Mid-month Mention: Prayer is the Best Support

I need to compose a mid-month mention post full of helpful and uplifting links. At this point, I cannot do so. I am still feeling numb from a hellish week we endured. Much of it, I cannot share. I will share what I can.

At 5:30 a.m., on the last Wednesday in May, I was downstairs having my devotions. After a large thwump, the power went out. I tried to fumble my way upstairs without spilling my coffee. I crept toward the bathroom (where I keep the candles), tripping over Toby (ugh!). Unfortunately, candles themselves are of no use if you can't find matches or a lighter. I also could not, for the life of me, find the flashlight on my phone (I never use it). Our large flashlight had dead batteries. Great!

Finally, John woke and immediately called the power company. All was still black outside so no indication of what we were dealing with. The sun rose, revealing the true scenario. Another limb had fallen from a tree out back. It took out the entire pole and unit in the back yard. The power company arrived to deal with the situation. My husband hooked a generator up to the kitchen refridgerator.

We waited and waited. Trucks filled the driveway, blocking the garage so we could not take our other cold food elsewhere to store. Here are some photos I snagged of the damage - again, I apologize as photography is not my strong suit (is anything?):

I sent out a prayer request to my family, acknowledging my gratitude that it wasn't worse because at least the limb did not, once again, take out portions of the roof like last May. In response, I received messages that sounded like, "Wendy is so put-upon, Lord; help her with yet another complication to her life." Or, advice as to what we should do: "Start cooking [um, no power!] or grilling as much as you can [much of the time it was pouring rain]."

Then, there was the biggest kicker: "Perhaps you should consider having a tree-trimming company come out to assess the property, if you can afford it." Hmm. If only we had thought of that. Wait, we did, long before this! We had tree-trimmers come. They cut down one perilous tree, but explained they cannot go near limbs near power lines. That is the jurisdiction of the power company. We had the power company come out and assess. They claimed there were troublesome areas, but they'd have to get to it later. Unfortunately for us, later was not soon enough. A new pole had to be put in and the power was not restored for 7-1/2 hours (we're grateful for their quick work and know it could have been out for longer than that). We lost some food from the garage fridge, which had climbed to 52 degrees.

Needless to say, when even greater difficulties descended at the end of the week, I did not feel warm fuzzies about sharing. Instead, I fasted and prayed on my own. I did not reach out with prayer requests to family members full of advice. We continue to cling to God, the only One who can do the impossible. In these other dire situations, we need miracles! [Praise God, we saw dynamic answers to two specific importunate prayers!] 

We continue to beg God to change hearts and transform lives. How I pray God will redeem the years the locusts are eating! Please, if you are a praying person, lift our family up in prayer. And if someone asks you for prayer, think twice before launching into advice 😉, just 🙏! After all, it's the BEST thing you can do!

Added 6/11/26: We woke to another tree down. It broke at the trunk. Ridiculous! Again, we are so grateful it did not damage the house. Nobody has come out yet to chop down and take away the other limb, so now that job is just bigger. You can see the ruts in the grass from where they took equipment back to extract the old power line and pole. That's 3 downed trees in a little over a year. Add in the limb that took out the garden fence while we were away at Bryce's wedding in September 2024, and it makes 4. Sheesh!

 

Book Review: Reconnected

Last year, something I read suggested fasting from your phone. I tried it, with little success. Plus, I didn't continue. It is amazing how integral phones seem. Heading somewhere? Use maps. Waiting on news from a child? Don't turn off the device. While I'm not addicted to my phone (2 hours per day average), I would love to use it less.

Carlos Whittaker was using his phone almost 7-1/2 hours each day. When he stopped to do the math, he realized how much of his life was frittered away on his device. Now, for Carlos, it is understandable. He is a content creator and has a popular Instagram (I've never heard of him, but it sounds like it is popular). Still, he felt convicted enough to set in motion a phone fast. I didn't even last a full day. Whittaker went 7 weeks without his phone. He spent the first 2 weeks with monks and the second 2 with Amish farmers. Then, the final three, he spent at home.

