- Get Organized by Joy – Book Review of spark joy (3/31) – Review of Marie Kondo’s follow-up to the life-changing magic of tidying up on organization
- Books I Recommend – March 2016 (3/29) – Reviews of books I read in March
- “For the Cross” – Music and Lyrics (3/25) – Video of Bethel’s song, “For the Cross”
- Habits of Grace = Spiritual Disciplines (3/24) – Book review of David Mathis’s, Habits of Grace
- Here to Heal – And La’Porsha’s Story from American Idol (3/22) – Escaping physical abuse takes courage and hope
- Welcome, Hope – 3 Ways to Have More Hope (3/21) – Lessons on resiliency from Brené Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection
- Breaking Busy by Alli Worthington – Book Review (3/17) – Review of Worthington’s book on taming a crazy world
- 5 Tips for Better Journaling (3/16) – 5 ways to journal better from David Mathis’s book, Habits of Grace
- How Do You Prepare for Easter (3/13) – Guest post at Do Not Depart on letting go of the busyness surrounding Easter
- Links, Books, and Other Things I Love – March 2016 (3/2) – Links, happenings, and pictures from the month
Get Organized by Joy – Book Review of “Spark Joy”
I like order. My mind is more peaceful when my surroundings are. I see God easier when things are in harmony rather than chaos.
So I like books on organization.
And I particularly like this one, spark joy, by Marie Kondo.
Whether or not you’ve read Marie Kondo’s first best-seller, the life-changing magic of tidying up, you can pick up this second book spark joy and get to work immediately with a plan and do so with delight.
Consider Her Subtitle
“an illustrated master class on the art of organizing and tidying up”
Two words you need to notice:
- illustrated
- art
Because this book contains many illustrations, you can see exactly what Kondo means when she tells you to store your thick winter clothes for the off-season or how to fold odd-shaped tops or how to fold cloth and plastic bags.
And because Kondo considers organizing “an art,” you hear words like these sprinkled throughout the book:
“Pause to say “thank you” to the clothes you are wearing, to your pen or computer, your dishes and quilts, the bath and the kitchen. Without exception, the things in your home long to make you happy. Once you see that they are there to protect and support you, once you realize that you have enough even now, then you can resume tidying.”
(Well, as in the first book, some of it seems over-the-top for our western minds, but her premise is that we are more content when our homes are straightened up. I agree with that.)
As in her first book, Kondo reminds us that we likely need much less than we have. So first we discard the extra. Only then do we organize.
“Only two skills are necessary to successfully put your house in order: the ability to keep what sparks joy and chuck the rest, and the ability to decide where to keep each thing you choose and always put it back in its place.
The important thing in tidying is not deciding what to discard but rather what you want to keep in your life.”
I wasn’t sure if I would benefit from this book since I did read the first book and had already implemented several changes (my sweatpants are now stored vertically; I cleaned out and tidied several drawers; my photo project is well underway).
But I did need this book to keep me going and fill in some gaps. I like the drawings to show me how to take her suggestions, and I appreciate her encouragement to continue discarding things that don’t bring joy.
Three Parts of Spark Joy
- Part I: KonMari master tips
Honing your sensitivity to joy
How to fill your home with joy
Everything you need to know about storing joyfully - Part II: The tidying encyclopedia
Tidying clothes
Tidying books
Tidying papers
Tidying sentimental items - Part III: Life-changing magic
A home that sparks joy
The things that come when you’re done
You may not need or use everything in this book (sometimes suggestions were too harsh for me), but likely there are several areas you could benefit from.
More tips from Spark Joy
“The best way to identify what does or doesn’t bring you joy is to compare. In the beginning, unless your feelings are very black-and-white, it’s hard to decide if something brings joy when you look at it by itself. When you compare it with a bunch of other things, however, your feelings become clear.”
~ * ~ * ~
“‘It might come in handy.’ Believe me, it never will. You can always manage without it. For those embarked upon a tidying marathon, this phrase is taboo.”
~ * ~ * ~
“The rule of thumb for storage is 90 percent. Full but not stuffed.”
~ * ~ * ~
“The four principles: fold it, stand it upright, store in one spot, and divide your storage space into square compartments.”
~ * ~ * ~
“The basic rule for papers: Discard everything.” [This one I cannot do!]
~ * ~ * ~
“If you want a kitchen that you can enjoy cooking in, aim for one that’s easy to clean. The best way to do that is to make sure you put nothing on the counters or around the sink and stove top.”
