Week 14 (2021)
the love in longevity & community design, influencer culture, anatomy scans of wanted children, unsettling easter & settled hearts
(Open in your browser — emails cut off at the end!)
to read: essays, articles
Grace Olmstead on Uprooted, Place, Idaho, and Prairie Lupines — Matt Stewart, Front Porch Republic — “But above all else, I think the calling should be to live well and faithfully wherever you are—and hopefully, if you’re able, to live there for a long time, so that long attentiveness and presence in place enable you to truly see, understand, and address local needs in a deep and lasting way.” (Thread of hers, which expounds on this theme in her book.)
Designing for Trust — Heidi Deddens, Comment — “…we are embodied, and visible variables like scale and shape, texture and material invariably affect the ways in which we interact with others. Design choices are not neutral, so which ones might reduce the friction of getting along with our neighbours?”
A Life Without Why— Joyce H. Munro, Fathom — “She had internal struggles that family and acquaintances could only guess at: Why does my mother-in-law resent me? What if we had never left Pennsylvania? Why was my middle son struck by polio? Why did I almost die birthing my third son? At some point, all these things were settled in her heart of hearts, pruned away to prevent disease from entering.”
I Have a Wanted Pregnancy, And Yet I’ve Received Pressure to Un-Want It — Mary Rose Sommariba, Verily — “The whole experience made me think, if the 20-week ultrasound appointment has turned into a halfway point of offering abortion one last time, to moms carrying advanced and nearly viable babies, then we should be given a warning that it's coming. Because if I could have put it in writing to avoid this entire conversation, I would have.”
The Unsettling Power of Easter — Esau McCaulley, New York Times — “The weight of this work fills me with a terrifying fear, especially in light of all those who have done great evil in his name. Who is worthy of such a task? Like the women, the scope of it leaves me too often with a stunned silence.”
to read: books
Inheritance, Dani Shapiro — audio — A memoir I won’t forget. I loved her style of writing and will be checking out her other work.
to watch
Beleaf in Fatherhood — Glen & Yvette Henry, YouTube channel
Raising Tiny Disciples — Phylicia Masonheimer, IG TV
to listen: music
Maverick City Vol. 3 Part 1 — Maverick City Music
Freedom — Justin Bieber
to listen: audio
Under the Influence — Jo Piazza, podcast — Absolutely fascinating. You’ll want to complete the whole series of episodes. I can’t stop thinking about the term “lifestyle porn”, the concept of curated authenticity, and the desire to monetize the hard, unpaid work of mothering.
“Under the Influence is a deep dive into the Mom Internet, a place haunted by aspirational marketing where it feels like every other mom is a social media influencer trying to sell you something, all while posed in white kitchens that never seem to get messy… with toddlers in cloth diapers that never ever leak; a bastion of carefully curated lives that are #blessed. And behind this airbrushed perfection is money, so much money. Billions and billions of dollars. Journalist and mom Jo Piazza looks at how we got here, what it all means and how the commodification of motherhood is driving mothers a little insane.”
to cook
Chicken Enchiladas & Mexican Rice (took inspiration from a few recipes out there using chili powder, cumin, sautéed onions, garlic, Rotel, corn)
Baumeister Chili (need to document the recipe sometime)
Baked Cod & Peppers (olive oil, salt, garlic, lemon, herbs you like)
to celebrate
Raising from the dead and sealing the deal on eternal life with Christ is pretty sweet. It’s basically the greatest, wildest event Christians stake their hopes on.
to remember, reflect
A Year Ago...
Spring neighborhood walks, gettin use out of the wrap, Ezra with great hair at 3 months old.
This Week...
The kid discovered the flavor explosion in both Doritos and Oreos, sunlight into the evening, managing the witching hour(s) with the 6 week-old, the warmth and sun on Easter Day, feeling very tired, sometimes overwhelmed with caregiving during the little years, incredible banana pudding, Ezra satisfied after finding two eggs, Ezra also saying “absolutely not” to the neighborhood Easter Bunny, more Breaking Bad, more of Jakob teaching me about uranium investing, more wine, more milk-bottles in the shower for one of us, more resting easy in Christ’s love.
“‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’ And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.”
Luke 24:5-12