Lisa notes

9 Books I Recommend—June 2023
—Grace & Truth Linkup

By LisaNotes June 30, 2023 Books I Recommend, Grace & Truth Link-Up 14 Comments

“Books are the training weights of the mind.”
– Epictetus

Here are 7 nonfiction books + 2 novels I recommend from what I finished reading in June.

I used my free month of Kindle Unlimited in June, so I’ve noted those books below if you’d like to read them for free, too.

[See previously recommended books here]

NONFICTION

1. Imagine Reading This Book
How Mental Pictures Influence Your Decisions
by Nick Kolenda

I adore books like this one. Kolenda pulls back the curtain on why we make unconscious decisions. For instance, if you have an August 1 deadline, you’ll be much slower to make progress than if you have a July 31 deadline, even though there’s only one day’s difference. Highly recommend!

“Every decision is dictated by the ease and vividness of a mental picture. Instead of ignoring this flaw in our brain, we need to acknowledge and understand it. If we understand motivation, the true motivation behind our decisions, we can make better decisions.”

2. I Am a Human
A Memoir on Grief, Identity, and Hope
by Pierce Taylor Hibbs

After losing his father at a young age, Hibbs wrote this short book connecting the humanity in all of us, especially in light of death. Hibbs reminds us that instead of denying our uniquely human traits, we need to embrace them: transience, limitation, perspective, and hope. This book fits perfectly into my One Word: Human theme this year. [Available for free on Kindle Unlimited.]

“Loss is devastating. It brings us down to the dirt. But that is where plants grow. That is where we grow. Transience. Limitation. Perspective. Hope. Our humanity is here.”

3. Write for Life
Creative Tools for Every Writer
by Julia Cameron

The infamous writer of the classic book The Artist’s Way guides us through six weeks of tapping into our creativity. Whatever your project, Cameron offers a soothing, gentle, yet practical voice to prod you along your path to get it done.

“Writing leads to writing. One topic leads to the next. What I write matters, but that I write matters more.”

4. The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence
A Journey to Personal and Professional Success
by Scott Allender

I was reluctant to read yet another book on the Enneagram, a personality tool I find useful, although as art, not science. [See my Enneagram series here: 20 Ways to Practice the Enneagram.] But I’m glad I read one more book. Allender connects the dots between our Enneagram type and emotional intelligence. I discovered new thoughts here worth exploring. [Full review later.]

“Emotional intelligence, it turns out, is the single biggest predictor of success—of far greater importance than IQ. . . .Eurich’s research concluded that 95 percent of people believe they are self-aware, but only 10 to 15 percent of people actually are.”

5. All About Love: New Visions
by bell hooks

I’ve always heard about bell hooks but never read her works other than occasional quotes that pop up many places. This book gave me more insight into her prioritization of love in our everyday spiritual lives. [Available for free on Kindle Unlimited]

“A commitment to spiritual life necessarily means we embrace the eternal principle that love is all, everything, our true destiny.”

6. The Wrong End of the Table
A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit in
by Ayser Salman

This was my June pick for the Spiritual Memoir Challenge. Salman writes with both humorous and serious tones about her experience as a Muslim American, and her questions about being Muslim enough. She is expert at educating you as she entertains you through her stories.

“It’s okay even if my Muslim behavior is different from the Muslim behavior you expect—all I know is it’s real and authentically mine. And I hope that if any of you question your own authenticity or legitimacy, you’ll give yourselves a break, too.”

7. Uncultured: A Memoir
by Daniella Mestyanek Young

Excellent! Another memoir, Young writes of her experience in The Children of God cult. Her stories are harrowing of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. But at fifteen years old, she walked away. Her story continues through her years in the Army. You hate that her stories are true, but we need to hear them and bear witness.

“The first rule of cults is we are never in a cult. It’s always them, not us. There is always someone else to blame: the others, the outsiders, the unchosen.”

FICTION

8. The Love of My Life
by Rosie Walsh

In this perplexing mystery you meet Emma, a marine biologist with a past you can’t quite figure out. Walsh does a superb job pulling you into a story you don’t understand (for awhile), but that you care about. Emma’s husband Leo is in the same position. I really enjoyed this one.

“She’s very smart, my mother, and until that point I’d thought her to be quite robust as well. But my silence broke her. She developed an emotional destitution that she still can’t seem to rein in.”

9. Winter Garden
by Kristin Hannah

This isn’t my favorite Kristin Hannah book (some sections felt slow), but once the story ramped up about Meredith and Nina’s strange Russian mother Anya, I wanted to keep reading. Anya’s mother tells a story within the story that is as riveting as the main story. [Available for free on Kindle Unlimited as syncing ebook and audiobook.]

