Terribly Interesting

I don’t  know about you, but I am a woman in constant need of regrouping. We all have these reasons that our brains sway off track. Without vision, I spend my time reacting to life instead of acting on the hopes of my heart. I have found that the little things matter most. They are generally why I spend my time doing bigger things. Cultivating home for people. The simple, quiet behind the scene things are the richest treasures. Everything revolves around that for me. The books I read, the questions I ask myself, the recipes I make, the classes I take, the friends I have, and the people we feed. It all comes back to loving well. In doing all of these things, Jesus is ever healing my heart. I am increasingly discovering God’s grace in the spirit of hospitality. I wanted to share a few things with you to kick off your new year. I try to steadily read 52 books a year (not more or less to keep balance). Books offer my heart some quiet therapy. I must have needed a bit of extra thera...

I didn’t really like this book, but hats off to the Queen. She seems like a woman rich in character .  The Faith of Queen Elizabeth: The Poise, Grace, and Quiet Strength Behind the Crown by Dudley Delffs My rating: 3 of 5 stars I hate to say it, but this was a “meh” read for me. If you have watched the Crown and done a little Google search, you’ve read this book. It’s a recap of her life and how the author believes the Queen operated in faith in certain situations. There were a few things I learned about her, but it was largely a so so read. The story drug along and jumped around. It’s like a fan letter with people the author ran into that knew the Queen. He did not speak to her. The closest he got was thinking he saw her majesty along a trail once. The book lacked depth. It’s sad to me because her faith seems to be a driving force in her decisions. View all my reviews

A few nights ago, I was walking along the San Antonio Riverwalk and came across several homeless people with their blankets laid out on benches. I often feel like my heart is going to come clear out of my chest when I see people sleeping on the streets. I’m sure it’s a mixed bag for them down there. The people make them feel safe and I’m sure they equally want us to go home so that they can go to sleep.  People coming together as a community gets to me. People making a sacrifice for the common good is a powerful beacon of hope. It made me cry in Frozen 2. It made me cry on the San Antonio Riverwalk. Twice I saw restaurants feeding the homeless. When we were walking by a pizzeria, one of the employees called out to a homeless man by name and said he had his food waiting. He put his arm around him and walked him to the counter.  The reason I was with my two friends on the Riverwalk was another story all together. My friend Kenny in his early 40s and has cataracts so...

Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making by Andrew       Peterson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I cannot put into words how inspired I am by this book. Andrew Peterson’s writing is more wonderful than I can say. It has encouraged, inspired, and challenged me as an artist and creator. He walks you through the process of the rise and fall and rise of his music as well as the details of his personal life. I am thankful for his humility to share what actually happened in his life and how he has proceeded on through trial. The allure here is that he overcame through building a community of people who resonated with and encouraged each other in their craft. For me, the story was encouraging because I could see myself in it. The rebuilding of a house. Overcoming self to be creative. Pushing through toward the thing we yearn for. He shared such depth ad insight that went along with his life. The book is full of inspiring beauty. I feel like...

  I Give Up: The Secret Joy of a Surrendered Life by Laura  Story My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was completely amazed by the depth of LauraStory’s music when I heard Blessings. Coming to know that it was inspired by her husband’s brain cancer made it l the more powerful. This book touches on that. The parts where she shares her personal struggles and howGod helped her through each hard season really spoke to me. This has been a hard walk for her. Her husband is still disabled and not driving and she has several children and a set of twins. I enjoyed reading her storytelling so much. The part I had a hard time with was what felt lie regurgitated Sunday School lessons. It felt like a stretch to include these stories in the way they were told. The style changed. The storytelling stopped. It was awkward to me and I had a hard time getting through those sections. It was transference of facts.I wish she would have told it in the same way as the rest of the book. This was a hu...

I held my breath through some of this book. It was incredibly raw and real. Some of it brought up things from my past that I had tucked away. We often never realize how much we tuck away and internalize until someone else’s story brings it back in the light. When we grow up with an alcoholic or abusive parent, we tend to blame ourselves for everything and then heap ourselves with shame over our reactions. Most of the time it wasn’t about us. It wasn’t our fault. Even the things we ended up doing to ourselves or others are not meant to be hidden under shame. They are meant to be brought into the light for healing. Sarah Mae has done this and modeled it for all of us. She has shown us the beauty of wrestling through trauma with Jesus. It is often hard to read, but it’s worth the struggle.  The Complicated Heart: Loving Even When It Hurts by Sarah Mae My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think for a long time Christian women wrote books that were ridiculously fluffy. They talked about ...

Trauma is a powerful thing. It can be suppressed and repressed and change a person’s behavior in unimaginable ways. There are tragedies and horrors in the underbelly of society and church that we cannot even wrap our minds around. Anne has written an incredible work to equip us as to how to begin caring for those who have been abused and assaulted. We can be trauma informed. We can stop blaming women for their dress or location or any other means by which we write off these terrible offenses. This is why people do not come forward. Those of us who should be clothed in compassion are heaping shame on others. Otherwise, we end up like the people writing adult Anne and telling her she should have known better. She was a child at the time of her offense. Her abuser was an adult pastor. He was more than 10 years her senior. Clothes yourself in compassion, my friends. Healing Together: A Guide to Supporting Sexual Abuse Survivors by Anne Marie Miller My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have be...

Crescendo: The Story of a Musical Genius Who Forever Changed a Southern Town by Allen Cheney My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book appealed to me because it looked soulful, creative, and deep. I did not know anything about the story beforehand. First, I'll tell you that this was a well-crafted story. Being able to tell history in such a powerful way is a gift. Allen Cheney is a gifted story teller. Second, this is a story that will make you gasp and bring you to tears. I do not want to share any spoilers, but I want you to experience this man's story. You can read the info about the book to see that this is a book that tells the story of a man that was a musical genius. He had risen to the top of his game as a producer when he came face to face with a mental breakdown brought on by the trauma of his childhood. That caused him to wrestle with some huge decisions in his life. You can see how that all played out in the subtitle. He changed the lives of countless people with h...