Lisa notes

Books I’m reading – February 2015

By LisaNotes February 24, 2015 Books I Recommend 35 Comments

Um, it’s almost March and I’ve finished only 2 books on my 2015 Reading Challenges (and they were just children’s Newbery books). Too many unexpected books popped up. How does that happen?

But the unexpected ones have been outstanding! Once a month we share the books we’ve finished reading and are reading now at 5 Minutes for Books. Here is my list for February.

BOOKS I’M READING NOW

1. Middlemarch
by George Eliot

This novel is a picture of English community in the 1800s. Eliot develops the characters slowly and richly (i.e., it’s long!), but it’s interesting, so in this case, long is good. It’s my pick for the category “A Classic by a Woman Author” for the Back to the Classics Challenge.

2. Pray, Write, Grow
Cultivating Prayer and Writing Together
by Ed Cyzewski

My review here

If you write and if you pray, you’ll appreciate Ed’s newest book on both. It’s short but full, and it’s only $.99 if you pre-order now (I don’t know how much longer). I’m reading a review copy; the real thing comes out March 11. All Ed’s books are well worth reading.

3. A 10-Week Journey to Becoming a Vessel God Can Use
by Donna Partow

A study book for small groups or individuals, this has been on my shelf for years. So I added it on my TBR Pile Challenge this year to either read or get rid of. (But I confess I’m not taking 10 weeks as recommended….)

4. Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson

This award-winning novel is about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. It’s making me anxious—who will die next? Another book from the 12 on my TBR Pile.

5. Abandonment to Divine Providence
by Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Written in the 1700s (published in 1861), this classic is about abandoning ourselves to God in the present moment—a holy moment—with God’s will guiding all things. It’s important reading for my One Word “now” year. It’s also my “Nonfiction Classic” pick for the Back to the Classics Challenge.

BOOKS I FINISHED FROM JANUARY’S LIST

1. Mr. Popper’s Penguins
by Richard Atwater

This novel is a cute, short children’s book (made into a movie) about a family being gifted a penguin and the havoc and joy it brings. It was my 1930s pick for the Newbery through the Decades Challenge.

2. 40 Days with the Holy Spirit
Fresh Air for Every Day
by Jack Levison

My full review here

This is a devotional but with depth. I’m re-reading and praying through it slowly with Holy Spirit for the 40 Days of Lent.

3. Deep Down Dark
The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle that Set Them Free
by Hector Tobar

Read this one! It’s a great story, it’s true, and it’s well-written. You remember the mine collapse in Chile in August 2010, right? This is the official behind-the-scenes look from the perspective of the men trapped as well as their families and rescuers. It’s being made into a movie so read the book first. I doesn’t matter that you already know the ending.

4. The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak

Love, love, love the story-telling by Markus Zusak. He’s an artist. The story is of course marvelous too about a young girl and family in Nazi Germany, but the writing—oh my.

5. Simplicity
The Art of Living
by Richard Rohr

I haven’t read any books by Richard Rohr that I haven’t liked yet. This is one of my favorites so far. It’s about many things spiritual, and he lays it all out plainly.

“I’m convinced that we have transformed the Gospel into self-control. On the other hand I’m convinced that the Gospel itself is about self-surrender. But self-control is a masculine way of thinking. And self-surrender is perhaps rather a feminine form of thinking. We haven’t allowed God to teach us to surrender.” – Richard Rohr

6. Falling Upward
A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
by Richard Rohr

Another excellent Rohr book about participating in the divine life even more, the older we get.

“True religion is always a deep intuition that we are already participating in something very good, in spite of our best efforts to deny it or avoid it. In fact, the best of modern theology is revealing a strong “turn toward participation,” as opposed to religion as mere observation, affirmation, moralism, or group belonging. There is nothing to join, only something to recognize, suffer, and enjoy as a participant. You are already in the eternal flow that Christians would call the divine life of the Trinity.” – Richard Rohr

7. Simply Open
A Guide to Experiencing God in the Everyday
by Greg Paul

My review here

This one is about paying attention in the midst of the busy world to the presence of the Spirit of God, using the avenues he’s given to all of us: our eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, hands, mind, and heart. Within each sense, Greg Paul focuses on these four areas: releasing, receiving, becoming, and doing. It’s good, especially if you want to live more contemplatively.

