My friend said to me this week that she feels in a funk. She knows she just needs to ride it out, but she’s there. I know the feeling and I know so many others who find themselves in the same place. Maybe you’re there. Or maybe you’re on the far side of a funk. Or maybe tomorrow one will start. I found that the pieces I saw around the web this week seemed to point to the value of an ordinary life. So if you’re in a funk (or even if you’re not), read on and see how daily putting one foot before the other can help you ride it out.

Around the Web

Sisters, You Have Permission to Lead an Ordinary Life

Melissa Kruger praises a life lived quietly.

• You’re special. Don’t let anyone limit your potential. You’re made for more. Your life is up to you. Exercise more. Eat better. Make time for yourself. Cheer others on. Give more. Do more. Try harder. Run faster. 
  And, while you’re at it, change the world. Solve injustice. Start a nonprofit. Lead a Bible study.  Read all the new books (maybe write one, too). Read the classics. Make sure to vote. Wash your face. Live untamed.
  No wonder you haven’t thought about what’s for dinner. 
  Read more

Shoveling Mulch onto the Leaf-Mold of the Mind

Rachel Donahue meditates on what she’s piling on and what’s growing up.

• When we built our house on this back corner of the neighborhood, we told the builders to leave as many trees as possible because the line of woods at the back of our property gives way to family land. We cleared out the underbrush to make it traversable and brought in loads of mulch to protect the barren ground from erosion. That was four years ago.
  Our back lawn is still a work in progress. We aerate and overseed season after season, trying to get enough grass to grow to choke out the weeds. 
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Kids Books about Voting and Elections

The coming weeks here in the US will be fraught with campaigns and debates and slogans and boasts and accusations and no matter what happens on the first Tuesday in November, God is still on his throne. Most of the time I’d like to just live in that thought and not pay any attention to the noise around me, but I also recognize I’ve got the privilege of being part of the American experiment, where (as Aaron Sorkin liked to put it) every two years we go down to the firehouse and overthrow the government. If you’re looking for ways to talk about voting and elections with your kids, here are some great books to start with.

• Democracy is only as strong as its citizens. Teach your children about the importance of fair and free elections with these children’s books about voting and elections. These books will share with your kids the crucial role ordinary people play in a society when they exercise their civic responsibility and participate in elections.
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10 Best Bible Apps for Kids That They’ll Love

Screens tend to be our constant companions these days, so here’s some apps that leverage that to help kids get into the Bible.

• These days screens are literally everywhere! Kids and adults alike have a love and hate relationship with the way they influence our lives.
  One of the things parents spend so much time contemplating is if their child’s use of screens is appropriate. Finding ways to make sure your child is safe and receiving positive messages on their devices is essential.
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Around the Warren

Kingdom Anticipation

Hope Henchey looks to the world that is to come and tries to help her kids imagine it.

• My children are growing up in Florida, where we experience no visible signs of either fall, winter, or (arguably) spring. October or April, the landscape looks the same. It occurred to me last month, when reading books to my kids about autumn in 97 degree weather, that fall must seem like fiction to them. To a Floridian kid, the idea of changing leaves or the concept of snow must be unbelievable. Rainbow forests and blankets of ice crystals belong in a land of unicorns to someone who has never seen them. It would be so difficult to even try to describe the feeling of “crisp” air or the entrancing, quiet beauty of frosted pine needles.
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The Archer’s Cup is Here

We’re so excited to introduce you to the newest book in S.D. Smith’s Green Ember world.

• The Archer’s Cup is here! Book THREE of the Green Ember Archer trilogy is much longer, and takes a turn never explored before in my Green Ember adventures! I am so excited to share it with you.
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Something to Do with Your Kids

Need to find a reason to celebrate this month? There’s 31 in here.

Something to Watch

Your work loving your family and precious children is heroic. Your gift of cultivating their imaginations is seen and deeply appreciated.This video from S.D. Smith is a reminder to fight back.