Well hello there! The other day, in the midst of sunshine and chilly wind, I saw some hope in the front flowerbed—sprouts! I think they’re daffodils, and it’s amazing how that can make everything different.
Find your sprouts today. Who knows what delightful crocuses and daffodils they represent?
1. WordArt party
Remember the WordArt of the mid-90s? If you said no (or if you’ve blocked it out as a means of self-preservation), consider this your gift from me.
(And look! The paperclip help guy is there too!)
2. Worth reading
Most mornings, I make sure I do a few things:
🙏 Pray
📖 Read some devotional and/or devotional book(s)
☕️ Coffee up
🗞 Read Morning Brew
I’ve gone through seasons where I eschew the news, and seasons where I obsess over the news.
As I get along in life, it seems that balance is a good thing, in news as in all things.
In the evenings, I have a different set of things, and this is where I feel weaker:
Feed the humans
Chauffeur
Clean up
Collapse with a book
First, note the fact that I don’t have cute emojis for that. Sigh. Clearly, I need to up my game. Secondly, evenings are not my own. #embracetheseason
But, in the collapsing with a book section, I have been devouring some books that are worth sharing. So, in the interest of brightening your day, here’s a novel I read recently and loved: If You Can Get It, by Brendan Hodge. I wasn’t expecting to have CPID (can’t put it down) syndrome with it, but, indeed, I did. Solid five-star read, with a side of wanting to reread it.
I can’t say it better than they did on the back cover:
If You Can Get It explores the quirks and the humanity of the twenty-first-century business world but finds its heart in the deepening relationship of two sisters as different as Elinor and Marianne of Sense and Sensibility.
And yes, that does make me want to reread both If You Can Get It AND S&S. #who’swithme
* Yep, those are affiliate links you spy. Buy it from your local bookstore or see if your library will stock it. But if you DO buy from Amazon, I will let you share some of their profit with me. 😉
3. Saint of the Day: St. Mark the Ascetic
St. Mark the Ascetic is said to have known the Scriptures by heart. I can’t verify if this means that he had memorized whole books of the Bible, or if he knew major passages, or what. Still impressive, especially given that he lived in the fifth century, when I’m thinking not a lot of people knew how to read.
Also interesting: one of his AKAs is “Mark the Wrestler.”
Just sit with that for a minute.
#yourewelcome
He might have been a disciple of St. John Chrysostom. And while he’s not listed as a patron of writers, with over 200 texts on spiritual law, baptism, repentance, grace, holy works, and other topics, I’m thinking Catholic writers should be flocking to him for intercession.
Image source: AgioErgo.
Bit o’ wisdom from St. Mark the Ascetic (or the Wrestler): “At the times when you remember God, increase your prayers, so that when you forget Him, the Lord may remind you.”
Prayer for today, taken from my morning reading of Surrender All (a station a day, and WOW.WOW.WOW): 🙏 Dear Jesus: All week long I shoulder the weight of my world, and it’s hard to let that go and just rest. My mind continues to spin, keeping count of what’s done and not done on my to-do list. I fail over and over again to give myself permission just to be. Call me to your stillness. Let me find silence so that I may know you are my God. Amen.
Passing you some grilled cheese and tomato soup, and wishing you blessed weekend!
Blessings and coffee,
Sarah