Reading/Listening

I'd like to pass on a few blogs and podcasts I enjoy.



The first is
Holding it Together,
 a joint effort by The Mennonite, Inc. and by The Mennonite Church USA's Women in Leadership. This podcast has a focus on women in leadership, and it is so good. I binge listened to it one day when I had to drive five hours. Every episode is worth hearing. It is produced once every three weeks and by the time a new one is out, I'm ready. I wish I could recommend a favorite episode, but I just can't choose one over all the others.

Keeping the Mistakes is a blog written by an art teacher friend of mine. She doesn't write often, but what she writes is worth reading. The name of the blog is true to her philosophy, both with art and with life, making beauty out of what you have. And...she loves teaching art to kids, so it's inspiring to see the work they are doing!

This post written recently is a favorite of mine: 

Mindful Breathing, Sharing Honestly, and Being Grateful.

Rebecca Barrett Fox is the woman responsible for the Any Good Thing Writing Challenge that I participate in most months. I've written about it here: Some every day, no matter what. 

Rebecca shares a blog with Joel Matthis entitled 606. 

The description of the blog in their words is, "Politics, culture, family and more. From a (mostly) Mennonite perspective."

I read every post. It is plain spoken writing, unafraid to address tough issues, and occasionally to disagree with each other. Both writers lean toward liberal, which appeals to me, but may not to you.

Rebecca has done extensive research and writing on hate groups, and on gun violence.

Lastly, but not least, I keep up with the adoption community through a blog and a podcast. The blog is

One Thankful Mom

It is written by Lisa Qualls, who is both a birth mother who gave up a child for adoption, and also an adoptive mom who adopted four children in addition to her own six children, and who is currently also foster parenting.  Lisa writes honestly and vulnerably, while protecting the stories of her children. I've learned a lot from her. A recent favorite post is

Are you weary of parenting?

Lisa has teamed up with another adoptive mom, Melissa, to put together a resource for adoptive families called 

The Adoption Connection

This site has a lot of resources for adoptive and foster families, including a podcast which addresses a wide variety of topics related to foster care and adoption. Just a few of the topics include: fostering/adopting as a single parent; raising teens; advocating for your kids at school; managing the holidays.