Monthly Musings: February favourites

February has come and gone and summer has left us in its wake. It’s been a full month, so I thought I’d just share a few of my favourite things from February.

• Book – Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. I’ve been a little late to the party on this one since it’s taken me two years to finally get to it. At Adelaide Writers Week in 2014 I had the pleasure of hearing Hannah share a little of the background to writing the book. This is a beautifully written novel based on real events in northern Iceland in 1829. Agnes Magnúsdóttir was the last person to be executed in Iceland, convicted for her part in the murders of two men. As she waits for her execution date Agnes is sent to live with District Officer Jón Jónsson, his wife and two daughters on their farm. I actually listened to the audiobook which was wonderfully read and made it much easier to cope with the unfamiliar Icelandic names. I was transported into the story, the characters drawn with empathy and insight. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

• Music – Audrey Assad’s new album Inheritance was released this month. A combination of wonderful hymns and original songs, I’m having trouble picking a favourite song. Some lovely versions of beloved hymns such as “Be Thou My Vision” and “It Is Well with My Soul” notwithstanding, there are two beautiful original songs (“New Every Morning” and “Even Unto Death”) which have been an accompanying me as a daily soundtrack in the last week or two. I’ll let you choose a favourite for yourself:

• Prayer Sunday – this year at church we are beginning a new practice of devoting one worship gathering per month specifically for prayer. This month we focussed on the presence of the Lord, and I was delighted to see how we embraced the invitation to be in prayer and silence with each other. One thing I asked people to consider were the ways in which they feel closest to God, and I shared the images below, inviting them to notice which ones they felt most drawn toward. It was wonderful to hear people sharing the different ways that they feel God’s presence with them. It may not surprise you to know that one of my favourite ways of connecting with God is to spend time out in nature – I love the invitation of a bench in a park or garden. Which images resonate with you?

• The Fringe Festival – Think circus and jazz in a 19th century barroom and you might have a small idea of what to expect from “Scotch and Soda.” Mind-boggling feats of balance, acrobatics, trapeze artistry, and hi-jinks, accompanied by a lively group of jazz musicians. A fun time was had by all.
  

Monthly Musings: January

It’s a little late to be wishing you a Happy New Year, and yet this is my first post for 2016 so I’ll say it anyway. Happy New Year. I hope it’s been a good start for you, and that you’ve had opportunity to rest and relax over the summer break. I confess it feels a little odd to be reflecting when the year has only just begun and it seems that things are only just beginning to unfold and yet to fully emerge. Still, here are a few things to share from January. I hope to be posting more regularly over the coming months.

• Christmas holidays were a wonderful time to catch up on sleep and a pile of books, but I also needed to get outside. I took a walk in one of my favourite places, the Mount Lofty Gardens, and reminded myself of the wonders of spending time in out in nature.

• Thanks to a couple of handy YouTube tutorials I learnt how to crochet hearts, and spent an evening making a small pile of them. Once I got the hang of it they were quite simple and enjoyable to make.

• I came across a wonderful quote on prayer from Richard Foster in his book Prayer: finding the heart’s true home. This is something I want to sit with and ponder for a while until it really sinks into my heart and not just my head.

Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love.

• One of my favourite genres of fiction is historical mystery, and this month I finally read the first book in C. J. Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake series. Dissolution is set in the context of the dissolution of Catholic monasteries in England during the reign of King Henry VIII. The history was every bit as fascinating (and frightening) as the mystery.

 

Monthly Musings: September

Is it just me or is this year travelling at warp speed? It’s the end of September and here are a few thoughts for the month.

Spring – The blossoms on my ornamental plum tree are long gone, but the crabapple tree is just starting to bud. A few more days and it should be a cloud of pink.

Friends – I’ve been reminded of the pleasure of time spent with friends. This month I helped friends and family celebrate their birthdays, enjoyed dinner and conversation with a close friend, and began to make a new friend over lunch. Good food with good friends – one of my favourite things.

Books – Do you love books? Choosing books? Reading books? Talking about  books? It wasn’t until I read Emily P. Freeman’s latest blog post asking for book recommendations that I realised that I don’t have enough book conversations in my life. Coincidentally the only book I’ve actually finished this month is Emily’s new book Simply Tuesday: small-moment living in a fast-moving world. September has been an inconsistent reading month for me. I’ve added a number of new books to the reading list but they’re all still works in reading progress.