His book, Reconnected, shares what he learned from this experiment. I should also note that he had a brain scan at the start of the experiment, and again at the end. This was fascinating. With the monks, he learned to move at "Godspeed" (this is something I first read of in Mark Buchanan's excellent book, God Walk). Carlos spent time noticing, wondering, and beholding. Instead of distracting himself, he learned to lean into boredom. With the Amish, his eyes were opened to the imporance of valuing community, sharing meals, and getting lost. 

Honestly, even if you aren't totally addicted to your phone, the insights in this book apply to everyone. We have lost much in our technological advancements. Yet, we can reclaim the imporant things if we are intentional. Reading this book made me want to visit a monastery and an Amish farm. It made me want to slow down my already sometimes-glacial life. I can't imagine how convicting it might be to those whose lives are drowning in busyness and technological interaction.

2025 Recap

My writing friend, Amy Weinland Daughters, posted this hilarious spoof on the goals we set and the ones we actually achieve. I acknowledge my recap post will be somewhat like this. It won't really interest my readers (no offense if you skip it). I'm primarily writing it for personal reflection on my year's goals. 

Hoping to be intentional in 2025, I started a progress file where I tracked various things daily. I kept stats on my exercise, purging, letter-writing, fasting, and (towards the end) writing for publication. Although this was very helpful in many ways, I still failed to be as productive as I would have liked. You can set the goal. You can track the progress. But, you still have to put in the work to have something to write down. Ha! Sadly, I'm not the most disciplined person.

Exercise: I do believe tracking helps me stay committed to exercise. I'm not a huge walker. Many people put in 10,000 steps a day. I'm far too sendentary, but don't see that changing any time soon. Still, I try to get my treadmill time (or outdoor walks) in every morning. I exercised on 90% of the days (327/365) this year. My mileage declined when I got a new and more narrow treadmill. It declined further after I fell on that treadmill. Still, I walked over 400 miles and averaged 1.25 miles. As I threw out my 2024-2025 planner, I noted that in 2024 I consistently walked 295 out of 366 days (81% of days) for 472-1/3 miles (ave. 1.6 miles). Of course, that was when I was trying to lose weight for my son's wedding.

Purging: I'm a hoarder. I've always admitted this freely. However, I really had hoped to be more successful in my purging efforts. There are so many negative emotions associated with purging. While I enjoyed going through the minutia of past letters and school files, the actual process of getting rid of many items was draining. My year-end total was 102-2/3 hours. I only worked on purging for 51% [186/365] days. On those days, I averaged 33 minutes/day. It is better than nothing, but still feels like diddly-squat. Now that my husband has reduced the estimated time we have left living in this home, I'm wishing I had been far more diligent. May was a total wash, as was December. February was my most productive month (24 hours of purging in 25/28 days).

Fasting: My goal was to fast every Monday in 2025. I only missed the Monday of the spring break trip and the Monday of our 35th anniversary, but I made up for those dates by fasting on another day in those weeks. At the beginning, I started slowly with partial days (fasting until 2 p.m., then 4 p.m., then 6 p.m., then 8 p.m.). But in February, I aimed for mostly full days. By the end of the year, I had fasted 54 days (21 partial days and 33 full days). 

I am not well-suited for fasting. It was difficult in the usual ways, but was also difficult emotionally. It seemed like the full day fasts left me overwhelmed with despair rather than trust. As I poured out my groanings over difficult situations in our family/friends' lives, the focus on the darkness of our tunnel drowned out the consolation of the light God offers. I think, in my clinical depression, I struggle with staying positive and observing the light more than the darkness. I'm a glass half-empty kinda gal. 

Struggles with our prodigal, family tensions, the loss of my mother and subsequent new love my father is fixated on, health questions, the state of our world... it gets to be too much. I think I would have done far better if I had spent my fasting time in singing scriptural promises rather than outlining the various weights and burdens we carry. If I had it to do over again (and I'm not planning on this rigorous fasting in 2026), I would have taken more of the approach I used with my 2023 prayer project. I would incorporate scripture, pray for requests but also praise for answers, and spend more time focused on God's enduring attributes than on the encompassing obstacles before us.  

