Royal Reads: Safe All Along by Katie Davis Majors

Do you have authors that you just love? When they write a book, you immediately grab it--even if your nightstand is full of others and if the topic doesn't seem like it fits in your current life situation?  Authors who you just KNOW will have written something you will appreciate?

That's how I felt when I saw that Katie Davis Majors had a new book.  This is her 3rd--you may have hear of her from her first book "Kisses from Katie."  It tells the story of her trip to Uganda that ended up with her adopting 13 daughters and starting an amazing ministry that created schooling opportunities for Ugandan children who didn't have any before she arrived on the scene.  

Her second book "Daring to Hope: Finding God's Goodness in the Broken and Beautiful" came out at a time when I needed to hear the words she wrote--my dad was dying of cancer and life seemed extra hard.  She talked about writing things that bring her joy on a sticky note and putting them where she could see them every day.  It started me on a quest to write down things in a journal that brought me joy that day.  And while bacon made the list several times, I also pictured so many people I loved when I wrote their names in that journal.  

I ordered "Safe All Along: Trading our Fears and Anxieties for God's Unshakeable Peace" as soon as I saw it was coming out.  It's taken me several months to finish it--even though it's an easy read.  It's one of those books that has nuggets of truth all throughout.  I don't feel like this has been a season where I've been extra anxious or even fearful, but I am an Enneagram 6...(if you know, you KNOW).

I read a chapter or half a chapter a few mornings a week and finally finished it today.  I'm a little sad that it's over, so I thought I'd go back through and note the things that stood out to me.  Hope you enjoy them, too!

"None of us will ever be outside the reach of God, who sees the whole plan from above, who knows exactly what He is doing and where we are going."

"I want to live in a peace that is dependent not on my circumstances but on the unchanging character of God."

"We can walk in the confidence we might have if we could see the ending, even though we can't.  We can learn to live in the steady assurance that in Christ, we are safe all along."

"...we can be tired and we can be stuck even when we have been faithful."

"We can trust our lives and our futures to a good God who cares for His people and draws near to them in their times of need.  A God who comes to us, a God who speaks to us, a God who joins us in our trials and promises to give us His perfect peace.  A God who has sought us and loved us from the moment of the world's creation."

"When I look at the life of Christ, I see how often He was inconvenienced, interrupted and right in the middle of aloud and chaotic atmosphere. Yet, He Himself is the Prince of Peace and He promises to leave this peace with us."

"Real peace comes from knowing, believing, trusting that God is good and kind and absolutely in control, worthy of our worship and our utmost trust."

"God wants to be known by us."

"We are conditioned from the time we are little to pick just one emotion that we are feeling at a time.  We believe we can hold either grief OR hope, sadness OR joy.  One or the other.  But Jesus the error in that perspective."

"It's okay to be sad, it's okay to lament, but it's not okay to stay there forever.  Lament.  Grieve. Cry out.  And then turn your heart back to praise."

"Our grief ca be holy when we bring it honestly to Jesus, but when it turns to complaining and self-pity, it becomes a dangerous weapon of the enemy."

"As we surrender our anxieties and our worries, our fear and our burdens, to Jesus, as we cry out in our suffering and hurt, He alone can change our mourning into dancing."

"I want to choose joy not as a feeling but as a lifestyle.  I don't want to be someone who rejoices and worships only when life is good, but someone who rejoices in God ad worships Him for His goodness o matter what is going on.  I don't want to just be thankful for the gifts, I want to rejoice in the giver."

"Practicing peace is a lifelong process of coming back to the present moment over and over again."

"Sometimes we have to say no to something that is good to say Yes to what is better."

"Rest is just another way we trust Him, another way we surrender."

"Our God ALWAYS comes for us, always after us, always calling us home."

"In a day and age when we think our image, our reputation, and our social media following are our mot powerful tools of influence, Jesus is beckoning us to a towel and a basin of water.  Jesus is beckoning us to the freedom and peace of service."

