Links, Books, and Things I Love – October 2017

Here are favorites from September and what I’m looking forward to in October. We share once a month at Leigh’s.

1 Second Everyday

[If you can’t see the 1 Second Everyday video, click here]

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Around the Web

•  Pastor, Strive to Learn Their Names
by Benjamin Vrbicek at The Gospel Coalition
Not just for pastors. Why it’s good to learn names. And how to do it.

•  Most Female and Male Occupations
by Nathan Yau

male-female-occupations

In 2015, the most female job was preschool and kindergarten teachers, and the most male was carpenters. See what has changed since 1950.

•  Anxious for Nothing: An Interview with Max Lucado
by Jonathan Petersen
I tend to be anxious. “Max Lucado: Anxiety disorders in the United States are the number one mental health problem among women and are second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men. Some say the United States is now the most anxious nation in the world.”

•  White Identity Politics and American Terrorism
by Kai Wright
“We cannot move forward until white citizens claim their history. . . . we will first have to back up and do the long-avoided, scary work of leading truthful conversations about racism.”

•  Hurricane Stuff

  1. How do palm trees survive hurricanes?
    by Melissa Breyer
  2. No other state gets hit by hurricanes as often as Florida
    by Brandon Griggs, CNN
  3. Donate to the One America Appeal
    I love seeing the former Presidents of both parties come together for a common cause.

“Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have brought terrible devastation— but also brought out the best in humanity. As former Presidents, we wanted to come together to help our fellow citizens in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean as they recover and rebuild.”

One American Appeal

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Books, Writing, and Podcasts

•  It’s Okay to “Forget” What You Read
by Charles Chu
It’s impossible to remember everything we read. And neither is it necessary. This article made me feel better about all the things I forget I read.

•  How to Write Persuasively
by Henneke
Although the article is actually entitled “How to Write a Persuasive Sales Page (Even If You Hate Selling)“, it’s just good writing techniques in general. Henneke’s writing tips are usually quite useful.

•  Favorite Quick News Podcasts
For top headlines, USA Today’s 5 Things to Know tells the top 5 stories you need to know each morning. And for a little more detail, Up First from NPR reports on the top stories in about 10 minutes.

•  6 Books I Recommend
Here are 3 fiction and 3 non-fiction books I enjoyed this month, including Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson and one of my new favorite books, The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath.

6 Books I Recommend

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•  Five Good Books I’m Reading Now

  1. The Four Tendencies
    The Indispensable Personality Profiles that Reveal How to Make Your Life Easier (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too)
    by Gretchen Rubin
  2. Of Mess and Moxie
    Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life
    by Jen Hatmaker
  3. The Sacred Enneagram
    Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth
    by Christopher L. Heuertz
  4. Before We Visit the Goddess
    by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
  5. Hunger
    A Memoir of (My) Body
    by Roxanne Gay

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Things I Love

•  Daughter Time

I love spending time with my two daughters. And soon-to-be granddaughter in 2018! Morgan came up to see her cousin Lindsey’s sweet newborn and visit with extended family.

morgan-jenna-2017-09

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•  A New Memory Verse Challenge

We’re spending 10 weeks in Deuteronomy 30, memorizing 10 verses. Doing it with the Do Not Depart #HideHisWord community makes it a little easier and a lot more meaningful. I benefit by hearing what God speaks through others as we go through these verses.

The-Invitation-Deuteronomy-30-DoNotDepart

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25 Year Anniversary and a Week in Maine

We’ve never been so far north. We spent a week in Maine at the beginning of the month to celebrate our anniversary. We absolutely loved it there. (But I would never survive their cold winters.)

jeff-l.l.bean-maine

We bought nothing, but enjoyed L.L.Bean’s flagship store in Freeport, Maine

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west-quoddy-head-light

West Quoddy Head, in Lubec, Maine, is the easternmost point of the contiguous United States

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east-quoddy-lighthouse-canada

East Quoddy Lighthouse (also known as Head Harbour) on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada

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•  No Lasting Damage – Instagram Proof

Kids don’t always like to see their parents showing affection. Our daughter Jenna posted this on Instagram for our anniversary. It made me glad to know my and Jeff’s years of PDA didn’t damage her. {smile}

anniversary instagram

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• Hurricane Clean-Up

Jeff and I were blessed to spend last week in Wauchula, Florida, with our disaster response team PAR (Prepare and Respond). The community suffered much damage from Hurricane Irma on September 10 and subsequent flooding in the following days.

We met many wonderful people – those who fed us, who housed us, who allowed us to partner with them (Send Me Missions), and who let us tarp their roofs. We were honored to pass along the love of God to those who were tired and hurting.

lisa-jeff-florida-roof

I only helped on the roofs that weren’t too steep (I’m a scaredy-cat)

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PAR Florida Team

Our PAR team from Alabama (after a shower)

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On the Blog

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What was one of your highlights from September? What are you looking forward to in October? I plan to stay home as much as possible. Please share in the comments.

previous Links and Books

29 thoughts on “Links, Books, and Things I Love – October 2017

  1. Michele Morin

    Another interesting month — I’m going to be tackling another book on the Enneagram later this month as well: Mirror for the Soul.
    Such a great picture of the LL Bean boot. And you’ve seen a lighthouse here in Maine that I have yet to visit.
    Happy October!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      I haven’t heard of Mirror for the Soul so I’ll look forward to what you think of it, Michele. So much information is now available about the Enneagram that I can’t keep up.

