worth reading—10.14.11

How did I miss ALL of September?? Wow.

The lack of these bi-weekly lists says a lot more about my time management skills and the number of things I'm trying to cram into each day than it does about the quality of posts out there. Because friends, let me tell you, there is some GOOD STUFF being published.

• My friend Mike gave the call to worship at church on September 11. It was beautiful. This man has a way with words, and I was so excited to find out that he posted a written version of what he shared in church. I hope you love it, I know I do.
• I have only recently learned about Sharideth and her awesome blog. She posted a few weeks ago about Christian deal breakers in dating relationships. It's awesome. She writes with levity and truth. Please do enjoy.
• This post by Laura Parker ROCKED me. She and her husband and their kids recently moved to Thailand. She wrote over at Deeper Story this week about struggling through what it looks like to help and love the least of these. Her writing at Deeper Story led me to check out her blog, and to read a post she linked to on human trafficking. It was sobering to say the least.
• Have you read Nish's post about how we Christians treat Mormons? Have you read the amazing discussions going on in the comments section? I think things have slowed down a bit since she published it last week, but holy smokes did she do an incredible job both with the initial post and in her response to the comments. Apparently the post went a bit viral amidst the LDS community.
• So, there's this blog that I stumbled upon earlier this week thanks to a few tweets. It's fiction, and it's awesome. If it's your first time visiting the blog, make sure to click the start here link, so you can start at the beginning of the story.
• Lastly, Joy wrote an incredible response to the sermon Rick preached a few weeks ago. I do hope you'll take some time and read it.
• Then there was Max's post on sin and what happens when we give sin more weight than God's grace. There's plenty of superfluous stuff I could say about it, but really you should just go read it for yourself.

worth reading 09.09.11

It is that time, time to share the words that have hit me hard, drawn me close, and taught me much. As I cut and paste links into what will eventually become this post, each week I am baffled by and grateful for the amazing people I have come to know. Some in person, and some just through the honest sharing of their hearts through the words they type and send out into this thing we call the internet.

Here are some of those people, pouring their thoughts and hearts onto the world wide web.

• My ridiculously wise friend, Joy, most often shares relationship advice, and every once and awhile she shares something else. This post is one of the something elses, and it is beautiful, just like her heart that beats so passionately for our generation
• Ally has set off on an adventure, and as she's done so, she has been so wonderfully transparent. Upon leaving for Minneapolis, she posted some excellent dating related advice. It is simple. It is practical. It is worth reading and rereading because I know I needed the reminders, so maybe you do too.
• Joy, a different from the one earlier in the list, wrote about how being different from her husband is part of what makes their marriage so good. It was a new perspective for me, as I spend a decent amount of my thinking about my future husband time imagining all the ways we will be the same. It was a necessary reminder that different is good.
• What is your name? Not just the name people call you, but who are you? Upon wedding Max Dubinsky and changing her name, Lauren delved into the complicated subject of identity over at Deeper Story. As usual, her words are lovely and full of truth.
• I found myself wrestling with, well, myself, my seemingly inescapable humanness, this week. Just as I was putting the final touches on this list, Preston posted his Friday post. Rather than his usual week in review, he posted a beautiful poem entitled "Why is there this ache, O God?" It captured beautifully the ache I have felt this week, and the longing for my Christ.
• **LIST UPDATE** I'm adding one more because it is too beautiful not to share. The ever hilarious Julianne Gulu posted over at Make it MAD this week. In honor of her brother's recent wedding, she posted the toast she shared at their wedding. Get your kleenex kids, this is awesome.

worth reading 08.12.11

Amid the whirlwind of returning from vacation, preparing to leave for our annual high school youth group rafting trip, catching up with friends, and running around like a chicken with her head cut off because I get to give Lauren a REAL hug TODAY, I managed to read through some of the blogs I missed while on vacation. People may say that summer is a time full of lazy days, but I think the authors on this week's list missed the memo about taking it easy. Holy smokes...

