Each week (give or take one or two here and there) I share three things I like – It could be a book, a movie, a podcast, an album, a photo, an article, a restaurant, a food item, a beverage, or anything else I simply enjoy and think you might too. You can find a whole pile of things, especially books, I like and recommend HERE.
1) Birds by Kevin Henkes
One inevitability of parenting young children is that you will read the same books over and over and over and over and over again. Each day your child will bring you those books with the same eagerness and fervor, and you only have two choices if you want to remain sane: make the books disappear (as one should do with all Llama Llama books, which are horrid), or artfully guide your child toward books that are a delight to read. This is one of those. It includes so much of what makes children’s books awesome–simple-yet-smart writing, an invitation to imagination on every page, concrete realities a young child can grasp, opportunities for learning and play (counting, colors, imitating), room for sound effects, and of course delightful illustrations (by Laura Dronzek). If you find such a book, treasure it. Do not leave it at daycare or a restaurant or the grandparents house. Buy copies to give to grandparents and other parents of young children. Recommend it to your library. Spread it far and wide for the good (and sanity) of all.
2) Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
On the one hand I think anyone reading this will likely have dipped into this classic already, so maybe this is a wasted recommendation. On the other hand the title of this post is 3 things I like, and I very much like this. In fact, I am deeply grateful for it and find it to be a regular source of encouragement and nourishment for my soul. I am not in a suffering season of life, but I am in a somewhat overwhelmed season that leaves me tired and with little energy or margin for deep reading and reflection. So the brief, rich, warm, daily doses of gospel Spurgeon offers in this volume are perfect. They are like a shot of espresso to wake me up or a bite of some freshly baked pastry to stir the taste buds and whet the appetite. In his inimitable way, Spurgeon says more in a few sentences than most of us know how to say in paragraphs or pages. I’ll leave you with this from today’s morning reading: “The Christian knows no change with regard to God. He may be rich today and poor tomorrow; he may be sick today and well tomorrow; he may be happy today and sad tomorrow-but there is no change regarding his relationship to God. If He loved me yesterday, He loves me today. My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Even when prospects are few and hopes are squashed and joy is waning, I have lost nothing of what I have in God.”
3) “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk
Sometimes a convergence of events serves to remind you of a long-forgotten time or experience, and it is awesome. This past week I was talking with one of my co-workers and reminiscing about Christian music from the 90s and early 2000s, and he (being a gifted musician and audiophile) began to wax eloquent about the creativity, pioneering, and even audio quality of much of that music. As a youth group kid of the 90s, I was brought back to a time of Christian music festivals, Billy Graham Crusade youth nights, and more. Then, a few days later my 17-year-old-daughter came home from a church youth conference and, in passing, made a comment about how Current Christian music doesn’t rock. Which of course, brought my mind back immediately to the days of my youth and various sanctified mosh pits I flailed in. All of this to say, I introduced her to what we might call “the shallow end of the pool” for that era, but a refreshing shallow end it is. And so I nostalgically present you with this classic.
