Lisa notes

Follow the Arrows—Grace & Truth Link-Up

By LisaNotes May 29, 2020 Encouragement, Grace & Truth Link-Up 12 Comments

Attention, Customers

I had heard about the arrows.

Walmart was adding “one-way aisles” in its stores to direct traffic flow. It was one of its safety measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

But I forgot about it. I was shopping for groceries as normal, going in and out of the aisles at my choosing.

Until…I looked down. I was going the wrong way.

How had I missed these these huge green arrows on the floor that said “Shop this way” and the big red ones, “Do not shop this way”?

We don’t always like being told what to do. We like forging our own path. We might not even notice the signs anyway. Or if we do, we might not understand why they’re there.

This applies spiritually as much as physically.

Even though as believers we’re told to keep our eyes on things above, we’re told, too, to follow Christ’s footsteps, which means also looking down.

And actually following the arrows we see.

If we believe God to be good, we can also believe that his guidance to us is good. He is worth following. He won’t lead us wrong.

Compassion > Convenience

Now I’m keenly aware of the arrows on Walmart’s floor. They’re not always convenient; I’m having to take extra steps to enter an aisle from the proper direction instead of weaving in and out like I was used to.

But that’s okay. I’m getting more exercise this way. I still have access to every aisle. And it’s keeping us all a little safer.

The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 14 to willingly trade in a little personal freedom for the greater good. Following Christ means watching out for each other. It’s for our good, too.

God cares more about our compassion than our convenience.

I want to follow his arrows.

Our Featured Post

Our featured post this week is also about following Christ’s footsteps. Sharon Hazel writes in “Following the Footsteps” about the painted footprints on her town’s sidewalks, leading children to their new school. And how Jesus leaves footprints for us to follow as well.

Read all of Sharon’s post here at her blog, limitless-horizons.

Thanks for sharing, Sharon! 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

HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

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

Now Let’s Link Up!

How do you feel about following directions? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Will You Return to Hurrying?
+ Quotes from The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

By LisaNotes May 27, 2020 Book reviews, Linger 15 Comments

Symptoms of Disease

Do you have any of these symptoms?

Irritability
Hypersensitivity
Restlessness
Workaholism
Lack of Self-Care
Slippage of Spiritual Disciplines

No, they’re not new symptoms of COVID-19 (not yet anyway).

These symptoms instead point toward hurry sickness, per Pastor John Mark Comer.

Prior to March 2020, most of us thought we couldn’t slow down. We were in a hurry because we had stuff to do. Even when hurry robbed us of contentment. Even when we hurt others with our hurrying.

Back in February, I read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World. I jotted down a few good points that John Mark Comer made.

But honestly—and ironically? I rushed through it.

Slow It Down

And then the world shook. We were forced to slow down. (Most of us anyway; essential workers had to speed up even more.)

It had to become mandatory for most of us to lay down our hurry. Businesses had to shut. Work had to cease. Churches had to close their doors to make us take a breath.

Our idol of productivity had to crash.

We were forced to confront our hurry sickness by sitting with ourselves.

And the book on hurry? I’ve gone back through it—and I’ve experienced a slower life now—and I see far more wisdom in it.

Love Has a Speed

What have we learned from living more simple lives?

Hopefully we’ve learned more about love as we’ve eliminated hurry. Comer says love has a speed. And it’s not hurry.

Comer writes,

“Hurry and love are incompatible. All my worst moments as a father, a husband, and a pastor, even as a human being, are when I’m in a hurry—late for an appointment, behind on my unrealistic to-do list, trying to cram too much into my day.”

If we want to walk with God, we best stop running.

“There’s a reason people talk about ‘walking’ with God, not ‘running’ with God. It’s because God is love.”

The question now going forward is: Will we add hurry back into our lives again? Or will we maintain a slower pace of life?

I’m aiming for slower. This is my year to linger.

“Very little can be done with hurry that can’t be done better without it. Especially our lives with God. And even our work for God.”

I know the pace will pick up some. It already has. But I don’t want to slide back into hurry. Because I believe this to be true:

“Hurry kills relationships. Love takes time; hurry doesn’t have it. It kills joy, gratitude, appreciation; people in a rush don’t have time to enter the goodness of the moment.”

My time with Jesus can’t be rushed. My time with others shouldn’t be rushed either. If Jesus didn’t frantically rush around when he was here, neither should we.

Let’s not return to hurrying. Stay slow to gain more. Eliminate hurry for your spiritual health.

Our lives are too valuable to be rushed.

Have you enjoyed a less hurried pace? Is your life already picking up speed again? Share in the comments.

My thanks to Net Galley, WaterBrook & Multnomah
for the review copy of this book

What Your Reading List Says About You + 4 Books I Recommend

By LisaNotes May 25, 2020 Books I Recommend, Reading 32 Comments

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.
– Mortimer J. Adler

The Stories We Make Up

It was someone else’s receipt. His name was Mr. Brewer.

He left his library receipt in the library book, Because Internet, that I had just checked out. I eagerly looked at his list.

When you catch someone reading a book in public, do you strain to see what it is?
Do you glance at the titles on your friend’s bookshelves?
When fellow bloggers share their favorite books of the year, do you eagerly click the links?

I like seeing what books other people choose. I can make up personal stories when I see their reading choices. Do you do this, too?

