Lisa notes

Six Books I Recommend – September 2016

By LisaNotes September 27, 2016 Books I Recommend 28 Comments

Below are three non-fiction and three fiction books I read this month that I can recommend to you.

Nonfiction

1. Essential Enneagram
The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide
by David N. Daniels

Do you know about the Enneagram? It’s a personality typing system and then some. This book isn’t my favorite (The Wisdom of the Enneagram is, so far), but it’s shorter and it’s still helpful. It offers specific practices for spiritual growth for each of the nine types.

2. Without You, There Is No Us
My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite
by Suki Kim

Excellent book by a journalist who went undercover to teach English at a boys’ college in North Korea. Kim’s stories are haunting and sad, but also endearing. I count this an important read to understand more about North Koreans.

3. The Jesus Creed
Loving God, Loving Others
by Scot McKnight

I recommend this re-read because it gets back to the basics: love God, love others. It’s what our Christianity is all about. We too often forget and get distracted.

Fiction

4. The Age of Miracles
by Karen Thompson Walker

A little disturbing, this novel is a coming of age story when the earth’s rotation suddenly begins slowing down, more each day. I have mixed feelings about it, but it’s definitely a book that will get you thinking about how you would react if catastrophe struck, albeit in a gradual way like this.

5. The War that Saved My Life
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

In another coming of age story (this won the WSJ’s Best Children’s Book of 2015), nine-year-old Ada and her brother get moved out of London during World War II to escape the bombings. But the move is interesting when you compare what they leave behind to what they move to.

6. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
by Karen Joy Fowler

Rosemary Cooke tells the story of her life, alluding to some mysterious event that occurred early on. It takes awhile for her to reveal it, and I never would have figured it out on my own. A very unusual but interesting plot.

Reading Now

The One-in-a-Million Boy
by Monica Wood
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
The Road Back to You
An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

* * *

What are you reading this month? Please share here.

My books on Goodreads
Previous reading lists

26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God, A-Z

By LisaNotes September 26, 2016 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God 44 Comments

Index

Day 1: Alone with God (October 1, 2016)
Day 2: Review (October 2)
Day 3: Blood Is Life (October 3)
Day 4: Collections and God (October 4)
Day 5: God in the Doubts (October 5)
Day 6: Empty Spaces (October 6)
Day 7: Food as God’s Love (October 7)
Day 8: Grandparents (October 8)
Day 9: Review 1 and What’s Next (October 9)
Day 10: Hearts Are Reminders (October 10)
Day 11: Intuitively Hearing from God (October 11)
Day 12: Jobs with God (October 12)
Day 13: Kisses from God (October 13)
Day 14: When Lonely (October 14)
Day 15: Mirrors (October 15)
Day 16: Review 2 and What’s Next (October 16)
Day 17: Now Is Where God Is (October 17)
Day 18: God in Odd Spaces (October 18)
Day 19: Portals for God (October 19)
Day 20: Questions to God (October 20)
Day 21: When You Feel Raw (October 21)
Day 22: Sickness and God (October 22)
Day 23: Review 3 and What’s Next (October 23)
Day 24: Tangles and God (October 24)
Day 25: Underground with God (October 25)
Day 26: Valuables and God (October 26)
Day 27: Welcome It All? (October 27)
Day 28: Spiritual X-Rays (October 28)
Day 29: Seeing God in You (October 29)
Day 30: Review 4 and What’s Next (October 30)
Day 31: Zephrys, Breezes from God (October 31)

About This Series

Do you feel you aren’t as connected with God as you once were or as you long to be?

Maybe the traditional trio of practices (while wonderful and powerful!) isn’t working like it once did:

You’re bored with Bible reading.
Prayer isn’t keeping you engaged.
Church leaves you dry.

But you don’t have time or resources for a week-long retreat in the woods or two hours daily on your knees for private conversations with God.

Here are 26 short suggestions for encounters with God in a fresh way.

Mondays through Saturdays are short A-Z exercises. Sundays are for reflection and review.

It doesn’t require a huge investment of time. Just an intentional welcoming into the spaces where you already are, a proactive awareness of God’s presence already with you.

I pray these few moments each day will lead us into . . .

a stronger faith in the realness of God,
a more confident peace regardless of circumstances,
and a greater ability to express our love not only to God, but also to those we share life with already.

Join me for surprising ways to encounter God.

God is already here. We don’t have to go find him. We just have to see him.

* * *

What’s one of your favorite ways to spend time with God? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

When Desire Is Greater Than Fear

By LisaNotes September 21, 2016 Book quotes, Trust 42 Comments

Steep mountain roads scare me. High bridges. The St. Louis Arch.

