Oh hey friends.
I hope you had a cozy winter weekend wherever you are! I had so much fun seeing all your mugs on instagram! I hope you enjoyed taking a trip to the thrift store because I am definitely going to suggest it a few more times. Next week will be a fun themed trip, so if you can’t go every week, save the trip for next Monday!
Anyway.
Last week we talked prepping but this week I wanted to show you all the things I’ve scored from our town’s Buy Nothing group. If you’ve never heard of that, hop over to Facebook really quick and type “Buy Nothing” and then the name of your town. These groups are all over the world. If you don’t have one near you, you can start one. Here’s the website if you want to look into it : www.buynothingproject.org
It’s such a cool way to share resources and items with people in your community. Keep your notifications on so you can see when someone posts something or you can just say “hey I’m looking for ____” and if someone has it, they’ll comment, you’ll pick a time to go pick it up and that’s it. The only rules are you can’t offer to pay and the person can’t offer to sell it to you. Yes, please.
We’ve picked up skis, ski helmets, ski poles, christmas decorations, costumes, and arts and crafts supplies.
I got the ski poles from the buy nothing group and the snow shoes from goodwill and i’m so excited to go on a winter walk with zach. We’re in the city, so we’re not super close to walking trails or anything like that, but I’m optimistic we’ll figure something out.
I’m what they call a serial hobbyist. I find things that look interesting to learn, learn them, and then drop them. Some people find something they like to do and stick with it for a long time, but I’ve never been like that. I just hop around and try a bunch of different things so when you go to the thrift store and see piles of abandoned hobbies like this one, it’s probably from someone like me who got really into something, learned it enough to get bored with it, and moved on.
Which is also a really good reason to check thrift stores for hobby items before you buy them new. You can almost always find something!
On that note, I’d love to hear what hobbies you have or what you’re trying this winter. I’ve been really wanting to learn how to cross stitch and embroider. I don’t have high expectations for doing either well, or at all, but. I’ve put it out there now. Guess I better try at least!
Share your hobbies in the comments or tag me in your stories if you drag one out this week!
In this winterly volume :
Something to read
Something to watch
Something to do
Something to think about
Something to read :
These are books that I’ve personally read and loved. Feel free to share books you love in the comments!
Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
For the little kids :
for the bigger kids :
Magic Tree House
The Wild Robot
Something to watch :
for the grown ups :
Dan in Real Life (disney + amazon prime)
Step Mom (netflix)
for the kids :
Where the Wild Things Are (rent on amazon prime for 2.99)
Fievel Goes West (disney+)
Something to do :
Earlier this year, I was hospitalized for three weeks leading up to the birth of our twin girls. My doctors had told me early on that it was pretty much an inevitably, so I was able to prepare for it mentally and I knew the only way I was going to not lose my mind would be to keep it active. So I bought a bunch of easy crafty things because I’m not that crafty, but I like to keep my hands busy. I really enjoyed these, so if you’re looking for something to do that’s not complicated but is also not just mindlessly scrolling the internet forever … you might like these!
Diamond painting. It’s not actually painting. It’s bejeweling. lol. You get a kit with a canvas that’s sticky and it comes with all these little jewels that you sort and organize by number. It takes a bit of time to get her all set up, but then you’re good to go. From there, it’s just like paint by number, just with different tools.
It takes forever, so find a safe spot in your house to work on it!
I watched this video on youtube to learn how to do it. It’s kinda long, but she’s easy to listen to.
Paint by number : Did you know they make full on adult skill level paint by numbers now?? There are some beautiful designs out there! I want to finish the one I started working on in the hospital (got it on amazon!) but I haven’t touched it since the day the girls were born. It’s really fun, but you will definitely need to have good vision or a great prescription to see all the numbers cause some of them are tiiiiny.
Or you can be like me and just guess where the paint goes and hope for the best! Either way, it’s super fun.
