5 Links, Books, and Things I Love – June 2018
Did you do anything exciting in May? What are you looking forward to in June? We share once a month at Leigh’s.
1 Second Everyday
[If you can’t see the 1 Second Everyday video, click here]
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5 Things Around the Web
1. 5 Chores You Should Never Skip (Even If You’re Busy)
by Adrienne Breaux
When you’re busy, which chores do you do anyway? I almost always do #1 and #3. But I can more easily skip #5.
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2. Digital Prayer Tools – What Digital Gadgets and Apps Draw You Closer to God?
by Jean Wise
Jean pulled together a great list of digital prayer tools to help us stay in the attitude of prayer.
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3. Life gets better after 50: why age tends to work in favour of happiness
by Lucy Rock
‘Those most likely to notice the arrow of time are the people without a lot of other change or difficulty in their life.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
“Forget the saying that life begins at 40 – it’s 50 we should be looking toward. . . . Academics have found increasing evidence that happiness through adulthood is U-shaped – life satisfaction falls in our 20s and 30s, then hits a trough in our late 40s before increasing until our 80s.”
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4. Three Types of People Who Help the Church
by Josh Buice
Here are three different types of people (among others) in the local church who help build the body. Are you one of these?
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5. Why do we fear plane crashes when the ride to the airport is more dangerous?
by Tom Keane
ADOBE STOCK
“Our sense of danger needs a reality check.”
Jeff and I almost always fly Southwest. So when a passenger almost got sucked out of the window last month on a Southwest flight, I paid attention. But daily commutes in the car are still much, much more dangerous.
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5 Things about Books
Are you following along? Which novel of America’s Top 100 picks would you choose as the best? I’ve already voted for The Book Thief and The Chronicles of Narnia, but I’m not finished yet. You can vote for more than one.
PLUS, How to Remember What You Read because while the titles of the 100 novels sound familiar, I’ve forgotten the content of some that I’ve read.
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2. Why Reading Books Should Be Your Priority, According to Science
by Christina DesMarais
“You’re not doing yourself any favors if you’re in the 26 percent of American adults who haven’t read even part of a book within the past year.”
PLUS, What’s Going On In Your Child’s Brain When You Read Them A Story?
by Anya Kamanetz
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3. All the books Bill Gates has recommended over the last eight years
by Thu-Huong Ha
PLUS, 5 books worth reading this summer
by Bill Gates
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4. Would You Like To Read a Christian Classic with Tim Challies?
by Tim Challies
The book this time is Holy Helps for a Godly Life. It was written by Richard Rogers, a Puritan in the 1500s, but revised for now. I used to participate in these reading challenges more often with Tim Challies. They were always beneficial. I may read the sample of this book and decide to commit.
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5. Five Books I Recommend – May 2018
I finished several books this month that I’ve been reading for awhile. Here are seven that I really liked.
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5 Things I Love
1. 4 Months
Time is zipping by with our granddaughter. She’s already 4 months old!
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2. Mother’s Day with all my girls
I was very blessed on Mother’s Day to get to be with both my beautiful daughters and my sweet granddaughter. Who knows if we’ll ever have a little boy thrown into the mix? But I’m as happy as can be with all my girls.
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3. Beach with Jeff
Cocoa Beach, FL
When Jeff travels for work, I sometimes go with him…especially when it’s Cape Canaveral. He usually doesn’t see the beach on those trips, but this last trip he got to spend a few afternoons on the beach with me.
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4. “The Experience” Ballet Recital
Jenna b Photography
Our youngest daughter Jenna began teaching dance classes with D4C (Dance4Christ) this year. Their end-of-the-year recital each year is more than dance; it’s worship. I loved watching all the girls and ladies dance (including Jenna, too!).
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5. End of School
digging for dinosaur fossils
School’s out for the summer. I’ll miss Jenna’s students. But hopefully I’ll get to see some of them in the halls next year when I volunteer. And it’s not too early to start praying for the new class coming together for the fall.
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5 Things on the Blog
- Dedicated Devices, and Why I Still Love My Garmin GPS
There’s a satisfaction that comes with single-mindedness. With ending up in the right place because you kept heading in the right direction. I still love my old Garmin GPS. - Can I Have Yours, Please?
I dreamed of the same proximity for us that my kids had with their grandparents. But that’s not our reality. When I want what you have but God didn’t intend it for me, it will fall flat. - Don’t Be Afraid to Be Afraid
God knows we have dangerous tasks to do. Even if we’re afraid. Can he have courage for us? - What Does Your Prince Charming Do?
