Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns
If you think Jesus would have come into your home that day and not issued a strong rebuke to the head of household, you are mistaken. These words of condemnation have been haunting me for days now. They aren’t all that different than the soundtrack I play in my head on an almost-daily basis. It’s…
I am nesting. On Saturday I emptied the refrigerator. Last summer’s homemade pickles in their jars. The bread ends that seem to multiply on every shelf. The eggs. The milk. The fruit and veggies. All of it sat on the floor or the counter as I carefully removed the shelves and wiped them down with…
I’ve heard that life is like a highway. And it definitely seems like that sometimes. The pace of life swirls around me at dizzying speeds. We’re all so busy. In such a hurry. Always somewhere to be, something else to do. I’m a get-to-the-point, get-there-quick kind of girl. I don’t like to waste time on…
I’ve been aware of personality inventories for almost two decades now and I’m recently obsessed with the Enneagram, so I wasn’t sure if I would fully enjoy this book by Anne Bogel (known online as Modern Mrs. Darcy) that provides an overview of seven inventories/factors that influence personality. (Spoiler alert: I loved it!)
Reading People: How Seeing the World Through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything is a challenging book to read straight through because it seems like it would best be used as a guide to dig in to one aspect of personality at a time. Even after reading the whole thing, I know I need to go back and focus on the Myers-Briggs because I think I’ve mistyped myself all these years.
Even with a working knowledge of some of the aspects Bogel talks about, I learned about some new ones and some new ways to use them in my actual everyday life.
This book came highly recommended by many online friends, and I would pass on the recommendation to you, especially if you want to know more about yourself. (Note: Not everyone is ready or willing to do this work. It’s worth it, but it’s not easy.)
Side note: I’m trying a new thing with my reading goals this year. Each quarter, I’m focusing on a different topic primarily for my nonfiction reading. In the first quarter, I read three books on racial justice and reconciliation. This quarter, I’m reading books about relationships. Reading People was first on the list because knowing more about my personality helps me understand other people better. (If you want to keep up with my quarterly reading, I talk about my progress every month in the reading newsletter I send via email. You can sign up here. No spam, I promise!)
And if personality stuff isn’t your thing, but reading is, I suggest you check out Bogel’s website where she offers reading challenge resources and recommendation lists. She also has a podcast that sounds interesting.
(I should also note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for blogging purposes. Review reflects my honest opinion.)
It was only 20 minutes after the race had started that the first runner crossed the finish line. My son and I stood there at the end of the route wrapped in winter coats on a Sunday afternoon in April. Two of our foursome–Dad/Husband and Sister/Daughter–were out on the course somewhere and we weren’t expecting them for at least another 15 minutes or more. But my son insisted on seeing the first person to cross the finish line and wanted to keep watching as the timer ticked away while more and more runners crossed the line.
Over the next several minutes, young and old, women and men finished the race. Right around the 38-minute mark, our people came into view. My daughter was struggling through some discomfort as my husband jogged next to her, watching her carefully and closely.
Weeks ago, when my husband decided he wanted to run this particular 5K, he asked my daughter if she wanted to run with him. She’s part of a running program at school and is training for another 5K in May. (I’m her running buddy for that race and I’ve been training, too. More on that later.) I was proud of her for saying yes and taking on the challenge.
Read the rest of this post over at Putting on the New.