Curating Thankfulness: 6 Gifts Worth Sharing!

Hope you are all anticipating with great thankfulness the week ahead. I pray you will find many moments to rest, reflect on the gifts of the past year and ready yours hearts for the advent of Christmas. I thought I would share a handful of things I am grateful for this week (because this email can’t contain the whole year!).

1. Book Bites. I finished reading You Are What You Love (The Spiritual Power of Habit) by James K. A. Smith! Its an encouragement to “curate your heart” and to “be intentional about what you love”. Tim Keller says it’s a user-friendly introduction to Augustinian insights that we share shaped most by what we love most.

2. In the Neighborhood. I had the joy of helping organize a Campus Care Day at a neighborhood school at the end of my street. A gift that God has given me is the ability to make connections and organize meaningful collaboration. I was able to steward that recently and help pull together local churches (South Hills Christian Church, Doxology, Doxology Espanol) , parents, teachers, students, and neighbors to work one afternoon making their campus look more beautiful. 100 people pulled up dead bushes, cut down dead trees, removed weeds, put in mulch, spread crushed rock, built some raised beds, and planted flowers. One of the greatest ways I experience joy it to do Kingdom of God work out of my gifting and see it bear fruit. If you haven't tried it in a while, shake the dust off and do it. You won't regret it.

3. Painting while Podcasting. This past week I gave our juniors and seniors the sketchbook prompt “What is a moment you are looking forward to over Thanksgiving Break”. While listening to the most recent episodes of BaseCamp LIVE (Christian Classical Education Podcast), I watercolored my own sketchbook journal entry of a moment I am anticipating. My parents have a small parsonage on their rural property that was built in 1850. I love walking on their land, seeing the stars in the clear, cool sky and hearing wild critters in the woods.This practice of painting while podcasting is soul care for me!

4. Y'all - God is Coming!!! My best friend had a vivid dream this week of being caught up with Christ upon His return. Almost as cool, I had the privilege of dropping by a signing event for a local author and friend, Maggie Philpott and illustrator Michael Livesay-Wright. They’ve put together a beautiful heirloom quality advent book “God is Coming” that is well suited for families to wait with wonder for Christmas.

5. Linocut Printmaking. In the spirit of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape letters, I had my 9th graders create a “Temptation Beast”. They had to do a character profile and imaginative drawing of a create that would embody one of their temptations. This week we finally cut and pulled Lino prints of the monsters. My proud teacher moment was seeing the huge smile on one of my grumpiest most cynical student’s face when she stepped back and looked at her print. “Wow! I’m actually really happy with that!” Here is a little intro to the lino-cut printmaking process. Simple printmaking supplies might be a cool gift for someone creative in your home!

Student Work

6. Imitation. I get the Austin Kleon newsletter in my inbox. I am blatantly stealing his newletter format because I love it and it adds value to my life every week. If you are creative or just want some cool inspiration in your week, sign up for his newsletter.

Thanks for reading! I hope to have my Liturgy + Intent guide updated for 2022 in the next few days! Keep your eyes out! Pairs well with a glass of coffee, wine and “You are What you Love”.