A book for the spirit | a book to read with toddlers | eating better food
Hi. What’s on your reading list at the moment?
If you’re looking for a book to awaken and renew your spirit in the new year, can I recommend “God’s Joyful Surprise” by Sue Monk Kidd?
I finished it today after reading it over the course of a few weeks. Yes, it took me a long time to finish, but not because it wasn’t an interesting read. On the contrary, I wanted to read on but it was almost as if the Holy Spirit kept stopping me at various points. Pray, reflect, consider, change, He seemed to say, words take time to work their magic within. In Sue’s thoughts and recollections I found frequent opportunities to reflect and pray.
As I read the epilogue this afternoon I was struck with a sense of joy and wonder. I felt I understood, at an almost cellular level, the spiritual journey that Sue went on as she wrote it. Isn’t it amazing when you read someone else’s story and realise you truly aren’t alone—someone else went through something with a different backdrop and characters and circumstances, but with the same internal landscape as you? I loved it that I recognised the God she describes in her book … and I so identified with her moment of reckoning in hospital!
Beautiful truth:
God’s presence does not lift us up out of our difficulties. Rather He holds us up with the searing knowledge that we are loved in the midst of them. We become more than conquerors in our situations because we know intimately and truly, in the midnight of our lives, that we are loved beyond reason. Loved through and through.
- Sue Monk Kidd, “God’s Joyful Surprise”
Here’s a link to the book:
Reading with toddlers
On the subject of books, I thought I’d share a book we are enjoying as a family at the moment. Our 2.5 year old and 4 year old both love peeking under the flaps and discovering new worlds in “Under the Ground”. I do love Usborne’s range of books. They are well-designed and well-made, educational and visually stimulating.
Eating better food is a current focus
Around a month ago my husband Jarred found out that he has high cholesterol and blood sugar levels. He was prescribed statin pills, and advised that once he started taking them it was going to be a lifelong prescription.
He has decided not to accept this verdict right away, but rather, to try to reverse the situation by exercising and making different food choices. He forwarded me this article.
We eat most of our meals as a family, particularly dinners. So I was thinking, how am I going to plan and cook meals that everyone will like, and that will cater well to all our dietary needs, without breaking the bank? Every family’s question, and one that is surprisingly hard to answer sometimes.
We soon thought that rather than stress out about making every meal perfect, we will focus more on adding in good elements into each day. So far so good. There has been fish cooked in butter and maple syrup on pancakes, but there has also been a bounty of summer berries and salad. Jasmine rice is now mixed with brown rice and wild rice. We continue to eat oatmeal for breakfast most days. Jarred has cut out a lot of snacking. I seem to have picked up his sweet tooth, but that’s a topic for another day …
One favourite healthy meal we’ve all enjoyed a couple of times in recent weeks is tomato soup! You can add sooo many toddler-unfriendly veggies into tomato soup, it is easy to prepare, and even toddlers find it delicious!
One dinner we had this week which was perfect for summer and that Jarred and I could cook together (him on the BBQ and me in the house) was lamb koftas, yoghurt flatbreads and steamed vegetables finished with a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. Everyone ate everything, which was a win.
One dessert we will repeat is cherries and dark chocolate for the adults, and cherries and yoghurt for the kids. Such a beautiful way to end a meal.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s newsletter. Best summer wishes (dotted with rain but still optimistically warm),
Mel