"When we are serving because we are so full of the love of Jesus that we can't imagine not letting that flow out of us, when we are truly putting the needs of others before our own out of genuine love and care, we can serve from a place of rest."

"Faithful obedience doesn't have to mean moving somewhere or doing some 'big' or 'important' ministry.  Our small yes to God matters."

"In Jesus, there is always possibility.  We can wait in anticipation for good things up ahead, even when we do not know what is in store."

Let's Flex!

 

Every day, when I go outside, I have a choice:

Which shoes will I wear today?

I keep a pair of flip flops and a pair of boots by the back door because I never know what to expect.  In fact, some days, I wear one in the morning and the other in the evening.  There have been times I chose one but needed the other (because Oklahoma weather is just whacked).

Seeing them sitting beside each other is always a great reminder for me of things a little more deeper than shoe choice.  Each and every time I head out my door, I get to make a choice.  And even if I chose wrong the first time, it doesn't take long to make a change.  

Living with a 103 yr old with Alzheimer's teaches me every day about flexibility.  Change happens quickly and often and no matter how prepared I THINK I am, I am often surprised.  I can choose to stick with what I thought should happen or I can flex (or in the word of our friend Ross--pivot).  

As I've aged, part of me has naturally become more flexible, but, there are other parts that remind me loudly they have not.  It takes a conscious effort to not let rigidity take over.  

Isn't this true of life?  We can stand firm and refuse to flex.  If I did this with my shoes, I would be either too hot or too cold--and let me tell you, when my feet are uncomfortable, my whole body suffers.  The other choice is to embrace the change and flex with it as needed.

That doesn't mean to become like those crazy windsock guys--with no backbone at all--flipping and flying all over the place.  The flexibility I'm talking about is more like a pipe cleaner.  It has a strong core, but is able to be bent into all kinds of shapes to make what is needed at that moment.  

This morning, I made the right choice to wear my boots to the grocery store in the rain.  I have a feeling I will be wearing my worn out flip-flops later today.  Tomorrow, when I go to brunch with Brian, I'll pull out some cute booties.  As I'm typing this, I'm sitting here barefoot.  I have endless opportunities all day long.

Flexibility feels like a spiritual discipline to me and the more I practice it, the more I enjoy the gifts God has put around me.

As I type this, my feet are starting to get chilled so I think I'll go find my houseshoes.  

Royal Reads - The 5 Wishes of Mr Murray McBride

It's been a while since I've reviewed a book on here, but I just could not let the year end without telling you about these two books.  I read both of them in the last week and am so glad I did!

"The 5 Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride" by Joe Siple has definitely earned a spot on my faves shelf.  It was sweet, moving and thought provoking.  It tells the story of Murray--a 100 year old man--who helps Jason--a 10 year old heart patient--fulfill his 5 wishes.  If you're looking for realistic and logical, then just pass this book on by.  But if you are looking for something that will make you feel, grab it fast.  It's on Kindle Unlimited so super easy to get.

Joe Siple also wrote a follow up entitled "The Final Wish of Mr. Murray McBride" and I can't decide if I like it as much as the first or better.  It picks up with the life of Jason as an adult.  Murray is woven throughout this story as well as an 11 year old girl named Alexandra.  

There is something about the holidays that makes me want to read some fluff that will make me smile AND cry.  These books both did that.  Have you read them?  If so, please let me know what you thought!

When Change is Good

I may be the only person on the planet to think this way, but I love time change aka daylight savings.  I love when it starts getting dark earlier in the fall.  I love when it stays lighter in the spring.  I act like it's the first time I've ever experienced it every 6 months when it happens.  Please don't shoot me, but it fills me with joy.  

To me, that change has a purpose.  I know, I know, most of us aren't farmers and don't need to take advantage of the extra daylight for work, but I think our bodies still need it.  