* * *
Have you read any of Marie Kondo’s books? Is spring cleaning in your near future? Please share your tips in the comments.
My thanks to Blogging for Books
for the review copy of this book
Books I Recommend – March 2016
Books I Recommend
Non-fiction
1. Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“I left The Mecca knowing that this was all too pat, knowing that should the Dreamers reap what they had sown, we would reap it right with them.”
Until we can move past our white privilege, we will all suffer. This is a profound book that the African-American author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote to his teenage son about systemic racism in America. Blogger Deidra Riggs hosted a 4-week book discussion on it here. This book was the Red Couch selection for March 2016. (I’ll post a review soon with more quotes.)
2. Habits of Grace
Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines
by David Mathis
“We cast the disciplines not as ten or twelve (or more) distinct practices to work into your life, but as three key principles (God’s voice, God’s ear, and God’s people), which then are fleshed out in countless creative and helpful habits in the varying lives of believers in their differing contexts.”
This book is about the spiritual disciplines, but framed a little differently. Practical and full of grace, two of my favorite things. [My review of Habits of Grace here]
3. Spark Joy
An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
by Marie Kondo
“The important thing in tidying is not deciding what to discard but rather what you want to keep in your life.”
This is a stand-alone book, but also a continuation of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (my review here). You should see my sock drawer before and after. {smile} If you’re serious about decluttering your home and organizing it in a way that “sparks joy,” this second book is the nitty-gritty on what it can look like. Lots of illustrations. (Review coming here this Thursday.)
4. The Path of Centering Prayer
Deepening Your Experience of God
by David Frenette
“If you asked me how you could meditate, how you should relate to God, how you might pray, I would whisper, ‘Amen.’ If I remember only one simple thing at the end of my own life, I hope it will be amen. Amen means, literally, ‘so be it’ or ‘let it be.’
After any petition or prayer, ‘amen’ is the so be it, the let it be that releases that prayer or petition into God, with a radical trust that nothing more needs to be said, nothing else needs to be done.”
This book gives a very accessible approach to Christian meditation through the practice of centering prayer. Excellent material.
5. A Return to Love
by Marianne Williamson
“We either have faith in fear or we have faith in love, faith in the power of the world or faith in the power of God.”
A re-read for the Hard Core Re-Reading Challenge. And so worth it. This book reminds us to love. To forgive. To make peace. To accept each other. To trust God. I didn’t agree with everything said about A Course in Miracles, but the insights on expressing love are true for all times.
Fiction
6. The Marriage of Opposites
by Alice Hoffman
“She reminded me of her best piece of advice and suggested I would do well to listen to her. Love more, not less.”
This historical novel is based on the life story of painter Camille Pissarro, the father of Impressionism. The setting is St. Thomas in the early 1800s. Excellent story-telling. This was my pick for the Read Harder challenge in the “Historical fiction set before 1900” category.
7. The Two Towers
(The Lord of the Rings, #2)
by J.R.R. Tolkien
“What a pity Bilbo did not stab the vile creature, when he had a chance! Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need.”
I never thought I would read this book, but after reading the first book in The Lord of the Rings series this year, I got hooked. And now I’m currently reading the third and final book. Who knew?
8. One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
“So I sang the la-la-la part with Fern, making a nice wall around us, to keep that laughing Ankton girl on the outside. We all have our la-la-la song. The thing we do when the world isn’t singing a nice tune to us. We sing our own nice tune to drown out ugly.”
This children’s novel set in California during 1968 is about 11-yr-old Delphine and her two younger sisters reuniting with their mother for the summer and ending up attending a Black Panther summer camp. A poignant novel and a 2011 Newbery Honor book.
9. Breaking Stalin’s Nose
by Eugene Yelchin
This short children’s novel is a 2012 Newbery Honor book about the Soviet Young Pioneers and one family’s encounters with Stalin’s men. Another heartrending story based on reality.
I also finished:
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau
It was tough reading. There were gold nuggets in it, but I had to dig too long for each one.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” - Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace and Purpose in a World of Crazy by Alli Worthington
My review here. Nothing particularly new about how to be less busy: choose activities wiser and say no more often. - The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
I read this one too quickly to give it a fair review. Contained many concepts that I need to slow down and consider. - Reliving the Passion: Meditations on the Suffering, Death, and the Resurrection of Jesus as Recorded in Mark by Walter Wangerin Jr.
