HopefulLeigh

What I'm Into (July Edition)

Hanging out with my legacy brick after a White Sox winner

July has been hectic with not one but two trips to my hometown. The former included 4th of July festivities, my first White Sox game since moving to Nashville, and our annual family reunion. The latter lasted a mere 30 hours. Being there for Christy's wedding was entirely worth it. 

Read and Reading: 

I didn't know anything about baseball summer leagues so I was thoroughly fascinated by The Last Best League (Collins). Focusing on the Chatham A's 2003 season, Collins introduced me to the world of college prospects, how minor league teams work, and what players must endure in order to go pro. A must read for any baseball fan.

The memoir What Remains drew me in right from the start. Carole Radziwill is a fantastic addition to the Real Housewives of New York. She was an award-winning ABC News journalist for 15 years and married to Jackie O's nephew. Her husband Anthony was diagnosed with cancer shortly after they married and his cancer treatment became the focus of their next 5 years together until his death. One of the book's notable gems: "'Metastatic' is a clean, unemotional word, but in layman's terms it means, 'You're screwed.'" She really captures some aspects of life with cancer, including insights from the lens of a caregiver- often cancer's secondary victim. Three weeks before Anthony's death, his cousin John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, one of Carole's closest friends, died in a plane crash. Tragedy upon tragedy. Radziwill writes sparsely and respectfully, avoiding name dropping and the sort of gossip easily attached to the Kennedy family. Her recollections are often warm and witty and she writes of grief in a way only fellow mourners can understand.

I reviewed Love Does (Goff) here.

Currently reading: The Art of Fielding (Harbach), An Everlasting Meal (Adler), Book of Hours (Rilke),  When Helping Hurts (Corbett and Fikkert) and The War of Art (Pressfield).

Kate Morton unveiled her new book! I cannot wait to read The Secret Keeper.

(I read 7 books this month.)

TV: Must-see TV: So You Think You Can Dance, Bunheads

Project Runway is back. I'm not sure how regularly I'll be watching, in spite of my love for Tim Gunn. Last season fell flat for me.

Movies:

Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea were childhood staples. My friend Rachel and I must have watched each hundreds of times. But I hadn't watched them since until this past weekend. A few friends and I gathered to watch Anne of Green Gables and it more than stood the test of time. This had nothing to do with the drinking game we played and everything to do with the wonderfulness of Anne Shirley, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, and Gilbert Blythe. Cue dreamy sigh.

Funny Picture:

This might only make you laugh if you're a Papa Roach fan. I died.

Found via Knox McCoy's excellent Monday Morning Meatloaf.

Favorite Video:

I loved watching Bob Ross when I was a kid. I'm so impressed with what PBS created here. It made me feel nostalgic and inspired. "Paint freedom on a canvas." I will, Bob Ross. I will.

 

Music: 

New discovery: I knew of The Welcome Wagon thanks to Sufjan Stevens's involvement but I hadn't given them a good listen until visiting Kristin earlier this month. Now I'm hooked.

Mumford & Sons has a new album coming out. I can't wait!

If you read the Mid-July links or follow my FB page, you'll be familiar with baby Pearl. A couple of weeks ago I attended the Pearl Joy Brown benefit, with artists including Sandra McCracken, Derek Webb, Griffin House, and Leigh Nash. Great music, great cause. I love how the music community supports one another! Pearl was born last week and continues to amaze everyone. She came home yesterday! Thanks be to God. Please continue to keep this family in your prayers.

While home for the second time, my parents and I had dinner in downtown Wheaton and then walked around for awhile, fortuitiously stumbling into a band festival. I was especially impressed by Salvation Story Steelpan Orchestra, an inner city ministry began by a South Side Chicago Salvation Army. I'm a sucker for steelpans.

If you have Spotify, you have got to check out Josh's summer playlist. I think he's my music kindred spirit.

Fun Blogs:

My friend Clay Morgan is launching his new site tomorrow! Be sure to check out ClayWrites. And in the meantime, check out this fun video. His book Undead releases in September (you'll be hearing more about this). I'm so proud of him!