Fall is a time to let go, slow down and settle in.  In the fall, I want to create comfy spaces inside.  

Spring is a time to gain momentum, to feel anticipation, to come out of hiding.  In the spring, I want to plant flowers and herbs and vegetables and be outside as much as possible.  

The older I get, the more firmly I believe we need spring and fall to recover from winter and summer.  Summer is bright and big and harsh.  Winter is deep and dark and dead.  Both require all of us--there is no halfway--leaving us exhausted and spent.

I used to think I didn't like change, but looking back, I realize I don't mind change...as long as it makes sense.  It's the change for change sake that drives me crazy. The "let's do something different because I'm bored" kind of change.  

I believe our bodies react to the changing seasons just like the grass and flowers and trees--even animals.  

Being on the farm for a full seasonal cycle, I see this clearly.  The dog gets a thicker coat in the winter and sheds it in the summer.  The chicken takes a break from laying eggs when the days are shorter.  The tree changes her colors and drops her leaves.  The grass stops growing.  It's just so tangible.  

For us humans, it's not always that black and white.  Our hair doesn't grow faster or thicker.  We don't lose limbs.  Most of our change occurs in what we do.  We shift from grilling to making stews and soups.  We spend more time inside rather than outside. 

I used to find myself wasting the season I was in, wishing I was in the midst of a different one.  In spring, I was ready to see the flowers in full bloom.  In summer, I was ready for a break in heat.  In fall, I was wishing for a white Christmas.  In winter, I craved the green of spring.  Can you relate?

I'm learning that the key to pretty much everything in life is being grateful--including in the season we are currently in.  Soaking in the sun--in small batches when we hate the heat.  Getting some pretty sunset pics in the fall.  Snuggling in and enjoying the quiet of winter.  Buying a new pair of rainboots in the spring.  Being all in where I am.  

But I'm not advocating to pretend.  It IS okay to mourn the passing of a season and to anticipate another. In fact, that's healthy.  But when we kick our feet about a necessary change, we miss out.  We don't get to be a part of shaping and pioneering the phase.

It's like the freak freeze we got last fall at the farm.  The trees were full of leaves--they were not ready to drop them yet.  When the freeze came, their leaves became too heavy and not only fell, they took whole branches and trees with them.  Those leaves, that should have been dropped earlier, will suffer the effects of that holding on for years to come.   

Today, I'm embracing the sun after a morning of hard rain and tornadoes.  I'm anticipating in a few weeks when the clocks fall back and the days are shorter.  

And I'm thankful for the change that's on its way...

Why I Write

In order to know why I write, I need to first let you know why I read.  Reading and writing go hand in hand .,, 

A few years ago, I was trying to encourage a friend who had to sell some of his hobby items.  I'm sure I said the wrong thing, probably tried to placate instead of just listen and empathize.  Out of nowhere, he criticized my love of reading by telling me I didn't understand what he was feeling because books were not a true hobby and kept me sedentary.  

I responded with a passion I didn't realize I had.  That offended me in a huge way.  For the first time, I put into words why I loved reading so much and it has stuck with me.  Books took me to places I knew I would never go physically.  Books created an escape from a pretty dreary childhood.  Books were friends for a highly emotional, nerdy, goody-two-shoes little girl.  Most of all, books reminded me that there was hope in the middle of circumstances that seemed hopeless.  

Most kids play "house" or "store" or "post office" when they are little.  I played library.  I put my desk in the corner of my bedroom and placed books all around it.  This was back in the day when there were cards in the book that you signed when you checked them out, so each book had a card in it.  I would coerce my brother and sister to come in and check out the books.  I think I even did a story time every now and then.  I wanted to be a librarian when I grew up so I could read all the books--whenever I wanted.

