Skip to main content

Slow Down

 "Slow down.

Take it in stride . . .

Keeping me loose

in a world wound tight."

--Slow Down // Joel Ansett


The last couple of weeks, I've been thinking about pace. It was first brought to my attention when I was reading John 2. In the beginning of the chapter, Jesus turns water into wine. Verse six says, "Now standing there were six stone water jars . . . each holding twenty or thirty gallons." (NRSVCE) That's anywhere from 120 to 180 gallons of water made into wine! Can you imagine being a servant and you and your companions getting over a hundred gallons of water from a well or nearby stream? Talk about working your muscles!

But then the chapter moves on to the cleansing of the temple. Verse 15 says, "Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple . . ." (NRSVCE) Did you catch that? Making a whip. I think most of us read that scene and are struck by what happens after, as if Jesus got angry and lost it. But he took the time to make a whip.

The bottom line? Jesus just wasn't in a hurry. And we shouldn't be either.



What I've been reading . . .

The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes, translated & edited by Jackson Crawford

Nonfiction


The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert

Romance

"On most days, delight kept itself hidden from her, so she would go places where it frolicked--like right here, right now."


The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young

YA Fantasy

"I'd spent my life pretending to be a soft thing with petals."

The first time I read Legacy, I knew I'd be reading it again. I really wanted to slow down the second time so I could better appreciate the story. Ironic, right? 😉


The Endless Skies by Shannon Price

YA Fantasy

"But in my opinion, it is high time we start seeing things as they are and not as we always believed they were."

This story kind of caught me by surprise. I'd never read anything by Shannon before and wasn't sure about the whole warriors-who-shapeshift-into-flying-lions thing. The characters live on an island that floats in the sky called the Heliana, which has Themyscira vibes. They have a motto, "loyalty above all," and I love how it plays out in the story, both in their mission and in the love triangle. A definite recommend.



What I've been listening to . . .

Adrienne Young has a playlist on Spotify for Saint (releasing this fall). After listening to it, I took songs I liked from it and her Fable playlists, as well as a couple of Dermot Kennedy songs I love, and came up with a playlist of my own. You can find it on my Spotify account. I couldn't decide what to call it, so I just typed in an ellipse (. . .) for the title. I'm open to suggestions! 🤣



What I've been enjoying . . .

*Bigelow Benefits Ginger & Peach Herbal Tea

*KIND Breakfast Bars (peanut butter)



Blessings,

--J 💙




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spring is Here!🌷

 Happy spring, friends!🌞🌱 We've had a lot of rain here in the Hoosier state. It's getting warmer, and things are greening up. I can't wait for sunny days when I can go for walks and start working on my garden. This year, I'm planning to try my hand at container gardening. My garden plot is pretty small to start with. I like things that are straightforward and practical. So, this seems like it might be a good fit. And less weeding! Which is good, because I'm continuing to work through final tweaks for Champion's Sword . I should be done by the end of April. Then I'll move on to formatting, followed by one final read to check for commas and such. I'm looking forward to refilling my creative well and returning to drafting after so long in editing land.😉 Reading . . . This month, I re-read Spells for Forgetting  by Adrienne Young. And I finally got my hands on Ignite  by Kara Swanson. If you've read Champion's Key , you'll understand why this ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy December!

  Happy December, friends! I don't know about you, but I drink hot drinks all year round. I love to start my day with coffee and end it with tea. As the weather has turned colder, I've found greater enjoyment in it. There's just something about cozying up with a warm drink. But to be honest, as I've gotten older, a fair amount of the shiny parts of the Christmas season have been overshadowed by the frustration of societal expectations. Less is more, I say. Yet I've realized this isn't about me. Shocker, I know. So, I've set out my few minimalist decorations. I've embraced a tree this year (a tiny Scandinavian-style one, but even so). And strangely, I'm finding that I don't mind the twinkle lights so much this year. Even if the silver garland I placed on the mantle is driving me bonkers. Reading . . . Heir, Apparently  by Kara McDowell The Prince and the Apocalypse, Bk. 2 YA Fiction/Romance Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Behemoth

  Guys, I have three chapters left! Theoretically, I should be able to tackle these last chapters next week. I will say, though, that I've learned things often take me longer than I expect, and chapter fifty-one is a behemoth . Seriously, it's double the size of a lot of my chapters. After I've finished with edits, I'll read through the entire book to check everything one final time (and fix em dashes in the first half😐) before moving on to formatting, cover design, and publication. Yay! Reading . . . This month, I read So That Happened  by Katie Bailey (Donovan Family, Bk. 1), a grumpy-sunshine romcom that was super cute. And I finally returned to the Hawthorne Brothers series (Jenny Proctor) and read How to Kiss Your Grumpy Boss  (Bk. 2) and How to Kiss Your Enemy (Bk. 3). Somehow, I unintentionally picked three workplace romances . . . and movie star ones for my upcoming blog🙈, with the exception of Beg, Borrow, or Steal by the amazing Sarah Adams. I'll be repe...
Post a Comment
Read more