Ever since reading Under the Banner of Heaven, I've been extra fascinated by the LDS church. The Mormon Child Bride wrestles with the intersection of her faith, politics, and feminism, something the Mormon Church does not often encourage. I can't imagine having to choose between my faith and my beliefs because they equally inform one another.

Cool Cause:

Biking for Baseball followed me on Twitter the other day, the same day they attended a White Sox game. Naturally I was curious about these guys so I browsed their website and was quite impressed. What an amazing experience and a cool way to give back!

Food:

Such presentation!

While I was in my hometown, I had my favorite green curry chicken from Thipi Thai and stopped for penny candy at the Popcorn Shop for candied grapefruit slices.That's just the tip of the iceberg of all the eating that goes on while I'm home.

Caribou Coffee also broke my heart by discontinuing the best Tea Latte ever invented: Black Thai Tea Latte. What to do without good tea latte options? I've turned to Hazelnut Lattes in my sorrow.

In the Blogosphere:

Here are the Mid-July links.

A few of my dear friends (Allison, Joy, Laura, and Shawn) are going to Sri Lanka with World Vision August 26-September 1. I am so excited to follow along on their trip and support World Vision's child sponsorship efforts. Are you familiar with World Vision? You should be. If you aren't, reading the posts by the 8 bloggers going on this trip is a great way to learn about the organization's mission.

 

Join me in praying for Titus Haines? (Update from Amber here and this one from Seth is worth reading, too.) I'll tell you this much: Seth Haines knows how to tell a story. His guest post for Ann Voskamp about his friend Strat and harvesting rattlesnake beans mesmerized me.

Eye-opening piece from The New York Times on why it's harder to make friends once you're in your 30s. Good insights. I'm so grateful the limitations of this season of life haven't stopped me from making amazing friends in Nashville.

This church bulletin gave me absolute goosebumps. What an amazing message for visitors and the congregation alike.

Kelly at Love Well kindly provided us with her notes from the Orphan Summit on Transracial Adoption. Great information.

"It is not a well-behaved plant, but it is a Kelly plant. It is chasing the light, living real life just as it was meant to live without care for anyone’s approval. It’s filling up my garden with passion." Loved this post (and the pictures!) from Kelly Sauer.

This excellent piece on finding a church from Quiet Anthem felt like sacred ground to me. I love Renee's perspective.

Poignant reflection from Micha Boyett on saying goodbye to her grandfather.

Good thoughts on the "gay lifestyle" from Justin Lee. "But see, there are also many straight people who live promiscuous lives based on sex and pleasure-seeking, and yet we would never call theirs a “straight lifestyle.” Why? Because we know that they don’t represent all straight people. They are a subset of straight people."

On Ye Olde Blog:

I teased you all by telling you about a Big Idea and then not revealing what it is. (Maybe a few months from now? Fingers crossed.)

I posted a picture of my first ever homemade refrigerator pickles on the FB page. After 10 days of brining/marinating/pickling, quite a few friends have tried them. The verdict: delicious. Second verdict: I need to fry those bad boys up. Now hunting for a good fried pickle recipe- an on-going quest the past several years.

What have you been into this month?

Disclosure : Amazon Affiliate links included in this post.  If you click through to Amazon from HopefulLeigh, any purchase you make supports this site.

Love Does review

I've had a hard time starting this post. When I requested a review copy of Love Does from BookSneeze, I fully expected to rhapsodize about this book.

Like many, I first encountered Bob Goff in the pages of Don Miller's fantastic book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. He seemed larger than life, yet the kind of person everyone would want to befriend.

In fact, were Goff's path to cross with mine, I'd insist on buying him a drink simply so I could hear more of his stories.

I completely understand why so many people are singing Love Does's praises. Goff's life is naturally inspiring. I was completely mystified when I started the book and did not immediately join in on the chorus.

