Weekend Links - September 21, 2013

My apologies for the lateness of this post. An Autumn cough / cold / sinus infection / whatever but just please go away already has been sending me to bed early these days. And then my mom and a friend and I tried to have a yard sale this morning. I say tried because it rained in the early part, and even though we managed to get things set up after that, yard salers were few and far between today.

Oh, well. Goes that way sometimes. At least I got rid of some stuff and donated some more. (Enough to fill a mini-van!) De-cluttering is always a nice feeling, no matter how it happens.

Anyway, on to the links!

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Dare Not Compare by Christina Fox.
• The Mental Neat Freak by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary.
• Don't Segregate the Youth by David Wright.
• Putting an End to Spiritual Envy by Erin Davis.
• Why Generation Y Yuppies are Unhappy from Wait But Why. "Guilty as charged," I guess. But it would also be helpful for older generations to understand these differences. 
• Who is Really Leaving the Faith and Why? by Andrew Hess. Possibly encouraging statistics.
• If God's In Control Why Am I Trying So Hard? by Christopher Abel.
• Why Prayer Changes Things by Melvin Tinker. This is a question I wrestle with often.
• How to Mourn with the Parents of Stillborn and Miscarried Children by John Patton. That's the key I think: mourn with us. Don't expect us to "move on" on your timetable. Understand that something devastating, something that requires grief, mourning, and much processing, has happened. Don't give platitudes. Don't lecture. Mourn.
• Courage in the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren.

Marriage / Parenting

• Marriage, Community, and Kinship by Andrew T. Walker.
• A Great Savior for a Wannabe Great Mom by Melissa Parnell.
• Don't Wear Your Child's Name Out by Auntie Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter. So much wisdom here.
• Whining Whiners and How to Cure Them: A Checklist also by Auntie Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter. What can I say? She was on an absolute roll these past few weeks. Have you added this blog to your favorites yet? Because it is definitely one of mine.
• 7 Habits of Parents Whose Kids Solve Problems by Janel Breitenstein.
• Child's Play: The Art of Toy Rotation from Playful Learning. Hope to do something like this when we get our new home.
• Beauty Amongst the Chaos from Tales from the Bonny Blue House.

Education / Reading

• School Is No Place for a Reader by Jennifer Franssen. Devastating post. So thankful my mom homeschooled me and that I can homeschool our kids.
• An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi. Fun way to illustrate logical fallacies.
• What Does Memorization Have to Do With Learning? by Marina Olson.
• Allowing Your Child to Think (and Learn) Outside the Box by Cara Thompson.
• Start Schooling Later Than Age Five, Say Experts from the UK Telegraph. I think it's interesting that they are actually willing to have this discussion overseas. I think it may be a while before we start talking honestly about education in the US.
• Investing in Tools for Our Daughters by Robin at Raising Homemakers.

Facebook / Social Media

• Stop Using Facebook to Send a Message to People You Won't Confront Directly and Privately from Downshore Drift. Oh, my, yes. 
• Middle Class Problems: People on Twitter Overreacting About Small Annoyances. Yep.
• 7 Ways to Be Insufferable on Facebook from Wait But Why. (Language warning for that site.) Have to say I mostly agreed, but pictures of your adorable babies or growing kids? Keep 'em coming. That's one of the reasons I maintain a FB account: I want to keep up with people I see rarely, if ever.

Uncategorized

• The Science of What Makes an Introvert and an Extrovert. Fascinating stuff.
• I'm an Introvert and I Don't Need to Come Out of My Shell by Matt Walsh. I really enjoy Walsh's blog. (I've shared several of his posts recently, here and on FB.)
• A Boy Named Humiliation: Some Wacky, Cruel, and Bizarre Puritan Names. I love names and the meanings behind them but, wow, how glad am I that my parents didn't use one of these names when I was born? Very glad.
• Where Americans - Rich and Poor - Spent Every Dollar in 2012.
• 10 Unusually Cool Places to Sleep. Road trip, anyone?
• Baseball news: One of my favorite pitchers is retiring.
• Everyone loves quizzes, right? These are cool: Color Quizzes. (The Color Personality Test was right on for me. I saved the results to share with you but I'm not sure if the link works or not.)

So, what caught your eye this week?

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