Writing: I'm not sure I kept accurate records for correspondence. I mostly charted letters sent by snail mail or from my personal email. By not recording letters sent from my author email, I know these stats are incomplete. In all, I mailed 21 letters or packages (sometimes with my book), and sent 51 personal emails.

The biggest victory was resuming writing projects after a stroke of luck with my first goal in September of just putting in 20 minutes finding markets. I wrote and submitted 2 pieces in September (1 of those was published in a digital magazine). I spent 12 hours writing on 13/30 days in that month. In October, I worked on writing research for 100 minutes. I worked on 2 separate projects on 15/31 days for a total of 11.5 hours (8786 words). In November, I spent an hour on writing research. I participated in the Rabbit Room's Poem-a-Day challenge, completing 20 poems from the 30 prompts. Plus, I started a non-fiction book project, working on 22/30 days for a total of 23-1/3 hours (24,867 words). This was nowhere close to the 50 thousand-plus words of Novembers past, but still an accomplishment. Then, as soon as Thanksgiving hit, I petered out to 1 writing day and 1 day reviewing the non-fiction work to date.

I set out to fast and pray, and to purge hoarded belongings. I suppose I met those goals, but wish I had done far better. If only I had known, at the outset of the year, that my husband hopes to move by fall of 2026. Yikes!

For the coming year, I'm not setting hard and fast goals (quantitative goals). At the end of 2025, I read an outstanding essay on Substack by Suleika Jaouad, called "Against Resolutions." The author argues that rituals are more effective than resolutions. "Where resolutions chase outcomes, rituals attend to process." Resolutions lead to all-or-nothing thinking. Michael Bierut said it is like walking a tightrope, where peril increases with each step, until you become convinced you'll never make it across. 

The author ends with this observation, "That's what ritual gives me now. Not a guarantee, not an outcome, not a transformation on a deadline, but a means of staying in motion without hardening, to keep my balance without gripping so tightly... no grand reinvention here--only the patient work of showing up, again and again, nudging myself millimeter by millimeter toward the person I'm becoming."

While I think I've already been focused on ritual, this year I am leaning into 3 words (not an annual word, but a word progression):

WATCH 🠊 WITNESS 🠊 SPREAD

WATCH, as in the sense of expectant anticipation. I want to watch for the return of Christ. I want to watch for God's intervention in our lives (and especially in the life of my prodigal son).

"The end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." - 1 Peter 4:7

"Therefore let us not sleep, as others; but let us watch and be sober." - 1 Thessalonians 5:6

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." - Colossians 4:2

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." - Luke 21:36

WITNESS, as in what you see when you watch. I want to witness God's moving and transforming power.

"Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today." - Exodus 14:13

WITNESS, as in give a testimony of the gospel's power transforming my life. I want to seize more opportunities (whatever He gives) to share my faith.

"Shew how great things God hath done unto thee." - Luke 8:39

"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all." - Acts 4:33

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." - Revelation 12:11

SPREAD, as in disseminate God's Word into the world. I started this year's devotions adding a book by Cheryl Ford, called Triumphs of the Heart: The Pursuit of Joyful Living. In one of the first sections, she considers the watchful heart of Anna in the Bible. From this chapter, I found my verse for 2026:

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him." - 2 Corinthians 2:14

July 2025 - Enduring

Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

What a blessing to reach the end of July 2025. This has been a challenging summer, so far. Myriads of difficulties I cannot discuss, but through which we are enduring with the help of the Lord. He continues to watch over us, protecting and providing. When worries assail, we lift praises for His provision to fend off the cumbersome chains of consuming concern.

This morning, I woke to find flooding in the basement. The men we paid to repair the roof took almost two months to come and then did not complete the repairs (saying they are waiting on an appeal to the insurance company for more extensive roof repairs). Thus, we are without gutters and the rain absolutely poured last night. I had moved several bags and boxes full of craft supplies I had purged and hoped to sell. They had been close to the window where it sometimes floods. Alas, given the lack of gutters, the flooding was in the very area where I had moved the items. One box was destroyed, but I had cardboard in the bottom and that kept the contents from damage. Plus, nothing leaked through the plastic bags, so it was merely a matter of drying off the bottoms. Now, I'm wondering if I should merely take all of it to Goodwill and get it out of the house without hopes of recouping any of the money I shelled out over the years on craft supplies I never got around to using.