I'm going to date myself, but this was back in the day when kids were left alone at home while their parents worked.  I was only 9, but I babysat my sister and sometimes my brother.  We were not allowed to go outside while Dad and Mom were at work and we didn't have cable tv.  My parents paid me by buying me books.  I got a Weekly Reader subscription and every month, a couple of books would magically appear in my mailbox.  I would read them over and over again until the next month.  

We were not rich or even middle class.  We didn't take vacations. unless it was to drive to Missouri to see grandparents.  We didn't have a lot of toys.  We didn't even have a lot of books, but I loved the ones we did.  We had a set of classics that came with our Encyclopedias and at the age of 10, I started reading Gone WIth The Wind and Rebecca and continued to read them at least once a year.  

In third grade, the school library closed a couple of weeks before school was out for summer.  I was devastated.  My teacher found me crying in the hallway and offered to let me borrow the books behind her desk.  Do you remember those books your teacher had?  They were her private stash and she would choose one to read aloud to the class after lunch.  We would put our heads down on our desk and just listen to what Ramona and Beezus and Laura Ingalls Wilder were up to now.  

Anyway, that third grade teacher made my year!  I probably read 4-5 books in that few weeks until summer arrived.  The only one I remember is "The Borrowers," but I remember the feeling so special, being allowed to not only read those books, but that I was trusted to take them home.  My 4th grade teacher followed her lead and allowed me to do the same--she had "The Secret of Nihm" and "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nihm" and many others I can't remember.  I'm not sure why we didn't go to the public library, but other than the weekly reader books, I didn't have any new ones in the summer, so I gobbled up as many as I could during the school year.  

Almost as long as I wanted to be a librarian, I wanted to write a book.  I wanted to put something on paper that would make people feel, to give them an escape from the mundane life they were living.  As I got older, I wanted it to be something that would change someone's life.  I don't know that I ever knew what kind of book I wanted to write until a few years ago.  

I decided back in 2016 I would write "#Asking for a Friend."  It would be a collection of short devotional-type stories.  Between each chapter would be a page of my "askingforafriend posts.  Then, Jen Hatmaker came out with a book that basically did the same thing and she could say things so much more eloquently than me.  And I couldn't purchase the domain "askingforafriend" because it was already taken, so I didn't pursue it.  

When I moved to the farm last year, I thought, "Now is the time!"  I had lots of material about seasons of life from watching Gran and seeing the flowers and trees and sunsets.  So I wrote a few things in the cracks of taking care of Granny.  I was invited by a sweet friend to a writer's group that met over zoom and I jumped at the chance.  I started putting things together, but felt like everything I wrote had been written before.  I mean, think about it, how much is out there on the seasons of life and comparing planting and harvesting to our daily lives?  

So I stopped pursing it again.  "One day, I will write a book" became something I said whenever someone asked me what I thought I would do after Granny died.  

I never wanted to write children's books.  I don't even know the popular books anymore.  My girls never liked to read, so I didn't keep up with all the latest trends in kids books.  We just read "Go, Dog, Go" and "where the Wild Things Are" over and over.

But the words just flowed.  I looked at our animals and realized each had a challenge they faced that was almost identical to what kids were facing today. 

So I typed them up.  And shared them with my writer's group for critiques.  And they were well-received so I started trying to figure out how to finally follow through on this idea to publish a children's book series.  

I was hoping for doors to open quickly--to be the anomaly, but it's slow going.  Everyone knows a publisher, but it hasn't panned out for me yet.  I have an illustrator, but when I finally figured out the details of what the pics needed to be (who knew there were SO MANY rules on size and color, etc), she started back to work and school and is incredibly busy right now.  

I've kinda lost my momentum, but I will continue to pursue getting them published, because I think parents and kids need to hear them.  My hope for these books is two-fold:

1). Give kids words to put with their feelings and help them realize there is no shame in those feelings by allowing them to see them through the eyes of an animal they love

2).  Give parents an opportunity to discuss the hard stuff with their kids.  The stuff that doesn't always come up in conversations.  To equip them with tools to speak their kiddos' language.  

