HopefulLeigh

What I'm Into (April 2013 Edition)

  

April's weather has fluctuated between hot and cold, rainy and humid. April doesn't know what it wants. This is not so far from me. I'll tell you this much: I want many more days hanging out at Arrington Vineyard, feasting on bread and cheese, trying out different wines, and spending time with dear friends like Abby. 

 

Read and Reading:

A Homemade Life (Wizenberg) was a true treat. I'm a fan of Wizenberg's blog Orangette, albeit a sporadic reader. Her book is beautifully written, memories and stories gently folded around food. Her recollections of her father were especially evocative. I laughed and cried and, of course, bookmarked recipes to try.

I read Wild (Strayed) with low expectations. For as many people who have been wowed by Strayed's memoir, I've heard from people who disliked it. I can see why. Strayed is somewhat of a mess and she doesn't sugarcoat that fact. There were times I wanted to shake her. But there's something truly redemptive about her hike on the Pacific Coast Trail. As so many people she meets along the way tell her, this is her pilgrimage, her way of atoning and reconciling the past.  I'd say it's worth the read.

I reviewed Bread & Wine. I finished Quiet (Cain), review coming soon.

You can see all the books I've read at Goodreads. My fiction and nonfiction recommendations, comprised of books with 4 or 5 star ratings, are on Pinterest.

Currently reading: The Omnivore's Dilemma (Pollan), American Wife (Sittenfeld), Eat With Joy (Stone), Life After Art (Appling), Wonderstruck (Feinberg), Walking on Water (L'Engle),  When Helping Hurts (Corbett and Fikkert).

(I read 6 books this month.)

 

TV:

Must-see TV: Once Upon a Time,  Psych, Rachel Zoe Project, Vampire Diaries, Real Housewives of Orange County, The Americans, Call the Midwife

I've been making my way through the second season of Felicity and pretty much reliving my college experience. Felicity and I were in college the exact same years, after all. Unfortunately, I never had a Ben or Noel in my life. But the clothes and the angst? I had that in spades.

Arrested Development's new season debuts May 26. Rest assured, as soon as I'm back from Africa, I'm tracking down someone with Netflix.

So You Think You Can Dance returns May 14. OMG I CAN'T WAIT.

 

Music:

I've been loving Tegan and Sara's new album. It's hard to believe I've been listening to them since I was in college.

Musicians Corner starts back up the first Saturday of May. If you're in Nashville, you owe it to yourself to stop by.

 

Best Videos:

Everything is a Remix Part 1. 

 

Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

 

 

  Things I Love:

• Celebrating my friend Casi's wedding this past weekend. Congrats to her and Chad!
• Kelley sent me my first Le Creuset, a blue gratin dish. Blue is my favorite color. I didn't even tell her that. I have the most awesome friends.
• The Healing Balm from the Honest Company. It's a miracle worker for my eczema. I'm also digging the lotion. I swear my skin is so much happier since switching to their products.

• 
• I put together a fashion inspiration book using all the magazine pictures I've saved from the last few years. I've got all sorts of ideas now.
• Found some fun maxi dresses at New York & Co. and Francesca's. I haven't thrifted in ages but it's on the agenda in the next week or so. I need more maxi dresses and skirts in my life!
• My friend JJ's Happy Hour: Dating Challenge. She is my hero.

• Myers-Briggs turned 70 and put up some fun party favors on their website. You'll want to download your personalized Type Head. INFJ foreva!

• Preston's Sacramental Baking e-course changed my life. I hope some day to fill you in on all the reasons why.
• Pitch Perfect has a sequel coming out in 2015. Aca-awesome.
• Taking a leap of faith and having someone catch me. Relief isn't a strong enough word.
• This might be my new favorite buttermilk biscuit recipe.
• Tsh and Emily's podcast about all things writing is well worth the listen.
• Skyping with friends, whether discussing faith or reality tv.

 

In the Blogosphere:

Trying something new. I've put all my favorite links up on Storify.

 

On The Blog:

I'm not quite back to my usual posting schedule post-sabbatical. But I did cook quite a bit and I made a case for not marrying young. Quite a few people accused me of reading their mind when I asked people to stop telling me they don't understand why I'm single.

Alise Write included me in her list of 26 Favorite Blogs because she's awesome. You've been keeping up with her Christian Guide to Athiests series, right?

