Mindset

(source)

This is from the book Mindset by Carol Dweck.  It is awesome.

In praise of the hot water bottle

Photo credit: me

"Hot-water bottles are never going to be fashionable. Even to talk about them is to invite a smirk from your audience. And yet would anyone turn down the offer of a hot-water bottle in this weather? Cheaper and greener than leaving the heating on all night, a bottle is a portable comfort. With a little planning, it heats up the bed before you clamber in. With an adequate cover (and would you seriously consider a naked rubber bottle?), it keeps you warm into the small hours. And then there is the attendant ritual of decanting a boiled kettle; lightly burping the bottle, and screwing the cap reassuringly tight. To do this is to feel somehow parental, wise – as if providing for your inner child. Like a cup of breakfast tea in bed, or a hot bath after a long day, a hot-water bottle is the kind of prosaic comfort that is easy to overlook and yet somehow makes life so much better. In fashion? Never. A must-have? Absolutely."
From "In praise of the hot water bottle" The Guardian, editorial (link)

Bible study: the land of the tribes of Judah

(source)

Following Bonhoeffer's model of reading two chapters in the Old Testament and one chapter in the New Testament a day, I'm now in Joshua 18/19 and Acts 10.

I felt like I needed a bit of illustrative help and so found this map from wikipedia.  How helpful for passages like Joshua 18:16 -  "Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim.  And it then goes down the Valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites and downward to En-rogel." Whew!

i forgot about this quote. how glorious.

“Appreciative love gazes and holds its breath and is silent, rejoices that such a wonder should exist even if not for him, will not be wholly dejected by losing her, would rather have it so than never to have seen her at all.” 
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Life

"God created this draw toward relationship.  The draw is toward himself, and we are told to look for his presence: "Seek the Lord while he  may be found" (Isaiah 55:6).  It is in relationship with God that we find ultimate connection and meaning.  And by God's design, the draw is also toward others:  "Two are better than one" (Ecclesiastes 4:9).  We are at our best when we are connected deeply to God and to the people who matter most.  That, along with a meaningful purpose and task, creates the best life possible."  

Beyond Boundaries by John Townsend

Burning the ships

Hello loyal reader(s),
You might have noticed on the side bar that the archive of blogs has increased ten-fold.  This is because martadouglass.blogspot.com is becoming no more.  Thanks to Google's creed of "Don't Be Evil" (and Jono's knowledge) I transferred all of my blog posts from martadouglass onto this very blog.  There's some amazing stuff in the back logs.  Enjoy!

M