After Sean's dentist appointment in early July, we learned he'd need all four wisdom teeth extracted. Just prior to the surgery date, his retainer broke, so I had to schedule a fitting for a new one just days after the wisdom teeth were removed. He is healing well, but we weren't without worry. On the first day, when he returned home, I was concerned about his overnight fast. I wanted him to eat something prior to taking the first pain meds. But, then, I worried food might be lodged in the extraction sites, so I handed him the irrigator tool they had sent home along with the gauze. As soon as he shot liquid into the site, he had to sit down for dizziness and pain. He stopped immediately, but after I called the office, I learned he wasn't supposed to use that instrument until the 5th day. Anxiety set in. 

When Bryce had his wisdom teeth removed, he ended up getting dry socket. My sister-in-law, Miriam, (once a dental technician) happened to be visiting and graciously walked us through best steps for dealing with dry socket. I was sure I had just doomed Sean to the pain his brother experienced. Thankfully, with Miriam's current encouragement, we iced regularly (20 minutes on and 20 minutes off) and he managed to escape the problem of dry socket. His girlfriend Claire came to comfort him and brought him a smoothie (very helpful, since we had few foods on hand soft enough that he could eat). He was fitted for a new retainer on Monday and they reported no appearance of dry socket at all. Yay!

I am still struggling with my back after my June fall on the treadmill. Although I can walk fine (and have gotten back on the treadmill successfully on days when it is raining), at night it still twinges when I attempt to sleep on my side (my natural preference). Not sure why that area is not healing, but I'm too much of a wimp to go to a doctor. Plus, it seems like such a minor ache. It is only an inconvenience. Not a tangible threat.

While listening to the Christian radio station in the car, I heard about an iced tea company that placed a vending machine next to a bench. The vending machine offered a free iced tea if you place your phone in the machine temporarily. Once the iced tea was dispensed, a sign flashed on the screen indicating the phone would be held for ten minutes. Patrons were encouraged to take a "tea break." Apparently, some did sit on the bench and relax for the ten minutes, refreshed by the forced leisure. Others were furious to learn they could not get their phone back immediately. The radio announcer suggested we might benefit from taking fasts from our phones.

I set out to do just that on my weekly fast day that week. I only managed 5-1/2 hours before it was necessary to use my phone for a mapping app. Not great success. Plus, I forgot to implement that into my fasting this week. Perhaps I'll try to incorporate it more fully in August. I have been faithfully fasting. Plus, in July, I managed to revamp my purging efforts (more about that in my quarterly purging post due at the end of August).

Lastly, I'm praising God for an increase in traffic on this meager book review blog. There were over 52 thousand hits last month, and I thought it might just be a fluke. This month received less, but not significantly. On this last day in July, Blogger tells me there were over 43 thousand hits on my blog this month. How I pray readers will find encouragement for living and recommendations for reading!

Book Review: E. M. Bounds: Man of Prayer

Meeting Patti Callahan Henry at her author talk in Franklin, IN, propelled me into several reading kicks. First, I read 2 of Patti's books. Becoming Mrs. Lewis sparked a desire to pick up my dear friend (and former boss) Lyle W. Dorsett's book, And God Came In (re-titled A Love Observed). At the same time, in my morning devotional focus on prayer books, I worked through his exceptional brief biography and compilation book on Edward McKendree Bounds. This Dorsett book-reading kick sparked a C. S. Lewis kick. The Amazon image of Lyle's book was sideways, so I took a photo of my copy, and you can see how many tabs I marked to come back to later.

Of course, the focus of E. M. Bounds: Man of Prayer centers on prayer. I loved one particular illustration from the life of D. L. Moody. Moody had been called upon to preach at a church in London, but found the morning service dry, sterile, and unproductive. That evening, he arrived to find a different outcome. Later, he discovered a decisive factor. An invalid woman, on hearing Moody had been there to preach at her church that morning, shut herself into her room and petitioned the Lord to work through D. L. Moody. Yes, our prayers matter!

