Share Four Somethings: February 2021

A house we passed on the way home from church last Sunday. (Sometimes you just have to circle back around and take a photo.)

Last month, I shared my hope that there might still be a few good snowstorms left in the forecast for this winter season.

It would be an understatement to say that those hopes were realized. The snow came to Kansas in mid February and brought with it frigid temperatures the likes of which I’ve only ever seen in North Dakota a few years ago.

On the coldest day, after a brief attempt to shovel our sloping driveway and nearly freezing my hands off, Randy helpfully explained that one pair of mittens would have kept my appendages warmer than the two pairs of gloves I had been wearing. (You can trust cold-weather advice from someone who has lived in Alaska and has actually had frostbit fingers.)

In January’s Share Four Somethings post, I also told you about my plans to write every day this month. So far, so good. By that, I mean I’ve written every day. I haven’t skipped weekends or waited until the evening hours, when I’m distracted and tired and just want to watch previews of shows that will be on the new Magnolia Network.

Most days, I’m pretty sure not a single word I’m typing on my screen will be worth saving. Later, I read what I’ve written and think that maybe I’m being just a tad too hard on myself. Time will tell, but the daily writing continues.

And so does my participation in Heather Gerwing’s monthly invitation to share something loved, something read (or heard), something treasured and something ahead.

• Something Loved

Years ago, everything had to be just so before I could start writing. Floors vacuumed, laundry done, supper in the slow cooker, children at school or kid’s day out, two or three free hours looming ahead of me. That’s what I thought, anyway (which is probably why I didn’t do much writing back then.)

These days, pretty much all it takes is a candle burning by my laptop and I’m good to go. There’s something about the warmth of a flame and the light reflecting off the gold embossed file folders on my desk that settles my heart and starts the word flowing. These days, candlelight in my kitchen is my new favorite thing.

• Something Read

It’s not often that a book written by a Millenniel or Gen-Z woman that is geared toward women in those age categories resonates very strongly with me. You’re Not Enough (And That’s Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love by podcaster and commentator Allie Beth Stuckey is a powerful exception.

Stuckey tackles several myths that the culture of self-love promotes, including “You are enough” and “You’re perfect just the way you are.” I wrote about the fallacy of “being enough” way back in 2016, so it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. Here are a few quotes from Stuckey’s book that are worth pondering.

On the irony of the enough-ness/self-love message:

“The culture of self-love is exhausting,” Stuckey writes. “While we’re telling ourselves we’re enough as we are, we’re also reading the next book, listening to the next podcast, or following the next 10-step plan to help us realize and manifest our enough-ness by finding our ‘best selves.’ But if we were really enough as it is, we wouldn’t have to try so hard to convince ourselves that it’s true.”

On “our truth” vs. God’s truth:

“Here’s what we need to recognize: ‘our truth’ is usually Satan’s lie. What feels true to us in the moment may not be true, good, or trustworthy at all. While it’s true that we have experiences and trauma that shape us, these things don’t equate to moral truths. They just happened. And maybe they were significant, and maybe they taught us something. But in order to know whether these lessons we learned are truths worth building our lives on, we have to compare them to the standard of truth, God’s Word.”

On what happens when we strive for perfectionism:

“Until you realize that the reason you matter is because God created you and sent his Son to die for you, you’ll be running a rat race toward the prize of perfectionism that doesn’t actually exist,” Stuckey explains. “You’ll keep trying to be enough for yourself—smart enough, accomplished enough, thin enough, and so forth—only to realize that sufficiency was never in your nature.”

• Something Treasured

A few weeks ago, my daughter Lilly called me on FaceTime while I was puttering around the kitchen. While we talked, I did the breakfast dishes and she painstakingly separated pages of a water-damaged textbook. I’m not sure why the university bookstore gave her this particular volume, but listening to the rustling reminded me of the way she always used to crinkle the cellophane dust jackets of library books when she’d read them in our living room.

Being the avid reader that she is, it wasn’t unusual for her to have her nose in a book for hours on end. For others in the room, the cover crackling was sometimes distracting. For me, though, it was music to my ears. Now that she’s away at college, the memory is even sweeter.

• Something Ahead

Younger daughter Molly is heading back to school full-time in March. She’s been in hybrid mode since school started back up in January, going to her high school every morning from 7:45-11 a.m., so the new schedule will be an adjustment for us both. Even though she’s often used the time for homework, she’s gotten used to having her “afternoons off.” I’ve enjoyed having her around too, so it will be a little bit lonely around here for a while. It’s a positive change, though, and certainly one that’s been a long time coming.

• • •

Have you read any good books lately or have any bookish habits that may or may not distract others when they’re reading? If so, please share in the comments. And while you’re at it, feel free to add your own Four Somethings to the conversation.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with Share Four Somethings, #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee, #HeartEncouragement and Grace & Truth.