It's been too long! And I missed a week of Must-Reads because I was either traipsing all over the country or recovering from the traipsing. All that means is that there're more links than usual today.
I really appreciated this post by Sarah Markley on
road-tripping with her kids without her husband because that is exactly what I just got done doing this week. Strange, yes, but empowering all the same.
Reality-check post for the week:
How to Get Rich by Blogging.
Most grateful for this one: "
Monsanto Ordered to Pay $93 Million For Poisoning Town." Thank God, thank God, thank God. This company needs to be held accountable on so many levels and stop getting free passes at every intersection for the impact they are having on communities and economies. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but it's something.
I sent "
The Parenting Books Were Wrong" to a new mom of a newborn this week:
"Jesus has said, 'Don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself.' And, yes, I find that each day does have its own trouble. But far worse than the particular trouble of each day is our despair when we believe that all we can hope for are storms."
Helpful during my work-at-home/parenting-kids-at-home summer was this from the Nesting Place: "
Because Choosing Your Battles Saves Your Sanity: How Having One Decent Space Makes All the Difference."
And here's some heavier stuff. Have you heard of ISIS?
An Islamic extremist group that is systematically taking over towns in Northern Iraq and targeting religious minorities? There are reports of beheaded children and mothers and forced "conversions" and other terribleness. Right now there are thousands taking refuge in mountainous areas without access to food or water.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is dropping a few bombs on ISIS and airdropping water to the refugees. Google for more info. If you are the praying type, pray.
Because I've been such an avid observer of all things
Mark Driscoll, it's been interesting to see the Christian community's response to
a growing understanding of some of his poor behavior from 14 years ago. I met Mark right about that time, toured his then-little church building in Seattle, spoke with his worship leaders. The man was "edgy," he was someone who had the vibe of us Gen-Xers, a prophetic voice, and I claimed him as a leader of my generation for a couple years, until I was stung and stung again by the continually vicious comments against different demographics in the body of Christ. Some feel his
most recent apology is not enough to heal the wounds said to have been caused by his leadership.
Others are asking what "grace" means for Driscoll in this context. The church network he founded (Acts 29)
has recently decided to remove him and his church as members of the network. Honestly, I'm thankful that he is being called out by a wider array of the Christian community and not just those of us on the fringes who have been disturbed by his leadership tactics and his message for so long. The last thing I want is to see this man destroyed, but I would like to see him restored and to see relationships with the wounded restored as well. What would create restitution for those who've been harmed and for those who are hurt by now reading these latest comments, albeit 14 years old?