Bounds emphasizes the urgency of prayer. He writes, "The lesson of it all is this, that as workers together with God we must regard ourselves as in not a little measure responsible for the conditions which prevail around us today. Are we concerned about the coldness of the church?... Does our soul go out to God in midnight cries for the outpouring of His spirit?... If we do our part, God will do His. Around us is a world lost in sin, above us is a God willing and able to save; it is ours to build the bridge that links heaven and earth, and prayer is the mighty instrument that does the work."

Lyle Dorsett organizes snippets from Bounds' writings into topic categories. In the section on money, Bounds castigates the idolatry of preachers who seek prominence among people and profit in their pocket. Bounds writes, "Ambition... for honor is, in a preacher, nothing short of sin. Covetousness... is the refinement of idolatry.... Preachers must quit lauding the money-making talent; must quit following the money-making business."

Bounds' prayerfulness impressed me, but also his humility. He quoted Alexander Mclaren, "If a man considers himself to be an iron pillar, he is of no use to God. God works through broken reeds." In another place, he emphasizes, "Nothing keeps us from revolutionizing things for God but our self-bigness and our faith-littleness." Here is a man who has every reason to consider himself an example to others, a guide for the masses, yet he remains grounded and recognizes his own deep need for God's grace. If only my life looked like E. M. Bounds' life! I want to fall on my face in humility, recognizing my deep need for God and His grace. I want to pray as if it depends on me and trust as if it depends on God.

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Please say a prayer for Lyle Dorsett! His beloved wife, Mary, died in the early morning hours on 7/7/25 after enduring cancer for years.

Book Review: The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer

In 2023, I began a concerted effort to increase my prayer life. I created and completed a prayer project interceding for each of my Facebook friends. In 2024, I continued using those prayer cards to pray for those individuals throughout the year. This year, my focus has shifted. I now dedicate most of my time to interceding for specific individuals, foremost my prodigal son. I am incorporating fasting (not well, mind you, but doing my best).

Andrew Murray's The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer holds plenty of instruction and motivation for prayer. Its chapters cover the lack of prayer, models for praying, importunity in prayer, effective prayer, praying in God's name, and revival. Even though I own this book, I did not highlight or underline in it. Still, I went back to glean a few quotes which I shared with Trevor to encourage him as he attempts to battle his demons and abide in the Lord.

"The power to pray the effectual prayer of faith depended upon the life in Christ. A man must give himself up to live as entirely in Christ and for Christ as the branch in the vine and for the vine.... This teaching naturally led to emphasizing the need of a life of entire consecration.... Only by a full surrender to the life of abiding, by yielding to the fullness of the Spirit's leading and quickening, can the prayer life be restored to a truly healthy state." He concludes, "A life abiding in Christ and filled with the Spirit, a life entirely given up as a branch for the work of the vine, has the power to claim these promises [John 15:7] and to pray the 'effectual prayer that availeth much.' Lord, teach us to pray!"

The book looks at Christ and Paul as examples of prayer. It offers an appendix with a month of daily suggestions for what to pray and how to pray. I appreciated the main sections of the book more than this "school of prayer" section, but others might gain from it more than I did. Again, as with the Torrey book, this is a standard classic on prayer, perfect for anyone wishing to enhance their prayer life.

Book Review: How to Pray

I rarely record or review the reading I do in my daily devotions each morning. However, this year, I'm supplementing my normal routine with extra pages each day in some books on prayer. So now I'm going back to the two books I read at the start of the year (a chapter or a few pages a day). The first one I tackled was R. A. Torrey's How to Pray. This is a standard classic on prayer. Since it was my book, I underlined some key points to remember.

