Better...

I've been going through Hebrews with the IF: Equip reading plan lately and had a few thoughts I wanted to share with you. IF is basically a collaboration of a bunch of really wise women who are asking the question "IF God is real, if His Word is true, what should my life look like?" You can read more about their mission here and check out IF: Equip here. I'd love to know we were all doing it together :)

This is from my reading earlier this week, based out of Hebrews 7:21-8:13, and I thought I'd share because when I read it I wanted to just happy-dance around and get a kitten and go hug people.  So here it is for you, gentle reader. Take a gander....

 

1. Jesus is our Better Hope.

²⁶ Such a high priest (Jesus) truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

     Jesus is our better hope for intimacy with and righteousness before God the Father. Under the Law- the Old Covenant- God was behind the curtain, separated from all but the high priest who was himself still a flawed human. The priests offered shadows and copies of the real sacrifice needed to purify us. Jesus gave Himself as the perfect sacrifice once and for all and did away with all that curtain, separation business. (Can I get an amen. Mmhmm.)

2.  Jesus is the Guarantor of a Better Covenant.

"but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

 “The Lord has sworn
 and will not change his mind:
 ‘You are a priest forever.’”

  ²² Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

  ²³ Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely^[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

     Guarantor (is a real word) and is one who gives a promise, assurance, or pledge, usually relating to quality, durability, or performance (per the freedictionary.com definition). Jesus promised that the new covenant, now written on our hearts and minds rather than on tablets of stone, is of utmost quality, is everlasting, and testifies that "The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind." (Psalm 110:4). Boom.

3. This New Covenant is Built on Better Promises.

¹⁰ This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
    after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds
    and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
¹¹ No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
¹² For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.”^[c]

     I can't say it any better than the author did. He has put His laws in our minds and has written them on our hearts. We all get to know Him, from the least to the greatest, and He has looked on us with compassion, not remembering our sins anymore and forgiving all our wickedness.

     Austin Stone worship has a song that I think is particularly relevant and that was stuck in my head basically the whole time I was reading over these verses. It's called "Jesus is Better," aptly enough. Give it a listen!

     In other news, my background is now some vintage washing machines. Which is a little random. Thanks for sticking with me while Art and Soul undergoes these necessary, weird changes. Blog puberty, y'know. Are you creeped out that I referenced - yep.

note to self: puberty references = awkward.

AND ALSO. I'm trying to figure out if most of you read on your cell phones or on an iPad/desktop computer. I understand the phone formatting looks a little wonky. Please feel free to leave comments about what you'd like to see more/less of, if there's anything in particular you'd like me to post about, or if there are any unforgiveably awkward features on the blog. Thanks!

xo,
Cate

Surviving the Airport (and Winning Hearts and Minds.)

I went to visit one of my dearest friends in Virginia this week and- I’m proud to report- I got there and back without a single airport meltdown! I met some incredibly sweet people on the plane and had a lovely time in Lynchburg. There are so many things to share, and I’ll be back with more details from the trip, recipes, and stories, but for now- here’s what I learned about flying.

10 Tips to Help you Maintain your Sanity in Airports

(and Win the Hearts and Minds of Fellow Passengers)

1.       Get to the airport about two hours early. You probably don’t need that long, but it will give you a good amount of time to call and inform all your family members that you have survived check in and security. This also gives you plenty of time to savor how responsible and capable you are. Buy a coffee.  You’ve got time! Try to look like Sandra Bullock from The Proposal while you drink it. People-watching encouraged.

2.       Pack yummy cough drops. Use them to barter favor with the people around you. Mine were Warm Apple Pie flavored. Everyone just collectively coughs on airplanes, so share the cough drops. I shared them with one woman and she exclaimed, “Aren’t you a dream boat?!” I blushed shyly, Yes, Mary. Yes I am.

3.       Admit that you’re a beginner. This is the only way for people to know that they need to take care of you. I kept dropping the fact that I had never flown alone and the lady I sat next to on my connecting flight literally walked me to my next gate. I love being surprised by the kindness of strangers.

4.       Talk to the person you’re sitting next to, even if they scare you a little. If the plane should begin to crash you will want to hold someone’s hand and there aren’t that many options. Safe topic? Food. I have a new list of food blogs to check out, and a trusty guide to the best Indian food in Austin. Win.

