2) Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream - David Platt
3) Real Food: What to Eat and Why - Nina Planck
4) Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life - Shauna Niequist
5) Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way - Shauna Niequist
7) One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Ann Voskamp
8) The Bible. 90 days - cover to cover. (in progress)
9) Dads & Daughters - James Dobson
10) Organized Simplicity - Tsh Oxenreider
With that done, I move on to my rough initial thoughts on The Missional Mom...
This book was not exactly what I expected, but in a good way. I thought it was going to be more of a how-to with certain rules to follow... like stay at home with your kids, or don't stay at home with your kids... just a bit more black and white. But I'm glad it isn't.
This book walks you through the lives of several women, fellow moms, living missionally where they are. They cover the spectrum of working/at-home/part-time/full-time, etc. Some have small children, some have older children. The point is, there is something for each of us to do no matter where we are in life.
One of my favorite take-aways from this book was a very simple, family oriented idea to help the homeless.
Something I've been moved by from the previous book I read, Interrupted, was that we are not held accountable for the actions of our church, or our city, or our country, but our own individual actions. I am not grand-fathered into the Kingdom because I live in the City of Churches. I am not given a free pass because my church sponsored a mission trip, even though I didn't go. It's MY responsibility to Love God and Love Others... to take care of "the least of these"... to look after orphans and widows, etc.
So what can I do? One of the ladies in The Missional Mom created brown paper bags that she kept in her car. Each brown bag contained socks, granola bars, water, and a scarf. They would then pass out a bag whenever they happened to see a homeless person while they were out driving, running errands, etc. Anyway, I loved this idea for many reasons... it's simple, my kids can help, it alleviates excuses of not being prepared or not having cash, etc.
I know it's not about all the things you can check off your list of things you have "done for God". But we are called to live our lives in a way that our lives should reflect our hearts and our obedience, and that ,my friends, is some sort of action.
This book has a LOT of great ideas of things other women have done, and many of them are replicating. BUT, I don't just want to do what someone else has done. I'm not someone else. God has gifted me uniquely and I want to use those gifts for His glory.
So I'm compiling my own ideas. I'm sure you'll see them on the blog as they develop. :)
How has God gifted YOU to Love Others?
4 comments:
I LOVE this. I need to see if our little rinky-dink library has Missional Moms. I think I really really need to give it a read. (after my One Thousand Gifts arrives!) I've been feeling "stuck" lately - like this is all I do - potty, shuffle to preschool, fix dinner, baths, etc... I think this will be my next read!
Jenny
Do you have Cold Tangerines? If not, I have it and would be willing to hand it over :)
Jenny - couldn't find it at the library. got it as an ebook. but i hear what you're saying about "stuck"
abbs - I don't have it. You can send it with my lotion. :)
Hey Courtney! I've been reading your blog via facebook postings, but am just getting around to commenting. I hate feeling like a "stalker" when people don't know that I'm reading. So I'm reading:)Now you know! Ha ha! Anyhow, I'm gonna read Missional Moms. I think it sounds like a great idea~ I LOVE the idea she had about making the brown paper bags~ we have passed "homeless" men by Wal-mart twice in the past month and my kids are always so eager to help, while I seem to be stuck with such a negative attitude (they are probably scammers...)What a great way to show love!
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