5 Quick Things #163 🍁

Cheese, pancakes, poppies, and empire-building

Hey there,

This morning one of my kids and I discussed the idea of canceled plans, and how they feel like a valve release on an introvert’s soul. Anyone else feel that way? I love a suddenly-emptier calendar — it makes me feel like I magically gained time and somehow thwarted The System™.

Tonight we’re doing make-your-own-pizza for dinner, then we may walk to a local high school football game where some of Tate’s friends are playing. Then this weekend I’ll be tending the garden and painting some walls while Kyle works his magic on bathroom tiles and floating kitchen shelves. Ah, fixer-upper life.

What are you up to this weekend?

A statue made from leftover rubble stands at the site of the beginning of the protest movements in Beirut, Lebanon. #

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5 Quick Things ☕️

1. There are three things I’ve learned about work in this last year of AoS, a year that’s ultimately like nothing I planned for its final farewell.

2. I podcasted about this idea, too... Basically, I’m great with being an ordinary poppy.

3. "Our identities, our sense of ourselves, are bound up in the ways we are rooted. To go against that is to risk losing our sense of who we are, and that is a truly frightening proposition. To avoid doing that, we will tell ourselves nearly anything." I loved this.

4. Here’s a story about working undercover at a cheese shop I had no idea I needed, but I’m glad I read it.

5. “A desire that each person around the table know they are loved and welcomed.” A gorgeous essay about pancakes that’s, of course, about much more than pancakes.

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Quotable 💬

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!”

― Rainbow Rowell #

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Time Machine ⏰

Two years ago, Marie shared the first thing her kids will learn, based on her life in Lebanon.

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Elsewhere 📍

Tsh Oxenreider 🍂☕️ @tsh

🔥🔥🔥

Scott Coley @scott_m_coley

What if America is just like all the other empires? What if America’s power and wealth aren’t a mark of divine favor, but merely a byproduct of empire-building?

This whole thread is excellent. 👆

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Advent Countdown: 37 Days ✨

Fun news — we’ve created a Shadow & Light Advent Community! Head here for details, or check your inbox if you already ordered the book and signed up for the bonuses.

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Have a good weekend,

xo, Tsh

p.s. Mesmerizing.