But not airplanes. Nor snakes (not too much anyway). Nor dentists.

Our rankings of fears are as individual as we are.

Maybe that’s because our ranking of desires are as individual as we are, too.

In Edward T. Welch’s excellent book on fear, Running Scared, he says,

“Listen to your fears and you hear them speak about things that have personal meaning to you. They appear to be attached to things we value.”

Maybe that’s why we fear for the safety of family members. For our own health. Of being hurt.

“There is a close connection between what we fear and what we think we need. If we need comfort, we will fear physical pain. If we need approval from others, we will fear being criticized. If we need love, we will fear rejection. If we need admiration for our attractiveness, we will fear getting fat. Whatever you need is a mere stone’s throw from what you fear.”

But instead of running from our fears, Welch says to step closer.

“Rather than minimize your fears, find more of them. Expose them to the light of day because the more you find, the more blessed you will be when you hear words of peace and comfort.”

Behind many of our fears is the lack of control. We don’t like being dependent on others, on circumstances, even God. Humility doesn’t come naturally to us.

But the way to overcome fear isn’t to have more control; it’s to replace it with something stronger. What’s the strongest thing possible? Love from God.

God’s love manifests itself in many ways, from directly feeling it, to seeing the gifts he gives us daily, to how we’re able to love others.

With God’s love, we do braver things.

Welch points out, “A woman with a fear of water will lose that fear if her child is in danger of drowning.” When what we love is greater than our fear of not having it, we shift.

That love is grace.

“Grace to believe that God is good. Grace to have joy even while the body is wasting away. Grace to cry out and be certain that God hears. Grace to know that you are not alone. Grace to trust rather than fear. Grace to know that death is not the end.”

And grace to ride the steep mountain roads to reach the top. When your desire for the view is greater than your fear of the road, know God is present.

His views are always worth it.

Mount Rainier, Aug 2016

More Quotes from Running Scared

“The God who calls you to trust in him when you are afraid will spend a great deal of time showing you that you can trust him. He doesn’t ask you to live with your eyes shut. Faith is not blind.”

~ * ~ * ~

“Most human beings respond to cries for help. When they do, it is because they are in some small way chips off the old block. They are looking like their Father.”

~ * ~ * ~

“Whenever Scripture says anything about God hearing, watch out, because you know something is about to happen. When God hears, he acts.”

~ * ~ * ~

“He doesn’t hear because of us and the quality of our prayers. He hears because he is the God Who Hears.”

~ * ~ * ~

“One of the strategies for dealing with worry is to be overtaken by something more important than the object of your worries.”

~ * ~ * ~

“If I can trust the word of a friend, why do I question the word of the God of the universe? Go figure. Sin is truly bizarre.”

~ * ~ * ~

“If the difficulty you anticipate comes upon you, you will receive grace to know God’s love and grace to love someone else.”

* * *

When has your love been greater than your fear? If fears bother you too, I highly recommend Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest.

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Changed, Yet Changing

By LisaNotes September 19, 2016 Encouragement, Music 40 Comments

“A Christian is a radically changed person the moment he or she trusts Christ.

This doesn’t mean we become ‘saints’ in practice overnight. It does mean a new creation — a new principle of life — has been planted within us by the Holy Spirit, and we can never be the same again.
– Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace

Yesterday morning we sang the song once. Twice. Three times.

Each time, I was moved.

“I’m no longer a slave to fear/
I am a child of God”

That usually means something. The song was meant for me.

No Longer Slaves \\ Jonathan and Melissa Helser \\ Bethel Music

But it’s one thing to sing the words. And another thing to mean them.

I do know I’m a child of God. I totally believe that.

But no longer a slave to fear?

Um, I’m not there yet.

It can make me question whether I’ve been truly transformed into Christlikeness. I know I’ve been fully justified, but what happened to being sanctified?

It’s a process. A long one.

But a real process, nonetheless. I mustn’t forget. Because the truth is, I have been delivered from bondage to fear. And as I grow in understanding and practice of that, I continue to see more of the transformation.

“In justification we rely on what Christ did for us on the cross. In sanctification we rely on Christ to work in us by His Holy Spirit. In justification, as well as regeneration, God acts alone. In sanctification He works in us but elicits our response to cooperate with Him.”
– Jerry Bridges

I want to fully depend on what Christ did then.

And I want to fully cooperate with what he’s wanting to do now.

So I continue singing:

to declare it as truth,
to preach it deeper into me,
and to claim it as a promise that will be fulfilled.

