Share Four Somethings—November 2023
Near the end of each month at Jennifer’s linkup we share four somethings that we’re loving, reading, learning, and eating.
I also share my previous month’s One Second Everyday video . . .
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What I’m Loving
- TWO NEW FRIENDS
Last July, Jeff and I attended the Wild Goose Festival, a faith-inspired social justice gathering in very hot and very muggy North Carolina. In one of the small group sessions I attended, I met two women, Naomi and Rachel, who I bonded with immediately.
We ran into each other a few more times during the weekend and exchanged phone numbers so we could stay in touch.
Not only have we stayed in touch, but a week ago we spent an entire weekend together at Naomi’s home, just the three of us. It was so spiritually-nurturing.
I’m very grateful for their friendship, their encouragement, and for the way these amazing women are doing the work to make this world a healthier and more compassionate home for all human beings, including me.
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What I’m Reading
- THE FIFTH AGREEMENT
A few years back I read The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz, and greatly benefited from it. The four agreements are: 1-Be impeccable with your word, 2-Don’t take anything personally, 3-Don’t make assumptions, and 4-Always do your best.
I later tweaked them a little to create my own four agreements:
While at Naomi’s house last week, she pulled out this set of uplifting cards from The Mastery of Love by the same author for a closing activity before we all went our separate ways again. We each drew one card and shared what it meant to us. My card said: “Love is kind and just.”
Back home, I downloaded The Fifth Agreement, also by Miguel Ruiz, from my library. (Rachel is now reading her own copy, too). This agreement is: “Be skeptical, but learn to listen.” It’s been a fascinating read so far (I’m about halfway in.)
“I am responsible for what I say, but I am not responsible for what you understand. You are responsible for what you understand.”
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What I’m Learning
- MEMORIZING POETRY
While I love reading nonfiction books, I struggle to read poetry. But I want to make a more concerted effort in this coming year because poetry is so valuable. I’ve begun reading some poems this past month and am loving it.
I just have to slow down enough to let them sink in. So in conjunction with my 2024 One Word (I’ll reveal it soon!), I would like to memorize select poems. I’ve been trying it out this month with Mary Oliver’s poem, Wild Geese. So far, so good!
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What I’m Eating
- MAPLE STREET BISCUIT COMPANY
This breakfast & brunch restaurant opened up near us several months ago. Jeff and I finally made it there one Friday morning for breakfast. It did not disappoint. (Although Jeff still prefers Jack’s.)
You can’t pick up one of their biscuits and take a bite though. They’re too big. I got a plain chicken biscuit, but Jeff got the works.
What is something you are loving, reading, learning, or eating this month?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
I’m linking at these blog parties
I’m looking forward to reading a new Advent devotional and revisiting an older one this season. How nice to meet people with whom you connect on such a deep level, too, Lisa. That is a rare gift, indeed!
May your week be a blessed one!
It’s nice to do both with your Advent devotionals, Martha–revisit an old favorite and launch into something new. I guess that’s what I’m doing with my friends too, now that I think about it. lol. Treasuring the faithful friends who have been around a long while, while still creating new friends too.
Your 1-second videos always make me smile, Lisa. I watch it several times and stop it at certain scenes. 🙂 Your little grandson looks quite energetic! Love and blessings of a slowing down, soaking in Advent!
The videos make me smile, too, Trudy. 🙂 Sometimes I think of letting them go when I have a day with nothing to video. lol. But by the end of the month, I have such joy looking back at the compilation that I’m motivated to keep going. Yes, our little guy is full-force into life. It’s so fun to watch him learn and play. Blessings to you, my friend!
I love your tweaked four agreements! Especially, just show up. I often feel like I am more able to be present and support the people in my life when I commit to just keep showing up rather than worry about being a high achiever in every situation. Sometimes some of the best times have been when I had no expectations but just kept being there.
We’re on the same wavelength about showing up, Bethany. If I had to bring it all everytime, I’d just stay home a lot more often. 🙂 But often just getting our body into place is more than enough to make magic happen.
Wow; those biscuits are huge! It sounds like a delicious new breakfast place to try. Your new friends sound wonderful.
