Link Love

Because what is better than Wendell Berry and Ron Swanson?Inside every human life there will occur times of hardship and times of rejoicing, which in fact could describe any single trip of my own to the privy, or “thunder-closet”, but with the wife and family that I possess, and more importantly, that possess me, I can remain calm in the knowledge that any storm can be weathered.

Fasting for 40 days can be done Godwardly, but it would be hard to do secretly. Isaiah describes real repentance as a seismic upheaval where, “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain” (Isa. 40:4). If your soul needs the upheaval of repentance then fasting is a great intensifier.

The Habits of Highly Productive Writers Chipping away at something for years or decades can lead to a pile of dust or to a finely made and intricately tooled piece of art. It’s often hard to know which one you’re working toward. It can help to delude yourself into channeling Donatello or Brancusi even if what you’re looking at seems like a bunch of shavings.

Beware the Mirror This is why focusing on our self-image is so dangerous. Many of us do need our sin-corrupted, Satan-encouraged self-loathing corrected. But this will never happen by focusing on our self-image because our salvation, peace, and happiness are not found in improving our image or having the fleeting pleasure of others’ admiration. We are not designed to be satisfied with our own glory.

So Your Life Didn’t Turn Out the Way You’d Hoped But it’s OK to be a nobody by the world’s standards. In fact, despite our striving and straining, most of us will be. Your greatest challenge isn’t achieving greatness. It’s realizing the greatness in what God is accomplishing in you where you are (which may require you to redefine what greatness really means) and being consistently faithful right there.

Six Reasons to Not Read a Book I will not read a book to stay relevant. I’ll never keep up. And because of the timeless and always relevant gospel I don’t need to.

I grew up with Barbies and as much as I'd like to say my earliest ideas of what made a woman a woman wasn't born in those hours of playing with them, I can't say that. Those shapely dolls shaped more of my concept of beauty—and desirability—than any other early perceptions I had. Even though I don't know if a more "realistic" doll is the answer to the phenomenon, I think there is something to be said for the children's preferences in this video. We are drawn to what we are most like.