Lisa notes

Has Helping Helped You This Week?
—Grace & Truth Linkup

By LisaNotes October 29, 2021 Grace & Truth Link-Up 2 Comments

Who have you helped this week?

Who has helped you?

Everyone benefits when it happens, whether you’re the one doing the helping or the one being helped.

I love how God set this cycle of love in motion. It goes around and around.

Our featured post this week by Shannon reminds us we’re to help others, regardless of how it makes us feel. But it’s an added perk to reap benefits from it, too.

Read all Shannon’s post here. Then add your own links below.

“8 BENEFITS OF HELPING OTHERS”

Shannon lists 8 benefits of helping others. Benefits #5 and #6 stand out most to me. Share in the comments which benefits resonate most with you.

Thanks for sharing, Shannon! Here’s a button for your blog.

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

8 Books I Recommend—October 2021 + 1 Minute Video Review

By LisaNotes October 27, 2021 Books I Recommend, Video Book Reviews 16 Comments

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
– Marcus Tullius Cicero

Below are 8 books I recommend from what I finished reading in October plus a 1-minute video review.

Don’t forget that Nonfiction November begins Monday, November 1. Find the details here for this reading challenge.

[See previously recommended books here]

Nonfiction

1. Where the Light Fell
A Memoir
by Philip Yancey

How did Philip Yancey turn into a wonderful spiritual writer about suffering and grace? Now we can know. This is his memoir. It’s a hard story (he went through difficult seasons), but a beautiful one.

[click here if you can’t see the 1-minute book review]

[see more quotes here from Where the Light Fell]

2. Soundtracks
The Surprising Solution to Overthinking
by Jon Acuff

If your brain works overtime, spinning in circles, this is a helpful book to jump off the overthinking treadmill. We all have soundtracks we play in our mind; switch to a better one. Jon Acuff is an easy-to-read author with good content.

3. Leaving the Witness
Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life
by Amber Scorah

This memoir reads like a novel. Amber Scorah chronicles her journey as a devout Jehovah’s Witness. But when she decides to get out, everything changes. A fascinating read.

4. Shoutin’ in the Fire
An American Epistle
by Danté Stewart

As a white woman, I don’t know what it’s like to live in a Black body in white Christian spaces. But Danté Stewart explains it. He writes beautiful, heart-wrenching prose that cuts to the bone. You have to feel something when you read his words.

[more here about Shoutin’ in the Fire]

5. Preventable
The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response
by Andy Slavitt

Want to hear what happened behind-the-scenes during the pandemic in 2020? Andy Slavitt kept notes from his multiple interviews and eye-witness accounts as it happened. It’s very interesting yet sad to read. And also important material for next time. (I also recommend his ongoing podcast about the pandemic, In the Bubble)

Fiction

6. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
by Charlie Mackesy

Although the font is a little difficult to read, this simple, short book is a poignant story of a curious boy meeting new friends. He learns about life and love and being kind. A quick but powerful read.

7. One True Loves
by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The story pulled me in from the first chapter: Emma Blair is engaged to her old friend Sam when she gets a phone call from her presumed-dead husband Jesse. He’s alive. Now what?

8. The Book of V.
by Anna Solomon

Three stories in one. (1) A reimagining of the Esther story from the Old Testament, (2) a banished senator’s wife in the 1970s refuses to perform a humiliating act in front of guests, and (3) a modern day woman in Brooklyn tries to keep her life together. I love how the stories overlap (note it does get raunchy in places).

Reading Now

Your Story Matters
Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life
by Leslie Leyland Fields
Abuelita Faith
What Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength
by Kat Armas
Reasons to Stay Alive
by Matt Haig
Benefit of the Doubt
Breaking the Idol of Certainty
by Gregory A. Boyd
I Take My Coffee Black
Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America
by Tyler Merritt

What good book are YOU reading this month? Please share in the comments.

My books on Goodreads
More books I recommend

5 Ways to Stay Safe While Walking in the Dark

By LisaNotes October 25, 2021 Encouragement, Trust, Uncertainty: My One Word 2021 12 Comments

I said it again.

“I just don’t understand.”

I’ve said it a lot the past few months.

When situations arise that aren’t clear, our human brains want to find answers.

It’s uncomfortable to not know.

But here I am. You, too.

We may know some things—maybe even a lot of things—but there are far more things we don’t know than things we ever will know.

Even when we live in our light, we have many nights we walk in the dark.

How do we stay safe while walking in the dark?

1. KNOW YOUR SURROUNDINGS

It helps to already be familiar with the terrain. You know the potholes on your daily path. Skirt around them in the dark, too. Be aware of obstacles when possible. Avoid spots you know will cause you trouble.

2. CARRY LIGHT WITH YOU

Even the darkest dark can become illuminated with a little light. Turn on the light of presence in the form of hope. When the darkness threatens to overcome you, light up your hope from the inside.

3. STAY CALM

When the lights go out, you might be tempted to panic. But staying calm leads to wiser decisions. Solutions arise easier from a calm head than a flustered one.

4. REMEMBER IT WON’T ALWAYS BE DARK

Be patient. In confusing circumstances, remember a brighter light will eventually shine again. It won’t always be dark. The sun will rise again as you await another rotation of the earth.

5. DON’T WALK ALONE

It’s comforting to have a friend along when you’re walking in the dark. Stay with your people. Together is better than alone in dark seasons.