I don't know when or even if the books will be published.  I have 3 written so far with themes of anxiety, bullying and ADHD.  I have @10 more ideas for others that are percolating in my head.  I get discouraged and fearful a lot.  I can tell myself all the things to keep me from following through on getting them out to the public.  It may be decades before they are published and it may end up being self-publishing.  Most days, I'd like someone to come along and do all the hard work for me...

But in the meantime, I continue to write...

Blooming with Crunchy Brown Leaves

We have at least 50 zinnias in our flowerbed by the driveway.  I have loved watching all the different colors pop up from the ground  randomly and I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture when they were all in full bloom.  

The last few weeks, I've noticed the blooms losing their petals, the colors fading from vibrant to gray, and the leaves turning into a crunchy brown.  They are starting to look a little ragged, to put it mildly.

What's weird to me is that many are brown at the bottom, but the tops are green and still blooming.  When I first saw the sea of brown, I assumed they were all dying and would be gone pretty quickly.  It's been several weeks now, and they are still growing--despite their unsightly bottoms.  

Living here on the farm has made Jesus' way of talking in parables so much more real to me.  I've also read so many authors who have used flowers and planting and blooming as analogies for the Christian life.   I've debated about writing this bc, it's just one more parable type post and my thoughts are not new ones. You've probably read the same thing from someone else at some point.  

But I just can't let it go.  

I am drawn to those zinnias every time I'm outside in the yard.  Most of them are growing despite the brown--esp the ones where there are two or more blooms.  Once I trim the dead blooms, other stems appear with new buds ready to open.  

But those dang crunchy bottoms take away from the beauty with their withered-ness! 

A lot like us.

We can still look great on top even though we have some mess down below.  We can even think we are hiding the mess by all the blooming we are doing.  And the blooms truly are real.

But that brown just spoils the overall beauty of us.  

And then there are the zinnias like this one.  Something got in its way and it grew sideways for a while.  BUT IT NEVER STOPPED GROWING and now is reaching for the sun once again.  There is so much in this world right now that could stunt our growth, but we have the choice to either let it stop us or to grow through it until it moves and we can see the sun again. 

And I find it interesting that the flowers with more than one bloom are doing better than the ones who are spending all their energy into just themselves.  Those stems are working together and taking turns blooming--some even at the same time. They are uniting themselves for the beauty of the whole flower.  

There's so much going on that can cause us to lose hope and to quit or even start working against the other blooms on our same stem.  And here's the thing...I don't think it's the big decisions that matter as much as the little ones.  The ones where we choose to read that devotional today.  Or text that friend.  Or respond with grace when someone is unkind.  Or even ignore the opinionated post and choose to walk away without typing back a rebuttal.

I don't know about you, but I do not want to end up with my roots having to be pulled out because there's no life left in me.  I want to continue to press on--even if it means I have a few extra curves. I don't want to wither or even let the hard things overtake my bloom.  

I want to reach high and be a vibrant and fully alive zinnia. How about you?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...NOT!

We have officially entered into my least favorite time of year. The time when the heat just becomes obnoxious. When the sun scorches everything in site. When the summer fun is over, but fall has not made his appearance yet. When the days feel long, even though they are getting shorter. 

I love new. Spring buds, leaves changing, the first snowfall. I am all about seeing the beauty in those things.

But this waiting between summer and fall makes me weary. The heat feels never-ending and it sucks all the energy from every last bone in my body. I struggle to find things to take pics of because even the flowers are tired. 

Do you feel it? 

It's hard to hope in this season. Change is coming, but it's just far enough away to allow myself to worry about it, instead of anticipate it. 

BUT...

I'm holding out. I KNOW the good will come again. I trust these hard days are killing off the things that need time to die before the new takes hold. I accept that my exhaustion is forcing my body to rest before the next season. 

I believe fall is coming...

Do you?