1. A few of the bloggers whose words I read and hearts I love had the opportunity to go to Bolivia with World Vision. Their posts have been amazing. Nish's re-entry post hit me hard as I imagined her in the supermarket in southern Oregon overwhelmed by choice, seeing the world through a new filter. I watched tearfully through Joy's eyes as she learned Wilfrem's story and the difference his World Vision sponsor made in his life and the life of his family. And my heart echos Elizabeth Esther's cries, Father forgive me for I did not know.
2. I have the privilege of being friends with AND doing ministry with this first amazing woman. She has a beautiful, honest heart for the Lord, and isn't afraid of loving big in the midst of mess. Her thoughts on grace are lovely and soul soothing. As an added bonus, Lindsay is also a major threat on the ultimate frisbee field.
3. I read Jon Acuff's Serious Wednesday Post on the the search for joy. His words have me considering what things I have used / am using as joy props. "Because I already have a savior. That role has been filled."
4. As I've been packing for five days in hot, sunny, beautiful southern Oregon, I come back to the question of the appropriateness of what I'll be wearing. I loved the conversation Ally started earlier this week, and her follow up post. It is a hard topic, and one that both frustrates and challenges me. Read what she has to say, and add your thoughts to the discussion.
5. Alright. Preston Yancey is killing it. Again. Dude's bombing around the UK and still finds time to speak truth into darkness. He wrote a guest post for the Good Women Project about what a woman's role is in a man's fight against porn. My dear sisters, be encouraged, because "pornography has nothing to do with the real, present woman in the equation." My dear brothers you "have a Savior. The only way a man overcomes pornography is by wrestling through it with Jesus." Be encouraged, your Savior fights for you.
6. After months of traveling and a love that has taken her across the country, Lauren processes her Los Angeles induced identity crisis. More than who you think you should be, more than who you think you are, who does God say you are?
7. Holy. Smokes. This post ROCKED ME. As I cut and paste the link into this post I am sitting at my desk asking myself, and really asking God, why I don't have certain things. "The question is: how can I glorify God with what I do have? Not, how can I get what I want, but how can I enhance God's reputation as a great king by what I do with what he gave me?" Lord, let this be my heart.
8. Forgiveness. Not for myself, but for others. This post of Joy's spoke hard Truth to my heart this week. "When I can forgive my persecutors and desire for God to forgive them without giving them their due…then I have truly forgiven." WHAT? Fo' realz this is good stuff.
9. While Joy was gallivanting about England, her friend Erin put together a guest post for her. As I read it I thought, "oh my heart, I know exactly how you feel," while I was reminded that TRUST is what He asks of me, and He is worthy of my trust. All the time. Always.

worth reading 07.29.11

Here it is, your fortnightly dose of things I think are worth the read. This edition feels a bit light, but it's summer time. We should all be outside in the sunshine, not glued to glowing computer screens, right?

1. Oh Max Dubinsky, your writing never ceases to challenge me. As his journey across the country ends, Max shares beautiful, heart-searching reflections about his time on the road.
2. A new favorite of mine, though no stranger to this biweekly blog post, Preston, wrote earlier this week about pornography. His insight that, "about dissatisfaction in a man’s heart and his desire to feel affirmed without the responsibility of being a man worth affirming," blew me over. I don't care if you're male or female, struggle with porn or have never looked at it. READ. THIS. POST.
3. A little less on the spiritual side of things [at least on the surface, don't get me started on how I think it's part of God's kingdom come here on earth to take care of this beautiful planet we've been given], Ryan reflected earlier this week on parenting. In the midst of that reflection he posted a video about an as yet untitled GMO Food Film. Did you know that Monsanto sent over 475 tons of hybrid corn and vegetable seeds to Haiti shortly after the earthquake? Do you know what the Haitians did with those seeds? They BURNED them, and after watching that short introduction to the film project, I think I would have helped.
4. Though she may be out and about having high tea and getting locked in the Tower of London, Joy still had time for this incredible interview with 4Word Women. She offers poignant reflections on the goodness of God and how that impacts our desires for marriage, as well as her thoughts on our generation.
5. Last, but not least, it's not so much a "worth the read" as it is PLAIN FREAKING AWESOME. Lauren and Max are GETTING MARRIED! A love story like this, brought about by our awesome and infinitely wise God must be celebrated. Won't you join me in offering thanks to Him and sharing a little love with the happy couple?

worth reading 07.15.11

Oh man. So many great things on the internets this week y'all*. This week's list reminds me of Jeopardy's Potpourri category—topically unrelated, but still worth buzzing in to see if you have the correct answer in the form of a question. Okay that analogy broke down after "topically unrelated" but you get the idea.

Here's this week's list of posts from around the internet that I think are worth reading.

1. I always look forward to Sara's posts on Deeper Story. She is a poet, and her words never fail to stir my heart and point me back to my Creator. Her post for July,"Give Me Things That Won't Get Lost" is no exception.
2. Over at Make it Mad this week Max's post, The Truth Still Wrecks is amazing. He contrasts the things we tell ourselves with the Truth of the Lord's word, and it is powerful.
3. Oh my goodness. Ally Spotts. Her post this week on whether or not men really have to pursue women is great. She asks for her readers' opinions, and the comment section is FULL of food for thought.
4. Also on Ally's blog this week was a guest post by Preston Yancey on how to reject a man. I hear plenty of complaints about, and I complain about, not being asked out. But what about when a guy does, and you just not interested, how do you handle that situation? Preston's got some A+ suggestions.
5. My friend Mike found out that his job was ending AND that he had eight days of paid vacation to use. So obviously he decided to go to Haiti. His post makes this list for a few reasons:
   • Because it's awesome that he chose to use his vacation days that way.
   • Because his recap of his time there is humorous, heartfelt, and I love a good recap.
   • Because I am responsible for the lovely yellow headers you see in his post, and it was QUITE THE ORDEAL to make and then keep them that color.
6. It's no shocker that I'm a huge fan of Joy's. She handles difficult questions about relationships, or a lack thereof, with grace and wisdom beyond her years. And then there are the "special questions," which she handles with her fantastic sense of humor. Because sometimes, let's be honest, bitches be crazy.