A beautiful devotional that I read during Lent. - Yes Please by Amy Poehler
I listened to this audio book but can’t really recommend it because of the stories and language. It met this requirement for the Read Harder challenge: “Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award.”
Currently Reading
- Beloved
by Toni Morrison - The Return of the King
(The Lord of the Rings, #3)
by J.R.R. Tolkien - The Wisdom of the Enneagram
by Don Richard Riso, Russ Hudson - The Confessions of St. Augustine
by Augustine of Hippo
* * *
What are you reading this month? Please share here.
My books on Goodreads
Previous reading lists
“For the Cross” – Music and Lyrics
If you want to hear a beautiful song for Easter, listen to this one from Bethel Music. We sang it with our church last Sunday and it was very moving to hear and to see the response as everyone worshiped.
[click here if you can’t see the video]
Lyrics
“For The Cross”
by Jenn Johnson, Ian McIntosh, and Gabriel Wilson
Verse 1
The life You gave
Your body was broken
Your love poured out
You bled and You died for me
There on the cross You breathed Your last as You were crucified
You gave it all for me
Chorus 1
Hallelujah what a Savior
Hallelujah what a friend
Hallelujah King forever
We thank You for the cross
Verse 2
There in the ground
Sealed in the darkness
Lifeless laid
The frame of the Father’s Son
In agony He watched His only Son be sacrificed
He gave it all for me
Verse 3
But on that day
What seemed as the darkest hour
A violent hope broke through and shook the ground
And as You rose
And the light of all the world was magnified
As You rose in victory
Chorus 2
Hallelujah it is finished
Hallelujah it is done
Hallelujah King forever
And we thank You for the cross
Oh we thank You for the cross
Bridge
Oh my sins are forgiven
You paid the ransom for me
Though our sins are scarlet
You have made us white as snow
© 2013 Bethel Music
* * *
Do you have a favorite song for Easter? Please share in the comments.
“Habits of Grace” = Spiritual Disciplines
“The means of grace fill our tank for the pursuit of joy, for the good of others, and for the glory of God. . . .
And they are spiritual blessings—not mere disciplines, but channels through which God gives us spiritual food for our survival, growth, and flourishing in the mission.”
– David Mathis
Another book on spiritual disciplines?
I hadn’t planned on picking this one up. I’ve read several books already on the spiritual disciplines (very good ones too), but I know enough that sometimes you need to lay the books aside and just DO the disciplines.
Well, I’m glad I changed my mind.
Habits of Grace deserved to be read precisely so that I will practice the disciplines more.
“Spiritual growth is a marvelous effect of such practices, but in a sense it is only a side effect. The heart is knowing and enjoying Jesus.”
– David Mathis
Simple Structure
Author David Mathis doesn’t claim this is a be-all, end-all book about spiritual disciplines. Instead, he focuses on three main areas:
1. Hearing God’s Voice (Word)
- Reading the Bible
- Preaching the Gospel
- Bible Memory
2. Having God’s Ear (Prayer)
- Private Prayer
- Praying with Company
- Journaling
3. Belonging to God’s Body (Fellowship)
- Lessons in Listening
- Benefits of Corporate Worship
- Grace at the Table
Practical
Mathis is incredibly practical in each area, giving tips on a variety of ways to walk through each discipline. If you like numbered lists (I do), you’ll love his writing style.
Humble
Maybe this isn’t important for everyone, but I really, really loved the humility in Mathis’ writing voice (and his videos I’ve watched–-sign up here for 5 free email videos; they’re good!). He doesn’t claim to be know it all and he doesn’t declare that each discipline must be performed a certain way or even at all. He is gentle in his tone and thus encouraging instead of patronizing or guilt-inducing.
Grace-filled
Grace is what I hear in this book and that’s exactly what I need to live out these different habits, not to earn a relationship with God, but to keep our relationship active and fresh and powerful.
As with any book, I didn’t agree with everything, but I agreed with more than enough to recommend it as a useful guide to anyone wanting to grow in simple, daily habits of blessing in their walk with Jesus and others.
Quotes by David Mathis in Habits of Grace
“The Bible is gloriously for us, but it is not mainly about us. We come most deeply because of whom we will see, not for what we must do.”
~ * ~ * ~
“Scripture memory, at its best, is about feeding your soul today and mapping your life and mind onto the very life and mind of God.”
~ * ~ * ~
“He is even more ready to hear us than we are to pray.”
~ * ~ * ~
“This is the heart of prayer— not getting things from God, but getting God.”