“They would always be a family, but if she’d learned anything in the past few weeks it was that a family wasn’t a static thing. There were always changes going on. Like with continents, sometimes the changes were invisible and underground, and sometimes they were explosive and deadly. The trick was to keep your balance.”

WHAT I’M READING NOW

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
A Memoir of Life in Death
by Jean-Dominique Bauby
Thank You for Listening
by Julia Whelan
The Measure
by Nikki Erlick
All My Knotted-Up Life
Beth Moore

What’s a good book you’ve read lately? Please share in the comments.

sharing at these linkups

Grace & Truth Featured Post

Maryleigh writes, “There’s more to June than meets the eye.” Read the personal story behind her statement, and see why we sometimes need to be daring in our relationships.

“The Grace of June”

Then link your own blog posts below.

Review the rules here about adding your most recent Christian Living posts and how to be the Featured Post. Visit all four hosts social media here or websites here: Maree Dee, Lisa notes, Lauren Sparks, Tammy Kennington.

Now Let’s Link Up!

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What Does Your Shirt Say About You?

By LisaNotes June 28, 2023 Encouragement, Memorize Matthew 6 15 Comments

I pile another load of clean clothes from the laundry basket onto the bed. This batch has a lot of Jeff’s t-shirts. My husband has many, many t-shirts. I fold them and put them away in his dresser drawer.

Yet last week Jeff told me he needs a few more t-shirts. Why???

Because he wants some that don’t say anything.

And I get that.

I take a quick glance on my side of the closet. I have multitudes of t-shirts, too. Are they all noisy as well? Do we not have any quiet t-shirts?

Many of my t-shirts have a logo, like PAR (Prepare and Respond, our disaster recovery group). Some shirts are advertisements, like Golden Eagle Syrup. Others are from events, like “I survived Hurricane Iniki” (yes, I still have this shirt from our honeymoon in 1993 after we got slammed by this hurricane). Still others have inspirational sayings, like “I am resilient.”

Every single t-shirt says something.

But out of the multitude of shirts I have available, I wear the same few again and again. The others just take up room collecting dust on their hangers.

Why? Partly because I like wearing clothes that feel comfortable on my body. But more so because I want to wear clothes that reflect on the outside who I am on the inside.

What we wear does say something about us. Maybe our clothes say we enjoy a party with their bold prints and loud colors. Or that we embrace change with our trendy outfits. Or that we’re minimalists and hate to shop because we wear the same basic items again and again (my hand is raised).

When Jesus asked his followers why they were anxious about their clothing (Matthew 6:28), he answered his own question by pointing to the lilies. He said the lilies didn’t fret about their appearance; they just wore their God-given colors.

What are my God-given colors? What are yours? Is our outward appearance matching our inward selves?

Ultimately, we’re most comfortable in clothes that most accurately reflect who we are. One of my favorite t-shirts this year is the one that contains my One Word 2023: “Be a nice human.” That’s what matters to me. It’s how I want to live. It’s who I want to be.

When each of us are wearing our true colors, we’re creating together a beautiful garden.

I wish Jeff luck in finding plain t-shirts to replace some of his logoed ones. They are few and far between these days. Advertisers long ago realized that we’d be walking billboards for them if they’d give us a free t-shirt with their message on it.

But whose message and what message do we want to advertise? What is our truest message we want to put out into the world?

Back in my closet, I pull out a few t-shirts that I no longer wear, that no longer reflect who I am. I put them in the donate pile.

Now I reach for one to put on for the day. It’s one of my well-worn shirts, of course. It says, “Choose love.”

That’s the message I’ll share today.

It fits just right.

This week’s memory verse for our Summer Memory Challenge is Matthew 6:28.

“And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.”

Do you have trouble choosing what to wear (especially if you’re going outside the house)? Share in the comments.

Share Four Somethings—June 2023

By LisaNotes June 23, 2023 Life updates 16 Comments

Near the end of each month, I share four somethings at Jennifer’s linkup that I’m loving, reading, learning, and eating.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

What I’m Loving

“SKIP INTRO” SETTINGS

I’m an avid podcast listener. I used to listen using the default Apple Podcast app on my phone, but the past few years I now use the free version of the Overcast app (available only for iPhones for now). And I love it!

Among my favorite features is the “Skip Intro” and “Skip Outro” options. For certain podcasts that don’t really start content until the 1 minute mark, for example, I set the “Skip Intro” to 1 minute for that podcast. So every time a new episode plays, it automatically starts at 1 minute.

