We're always on the lookout for awesome resources - and we bet you are, too! So, here are five that we are loving right now!
A Book We're Reading: Adorning the Dark
I’m honestly not sure how to put this book into words. So, I’m just going to draw from the description on Amazon.
“While there are many books about writing, none deal first-hand with the intersection of songwriting, storytelling, and vocation, along with nuts-and-bolts exploration of the great mystery of creativity.”
Yes.
Andrew Peterson is best known as a songwriter but in the last handful of years he’s also put out a fiction series reminiscent of The Chronicles of Narnia called The Wingfeather Saga. That series deserves its own mention but take that as a bonus recommendation.
But we, as children’s ministry leaders, are storytellers. We tell the story of who God is and what He has done. Peterson speaks to that role. Read this beautifully written book through that lens and I promise you’ll walk away changed.
You can get it here.
A Podcast We're Devouring: The Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast
Craig Groeschel is a master of brevity. Unless he’s interviewing a guest (and he’s had an incredible guest list – including John Maxwell, Dave Ramsey, and Michael Hyatt), most of his podcasts run between 12 and 22 minutes. But, let me tell you, he packs a ton of wisdom into those few minutes.
I don’t remember where I read or heard this, but Craig Groeschel spends ten to twenty hours every week developing this reasonably short podcast because he wants every word to be as impactful as it can possibly be. He runs a mega-church. But he believes that a huge part of his impact and Kingdom expansion comes from encouraging and equipping leaders around the world.
This one is worth your time. You won’t regret it. You can listen here.
You can listen here.
A Tool We're Loving: Rescue Time
This application is absolutely incredible – aaaaand uncomfortably revealing. It monitors how you spend your time online and allows you to block distractions so you can focus on what matters most.
I recently installed it on my computer, and it has been a game changer. I wasn’t hanging out on social media or anything, but I was spending a disproportionate amount of time on email. It was eating up precious time on productivity – and I didn’t even realize it.
The basic plan costs about $7 a month. If you make $20 an hour, that’s about 20 minutes of pay. But you get to use it for the whole month.
If you’re a productivity guru – awesome! You probably don’t need this. But you if you find yourself getting distracted by the allure of the World Wide Web, this might be the app for you.
You can learn more here.
A Song We Have on Repeat: Into the Sea
I was at a conference in Nashville a couple months back and Tasha Layton was supposed to lead worship the first morning. There was a change in her schedule, and she had to be in Florida that week. She flew all the way from Florida to lead worship for 15 minutes and then caught a flight back the same day because she refused to break the commitment she’d made to serve at the conference.
This song is beautiful – and Tasha Layton is just the real deal. You can listen to it here.
A Quote We're Pondering: G.K. Chesterton
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
There you go! Five things we are loving this month.
What are you loving? Leave a comment and let us know!