Books on Mr. Brewer’s receipt included:

Because Internet—Mr. Brewer is curious about life. He’s an internet user and finds it interesting to learn why people communicate the way they do online. (Maybe he’s also an Enneagram 5 like me?)
German for Travelers—He likes to be prepared. He’s planning a trip to Germany (at least pre-coronavirus; his books were due 2/5/20). He doesn’t want to be caught by surprise in Germany, so he’s reading up on it here.
German at a Glance—He also wants to speak the language some. Say a few words. Maybe he already speaks it a little German but needs to brush up on it.
Easy Spanish-Step-by-Step—Mr. Brewer is certainly industrious. Maybe he’ll also journey over to Spain while he’s in Europe. Might as well learn a little Spanish, too.

There are alternate stories, of course. But this one satisfies me. I tore the receipt up.

And wondered what stories people make up about my reading choices. . . .

Here are books I recommend from May. See all my recommended books here. Draw your own conclusions about my personality by the books I favor.

Nonfiction

1. Upstream
The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen
by Dan Heath

I would rather prevent a mess before it happens than have to clean it up afterward. This book explains SO many implications this simple concept has in our daily lives.

I’ll always read Dan Heath’s books. He’s an excellent nonfiction writer who includes lots of stories and facts with such clarity like none other. This book will make my top 10 list for 2020.

Read coronavirus implications from upstream and downstream thinking here.

2. Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman

Kahneman explains about the two ways we think: the intuitive level (he calls it System 1) and the more logical level (System 2). Understanding this about ourselves has long-lasting implications. Another top 10 book for the year.

I see this book referenced in many other books I read. Now I understand why. Even though it took me months to finish it (I read it slowly), it was worth it.

3. The Truth about Us
The Very Good News about How Very Bad We Are
by Brant Hansen

We all like to think we’re a good person, right? In a fun but serious way, this book steps on our prideful toes. It helps us understand that none of us are as good as we unrealistically think we are. But God has us covered anyway. It’s liberating. And inspiring.

I’ll be chewing on this book for a long time. And re-reading it, like I did Hansen’s Unoffendable. (Could I have finished three top 10 books for 2020 in this one month???) Full book review coming soon.

4. Braving the Wilderness
The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
by Brené Brown

I first read this book three years ago. But I finished it again this month with my book club group. It’s worth mentioning again.

It’s as relevant as ever.

As we saw the country strongly divide over politics the past few years, we’re now seeing it divide again through differing reactions to the coronavirus fallout. Brené helps us understand how to stay connected to each other in the wilderness, even when we disagree.

Reading Now

Beartown
by Fredrik Backman
Because Internet
Understanding the New Rules of Language
by Gretchen McCulloch
Write Better
A Lifelong Editor on Craft, Art, and Spirituality
by Andrew T. Le Peau
I’ve Seen the End of You
A Neurosurgeon’s Look at Faith, Doubt, and the Things We Think We Know
by W. Lee Warren
You’re a Miracle (and a Pain in the A**)
Understanding the Hidden Forces That Make You You
by Mike McHargue (Science Mike)
Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire
The Guide to Being Glorious You
by Jen Hatmaker

* * *

What good book are YOU reading this month? What does it say about you? Do you like looking at other people’s bookshelves? Please share in the comments.

More books I recommend

When Prayers Outlive You—Grace & Truth Link-Up

By LisaNotes May 22, 2020 Grace & Truth Link-Up, Prayer 15 Comments

On Your List a Long Time

Do you have something you’ve been asking from God for a very long time?

It’s likely we all do.

Sometimes we quit asking when we don’t see answers. But God’s patience outlasts ours.

The prayers we once asked are never forgotten by God.

Our prayers don’t have expiration dates.

I’ve seen prayers answered this week that had been prayed for years. I can’t explain the timing now. But I recognize God’s fingerprints on the gift.

And I’m so grateful.

Even though there are some prayers we may never see answered in our lifetime, God still has them on file, in the forefront of his mind, waiting for his perfect timing.

I don’t understand how it works. I don’t understand how he works. Or when or where or why.

But I know that God does move. Sometimes at our invitation in the moment. We see the answer and cross the request off our list.

And other times God answers at our invitation from years ago. The request can remain even long after we’re gone.

Moral of the story: Keep making requests.

Your prayers can outlive you.

Our Featured Post

Our featured post this week is one you might relate to. Bev Rihtarchik wrote “Deathless Prayers” about praying for a stray child.

“His amazing strength is able to pursue my children long after my own is gone. Because of His faithfulness, the prayers I’ve placed before my Father’s throne will still be there, waiting to be answered in His perfect will and His perfect way.”

She quotes E.M. Bounds, “Prayers are deathless….Prayers outlive the lives of those that uttered them.”

I’m glad prayers are deathless.

Read all of Bev’s post here at her blog, Walking Well With God.

Thanks for sharing, Bev! 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

HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

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

Now Let’s Link Up!

Do you have ongoing prayers, too? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Who Is With You?—Grace & Truth Link-Up

By LisaNotes May 15, 2020 Grace & Truth Link-Up, Jesus 2 Comments

Who Are You With?

Sometimes it’s who we’re with that matters more than where we are or what we’re doing.

If you’ve had to shelter at home the past two months, hopefully you’ve enjoyed the company of those around you (most of the time anyway!).

But there is one whose company we’re always in. And it’s always good. Even when we’re unaware of his presence.

Our Featured Post

Paris Renae wrote a beautiful post last week entitled, “I’m With Him.”

She reminds us that even when we yell, think bad thoughts, are jealous, etc., God has us covered. No condemnation. Just forgiveness.

Why? Because we’re with him, with Jesus.

Read it all here.

Thanks for sharing, Paris Renae! 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

HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

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