This is not to say I disliked the book. (This is also to say I respect what Goff has accomplished in writing a book and especially his decision to donate the proceeds to two organizations he supports. I try to be mindful of the effort it takes to write a book whenever there is criticism to bestow.)

Love Does consists of 30 short chapters, each containing a story of some antic or experience and followed by a spiritual truth of sorts. At their best, they're contemporary parables. This does not always come across as intended.

Goff believes our lives should be fueled by love. An active love. This is a great model for us. Some of his stories better reveal this truth than others. For instance, were my car hit by an elderly lady to the point where I was ejected through the roof, I doubt I would walk over to her and thank her for hitting me and then consider it a cool story. But this is how Bob reacts and the elderly lady has quite a response. Love in action.

On the other hand, Bob also considers sticking his friend with a $400 room service bill to be a great prank. Maybe those of a higher financial eschelon have different criteria for pranks. This might be the pitfall of reading instead of hearing certain stories. Were Bob to tell them to me, I might howl with laughter but in reading them, we don't get facial expressions or intent aside from what we ascribe to it.

Bob advocates for a life of whimsey and it's hard not to be drawn to that. But what does whimsey look like in your life and mine? Is whimsey only grand gestures and off the wall experiences? A book should be the starting point in getting us to apply lessons to our own lives. However, I had difficulty extracting meaning from several of Goff's experiences into application for my own life.

One of the main reasons for this is many of his amazing experiences are the result of money and privilege. Goff is a lawyer and has worked hard for what he has. I don't begrudge him that. However, we are not all so fortunate. I cannot take last minute plane rides to meet with important dignitaries, nor will my office ever reside in an amusement park. I will likely never be able to afford a sailboat and while it would be wonderful to be personally involved in an organization in Africa, I'm doubtful that's in the cards.

So what does Love Does look like in my life? Where is the whimsey when you're a social worker/nanny/writer?

Goff doesn't hand his readers the answers but he does offer his phone number should anyone want to talk it out with him. I just might do that some day.

For now, I'm considering how to more actively love the people around me. I'm thinking about what a Bible Doing (my favorite chapter) might look like. I'm going to keep working on being the person God created me to be. One day at a time.

Have you read Love Does?

Disclosure: Amazon Affiliate links included in this post. If you click through to Amazon from HopefulLeigh, I'll get a few pennies to help support this site, as well as my book habit. Thanks for your support!

Disclosure: Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson as part of their Book Sneeze program. I was not required to write a positive review. The thoughts, opinions, and reactions are entirely my own.

The Summer I Learned To Play Catch

Being an obsessive White Sox fan, you might be surprised that I've never enjoyed playing baseball. In fact, I recall pick up games at my cousins' house in which Jon's best friend Ian would stand behind me and tell me when to swing.

I loved Ian.

I am, shall we say, selectively athletic. Quite a few sports hold little appeal or I've long accepted a lack of playing talent.

Of those I enjoy, rowing tops the list. Joining the crew team remains a college highlight.

My presiding non-interest in sports has never bothered me. If I'm not reading a book, I'd rather be hanging out with friends over a glass of wine than chasing after a ball. If a sport interested me, I gave it a whirl.

In my mid-20s, the majority of my friends enjoyed playing sand volleyball Sunday afternoons. I'd often go cheer them on and work on my tan. Every once in awhile I'd brave the courts. Even though many people were too competitive for my tastes, I usually had fun.

I wondered what else I should give a second try.

As my baseball fandom increased, I realized how better understanding playing the game would help me appreciate it more. Now this didn't mean I wanted to join a league or anything like that. Going to a batting cage- either by myself or with a kind friend so as not to embarrass myself- or playing catch would fit the bill.

It's not that I didn't think I could catch the ball at all. I was merely unconfident in my hand-eye coordination. And I certainly didn't think I could catch a ball under any sort of pressure. My competitive nature really only emerges for Scrabble games. Anything else stresses me out.

I declared the summer of 2006 would be the summer I learned to play catch. My friends were supportive yet incredulous. As in, how had I made it this far in life without being certain I could catch a ball? Apparently, one can grow to be 26 years old and do just fine. Because honestly, short of a baseball stadium, how often do balls come flying at you out of the blue? Wait. Don't answer that.

