Links and happenings for June 2015
AROUND THE WEB
- What to pack in shoeboxes that you send to foreign countries.
- Here’s how author Phyllis Tickle is facing death from stage IV lung cancer. I must read more from her.
- “Life off-script is just another way to live AWAKE, to remember that each person who crosses our path is a teacher.” Inspiring (and funny) advice from Glennon Doyle Melton about really connecting with people.
- If we’re willing to learn, here’s how to talk about race without being defensive.
- This is sad. Shaming the poor – “Now trending: America discovers cruel and creative ways to further strip away the dignity of its impoverished people”
BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS
- An interesting leadership reading list with no business books on it (including The Boys in the Boat, already on my to-read list)
- Another interesting list: Bill Gates Beach Reading List. I got a few samples sent to my Kindle.
- On my Kindle I’m reading a wonderful yet disturbing novel by Sue Monk Kidd set during slavery in America, The Invention of Wings.
- And a beautifully-photographed hardback non-fiction book, The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere by Pico Iyer. It’s a TED book (see his TED talk here) so it’s short. As God would have it, it goes well with my weekly journey in The Soul of a Pilgrim while my daughter Jenna is on her own physical pilgrimage in Guatemala.
- In my daily Bible reading, I’m up to Isaiah 31 in the Old Testament (it’s always better than I remembered) and Acts 12 in the New Testament.
- More of the books I’m reading here and on Goodreads.
- Why should kids choose their own summer reading books (from The Washington Post)
THINGS I LOVE
- The things that come from our extended family meals. This time we got into personality tests (take one here).
- Watching my older daughter Morgan help her baby sister Jenna get ready for college graduation
- Getting to spend time with my awesome godson Chris after graduation and catch up on his post-graduation life
- My new great-nephew Wallace arrived! (But I haven’t got to see him in person yet—not loving that part)
ON THE BLOG
- She’s leaving tomorrow – We train our kids to follow God but it’s still hard to let them go; Jenna leaves for Guatemala
- When racism hides – I didn’t expect to uncover this flag of racism during tornado clean-up
- Frame the moment to last – A single day can last longer when it’s framed, and how we framed these beautiful foster girls one day last fall
- A wonderful book on what we get right and wrong on aging and dying – Review of Atul Gawande’s excellent book, Being Mortal
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What are you looking forward to in June? Please share in the comments.
Linking at Leigh Kramer’s
Previous Daybooks
Great big thumbs up to ‘The Boys in the Boat’ and ‘The Invention of Wings,’ Lisa!
;-}
oohh … love those braids, too!
The Boys in the Boat has deterred me for now because it’s so long. ha. But I do hope to get around to it one day when I don’t have other long books going. My next biggie I want to tackle is Anna Karenina. I loved those braids too. She did a great job with them.
Lisa, thanks for sharing. Looks like some good stuff here.
I’m intrigued with the quote about living AWAKE. I personally feel a lot of us are going through life half asleep (including me). I am definitely going to check out Glennon Doyle Melton.
If you’ve not read Glennon Doyle Melton before, be warned that she’ll wake you up for sure, Jerralea. Ha. She’s a very open and brave woman of God. I’m all about trying to live more awake too. Have a great weekend.
Lisa, I am a huge admirer of Sue Monk Kidd. I loved “The Invention of Wings” and the way she told the story – the formatting of the women’s stories. Yes, it is disturbing in the depiction of the realities of slavery but as you get further along in it, I think you will be grateful of where it takes you. Her epilogue where she describes how she came to write the story and other interesting facts was compelling. Don’t read it first, though. It has much more meaning after you have finished the book.
Lynn, I’m pretty sure that you are the one that got me hooked on Sue Monk Kidd’s writings several years back with The Secret Life of Bees. And I’m so grateful! I’m getting near the end of The Invention of Wings and it just keeps getting better and braver. It’s one of those books that I want to keep reading, but I don’t want it to end either.
Yes.
And yes!
I did not want it to end either.
I felt the same way ( in not wanting “The Book Thief” to end”).
Yep–that’s how I felt near the end of The Book Thief too. The closer I got to the end, the more I wanted to slow down. I did finish The Invention of Wings last night though. I was so thankful for the Author Notes! So much about the story that I didn’t realize was true.
Yes, I felt the same way about her author notes. They illuminated the story giving it even more impact and also gave us a peek into what an amazing amount of research she did in writing the book. I am so glad we share an appreciation of it. 🙂
Keeping up with you is like trying to catch the wind! Great stuff! I avoided the personality thing as quickly as I could!
I’m praying for Jenna and you and your family, Lisa.
Ha. Jeff doesn’t like those kind of personality tests either. We did rope him into this one though. Of course he and I were opposites. But maybe that’s how it works best. 🙂
love a blog post rich with resources like this one. I took that personality test and it got me just right. I am an INFJ – always tests this one. Fascinates me that it keep coming up so must be true. Fun!
So we are only one letter different. I’m ISFJ. Surprisingly, my youngest daughter Jenna was the exact same letters as I was. ha.