Here are a couple of quotes from Emily’s book that resonated with me as someone who needs time to process things. Maybe they will resonate with you too.

Productivity skills have helped me meet important deadlines and release unnecessary perfectionism.
The problems come when I foolishly try to apply these same skills to my inner life.
The soul and the schedule don’t follow the same rules.

and

Many people are in a season of speed, a time of movement, of action, and go. But that is not where I usually am. And I cannot wait for the world to stop to embrace my permission for slow.
What part of your personality seems to fight against your own perceived ability to succeed? What might happen if your stopped bullying your personality into submission and instead began to welcome it as a kind friend?
So here’s to you, my fellow slow-processors. Take the long way home. Embrace the silence to consider. Give yourself permission to think, to listen, to be sure.

Writing – And as October is waiting in the wings you may remember that last year I joined the Write 31 Days challenge to write on one topic every day in October. This year I’ve decided to take on the challenge again, and I’ve chosen a topic that’s particularly relevant for me at the moment. Check out the first post of the series tomorrow.

 

Monthly Musings: Four things from August

It’s that time again – the end of another month. Before we get all excited about spring, here are some things from August that I want to share with you.

1.  From the reading list

One of the books I’ve been reading during August is Ed Cyzewski’s little e-book, Creating Space: the case for everyday creativity. Here are a couple of quotes that made it into my bullet journal:

You need to invest in your own creativity because it’s the way God designed you to fully live.

and

Tapping into your creativity isn’t about the finished product. It’s about the process – becoming who you were made to be.

2.  A new book from one of my favourite authors, Emily P. Freeman

I’ve been a fan of Emily’s blog and books for a few years now, and in August her latest book, Simply Tuesday: small moment living in a fast-paced world was released. I’m still reading the book, and will probably read it again to really absorb more of the goodness from Emily’s writing. There may be more to come on this is a future post. In the meantime check out Emily’s free video series to see what she’s talking about. And here is Emily’s podcast interview with Jeff Goins.

3.  Yummy food

This month I made pizza from scratch – dough, sauce and toppings – tomato, basil and bocconcini is simple and delicious. And then there’s Bracegirdles’ salted caramel dark hot chocolate – mmmmmmmm.

4.  An old-new way to slow down, de-stress and get creative

Did you know that adult colouring books are very popular at the moment? I hadn’t really noticed until I saw a display of them in an airport bookshop recently. I bought one and have been enjoying a little colouring each evening. Fun and relaxing, it’s a creative way to unwind.

Monthly Musings: July discoveries

It’s hard to believe that July has been and gone, and there’s only a month before the arrival of spring. But before we get carried away in anticipation of spring, here are a few of my discoveries in July.

• Booknook and Bean opened in Topham Mall around the corner from work, and it’s my new favourite place for a hot chocolate, a pre-loved book, or a little yummy treat (or all of them together!). On the pre-loved book front you can donate books or buy them (there’s an honour system – just pay what you want between $2-$7 per book). All profits from the books are invested through Kiva, providing micro-loans to people around the world so they have an opportunity get out of poverty. What a great idea!

• My recent reads: The Grand Paradox: the messiness of life, the mystery of God and the necessity of faith by Ken Wytsma Heading Home: my search for purpose in a temporary world by Naomi Reed and Booked: literature in the soul of me by Karen Swallow Prior (I didn’t set out to choose books with such long titles but they’re all worth a read).

• I came across this beautiful song “Light” from Gungor about their daughter who was born with Down Syndrome. They named her Lucette which means light, and if you need a little light right now watch this video (oh, and you might need some tissues too!). The full lyrics and a little more of their story is on the You Tube page (Light).

• I also discovered that the service at Apple is pretty impressive. I’ve had my iPad Mini for about a year and love it. Unfortunately it stopped working about a week after I arrive home from holiday. I took it into the Genius Bar at the Apple Store and they ran some tests, determined there’d been a hardware failure and swapped it for a replacement on the spot. You’ve gotta love that.

• For the last month I’ve been trying out the Bullet Journal system, and so far I’m finding it very helpful to have one place for recording tasks, events, phone calls and meeting notes. All you need is a notebook and a pen. I’ve tweaked it a little for my own needs, particularly at work, where I keep it open on my desk and also take it to meetings.