Showing posts with label Weekend Round-Up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekend Round-Up. Show all posts

My Favorite Blogs of the Week – February 2



1)  Kathi Lipp’s “Christian Sister Do Me a Favor: Keep Your Clothes On” has sparked many forwards, ruffled a few feathers, and given me great discussion fodder with my high school students!  “Yes, our men have a responsibility to guard their eyes, keep their thoughts pure, and be (and teach their sons to be) respectful of women no matter what. But we have a responsibility as well; we need to dress in a way that respects the men that are part of our Christian family.


2)  Sheila Wray Gregoire’s “Submission Doesn’t Mean You Never Have Conflict” is the first in a 3-part series on the difference between “submission” and turning a blind eye to on-going sin. “I don’t believe, however, that peace means absence of conflict. Peace means re-establishing a healthy relationship, and sometimes that must involve conflict. We must confront overt sin...


3)  Michele-Lyn Ault blogging at Allume tells the story of “The Starving Blogger” (which could just as easily be “the starving mom ... teacher ... wife ... lawyer ... etc.”)  “The story of the starving baker shows us; we must nourish ourselves before we feed others. It is a selfless thing to do, to nourish our own soul, so we are giving out of the overflow of our life.


4)  Love Holley Gerth’s distinctions in “Don’t Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide”:  “So here’s a life-changing truth: Your conscience and the Holy Spirit are not the same thing.


5)  In “Flawed and Fearless FridayAdelle Gabrielson invites us “Let’s play a game. I’ll tell you some really dumb stuff I pulled off this week, we’ll all laugh about it, and then you get to tell me what YOU did that makes you gloriously human and flawed. Ready? Go.”  (Hers involves Fruit Loops and a 5-year-old!)


6)  e-Mom hosted Marriage Monday at Chrysalis Cafe and shares her thoughts on commitment in  “Our Sacred Commitment” (as do the 10 other bloggers who linked up!)  “Both marriage and high wire acts require a very strong safety net below the surface to provide security and protection against missteps, sudden mishaps, and mistakes.


7)  Heather Kopp’s asks -- and answers -- a vital question in “The Bone, the Pebble, the Anti-Person”:  “The problem is quite simple: How can you not live in a constant state of resentment?


8)  Seth Godin’s “For the One Person Who Didn’t Get the Joke” was impecibly timed, as I continue prayerfully focusing my ministry niche, both in the classroom and out. “...the ability to say, ‘It's not for you’ is the foundation for creating something brave and important. You can't do your best work if you're always trying to touch the untouchable or entertain those that refuse to be entertained.



Your Turn:
  • What blog posts have you read this week that you especially enjoyed?
  • What topics tend to grab your interest? 
  • Anything else on your heart!


Coming in February!


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My Favorite Blogs of the Week -- January 26

(My apologies for a week of silence: I've been traveling, working on my new website, and trying to convince Feedburner to function again for me!)



I spent much of this week traveling and attending the She Speaks Intensive conference in North Carolina. Not surprisingly, all the blog posts that caught my attention this week speak to the creative process:

1.  Laura Hyers gives a gentle reminder that "some days are just hard days" in "When Your Day is One of Those."



2.  Holley Gerth starts out "A hard day hits me" in I Need You. You Need Me. {And That’s Good.}


3.  Emily Freeman challenges us to do a very hard thing in “One Thing We’re Waiting For (and Why It’s Time to Stop)."

4.  Mary Carver at Giving Up on Perfect understands how hard it can for me to choose from among so many options in What’s the Bright Idea?” 


5.  Jenny Price -- guest posting at Jeff Goinsblog -- says that if onlookers aren't saying, "you're nuts!" then our dreams may need a boost (in "Keep Dreaming… Even When They Think You’re Nuts.")


6.  "There will always be a surplus of people eager to criticize, nitpick, or recommend caution" says Seth Godin, arguing "On Behalf of Yes."


7.  Heather Kopp at Sober Boots highlights this wonderful line from “A Prayer to be Poor”: "to do the truth quietly and without display." 


8.  Arianne of To Think is to Create blogging at (in)Courage asks this vital question in "On Missing the Curve: "What do you do when everything you expected God to do turns out to be wrong? When an entirely different (and unwanted) path is before you?"


9.  Adelle Gabrielson muses about the fact that when you're a parent -- regardless of the kind of day you're having, the dreams you are reaching, or the mistakes you're making -- "Someone is Watching."


10.  And Skip Prichard, guest blogging at Michael Hyatt, extrapolates some incredible "Lessons from the Ordinary."



Your Turn:
  • What blog posts have you read this week that you especially enjoyed?
  • What topics tend to grab your interest? 
  • Anything else on your heart!



Coming in January!


Click here --> to sign up
to receive Cheri's FREE eBook when it releases!



Looking for a simple way to keep scripture close at hand?

Click HERE for full details!
31 laminated cards in an organza draw-string bag...
images and word spacing designed to enhance memory

My Favorite Blog Posts of the Week – January 19



1.  Michele Cushatt shares her own “Mom fails” and a great does of encourgement in “To the Mom Who Can’t Keep Up” and suggests that we “quit. Not motherhood, but trying to measure success according to a checked-off list of unrealistic expectations. Motherhood is less about supposed-to’s and far more about get-to’s.”


2.  Over at Giving Up on Perfect, Mary shares her disapointment in “The Personality Test that Burst My Bubble.” As a fellow Communicator and Activator, I had to laugh at her dismay at not scoring highly in one particularly desirable strength, because I had the exact same reaction when I took the StrengthsFinder 2.0!


