The Hear It, Use It Weekly Round-Up

Greetings, friends -- welcome to the weekly Hear It, Use It Round-Up. Lots of good stuff for you this week, so pour yourself a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine, depending on the time of day!), grab a snack and get cozy for some good reading.

This week's picks:

"Goals, Aspirations, Dreams and Failure?" at Fan the Flame -- This post by Abby couldn't have come at a better time for me, as I often feel frustrated by the lack of publishing progress that seems to be the case for me right now. I think, too, of my move to Nebraska ten years ago, and how it was a rock-bottom time for me, and Abby's words ring so very true: "He laid me low in a life-altering way and has been building this journey piece by piece ever since."

"Time, Talent, Pride at So Much to Say, So Little Time -- Kathleen writes about the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), and I just love, love this take-away she shares: "The more I learn about God, the less certain I am of anything except that absolute certainty is more likely to be a harbinger of pride than stewardship." Amen, sister! [check out Kathleen's books, too -- this one is particularly timely!]

"On What Happens When You Get Off the R in the Wrong Place and Dreams" at Amy L. Sullivan -- Amy writes a powerful post about seeing and hearing, really seeing and hearing the suffering of those around us. Her simple question, "Who needs you to hear them today?" really stuck with me.  

"What's Your Story?" at Lisa Notes -- Lisa's post grounded me this week and helped me think about my story, how I am writing it, and how God and grace are present on every page. I read these lines in particular about three times in a row: "In my story I find grace. Because my story is being written by God. How I tell it is up to me. How it ends is up to Him. How I live it is all grace." Is it just me, or do you have the chills, too?!

"All I Got was a Rock" at Love Pats -- Pat writes so honestly and truthfully about the state of her heart (figuratively and literally!). I especially appreciate her raw admission that she hasn't let God completely transform her heart. I know I can certainly relate to that (and her photography is amazing, too!).

Thanks, lovely friends -- and do come back tomorrow for Part Two of the chair saga [I am the only person who could write two posts about a single wing chair, right?!|

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