What I Learned: Fall

September - November

One of the practices I have most enjoyed this past year has been keeping track of what I am learning. The idea came from this post by Emily P. Freeman, and I’ve found that the discipline of writing down the things I am learning as I learn them has encouraged me to pay closer attention to my life. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned this fall!

1. During WWI more American women died in childbirth than American men died on the battlefield.

I learned this piece of information listening to this phenomenal talk by Jen Wilkin at the Advance 2017 conference. This talk about the vital role of women in the church was one of my favorites from this season.

2. Winston Churchill was a painter.

I don’t know why this surprised me so much, but I never would have pictured this brash, courageous world leader mixing paint colors in his spare time. He even wrote a book about his hobby titled Painting as a Pastime.

3. I really enjoy knitting.

After listening to this podcast episode and learning that Winston Churchill benefited from having a pastime, I decided to try my hand at knitting. So far I have successfully knitted 2.5 legwarmers, with quite a few horrendous mess-ups in between. I really enjoy it though, and it’s so fun to have something to do with my hands that isn’t directly related to any type of work.

4. When I have limited time to clean, I should choose something that makes the biggest difference to me.

I’d never really thought about it before, but there are different parts of my house that will drive me crazy if they are not clean and other parts that I could honestly care less about. For example, clutter on kitchen counters or our table makes my skin crawl, but a dirty bathroom sink doesn’t bother me as much. Ideally, both spaces would always be clean but that’s just not realistic. When time is limited, I can now choose to do the cleaning chore that matters most to me (or to my husband!) and will contribute to my sanity. My home isn’t necessarily any cleaner after learning this trick, but it sure feels better.

5. We are designed to feel and our emotions can be a way in which God speaks to us.

My natural inclination is to approach God intellectually, but I’ve started learning that God can use my emotions and feelings just as easily as he can use my thoughts and reasoning. I’m slowly introducing more emotional questions into my time with the Lord (reading my Bible, listening to sermons, etc.) like: how do I feel about this particular passage? Why do I feel this way? What do these feelings tell me about myself and the way I am approaching God?

6. When decorating a space it’s important to consider all five senses.

I loved this super simple tip from Myquillyn Smith’s Cozy Minimalist class. When I decorated for Christmas this year, I put this tip to good use playing music (sound), throwing extra cozy blankets on the couch (touch), diffusing essential oils (smell), making brownies and drinking sparkling grape juice (taste), and of course decorating in the traditional ways (sight.) It was SO FUN.

7. “...one form of superiority comes in the unwillingness to be served.”

This fall I read this short article by Amy Julia Becker about how Jesus let others serve him throughout scripture. I’m naturally bent toward independence and doing things on my own, but this season has been one where I’ve intentionally answered yes to many offers of help. From sweet women who came over to paint our new house for us to friends who brought dinner after I got into a car accident, receiving help from other people has allowed me to feel the love of God tangibly through their service. The moments of awkward humility (which are good for me in their own right!) are quickly eclipsed by love and gratitude.

8. “Szn” is an abbreviation of the word “season.”

I don’t know why the word “season” needs to be shortened, but at least now I know what “szn” means. Maybe I’m just an old crotchety grouch, but I’m not a fan of this abbreviation (haha!)

9. A surprising number of people take conspiracy theories very seriously.

Reply All is one of my all-time favorite podcasts to listen to when I want some fun entertainment and maybe to learn something new. This fall, I listened to several episodes (don’t ask me how many because I am ashamed) and learned about the complex world of conspiracy theories like QAnon and Pizzagate (which are strangely related.) I think they’re honestly fascinating, but I was surprised by just how many people take these things very seriously!

10. Pregnancy cravings are no joke.

I am ashamed to admit that when women talked about pregnancy cravings, I used to internally think they were probably no big deal. Then I got pregnant. After eating approximately 18 reese’s blizzards the past couple weeks and even storing emergency ones in my freezer for those times when DQ is closed, I now believe in the power and legitimacy of pregnancy cravings.

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The Rhythm of Our Advent

This little corner of the internet has been quiet the past few weeks for a couple of reasons: 1) I’ve been working on a project for my church that is now in the out-of-my-hands-but-not-yet-into-yours stage. (If you attend Horizons Church, keep an eye out for the Advent guide!) and 2) Josiah and I have been spending most of our spare time preparing to move. I wrote a bit about how our rental home was for sale and it looks like someone is interested in purchasing it, so we’re moving. If you think about it, we’d love your prayers. We love our home and aren’t excited about leaving it, but we’re trusting that this is God’s best for us and trying to walk faithfully in that.  

