What’s Saving My Life, February Edition
Time for another list of What’s Saving My Life, inspired by Jen Hatmaker’s podcast. Here’s what’s working for me now, including the repeats from other lists. Winter blues are coloring my world, and so this list of things, some silly, is what’s making me really, really happy, and bringing back the rainbow to my life.
Lipstick. I didn’t wear much lipstick for ages, and then suddenly, I have this little bag in my purse that’s bursting with it. I’m wearing more color–darker, brighter, everything–and I can’t get enough. I almost wore a different shirt to church today because I thought I probably couldn’t wear the lipstick I wanted with the one I pulled from the closet. Maybe it’s something about the shot of color in a gray, gloomy winter. I can’t get enough lipstick.
Naps. Speaking of things I can’t get enough, naps are saving my sanity. I’ve become fairly good at building margin into my days and weeks so that I can rest, recover, and feel like myself again, but life is still really busy. I almost always have a Sunday afternoon nap, and often, a quick one on the couch at night in the week after I have taken out my contacts. Is that last little nap necessary? Of course not–I could just go to bed. But it is incalculably cozy to curl up under the red plaid blanket on the couch while my husband watches sports, knowing I will only be here for a little while, and to drift off in the piles of pillows, always ready to go to bed when the timer wakes me. Funny how the kid who once refused to nap now actively looks forward to them.
Nonfiction Books. I just finished a book by Penny Kittle on micro-mentor texts, with my daughter hanging over my shoulder to read the book excerpts inside. I finished a hilarious book on parenting to talk about with Joe on our podcast, Paperback Readers. I’m in the middle of a book on wine, and about to start one on food. Nonfiction feeds my mind, and when it’s well written, fills my heart and inspires my spirit. I need to be reading one good nonfiction book all the time, and I am so wide-ranging in what I’ll try here. Send me all the good recommendations.
Novels. I tear through novels with backups always at the ready. Hours go by with a good (or sometimes a bad) novel in my hand, and I don’t even notice. I need novels like I need home, which is what a good one feels like. Lately, I’ve been turning mostly to escape fiction–lots of romance, female-centric stories, tons of friendship and feel-good books. But I’ll try a variety of things as long as it seems to meet these basic criteria: shot through with hope, characters I can like and really get behind, believable scenarios, and a plot that moves or a solid literary premise. And, of course, a great ending, although you don’t know this until the end, and will often make me hate a whole book I just enjoyed. I’d love recommendations here too!
Watching my kids do what they love. It is so empowering to sit back in a crowd and watch them excel. They’re growing up and finding their own wings, and it is my honor to get to support and help them along the way.
The sky. It is the easiest way to see God’s love and creativity and beauty and wonder on display. Mercies new every morning. Amen.
Being grounded in God’s love. My former pastor said that what we mostly need to do is to remember we belong to God, to do work we’re proud of, and to use God’s word well. That first one especially really stuck with me, and I am thinking about it lately and trying to embody it. When I remember that I belong to God, most of the rest of the things I worry about and try to be just slide away and don’t matter. I belong to God, so other people’s opinions can’t hurt me. Expectations from others can’t touch me. The stories I make up and tell myself about what others must think of me just grow quiet and fade to dim until they blank out entirely. All that matters is that God says I’m okay, that he loves me, that I’m his. I’m so thankful.
All the Creative Possibilities. One of my best friends and I have started working together on writing ideas we’ve been dreaming about for years. We have led a PD on writing for teachers, and we lead monthly writing workshops at the local library. We are planning a writing retreat this summer. I am just having so much fun with her, meeting and planning and laughing and writing with other people. It’s a dream come true, and it’s just getting started.
What’s saving your life?