5.       Pack motion sickness medicine in your carry-on, even if you don’t get motion sickness. Because the person next to you might, and it will be doing both of you a favor if you have the prescription. *I gotta fever, and the only prescription is more cow bell*   

6.       Ignore the people who tell you that you have a better chance of getting in a car wreck on the way to the airport than getting in a plane crash. I don’t know why they think that would make us feel any better. Is it more pleasant to die in a car than on a plane? Sick minds, these people…

7.       Identify what makes you feel “able.” I love having paperwork with me, especially all clipped together with one of those official black butterfly clips. It kind of says, "I mean business." I printed maps of all the airports I would be stopping in and highlighted things. Having paperwork makes me feel professional, and I also feel that I might get some special preference with any airport staff because I can show them that I value their airport and want to do really well in it. Lovely architecture in here. I looked it up online before I came. Heard wonderful things about the staff, too. Would you like a Warm Apple Pie cough drop?

8.       Follow Bob Goff on Instagram. He posts inspiring quotes and generally makes me feel very brave. #bobforpresident

9.       Pack funny paperbacks- Funny because laughter is great, and paperback because it will keep your shoulder from pulling out of socket. I packed hardbacks. Lesson learned. Recommendations? Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling, Through Painted Deserts, by Donald Miller, and The Crowd, The Critic, and The Muse by Michael Gungor. The only downside is you may laugh so hard you snort, and that may make your neighbor uncomfortable. Don’t apologize, don’t try to explain, laugh on.

10.   Memorize this verse: “Now in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control.” Hebrews 2:8  

One picture from the airport when Robin came to pick me up. He said there were guys around him with little signs, waiting for their girls to get to baggage claim, but Robin had something better. Something he knew would speak directly to my heart.

 

And that's why I married him.

xo,

Cate

I Believe I Can Flyyyy...

The scene begins with Caitlyn wearing a black ski vest and a black directors cap. She enters a dimly lit room where Orlando Bloom sits, getting his Legolas hair braided. She is slapping her hand against the back of her official directors clip board and commanding the attention of the room. Extensive use of hand gestures throughout.

Caitlyn: “BIG NEWS! BIG NEWS PEOPLE!” *slap slap slap* “I NEED EVERYONE’S ATTENTION.”

The famous people in Makeup direct their attention to her.

Caitlyn: Thank you. *she feigns a New Zealander accent*  I wanted to let you all know, that I will be going to Lynchburg, Virginia to see one of my dearest friends next week, so I’m expecting you all to be at your personal best in my absence. Legolas, big battle scene this week, are you ready? I hate to miss it but as an important person, I have traveling stuff to attend to.

Orlando: How did she get in here?

Security enters. Lights fall. End scene.   

All that to say, I’m going to Virginia next week and I need your help!!

           I’ve never flown alone so any advice you can offer about navigating the airport, keeping my cool, or being a good neighbor to the people on the plane with me is SO welcome. *please make this advice actually helpful, not a thinly veiled horror story.*

More importantly though, I’m treating myself to two new books for the flights and I’d love to hear any recommendations you have. I’m thinking books that are whimsical, but not so absorbing that I won’t be able to pull myself from my reading trance and hear them announce my flight. Light-hearted, preferably no disasters. You see what I’m saying here?

Please leave traveling advice and book recommendations in the comment bar below, and if you know me and can’t get that to work, emails or text messages are welcome. ;) I’ll be back soon with thoughts, a plethora of pictures, and certainly some funny stories from the trip.

xo,

Cate

All the Hobby Lobby Plaques....

First things first.

Shauna has a new post up on the Storyline blog. You can go ahead and read hers now, I can wait.  

         Okay.

DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT SHE TECHNICALLY SAID MY NAME AND SPELLED IT RIGHT?!

          Look!!!!!!! 

Guys. We are basically on the cusp of becoming best friends. The heart palpitations. 

The story she talked about wasn’t teeeechnically about me, but no one else spells Caitlyn the same way as I do! Never mind that she said, “Kate? Kathy?” afterwards. The degrees of separation are shrinking, my friends. Know this. 

NOW, on to the actual post. 

Phillipians 4:6,7 is one of those verses that I like to think doesn’t apply to me. If it’s been put on a plaque at Hobby Lobby, I’m just done with it. This is unfortunately what I do with many overused Bible verses… I assume I have now ‘placed out’ of them applying to my life. Give the plaques to the baby Christians. Give me the really ancient, overlooked stuff. Give me this one: 

“For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace;

The mountains and hills before you shall break forth into singing,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Isaiah 55:12

It’s beautiful, right? This is actually one of my favorite verses. As I was just typing it though, I realized that I don’t really live like I believe this. I live more like it reads this way: 

“For you shall go out reluctantly, and be led forth into a pack of hungry hyenas;

The mountains & hills before you will fall into spontaneous landslides and avalanches,

And all the trees of the field shall burst into flames.”

