What I Learned in March

At the end of every month, we join with Emily Freeman to share what we learned– both the serious and the silly. At the end I hope you feel free to share what you have learned with me. I’d love to know.

*I learned that it’s a Segue. (sey-gwey) N. An uninterrupted transition from one thing to another. Ok, so all this time, I thought it was spelled as it sounds, segue-way or seg-way. It seems much of the world does also– because when I looked up the word, I actually read an article which stated that since this word is so commonly mis-spelled, there is some discussion over adding the incorrect spelling as an alternate acceptable version. Wait, what? We spell something wrong enough so we just decide to make it right? #wordsareweird

*I learned that we can do hard things. I wrote about the recent blog redesign in March, but I’m still reeling from the fun rollercoaster of learning all that I did about WordPress, design elements, and even a tiny smidge of code. (gasp! I know. Code.) I’m not going to apply for a Web-Designer job any time soon for sure– (because I actually broke my blog one day during this whole process and still can’t figure out a thing or two,) but there is nothing at all like learning you CAN do something you avoided in fear for so long. It made me wonder what else we would learn from stretching ourselves regularly.

*I learned that technology can delight us. Have you heard of the new Amazon Dash button? Coolest. thing. ever. and they come in over 100 brands — including wait for it– slim-jim. So if you happen to consume a whole lot of beef jerky and fear running out, you can order a slim-jim dash button and bam, get more jerky at the click of a button. It seemed a little Meet – George – Jetson to me at first, but I can see how amazing it would be with things like laundry detergent, dishwasher capsules, etc. I will admit that I watched the video and then googled whether or not it was an early April Fool’s Joke, because you know, gullible.

*I learned that Annie Banks Mackenzie and Jeannie Gaffigan are real life sisters. Kimberly Williams-Paisley (Father of the Bride) and Ashley Williams (The Jim Gaffigan Show) are sisters– how fun is that? I’ve not seen much of the Jim Gaffigan Show but FOB has always been a favorite.

Books I Enjoyed:

Roots & Sky by Christie Purifoy. I have enjoyed this book slowly, like one would a piece of 5-layer Coconut Cake with fresh lemon curd. I would rarely take a year to read one book, but with this one– I was tempted to. Divided into the four seasons of the calendar, Roots & Sky is a soul-satisfying embrace of life’s changes and the beauty within each. I wish I could have read this book when we first moved here five years ago, but I would definitely pick it back up in any life-stage to remind myself to notice the hope of life itself.

“..But it takes time to unlearn habits of fear and worry and fuss. It takes time to learn how to see what is right in front of our noses. We have been eating manna for hundreds of days, but here I am, anxious because our kitchen has no refrigerator and the car that has just been unloaded from the trailer will not start… It is a momentous beginning, but it unfolds gradually and with the usual complications. Box after box.”

–Christie Purifoy, Roots & Sky

Curious Faith by Logan Wolfram. This book is written by one of my favorite people I have met through the internet. You know how it feels to run into someone you know when you’re in a sea of strangers? Like sauntering through an out-of-town mall or walking down an airport concourse, all you see ahead are unfamiliar faces– until you don’t. You see a friend up ahead and you both laugh out loud at the unexpected joy of finding a face you both know?

That’s Logan for anyone who knows her. She is an almost instant friend who gets real about life and God and invites you to do the same. I love that about her. And can I just say, this book oozes with that same authentic honesty? It does. Curious Faith is Logan’s personal journey out of a predictable knowledge of God. Out of the mundane and into the place of waiting with expectancy on the God who delights us with His surprising goodness. This book may be Logan’s story, but so much of it was mine as well. I’m grateful for her obedience in crafting this uplifting memoir of God’s movement in and through her “yes.” And so much of it is just plain fun.

One of the quotes I keep returning to–

“I wonder if our longings were even met, would we know it? If we can’t learn to find life and hope in the seasons of unmet longing, then I’d suggest that pieces of us will still feel dead even when we should be content. Perhaps God eventually satisfies our present desires in ways we imagine, or maybe in His goodness, He re-writes them altogether.”

–Logan Wolfram, Curious Faith 

Up Next on the Nightstand: 

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (I’m speeding through this one– so good.)

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (So late to the KonMari party, but I’ll get there!)

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (I am committing to finish this one in April so I can move on to the next one in May.)

 

Ok. Your turn! What did you learn in March? 

 

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