The “Skip Outro” feature works the same. For podcasts that end with the same message every time (“If you like this podcast, rate and review…”), you can adjust the settings to cut off the final 30 seconds (or however much time you want).

The settings comes in 5-second increments so you choose the appropriate time you need cut off. (Sorry, advertisers.) Our time is valuable. We hear enough clatter as it is, so I love deleting some when possible.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

What I’m Reading

TRANSCRIPTS OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Because I absorb content better through reading than hearing, I sometimes prefer to read a transcript instead of listening to a podcast or watching a video if the audio or video isn’t particularly additive.

So occasionally I’ll click on the three dots underneath a YouTube video to “Show transcript” on a laptop (or click through Description on a phone). If it is a video that has closed captioning (not every video does), the transcript will appear on the side of the screen.

Granted, the transcript is in a roughly second-by-second format. But I can still scroll through much quicker reading instead of watching an entire video, especially if I’m only looking for a certain piece of information or just want to get the gist of the message.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

What I’m Learning

ONLINE BOOK CLUB

I’m a little nervous about this one. I’ve agreed to host an online book club for Alabama’s Mom Demand Action volunteers. I have participated in zoom book clubs before with friends & family (especially during the pandemic), but this new book club will be mainly with people I don’t already know, with no set guidelines already in place. We’re starting from scratch.

Our first meeting with be this Monday night to talk about The Violence Inside Us. I’m hoping all will go well and that my excitement will continue to outweigh my anxiety about it.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

What I’m Eating

WATERMELON

My dad used to grow watermelons in his garden every year. Now that he’s gone, I miss those fresh ones straight from soil to picnic table.

So I now buy a whole watermelon or cut-up pieces from the grocery store during the summer. They’re not always as good as my dad’s, but they’re still a yummy guilt-free pleasure on hot summer days.

This is my afternoon snack today. Do you put salt on your watermelon, too?

What’s something you’re learning or loving this month?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

At the Halfway Point, Remember Why
{One Word 2023 June Linkup}

By LisaNotes June 22, 2023 Human: One Word 2023, One Word Community 5 Comments

Link all of your ONE WORD blog posts below. Share an update about your One Word in the comments.

You’ve made it to June! You’re halfway through the year with your One Word.

This is a good time to remotivate yourself by remembering WHY you chose your word.

If you filled out , wrote a blog post, or talked to someone about your word back in January, go back and reread your thoughts or rehash the conversations.

Answer Two Questions

How do you answer these questions at this halfway point?

1. Why did I choose this word?

2. Why do (or don’t) I want to continue with this word in the second half of 2023?

Why did I choose my word HUMAN? Looking back at my first blog post this year about HUMAN, I see this: I’d grown frustrated with my own humanity. I was being hard on myself for my ordinary human traits. I knew I needed to bring more kindness to myself as a human and to other fellow humans all year.

How am doing with it? Well, I’ll give myself at least a passing grade (humans give grace, right?), but I’m far from earning an A+. But that’s okay. No human is perfect, including this one. I can’t control the outcome, but I can continue on the journey.

I want to continue forward with HUMAN as my word. I’m learning (and accepting) much about myself and others.

Back to the Beginning

If you find yourself stuck with the why about your word, here’s a quick exercise to try. Go back to the beginning of your word.

Look up your word’s etymology at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary or the Online Etymology Dictionary.

See if the roots of your word nudge you to rediscover the original reasons you chose this word.

Looking at the origins of my word HUMAN, I see it comes from the Latin word humus, meaning earth or ground. Our English word humility also comes from humus.

These roots remind me that we are from dust and to dust we shall return. All humans are more alike than they are different, so there’s no need to feel either cocky or shamed by comparison.

We are all ordinary. We are all spectacular.

~ * ~ * ~

If you blog, link a post below with ANY updates about your One Word. You can also share updates with our One Word Facebook group or with our Instagram group @onewordcommunity.

This June linkup for One Word updates will remain open for two weeks through midnight on Friday, July 7. Each link shared here will also be shared with our One Word Facebook group.

Next month’s One Word linkup will open on Sunday, July 23.

If you’d like to receive our monthly One Word emails and ideas, .

If you chose One Word for 2023, do you remember why? Does the origin of your word reveal any insights?

Leave a comment here about your One Word.

Get more One Word ideas here

Link Up About Your One Word!

How Are the Changing Times Changing You?

