About My Mother: True Stories of a Horse-Crazy Daughter and Her Baseball-Obsessed Mother, written by Peggy Rowe
A gifted storyteller, Rowe shares about life with her mom. The two women, both with strong personalities, were very different people, and their relationship provides a humorous light read.
Brave Love: Making Space for You to Be You, written by Lisa Leonard
Leonard's story is one of pushing hard to excel at every role in her life and to make everyone around her happy. Her journey to a healthier place of more peace and stronger relationships is an encouragement for all of us to have realistic expectations, accept and value the way God made us and those around us, and prioritize rest.
p. 31, A healthy relationship is made up of two people who show up, speak up, and have the courage to be who they truly are. It requires whole people who lovingly and honestly engage in - rather than avoid - real life, including the messiness that it inevitably entails.
p. 70, Weather of the Heart
Lord, send the rain
To wash away
The pain
And sadness
And bring life.
Lord, send the wind
To blow away
The doubts
And uncertainty
And make space.
Lord, send the snow
To cover
The mess
And make it white
And clean.
Lord, send the fog
To narrow
My perspective
And help me be present
And focused.
Lord, send the sun
To warm
My shoulders
And comfort my heart
And soul.
p. 85, The Next Step
In the darkest times,
We see hope most clearly.
Hope illuminates the darkness.
Without hope we will stumble;
With hope we cannot see everything,
But we can see the next step.
All this is required
Is one thing -
The next step.
p, 114, Guilt and Grace
Guilt criticizes;
Grace affirms.
Guilt says do more, be more;
Grace says be still and rest.
Guilt is a liar;
Grace is a truth-teller.
Guilt condemns;
Grace forgives.
Guilt screams and yells;
Grace whispers kind words.
Guilt gives up;
Grace moves forward.
Guilt brings despair;
Grace brings hope.
Guilt scratches and claws;
Grace smooths and comforts.
Guilt piles on;
Grace lightens the load.
Guilt points the finger;
Grace is a hand to hold.
Guilt rolls its eyes;
Grace smiles with warmth.
Guilt says you'll never be enough;
Grace says you are enough, just as you are.
p. 141, Be Fully You
There is a place inside your heart
Where you hold your hopes and dreams.
They were planted there by the God of the universe.
They are there for a reason.
They are part of who you are,
Part of who you were made to be.
They matter because you matter.
You being fully you matters.
p. 174, Ignoring my needs and wants had not helped my family or me. Now, instead of perfection, I wanted wholeness. I wanted to be a whole person. I wanted to take care of myself so I could take care of my family without trying to control them. I wanted them to know who I was - what I wanted and needed - so they could take care of me. I wanted to be authentic instead of trying to live up to the perfectionistic ideals of who I thought I was supposed to be.
p, 207, Doing Nothing
Doing nothing is not nothing.
Doing nothing is doing something important.
Doing nothing makes space for my brain to rest and my heart to heal.
Doing nothing makes room for breathing and thinking and being.
Doing nothing means not rushing.
Doing nothing takes discipline and practice.
Doing nothing used to make me feel guilty.
But I'm doing better at doing nothing.
Sometimes doing nothing means the most important thing gets done.
Two brothers are given an opportunity to help bring Christmas cheer to seriously ill patients in the children's ward of the hospital, an experience that proves to be life-changing for everyone involved. This inspirational and endearing novel is set near where I live and the author lives in the same town as the brothers in the story.