On the HopefulLeigh FB page, I asked if you'd be interested in reading a multi-part story about my relationship with church. The answer was overwhelmingly YES. It should be up sometime mid-May. And just in case you thought I was a better person than I am, I asked if you'd judge me more for watching the Kardashian interview (reality TV at its finest!) or the new Hallmark movie (Chuck and Rory!).

 

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What I'm Into Link Up Guidelines:

1. Today’s link-up will stay up for one week. The next What I'm Into link up will be Friday May 31.

2. Link the unique URL of your post, not your blog's home page. Readers peruse link ups months after the fact and you want to make it easy for them to find your What I'm Into post.

3. Please include the What I'm Into button or mention you're linking up with What I'm Into at HopefulLeigh.

 

 

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.

What I'm Into (March 2013 Links Edition)

Even though I was on a blog-writing sabbatical, I still got my fill of blog-reading. Were there ever some amazing pieces of writing! Here's the best of what I read this month.

***

In Which This Is The Wilderness Life: Guest Post by Adam McHugh for Sarah Bessey

Some will tell you that you can avoid or get out of the wilderness with the right prayer, the right Bible verse, the right counsel, the right church, or the right book. I suspect that the people who tell you that are in the wilderness themselves.

The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking

Dr. Dean, a co-researcher, said the findings left no doubt in his mind that many German citizens, despite the frequent claims of ignorance after the war, must have known about the widespread existence of the Nazi camps at the time.

This American Life: Harper High School, Part One

From the transcript: "If you think about high school, how important friends are during that time, imagine going through that with your whole goal being to avoid your school's social structure. Completely, for four years. It's an incredibly high price to steer clear the violence. It's a price most teenagers anywhere would find almost impossible to pay."

(Note: Harper HS is on the south side of Chicago, close to where friends live. What these kids have endured is like an alternate universe compared to how we grew up.)

Chicago's Gang Culture Remixed - Ebony

Using the term gang cavalierly has higher stakes in a hyper-segregated city like Chicago. It allows people to see violence as a crime among “those people” and to scapegoat young people. Dismissing shootings as always simply gang violence gives Chicagoans permission to think this is not a citywide problem. Until inequities around race, poverty, and segregation in Chicago are addressed, gang labels let us all off the hook.

This Book Will Change Your Life - Allison Hill for Huffington Post

I'm not saying the global economic meltdown is our fault, but I am suggesting that perhaps right now we are making choices every day that will influence our future. A decision to save $6.00 on Amazon, multiplied by thousands of customers every day, means that your local bookstore, the place where you hang out, meet friends, met your partner, or found the book that changed your life, may not be there next year...

Dear Mom on the iPhone, I Get It from my dear friend Megan of Fried Okra

From our many interactions, Mom on the iPhone, I've seen that you're smart, capable and resourceful as well as being loving and caring and giving where your family is concerned. So I trust you to know when you and your kids need to give one another your undivided attention, and when it's okay for you to take a few minutes while they're occupied to attend to one or two of the myriad of other things for which you're responsible.

Inside TED: the Smartest Bubble in the World

But most people at the conference also seemed to be in love with ideas, full stop; with the value of ideas, and the value of intellectual discourse and discovery. For all its rules and regulations, the religious over- or undertones, the isolationism and cultish devotion, there is one god that TED attendees seem to pray to, by and large: the God of Questions. And the God of Questions is the perfect and best god we could be praying to right now — when the problems we’re trying to solve can’t always be answered by old science or old math, by old religions or even old philosophers. By old ideas.

What the New Pope Means for Evangelicals

His bridge-building is about fighting together for moral causes based in Scripture. We know there are differences between Christianity and the Roman Catholic theology, but those can be handled when there are gentle attitudes between us.

Homeless Experience Opens Gazette Reporter's Eyes, Heart

In other words, I sought to learn how “easy” it would be to bootstrap myself—and sock away financial savings—during a week of homelessness.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Abuse in the Church - D.L. Mayfield

It is almost certainly true that you know someone who has been abused. There are people in your community, your ministry, your church and school—and it isn’t just a handful. What is equally true, but even less talked about in the church, is the other side of this truth: you almost certainly know an abuser.

The Good, Racist People - NY Times

 I am trying to imagine a white president forced to show his papers at a national news conference, and coming up blank. I am trying to a imagine a prominent white Harvard professor arrested for breaking into his own home, and coming up with nothing. I am trying to see Sean Penn or Nicolas Cage being frisked at an upscale deli, and I find myself laughing in the dark. It is worth considering the messaging here. It says to black kids: “Don’t leave home. They don’t want you around.” It is messaging propagated by moral people.

