Category: What’s Going On Right Now

“If I was really exploiting my singleness for the glory of God…  I think every minute of my day would be utilized and spent so that there is literally no time in my schedule for a family.  I think that’s biblical. I  don’t think there should be room in my schedule for a family until I have a family.  God doesn’t need me to hold open ‘time slots’ for things that aren’t mine.  He calls me to spend myself for His kingdom.” Fabs writes about 2 things she learned from scheduling her life.

Ever wonder how “word of mouth” works exactly or why opportunities don’t seem to pan out for you? FB writes about her sister’s paint job and how you might be letting money slip through your fingers.

Seth Godin makes the point that “There are some significant misunderstandings about failure. A common one, similar to one we seem to have about death, is that if you don’t plan for it, it won’t happen,” in his post on how to fail.

On Front Porch Republic, James Matthew Wilson discusses one of my favorites, Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, in History’s Long Road to Tyranny: Tocqueville and the End of Equality.

The NPR Books blog had an absolutely atrocious post this week, dripping with contempt, on Ayn Rand (inspired by the movie coming out this weekend). I’m not going to link to it as it was rather sickening but if you’d like to read it, I’m sure you can find it!
They did have a few good things this week, though – a post on My Antonia reminiscent of  my ‘forgotten books’ concept (incidentally, I re-read My Antonia last year after not having read it since 6th grade and had many of the same impressions), and a funny but true endorsement of libraries. I mean, do you know how awesome libraries are? 🙂

Edit: Thanks to Italian Food Forever I just won a bottle of 15-year aged ($60) Lodovico Campari Balsamic Vinegar!

This week Tim Challies’ new book on Christians and technology came out. I’m more than halfway through already (on my Kindle!) and highly recommend it, especially to those who are either overly suspicious or overly trusting of new methods and gadgets.
He also wrote a great post reminding us why Christians should read in the mainstream.

Wendy Alsup writes a very encouraging post on the Desiring God blog for when the Proverbs 31 woman seems hopelessly out of reach.

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Very much in the line of a link I posted a while back, Gene Veith shared this post on why we need Jane Austen.

I feel like everyone should know how to pack a suitcase, but I get “How do you DO that?!” often enough that it’s worth linking up: How to pack your suitcase as efficiently as a flight attendant. There is no reason you can’t pack 7-10 days’ worth of clothes in a carry-on bag.

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Don’t forget: this weekend is Spring Fever in the Garden in downtown Winter Garden, FL. These pictures should encourage you to go! (Plus, 4 Rivers just opened a second–larger– location in Winter Garden.)

I never plan to do these link-y posts more than once a week, but sometimes there’s just too much great stuff!

This gets me every time I read or watch The Lord of the Rings: when Frodo is feeling like he just can’t do this herculean task anymore, Gandalf says

“But you have been chosen. And you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.”

The Leadership Journal talks about this in relation to pastors, but it really applies to everyone– mothers, musicians, government employees…

Desiring God Ministries is doing a read-along of the book Desiring God with John Piper himself. Chapters 1 and 2 are available now.

John Samson tells the story of the boat journey to remind us we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

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Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London has entitled its 2011 season “The Word is God” and will mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible with a cover-to-cover reading between Palm Sunday and Easter Monday. The troupe will also put on mystery plays (the dramas of Bible stories that were the beginnings of modern drama), Anne Boleyn (Henry VIII’s short-lived queen and Reformation activist), and other performances and lectures about England’s Biblical heritage and the impact of the King James Bible on the English language and England’s culture.

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Good ol’ FB has some charts on what people spend in an average household budget. It raises a question I often ask myself: if I made more money, could I be disciplined enough to keep the lifestyle I currently enjoy and save the rest?

In classic Godin style, Seth asks what we do with a slow news day.

If you have ten minutes unscheduled and the phone isn’t ringing, what do you do? What do you start?

The Ligonier Ministries National Conference was last weekend. The sessions are now available online, and I highly suggest you make some time to view/listen to them! The optional sessions are about half an hour, and the rest are 1 to 1-1/2 hours long.

In addition, John Piper (author of the life-altering classic Desiring  God) preached at Saint Andrew’s on Sunday morning on the supremacy of Christ in calamity. It’s wonderful too.

Not enough Reformed theology for one post? John Samson wrote last week about how there can be five solas of the Reformation since ‘sola’ means ‘alone’.

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In what’s been going around amongst my friends today, check out this post on why men love Jane Austen. There’s also a great post along similar lines about one of my favorite movies of all time, The King’s Speech.

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I didn’t post yesterday that on Saturday I made some chocolate pecan toffee, very similar to this recipe, with my friend Bekka.

Tonight’s dinner was lemon linguine with grilled chicken. I’m waiting for the recipe to be approved on Tasty Kitchen… but basically it’s just linguine tossed with freshly grated Parmesan, freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, and a splash of olive oil.

With the whole “food truck revolution” going on around the country, I wondered when Orlando would get some. Turns out several assembled at SODO today. Even though I didn’t get to go tonight, it bodes well. 🙂

Remember when I wrote about Atlas Shrugged? Turns out they’ve made a new movie, or at least Part One of the movie, and since it’s independently distributed they’re only able to do a limited release. Enter your zipcode here to ask for the film in your city, and spread the word! (If the site doesn’t load at first, try again… Boortz mentioned it on the air today so I’m betting the site is getting a lot of new traffic.)

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.
-Saint Patrick

Yup, it’s St. Patrick’s Day (The History Channel has some good, uh, history of the holiday)… and I’ll be wearing orange because I’m Protestant. 🙂

Gene Veith suggests we use today to honor all missionaries.

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It’s easy to think we’re spending more on gadgets than ever before (iPad 2, anyone?), but consider 8 gadgets that used to cost a fortune over at Mint.com.

Just in case you need a reminder that formal higher education isn’t for everyone, here are 5 jobs that make $100,000 a year without a college degree. FB also posted a reminder to keep eating out in check for your budget’s sake!

Do you get terrible PR pitches offering pictures of celebrities, coupons, and other junk for the “privilege” of giving companies free publicity? I bet you’ve always wanted a snarky reply to send, and The Bloggess has you covered.

Now you know about Lifehacker, but have you seen Instructables? You never even knew what you didn’t know how to do!

Strange Herring has a hilarious take on time stealing (from earthquakes or calendar syncing).