Thanks for the nice birthday wishes yesterday! I had a pretty good birthday – lunch with Myla and then dinner with my parents at Bonefish Grill. When we got back to my house, my parents surprised me with an assortment of Tigers stuff, including a Tigers Snuggie, which I’ve secretly wanted for years. It was especially funny because Myla had given me a pair of Tigers flip-flops! I am now fully prepared for tailgating and football season.
I read so many amazing posts this week that I have to do a Friday Links:
♥ I love everything Kelle Hampton writes, but I especially enjoyed her post about her recent writing retreat.
♥ Feelings and why they matter has been a hot topic among some of my friends lately. So these thoughts from Kari about worship and feelings are timely.
♥ This summer I’ve been studying Dan Allender’s book To Be Told with some ladies from church. One of the key themes is allowing people you trust to “edit” your life story – i.e. living in real community. I have my own thoughts about the topic that haven’t gelled yet, but this Amber Wackford post about community spoke to me.
♥ I’m excited that Justine Larbalestier is blogging again! Over the years I’ve appreciated her experienced advice for writers, and her recent post about the difficulty of getting started really helped me… seeing as I haven’t touched my novel in over a month.
♥ Newly published author Lisa Burstein shares wisdom about measuring success in writing. It’s much-needed confirmation for me that you can never really arrive.
♥ Ally Condie talks about being inspired by Michael Phelps. I’m also a Phelps fan, and admire him for not giving in to the tremendous pressure NOT to retire. It takes strength to walk away from something at the top of your game and start a whole new chapter of life, even when you know it’s the best thing for you. I’ll miss seeing him swim though!
♥ Post of the Week: Alece at Grit and Glory has a similar story to mine, and when I read her blog I feel like she’s been reading my mind. This week she discussed the struggle to believe that God is both good AND sovereign, that God’s favor doesn’t equal a happy outcome. For whatever reason, I seem to be in the thick of that struggle these days, and she expressed it so eloquently. Go read!
Today is my 33rd birthday. It’s my Jesus year! ;)
I have slightly mixed feelings about turning 33. I’m all about celebration and will NEVER be one of those women who wants everyone to ignore her birthday, or says she’s “29 again” (major ughs). I’m honestly enjoying my 30s and happy to acknowledge another year of life! But the passing of another year reminds me of all I’d hoped to accomplish by this point in my life. It also highlights the fact that I am, always have been, and now probably always will be out of place for my age group. I’ve really been struggling with that lately. I’ve always been overconcerned with fitting in and catching up to my peers. I’ve always tried to be a robin when maybe God made me to be a peacock. So maybe this will be the year when I accept that and let it go. And stop worrying about having the open life and uncertain future of someone ten years younger, while all the other early-30s women are worrying about getting their kids into a good private school. God guides each of us on our own paths for a reason, and none are better or worse than anyone else’s.
One of my mom’s friends texts a verse to her every morning. My mom forwarded today’s to me, and it happened to be from Isaiah 40, one of my favorite chapters of the whole Bible. I’m taking it as an encouraging sign.
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
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I’m a member of NetGalley, and they send frequent e-mails showcasing new books available for request. One recent update mentioned a children’s book about a girl with cochlear implants, which caught my attention immediately. My sister is a deaf educator who teaches pre-school kids with cochlear implants how to listen and speak. Over the years I’ve learned a lot about the subject from her – I even visited several schools with her when she was looking for a job. So I was excited to see a book for kids with implants. I requested it and was approved to download it right away! This was notable because in my year of membership, I hadn’t been approved for ANY of the books I requested, even from small publishers. So Handfinger Press, thanks for taking a chance on an unknown kid. ;)
Let’s Hear It For Almigal by Wendy Kupfer (illustrated by Tammie Lyon) is a very cute book. Ali, who prefers to be called Almigal, wears hearing aids. They don’t bother her, but she feels a little sad about the quiet sounds she still misses, especially her parents telling her they love her when they tuck her in at night. Then she gets cochlear implants and is able to hear everything! However, there are still some tough times as she works to learn how to hear, and to take good care of her implants (e.g. not swimming in them, or putting them on the dog). This book made me smile, and the illustrations are adorable even on a Kindle. I definitely recommend it for all kids, but especially those who have hearing difficulties or know someone who does. I’m sure it would encourage them – Almigal’s upbeat attitude is contagious!
You can get Let’s Hear It For Almigal at Amazon, B&N, and several other book outlets.
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Last week I took my (semi-) annual pilgrimage to Miami! My siblings and parents and I all arrived at different points in the week, and it was the first time we’d all been there together in four years. As usual, we stayed with my grandfather, and I think he was a little overwhelmed having six extra adults and a baby in his house. I was a little overwhelmed too. Anyway, here are some trip highlights:
♥ Niecy was the star of the show. None of the extended family had met her before. I don’t think many three-month-olds would go on a long vacation (involving days in the car) without a fight, but Niecy is one laid-back baby! She liked the ocean, and seemed to enjoy being passed around and cuddled constantly.
She was also very interested in the Olympics and the Dolphins/Buccaneers preseason game. I need to get her some Dolphins gear! (We talked about going to the game – the tickets were super cheap – but it didn’t work out.)
♥ Of course, there was also plenty of great food! We hit most of our usual restaurants, and on the last night, we went to a Polynesian dinner show at Mai-Kai. I had never heard of the place, but apparently it’s been around forever. The food was great, and my mom put me on the list of birthday announcements (my birthday is coming up on Thursday). Thankfully, no one pulled me up on stage or sang to me individually or anything. I think everyone there was celebrating either a birthday or an anniversary.
♥ I was able to spend an evening with my childhood best friend, Kristi! She mentioned that a lot of local restaurants are running specials right now (sort of like our Downtown Dining Week), so we splurged on a fantastic bayside dinner at Chart House in Coconut Grove. Kristi and I only see each other about once a year, but when we get together it’s like we were never apart. I’m really blessed to have several long-term friends like that in my life. She’s never visited me in Memphis, but wants to do so this fall. I’m excited!
♥ My parents, brother, and I also went to the Keys for Thursday and part of Friday. But I’ll save that for another post, once I get copies of my brother’s photos!
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