“You split the sea so I could walk right through it /
My fears were drowned in perfect love /
You rescued me so I could stand and sing /
I am a child of God”

Even though I’ve been changed, I still continue to change—sometimes in ways I can see, and sometimes in invisible ways that lie beneath the surface.

Either way, I’ll never be the same again, praise God.

* * *

In what ways have you seen change? In what ways do you still long to see change? Please share in the comments.

Listen, believe, and worship with No Longer Slaves here.

Why You Should Keep Your Hopes Up

By LisaNotes September 15, 2016 Grace, Guest posts 14 Comments

How good are you at preparing for the future?

We are usually lousy predicators of what’s next.

We can plan and prepare, but life is often more unexpected than expected. The unknown is out of our control. We don’t have the foresight or ability to stockpile enough resources in advance to prepare for every possible scenario.

We’re sometimes afraid to get our hopes up.

So how do we deal with this?

Read it here . . . Get Your Hopes Up – Gifts in Your Future

* * *

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart about our hope in future grace. Will you join me there?

And while you’re there, get your free download of scriptures on “Hope in Future Grace.”

5 Steps to Write a 31 Days Series

By LisaNotes September 12, 2016 Book quotes, Grace 47 Comments

Whether you’re a blog writer or a blog reader, a month-long writing challenge might be one of your favorite (and most challenging!) times of the year.

In previous years, Crystal Stine invited us to post something on our blogs every day in October around a theme of our choosing for #Write31Days.

Once she stopped, Anita Ojeda began hosting a similar challenge every February, #Write28Days.

If you’ve never participated, consider it this year. It’s a great way to learn more, visit more, and engage with others on topics that you enjoy. I always find new blogs to read and friends to keep.

Here are 5 steps to get started with your own 31 day series.

1. Choose your overall topic

This week think about a subject you already know a lot about. Or a subject you want to know more about. Or a subject that you can’t quit talking about. All would be good topics to share with others in February.

Then narrow the topic down to something specific, if it’s too large. Or broaden it a bit, if it’s too small.

Get inspired by looking at the categories for the link-ups:

Family Life
Fashion & Beauty
Food, Health & Wellness
House & Home
Inspiration & Faith
Personal Endeavors
Simplicity & Organizing
Too Awesome to Categorize
Writing, Blogging & Internet Stuff

2. Decide how many posts

While you’re encouraged to write all 28 days (or post a picture, song, something), you don’t have to. If writing on the weekdays and taking the weekends off is what works for you, choose that. Or do a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.

3. Make an outline

Keep this simple. Print an empty February calendar or make a list numbered 1-28 (or however many days you’re going to be writing). Then jot down a word or two that you could write about on that day. It doesn’t have to be a full description; just something to give you a jumping-off point for later.

4. Create a button

You don’t have to create a button, but it’s fun. And you’ll need a button to add your link on February 1. Go to Canva.com to create an easy graphic to use for the link-up and also for your blog or social media.

5. Write your first post

The first post is often the hardest. Go ahead and write that one now. Schedule it to post on February 1. Then see where the month takes you!

Previous Series

Below are examples of my previous series.

2020

20 Ways to Practice the Enneagram for Spiritual Growth

2019

28 Days of Practicing Hope

2018

Handmade—Finding God in Your Story

2016

26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God

2015

Tools to Memorize a Bible Chapter

Want the right words to tell yourself right when you need them?

Scripture memory isn’t a spiritual discipline just for kids. We adults need the Word, too.

It’s easier than you think. You’ll benefit more than you imagine.

If you’ve always wanted to put scripture into your head for instant access, this series will gives you tools to walk through it, one small step at a time.

At the end of 31 days, you’ll not only have memorized a chapter of the Bible, but you’ll have a working pattern to memorize any chapter or portion of scripture that you choose.

2014

31 Quotes of Grace

Want more grace? How much time do you have?

Lots of time?
Read one of the 26 books recommended in this series.
Not much time?
Read a few paragraphs from each book. Click on the post titles to get there.
Only a little time?
Read one sentence shared from each book.
No time?
Download all the articles as a pdf now to read later.

2013

31 Days of Book Quotes

I share a few paragraphs from a favorite book of faith for 31 days. See the series index to get an excerpt of the excerpts. Click on the links to get the full quotes.

2012

31 Days of Grace

The more grace we see, the more grace we’ll give. More quotes and articles on grace.

* * *

What are you going to write about this October? Is there a topic you’re likely to follow? The series I love to read each year are on Inspiration & Faith, Simplicity & Organizing, and Writing, Blogging & Internet Stuff.

Please share in the comments