This goal came about with the purest of motivations. I think. Maybe not. There was a boy in the picture, after all.

Of course, I wondered: if I caught the ball, would I also catch the guy?

On a day that turned into our second or third date, the boy and I sat next to each other at church and then the same table at our post-church haunt with friends. My roommate and I lived practically next door to the restaurant but he insisted on driving us home.

The boy got out of his car and lingered, while my roommate headed in to our apartment. We talked about afternoon plans and the boy suggested we go to a nearby park and read for awhile.

The sun warmed the park bench where we sat, lulling him to lay down next to me after he'd read for a few minutes. A smile tickled my lips as my eyes strayed from the book in my lap to the slumbering boy next to me. The day seemed ever full of promise.

The boy's nap didn't last long and when he woke, he decided we should play catch.

I narrowed eyes at him. Up to this point, I'd envisioned doing this with friends who'd known me awhile. Not a boy I was trying to impress.

But still. He trained those puppy dog eyes on me and I couldn't say no. He trotted off to his car to retrieve a tennis ball- the perfect starter ball. He remained confident in my catching abilities. I remained confident in my ability to embarrass myself around cute guys.

We started out close together, never a bad thing. He lobbed the springy yellow ball to me and I caught it, light in my hands. I tossed it back, a little more certain with each catch and throw.

My mom taught me conversation was like throwing a ball back and forth. Similar to the give and take of relationships.

Back and forth we went. I relaxed. I laughed. I glowed. My aim stayed true. We spread out further and my success continued, going so far as to run back and catch when he overthrew. The student had become the master.

OK, not really.

The boy and I didn't work out. These days my only games of catch involve children under the age of 4. That sunny summer day, the ease of an afternoon in a park with a cute boy, is still emblazoned on my mind.

I keep trying new things and re-trying old things. Just in case. We never know what will happen if we try.

Can you play catch? Have you ever re-tried something you weren't good at before?

This Is How We Met: Bobby Gilles's Story

When Bobby tweeted something about the anniversary and his and Kristen's first date, I had a feeling there was more to the story and shamelessly asked him to send me something for TIHWM. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Want to submit your TIHWM story? Check out the guidelines here.

When Kristen moved back to her Southern Indiana home in August 2009 after stints in Louisiana, New York City and Texas, she joined my community group and changed my life. In that order, separated by a few months.

She took our group – and church – by storm in the way passionate Christians sometimes do. Within weeks she had taken membership classes, joined the worship team and volunteered for many service opportunities. She brought delicious snacks to our weekly Community Group meeting and actively participated in group discussions.

I learned more of her story and I grew in appreciation of her each week, but didn’t initiate anything because I had just started seeing someone else. As summer turned to fall and fall turned to winter that previous relationship ended, but by then Kristen had begun dating someone herself. As they say, timing is everything.

In May 2010 that relationship ended mutually. When I heard the news, it took me (by my best estimate) 0.0007 seconds to decide I would ask Kristen out. First though – and maybe this had to come first since we’re both songwriters – I reread an email she had sent our community group earlier in the week. It contained lyrics to a new song she’d written, and an mp3 demo she’d recorded.

After studying the song I replied with some encouragement and several suggestions for how she might improve it. I’d led many songwriting workshops at my church and often mentored younger songwriters, so I told myself that this is all I was doing here, with no ulterior motive. Of course my Self knew I was lying about that ulterior motive thing.

I awoke early the next morning to find that she’d not only answered my email but she’d already rewritten and recorded her song, based on my suggestions. This reply sparked a five-day series of friendly, flirty emails, phone calls and text messages that culminated in me asking Kristen if she’d like to have lunch with me after the next Sunday service. She said yes.

