September Resource Round-Up
Our new hens from the county fair have started to lay beautiful eggs! We had our first dozen from Ginger, Lovely Wing, and Daisy…Esmerelda is still too young and Treasure too old (our kids have a penchant for poetic names :))
Looking at these gathered eggs and feeling the slight turn in the seasons (Lord, let it be! No more humidity, please!), made me think of gathering up resources to share.
The following are 12 resources we’ve used as a family to enrich our home life, dig deeper into justice or Scripture or become more healthy as individuals and a group.
A few notes before I begin the list:
These are resources I’ve found helpful. They are by no means definitive or authoritative. What resonates with our family may not with yours. That’s okay!
Don’t try and follow and absorb the wisdom from every site or author. Trust me, I’ve tried. My hope is that you find one or two places you’d like to explore or that something jumps out at you as helpful or intriguing.
This list will be here tomorrow… if there are things you need now, hold onto them. Come back later if you need more inspiration or want to pass on something to a friend.
Without further ado, our current favorite “eggs” for your table this September:
Parenting: Connected Families
Racial healing/reconciliation: Be the Bridge
Family and faith: Meredith Anne Miller
Mental health: Alison Cook
Diverse books: We Read Too
Nonpartisan politics: Sharon Says So
Welcoming the stranger: We Welcome
Latina faith leaders: Sandra Van Opstal and Kat Armas
Prayers for parents: Kayla Craig
Liturgies for life’s ups and downs: Every Moment Holy
Bible knowledge and context: The Bible Project
Arts and Culture: Ekstasis Magazine
Parenting: Connected Families
We’ve learned from this organization for years and have found a great deal of wisdom, help, and encouragement from their book, podcast, blog or trainings. There’s practical advice, Scripture grounded methods, and hope for exhausted parents.
Racial Healing and Reconciliation: Be the Bridge
My husband and I have been blown away by the graceful way LaTasha Morrison and her organization have lead the church in listening, learning, lament, and leveraging over the last tumultuous few years, especially. The book is a great place to start. The site has many resources and courses you can take. Our favorite, however, is the Facebook group that requires 3 months of silence and a completed selection of recommended readings, viewings, and listens before engaging in conversation. It’s a treasure trove of places to start and a real gift to believers wanting to engage in healing and change.
Family and Faith: Meredith Anne Miller
A more recent find for us, I’ve really appreciated Miller’s background and nuanced approach to helping families learn about God and God’s Word. More than once, I’ve returned to her Instagram posts or newsletter to find scripts of how to help kids navigate tough questions and parents feel less alone in their doubts and missteps teaching them.
Mental health: Dr. Allison Cook
I’ve deeply appreciated Dr. Allison Cook’s approach to mental health through the lens of psychology and faith. Her book changed the way I see my emotions and her podcasts and trainings are a gold mine of easy to understand explorations of mental health buzz words and what they actually mean. I've preordered her newest book, The Best of You, and am looking forward to it coming out this month!
Diverse Books: We Read Too
When I get to the library, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by where to start finding books for my children to learn about those who aren’t like them and for myself to grow in empathy and equity in my reading choices. Enter We Read Too. This app has a database/directory to help you find picture, middle grade, and young adult books with authors and characters of color. I like being able to browse covers and synopses.
Nonpartisan Politics: Sharon Says So
There’s a reason Sharon McMahon just hit 1 million followers on Instagram. The teacher of thousands of “Governerds,” she’s curated a space where you can learn about headlines, ask questions and read explanations and context, laugh, be inspired, and learn about those on different places in the political spectrum. I primarily read her stories on Instagram but also just finished up her 17 part series on unsung heroes of the Civil Rights movement on her podcast Sharon Says So and learned SO much while driving and cleaning. Her crowdfunding for teachers and medical debt have attracted many.
Welcoming the Stranger: We Welcome.
With relevant news about the immigration/refugee crisis (crises!), We Welcome has resources to add to learning and then change learning into action. We Welcome has training on how to be an effective ally to our immigrant neighbors, kids resources, sharable information, and suggested action steps in term of legislation advocacy.
Latina Faith Leaders: Sandra VanOpstal and Kat Armas
Both these women have informed, challenged, and inspired me to listen to those on the margins, know about issues affecting my neighbors, center diverse voices in the church, love my Latina heritage and learn about exile and perseverance. Armas’ book in particular, Abuelita Faith, taught me about women in Scripture and the margins and how God works through these unseen heroines.
Prayers for Parents: Kayla Craig
Writer and storyteller Kayla Craig has created beautiful, nuanced liturgies for parents like prayers for an IEP meeting or prayers after a school shooting, as well as reflections on parenting a child with special needs, adoption, and being a neighbor. She’s written words that many of us have felt but haven’t known how to articulate and is a gentle teacher.
Liturgies for Life’s Ups and Downs: Every Moment Holy
An incredible gift to families and faith communities, Every Moment Holy has created prayers for every day moments like changing diapers to momentous occasions like going through a loved one’s possessions after his or her passing. We’ve read these before meetings and feasts, used them for quiet devotions as a couple, printed them off for a friend who unexpectedly lost a parent, and most recently, read them with my husband’s uncle in his last days.
Bible Knowledge and Context: The Bible Project
I can’t stress enough how insanely talented the folks at The Bible Project are. From book overviews to tracing theological concepts to Hebrew word studies to genre studies, there is a gorgeously animated video for almost anything you’d want to know about God’s word. Engaging and concise, as well as beautiful, a great resource to use and share.
Arts and Culture: Ekstasis Magazine
The art and literature arm of the publication Christianity Today, Ekstasis has stirring photos, deep reflections on art and life-making, poetry (you might find one of my poems there in their poetry section :)) and interviews with creators, writers, and those aching for beauty and goodness in this crazy world.
I hope you’ve found something here that stirred you or made you want to learn more. I’d love to hear your favorite resources this season. We need each other to sift and sort and share goodness in the dizzying glut of information we have these days. May you gather and glean this month and be nourished by what you find.