3.  In her guest post at Becoming Minimalist, Robyn Devine offers strategies for “Breaking the Sentimental Attachment to Books.” As I’m feeling convicted to gut my bookshelves again, both at home and at shchool, this is both a timely and practical guide  


4.  In “Clearly Speaking”, Lori (aka The Generous Wife!) discusses the importance of communicating to our husbands clearly rather than in code. This advice was a great reminder to me, as just this week Daniel and I missed out on having lunch together–despite the fact that we were home together for an hour!–because we both made generalized suggestion which led to assumptions, rather than speaking clearly and then clarifying that we’d understood.


5.  I love Scott’s perspective over at Journey to Surrender in “Dress for Success: Put on Patience”.  I so need the reminder to “Enjoy preparation time” rather than rushing through life on efficiency mode.  His list of “5 ways to let your marriage steep” is a much-needed contrast to all the ways I so naturally find to stew about my marriage!


6.  John Sowers, guest blogging at Storyline, discusses “Finding Your Keystone Habit.”
As I’m traveling to North Carolina this weekend, I’ve been slowly acclimating to Eastern Standard Time by getting up 30 minutes earlier each morning and going to bed 30 minutes earlier each night. I’ve been surprised by how much I’m enjoying being up at 4:00 AM to spend time in scripture and to exercise. 


7.  Emily Freeman’s observations on Lance Armstrong’s Oprah interview in “For When You Think You Want Control” have me thinking about control issues...especially when I’m in crisis and when I get caught.


8.  My husband would be far too embarrassed to thank Kathi Lipp in person, but her “Get Yourself Organized: Your Pajamas” has produced some changes in my night attire that have caused him to say, multiple times, “I really think you should keep hanging out with Kathi!” 


9.  “The Apathy Shield” by Jon Acuff has me examining various areas of my life to see where an apathy shield either has gone up or is on its way up. Healthy detachment is a skill I’m trying to learn, but I don’t want to end up swinging into apathy.




Coming in January!


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My Favorite Blogs This Week -- January 12





I’m new to healthy grief. 

Most of my life, I’ve stuffed. Isolated. Self-destructed.  

But this loss has been an open discussion from the start. 
  • The phone call on Christmas Eve. 
  • On-going text messages.
  • Facebook prayers, videos, hopes...then sorrows and memories.


On Monday, the wife of my colleague who died on New Year’s Eve, shared her heart as we gathered in the library for our first staff worship without Jon. And then she shared again with all of us, staff and students, in chapel.

We didn’t get the miracle we prayed for. But there were so many miracles; the handprints of God were everywhere, amidst the shock and sorrow.

My husband--who took piano lessons from Jon’s mother, pastored with his brother, and worked closely with Jon at school and church over the last seven years--summed it up this way: 

“I’m made up of so many loose threads that have no place to go, now.”

Jon connected to so many in such vital ways, we feel like the tapestry of our lives has ripped beyond mending. 

“Tie a knot.”

God spoke this to Daniel during his Tuesday jog.

“I will continue weaving. For now, tie a knot.”

And hold on
  • to the memories.
  • to each other.
  • to Hope.



1. Jessica Heights’s “The One Thing We Must Never Do to Each Other”: I can’t cherish others if I judge them. I want to listen and learn to cherish others as Jesus did when he hung out with people.


2. Mary Carver, blogging at (in)Courage in “Worshiping Like a Child”:  I know that everyone is called to worship in her own way. As one who “goes into my head” oh-so-easily, physically responding to worship is one of the best ways for me to receive God’s love and delight and own that I truly am cherished.


3. Rachelle Gardner’s “Don’t Feed Your Discontent”:  The PURSE-onality Challenge in May ’12 was based on the concept that what I focus on expands. One value I’m already finding of My One Word is that it gives me a single focus that I can return to when I find my thoughts drifting toward “baditude.”


4. Heather Kopp’s “I’m Scared”: As one who vividly remembers her last piano recital -- the one in which I started the piece over not once, not twice, but three times before I got up, left the house, and walked home.  Back in May ’12, when I performed my first monologue, I would have fainted without my script on the music stand. I SO understand performance anxiety!


5. Journey to Surrender’s “Dress for Success: Put on Kindness”: This is such a practical piece for me this week...month...year!  I can not help Daniel with any of the big projects he’s taken on. I can not help him process his grief, as we handle emotions so differently. But I can actively cherish him with small acts of kindness. 

6. Renee Swope blogging at Proverbs 31 Ministries in “When You Don’t Have it In You”:  I didn’t have it in me to face my students on Monday. But God went before me and sent counselors who were ready to come talk with my students. Such a great reminder that it’s not about what I have in me but Who.


7. Adelle GabrielsonLife Isn’t Fair and Never Will Be”: Such a great reminder that protecting our children from the unfairness of life is one of the worst disservices we can do. Teaching them that disappointment is part of life is one way to cherish our children...even if they won’t thank us for at least a couple of decades (if ever!)


8. Whimsy Smitten’s “When I Was Held Hostage on Gunmetal and Grace”:  A beautiful, gritty piece on fear and freedom. 


9. Kathi Lipp’s “Create a Love Kit for You and Your Man”: SO grateful for a friend who knows I need to be reminded waaaaay early! 

10. Seth Godin’s “The Cost of Neutral”: I have to admit that this one has me unsettled. Reading this, I hear, “Cherish or quit.” I’m hearing God invite me to a silence and solitude retreat...



Your Turn:
  • What blog posts have you read this week that you especially enjoyed?
  • What topics tend to grab your interest? 
  • Anything else on your heart!


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Coming in January!



Click here --> to sign up
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