Yet Even…

Yet even with the best precautions and preparations, bad things can and do happen in the dark (well, also in the light). There are no guarantees.

Perhaps we have to redefine what “safe” means.

Here’s what it does not mean.

Safe doesn’t mean we’ll never have pain.
It doesn’t mean we’re immune from danger.
It doesn’t mean our bodies will never die.

So what does safe mean in the ultimate sense?

For me, safe means I’ll never walk totally alone. I’ll always be loved. I’ll always be guided. Whether it’s light or it’s dark.

I’m reminding myself of that, even as I say, “I just don’t understand.”

Keep moving forward, dark or not. Keep living, keep loving.

Seeing clearly in the dark isn’t an illusion worth chasing. Seeking clarity can become an idol.

Maybe one day I’ll understand; maybe I won’t.

In the meantime, I hold tightly to others, and to the Spirit inside me.

That’s where my true security rests, in the light and through the dark.

How do you make it through a dark night?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Share Four Somethings—October 2021

By LisaNotes October 22, 2021 Life updates 21 Comments

Near the end of each month I share something I love, something I read, something I treasure, and something ahead with others at Heather’s.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Something Loved

MY PUNKINS

I loved spending time this month with my three favorite punkins in the pumpkin patch.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Something Read

KINDLE SAMPLES

I have progress to report! I’ve been working on reducing the number of book samples I’ve collected on my Kindle.

[What is a Kindle sample? When you want to see if you’ll like a book before you buy it, tap the “Send a free sample” button on the book’s page on Amazon. Amazon will send a chapter or two to your Kindle or to your phone.]

I started the year with 326 book samples.

I’m now down to only 4 samples!

After reading the samples, I either deleted them, added them to my library list, or bought the full book.

Here’s how I did it: one small habit.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Something Treasured

NONFICTION NOVEMBER

One of my favorite reading challenges all year is almost here…#NonficNov.

See more about Nonfiction November here.

We’ll chat about our favorite nonfiction books through daily Instagram challenges and Monday blog posts.

Here are 5 reasons to read nonfiction.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Something Ahead

ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT A GROUP PHOTO

I’m hoping all three of my grandkids will be here together this weekend. It hasn’t happened since last May. If everyone stays healthy, I’d love to get a photo of all three together!

previous Share Four Somethings

One Word 2021 Linkup for October

By LisaNotes October 21, 2021 One Word Community 12 Comments

How have you experienced your ONE WORD in October?

What have you learned about life this month through the lens of your ONE WORD?

Add your comments and links below.

New Word for 2022 Yet?

It’s not too soon to be thinking about your One Word for 2022.

Are you getting ideas of what your word will be? Or if you want to choose a word at all?

Use this month to see if your 2021 word is leading you into a new word for 2022. Or if you’ll go an entirely different direction with your word.

The linkup will remain open from October 21-31.

The next One Word linkup will open on November 21.

If you’d like to receive a monthly email for suggestions about your word, sign up here.

You can also join our One Word 2021 Facebook group here for more interaction.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Link Up About Your One Word!

White Supremacy at Church?

By LisaNotes October 19, 2021 Book reviews, Church, Discrimination 8 Comments

“When this country gonna love us?” he asked. “I don’t know, bro,” I said.
– Danté Stewart

We don’t like talking about this subject: white supremacy at church.

As a white person, we don’t usually see white supremacy.

Because we’re white.

If we really want to know if it’s there, we need to ask a Black person instead.

If you don’t know a Black person to ask (or you’re not comfortable doing so), read Danté Stewart’s new book, Shoutin’ in the Fire: An American Epistle.

Stewart was a rising Black preacher in a predominantly white space. Until he no longer wanted to be there.

“As I looked around the church, it wasn’t just that I didn’t see people who looked like me. It was that I didn’t see the sadness, the anger, the rage that was crying out in my body. I didn’t see us, I didn’t feel us, I didn’t hear us. We were invisible.”

How can we do better than this? What can we do differently? How can we bring the invisible people out of the shadows?

The first step is to come clean. Get out of denial.

Stewart writes,

“The message became clearer: White supremacy was still our greatest sin and our deepest delusion.”

Another author, Robert P. Jones, shares 7 things white Christians can do to recognize white supremacy at church.

If you want somewhere to start, choose one of these 7 things. (Read Jones’ whole article here. He’s also written a book, White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity; I have not read it yet.)

1. Examine your church building and grounds for ways it communicates whiteness (white Jesus? white Advent characters? only white groups meeting there during the week?)

2. Look at your church website and social media. Does it convey solidarity with Black and Brown people in your community, or just whites?

3. Look at the children’s curriculum. Are the pictures of only white people who lived in Bible times even though they were from the Middle East and Africa?

4. Read your church’s history. Ask questions about why and how it formed.

5. Examine the words of the songs sung during worship. Do they associate white with good and black with bad?

6. Listen to the sermons. Are they silent about issues of racial justice?

7. Look at the church budget. The money follows the heart.

Jones concludes his article with this:

“One sure sign of the continued presence of white supremacy is the outright resistance you will inevitably encounter from some and the protests of discomfort from others. But this is also evidence of the importance of the work.”

I don’t have the answers to solve this problem. But I recognize the importance of the work.

Let’s keep learning. Let’s keep changing.

* * *

Share your thoughts in the comments.

My thanks to NetGalley + Convergent Books
for the review copy of Shoutin’ in the Fire