Robin calls this paranoid.

I call it Maternal Instincts.

Whatever we call it though, it doesn’t change the fact that living life crippled by anxiety is not healthy. And would you like to know, gentle reader, what the remedy for that way of thinking is? 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in all things, through prayer and supplication, make your requests known to God with thanksgiving, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

That’s right. Freakin' Phillipians 4:6-7. All the Hobby Lobby plaques. 

God, to insure that I was picking up what He was laying down, sent me that verse, through several different people and mediums, 5 times yesterday. 

5 TIMES IN MY FAAAACE. 

Transition- change- makes me panicky. So when we are in times of transition, I usually get some anxiety. The kind that responsible people get, but the kind that makes you feel like you’re walking out into a landslide/ forest fire. But each time I feel that little panic knot forming in my throat, this verse comes up, and it cuts panic off. As my mom always says, "It's a command and a promise. You have to choose not to be anxious before you get the peace." And I've been getting the peace, the peace that doesn’t really make sense. 

Isn’t that what’s so good about God’s economy? 

-We come with deficit and leave with excess. 

-We come guilty and leave innocent. 

-We come with anxiety and leave with peace. 

-We come with thanksgiving and leave with more reasons to praise. 

- We come needy and leave brave. 

What are those verses you think you’ve placed out of? Go back and take a look at them. Chances are, they still apply to you, and they may be especially relevant to your life right now. 

Buy the plaque. 

In Honor of my People...

It feels good to be back, offering unsolicited advice on the internet.

             How ‘bout you, girl in the front row? Yeaaaah, you glad to be here?

I  feel like a bad comedian when I try to think of an opening line for each post. It’s so hard. Maybe we could have a contest where y’all submit potential opening lines and I have to make a post out of them.

    No? Okay. 
   
    “Airplane food! What’s up with that?”

     Today’s post is actually going to be serious. We'll talk about transparency, the importance of authentic friendships, and (inadvertently) chips.

        Don't focus on the chips too much, though.

I’ve said before that I’m an introvert, but really just a little bit. I love people. I love hearing all the different laughs melding together, bumping each other’s knuckles in the chip bowl, and revisiting all the embarrassing stories of the past- the ones that made us friends.

I recharge by spending time alone, yes, but there are few things I love more than a night with my people. I love the feeling of connection, the laughter, the way I can’t stop smiling afterwards. Some dear friends came back to town for the holidays, and I got really spoiled at being able to say, “See you next week,” or “Let’s get coffee Thursday,” or “Wow, it felt so good to say that. I haven’t been able to be my most horrible, honest self in a long time.”

And that’s a rule my people and I have. There’s an understanding that we can call each other at our most horrible, needy moments, and it be okay. Because there will be a time when we'll have to return that favor. We give each other the freedom to not have to have our acts together. It's free therapy.

Note:  I get to be horrible and honest with Robin, but sometimes I just need to unleash that stuff on some people with estrogen. Bless him.

              I’ll keep today’s post short, but I want to challenge you to think of who your people are. Who are the people you call when you can’t stop crying? Who are the people whose phone call you answer in the middle of the night? Who are those people who you haven’t seen in a while, but when you’re together again it feels like not a single day has passed?

Those are Your People. Call ‘em up, and maybe start that pact that you will be honest, you will be horrible, you will always answer, and you will never judge.

You can’t do this with too many, 2-3 gals has always been my limit and if you go too much higher you might be making yourself too available to too many and need legitimate therapy. Be uber intentional with those few, be loving and be honest.

To close, I’ve been reading a prayer from the Seven Sacred Pauses each morning this week and it has been so good. Here’s one for you, my little blogging tribe. ;)

Prayer of the Hour (Dawn)

O Light of God…

Anointed by your morning light I lift my spirit to receive the gift of this new day. Open my eyes to the beauty that surrounds me that I may walk through this day with the kind of awareness that calls forth grateful living. In all of creation let me see the brightness of your face. Shine in my heart and on my life, filling me with joy, creativity, hope, and laughter. Draw me into the radiant glory of your presence and into the small lights of those with whom I live and work. Inspire me to take time for those who are discouraged. May I live with the kind of presence that makes others to feel at home. Great Dawn of God, hear my prayer.