Yes, those biscuits are by far the tallest I’ve ever seen. There’s no way I could just take a bite from it, especially if I don’t want to return to the orthodontist with TMJ troubles. lol. I just took it apart and ate it piece by piece.
Yes, my new friends are an amazing find. They have brought such connection in only a few months by their camaraderie in our sorrows and joys.
Hi, Lisa – I love your tweaking of the Four Agreements. Your version makes great sense to me.
Thanks, Donna. Tweaking is what we do with all our books, yes? 🙂 I’m grateful for the framework the book provided so I could make it into something that worked better for me.
Almost-instant friends is a wonderful phenomenon. How delightful you’ve been able to get together again so soon. / What am I loving this month? Well, after arranging all the branches on our artificial tree and then all the lights, I’m finally able to start placing the ornaments–a lovely-though-widely-varied collection, gifted over the years by family, friends, church members (during my husband’s career as pastor), and students (during my teaching career). I love seeing them all again and enjoying the memories attached to each one!
Yes, connecting with another human being quickly and deeply AND sustaining it beyond the event itself feels like quite the prize. I’m grateful.
I’m jealous that you’ve got your tree up and ready to enjoy, Nancy! I’m taking baby steps with ours. ha. The tree is now up, the lights are now working, and the ornaments are down from the attic. But that’s it. Maybe this weekend I’ll finish the task. 🙂 It is wonderful to have so many memories attached to ornaments. That’s my favorite thing about them.
love your phrase spiritual nurturing. something we all should keep in mind. What is giving us life at this moment? I think both of writing these 4 Somethings is a part of that. Interesting to memorize poems. I too am reading more poetry now, especially David Whyte, Joyce Rupp and Mary Oliver. I have memorized two prayers – one Thomas Merton and the other St Ignatius. Maybe I will find a poem next to learn by heart. great idea.
I’ll be looking for poet suggestions so I’ll make a note of these you’re mentioning here, Jean. It’s a new venture for me. 🙂
I really like that tweaked list. I need to get that on board. You should def turn that into some little mantra. I’m stealing!
Great post!! #WBOYC
I’m intrigued by your idea to turn the four agreements into some kind of mantra. I’ll have to get on that! I love mantras. 🙂 Thanks, Lydia.
What a joy to make new friends! That biscuit is HUGE! You always have such interesting books, Lisa, thanks for sharing your reading list with us.
Yes, making new friends at any stage of life is special, but I’ve found it especially meaningful as I get older when I find those connections after a lifetime of experiences! And that biscuit was huge. Even Jeff couldn’t finish it. 🙂
That biscuit would be hard to eat! An instruction video would be helpful (and hilarious). Your week sounds like a lot of fun. How wonderful to have such great new friends. When I was young, I memorized Scripture – the book of Esther, the Beatitudes, and several others. We belonged to a small church, and I recited them after I learned them. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay with me – at least not word for word. It’s like meeting an old friend, though, when I hear them used in a sermon or reread them. I’m sure it is much the same with poetry. If you don’t keep reciting the poem, it eventually falls away, but it is so pleasant to hear it again. I get a kick out of fiction books in which the hero recites the same poem that his new love adores, and it becomes the centerpiece of the book. Has your husband ever recited poetry to you? It would be romantic.
Memorizing scripture has been an important practice for me too through the years, Marsha! And like you, I don’t remember most of the verses word for word, but the concepts stick, and that’s what matters most anyway, right? They do become like old friends; I appreciate your analogy.
I smiled at your question asking if my husband ever recited poetry to me. I don’t think he’s ever even read a poem to me. lol. It is definitely a romantic thing that I enjoy seeing in books and movies, but I’ve never seen it happen in real life. 🙂 But I’m sure it does somewhere!
What is something you are loving, reading, learning, or eating this month? Fun question, Lisa.
I’m loving the weather. I learning to read tarot cards. I’m eating some new quinoa dishes. I tried a breakfast one yesterday that had maple syrup and cinnamon in it; it was delicious.