Like I said, it's a potpourri of posts [high five for alliteration], some serious, some a little less so, but all still worth the read.


*Every time I say y'all I smile and think of Lindsay. It's just such a gender-neutral, wonderful way of including everyone.

worth reading 07.01.11

There's a lot of mindless crap out there, kids. Sometimes it's hilarious. Sometimes it's the perfect distraction after a long day of trying to pack up an entire office and move it across town. And sometimes it's just crap.

Fortunately there are also some really good things* to be found on this world wide web. Here's my list of words I think are worth the read.

1. My dear friend Nish is going to Bolivia at the end of July with World Vision. Her post on the currency of human contact is beautifully written, and I cannot wait to read her words while she is immersed in the lives of the Bolivian people.
2. Okay. Pretty much ANYTHING you read on Love and Respect NOW is worth your time. Joy Eggerichs has the most beautiful heart for our generation. Seriously. Stop reading this post, go over to Love and Respect NOW, read a few posts [like this series or this one or this series], and if you feel like it you can come back here and read the rest of this list.
3. Have you heard of Max Dubinsky? Well educate yourself. Dude has got skillz and he loves Jesus. His post this week on What Men Really Want rocked my world in both a "dude, that was totes the most awesome" AND in a "that knocked me off my feet" sort of way. Ladies especially, please do this. I promise that it is not what you expect.
4. Forever a presence on these lists, I loved the way Lauren tackled the "but he's so nice / why don't you date him / it's not like you have to marry him" issue. She lays down truth about how we are created and how we value [or don't value] ourselves with the choices we make.

*Most of the people I list each week will be repeats because I find them to be fairly consistent sources of well-written, Truth laden writings. If that bores you, or if you think I'm missing someone, let me know.

worth reading 06.10.11

People ask me why I tweet, and while there are a lot of different reasons, one of the main ones is because of all the different blogs and bloggers I've discovered. There is plenty of junk on the internet, and there are plenty of ways to waste my time. But there are also places worth stopping by on a regular basis because the truth that lives there is inspiring.

Here are a few of the posts that have inspired me this week. If you have a second [c'mon, you know you do], check out any one of these. And if you have more than a second, check them all out.

1. I loved Joy's fresh perspective on what it means for us to guard our hearts. As a person who loves to love big, it's been a concept I've struggled with. I think she unpacks it with grace, truth, and humor. As per usual.
2. One of my favorite people, first on Twitter, then on Tumblr, then as a blogger, and now as a dear friend is Lauren. Her friendship is a treasure, and her wisdom blows me away on a regular basis. Her post on pre-marital sex is FANTASTIC. Please, please, please, man or woman, married or single, please read it.
3. I also loved Lauren's post on rest. It is simple, and it is true.
4. I was drying my hair this morning, praying about my own relationship history. I asked God for help understanding what healing looks like and what it looks like to honor Him within romantic relationships. And then I found this post by John Piper, entitled "No More Scarlet Letters." I love the way God answers prayer.
5. And last, but certainly not least, there is Miss Ally Spotts. She is delightful and insightful. Her post on how to deal with a difficult break up was full of wisdom.

So there you have them: my must reads of the past few weeks. I hope they encourage and challenge you as they have done to me.

fabulous friday video goodness—potpourri

In an attempt to redeem myself from the Zac Efron videos from two weeks ago, I was determined to find a really amazing video that would underscore my [usually] great taste in music.** Friends, I've failed. The song I've had stuck in my head for the past TWO WEEKS is not cool. I mean, I think it is, but not in that "cool" way. So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to post it. And I'm going to post two other videos because as I'm sitting here writing this I'm listening to another video and remembering a different video I watched last week. That's right. THREE videos, and none of them Avett Brothers [not that they're not still #1 on the music chart in my heart, they are]. I'll give you a moment to get over your shock.

First, the song I can't get out of my head. My apologies to my orange and black blooded family members.



The second is a fantastic video by none other than Joy Eggerichs and her father Emerson about the importance of respect. I find it challenging, thought provoking, and I love their father-daughter dynamic.



Lastly we have Pomplamoose with Ben Folds and Nick Hornby singing and discussing the wonders of the written word. Bonus, you get to see girl gun noises vs. boy gun noises AND magic nursery babies? Oh, for awesome.



Enjoy friends, loves!

**Everyone thinks they have great taste in music and a sense of humor, but they couldn't possibly all have good taste and a sense of humor. —Marie, "When Harry Met Sally"