In writing of the power of prayer, a power we often neglect, Torrey says, "By prayer, the bitterest enemies of the gospel have become its most valiant defenders, the most wicked the truest sons of God, and the most contemptible women the purest saints.... How little we appreciate this marvelous weapon!" In a section on abiding in Christ, he observes, "Mere intellectual study of the Word of God is not enough; there must be meditation upon it." Prayer and being in the Word go hand in hand. As for effectiveness, he writes, "Anyone who desires power in prayer must be merciless in dealing with his own sins." I also underlined, "God cannot deal with us on the basis of forgiveness while we are harboring ill will against those who have wronged us." Finally, I noted a passage on the hindrance that unbelief is to prayer. I struggle to maintain firm belief in the face of my son's addictions. Lord, help my unbelief! Don't let it hinder my prayers!

Mid-month Mention: Fasting

One of my goals for 2025 is to fast more. I have spent time in prayer and fasting in the past, especially when issues grew intense with my addicted son. I'm not good at fasting. Still, I believe God is pleased when we not only bow our head to praise and petition Him, but also forego food to intensify our attentions. Indeed, I feel it is essential to pull down strongholds Satan may have on our loved ones.

When I was a teen, I babysat for a couple of children living in a Christian commune house in Chicago, near my home. I think there were two families and two single men, all sharing one roof. If my memory is correct (who knows), one of the single men talked with me about his fasting routine. He fasted one day a week. This is what I hope to build up to. It would be so cool to speak with him now, though I doubt he's still living there and may not even be living at all, as he was at least ten or fifteen years older than me.

To begin with, I am reading a chapter every other day in a book I had on one of our many bookshelves (oh, the purging that needs to be done there, sigh). I must have picked it up at a thrift store for the whopping price of 50 cents. May it be worth far more than that to my soul! It is called God's Chosen Fast: A Spiritual and Practical Guide to Fasting by Arthur Wallis. With a copyright of 1968, it is almost as old as me.

I recently took notes from Wallis' chapter on regular fasting. I want to avoid turning my regular fasting into a thing of legal bondage, as the Pharisees did in Luke 18:11-12. Wallis warns, "There is always the danger that any spiritual exercise that is done habitually becomes an empty form, a ritual devoid of any spiritual content." I will strive to fast without show and with focus on using the extra time for prayer for my sons. It was encouraging to read Wallis' example of the benefit of a public fast called for by the King of England in 1756, and again in the Second World War. Wallis observes, "Wherever in Scripture we read of a public emergency being met by a national call to fast, we find without exception that God responded in deliverance." May this bolster my heart! As Wallis states, "Fasting is calculated to bring a note of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven." We have seen awesome results of importunate prayer in the past. Now, again, may my humble prayers on behalf of my sons be fervent and effective.

I found a few other books on our shelves to tackle: R. A. Torrey's How to Pray, and Andrew Murray's The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer. A third book is written by a man I deeply esteem and love, Dr. Lyle Wesley Dorsett. I'm somewhat surprised my copy doesn't have his autograph. I have mentioned before that the Dorsetts took me under their wing during my time at Wheaton College. When I walked into the Wade Center to apply for a transcriber job, Lyle interviewed me and suddenly asked if he could take me next door to the Special Collections to introduce me to his wife, Mary. When I met her, Lyle spoke up. "Mary, doesn't she look just like our Erika might have looked one day?" They had lost their 10 or 11-year-old daughter just a few months before. I spent many happy afternoons in their home and they even took me along on an oral history interview trip in Scotland after my stint with the Wheaton in England program. Lyle's book, E. M. Bounds: Man of Prayer, must have been in his heart and mind during my association with him, because it was published in 1991, just four years after I graduated. As I read and as I pray, I will continue my intercessions for Lyle and Mary, who are battling dementia and cancer, respectively.

If you are interested in fasting, Bill Bright has a 7-step article on the Cru website.

Someone named Vlad Savchuk is encouraging a 21-day fast this month. I found this introductory YouTube video on his Fast Forward Challenge. Or you can watch his video of a Beginner's Guide to Fasting.

Have you incorporated fasting into your prayer time? Do you have a fasting testimony? Who knows, maybe sharing your testimony of victory through fasting might spur another individual on in their quest to seek God's forgiveness and healing in dire circumstances.

