Jan 13, 2017
One of my new year’s resolutions is to do these more often. So, let’s see if that happens. 1. The Year in Pictures 2016. [Warning: Graphic images.] I always appreciate these because they help me remember the triumphs and the trials of the world around me, help me to be compassionate, and help me to be informed. 2. Now for a pick-me-up. A Selection of the 30 Most Disappointing Under 30. 3. I love this about the work of the editor: You Want to Be an Editor, You Can’t Be a Rule Follower. “Achieving clarity means balancing what the writer is attempting to say against what the reader is most likely to understand.” 4. Is Blogging Dead? 5. Have y’all seen La La Land? Oh so perfect for the dreamers. The soundtrack has been on repeat for...
Jan 1, 2017
December is always filled with Christmas and New Year tweets and I’d have it no other way. Here are the best tweets in my feed this month. If you're frustrated because you can't seem to do what God has called you to do, it's because only God can do what God has called you to do. — Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) December 1, 2016 *Reads one Wendell Berry essay* *Purchases plot of land and walks around grocery stores telling people about the dangers of agribusiness* — Cortland Gatliff (@cortgatliff) December 1, 2016 THEY JUST MENTIONED SONG OF SOLOMON and I'm not close enough to hear the discussion. — Cindy Warren (@cindy_warren) December 1, 2016 Having plants is very satisfying, but almost killing a plant then bringing it back to life is 10x more satisfying. — Rachel S. Mom (@RachelGZink) December 1, 2016 Sometimes, "Bless your heart" isn't strong enough… — Jonathan Howe (@Jonathan_Howe) December 2, 2016 There needs to be a special home for children who are learning how to whistle. — Barnabas Piper (@BarnabasPiper) December 4, 2016 Georgie doesn't shout "Amen!" very often during sermons, but she does elbow me and whisper, "You need to write that down." A lot. — Ron Hyndman (@ronhyndman) December 4, 2016 Real talk: if you only send a Christmas card to your married friends, and not your unmarried friends, you are LITERALLY the worst. — Tiffany Dorrin Olsen (@TiffanyDOlsen) December 5, 2016 Also, thanks for sending Christmas cards even when you don’t get one in return. 🙂 This is how to survive, I think:You gotta let some things go. — Melissa Moore (@MelissaMoore77)...
Dec 13, 2016
I recently wrote about joy in Advent for the LifeWay Women blog. When we think of Christmas, we often think of cheer. We string up bright, colorful lights. We make sugary treats. We sing upbeat songs. We wish one another a “merry” or a “happy” Christmas. Christmas, however, calls for something deeper than cheer and merriment. Christmas, and Advent, call for joy. [Read the rest...
Dec 1, 2016
Guys, guys, guys. Everyone just calm down. November was a crazy month. The Cubs won the World Series. We had a presidential election. Thanksgiving. And boy, did we tweet about it, all of it. This may be the longest Tweets of the Month Club ever. I don’t actually know because I don’t count them. Too many numbers. Candy Corn is neither. — Adrienne Cooper (@LemonAdeH) November 1, 2016 Just stuck a handful of Milk Duds in my mouth. Forgot that was a two hour commitment. — Chad Gibbs (@Chad_Gibbs) November 1, 2016 I wish 2 MIT grads could figure out how to keep that stupid '2 MIT grads pair you with wine' ad off my twitter feed — Luke Buchanan (@LukeBuchananana) November 1, 2016 Just learned that PDF stands for portable document format and things will never be the same jk jk things will be exactly the same — Tennessee Grimes (@10ehC) November 2, 2016 I wonder if they're in the same place. pic.twitter.com/XJreQWB8U7 — Aaron Earls (@WardrobeDoor) November 2, 2016 And now the World Series will go to the House who will decide the winner. — Daniel Darling (@dandarling) November 3, 2016 I don't have TV, and I truly dislike baseball, and it's midnight. Yet I'm refreshing Twitter every 10 seconds to find out who is winning. — Tara-Leigh Cobble (@TaraLeighCobble) November 3, 2016 Same. The last Cubs world championship ushered in The War To End All Wars, so everyone keep your head on a swivel. — Tim Siedell (@badbanana) November 3, 2016 We needed that, America. — Sophie Hudson (@boomama) November 3, 2016 *Woman helping us at...
Nov 30, 2016
I wrote about hope and Advent on the LifeWay Women blog last week. Advent begins this Sunday. This year, we feel it. This year has been hard. As a world, we’ve experienced tragedy, loss, grief, strife. We’ve seen violence, hardship, drought, and floods. Zoom in from the world to our nation, and we’ve seen the same—hatred, hurt, heartbreak. Zoom in from our nation to our homes, and I’m sure you’ve experienced your own trials this year. This year, we feel Advent. We feel the waiting, the watching, the anticipation for Christ, for redemption. Read the rest...
