Inspiring Links >> November
I've spent my free time the last couple days re-designing my blog. I wanted things to look cleaner, whiter, simpler. And I want you to be able to find what you're looking for. See the new search box? ;)
If you like posts with links in them, this one's for you -- I've been collecting my favorites all month to share. Hope November was good to you!
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Emily Freeman gets first pick again with her post about having a soul at rest. She quotes Matthew 11:28-30 from the Message Bible and I love how it reads: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me -- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
When my soul is truly at rest, I don't worry as much about what people think of me, I smile and laugh more, I listen better.
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Ann Voskamp posted this month about the meaning of yadah in Hebrew and how we thank God in the midst of all the mess and unrest that is the world we live in. "We won't stop confessing He is good and we won't stop thanking him for grace and we won't stop holding out our hands -- and taking His hand. We won't stop believing that 'God is good' is not some trite quip for the good days but a radical defiant cry for the terrible days."
Oh that we will be thankful on Thanksgiving Day and every day, in the middle of the good and the bad.
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Here's a simply lovely list of things to do that bring love and joy and create meaning, but cost nothing or next to it. I love surprising my husband with a picnic lunch at work, making pancakes for supper, and snuggling together. Truly -- life doesn't need to be expensive or complicated.
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This is a simple post with a beautiful message. Sometimes we just need to take to the woods. The kids might be restless and bored at first, but nature will start to talk and their spirits will settle. Maegen says, "Because it's always somewhere after that first mile when everyone quiets down, begins to lean into the experience, and starts noticing the beauty around them. Palpably, the mood begins to change. It's right there, lost in the woods, that we find ourselves and each other."
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Kari Patterson shares true words about learning and creativity in this post at Simple Homeschool. She says curriculum is a catalyst and discipline is a diving board. "Each morning we get up, we climb step-by-step up the diving board ladder, by discipline and order, structure and consistency, and then at the top, we face the beauty of the rest of our day -- open and free to swim in the depths of experience and creativity."
It works for us too. Without a springboard of structure and more "classical" education we wouldn't find ourselves in those places of inquiry-based learning as often.
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This post circulated quite a bit through the Interwebs this month -- I saw it posted by several of my friends on Facebook. I think this quote pretty much sums up the point of the article:
"Do you teach your kids 'be good because the Bible tells you to' or do you teach your kids that they will never be good without Christ’s offer of grace? There is a huge difference. One leads to moralism; the other leads to brokenness. One leads to self-righteousness; the other leads to a life that realizes that Christ is everything and that nothing else matters."
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And because I just LOVE coconuts and being inspired by creative videography -- I'll end with this. You're welcome. :)
If you like posts with links in them, this one's for you -- I've been collecting my favorites all month to share. Hope November was good to you!
---
Emily Freeman gets first pick again with her post about having a soul at rest. She quotes Matthew 11:28-30 from the Message Bible and I love how it reads: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me -- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
When my soul is truly at rest, I don't worry as much about what people think of me, I smile and laugh more, I listen better.
---
Ann Voskamp posted this month about the meaning of yadah in Hebrew and how we thank God in the midst of all the mess and unrest that is the world we live in. "We won't stop confessing He is good and we won't stop thanking him for grace and we won't stop holding out our hands -- and taking His hand. We won't stop believing that 'God is good' is not some trite quip for the good days but a radical defiant cry for the terrible days."
Oh that we will be thankful on Thanksgiving Day and every day, in the middle of the good and the bad.
---
Here's a simply lovely list of things to do that bring love and joy and create meaning, but cost nothing or next to it. I love surprising my husband with a picnic lunch at work, making pancakes for supper, and snuggling together. Truly -- life doesn't need to be expensive or complicated.
---
This is a simple post with a beautiful message. Sometimes we just need to take to the woods. The kids might be restless and bored at first, but nature will start to talk and their spirits will settle. Maegen says, "Because it's always somewhere after that first mile when everyone quiets down, begins to lean into the experience, and starts noticing the beauty around them. Palpably, the mood begins to change. It's right there, lost in the woods, that we find ourselves and each other."
---
Kari Patterson shares true words about learning and creativity in this post at Simple Homeschool. She says curriculum is a catalyst and discipline is a diving board. "Each morning we get up, we climb step-by-step up the diving board ladder, by discipline and order, structure and consistency, and then at the top, we face the beauty of the rest of our day -- open and free to swim in the depths of experience and creativity."
It works for us too. Without a springboard of structure and more "classical" education we wouldn't find ourselves in those places of inquiry-based learning as often.
---
This post circulated quite a bit through the Interwebs this month -- I saw it posted by several of my friends on Facebook. I think this quote pretty much sums up the point of the article:
"Do you teach your kids 'be good because the Bible tells you to' or do you teach your kids that they will never be good without Christ’s offer of grace? There is a huge difference. One leads to moralism; the other leads to brokenness. One leads to self-righteousness; the other leads to a life that realizes that Christ is everything and that nothing else matters."
---
And because I just LOVE coconuts and being inspired by creative videography -- I'll end with this. You're welcome. :)