by Jess Connell · October 23, 2015

Mmmmmmm, it’s fall! The leaves are on the ground… I’m wearing socks again… and we just started our first fireplace fire last night. 

Here are the things I’m currently thinking about, reading, and learning.

What I’m thinking about:
  • “Side Hustles”– I’ve been blogging for 9 years now. In January, we’ll have been homeschooling for 10 years. This last few months, I’ve been decluttering the house, KonMarie style so I can have more energy and attention for what matters. Now that we’re moving into the cold & rainy season, I’m taking some freelance work and brainstorming ways of creating useful products and services. Do you have ideas for me? Please e-mail me: What would you be eager to learn if I produced a class on that topic? What book, if I wrote it, would you be eager to read?
  • Sexual Orientation & Gender— Earlier this month, we attended the ACBC annual conference in Kentucky. Dr. Rosaria Butterfield blew my mind… her intelligence, sincerity, and biblical understanding and approach to this topic gave me much to ponder. Just finished reading this article about the way varied meanings and applications of sexual orientation make it a particularly persnickety “protected class.” This is a premier issue of our day. As moms, we need to understand this stuff. It’s the air our entire culture is assumed to be breathing… we need to help our children live wisely in the age into which they’ve been born. We ourselves need to be thinking biblically about gender, sexuality, identity, and marriage.

What I’m reading:
  • On Writing– by Stephen King. MAN this guy can write. And WOW this book tells why he writes what he writes. I’m just a little bit in, and wowzers, it’s good.
  • Screwtape Letters – by C. S. Lewis. I’ve forgotten a lot in this book! A group of ladies at our church are getting together early one Saturday morning a month to discuss good books together, and this is our first title. Yay for books!

What I’m learning:
  • Copying Scripture has been wonderfully encouraging. Instead of copying random chapters in no particular order at all, I’m copying whole books of the Bible word-for-word now. In this social-media age it’s easy to get distracted, but with my Bible in my left hand, my journal on my lap, and a pen in my right hand, (and with my phone plugged in clear across the room– yay, self-discipline!) I’m freed from the magnetic “I’m-not-doing-anything-why-not-check-Facebook” pull of the smartphone. And the pace of the writing helps me slow down and purposefully dig in to the text. I’ve done multiple epistles now, and have moved on to the Gospel of John. It’s working to bring delight and “pause” back to my personal Bible study, and I’m loving it.
  • We’ve been enjoying getting to know some new friends: the Crawford family (you should check out their vlog, FIGHT FOR TOGETHER — They hosted us on our recent trip to Kentucky, and so Doug, Luke, and I are actually in Episode 6: Mom Blogger Moshing, Episode 9: Memory’s Birthday, Episode 10: Rabbit Pot Pie). I really have appreciated their transparency, and we’re enjoying watching their vlog episodes as a family and being challenged by their intentionality in life.
  • I’m leaning back into a better balance with transparent living. By nature, I’m pretty much an open book. Ask me anything, and I’ll almost always be glad to share. But one of the things I’m realizing is that I majorly recoiled after the life-explosion that rocked our world nearly 2 years ago. A suddenly-brought-on feeling of vulnerability and pain put me in, and has kept me in, a risk-avoidant, self-protective state of being, and that has shown up in my writing. Perhaps you’ve noticed, but I’m finally exhaling– trying to find a new balance of sharing my real life past, and my real life present, and my real life dreams, more openly again.

IN THE COMMENTS: Any of this something you’re interested in or would want to hear more about? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

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