My online friend, Heather, hosts a monthly link-up called SHARE FOUR SOMETHINGS: Something Loved, Something Read, Something Treasured, Something Ahead. Bless her and her diligence. She is currently on an extended family road trip visiting National Parks. You can follow her trip on Instagram!
Something Loved…
Wow. This should be much easier than it is, and this is why this is such a good discipline.
But as I sit and think, one thing comes to my mind: My kids. In particular, my older kids.
My son moved here to help care for my parents, and I just LOVE having him around.
My daughter is having a TOUGH semester at school, and I have planned a mother/daughter getaway at the beach for a few days when the semester is over to help recover. I can’t wait.
Parenting is haaaaarrrrrrddddd. I have failed ridiculously over and over again. I require an enormous amount of forgiveness and grace on a regular basis. But I sure do love my kids. (98% of my actual in-person life is doting on Ryan, so there’s no harm in leaving her out of this one.)
Something Read
I finished Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans. I expected to both like it and dislike it much more than I did. Like it because I had REALLY high expectations for her writing style. She is highly regarded within the liberal Christian culture, so I think I expected her to be so moving and eloquent it might make me re-look at my conservative values.
Nope.
I expected to dislike it because I wondered if it make me question things, or look at my faith differently. (I wondered if I would be defensive.)
Nope.
MANY of the points she makes I have made to others in my own journey. But the parting of ways comes to this: she seemed to think she believed what the Bible taught incorrectly rather than considering that people lived what the Bible taught incorrectly. It has heightened my resolve to really know what the Bible teaches and how it applies to me. (Which has me on the craziest journey through Proverbs 31…but I digress.)
I am also reading the devotional Seeing Beautiful Again by Lysa Terkeurst, and How To Do The Work by Dr. Nicole LaPera. Summer is coming, so a few novels will be mixed in…
Something Treasured
I treasure Tuesdays.
My precious little peanut spends all her time with her mom and dad. We adore her. We treasure her. We protect her.
But it makes for a small world, that is not particularly in her best interest.
It has not always been this way but life circumstances, followed by a pandemic, have created our own, personal dysfunction.
Recently I hired a tutor to come work with Ryan on Tuesdays. I get all the activities prepared, and they spend hours together. At first Ryan wasn’t thrilled, but this last week we added decorating sugar cookies to the list of activities and things are looking up.
Meanwhile, while they are doing homeschool, I go to restorative yoga, then counseling, then lunch, the marriage counseling. It is a day purposely devoted to a better, fuller life and I am grateful.
Something Ahead
Actually, there is a LOT to look forward to in large part because of my Tuesdays. There are patterns I am putting an end to, which means that the future looks brighter in several areas.
I am becoming a person with better habits spiritually, financially, and emotionally. I will add better health habits in the future, but for now I will praise the progress where the progress is.
And, of course, I look forward to a few days at the beach with my college student daughter!!
I am resting on Proverbs 31:18: She senses that her gain Is good.
When we are depleted we cannot give our best to others or to God. I’m glad that you have found ways to heal and be refreshed.
My daughter just finished up her first year of college and there were a lot of HARD times, including homesickness because she was 9 hours away! We are thankful to have her home and praise God that He kept her healthy this past year. We are looking forward to a beach trip in a few weeks for our anniversary, it will be a family trip, but sooooooo worth it. Can’t wait. I love that you have a day devoted to a better, fuller life.
You make a very good point about Searching for Sunday. Rachel Held Evans was certainly wrestling with the Church. I think much of what you’re reading she resolved in her last book Inspired. I’m glad the book is inspiring you to dig deeper into your personal knowledge of God.
I’m glad that you and your daughter both get time away from each other on Tuesdays. Kudos for finding a way to fit in self-care.
I hope your trip with your daughter is a special time for you both. And I liked reading your thoughts on Searching for Sunday. I haven’t read it yet but I have it on my Kindle so I hope to read it soon.
I am a big fan of your Tuesday plan. This challenges me to take some steps towards taking better care of my mind, body, and spirit! I agree with Beth on RHE. Inspired resolves some questions raised in Searching for Sunday. I like books that make me dig deeper!
Progress is progress!! I started to read Inspired by RHE and couldn’t finish it. Perhaps if I had read Searching for Sunday first it would have made more sense.