Favorite Finds Friday 2/26/16

Here are some the articles I’ve enjoyed over the past few weeks, along with one of my all time favorite missionary biographies (it’s FREE on Kindle!):

Tales From the Blizzard
Lindsey Carlson beautifully questions, “So how does one write of trials and loss without whining? How does one share from a place of grief and brokenness while fully expressing the spectrum of gratitude and joy that co-exist in trial? How could I paint the highlights of the harvest without the contours of the grim shadows of grief?”   In the midst of a difficult season, she offers encouragement and wisdom you don’t want to miss.

Forgive One Another
Megan Hill tackles the topic of forgiveness, wisely explaining, “The work of Christ changes everything. When my brother’s sin is nailed next to mine on the cross, forgiveness becomes not merely a matter of canceling his debt on the ledger—bringing the columns back to zero—but of positively contributing to his well-being.”

The Gift of Being Limited
Do you feel tired? Weary? Limited?  Take a moment to read this article by Christine Hoover. She writes, “How was this can’t-get-out-of-my-pjs weariness God’s goodness to me? He was offering me time and space not only to rest but to remember. Of course limits help us in a myriad of ways, but the main one is that if we don’t have limits, we would never stop. If we don’t stop, we don’t take time to recall what God has done or to reflect on His goodness. Limits are gifts that help us remember that our greatest gift is a God who is limitless.”

Motherhood is a Gift
Gloria Furman points us to the greatest gift of motherhood (it’s even better than chunky baby legs and snuggles, which are both hard to beat): “With Christ’s joy as our strength, we can rejoice that the thousand deaths to self that we die each day are our servants—midwives that are bringing us gain, an eternal weight of glory. We mothers think we are the ones who are serving, but we are actually the ones who are being served as God uses motherhood to make us more like His Son.” Be on the lookout for her newest book, Missional Motherhood in May.

Kathie Lee Gifford: How Billy Graham Led Me to Christ
Kate Shellnutt shares Kathie Lee Gifford’s testimony of faith, with words that I think we can all agree, “But the story of my life—and I dare say any Christian’s life—is not the story of my faithfulness to God but of his faithfulness to me.”

Welcome to Encourage
enCourage is a new multi-authored blog (edited by Christina Fox), with a first article by Karen Hodge. Karen is a woman of encouragement. I’ve received multiple hand-written letters from her desk, with each of note taking the time to tell me she’s praying for me.  She shares about encouragement we all need, “The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to deliver it daily. It is like food; without it, we will wither. These morsels have come in the forms of phone calls, texts, and emails. Other times it is a handwritten letter or tangible reminders of truth that I keep on display in my office.”

Book Recommendation: John G. Paton – The Autobiography of the Pioneer Missionary to the New Hebrides (the Kindle edition is free)

 This autobiography kept me on the edge of my seat. The story of John Paton’s life as a missionary is filled with courage (his life was regularly in danger…he spent one night sleeping in a tree to avoid becoming a meal), heartache (his beloved wife died on the mission field soon after their arrival), and faithfulness to the call of the gospel. His story spurred me on in the faith and left me in awe at God’s work through one man’s life.