Listening Well as a Person of Privilege: Recognize that the Rules are Different for You - Christina Cleveland

But just because it is natural doesn’t make it helpful or right. Indeed, to insist on retaining these rights reveals a misunderstanding of both power dynamics and the upside-down reconciliation work of Jesus.

Taking the First Step - Tea & Cookies

One thing I’ve learned is that you have to take the first step. You have to reach out. You have to give the invitations, bake the cookies, offer the hand. Everyone else is fairly settled in their lives—and this is more and more true as you get older. Friendship, community, doesn’t happen on its own. Sometimes you have to give it a kickstart; if that’s what you want in your life.

 Dear Future Husband - Ruth Rutherford

But as sure of myself as I like to think I am, insecurity often manages to creep on in, and I find myself asking why. Why am I still single? Why haven’t you found me yet? Why haven’t I found you? How is the world surviving without our inevitably amazing power-couple prowess?

Am I a Fake Virgin? - Rachel McMillan

Now, single and in my 30s (my teenage self would never have believed it), I sometimes feel I have held onto a gift that no one wants.

America, You Must Not Look Away (How to Finish Off NRA) - Michael Moore

And when the American people see what bullets from an assault rifle fired at close range do to a little child's body, that's the day the jig will be up for the NRA. It will be the day the debate on gun control will come to an end. There will be nothing left to argue over. It will just be over. And every sane American will demand action.

Sibling Rivalry - Guest post by Joy Bennett for Alise Write

We want to share this incredibly important thing to us with the people we love the most. We want to be loved and accepted for who we are. When we disagree about those things that are so much a part of who we are, when someone rejects our ideas, it often feels like they also reject us.

Best piece on the issue: Steubenville High School Football Players Found Guilty of Raping 16-year-old Girl - Dan Wetzel for Yahoo! Sports

It also was this colossal arrogance that doomed the defendants and everyone involved. The hubris of their high school good life causing a downfall that will be felt – even by those who escaped prosecution – for a lifetime.

Sexual Assault Prevention Starts With Men

"Many of us would rather advise women on the precautions they should take to avoid being raped as opposed to starting at the root of the problem: teaching men and boys not to be rapists in the first place.”

The Day I Taught How Not to Rape - Accidental Devotional

It is uncomfortable to think that some of the students you still call babies have the potential to be rapists. It is sickening, it is terrifying, but it is true.  It is a reality we have to face. My students have lived in a world for fifteen years where the joke “she probably wanted it” isn’t really a joke, they need to unlearn some lessons that no one will admit to teaching them.

It's Biblically Impossible to be Biblical - Ed Cyzewski

There is no “biblical” way of doing things. There is only a biblically informed and Spirit-led way of doing things. And that information and leading may evolve and shift over time.

Blog Advertising, Celebrity Endorsements, Product Placement: Why and When You Choose to Care - love Maegen

Every day athletes and celebrities are offered endorsement deals where they are paid millions of dollars to sell products that they have never tried and will never use. But you don't care.

 Jump on Board the Blackhawks Bandwagon

Jonathan Toews (pronounced jon-uh-thun) is the team captain, and he is one of the best all-around players on the planet despite the fact that he doesn’t look a day over 8½. If you had to throw every player in the garbage but one, Toews would be the guy to keep. But the player who’s getting the most attention right now is Patrick Kane, who in all likelihood has probably done a body shot off your sister. A reformed party boy, he scores lots of goals at opportune times and is a hypnotic stick handler.

 

What I'm Into (March 2013 Edition)

There's nothing better than when Erin and her family come for their yearly visit to Nashville. Erin, Tracy, and I have been friends for over 17 years now. This makes me feel old and yet incredibly lucky. Last weekend was a blur of laughter, tears, and activity. I love groaning at Mark and Joel's jokes and seeing my nieces-in-love play together. But most of all, I love when Erin, Tracy, and I steal away for a little bit. It's as if time never passed at all.

 

Read and Reading:

I finally read Kate Morton's newest work The Secret Keeperand it might edge out The Distant Hours as my favorite of hers. I didn't see the twist coming at all!

A friend gave me The House of Belonging for Christmas. Whyte's work is worth reading for the title poem and The Truelove alone.

Mudhouse Sabbath (Winner) is short but rich. Beautiful examination of how Jewish traditions can inform Christian spiritual disciplines.

My review of Shauna Niequist's Bread & Wine is coming soon. Spoiler alert: it's Shauna's best work yet.