Nov 17, 2016
Every year my friend Holly hosts a Christmas gift exchange for our friends. For the past several years, she’s asked me to help with a theme for the gifts (because I love both research and a good theme party). Having a theme adds to the fun and keeps us creative (so we don’t give the same thing every year). Last year, after someone else asked me for theme help, I thought I should write a blog post so I can have a handy list, and, well, it just seems like the perfect topic for a blog. We generally set a price limit (mostly we stay around $15), and we swap the gifts dirty-Santa style, so you never know what you’ll end up with! We keep things simple—we have snacks and desserts and just chat and catch up before the main event of the gift exchange. We look forward to this tradition every year! Color. I think this was our first theme. We picked the color green. So, every gift was either literally green in color, or was “green,” as in good for the environment. We had some recycled jewelry, to-go coffee mugs, green tea, etc. You could pick any color and encourage people to think outside the box! (Red could mean a book you read, for example.) Christmas Carols. For this theme, we had everyone pick a Christmas carol (you could also assign one to everyone or each person a different one), and they brought a gift on that theme. We had fun trying to guess the carol based on the gift. We had a Christmas welcome mat for “I’ll Be...
Nov 8, 2016
Today I wrote about the election, or rather, about after the election. What do we do now that we’ve voted? Today in the United States, we go to the polls to vote for our next president. We understand that voting to elect officials is a fairly new privilege and right for many of us and one still fought for by many others around the world. This year, perhaps for the first time, we’ve felt the full weight of our right. Perhaps you have voted or will vote today and perhaps you chose not to vote. This year, more than ever, we’re asking what our future holds. No matter who we voted for, or didn’t vote for, we’re asking, now what? Read more at the LifeWay Women...
Nov 1, 2016
Y’all. I’ve been doing recaps here to provide context and historical record, but this month was all about the election. Crack open your history books, future self. You’ll figure it out. Here are the best tweets to cross my feed this month. Taking 5th wheeling to a new level by fighting falling asleep while my friends compare honeymoon stories. — Rachel Trammell (@racheltrammell) October 1, 2016 If you're a child of God & you feel like you don't belong here, there, or anywhere, it's because you don't. You weren't made to belong here. — Lore FergusonWilbert (@lorewilbert) October 1, 2016 The feeling of otherness, alien, outsider? It abates one place: eternity. Don't strive to belong here—expend yourself inviting others along. — Lore FergusonWilbert (@lorewilbert) October 1, 2016 I get weary of the message to women (esp) today: "This will make you feel whole! Beautiful! Desired! Valuable! Included!" And it never does. — Lore FergusonWilbert (@lorewilbert) October 1, 2016 Once you get it, you realize how it doesn't satisfy, how it primes you for yet another awareness of insufficiency. — Lore FergusonWilbert (@lorewilbert) October 1, 2016 Here is the truth: you are not enough. Not pretty enough. Not perky enough. Not present enough. Not perfect enough. You just aren't. — Lore FergusonWilbert (@lorewilbert) October 1, 2016 BUT GOD—rich in mercy—because of great love with which he loved us— even when we were DEAD in trespasses—made us alive TOGETHER w/ Christ. — Lore FergusonWilbert (@lorewilbert) October 1, 2016 Alive together in Christ? That's the belonging you have. That's all the belonging you need. Because He IS enough. — Lore FergusonWilbert (@lorewilbert)...
Oct 28, 2016
1. GUYS. SOOKIE. JESS. EMILY IN A TSHIRT. 2. The Intimidating Single Woman: A Parable. Related: May You Not Be Weird and 30 Other Prayers for My Future Husband. 3. Sponsor a Millennial. I would probably change this to “hipster,” but whatevs. 4. This is heartbreakingly beautiful writing on the loss of a daughter and the birth of a son. 5. Because here we are. A simple way to figure out who you should vote for. A post about the scandal of this heated election. A speech about religion and the election (An hour long, but completely worth it, especially for those of us who grew up in the church. Pro Tip: change your phone auto-lock to “Never” then pull up the video on your phone. You can listen to it like a podcast while you clean, cook, drive, etc. Visuals aren’t necessary, so it works great just listening.) And a call to love our neighbors in this wild world. BONUS Podcast Recommendation: Home Row with Jen Wilkin. Great for anyone trying to write something that means something. Favorite quotes: “Everything on the internet wants to present itself as thought provoking. … Sometimes it’s just clutter.” “The job of the Bible teacher is not to say new things. … My job is not to write what’s new but to write what’s old for the sake of new ears.” BONUS BONUS Podcast Recommendation: Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey: Tara Leigh...
Oct 25, 2016
Today I wrote a post for the LifeWay Women blog on becoming untangled from the sin that so easily ensnares us. (They let me write about the upbeat, fun things.) When we thought about the word release for our prayer this month, we thought of Hebrews 12:1-3. Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne. Even though I’m not a runner, I love the picture this passage paints. Running is not an easy task. Sure, there are Olympic athletes who can run 100 yards or 26 miles in seemingly impossible times. These athletes have spent their lives training, though. They’ve worked hard, been in pain, refused to do other—perhaps more enjoyable—tasks. They have oriented their lives around running. And you better believe they have taken great pains to lay aside every weight and thing that will entangle them on race day. Click here to read the...
Elizabeth Hyndman likes drinking tea, using parentheses, and living in Nashville. Follow her on twitter @edhyndman.