Heather Holleman's Blog, page 118

When the College Girl Returns

They’ll be long walks and long naps. They’ll be treats everywhere–like special coffee drinks, favorite snacks, and much-missed homemade dinners. They’ll be a bag of laundry to wash.

Her two most missed dinners? The Spaghetti Squash Baked Ziti Boats and Vegan Garlic Pasta. I use a jar of sun-dried tomatoes instead of roasting mine.

It’s so wonderful to spoil her. I’m so glad she’s home!

I Keep Thinking About This Quote

I came across this quote as James Clear discussed the danger in comparing ourselves to others. He quotes Martha Graham:

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”

I love the line about how it is not our business to determine how good our work is, how valuable it is, or how to compares to other expressions. How freeing!

Saving Your Work

Whenever I start a new manuscript, I remember to save my work in a few locations. In case a file becomes corrupted somehow (which has happened), or in case I accidentally delete it (happened too), or if some strange thing happens where I lose my work (and this), I always email a backup of the latest version. I know one can always retrieve autosaved versions and work miracles deep within a word processing program to find lost work, but the wound from losing work before still festers.

So I save my work.

I thought of this today when I emailed myself the latest version of a document. I thought of how it matters to save the latest version. I don’t want to lose it. And I realized something profound:

This concept of saving my work applies heartily to my spiritual life as well. This explains why I journal so much and memorize so much scripture. It explains why I keep a record of God’s dealings with me. I always have a record of the most latest version of myself. When I feel lost, I can go back to where I was with God. It’s a fun way to think about journaling.

It’s a way of saving the work God is writing on your heart.

Just Some Neighborhood Colors

Do I Exaggerate?

This morning I chuckled because I read a quote in a sermon by Frederick Faber (as noted by A.W. Tozer) in which he remarks that we “can never exaggerate. . . the compassionate abundance of the love of Jesus to us.”

I laughed because I’m such an exaggerator. It’s been a character flaw I’ve worked on for years and years. Now that I write non-fiction books and speak, I must exercise so much restraint in order to accurately and honestly talk about my life.

But everyone knows I love a good, embellished, story. Yes, I have the gift of exaggeration, especially if it proves a point.

But with Jesus and His love and good gifts? I cannot exaggerate. In fact, my most embellished words about Him would always fall short of the truth of His goodness. The anonymous writer of Psalm 71 explains that he can declare God’s righteous and salvation though he knows not its measure. David in Psalm 40 explains that if he were to speak and tell of God’s deeds, they would be “too many to declare.”

I’m safe here with my exaggeration tendency. I’m never overemphasizing or making Jesus larger, better, or more important than He is. He’s always even better than my best exaggeration of Him.

The Tea and the Honey

I love little morning rituals that help start the day. With the autumn chill now here and with the rain outside, it’s a perfect season for morning tea and honey. With my daughter in remote school, I now include her in the ritual. Everyone picks their own favorite tea: an English Breakfast for my husband, a Lady Grey for me, and a Spiced Chai for my daughter.

Even though I rush off to campus, there’s always time for morning tea. The sun rises slowly on this rainy day, but in here, it’s warm and bright already.

The Pictures Fall Short

The pictures cannot bring you the smell of wood-burning stoves and oaky leaf piles gathered along the sidewalks. The picture cannot let you hear the sound of acorns crunching underfoot or autumn breezes rustling the leaves. It’s a bright parade of colors everywhere. We turn corners to see the best autumn colors we’ve ever seen–in the forests, on the hilltops, on the mountain ridges driving outside of town.

Some may disagree, but Pennsylvania gives the best autumn colors.

My camera won’t do anyway. Here’s a website to see what I’m seeing:

Week Two: Central Pennsylvania fall foliage photos

Greater Forces at Work Than Evil

This morning, my friend Leland from Camp Greystone wrote a wonderful devotion on how she’s able to rejoice in this day that the Lord has made. She recalls something from a beloved movie, The Lord of the Rings.

She writes this: “One of my favorite lines is when Frodo, feeling very overwhelmed by the task before him says, ‘I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.’ Then Gandalf responds, ‘So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil’.”

Her words inspired me so much this morning as I remembered, too, my time at Camp Greystone and the love and joy that seeped into my heart as I learned to decide how to view the day and how to honor God who is always more powerful than the evil we see around us.

Light in the Trees

When You Stop Worrying About Talent and Just Get to Work

I’ll never forget the day a mentor in my PhD program took me to lunch. We sat in a room surrounded by prestigious professors who talked about important things. I felt small in my seat and so young. I felt like I didn’t belong.

And then he said this:

“Now that you’re here, just remember it’s not about talent anymore or who is the smartest. It’s actually about who will sit down and just do the work.”

I remembered those words as I wrote my dissertation, as I wrote books, and as I designed curriculum for college classrooms.

And this morning, I read this from James Clear: “Lack of confidence kills more dreams than lack of ability. Talent matters—especially at elite levels—but people talk themselves out of giving their best effort long before talent becomes the limiting factor. You’re capable of more than you know. Don’t be your own bottleneck.”

Confidence and just doing the work: this helps me when I feel stuck and fearful that I’m not good enough at something.