Share Four Somethings August 2021

Being consistent about showing up here in this space is never easy for me, no matter how much I’d like it to be. I write in what Jessica Turner calls “the fringe hours,” and whenever my life is in a state of upheaval or transition, whether it’s the new school year starting or a sick kiddo in the house, I fall right off the habits wagon and into survival mode. I struggle to show up for my own passions–reading is generally the only constant, possibly because it’s less work and more a source of comfort. Exercise, writing, crafting, and even meal planning go right out the window, much to my chagrin. But I’m always working at it, at getting back on the wagon sooner than I did the last time.

I’m writing this post in the dark of a predawn morning, at a table in my in-laws’ finished basement, where we are currently camped for the week and will soon be installed for an unknown period of time. Our house in Memphis is sold as of fourteen days ago, and next weekend, we’ll return for two final weeks in the MidSouth before heading home to the Midwest for the long term. It was a most unexpected turn of events, and while much desired, its demands are great, as anyone who has faced a job-related move with a defined timeline no doubt understands. Moving takes over one’s life.

With this reality in front of me, it isn’t so simple to think of Something Loved, Something Read, Something Treasured. Something Ahead is the only easy one, because what can compete with homecoming when you’ve spent nine years being homesick deep in your core? But let’s see what I can come up with here as August shuts its doors.

Something Loved

My birthday was last weekend, and I will just openly confess to you that I (with great delight) received LEGOs from my family–the last remaining section I needed to complete the Hogwarts castle: the Astronomy Tower. I wasn’t all that interested in LEGOs as a kid, maybe because I grew up before LEGO Friends or the Harry Potter line. But make no mistake: LEGOs are for grown-ups, too. My family has indulged me for birthdays and Christmas for a few years now. Following a set of LEGO instructions is therapeutic, much like doing a puzzle or knitting. My kids are allowed to help me build, but when the build is over, I admit I make them ask before they can play with my LEGOs. What can I say? I’m still an only child in temperament, just in adult clothing. I don’t share easily.

Something Read

Somehow, the books that make the strongest impression on me almost always seem to be the ones I pick up serendipitously. The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr, a professor of history at Baylor University, wasn’t on my reading list. But the cover caught my eye a few months ago as I was prowling the shelves of my local indie, and it’s been life-changing. Her exposure of the way Bible translation practices have obscured the true role of women in Scripture and the dangers of accepting a Bible translation at face value were a huge relief to me. She approaches this issue from multiple standpoints, including sharing her own personal experience of complementarianism in the church, but always undergirding her exposition with historical fact. If you’ve read and found value and affirmation in Sarah Bessey’s Jesus Feminist, this should be on your TBR.

Something Treasured

With our pending move in mind, I’m going to come at this one from a broad angle and simply say I’ve been treasuring all our Memphis “lasts.” It’s not easy to zero in on any one “last,” but final visits to places we love, like Gibson’s Donuts, Memphis Botanic Garden, Novel bookstore, and of course, last visits with the people who have become our community (which took a long time to find, by the way) are bittersweet. We want to move home to Michigan, but it’s still hard to say goodbye to what we’ve built over the past several years.

Something Ahead

There’s a great deal to look forward to with joy and anticipation right now: Michigan fall weather with its crisp days, H getting to celebrate a birthday with extended family for the first time, proximity to grandparents and old friends, days at the lakeshore, not having to choose between being alone or traveling for the holidays. I can hardly bear the goodness of it.

Thanks for bearing with me, friends, as I come and go from this space so erratically. And if you want to join me in Share Four Somethings, check out my friend Heather’s link-up. I’d love to know what your Four Somethings are every month.

I hope to see you back here soon. Further up and further in, as Aslan says.