There’s a piece below written by my friend Sally Zaengle that might not be for the squeamish. I mean, there’s nothing graphic depicted in it, but with a few brief words Sally stimulates the imagination to know exactly how bad the injury was. But it’s worth the read–I promise, oh faint hearts–for Sally has a gift of taking ordinary moments of life and pointing to their beauty.

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But God Makes No Mistakes

Tim Challies shares a rewritten chapter of wisdom from Puritan writer J.R. Miller.

Nothing in this world is haphazard. There is nothing random or unplanned about the circumstances you are in right now, even if those circumstances seem very hard. Rather, God is leading you by the way he deems most appropriate, the way he has determined is most fitting for your spiritual growth. Just as one tree grows best in a sheltered valley and one by the edge of a gentle stream, another grows best on a bleak mountaintop where it is swept by strong winter winds.
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Blessed are the Calm

Sally Zaengle reminds us of the blessing of calm in the face of chaos.

Blessed are the Calm
the ones who keep their head
and assess the situation,
for they will be able to make a plan
where chaos reigns.
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Chores: The Canary in the Coal Mine of Kids’ Character

Evidently, you’ve now got research to back up the summer chores you’ll assign your kids.

Last month, Business Insider ran a list of 13 things parents can do to turn their child into a successful adult. The first item on the list was to make a child do chores.
Given the fact that only 28 percent of parents require their children to do chores, it seems that we’re destined for a generation of unsuccessful adults. And according to recent statements by pediatrician Deborah Gilboa, children who don’t do chores will not only be unsuccessful in material achievements, they will also be unsuccessful in the area of moral character.
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Latest Nonfiction Books for Your Summer Reading

Another list from Melissa Taylor for you to add to the summer reading schedule.

There is a variety of topics in the latest nonfiction books below — words, birds, numbers, artists, and more. I hope you find several books that you’ll want to read.
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A Guide to Same Page Summer

Leslie Gore invites you to Same Page Summer.

You’ve been officially invited to join us for Same Page Summer, and now that the starting date is upon us, I wanted to share some of my favorite tips from the Bible Reading Challenge (BRC).
To begin with, the main goal is to get God’s people back to the Word in the simplest of ways: by reading it.
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The Endless Steppe, by Esther Hautzig

Isabel Chenot recommends a memoir for us.

“The morning it happened — the end of my lovely world — I did not water the lilac bush outside my father’s study.”
The lilt of Esther Hautzig’s memory of exile in Siberia–seared by privation, filth, and loss–keeps an almost magical, storybook intonation. Her cadences are soothing, even when her recollections are barbed.
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