Compilation: Science

Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

In skimming my book reviews over the past decade, I found 20 science reads, most of them focused on the brain or genetics. I list them in no particular order:

1. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee - hefty tome on cancer
2.  The XX Brain by Lisa Mosconi, PhD - preventing Alzheimer's in female brains
3. The Body by Bill Bryson - an often humorous field guide to the intricacies of the human body
4. A Molecule Away from Madness by Sara Manning Peskin - when brain molecules go errant
5. Biohack Your Brain by Kristen Willeumier, PhD - boost cognitive health, performance, and power
6. Remember by Lisa Genova - the science of memory
7. Twelve Weeks to a Sharper You by Sanjay Gupta, MD - guide to building a better brain
8. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, MD - healing from trauma
9. The Circadian Code by Satchin Panda, PhD - the importance of what and when you consume
10. An Elegant Defense by Matt Richtel - the science of the immune system
11. The Aging Brain by Timothy R. Jennings, MD - preventing dementia and sharpening your mind
12. She Has Her Mother's Laugh by Carl Zimmer - the science of heredity
13. The Genius Factory by David Plotz - the science/history of genetic engineering
14. The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee - hefty tome on the science of genetics
15. Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot by Richard Restak, MD - enhancing your brain's potential
16. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - powerful impact of HELA cells
17. The Human Blueprint by Robert Shapiro - the science of genetics
18. The End of Alzheimer's by Dale E. Bredesen, MD - prevent and reverse cognitive decline
19. Brain Maker by David Perlmutter, MD - how the gut heals and protects the brain
20. The Teenage Brain by Frances E. Jensen, MD - explores the challenges of undeveloped adolescent brains

If I had to select my five favorites from this list, they would be: The End of Alzheimer's, The Gene, She Has Her Mother's Laugh, The Body Keeps the Score, and The Circadian Code.

Book Review: To Be Told

Although I'm not new to counseling, my last stint of life-coaching happened over a decade ago. At one point, I attended individual, marital, and group sessions. I don't miss those days. It was a lot of work. If only all that work remedied the problems. Alas, it didn't. Some of it is rearing its ugly head again.

Still, I'm hopeful. I appreciate my new counselor's willingness to offer book and podcast suggestions. My kind of person! Not to mention, he's trained in EMDR, a new method of dealing with past traumas that trigger PTSD symptoms. So, I jumped onboard for his first suggestion, To Be Told: God Invites You to Coauthor Your Future by Dan B. Allender, PhD.

I appreciated the author's emphasis that God weaves themes into the stories he's written with our lives. Every tragedy and trial will speak something about God through our experience. Like what Alan Noble mentioned in On Getting Out of Bed, our lives are a witness to others. Each witness is important. I like to think of it as a kaleidoscope. We each bear out God's light in a different hue and the composite of all our stories blended together creates a beautiful and brilliant image. Allender encourages readers to write out their life story and share with a community. Even though I consider myself a writer, I balked. I get it though. As I mentioned in my review of The Sand Bucket List, we relate to one another through our individual stories. It is in community that our stories blend and ricochet off one another. Someone else's story can trigger something in one's own story.

I loved the idea of the story feast. How neat to gather with others in a feast celebrating God's goodness! Sharing food. Sharing remembrances. Illustrating how God has been present in our lives.

It blessed me to see he incorporated, in later chapters, sections on prayer and fasting. As if he was saying, "Writing your story is good. Sharing it with others is great. But sharing it with God and allowing Him to fill emptiness is of utmost importance." He writes of the wrestling match of healing prayer. This "takes our stories of heartache and inserts Jesus into the memory to whiten the stain and take away the anguish." Bold stuff! Instead of whitewashing our painful memories, we must wrestle with God's allowance of this into our lives. We must seek what it is He wishes to make of those wounded places.

Allender also talks about being available to others. "Not to be cluttered with oneself is to embrace enough of our story to say to God and to others, 'He is good. And he has written me well' And perhaps even more, being uncluttered calls me to wrestle with those stories that confuse me, the stories I continue to hold at arm's length." Oh, to be uncluttered! To use my story to encourage others toward God's redemption.