I reviewed Tell Me A Story.

I'm trying to be better about listing all the books I read over at Goodreads. And for those of you looking for recommendations, I started pinboards for my fiction and nonfiction recommendations, comprised of books with 4 or 5 star ratings. You're welcome.

Currently reading: The Omnivore's Dilemma (Pollan), A Homemade Life (Wizenberg), Quiet (Cain), Walking on Water (L'Engle),  When Helping Hurts (Corbett and Fikkert).

(I read 10 books this month.)

 

TV:

Must-see TV: Once Upon a Time,  Psych, Rachel Zoe Project, Vampire Diaries, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

The Americans stresses me out every time I watch it. I'm never quite caught up but I still find it completely fascinating.

I'm so excited the second season of Call the Midwife starts Sunday!

 

Music:

New Discovery: Penny and Sparrow, Kris Orlowski, Anais Mitchell

Patty Griffin has a new album coming out May 7!!!!!

I saw The Mowgli's and Family of the Year at 3rd & Lindsley a few nights ago. I came across both bands earlier this year and couldn't pass up a $10 show. I love living in Nashville.

 

Best Videos:

From the guy who made the best proposal video, a video that made me ugly cry.

 

Now that you're drying your tears, here's a Disney princess spoof to make you laugh.

 

 

  Things I Love:

•  Buying season 2 of Felicity and the complete My So Called Life set from McKay's (the best used bookstore ever) last weekend. Hello memory lane.
• I've got this friend who is like my fairy godmother. After I posted a picture asking if a foundation sample could count as "own something Chanel" on my Life List, she sent me this and I promptly died:

• Preston's Sacramental Baking e-course is changing my life. After the first session, I got a glimpse of what God is going to do in me and it kind of blew me away. It's been a rough season but maybe there's fallow ground after all. If Preston offers this again, you need to sign up. No questions asked.
• Watching Pope Francis pray the Our Father and ask for prayer himself, seeing his spirit of peace and humility, was such an unexpectedly powerful moment. I have a complex relationship with Catholicism but so much about this Jesuit man gives me hope about where the Church can go. As an outsider, it's been healing.
• Brené Brown on Oprah. So many Aha! moments.
• Food memoirs. While I've read a couple every year for the last few years, I am on a legitimate food-related book craze lately. Can't get enough.
• Visiting my friend Lora Lynn! I haven't seen her since last fall and decided to go visit her and her family for a couple of days. Don't worry: she's promised to make sure I stay on task with writing.

 

In the Blogosphere:

Links for the month.

 

On The Blog:

Things have been quiet here thanks to my sabbatical. You'll be happy to know things are progressing on the book proposal front. A HUGE thank you to everyone who subscribed! You all are my heroes.

Tanya Marlow kindly included me in her list of top Christian blogs. So many of her favorites are my favorites, too!

We had a great discussion about the phrase "making the most of your singleness" on the HopefulLeigh FB page. I also encouraged everyone to add a Cadbury Creme Egg to their Mug Brownie and posted a picture of all the Books I Own But Have Yet To Read. I should be embarrassed by that picture but I'm strangely proud. Also? I bought 8 more books from the used bookstore last weekend. That pile is just going to keep on growing.

 

What I'm Into Link Up Guidelines:

1. Today’s link-up will stay up for one week. The next What I'm Into link up will be Tuesday April 30.

2. Link the unique URL of your post, not your blog's home page. Readers peruse link ups months after the fact and you want to make it easy for them to find your What I'm Into post.

3. Please include the What I'm Into button or mention you're linking up to What I'm Into at HopefulLeigh.

 

 

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.

What I'm Into (February 2013 Edition)

Google Hangout is one of my new favorite things. It is so much fun, especially when your friends are spread out all across the country. That about sums up my knowledge of Google+. Also, it may not be that cold here but it sure is nice to hang out with friends from the comfort of your home. I've been in total hibernation mode this month. Spring must be around the corner!

 

Read and Reading:

As a diehard White Sox fan, I didn't know what to expect from a novel centered on a Cubs fan and yet I couldn't put The Comeback Season down. Five years after Ryan's father dies, she's still adrift and searching for where she belongs when an unexpected friendship begins at Wrigley Field. Given the start of Spring Training, it was fun to relive the 2008 season, even if it was from the wrong side of town. Smith's breakout YA novel got me thinking about jinxes, luck, and what I really believe in. Trigger warning: also deals with pediatric cancer.

