At The Well This Week
When my family moved last year, some of the people who made us feel welcome were Madeline and Andy Kim. I asked them to share their tips for hospitality in a college town where people are constantly on the move.
“It's a temptation to wait to host people only after you’re fully cleaned up and put together with a made-from-scratch gourmet meal – but that’s just not realistic most of the time. Whether you’re going out after church to get a quick lunch or inviting people over a casual weeknight meal in your not-so-clean kitchen, just do it. Madeline has been known to occasionally invite people over even for leftovers. Your presence and intentionality speaks far louder than the state of your home.”
We think Christina Bieber-Lake’s book The Flourishing Teacher is a helpful resource for those seeking to “flourish in the midst of the teaching life.” Our book club read it in early 2021 (yes, mid-pandemic!). Listen to the podcast of the wrap-up conversation with her or check out the book club guide that you could borrow for yourself or a group.
“It’s important to constantly remind ourselves that self compassion is key in a time like this. We can sit there and say it’s up here, but for it to travel down here, to your chest, it requires some real commitment of people that you know and talking with friends of yours. I rely on my writing group for this. Whenever we’ve just like: “I spent the whole day organizing my kitchen, is that okay?” They’ll say “Yes, it is.”
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Three More Things We Loved This Week
1. Our friend Carmen Imes writes in Christianity Today “Helper: You Keep Using that Word for Women — but it doesn’t mean what you think it means.”
“Everyone has something to gain from a closer, more careful look at the Genesis text and what it says: That a “helper” is in fact a full partner in the work God assigned to humans.”
2. A research team discovered agreed upon hand signals can mitigate Zoom fatigue.
“A wave that uses the entire arm indicates a desire to speak. Arms crossed like an X signal “I have a different view.” Scratching the top of one’s head with all five fingertips means “I have a question.”’
3. And just for the delight of it: a time-lapse video of a monarch caterpillar forming a chrysalis.
What a great newsletter - thanks!