Plot Points #13 💌

Birthday months, pursuing justice, and old things made new

Happy Friday! Get ready to be annoyed because IT’S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH and I’m going to talk about it 🎉.

I will be 38 this year and I’m finally at that age—the age I once imagined I’d never get to because I thought I would always feel young, always understand what was trendy, and never, ever say “Who is that?” about a celebrity.

But, alas, here I am, blissfully unaware and 75% unbothered about what is cool, which is not a hard thing to do at the moment since the clothes I wore in middle and high school are flying off Target racks these days. (I show my age every time we shop because I like to point at the black platform sandals I wore all through tenth grade and declare, “Lucy, look! I had those same shoes when I was fifteen.” She loves it.)

For now, I’m sitting in that strange transitory period of noticing my age physically—crow’s feet, once firm parts becoming soft, aches in my back—while also feeling mentally like the same woman I’ve always been. (With a bit more wisdom, at least.) This is the messy middle, and there is joy and grief intertwined in it. As with so many other things, I’m learning to embrace the freedom of Both/And and cultivate delight wherever delight can be found.

In a few weeks, that will look a lot like birthday doughnuts.

Until then, cheers and happy weekend, friends!

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Point #1: “The Defendant spread lies…”

Finally, an indictment.

Point #2: Jesus did not follow the Billy Graham Rule.

This piece on the need for men to pursue and embrace a Christlike masculinity within their families, churches, and culture is spot-on.

Point #3: The pain we suffer is glory in the making.

We are currently watching season three of The Chosen and when I tell you I sobbed during this scene, I mean I sobbed. Snot, tears, hiccups…the whole she-bang. I’m so grateful for this show.

Point #4: Birthdays are a good time to reflect.

Here’s another lovely list of lessons learned for you to peruse. I’m a big fan of 15, 19, 26, 56, and 70.

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Reading In The Nook

Taylor Jenkins Reid (Daisy Jones & The Six; The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo) is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine. I snagged Carrie Soto Is Back at the library this week and devoured it. Reid’s books are densely packed with delicious dialogue and her plots are surprising in all the best ways. With a timeline that runs from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, Carrie Soto Is Back is a novel about the world’s greatest tennis player who retires and, then, after a younger player breaks her world record for most Slam titles, comes out of retirement to break it again. There’s a beautiful father/daughter story, a bit of romance, and a smart look at what it means to be a powerful woman—on and off the court—in a world where those two words aren’t supposed to go together. I loved it. It was like watching Wimbledon (the movie with Paul Bettany) but with better arguments and a female protagonist.

Favorite quote: “We live in a world where exceptional women have to sit around waiting for mediocre men.” 👊

From last week’s library haul, I’m reading The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett, a witchy, middle-grade re-telling of Anne of Green Gables that is oh, so delightful and just as charming as its source material.

I ended up returning The Body Keeps the Score after about thirty pages because, brilliant and insightful as it was, I just couldn’t handle the detailed descriptions of other people’s trauma. Still on my list, though, is Corrie ten Boom’s spiritual autobiography Tramp for the Lord. Her first book The Hiding Place is one of the best stories I’ve read this year, so I’m excited to continue learning more about her incredible life and faith.

“I don't believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.”
― J.K. Rowling—

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