Clearly, we are talking about hobbies today so that’s your mission for this week. Before Friday’s email, find a new hobby or bring an old one back into your life. Gather supplies, keep it simple, and start working on something new!
Something to think about :
“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your billows have swept over me.” - Psalm 42:7
My dad is a glass half empty kind of guy and my mom is a “the glass is half full and I’m about to go fill the rest of it up myself cause this is ridiculous” kind of woman. My mom would always say, “CHUCK. You’re so pessimistic!” And he would reply, every time, “no I’m not, I’m a realist.” He isn’t an Eeyore by any means, but dad was always good for a little wahmp wahmp now and then. (i tried to spell out the Debbie Downer sound effect there so just read it like that. kthanks)
Dad was so kind to pass his melancholy nature on to me through the mystery of genetics and so I love a good long stare out of a window on a rainy day. But as I’ve grown in my walk with Christ, I’ve struggled with those melancholy inclinations. I’ve wrestled with the idea that Christians are supposed to be joyful and joyful certainly doesn’t mean being comfortable thinking about sad things.
But sad is kind of a muse for me. I’m at my most creative when I am feeling things that aren’t exactly fun and when I really need to write something difficult for a project, I can easily get myself into the headspace where I can access intense feelings and write easily and vulnerably.
Christians can be weird about any feeling that isn’t exclusively joyful. It makes us uncomfortable, largely in part because we have a pretty simplistic view on emotions and we tend to vilify what we don’t understand.
Is it wrong to be a follower of Jesus and also be melancholy?
Will there be melancholy people in heaven?
I think there will be! I mean - we have two books of the Bible that just weep of melancholy (Ecclesiastes and Lamentations) and some pretty melancholy characters as well. King Saul, David, the apostle Thomas. I think you can even make a case that Jesus, at times, was melancholy.
(Remember that melancholy doesn’t exclusively mean sad. Sometimes, it can also just mean being pensive and somber.)
So where does that leave us?
Especially in the winter where a lot of us turn inward and our paint colors get darker and the words we write get a little more whimsical and sad and the music we listen to is a little more in the minor chords than the major chords. Can we be melancholy in spirit while walking closely with Jesus?
Yes.
The Lord delights in us as we delight in him. As we delight in him, we become more and more comfortable walking in who he created us to be.
But often the melancholy hearts believe that in order to do anything productive, growing in our walk with Christ included, we need a storm.
So let me remind you, fellow melancholy hearts, that you don’t always need rain to grow.
As someone who walks with Jesus, your feet are firmly planted in him, and he’s a whole river.
We grow in his presence. While he absolutely uses the storms of our lives to strengthen and mature us, he doesn’t need them, and neither do we. Be careful not to surrender yourself to sadness because you’ve convinced yourself that’s the way you have to be in order to achieve some spiritual or creative means.
You don’t have to justify the way you were wired.
And you don’t have to wait for the rain to come to grow in your walk with Jesus.
He is just as present and just as active in the mundane, in the joyful, in the difficult, in the neutral, and in the melancholy. I believe that the Lord delights in you, just as you are, and that the Holy Spirit gives wisdom freely as we navigate all of this - being humans who are trying to be more like Jesus thing.
But also remember this - when you are sad, even if you are in a state of perpetual, persistent sadness, you are not and will never be cut off from the joy and presence of God.
He is happy to be with you, no matter what.
His joy is deeply rooted in your heart and you have access to it, always. He loves you and your little melancholy heart. So guard it well as you inspire it and stare out of rain streaked windows. That’s what I’ll be doing over here. Maybe I’ll even write a poem about it or something…
See you on Friday, friends! Don’t forget to share your hobbies and ideas in the comments or tag me on instagram!
I have actually been planning to start up sewing and cross-stitch again. I have a floral Darth Vader cross-stitch pattern that makes me so happy in its beautiful ridiculousness that I'd like to finish.
We love puzzles in the winter! They whole family tries their best to find that last piece!