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What are you reading this month? Please share here.

My books on Goodreads
Previous reading lists

Jesus’ gloves

By LisaNotes February 23, 2015 Homeless, My stories 45 Comments

I love my purple gloves. I picked them out myself as a Christmas gift to me in 2013.

They’re mittens and gloves at the same time, keeping me warm yet freeing my fingers for use.

That’s why what Andrew did Wednesday night made me feel good.

And made me squirm uncomfortably.

One of the men coming through Manna House looking for food and clothes on Wednesday night needed gloves. A lot of people needed gloves. And blankets. And heavy coats. It was going to be an unusually low 8 degrees that night, bitterly cold for Alabama, and especially if your only mode of transportation (and maybe your living quarters, too) was outside.

After telling this man that we had no more gloves to give away, the man joked with Andrew, my fellow volunteer (he and I both gloved; it’s cold even inside Manna House), saying, “Yes, you have gloves. You’re wearing mine right now.”

I looked at Andrew. He was wearing nice black leather gloves. We all laughed about it. “Sure,” Andrew said, “I’m wearing your gloves and I’ll be driving home later in your car.”

We laughed again, although a tad awkwardly now, because the man had already mentioned he walks to work each day and needs gloves to keep his hands warm.

The strangest thing happened next.

I turned my back for a moment on the conversation to attend to something else. When I returned, I saw the man walking away with nice gloves on. Nice black leather gloves.

I looked at Andrew. I saw his hands. His bare white hands.

He had given away his own gloves.

What?

Andrew blew it off as no big deal.

But it was a big deal.

I’d just seen Jesus.

I drove away with purple gloves on my hands and with a question inside my heart.

Thankfully few women asked for gloves that night. . . .

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Why do you blog?

By LisaNotes February 19, 2015 Book reviews 20 Comments

“Remember that people are attracted to people, not to abstract principles, sound bites, or sanitized corporate communications. We all are drawn to stories that underpin our human experience.”
– Born to Blog

If you blog, why do you?

Here are 5 common reasons we blog, according to Mark Schaefer and Stanford Smith in their book, Born to Blog. Which category best fits you?

Storytelling
Dreaming
Persuading
Teaching
Curating

They offer a short quiz to help you find your category if you’re not sure (I wasn’t sure, even after seeing the results; I’m a mix). In the book they go through each category and offer specific tips.

They also give general tips that you may know, but it’s good to be reminded about.

Don’t think every post has to be profound. Short, simple observations and “how-to” posts often work best.
Make it personal. Connect what you’re writing to your unique perspective.
Don’t wait on perfect. Have courage to post at good instead of delaying for perfect. Lacking courage is one of the largest obstacles to blogging.
Wipe out the first third of the story. It’s hard. But sometimes starting in the middle is the most interesting spot.
Be passionate. The authors believe passion is the “secret sauce” for a powerful blog.
Shorten your post. Take out what doesn’t belong. Staying under 1,000 words usually works best.

Overall, remember that your voice is unique. No one has the exact stories or experiences that you do. Write what only you can write.

“Our conversations and research shows that you don’t have to be a ‘great’ storyteller. You don’t have to be an accomplished playwright or understand the nuances of a riveting screenplay.

The only prerequisite for blogging is the willingness to share your thoughts and opinions.

Think about your day. How do you feel? What caught your attention? What surprising tidbit did you learn about a colleague? How could you weave this into a story? If you are stuck, then shift your perspective. How would you describe your day to a significant other or best friend?

Much easier, right?”

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What’s a piece of blogging advice you’ve appreciated along the way? Please share.

Fasting or feasting? An approach to Lent

By LisaNotes February 18, 2015 Now 25 Comments

The going-away party is this weekend. Am I looking forward to it? Or am I dreading it?

I’m not sure.

It’s not for a person. It’s for a house. The family home.

It’s where I grew up with my mom and dad, my brother and two sisters. It’s later where I brought my kids to visit their grandparents. It’s where we often gathered for Sunday lunches and Christmas Eves and watermelon-eating on July afternoons.

And now it’s where we’ll gather as a family one last time to say goodbye before we put it on the market soon for another family to live in.

