That Thing I Do Now - Vol 57

Can you even believe people are talking Back. To. School. already? I mean - do you remember when back to school happened in September, not August?  This is the first year that we have had no real 'investment' in the whole back to school ordeal! Oh - don't get me wrong... we fully anticipate our college girlie to need a little 'help' covering books, but as far as the back to school ritual of shopping for clothes and backpacks and supplies... we are free. Free, I tell you! (There are benefits to this whole Empty Nester gig afterall!)

I hope you were able to read through last weekend's TTIDN post because it was crazy good! This week is off to a great start as well so buckle up and read on, my friends!



Happy Reading!

Enjoy! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names to read their whole posts, yes?)

* This one by Kate Motaung with i'm a white girl from michigan, and i'm #goingthere...
"My kids often get invited to play dates with adopted children, so the mocha kids in otherwise all-pale families will see faces that look more like their own.  And I wonder about that sometimes, like, “Does it really matter?”

But maybe it does.  Maybe it matters a whole lot more than I will ever know.  Because while skin color really doesn’t matter to me, it does matter to many, and they matter to me. And most importantly, they matter to Him.

But also, maybe if we all just checked the tags in our shirts, we’d realize we were all made in the same Place.  Different shades of the same fabric, a rainbow of material woven by the same Person."


* This one by Emily Freeman over at InCourage.me with  Why Rest Takes Courage...
"Maybe a break means taking time to listen without the pressure to hear something profound; a time to read without the pressure to learn something interesting; a time to receive without the pressure to turn the gift into something more useful.

Just because you take a break from something doesn’t mean you’re resting. My soul was desperate for me to know the difference."


* This post by Glennon Melton over at Momastery with Give Me Gratitude or Give Me Debt...

"But as I lay down to sleep, I remembered this passage from Thoreau’s Walden: “I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not a new wearer of the clothes.” Walden reminds me that when I feel lacking- I don’t need new things, I need new eyes with which to see the things I already have. So when I woke up this morning, I walked into my kitchen wearing fresh perspectacles. Here’s what I saw.

You guys. I have a REFRIGERATOR.

This thing MAGICALLY MAKES FOOD COLD. I’m pretty sure in the olden days, frontierswomen had to drink warm Diet Coke. Sweet Jesus. Thank you, precious kitchen." 

(And it just gets better from here! Click to keep reading!)

* This post by Sarah Bessey In which God is transforming the world: on hope, Iraq, and everything else...
"If we want the light of God to be the light by which we live, let that light shine in our lives and let it expose the truth. The truth shall set us free. We can give myself over to a sleepless night, holding vigil with all those who weep and watch and wait. We can create beauty. We can be what Kathy Escobar calls a “pocket of freedom and love,” setting up prophetic outposts of the Kingdom of God in our right-now lives.

And we can pray with our children and then raise them to listen, and to work, and to partner with God in the work of truth-telling and reconciliation and justice. This is God’s work, to love well.

We can be men and women who love.

Sometimes, absolutely, mountains move in a great sweep, picked up and cast out into the sea.

But these days I find that God often asks us to move a mountain one small stone a time."


* This post by Lisha Epperson over at SheLoves Magazine with May I First See Her Heart...
"Each night, just before dawn, I awakened to the same song.  A melody wafting through the sky, drifting in and out of me. When it quietened, I wondered if it was over and if it would return? I’d miss it even before it left, I’d anticipate its absence and feel a deep sense of longing pierce my core.

I waited. Faithfully. Like a mother for a child. And every night just before I could figure it out, I’d fall back to sleep. My spirit mingled with the magic of that moment—my world fully awakened yet floating on the lullaby of a beautiful song.  This was my dream, my beautiful girl.

What is beauty and who or what is beautiful? Are trees less worthy because of twisted branches? Knobby holes and storm worn boughs? Dried leaves and peeling bark? I think the opposite is true. Am I beautiful? Are you?"


* This post by Cadence Turpin over at Storyline with A Better Way to Introduce Your Friends at Parties...
"What if instead of introducing your friend as Jennifer the nurse, you started introducing her as Jennifer, one of most thoughtful people you know, or Jennifer the friend who helped you move in when you didn’t know a soul in this city.

Introducing your friends for who they are rather than focusing on what they do will remind them they are loved before and beyond their titles. It’s an easy way to remind them that you see them for their hearts instead of their accomplishments."


* This post by John Blase over the A Deeper Story with Taste It All...
"John the best friend of Jesus (imo) records the Lord
hurling this verbal curve for those with ears to hear:
I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.
Now most of us fingers-crossed interpret that verse like this:
I have come that they might have the easy life, and a lot of it.

We may not say that out loud, but that’s what we wish inside because most of us would like to trade in the life we have for a new model, salvation similar to a cell phone upgrade. But what if we’re off by about a hundred miles on that?"


* This post, in light of #Ferguson and all the heartbreaking sadness that is unfolding this week, by Osheta Moore where she tells that (She) I Raise My Hands: A Prayerful Response to Ferguson...
"Today, I raise my hands. These holy hands made holy to do holy work in this sin-stained world.   I raise my hands and ask God to redeem the violence, redeem the suffering, redeem the heartbreak in Ferguson.  I raise my hands to thank him that he has overcome but to ask him to come, be present, and bring peace. With my hands in the air I pray, “By your wounds we are healed, Lord.  Usher in healing for Michael Brown’s family and the community of Ferguson.”

Today, I raise my hands, because perfect love casts out all fear and because Abba Father sees the suffering of his children.  I raise my hands to bear witness to my  brothers and sisters who were tear gassed and shot with rubber bullets. I raise my hands because my love for them is restless. I can’t do anything tangible with these hands, but raise them high.  Lord, we are restless for change and anxious for hope.  We are witnesses of injustice. We are the women at the feet of the cross, empower us to stay through the torment so that we can be present to bind up wounds and then—see resurrection." 



* This one right HERE where I talk about how When Words Bridge the Gap...
"On our own, we forget... we get side-swiped and feel woozy.  We are off-center and free-falling and it's hard to stop staring at all the Bad News.  But here's the thing... can I encourage you to look away.  No, not to bury your head in the sand, but to turn your attention back to good... back to what God is doing both around the world and in your own neighborhood -in your own heart. And then shout it from the rooftops, that our God is good! 

Pray for the persecuted...yes!  Let me encourage you to give and serve and do what you can... but don't allow your focus to stay on the darkness.  Instead, use your Light (and your words!) to shine brighter still."

And lastly... the video... because that is how we do around here... and this? This is what we need after this week!

Happy Weekend, ya'll!