~ * ~ * ~
“Nowhere does Scripture command that we keep a journal. Unlike other spiritual disciplines, Jesus left us no model for journaling; he did not keep one. Journaling is not essential to the Christian life. But it is a powerful opportunity, especially with the technologies we have available today.”
~ * ~ * ~
“Solitude is a kind of companion to fellowship, a fasting from other people, to make our return to them all the better. And silence is a fasting from noise and talk, to improve our listening and speaking.”
~ * ~ * ~
“Worship is an end in itself. We do not eat the feast of worship as a means to anything else. Happiness in God [which is the heart of worship] is the end of all our seeking. Nothing beyond it can be sought as a higher goal.”
~ * ~ * ~
“The secret of joy in corporate worship is not only self-forgetfulness—or to put it positively, preoccupation with Jesus and his glory—but also the happy awareness that we are not alone in having our souls satisfied in him.”
~ * ~ * ~
“It is loving (to others) to regularly commune with God. There are good horizontal effects to having our souls established and flourishing vertically.”
~ * ~ * ~
“You will be a better spouse and parent and friend and cousin and child and neighbor if your soul is being routinely shaped and sustained by a real relationship with God in his word and prayer. Sometimes, the most loving thing we can do is get away from people for a few minutes, feed our souls on God and his goodness, and come back to our families and communities reenergized for anticipating and meeting others’ needs.”
~ * ~ * ~
“Knowing and enjoying Jesus is the final end of hearing his voice, having his ear, and belonging to his body.”
* * *
Which spiritual discipline do you practice the most? Do you have a favorite book on spiritual disciplines? Please share in the comments.
- Read more excerpts and articles from Habits of Grace at Desiring God
- If you’re interested, Crossway is offering this free email course with five short videos from David Mathis on Habits of Grace, which I enjoyed
- My excerpt from Habits of Grace “5 Tips for Better Journaling” is here
Thanks to Crossway
for the review copy of this book
Here to heal – and La’Porsha’s story from American Idol
But in the real world that lies beyond all this, we all have the same job: to minister to human hearts. All of us are here as ministers of God.
– Marianne Williamson
We were lying in bed, catching up on the latest episode of American Idol on the DVR.
La’Porsha Renae, one of the two contestants from Mississippi, was telling her story before she sang her final song for the night.
As we watched, Jeff accidentally bumped the remaining spot on my stomach that’s still sensitive from my gall bladder surgery. I flinched. He immediately pulled his hand away and profusely apologized.
It was no big deal. I know he never wants his hands to be a cause of my pain. And they aren’t.
But that’s not true for everyone.
We continued listening to La’Porsha. When she was 18, she met a charming guy.
But he didn’t stay that way. He became abusive.
For awhile she took it, feeling she was no longer human, no longer a woman anymore. She felt dead.
Until new life birthed through her. Becoming the mother of her baby girl, she found the courage to change her situation. She took her daughter and moved into a shelter.
And she started to remember again who she was.
Now she was saying, “I went to feeling below dirt to feeling like ten feet tall and I don’t want that feeling to ever go away.”
I cried.
Not many weeks ago, a friend wanted to donate her old washing machine to someone in need. We discovered a local shelter for abused women could use it.
As Jeff and I drove up to the shelter, we had to get buzzed in to enter the gate. Once inside, we had to be permitted to enter the locked doors.
Women roamed around inside, watching TV, folding clothes, tending kids.
Safe. At last. For now.
What had to be born in them to give them courage to change their situation and move into the shelter here?
I don’t know.
We didn’t stay long. Jeff hooked up the washer, we told them we were finished, and they opened the gate to let us out.
It was such a small thing for us to drive into and then off the grounds.
But such a gigantic thing for the ladies who were living there.
Walking away from abuse takes a leap of faith, a hope that life can be better.
- May women like La’Porsha who have been there keep reminding us that these stories are real, are ongoing, and are all around us, even if often hidden behind locked doors.
- May those of us who haven’t experienced it be more aware of others’ stories, believe their pain, and open our hands to help it go away as we are able.
- May faith in the power of God’s healing presence be stronger than belief in fear and doubt and sickness.
As we are healed ourselves, may we help heal others.
It’s our mission from God.
The entire world is blessed by the presence of healed people.
– Marianne Williamson
* * *
Watch La’Porsha perform “No More Drama” after her story was told on America Idol last week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l-Lpth8OAU
[click here if you can’t see the video]
Whose story of healing have you heard recently? Who would you love to see healed? Please share in the comments.