Hello again. I hope this month surrounded you with all the good things of summer. I hope your days were filled with sunscreen, bright toe nail polish, and really good tomatoes. I hope you adventured to new places and also spent time on your own front porch. I hope someone held the door for you when your hands were full, and I hope you complimented a stranger rather than just thinking a nice thought in your head. I hope you drank enough water but got in some good iced coffee, too. I hope you took a morning walk before it got too hot, and I hope you stayed up late watching the Olympics. And mostly, I hope this month was a deep breath of fresh air after a year of clenching.
Reading
Jesus and John Wayne—The subtitle for this book is How White Evangelicals Corrupted A Faith and Fractured a Nation (ouch), and it was recommended by so many people, mainly friends who, like me, grew up immersed in a large white evangelical church. It isn’t an easy read, but it has been an important one. I should admit I am only about a quarter of the way through this book because I can only read a small section at time before I need to stop and process (which is how Stephen and I ended up talking about Billy Graham for a good chunk of our first date night in 17 + months). It is frustrating yet refining and certainly a worthy read. And on the nights this month I needed to crash with some good fiction that didn’t make me want to cry, The Dearly Beloved was a great read. (Although I do think I cried a bit.)
I also flew through the YA historical fiction book, Salt to the Sea. This books tells the story of the Wilhelm Gustloff, an ocean liner converted into a hospital ship during WWII. The ship was built to accommodate 1,900 people, but in 1945 an estimated 10,000 refuges and wounded soldiers boarded the ship. When Soviet submarines fired three torpedoes into its side, the ship and nearly 9,000 people sunk into the Baltic Sea, making it the deadliest (yet shockingly little-known) shipwreck in history. I knew nothing of this ship and its story. It was tragic and heartbreaking, as all war stories are, but I am a big fan of historical fiction, and I’m so glad I read this one.
Reading With the Darlings
Surely I’ve mentioned my love for Bravery Magazine here before. We pulled out an older issue to reread and get into the Olympic spirit.
Ever since we saw baby sea turtles hatch and journey to the ocean while vacationing in Ocean Isle, we have had a deep love for sea turtles. We just discovered Follow The Moon Home, and it is a definite new favorite!
Eating
Summer eating has been good to us! We’ve loved this coconut lime grilled chicken (make extra sauce—you’ll eat it by the spoonful!), this egg roll in a bowl (15 minute meal, people!) this salmon (mango salsa!) these Greek kabobs (I added zucchini to the skewers), this quinoa salad, and this lemon pie (so easy and so summer!). *Note* My family loved all of these, but my darlings don’t like quinoa, so they just ate the mango, peppers, and edamame. In the summertime, that is a totally acceptable dinner.
Making Me Smile
Cincinnati! After a year in our home, we have taken full advantage of getting back out into the city we love!
Because One Day You Won’t: A Shortened Version of This Series
Because one day you won’t leave your carrot stumps on my night stand.
(Andrew has a wonderful habit of grabbing full sized carrots out of the fridge and chowing them down. He has a terrible habit of leaving the stumps lying around the house.)
Until next time.