Posts from for 08/22/2015
A little wit, a little struggle, a lot of Jesus
The Simple List {8.22.15}
By Tresta on Aug 22, 2015 07:24 am
The Simple List is my way of pointing you to something redeeming on the webs, something thought provoking or eye-catching or soul-refreshing. I can’t keep up with all the good words out there but I try to curate a few things every now and then that might be of help.
I hope these links are reminders of the simplest things that make a good life: truth, goodness, beauty.

Truth ||
What’s your unfair advantage? @ Modern Mrs. Darcy
We all have something that gives us an advantage. What’s yours?
In A Digital Chapter, Paper Notebooks Are As Relevant As Ever @ NPR
If you listen to sermons or lectures, go to meetings, counsel others, have kids in school, or want to remember anything, ever, you need to read this. There were too many nuggets to quote here.
Can you tell I’m a dedicated analog fan? Love me some apps, but paper planning is my jam.
Goodness ||
We are Dust and He is Rest @ Sayable
“It is work to remember and work to rest, this I know and you do too. No one can live in this world as we’ve made it and not have to work to rest. Remove notifications, turn off the phone, walk away from the planner, light candles at dinner and hold the hand of your husband and marvel at the gift of simply living. Rest.”
I can’t quite decide where to categorize this one, because it’s Truth and Goodness and Beauty. I’m putting it here because it’s always good to be reminded of the rhythm of rest in our lives.
Beauty ||
Kids Were Here
“A group of photographers documenting details of evidence that kids were here”. That’s the tagline for the blog Kids Were Here, and you should check it out. All pictures. All familiar evidence.

Thoughts on Creating Controversy as a Blogger by Shauna Niequist @ Storyline Blog
A manifesto for what to say online, and what to keep for real-life conversations. Good, good stuff.
“I’ve never regretting loving or encouraging or celebrating something. I have often regretted slamming or dismissing or criticizing something, because when I do that online, it’s outside of relationship, outside of shared understanding, outside of context.”
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Find {A return to Five Minute Friday}
By Tresta on Aug 21, 2015 01:08 pm
I’m working through a devotional right now that has a lot of writing prompts in it. It’s not specifically for writers – it’s based on the premise that we are all created to be creators, and it uses a lot of poetry and imagery to probe deeper.
I’m not entirely sure what I think of it yet so I won’t tell you the name of it, but the writing prompts have reminded me of something: I used to participate in Five Minute Friday on a fairly regular basis.
A given prompt, a timer set to 5 minutes, and no pressure to edit and produce.
I don’t know why I stop doing things that are valuable – I’ve been playing lots of those broken records over in my mind lately. Today, I’m returning to a good habit with “no expectation of a recurring ritual” as my friend Beth says.
Back to a single word, five minutes, and whatever happens.

We are so big to think we “find” God. Diggers in a desert find gods buried in billions of grains of time which that god has no hold on, time sifted over a buried deity like so much sand.
We try to find God and discern His thoughts while we bathe children and prepare meals for living, being, hungry souls carrying Forever in themselves. We wash the laundry that clothes the temples, and read books to minds that are always thinking God’s thoughts after Him.
All the clanging of dishes and buying of food, sustaining life in the midst of a search for God – a treasure buried in us.
In the quiet times we think hard to conjure up an image of God, or god, because when the light cracks through and the day begins, all our time for finding Him will dissipate into dust motes running under the furniture and checklists driving us on.
We find God, alright. One day we all turn around and there He is, in the trail of a life we lived. There He is, in the dirty face and the empty fridge and the shoes by the door again and smack in the center of life.
Turn around.
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