During that lunch I confessed my attraction to her and said I’d like to date her, lest she be confused and think I wanted to hang out as friends. Again she said yes, although this sparked what has come to be known in our house as the First Date Question:

• Was this lunch date our first real date (a position I maintain)?
• Was our date two days later the actual first date, since it was the first one she agreed to with the open understanding that I was asking her on a date, and not on a lunch trip between two friends? (Kristen takes this position)

Let the people debate and pontificate. In any event, it didn’t take either of us much longer to decide this was “It” than the 0.0007 seconds it took me to decide I wanted to ask her out. We were looking at rings within a month, officially engaged a couple weeks after first looking at rings, and married exactly four months after our First Real Date Option #2.

Now when I critique her songwriting or she critiques mine, we don’t always acquiesce as quickly as that first encounter. But that’s okay. I wouldn’t trade a minute of our experience together. It took a little while for the timing to work out, but once we got together there was no doubt, and no more time to waste.

 

Bobby and Kristen live in New Albany, IN and are involved in the worship ministry at Louisville’s Sojourn Community Church.  They display their songs and blog together at mysonginthenight.com.

What I'm Into (Mid-July Links Edition)

Testing the Fireworks setting on my camera at the Best Fireworks in All The Land: Lake Ellyn

July has been a whirlwind so far and even though I'm supposedly blogging less the rest of this summer, I've amassed enough links necessitating a Mid-July Edition. This doesn't count as a "real" post though, right?

***

I haven't worn a swimsuit in a couple of years. Not entirely on purpose. The opportunity to swim was either denied by work or rain or flat out business with other summer activities. Still, I needed this reminder from Shauna Niequist. I'm not going to hide either.

My friend Megan absolutely nailed her Deeper Story post. "I wonder what would happen if from the pulpit there were messages that energized them to learn what it means to live as a saint, fully loved and wholly redeemed. I wonder if the people under your care would be so inspired and intrigued by this New Creation Life you spoke of week after week, that they would be compelled, day after day, in the quiet of their own homes and hearts, to fall more in love with our Risen Lord."

If you only read one (or two) things from this list, let it be the Brown family's story. Last night I attended a benefit in Pearl Joy's honor. This sweet unborn babe is touching so many lives already. Amanda's follow up piece Leave a Crack in the Door for Jesus is such a good, necessary reminder and beautifully written to boot.

Shawn's story of unexpected checks in the mail gave me goosebumps. While you're over there, read this if you're feeling the need for encouragement. You are enough.

Sarah Bessey marks 7 years of blogging and proves her book deal all over again. I am so thankful I connected with her the last couple of years.

Because of working at a Christian bookstore for several years, I have pretty strong opinions about the industry and whether there's a place for my writing there. Rachel Held Evans takes on the subculture and I cheered her on with every sentence.

I wasn't familiar with R.A. Dickey's story prior to this NPR piece but now I want to buy his book and learn more about knuckleballs.

Love the way Lore Ferguson addresses her interesting name. Could I ever relate!

Carolyn Weber can do no wrong in my eyes. She's been doing a Children's Chapter Book Read Along this summer and I'm in awe of the insights she's gleaned from some of my favorites. This piece on Anne of Green Gables is a must-read for Anne with an E fans.

Addie Zierman's God Bless America was the best 4th of July inspired bit of writing I read.

Fascinating look at Trader Joe's. I feel sorry for you if you don't have access to this store.

Wise, wise post from Preston Yancey on how to disagree yet understand where another is coming from. Let us all extend listening ears and heartfelt grace no matter the topic.

Andi reminds us Childless Does Not Mean Incomplete. I offer a hearty amen.

Oh my. America's Forgotten Poor troubled me. How do we reach out to the least of these in our own communities?

The Spiritual Autobiography Project sounds so interesting!

I've been mulling over Kristin Tennant's Relevant column all week.

Language aside, the example and perspective in this comedian's response to Daniel Tosh's misquoted rape jokes is spot on.

"The real harm in Fifty Shades—and other “literature” like it—is that it dulls our conscience to the hideous crime that domestic violence really is." Great post from Relevant.

What are your favorite posts that you've read or written so far this month?