1. Adelle Gabrielson blogging at The MOB Society: “Meaningful Moments of a Boy Mom Christmas”
The photo showing how her boys re-arranged the nativity scene (complete with a prehistoric addition!) is worth a 1,000 words alone. But our whole family died laughing at Adelle’s oh-so-honest narrative and commentary on the difference between her imaginary Christmas and her actual Christmas with two energetic imaginative young boys!
Since I’ve spent the week performing a post-mortem on the hissy fit I threw at a colleague on Monday after they did something that I would never have done, Sheila’s words found fertile soil in my heart: “Often when we are control freaks that’s what happens. We freak out about the things that matter to us, and fail to notice that we may be less than perfect in ways that matter to other members of the family. We’re so sure that our priorities are the right ones, and theirs are not.”
I expected Jon to tell me how important it is to step away from the place where I feel alive and move into the judgment seat because that's what real artists / professionals / grown-ups do. But that wasn’t what he said at all. (And I like what he did say waaay better!)
Jeff puts into words the struggle I have with Christianese that’s offered without any backstory to define it: “Good art is messy. When you create something that doesn’t acknowledge this fact — that life is Act 2, not Act 3 — your audience knows it. They can tell when you’re being disingenuous. It feels too clean, too literal. Our souls thirst for more....We want broken and beautiful, real and raw. Sure, we want abundant life, but we know it comes at a cost. And when you don’t illustrate that cost well — with sacrifice and toil — we don’t believe the story.”
One of my goals for Christmas break is to ruthlessly eliminate stuff from my life. Ever since Katy McKenna's guest post last Friday, I’ve been daily convicted by the “trappings” that I’ve allowed to crowd out the true Calling in my life. This list of 7 benefits of owning less has me excited about making multiple trips to Goodwill and emptying half my bookshelves via half.com!
6. Jen Hatmaker “Woman of Valor...Pinterest Aside” with Rachel Held Evans’ “Why You Don’t Need Pinterest to be a Proverbs 31 Woman”
I love Jen’s tell-it-like-it-is-for-me take on Pinterest. And I absolutely adore Rachel’s total paradigm shift on “the Proverbs 31 woman.” Here’s her conclusion: “So I set aside my to-do list and began using Proverbs 31 as it was meant to be used—not as yet another impossible standard by which to measure our failures [Note from Cheri: Can I hear an amen???!!!], but as a celebration of what we’ve already accomplished as women of valor.”
7. Jill Monaco blogging at Allume: “Are You a Slave This Christmas?”
I found myself squirming while reading through Jill’s contrasting “Spirit of Slavery” vs. “Spirit of Sonship” lists. “Avoids problems” vs. “Sees opportunities in problems” (that first one sounds like people-pleasing again…!) “Talks about self” vs. “Talks about team and sees bigger picture” (has she hung out with me at a party where I just could not let someone else get a word in edgewise?!?) “Runs from pain” vs. “Embraces pain strategically” (clearly she’s been stalking me…) Jill invites readers to e-mail her for a PDF version of the list, which has 21 contrasting qualities, and I’m looking forward to posting mine where I can use it for a heart check-up regularly!
8. Emily Freeman blogging at (in)courage: “When Your Soul Needs to Feel its Worth”
Emily has such a gift for putting convicting truths into gentle words. Each time I read one of her blog posts, I feel like I’ve just sipped a relaxing cup of tea for my heart. This one is no exception.
9. Denise blogging at The Better Mom: “Giving Up Our Perfect Plans to Find Peace on Earth”
As I continue to break the decades-old rules of Perfectionism that once dictated my life, I find -- as does Denise -- that peace is much closer than I ever dreamed possible. “I have to leave room in my schedule to throw caution to wind if necessary, and embrace the best that Christmas has to offer. May we all learn to give up perfect plans to find peace on earth.”
10. Ginny Yttrup: “Christmas Tears”
I love Ginny’s writing; I devoured Words and Lost & Found and can’t wait ‘til Invisible is released! I was greatly blessed this morning by Ginny’s reflections on God’s empathy with our pain at Christmas.
You’ve probably seen this a few dozen times already. But on the off-hand chance you haven’t, it really is worth your time. We really can do so much good in the “everyday ordinaries” of our lives!
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!
Sign up to receive Cheri's FREE eBook when it releases!