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Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

5 on Friday

5 on Friday: Blog posts to challenge your Easter thinking

March 29, 2013

In the course of a week, I read a lot of stuff on the Internet. Here are some Holy Week related posts I found valuable to challenge my thoughts about celebrating Easter. blog note

  • Forget bunnies and chocolate, how about iPads and flat-screen TVs? This post by Eugene Cho raises the question: Is the Gospel enough?
  • This post by Jen Hatmaker made me cry. “What if we calculated the money we’d spend on new clothes, anything having to do with a bunny and chocolate, and used that investment for great good, pouring out for someone in need of mercy? Maybe instead of matching outfits from Dillards, we invest in family t-shirts benefiting someone’s adoption, someone’s mission for Christ. Perhaps rather than time and energy spent on ourselves, we ask: “Who can our family serve? Where can we put our hands and hearts to use in Jesus’ name?”  Who in your city desperately needs hope but won’t find their way to the sanctuary Sunday filled by people dressed to the nines?”
  • Sarah Bessey wrote this post which challenged me to a life less full, especially during Holy Week. “And I think we need more theologians with a poet’s heart: a little imagination when we speak of God never hurts.  The best art leaves a bit of silence, room on the edges, for interpretation and response. It is often in the white space of art where I find the Holy Spirit, hovering, stirring, waiting.”
  • And this one, by Rachel Held Evans, is for those who show up on Easter with more questions than answers.
  • This last one isn’t an Easter post, specifically, but it’s one I read recently that I can’t get out of my head. It’s by Preston and is posted over at A Deeper Story. A mixture of beauty in the mess of life. A story of the Eucharist. (WARNING: Contains language some might find offensive. But it’s used purposefully.)

What have you read on the Web lately, Easter related or not?

Filed Under: 5 on Friday, holidays Tagged With: blogs worth reading, Easter, eugene cho, jen hatmaker, sarah bessey

5 on Friday: Authors who feed my travel bug

March 15, 2013

It’s no secret I read a lot. And books have varying effects on me. At times I’m inspired. Often, I’m challenged. And sometimes, reading a story just makes me want to travel.

Here are five authors who make me want to get on a plane or a train and see the world after reading one of their books.

1. Tracy Higley. Her latest book is set in first-century Ephesus (pictured below).

ephesus_harbor_streetShe’s set her books throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean, including Greece and Jordan. Every time I finish one of her books, I think about renewing my passport and saving up for a tour of biblical proportions.

2. Dani Pettrey. I’m no fan of cold weather, but she makes Alaska sound like an amazing place to visit. I’m not really into winter sports, either, but her books have put Alaska on my travel map.

3. MaryLu Tyndall. I’m new to her sailing adventures, but she makes sailing the high seas seem adventurous and fun, even if it’s also risky and terrifying. Her most recent series follows a group of Southerners to Brazil after the Civil War. Add Brazil to the travel map, please.

4. Liz Curtis Higgs. Scotland, oh Scotland, how little I appreciated you when I had the chance to visit. Her stories are dreamy, among other things, and my heart longs to see the sights of Scotland again.Minolta DSC

5. Colleen Coble. Whether she’s writing about lighthouses or beaches, she inspires me to take a relaxing vacation, even if the stories she writes are suspenseful and not altogether relaxing.

I need few excuses to want to travel. It’s a good thing budget, time and family keep me more tethered. At least with stories, I can dream a little.

Filed Under: 5 on Friday Tagged With: alaska, Christian fiction, colleen coble, dani pettrey, ephesus, Greece, jordan, liz curtis higgs, marylu tyndall, mediterranean, middle east, Scotland, tracy higley, travel stories

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Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

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