It’s time to give it up.

But when we give up one thing, we gain another.

Isn’t feasting one of the benefits of fasting?

Whether you’re about to give up chocolate or Facebook or alcohol for Lent, do you know what you’ll be gaining?

What did Jesus gain from the 40 days he spent fasting in the desert after his baptism (Matthew 4:1-11)? We know he was hungry and tempted during that time. But immediately afterwards he began spreading the good news of freedom, that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matthew 4:17).

Did he fast for 40 days from the outside world to strengthen his inside world?

That’s why I fast. This Lenten season, in my year of “Now,” I’m choosing to fast the past and future, so I can feast on God in the present.

That doesn’t mean I’ll give up reflecting on past memories or stop planning for future events, but I want to center on the present. Because the present is where the Spirit is active. In this moment. This place. With these people.

So as I gather this weekend with my siblings and nieces and cousins at the house where we spent so much time together, I will reminisce, take photos, and maybe cry a little.

But I don’t want to be consumed by missing what was, or worrying about what might be.

I want mainly to enjoy what is—and that is the presence of the people I love with Jesus among us.

Fasting from past and future, I can feast on the joy that God is feeding me now.

God’s presence with us now is a scrumptious meal and I want to savor every bite.

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Are you fasting from anything this season? What do you want to be more fully present to? Please share in the comments.

Take it personally

By LisaNotes February 16, 2015 Community, Encouragement 39 Comments

Volunteers loaded the black vans with roses of every color, with tulips close to bloom, with balloons saying “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Jeff and I drove off in one last Friday morning, volunteering to help a local florist (a great friend of Manna House) with her Valentine deliveries.

Everywhere we later walked in—elementary school offices, Lowe’s, business complexes—women lit up when they saw the beautiful flowers coming.

Except one.

It was the last delivery of the morning to a small office building in Research Park. I walked in with a dozen red roses. The woman at the desk looked up. But instead of smiling, she scowled, “I thought I was avoiding all this since Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday.”

I smiled in sympathy (because I do understand the sentiment; I’ve been there myself). Then told her I had a delivery for Kristi.

“What?” she said. I saw the look of shock in her face: “That’s me!”

It changed everything.

Valentine’s Day was suddenly exciting and fun.

It became personal. And when things become personal, it changes everything.

When someone gives you flowers, when it’s your child who is sick, when the promotion goes to you, when it’s your car breaking down, your perspective shifts.

If you don’t want to be in the same place next year that you are this year, if you need a better attitude, if you want to grow in your faith and spiritual maturity, embrace personal encounters.

Get to know somebody unlike you.
Show up somewhere different.
Help someone you’ve been afraid of.

These might be angels unaware, the least of these, the manifestations of Jesus for you to meet, feed, visit.

I’ll never hear the story the receptionist told her friends that night about receiving red roses unexpectedly. But I can guess her view of Valentine’s Day was changed forever.

Be open to fresh encounters. Ask for them. Welcome them.

When you are directly affected, you are decidedly changed.

“What? That’s me!”

Take God personally. You’re the one he’s delivering to. The flowers are for you.

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Have you changed your mind about something because of a personal encounter? We’d love to hear your story in the comments.

40 Days with the Holy Spirit – Book review

By LisaNotes February 13, 2015 Book reviews, Guest posts 8 Comments

If you’re looking for a devotional to learn more about and with the Holy Spirit, here’s a great choice, 40 Days with the Holy Spirit, by Jack Levison.

I’ve read it through once, but now I want to read it slowly, absorbing it, experiencing the Spirit as I go, one step at a time.

You can read each day’s material in about 10 minutes, but plan on an extra 10-15 for journaling and prayer.

Levison gives 5 tips in the book to help you complete it, not just start it.

Make a daily plan to read for 40 days
Find or create a sacred spot to read it
Keep a good pen handy (amen!)
Develop a daily pattern (settled breathing, slow reading, meditating, etc.)
Be patient with yourself if you miss a day

I’m excited to see how the Spirit will reveal himself during Lent this year as I walk through this book with him.

My review is here on Patheos.

Amazon or Paraclete Press will have it available soon.

Read an excerpt here.

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Do you have a favorite book or activity you’re going to use during Lent? Please share in the comments.