Pay attention.

Friday May 24, 2013

Pay attention to what?

Stay tuned for my last favorite to find out.

I'm linking up with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five today.

Join us as we recount the week's blessings.

My favorites this week:

1. It’s over. The 2012-2013 school year is history. Summer looms and I have a big goofy grin on my face.

2. A thoughtful husband. We got our son and his fiancee’s wedding invitation this week. Although my hubby usually brings the mail in, it was pouring so he didn’t. He ended up making a very late trip to the mailbox. I was already in bed, so he put the invitation on the kitchen table with a letter opener so I could be the one to open it in the morning. Nice, huh?

3. Teachers who love their students. I work with a whole bunch of them. I’ve seen love in action this week, and it makes me thankful to serve where I do.

4. A pile of books! I’ll actually get to attack that pile this summer, and that makes me so happy. I plan to post about my summer reading sometime…

5. A quote:

"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." (Mary Oliver)

When you think about it, that’s what we do each Friday. Astonished by the good things in our week, we tell about it.

Simple instructions for life, but the payoff is big: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

In the same vein, I have to share a post by my friend Brooke McGlothlin called Why Christian Writers Should Keep Writing. I know all of us, from time to time, wonder about blogging – the time it takes, if anyone is reading, why we do it. Brooke’s wise words are such an encouragement, and they're full of truth.

Wishing you open eyes and a little astonishment this week.

Learning from Writing

Tuesday February 1, 2010


This blogging thing -- all this writing stuff really -- is SO good for me! I've realized lately that the process of thinking things through and putting them down in an understandable manner for someone else ministers to me.

I should have known. I remember when I was a senior in college and had to take this terribly hard Linguistics class that all English Ed. majors had to take. I thought I knew grammar, but we were each assigned a lesson to teach. Culling through it, coming up with examples, and articulating that for my classmates convinced me that to teach something, you really have to know it.

And the same goes for writing. I publish a weekly newsletter and the process of writing that each weekend just does my heart good. This week's was called Outnumbered by the wait. We all have times when we have to wait for something, and it's hard. As I worked through the writing process, I was reminded of so much that I knew in my heart -- so much I've learned as I've waited.

It's funny -- sometimes we think we write to get something out there, but the Lord uses that experience to teach us! I'm thankful for that. I've learned a lot as I've written, and I plan to keep on learning.

Linking up today with Jen.


How about you? Have you found that you learn through the process of writing?