge for us is to live in such a way that we are radically dependent on and desperate for the power that only God can provide.”⁵ Therein I am a vessel God can use for His glory, as the Gospel has full play in my life, over my sin, through my quirks and oddities (TrueFaced, again).

Interesting how all these very different books meld together, huh?

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Sources
1. Michael Card, A Fragile Stone: The Emotional Life of Simon Peter (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2003).

2. Andrew Murray, Humility (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2001).

3. Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch, TrueFaced (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress 2004).

4. Tim Chester, A Meal with Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011).

5. David Platt, Radical (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books).