Your quinoa dishes (especially with syrup and cinnamon) sound yummy. I’ve never tried that. I’ve suggested to my husband that maybe in 2024 we can be more adventurous with foods we try. We typically stick to our tried and true favorites. 🙂
How lovely to find your blog. I love the reads, and the four agreements. Happy Holidays! /Madison
FASHION TALES
Thanks, Madison! It’s fun compiling the Share Four Somethings list each month.
Hi Lisa, many thanks for linking up with us for #WBOYC this month and sharing your highlights. It made me smile that what you call a’ biscuit’ we call a burger, a biscuit to us Aussies is probably what you call a cookie. I always enjoy seeing different terms for things.
I’ve been listening to a fascinating book called the Secret Lives of Colour – a sort of history of how colours have evolved over time, the information is so interesting and I’m loving the random facts!
Can’t wait to hear what you’ve chosen as your word for the year 🙂
So a biscuit is a burger in Australia? I didn’t know! It is fun seeing how different regions use different words. I notice it most when I read novels by Australia authors. 🙂 The book on color sounds very intriguing to me too. I’ll have to look into it. Thanks for stopping by, Debbie!
You are celebrating November! I might learn how to practise celebrating from this exercise. You do bring joy.
I love reading and learning poetry, although I am not good at getting through a whole book of it. With Advent starting, I am about to start reading Waiting on the Word — a poem a day, with commentary, for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany (e.g., Advent Sunday’s poem is “Advent Sunday” by Christina Rossetti). I find poems with interesting rhythm or rhyme easier to learn and exciting to remember (e.g., Gerard Manley Hopkins’ Pied Beauty or As Kingfishers Catch Fire).
I do not understand American “biscuits”. I can’t even
Lisa, your new friends sound wonderful and I’m so thankful they’ve come into your life. The original four agreements remind my of my dad. ???? and that is some kind of sandwich Jeff is eating! I hope December is restful and joy-filled for you. ♥️
Thanks for linking up with us. Friends – old and new – really are spiritually nurturing. That chicken biscuit takes the biscuit. It looks very much like a massive (what we’d call) scone with fillings.
I have The Four Agreements but still on my TBR. Will have to d it and the next one. I used to memorize Shakespeare in high school and Bible verses through the years. I do enjoy reading poetry and like your idea of memorizing key ones.
You have been busy Lisa! ????
– I also have my one word for next year to be revealed soon ????
– I enjoyed a visit with my new great grandson recently & time with my family who live interstate.
– I’m reading Mr Eternity which I reviewed on my site.
– And had an amazing Gluten free Butter Chicken, delicious! ????
blessings, Jennifer
How wonderful to spend time with your new friends and to be reading more poetry. That breakfast and brunch place sounds so good. Yum! Yum!
I don’t know how I did this…but I’ve somehow missed seeing all of the posts you have been doing. I’m glad to get caught up and hear/see what has been going on in your part of the world…more specifically in your world. I’m so thankful that you met these two ladies, Lisa, and that the three of you have bonded so well. I can only imagine the comfort their friendship is for you. Love you, Sister.
Lisa, I loved this. And the quote you shared about what we say and what we understand really made me think. Sometimes we understand what others say through our own filters. And when those filters are not accurate, we can really be messed up by what we “understand.”
I’m a pretty healthy eater, but I’ve been indulging in peppermint bark. If I’m a really nice mom, I’ll make some for my youngest when he’s home from college for Christmas. 😉
I like this idea of sharing things you like.
There’s nothing quite like meeting kindred spirits who care about the same things that we do. Our hearts immediately unite! What a wonderful experience.
And oh that chicken biscuit! My meal for the day. It looks absolutely extraordinary, Lisa.
Memorizing poems is such a good goal! Maybe I’ll make that a resolution in the New Year.
It’s always awesome to find new friends. I love your versions of the 4 agreements. That other one sounds good too. I agree with you on poetry, it can easily be lost on me but probably because I don’t take the time to really focus on whats being said.
Once again, I’m late getting around to commenting.
What a great month. You and your new friends are fabulous! Isn’t it something how God puts special people in front of us in his perfectly planned time? That biscuit looks sooo good.
Thanks so much for sharing your somethings with Sweet Tea & Friends this month sweet friend.