I shamelessly asked Dani Pettrey to send me a copy of Shattered. And she did, what joy! But now the agony of waiting for the third book in the Alaskan Courage series. But what joy in learning there will be 5 books altogether! I've enjoyed learning about Alaska and various outdoor activities through this series. Submerged, the first book, was a refreshing change from what we typically think of as Christian fiction. Shattered was a bit more Christian-y BUT I hasten to add this did not detract from the story. It's clear Piper and Landon will eventually admit they have feelings for one another but Pettrey thoughtfully approaches their transition from lifelong friends to something more. Piper's determination occasionally translates as recklessness but I liked the character overall. I especially like how Pettrey builds her mysteries with unexpected twists and turns. It's rare for me to not figure out the ending. I also found the brief discussions on premarital sex to be an interesting change for Christian fare and hope Pettrey will address it more fully or at least with a more nuanced approach.

Author Robin O'Brien of The Unhealthy Truth has been described as the Erin Brockovitch for food. Thoroughly researched, O'Brien presents her findings on the way genetically modified and genetically engineered food affects us to our detriment. Her writing style grew tiring and the book is clearly directed toward mothers but the information is hard to ignore.

Fans of Romeo and Juliet will likely enjoy the YA/paranormal take in Juliet Immortal and Romeo Redeemed. Although I must note, Romeo Redeemed's ending didn't make much sense to me. Still, I liked the examination of good and evil and the sometimes thin line between the two.

Creative folks should read The Crowd, The Critic, and The Muse  (Gungor). Gungor is definitely an outside-the-box thinker. Each chapter left me feeling inspired.

I get to read an advance copy of Shauna Niequist's Bread & Wine! Review coming soon.

Currently reading: The Omnivore's Dilemma (Pollan), The House of Belonging (Whyte), Mudhouse Sabbath (Winner), Walking on Water (L'Engle),  When Helping Hurts (Corbett and Fikkert).

(I read 16 books this month.)

 

TV:

Must-see TV: Once Upon a Time,  Revenge, Vampire Diaries, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

The Americans is clearly a cable show. A few scenes in the pilot were definitely hard to take. But I love the show's premise and the acting is superb. As a child of the 80s, it's fun to see the fashion and old technology. Plus, I know hardly anything about the Cold War and it's fascinating to see the Russian take. Plus also, Keri Russell.

The Vampire Diaries has been blowing my mind lately. No character is safe, no plot twist too unlikely.

(Whispers: not really watching The New Girl or The Mindy Project. The last few episodes were meh.)

 

Movie:

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is one of the best comedies I've seen in some time. Teen girls everywhere are glad I didn't see it in the theater.

Resolution: go to the theater more often. I only saw one Best Picture nominee this year and that is shameful.

 

Music:

New Discovery: Tristan Prettyman, Al Lewis

I am love, love, loving Erin McCarley's latest album.  Especially the song What I Needed.

 

Most Uplifting Video:

I'm kind of obsessed with Kid President.

 

Amazing, beautiful, must-see video by Shane Koyczan. "We grew up learning to cheer on the underdog because we see ourselves in them. We stem from a root planted in the belief that we are not what we were called." Warning: it might make you cry.

New In My Reader:

In her own words, Christena Cleveland "attempt[s] to integrate social psychology research, faith, current events and my own experience as a reconciler. My goal is to demystify cultural divisions in the church (and beyond) and help leaders acquire the skills to overcome them." Her thoughtful posts on race relations and reconciliation are must-reads.

 

Food:

This Roasted Vegetable and Rice Salad is going to be a staple from here on out. Mercy.

Easter Candy is back! This means I'm adding Cadbury Creme Eggs to my Mug Brownies again. Hello, decadence.

Dinner Club headed to blvd, a new restaurant by Arnold Myint. We were greeted at the table by a basket of savory waffles and a giant soft pretzel. An auspicious start to any meal.

 

Awesome Endeavors:

Elora Ramirez and Preston Yancey of The Story Unfolding are offering a great deal to the HopefulLeigh community. Through Friday, schedule a story-coaching session with them and pay-what-you-can, no strings! Go here and under "package desired" put "Leigh's offer." Be sure to check out their other offerings. I can't wait to start Preston's Sacramental Baking e-course. (Note: the special deal applies to story-coaching only.)

My friend Arianne Segerman has started Mabel & Riv, a shop of handmade jewelry and accessories. She's unveiled the blog so readers can journey along as she gets the shop ready to open. I'm so proud of her for taking this leap!