2023 FB Prayer Project Progress

Today, May 4th, 2023, is the observed National Day of Prayer. What better time to provide an update on my ongoing 2023 Facebook Prayer Project inspired by Amy Weinland Daughters' book, Dear Dana. (Gold medal winner in the Nautilus Book Awards for memoir) I'm so grateful for stumbling upon Amy's book and for the structure her project lends to mine. I'm now 1/3 through the year and my goal of praying for my Facebook friends. By the end of this week, I will have prayed for 144 individuals.

I have petitioned God's throne for surgeries (breast cancer removal, ACL, and hip replacement), childbirth, and court cases. I have prayed for healing from childhood abuse, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. It has been my privilege to intervene for job concerns and pet losses, for prodigals and missionaries, for course completion and foster parenting. Many praises are trickling in: a child's new job in London, a safe delivery of a first grandchild, and peace in the midst of a horrible-no-good-week.

Settling into a structure has certainly helped to attain my goal of reading less and praying more. Every Wednesday, I draw 8 slips from my bag of Facebook friends' names and alert them to my upcoming week of prayer for them. Next, I take what I know (some respond, but for many, I must scour their wall to find information to lead me) and select a scripture verse to pray for each individual for the rest of that week. Every Saturday, I send a message (a month out) reminding them that they were prayed for and alerting them to the verse I selected to accompany my prayers. This is also when I offer to place needs on an ongoing prayer list and request any information they can give about answered prayer.

I have a set routine. I pray for each individual using a 3x5 card with information including family names of spouses, children, and grandchildren, in addition to any specific prayer requests shared. For some (if hard to glean information) it is hard to fill the time, but I shoot for 3 to 5 minutes per person, 3 times each day (before my morning devotions, some time after noon, and prior to bedtime). Since many do not give any specifics, I have developed two lists of guided prayer topics. When I was using one list of ten topics, my prayers felt too rote and repetitive. Although I originally intended to fast while praying, once a week, I only managed to maintain that for a brief time. Sob!

It is surprising how often my prayers for others' needs reminds me of my own need for the same request. I am equally astonished by the depth some are willing to share and the silence of some I thought would reply. How comforting to know that even when I don't know the details I should provide in my prayers, God is aware of the needs of each individual. And for everyone, I pray that God would bring them into relationship with Him and deepen whatever trust and belief they may already hold. It has been a privilege. The time I've spent has been far more valuable than the time I would've devoted to reading. May you lift prayers to the Father today and may He answer in His perfect wisdom and impeccable timing. Praise God, He is never too soon and never too late.

Book Review: Intermittent Fasting for Women Over 60

One problem with receiving so many e-mail book recommendations (Bargain Booksy, BookBub, etc.) is that I jump quickly and purchase, then ignore the books in my Kindle for PC app. This book, Intermittent Fasting for Women Over 60: The Ultimate Guide to Lose Weight, Boost Metabolism, and Increase Energy, by Lauren Grant, was an exception. Despite not reaching 60 yet, I've been reeling again from verbal blips and mental lapses. The need to resume my anti-Alzheimer protocol (Dr. Dale Bredesen, The End of Alzheimer's) is strong. What I lack is willpower. Even when I know resistance is the best thing for me, I succumb to the lure of the foods I enjoy eating. Thus, I was eager and ready for a pep-talk. Lauren Grant's book came at just the right moment. While it is not "the ultimate guide," it is certainly a perfect pep-talk if you want to resume time-restricted eating.

The book was a quick read. Nothing new to line my arsenal but encouraging to get back into the swing of things. I bookmarked a few of the recipes at the end of the book: Italian Keto Meatballs with Mozzarella Cheese, Pizza Omelet, Keto Tuna Salad (surprised by this one since I normally ignore tuna recipes), Keto Salmon Quiche, and Egg Cups. At the end of the book, the author offers free resources to help you begin your lifestyle changes. Although I didn't copy many of these, I intend to use "The Food and Fasting Log," "The Habit Tracker," and "The Monthly Sleep Tracker." Those forms will be helpful as I begin anew to alter my lifestyle with healthier food and fasting choices.