That Thing I Do Now - Vol 50

Hey there!  Here we are again... the weekend at our feet and so many options to grab our attention and dive right in! I pray you have a refreshing, relaxing (yes - you can have both!) weekend ahead! I pray that if you are needing a bit of inspiration, or find yourself with a little down time, that these links below will feed your soul, so you can - you know - feed the rest of you with all sorts of Summer goodness!

The Semi-Bloggy Break continues, but I am here... just a little less often... and I love to hook you up! So without further ado (because I totally talk like that in real life!) - here we go!

Happy Reading!

Enjoy!

* This one by Tsh Oxenreider on Faces over Facebook, People over Pixels...
"The Internet is a beautiful place. But it can also be really, really loud. Really loud.

It’s a never-sleeping place, constantly barraging us with more and more and more content, vying for our attention and clamoring for our eyeballs. Even the good stuff, it’s overwhelming. Our brains pound with every scroll, every ‘like,’ every pin, and our necks stiffen downward as we focus our gaze to our palms and avoid other eyes and faces."


* This post by Sarah Bessey over at The High Calling on Rethinking Scarcity: A Legacy of Abundance...

"...scarcity tells us to work until we drop. We’ve got to hustle, hustle, hustle to get ours and then to keep it. But in the liturgy of abundance, we practice Sabbath. Exhaustion and burn-out are symptoms of scarcity: wholeness, joy, rest are hallmarks of a life lived within abundance. In fact, Brueggemann calls the practice of Sabbath an act of resistance because we are saying no to “the culture of now.”"

* This post by Heather Kopp over at Sober Boots on Getting Attention! (Actually... she is quoting Mark Nepo here...)
"The longer we try to get attention instead of giving it, the deeper our unhappiness. It leads us to move through the world dreaming of greatness, needing to be verified at every turn, when feelings of oneness grace us only when we verify the life around us. It makes us desperate to be loved, when we sorely need the medicine of being loving."


* This post by Kristin Schell over at Deidra Rigg's place with 6 Ways To Get To Know Your Neighbors...
"I wanted to know my neighbors better. Turns out my neighbors were feeling the same way. We didn’t start a big program or try to force the issue, we simple opened our front doors and started looking for opportunities to get to know each other in a more meaningful way.

Slowly, but surely, we’ve become friends and neighbors in the community we were all dreaming about. Here are some ideas that have worked in our neighborhood"


* This post by Kelli Woodford over at outside the city gates with The Unorthodox Chapter - The One I Never Wanted (But Got Anyway)...
"But in leaving the church, I was not leaving God. In fact, I realized that in leaving the church, I was following Him. And sometimes when you trust God’s voice instead of fear’s, the road can turn in some pretty unorthodox directions. Ask Abraham. Or Jeremiah. Even Jesus might know a thing or two about it." 


* This one by Jennie Allen on how It's Ok to be Happy... 
"Our view of God informs our thoughts and actions and relationships and emotions.

Indeed words fail when it comes to Bob Goff and that magical place but I can say one word that I think changes everything for everyone…

you see someone who is truly unashamedly purely happy. Bob enjoys God- he enjoys people- he enjoys life and it’s so dang contagious." 


* This post by Shawn Smucker over at A Deeper Story titled, Cough. Breathe. Cancer. Dance. 
"“I will dance at your sister’s wedding tomorrow,” she told me, laughing a broad-grinned laugh that turned into a short coughing fit. She composed herself, cleared her throat gently, took a steadying breath, then looked back up at me with a more serious expression.

“I will dance,” she said.

And she wasn’t talking to me in that moment, with fire in her eyes. She wasn’t talking to anyone in the room, no living person. She was talking, quite definitively, to her Stage 4 cancer. She was throwing down. I sensed it shrink back inside of her."


* This, from Deidra Riggs over at The High Calling with Three Guidelines for Living Freely and Lightly...
"Endlessly measuring my performance or talent or accomplishments or expectations or joys and sorrows against those of others’ often has me chasing after empty air, and using up all my resources in the process. In the end, I’m left with nothing but a short fuse, burned to its very last fiber. I burn out.

You too?

Jesus, as is his custom, offers us a better way."


* This one right HERE from My Freshly Brewed Life where I wrote on taking a Pause in Thus Far... 
"Lately He has been calling me away.  As if He knows my tendency to push right on through and not really take that pause that is so often needed.

It’s not that I enjoy being (over)busy or that I need to be productive.  To be honest, I have an extremely high tolerance for lazy. I enjoy marathoning Netflix with my Girlie or coffee dates and lunch plans galore.  I think know that He delights in what I delight in, so I am confident that He is fine with all my social butterfly fun… and yet, He is jealous for me.  He wants my attention and devotion and He will have it… He has it, but sometimes it’s not so easy to tell!"

And of course... the video... because that's how we do! A friend of mine sent this to me via e-mail.  You know, Old School style... and maybe I cry too easily - but this one stirred up something good... Enjoy!

So - what did you think? Had you read these yourself already?  Did you find something that is not listed above?  Share the wealth! Let me know of a Blogger/Writer who you love in the Comments below!