-          Macrina Wiederkehr, Seven Sacred Pauses

 

xo,

Cate

Food for Thought

Surprise! I have actually not fallen off the face of the earth, although blog activity on here might show otherwise.

       I’d love to say that I haven’t posted lately because I’ve been running marathons and doing extensive community service and other resolution-oriented things, but that’s unfortunately untrue. The thing is that while everyone else makes resolutions and buys running shoes and protein bars in January, I eat the truffles that I got for Christmas and pitter around in my pajamas. I read all the novels I received and watch classic movies. I eat a lot of soup. It works for me. By mid-February I usually get my gumption back and make some resolutions.
 
           Or rather, I run out of truffles and I panic a bit about putting on shorts.

         So this is mostly just a post to let you know that I have not, in fact, forgotten about you. Take heart, gentle reader.  

        To show you  my love, here are some things to keep you entertained while I eat my truffles. Ladies, and Gentlemen, Food for Thought:

• The creator of Wall E, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo talks about the clues to a great story.
•     Joy the Baker put out her winter reading list so I added basically all of them to my winter reading list. Don’t stay on her site too long though, or you’ll never come back here again, Imjustsayin.
•    The latest from Shauna is on its' way! I say that like we're on a first name basis. Like friends kinda. Y'know? Nope? Okay.

 

Resolve to write more this year? Journal52 can help you! Each week they post a journaling prompt, all 52 weeks of the year. 

    

       Alsooooo, The Hundred Foot Journey is at Redbox. Please watch it and cry happy tears like I did. Then make your husband or best friend watch it with you and happy cry some more. Vow to buy it and start a French-Indian fusion restaurant with me.

 

                                 
  Literal food for your face:

Truffles for me, Truffles for you (then let me know how these are! I'll make them when I run out of Lindt truffles, hehehe.)

But if you're still on the resolution wagon, make Ina Garten's Roasted Cauliflower Snowflakes. It's the only food I'm loving more than truffles. So. Good.

 

 

Happy New Year!!

    Thanks to all of you dear people who read this blog this year and so diligently boosted my self esteem about it. You have been encouraging and kind, and made me feel a bit less like I was sending thoughts out into the void. Thank you!

   The idea of a glistening, shiny new year perched on the horizon has inspired some goals for the blog this year, some of which I'll be sharing with you as they become more than just ideas and one of them I'll share with you right now! 

* bum ba da dummmm* 

    Some of our friends and mentors homeschool their kids, and central to all their teaching is the notion of raising their kids to be well spoken and well read (she blogs here and is very smart... Add her to your reading list!) I thought that was an incredibly wise thing to say, so I kind of stole it. This is the first in a feature I'm going to call "Food for Thought," until I find something more original to call it. These posts will just have a few links to some articles, videos, and books that will help you build your own wealth of information, form and share your own opinions, and sound smart/funny/interesting... (Or possibly like you have too much time on your hands.) 

    Sooooo, another year, another reading list! These are books I've read, am reading, or want to read. If you've read any of them and have feedback, leave it in the comments section! I also love getting book recommendations so please share what's on your list!

On my list:

Every Bitter Thing is Sweet - Sara Hagerty
Delancey- Molly Wizenberg
Steal like an Artist- Austin Kleon 
Flight Behavior- Barbara Kingsolver 
Better Made at Home- Esterelle Payany
Winter Hours- Mary Oliver 
Scary Close- Donald Miller
How we Learn (the surprising truth about when, where, and why it happens) - Benedict Carey
Garlic and Sapphires- Ruth Reichl
Daring Greatly - Brenè Brown
The Writing Life- Annie Dillard 

Some tips for making your own reading list for this year: 

Read:
- a classic 
- a book you loved in childhood 
- a biography (or autobiography) 
- a mystery novel 
- have a favorite author? Do some research and find out who their inspiration was, then read  about them!
- a book with a blue cover 
- a book with a number in the title 
- a book that has been translated into English 
- a book on your passion (the creative process, sports, photography, neuroscience, etc.) 
- a book on something you don't know much about (see above...) 
- a favorite book of someone in your family 
- a book on spirituality 
- a book you had to read in high school English. Try it! You'll probably appreciate it much more now. (I'm looking at you, Scarlet Letter.) 
- a book that teaches a new skill 
- a book with a ton of pictures 
- a book with no pictures 
- a book of folklore, mythologies, or fairy tales 
- a book by a local author (do a little research and see what writers live near you, you might even be able to find a reading!) 

Happiest of New Years from us to you, may all your worthwhile resolutions stick ;)