Is Prince Charming who Disney says he is? What about men who serve? Who is our model of a true Prince Charming? - Enjoy the Word through Scripture Memorization
Resources here to memorize scripture. Spending time with the Living Word through his written words can be transforming.
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What was a highlight from your May? What are you looking forward to in June? Please share in the comments.
Wow, what a round-up you’ve compiled here 🙂
This is one of my favorite posts that I do each month because I get to look back at things I liked! 🙂
What a fun post, Lisa! I LOVE your family photos, especially of your cute granddaughter!
About flying…I was petrified to fly last summer–the first time in about 20 years. When I asked a friend why I’m so afraid, she said it’s because we relinquish all control when flying. Driving feels safer because we feel more in control, even though we know it’s more dangerous. This made sense to me.
Thanks for sharing the PBS quiz. I’ve read 28 of those books! I love the classics and if I had a 25th hour in my day, I’d choose to read some of those remaining 72 titles.
I enjoyed the church people article too. Sharing on Twitter today.
Blessings on your weekend!
You’re right that we definitely relinquish ALL control when flying. We’re totally passive passengers simply along for the ride. Sometimes when things are that much out of my hands, I can oddly relax in that. Weird, I know. ha. Nonetheless, airplanes still *feel* more dangerous than a car. 🙂
Oh, for that 25th hour! I would read in it as well. I have started The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time because of the PBS list.
I wondered if Jenna was still dancing! So glad to see that she is and that she is sharing what she has learned with others.
I tend to do all the chores in the one link now (I didn’t in early marriage) – vacuuming probably the least. My husband got me a cordless vacuum, and that’s great for quick once-overs. I still get out the regular one with cords and hoses and attachments periodically – but not terribly often.
I had looked at the Great American Read site but missed the voting part, so I will check that out. I taped the first program they had on it but haven’t watched it yet.
I grew up near a beach, and there is something in me that craves being near the water sometimes. Glad you got a beach visit in and had such a nice Mother’s Day!
Jenna stopped dancing for a little while, but then God put this ideal opportunity in front of her and she grabbed it. It’s everything she wants from dance, plus she was an answer to a prayer that the dance owner was praying. It is quite a God-story how it all worked out!
Maybe I need to get a cordless vacuum for those quick once-overs…. I do love a vacuumed floor, but I’m not as quick to get out the vacuum cleaner as I once was. 😉
I taped the first PBS program too, thinking they would be coming weekly. But I think this first show was the setup to get people to start voting, then the weekly (?) shows will begin in the fall. I didn’t anticipate it really holding my attention, but it was so well done that I watched the whole two hours straight. It got me excited to read more of the books that I haven’t yet (even though a few of the books I began over the years and do NOT want to return to because I didn’t like them, ha).
You have a power-packed month! (as usual)
I was going to mention to you the other day that I read “When Crickets Cry.” It was very touching. I had to have kleenex nearby …
I’m glad you got to read When Crickets Cry! Yes, kleenex are definitely a necessity for that book. 🙂
May? Exciting? HA! I called these past few weeks: MAYhem! Been so crazy but I am grateful for life and health and delight in being able to do things. So am staying positive! And to find my blog mentioned. I am so honored. Thank you. Even in the busyness, I do regularly 4 out of those 5 chores – My hubby vacuums. I love all the interesting links/books you share with us. Thanks so much for gathering all this together. You feed my mind and my spirit.
MAYhem is a good name for it, Jean. 🙂 Ditto that. And I agree, I also am grateful that I have the health and resources to be able to do the things that God has blessed me with.
I’m happy to share your post! So many useful tools are there. Thanks for compiling them in one spot.
Love that picture of you and your girls ands grand baby!
I fly Southwest too… but don’t sit in the exit row much lately…
I noticed that one second video is dominated by your latest addition to the family!
Thanks, Floyd. Yes, my one-second-videos are morphing into The Riley Show. 🙂 (And you can only imagine how many more videos/pics are on my phone that don’t make it into the highlight reel.)
What a great recap! I love all the photos and that you’ve found so many interesting articles too. #5 on the chores is the one I’m most likely to skip too and I don’t like flying so that one was helpful too. I agree with what Sarah said above- it’s a control thing. For me May has been so busy that it’s flown past- I can’t believe we’re into June already!
I can’t believe it’s June already either. (Actually I still can’t believe it’s 2018! ha). I thought about doing a quick #5 vacuuming this morning but talked myself out of it. 🙂
What a great recap of a busy month! Grandparenting is the best, isn’t it? ! I’ll have to check out the post about driving being more dangerous than flying :).
I’ve always heard that grandparenting is grand, but now I’m getting to discover it firsthand. Yes, I am loving it! 🙂