My soul has been restless lately, uneasy and little bit bruised. If you find yourself in a similar spot in these waning weeks of summer, these links are for you. A little encouragement, a touch of inspiration, some convicting truths, and for you word lovers out there, a dose of grammarly fun.
The Courage to Stay // Melissa Schlies
“I was not a quitter. I was not someone to give up. Though I was sure I had more than enough reason to leave, the monk’s emphasis on staying where you are, rolled around in my mind. It didn’t convince me to stay. But it made me wonder if the changes I wanted to make within myself, wouldn’t happen if I left.”
Proximity > Politics // Shannan Martin
“As a follower of the weird way of Jesus, I am uniquely and specifically called to fight for the things God cares about. I am invited to believe my neighbors deserve the same life I think I’m entitled to, then do whatever I can to let it be so.”
A Goodbye to My Pre-Pregnancy Body // Kylie Mitchell
“Bodies are made to journey. They are made to change. Our society promotes staying the same, being obsessed with a certain body size, and if you get away from that body size begin making efforts to return to prior body size ASAP.”
Kendra Note: This is a pretty niche subject, but it’s something I’ve struggled with personally. This article was a good reality check for me, so I’m including it in the linkup in case some of you are having difficulties with this, too.
Invitation to Desire // Natalie Sum
“We have a God who beckons us to cling to desire with persistence. He encourages us to dance with desire because it moves us into places of unwavering trust with a God who wants us to believe in His goodness.”
How These 3 Words can Stop What’s Stealing Your Joy — Instead of Staying Stuck In the Competing and Comparing Rat Race // Ann Voskamp
“The more you let yourself compete and compare, the more you forget your own calling. I’d seen it, the women with their big handbags and big hopes: The more you push to get in front of others, the more you fall behind in being the best you can be.”
Productivity advice for the weird // Ramit Sethi
“Productivity is about understanding what you really want to do, then building systems to make it work for you. The goal isn’t Inbox Zero. . . Your goal is to enable yourself to perform at your very best, every day, and over the course of weeks and months and years.”
The 35 words you’re (probably) getting wrong // Harold Evans
Kendra Note: I was getting a LOT of these wrong!
“Refute A strong verb, meaning ‘to disprove, to demonstrate falsehood’. It has been emaciated by its careless confusion with ‘rebut’, ‘reply’, ‘response’ and, less forgivably, ‘deny’. A denial is merely a contrary assertion; it does not demonstrate the falsity of the assertion. Nor does ‘rebut’. A rebuttal is a denial dressed up in battle armour.”
Embracing the Last of the Firsts // Michelle Tate
“So much of my journey of motherhood has been spent trying to figure out a way to freeze time. . . . I have no doubt life speeds up the moment you become a parent. I’m guessing the enormous amount of space immense joy and extreme worry takes up in your brain, makes it impossible for you to have a moment of boredom and therefore, time races by.”
How to Wait Well // Emily P. Freeman
“The kind of waiting that’s easy to talk about is the kind we can measure in time. And while it’s true we can’t control time or make it tick by faster, at least it has a track record. It will pass. Some waiting leads only to more waiting. Or worse, builds up then fizzles out.”
If you visit these links, I’d love to know what resonated with you! As always, feel free to leave a comment with a link to a post you’ve loved or written this month.