Ten Takes From Church of the Small Things ⋆ A Delightful Glow

Laughter is something I savor and appreciate in life. It adds such a richness. It’s like a really good flavoring!
Melanie Shankle’s books make me laugh. I love her appreciation for finding the funny, facing the not-so-fun, and doing it all with a mix of self-deprecation and a good twinge of sarcasm, in a very good way! 🙂

Here’s ten takes, observations and excerpts from Melanie’s newest book ~ Church of the Small Things.

1. The back cover asks, “Is my ordinary life actually significant? Is it okay to be fulfilled by the simplest acts of raising kids, working in an office, and cooking chicken for dinner?” It goes on to say, “The million little pieces that make a life aren’t necessarily glamorous or far-reaching. But God uses some of the smallest, most ordinary acts of faithfulness-and sometimes they look a whole lot like packing lunch.”
Isn’t it so true? Most of us may not impact millions, but we impact someone. We serve somewhere. The small thing we do matters to who it’s done for. When I started my blog I really intended to put JOY in the name of it. As I did a few searches, there were already many blogs with JOY in the title or the actual whole title was already taken. This prompted me to search for a synonym for JOY and led me to delightful. The thing is, I wanted to focus on looking for the little things in our very-normal-very-ordinary life that added joy. I wanted to fill my days with joy. I wanted significance for US in our ordinary days. I wanted joy in ME. Because while I love my man, my life, my family I didn’t always love the mundane and the menial and the mud and messes that NEVER GO AWAY!!! 🙂 Truth is, I still don’t. BUT, I find gratefulness in it. I lean into delighting in the daily details. Because somewhere along my journey, this became my blog’s byline. I doubt I’m ever going to fall head-over-heels for dirty dishes and rumpled laundry waiting to be washed, but I do breathe out thanks for plenty to eat, for a kitchen to cook in, for the fun of clothes and outfits and accessories. I recently had a little discussion with my man. We noted that almost any good thing or fun thing or activity we absolutely love, still has a part that isn’t all that lovely. While I love to bake muffins and pies and cookies, I don’t relish the mess that must be cleaned up when I’m finished. My farmer man, he loves him some combine time. He loves harvesting those golden acres of wheat. However drilling it all, isn’t his favorite part of farming. But you sure can’t get those golden, waving fields in June without putting in some hours and a whole lotta seeds in October.

2. I do like lists of things {like my Ten on Tuesday posts} and somehow it’s just fun to read a good list or bullet points. Several of the chapters end with lists of Small Things. And they’re good lists! And funny!! Always funny. Melanie Shankle excels at making me laugh. Here’s a few excerpts from her list titled, “Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was a Kid.

When your mom asks, “Who broke the vase?” it’s not a real question because she already knows.
Eat more popsicles.
Letting your Grandmother give you a perm is a bad idea.
Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up. Childhood is magical and wonderful and the last time you’ll feel so completely carefree.
Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers are still one of the greatest things ever.

3. Pages 86 and 87. I could have jumped up and yelled Hallelujah and Amen when I read this paragraph ~
“As soon as I turned thirty-nine, everyone began to ask me what I was doing for my fortieth birthday. I didn’t know. Maybe staying home in my pajamas and reading People magazine before I turn on Netflix and have two glasses of wine because it’s my special day? Some of us introverted types like to party like rock stars. Rock stars who don’t actually party as much as just hole up in fancy hotel rooms and watch TV. Can’t you just leave us alone and let us commemorate the day without any social pressure? We’re happy with that. I promise. We really are. Because the mere thought of turning up at a surprise party for myself filled with all manner of my friends from different stages of life is enough to cause me to breathe into a paper bag. That’s the kind of thing that needs some advance warning. I realize there are those who love nothing more than a huge celebration, and I dearly love some of those very people, and I’m happy to celebrate with them as long as they are the center of attention. I just don’t know why there’s all this pressure to celebrate the end of the thirties with a huge middle-age palooza when some of us are just lame enough to spend it reading a good book.”
Yes. Yes indeed. Surprise parties aren’t my thing. I do love a good coffee and chat with a friend. I love going out for lunch with my friends. I love celebrating with my family. And I love curling up with a good book and comfy pj’s!

4. You just have to appreciate a book with a chapter entitled, “To Exercise or Not to Exercise? That’s Not a Real Question.” 🙂

5. Any book that contains this sentence will be a book I buy. “Nothing makes me happier than canceled plans.” It’s a real thing people!! Most of the time, I do not mind cancelled plans and sometimes I do a happy dance!! Here’s looking at you books and knitting and baking and all-the-projects-I-never-get-done! Yes, I do like to do some things, but I do really, really love home!

6. I TOTALLY love and relate to these feelings on page 146 ~ “I try so hard to be graceful and compassionate and kind and wise and discerning and loving, but I’m putting myself in charge of all those attributes. And then my selfishness and pride and insecurity all rise to the top instead and I freak out because I know how lacking I am in BASICALLY EVERY CATEGORY and then I just want to sit on my couch in my pajamas and watch old episodes of Friday Night Lights because it feels safe.” {emphasis mine} FRIENDS, I could’ve written those very words!!! Except, since we’re all unique I would’ve said it a little differently I’m sure, but with the VERY same meaning, AND I’m not much of a tv buff and have no idea what Friday Night Lights is. I’d have to say Full House or The Brady Bunch or a Disney movie, like Mary Poppins.

7. So, apparently we women all have our hurrahs and our harrumphs ~ because I found myself highlighting this sentence as well……”Some days I feel like I’m doing a pretty good job at being a wife, mother, daughter and friend; and some days I feel like I want to run away from home because I’m just an idiot who is screwing everything up.” Why yes, yes, me too. But the thing is…this life I have, we have, my family and me……..I wouldn’t trade it…..even on the days I’m sure I’ve bombed it.

8. And then this ~ “People talk so much about what it means to live an important life. What my dad taught me is that it’s not about how much money you make, the car you drive or any titles you achieve. He taught me by example that life is about showing up, living in the moment, and being true to who you are and what you believe, even when it’s not the easiest path. Life is about your family, your friends and your faith.” Yes!! Little things sometimes appear little, but are really the big things.

9. Chapter three is entitled, ” Yes Virginia, There is Such a Thing as a Naugahyde Sofa” AND it is followed by one of my very, very FAV-O-RITE quotes….It’s from J.R.R. Tolkien………..That house was a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness. I love this quote and the image of home it represents. In this chapter, Melanie shares about memories of her grandparents and the way they did life and how it impacted her and how their actions spoke of love and hospitality. They lived simple everyday and they impacted people while they did it. Our stories matter. Our memories matter. Mine may look much different than yours, but we all have equally important moments that shape and define the “us” we are!

10. It seems appropriate for the end of my list to come from a few sentences close to the end of the book. Melanie says ~ “In that funny way that life has of teaching you as you go, I learned over the years that it’s usually not the big moments that make up a life as much as it is the small ones. It’s not the wedding ceremony that makes you a married couple, but the daily commitment to stay in love even when someone is seemingly incapable of throwing away the wrappers from the York Peppermint Patties he eats every night and asks every year if Valentine’s Day is the second Tuesday in February. It’s not giving birth or signing adoption papers that makes you a mom, but braiding hair and kissing scraped knees and walking the floor at night with a feverish baby in your arms as you whisper a silent prayer, or listening to someone sound out the word “cat” until you want to gnaw your arm off to make it stop. I’ve learned that the best way to live is to look for God in the church of the small things. The church of the small things is where God does His best work. The church of the small things is where the majority of us live every single day.”

If you pre-order Church of the Small Things, you can snag your pre-order bonuses right over here!