Now that that’s out of the way, I wanted to share a few ways that I celebrate the season of Advent. Advent is the season on the church calendar that stretches the four weeks leading up to Christmas, and it’s traditionally a season to practice expectant waiting for Jesus’s coming.

There are probably hundreds of lists on the internet about ways to maximize your time this Christmas to attend all the parties and see all the lights and wrap all the presents with picture perfect homemade bows. If that is how you love to celebrate Christmas, then please do those things and enjoy them! I’ve found that a slower pace makes it easier for me to focus my heart on Jesus and enjoy the good gifts of this season without feeling rushed and frantic. Below are some of the traditions I’ve made that help foster that slowness and expectancy.

Before I got married, I celebrated Advent on my own using a few different devotionals/guides over the years. (One of my favorites was The Dawning of Indestructible Joy which I still highly recommend!) Last year, Josiah and I tried the She Reads Truth and He Reads Truth Advent books and loved them so we’re doing the same thing this year. Each day of Advent, there’s a scripture reading and online devotional that we do on our own. Then, each Sunday of Advent, we read the scripture together and light the candles in our Advent wreath. Celebrating Advent this way is one of my favorite traditions.

I’ve already started listening to Christmas music this year and have been loving The Oh Hellos’ Family Christmas Album. The songs/movements are soulful and deep with bouts of joy and celebration mixed in, which feels like the perfect mix for a season where there is much to celebrate but there is also much we are still waiting for expectantly while suffering presses into us. This album balances that in a really unique way.

Last year I perfected the art of the homemade chai tea latte. I use Twinings Chai Tea (which you can find at nearly every grocery store) and heat up about ¼ cup whole milk while the tea is brewing. My younger brother gave me a milk frother (like this) for Christmas a couple years ago and I use it to froth the warm milk before pouring it into my cup of tea. I top it off with a sprinkle of cinnamon and it always makes me feel Christmas-y to drink it in the morning!

One of the ways I practice simplicity during the Advent season is in the way I wrap gifts. Every year I buy a big roll of plain butcher paper and use it as wrapping paper. It’s significantly more cost effective than buying rolls of bright glittery wrapping paper, and I personally prefer the understated look of the matching gifts under our tree. To decorate them a bit, sometimes I’ll add a sprig of greenery from outside, some red or dark green yarn, or a hand-lettered word on the package like “merry” or “holly.”

A few years ago I tried my hand at making clay gift tags and I’ve made them every year since. They are a bit more labor-intensive, but I love the way they look on packages, and it’s a fun project to take on while listening to Christmas music. I used to use salt dough, but last year I tried a recipe for cornstarch dough and it’s what I’ll use again this year. It’s whiter than salt dough and smoother to write on. The recipe talks about adding glitter and making different shapes, but I like to keep it simple by making plain white circular tags that I can write on later with a Sharpie.

While not exactly an Advent-specific tradition, I love to make homemade bread this time of year. I follow a simple recipe and the rise time reminds me that Advent is a season of waiting. While it’s baking, our whole house smells wonderful and inviting, and the best part (of course) is eating it warm out of the oven with butter.

During Advent, Josiah and I love to diffuse Young Living’s Christmas Spirit essential oil. I don’t sell essential oils and nearly all of mine are the cheapest brands I could find on Amazon or at Target, but this little bottle is worth the $10. It smells like a Christmas tree and oranges and cinnamon, and it always lasts the entire month of December even though we diffuse it every time we are home and awake. Whenever I smell it now, I think of sweet Christmas memories with my husband and the cozy feeling of our home in the winter.

However you choose to celebrate, I hope this season is full and rich with reminders to you of the Lord’s faithfulness and love.

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Christ's Power Made Perfect in Weakness

This article was originally published at HorizonsResources.net

“If we are willing to live by Scripture, we must be willing to live by paradox and contradiction and surprise.” -Madeleine L’Engle

In 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul writes about the paradox of our weaknesses as followers of Christ. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

If we were sitting across from each other at a coffee shop, hands curled around warm drinks in the type of atmosphere that fosters vulnerability, I would tell you that most of the time, these paradoxes in our faith unsettle me. The difficulty with feeling unsettled about this passage is that I am often tempted to believe lies about what it actually says. The words get twisted in my mind, bent out of their original shape and meaning.

A few months ago, I took a cue from an artist I enjoy and started writing down lies that were bumping around in my head. He assigns the words to cartoon drawings of monsters, something I think is both funny and helpful. When I was thinking through this passage, I started writing down the lies I have believed about what it says, and they fall into three main categories. Maybe these words have been in the mouths of some of your own cartoon monsters.

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