By LisaNotes June 19, 2023 Human: One Word 2023, Memorize Matthew 6 18 Comments

“To become free of the tyranny of time, become interested in the present.”
– Jack Kornfield

The movement across the room catches my eye. I’m sitting in the rocking chair in my living room. I glance up to catch one picture morphing into the next picture on my digital picture frame that sits on the bookshelf.

In the first picture, I see a younger me with my youngest grandchild as an infant. I remember exactly how I felt looking into his baby eyes. That overwhelm of love. Of awe. Of time standing still.

But in the second picture, almost two years has elapsed.

We’re now at his 2nd birthday party, watching him walk around with his little friends in the park. No longer a baby, he now has opinions and preferences (anything with wheels) and agency.

And the same infectious personality that still brings us such joy.

I notice the astonishment rise in my heart as I look at him then and as I look at him now.

Yet I also feel a sense of almost panic. I’m running out of time.

While I get to see this little one grow, there are many people in my life that I don’t get to see on a regular basis. They are growing too.

And I know I’m missing out.

I need time to stand still so I can make the rounds to see all the people I want to see today. I don’t want more weeks, months, years, to pass by before I see them again.

I’m missing events with certain loved ones that will never be repeated. I’m losing the buildup of memories with them that would have brought me joy in the present and in the future.

But time won’t freeze for me. Nor will it expand to allow me to do all the things I want to do with these limited minutes.

I have to accept these limitations of living in a human body, able to be present in only one place at a time, doing only one thing at a time.

I grieve the loss of people I can’t be with all the time, even as I give thanks for the people I can be with now.

The flow of time is fixed. But people are fluid, always changing, always in flux through the medium of time.

I’m working toward acceptance of our anchored lives here. We all have limitations of things we can do and places we can be, with the time and bodies we have.

I renew my intention to purposefully engage the time I’m in. Sometimes it means using present time to look back at times past, like the photos are showing me. And sometimes it means using a bit more of present time to plan for future times, like a family vacation ahead.

But most of the time, it’s the impermanence of this present moment that I need to be most captivated by.

While I may have more days to sit in this same chair in this same room and even to look at these same photos in the frame, I won’t be exactly the same person tomorrow as I am today.

Time is changing me, too.

The memory verse of the week for our Summer Memory Challenge is Matthew 6:27.

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”

I hear Jesus telling me again and again through these words that I can’t add time to my life. But I can add life to my time.

What’s your struggle with time as a human? Any solutions? Share in the comments.

Are You in a Group Chat?
—Grace & Truth Linkup

By LisaNotes June 16, 2023 Community, Grace & Truth Link-Up 12 Comments

My phone was dinging again. Another text.

You know how it goes. One sound indicates a new message. Another sound indicates someone “hearted” a message or sent a “haha” or “thumbs up.”

I admit it—sometimes it can feel annoying if you’re in a large group text.

Yet I always look at the texts. I appreciate my communities. I need my communities.

Looking at the texts I’ve received this week from group chats, I have some from my book club, some from a family group, others from a group of volunteers I participate with, and others from my writing cohort.

I belong to each group in a different way and for a different reason. There is a wholeness in the diversity.

According to a 2022 study, we all need “relational diversity” in our social ecosystem. [Read more about it here: “How much social interaction do you actually need?“]

To feel happier, this study suggests we socialize with a range of conversation partners. We’re more likely to keep loneliness at bay if we widen our social repertoire.

For example, they say if you have eight conversations with colleagues in a day and two conversations with friends, it’s low relational diversity because only two categories are represented.

“On the other hand, the more relationally diverse portfolio would be if I had two conversations with colleagues, two with friends, two conversations with a partner, two with strangers, maybe two with my parents. There’s more categories present, and I’m more evenly spreading my time across those categories.”

I don’t know if enough research has been done to validate these findings, but it is interesting to ponder.

Looking at just my group chats so far this month, I see a lot of diversity. And in many of the chats, they are about our past or future in-person activities.

I need the face-to-face contact most of all.

In person, my month hasn’t been as diverse categorically. I’ll keep working on that. As the study suggests—and as we all know anyway—“The most effective mode of communication is face-to-face (although a phone call is a close second).”

I’m grateful for the communities that have shared real time with me this month. It’s with them that I continue to find the most healing and most growth.

Let’s keep chatting.

How relationally diverse have your conversations been this month? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Grace & Truth Featured Post

Are you in community? God created us with a need for belonging through communities. Do you have one in this season?

Read all of Sheila’s post here at her blog, then link up your own blog posts below.

“The Power of Community!”

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