      I wish we could have seen even more lighthouses in Maine. They were so fascinating to me! Definitely something we don’t have here at home. 🙂

  2. Kendra

    Happy anniversary! I just finished Of Mess and Moxie (very mixed thoughts…) and started The Four Tendencies this morning. I love everything Gretchen Rubin puts out!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Thanks, Kendra. I’m actually having mixed feelings about Of Mess and Moxie myself. While her funny sections are entertaining, I find myself wanting to hurry through those parts and get to the meat. 🙂

      Gretchen Rubin is much more my style. This is the 3rd or 4th book of hers that I’ve read. I’m an Upholder so she really speaks to my tendencies.

      1. Kendra

        Completely agree on Mess and Moxie. . . I thought the funny parts were quite funny but it almost seemed as though she was trying to distract readers from the uncomfortableness of the deeper parts.

        Fellow Upholder! Which is probably why we both love Gretchen so much, haha!

  3. June

    Wow, busy month! You must be the reason September went by so quickly, lol 😉 Love that IG image of you and Jeff and what your daughter wrote – it doesn’t get any better than that!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      September definitely flew by. I’m still trying to catch my breath. Yes, I feel very blessed by my daughter’s perspective, and that Jeff loves me so much. 🙂

  4. Lesley

    Happy anniversary! I enjoyed reading about your month. I’m grateful for the link about why it’s okay to forget what we read because I feel like I can hardly remember anything from some books I read a year ago!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      I feel like I don’t retain enough either, Lesley. It makes me wonder sometimes why I read at all. ha. But then I’m reminded that it’s not just about the words we remember but the way it changes us from the inside out. Books are awesome. 🙂

  5. Barbara H.

    I wondered during the video with your daughter holding a baby whether she’d had hers already – I didn’t think it was quite time but couldn’t remember. So she’s just getting some practice. 🙂

    Happy anniversary! Sounds like a fun trip! Loved your daughter’s Instagram post.

    Wow, you are brave to get on any roof! That one looks pretty steep to me!

    We don’t have anything major planned for October, so I am hoping for a quiet spot between all that went on this summer and the holidays.

    I appreciated that article about forgetting what we read. I’ve been dismayed at how much I forget, even in multiple readings of some books, but I figure it goes into shaping and informing my thinking even if I can’t pull out details from it.

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      I didn’t mean to throw people off by the picture of Morgan and the baby. ha. We’re not there yet but I am excited that it’s coming soon (Jan 2018)! There were more roofs that I would NOT get on than roofs that I would get on. I felt much safer on the ground. 🙂

  6. Trudy

    Again, oodles of great info here, Lisa. I love all your photos, too. It’s great when our children and grandchildren aren’t embarrassed by our affection. I love that photo and the lighthouses are always meaningful to me. Thank you! Hope and hugs to you!

  7. Betsy de Cruz

    Wow! You have a lot of good stuff here. (And I loved your video!) I’m thinking you have one grandbaby on the way and another one already “out in the world”? I don’t know how you read so extensively, friend! I admire you. I want to check out the “Anxious for Nothing” link. So many women I know deal with it.

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      No grandbabies here yet for me. The one in the picture is a nephew. We’re just practicing! 🙂 Ours is due January 2018. I struggle with anxiety myself so encouragement like Max Lucado’s is always good for me to read. Hope you’re doing well, Betsy!

  8. Mary Geisen

    Such a treat to see what you have been up to in September. My favorite is watching your one second everyday video.

    Love that you had a chance to put your faith into action by helping with cleanup and restoration in Florida. Can’t wait to hear grandma stories once the baby arrives.

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Thanks, Mary. I can hardly wait for that sweet baby girl to get here! I really can’t even imagine what stories I’ll have to share, but I’m eager to find out. 🙂

  9. floyd

    Love the content! Happy late Anniversary! It’s encouraging to see your talk match your walk. That’s the most powerful tool for God to use in a lost world.

    No dessert or sweets in this months one second video? It was a busy month!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Well, don’t let the video fool you, Floyd. There are always desserts in my days. 🙂 It was a busy month and although I enjoyed all that we got to do, I am looking forward to a quieter October. I can be quite a homebody given the opportunity.

  10. Jean Wise

    Love all the photos. Lisa, you do such a great job with this list – fun, informative and always something new to learn. From one blogger to another, I have to add – your format of the posts are so readable. You are a model to follow!!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Thanks, Jean. These posts are some of the most fun to pull together (although, as you likely know, also some of the most time-consuming because of the rabbit trails it sends us down!).

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