Happy Saturday!
This was the week winter briefly returned to Tennessee and reminded this northern girl how glad she is to live in a place where the sun doesn’t hide too long. Several days ago, when the temperatures dipped and the skies were gray, I was making plans to sit on my couch and never leave the house again (introverts have these sorts of “spells” from time to time). But then, the sun came out and I was able to find the motivation to leave my cozy home.
Today, our wild plans include taking Flat Stanley/Eli to see some historical sites in the area. He’s been a great house guest, but he needs to head back to Minnesota very soon. We’re trying to give him a southern education before he leaves. Soon, he’ll be saying, “Bless your heart” and our work will be done.
Here are some of my favorite links from this week:
What It Feels Like When Your Kids Are Growing Up– In the past, I’ve talked about being an “early-griever”. I’ve been crying over my kids growing up and leaving the house since they were infants. It’s not surprising this article brought tears to my eyes.
“It feels like I won a ticket for the best seat in the house, but I was gone too long during intermission and missed part of the show. Or did I sleep through it? Or maybe I saw it all but just forgot a lot of the details.
It feels like both sorrow and joy.
It feels like a lump in my throat.”- Emily P. Freeman
So, I Quit Drinking– There were so many powerful truths wrapped up in this article. Don’t miss the fact that it’s not about drinking. Alcohol is neither good nor bad in and of itself. The author of this article is addressing her specific situation and her decision to do what she knew she was being asked to do. This quote has stayed with me:
“I think that conviction has gotten a bit of a bad rap in the Church over the past little while. It’s understandable. We have an overcorrection to a lot of the legalism and boundary-marker Christianity that damaged so many, the behaviour modification and rule-making and imposition of other people’s convictions onto our own souls.
But in our steering away from legalism, I wonder if we left the road to holiness or began to forget that God also cares about what we do and how we do it and why.
Conviction is less about condemnation than it is about invitation. It’s an invitation into freedom. It’s an invitation into wholeness.” -Sarah Bessey
Don’t Throw The Ball Back (on setting healthy boundaries and getting free)–
Such a good word on dealing with difficult relationships.
“If you don’t want to keep playing the game, stop throwing the ball back.”- Sarah Mae
P.S. I’m working on an email that I’m sending out to just the friends who have signed up for my email list. I’m a tiny bit nervous about it because I’m going to tell them something I’ve told very few people. If you haven’t signed-up yet, you can fill in the little box on the top of this page!