 

In the Blogosphere:

Links for the month are here.

 

On The Blog:

The amazing response to The Morning After goes to show the scariest stories to publish are often the ones we most need to tell. Thank you to Rachel Held Evans, Joy Bennett at the Guardian, and Kristen Howerton and Elizabeth Ester's So Totally Relidge discussion, Deeper Story, and so many others for linking to the post.

On the HopefulLeigh FB page, I shared about a troubling sentiment I've recently come across linking abortion as a reason for so many singles. Great discussion resulted. We also crowdsourced solutions for SAD. And I thanked you all many times for being so amazing during my Morning After vulnerability hangover.

 

What I'm Into Link Up Guidelines:

1. Today’s link-up will stay up for one week. The next What I'm Into link up will be Friday March 29.

2. Link the unique URL of your post, not your blog's home page. Readers peruse link ups months after the fact and you want to make it easy for them to find your What I'm Into post.

3. Please include the What I'm Into button or mention you're linking up to What I'm Into at HopefulLeigh.

 

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.

What I'm Into (February 2013 Links Edition)

This month's What I'm Into linkup starts Wednesday February 27. Get your posts ready! And in the meantime, enjoy perusing these links.

***

"Can we let it serve as cautionary tale?  If...when...you or a loved one receive a diagnosis you want to hear under a cloud of "What ifs"; would you please seek a second opinion to confirm that diagnosis?" A cautionary tale from Pensieve Robin. Spoiler alert if you haven't yet watched the middle of Downton Abbey's season 3.

My friend Missy finally- FINALLY- got to bring her daughter home from Ethiopia. Love you, sweet Bethie!

Also in the finally category, my friend Megan had her twin boys! I cannot wait to snuggle those boys. I shamelessly stare at every picture she shares.

Not only is Adam McHugh blogging again, he quit his job.

If you didn't think there was hope for Westboro Baptist, you have to read this piece about one who left the church and her family behind.

Finding God in a Little White Pill. My friend Amanda bravely and boldlyexplores the intersection of faith and depression. So proud of her.

Love, love, love the intentional way this woman got to know the people in her neighborhood and community. I wish I had a backyard! It's got me thinking about what I can do on a smaller scale.

I read this article before the Superbowl and found it to be compelling and not just because the author is a sociologist. (Sociology majors represent!)  Great thoughts about the way we consume sports and how women are represented and what this says about us.

Amazing example of how the church should be. Photos and story of a San Francisco church that lets those who are homeless sleep in the pews.

Preston Yancey has been on fire lately. Read about why we need women behind the pulpits. Then take a gander at his new series on sexual ethics.

Also on fire? My dear friend Sarah Bessey. Sometimes I just need to let her prophetic voice wash over me and all is right with the world again. Loved her post about adding "Gibor Chayil!" to our lexicon, in praise of the men of valor in our lives. But it was her post about not being silenced that really struck home with me.

Addie Zierman's writing often leaves me undone, none more so than Making Your Faith Your Own. Her encouragement these last few months has been life-giving. Oh, and read her open letter to the church. Especially if you're a pastor or leader. We need you to take her words to heart.

Applauding my friend Elora's bravery in sharing her story about sex, marriage, and childhood sexual abuse. I have no doubt her words have offered healing and encouragement to many.

A farmer is taking his fight against Monsanto all the way to the Supreme Court. Down with Monsanto! (Want to learn more about Monsanto and its GMOs (genetically modified organisms)? The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Unhealthy Truth have been helpful reads for me.)

If you eat food, you have to read this article on the Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food. Oh my dang.

Spoiler alert for Downton Abbey fans: don't read this post if you haven't watched season 3 in its entirety yet. Those of you reeling from the finale? Maureen Ryan has an interesting perspective to share.

No More Free Passes to Famous Men Who Abuse Women. I wasn't aware of a few of these examples but to see it all laid out was eye-opening. I wish the author would have taken more time to tell us how we can respond as consumers to change the industry.

This essay on February in Chicago resonated in so many ways, first as a veteran survivor of Midwestern winters and secondly his reflections about relationships.

"I’ve seen a bit of magic and a lot of Church here, and I want to join the effort to pass the peace with the person sitting in this pixelated pew with me." Antonia Terrazas explores the good and the bad of the Internets.

I'm a HUGE fan of Living Room Dance Parties. You can only imagine my joy at discovering this Locker Room Dance Party started by University of Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith.