Let’s talk about public schools (also, did you enter that Goodreads giveaway yet?!)

Erin Wasinger

The conversation we started in The Year of Small Things wasn’t meant to end with the last page. (We’re living the sequel. Welcome to the version without the editor.)  That conversation we started on money? Still having it. The hospitality one? Part of the Arthurs’ everyday life. Oh, and the schools one, the kid monasticism one — all still occupying our thoughts.

Especially that school one.

In the last few months, we’ve been discerning together where our kids should go to school. Again. We’ve asked questions about decisions we’ve made. Again. We’ve made a list of schools, again. I’m talking about segregated schools and school choice and district boundaries, again. The thing about discernment is that it can be a lot of “agains,” so here we are.

Around kitchen tables, through volunteering, through social media, in relationships, we’re talking about feeling conflicted about our values and our choices. To really love our city in an incarnational, live-there way, shouldn’t our kids be educated here, where we live?

This year I (Erin) want to amplify this conversation about equity and relationships and what makes an education “good.” One way I’m doing that is with the new series Passing Notes, where I and guest writers will be talking about our public-school choices (because choosing “the school no one sends their kids to” is also a choice). Subscribe to the Passing Notes newsletter here to follow the voices in this conversation.  

And if this conversation is yours, too — where should our kids go to school, especially if we live in the city — let us know. Comment below or post in our Facebook group. Let’s talk about this thing.

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OH! OH! And don’t forget to enter the Goodreads giveaway to win a copy of The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us. The contest ends Jan. 30, so get your entry in before everyone else. (Ha!)

A ‘Small Things’ Goodreads giveaway, free calendar

Erin Wasinger
Isn’t it beautiful? Download the whole calendar — the link’s in the blog post!

What if we made new year’s resolutions with relationships in mind? What if The Year of Small Things were the framework for that kind of change-making? Tidings of joy, friends: we’ve got a GIVEAWAY and a FREE CALENDAR to help you with that.

The FREE calendar is available for download here: Small Things Calendar 2018! It’s our gift to you, to keep you and your group focused on topics in the book, from finances to self-care to social justice. Keep your year of small things on track — simply download, print, and use!

AND!

Our publisher is offering a Year of Small Things Goodreads giveaway this month! Through Jan. 30, you can enter to win a copy of The Year of Small Things (here). Who doesn’t love a FREE BOOK!? Did you enter yet? Go do that!

We’re super geeked to share both those goodies with you all.

First, it’s just fun to give things away.

Second, with all the cliched things you hear about resolutions, your small, intentional practices of better loving God and our neighbors has a greater chance of sticking. These small things are not resolutions. They’re not obnoxious add-ons to your already-busy calendar. There’s no membership fee, no scales. This isn’t a get-more-holy-quick scheme.

It’s simply you and some close friends, committed to making your life look a little more like Jesus’s by this time next year.

So.

What small thing is first on your list? Put it on that gorgeous calendar and make it happen, captain.

Three cheers for Sarah Arthur’s Pushcart nomination

Erin Wasinger

Many, many congratulations to coauthor Sarah Arthur on her Pushcart Prize nomination from Awst Press! It’s a big deal. She’s a big deal, but she won’t let anyone say that, of course.

From her essay, The Least of Us:

“… I know from experience how this conversation goes. I will say, “I’m happy to buy you a ticket, but I can’t give you money.” And he’ll say some variation on, “I won’t catch a train right away, so really, a couple dollars for a sandwich while I wait…” And then I’ll say, firmly, “I have a granola bar and a cheese stick right here.” But by then the game will be up.

I suddenly miss my two little boys with an ache like mild electrocution. I look him in the eyes. I want him to see that I see him. I want him to know that he is known—if not by me, then by a God who, like a mother, knows us. All our desires, longings, addictions, agonies…all of it.”

Read the full, heartbreaking story on Awst.

If her story leaves you wondering how one lives with a heart broken open like she describes, welcome. You’re in good company: our lives swirl around that question. (Yet, I assure you, we’re also capable of laughing at ourselves. For example, I’m laughing now because I remember Sarah saying that writing this piece for Awst was going to be the death of her. I’m grateful she exaggerates.)

Join the conversation and augment it by reading through The Year of Small Things with a friend or two (or your church, your small group, your neighbors).

Nab your copies online:

Small Things is available online:

Peace for your conversations and for your Advent season.

Small Things: the perfect gift for those made anxious by the news

Erin Wasinger

Judging by my email’s inbox, everything is up to me.

If its tone is to be believed, the fate of the nation, our children, our forests, the Middle East, our schools — everything — all hinges on my response. My signature. My donation. My action. My prayers. My subscription. My money. My reposts on social media.

What a shock to the mind, then, to remind ourselves of Advent. I’ve been praying for Jesus’ hope a lot. Where is it? Why don’t I feel it? Why can’t I give enough, volunteer enough, pray enough to feel that hope? I sigh a lot now, too, and turn off the news and feel overwhelmed.

Advent, I need more this year than ever.

Over dinner this past week, the Arthurs and the Wasingers talked again about our commitment to small things. Are they enough, we wondered, all of us slouching in chairs in the Arthurs’ living room, tired. Meanwhile, the kids were in the basement rehearsing some bell-less version of “Jingle Bells.” Loudly. We’d had hot-and-ready pizza for dinner because that’s a love language of ours. Sarah and I were a couple hours into taking meds for headaches.

Yeah, small things are enough. It’s what we’ve got.

We hope in Jesus, who multiplies things like fish and bread and disciples. Maybe all our small things can increase in the same way. So: will you live like that’s true, even when we don’t feel it?

Small steps.

If you’ve read The Year of Small Things, engage us and other Small Things people in our Facebook group. Your questions are probably the same that others have; and there’s something about being weird together, right? We’re your cheerleaders.

If you’ve not yet read Small Things with other people, pick up a few more copies this season. Start the discussion. Find your people. Do the things. 

Oh, and we especially recommend our book for that person you follow on social media who can’t help but repost 76 links each day, all with headlines that scream, “SIGN NOW OR YOU OBVIOUSLY DON’T CARE ABOUT THE EARTH/ POOR PEOPLE/ CHILDREN/ SPIDER MONKEYS.”

Small Things might just be a relief to them — and their Facebook friends.

Small Things is available online:

Peace, friends.

(And hope, friends.)    

5 ways to have a simpler Christmas

Erin Wasinger

Remember that one time my family budgeted twenty-five bucks for our family’s Christmas gifts? Yeah, twenty-five dollars total. Luckily, my kids do not remember this grim December. Celebrating was a teeth-gnashing experience: we meant to put more energy and emphasis on the advent and Christmas narrative. Instead of shopping, we’ll go caroling! Instead of plastic toys for our kids we’ll donate toys for someone else’s tots!

Sounded great. Noble, generous.

Instead, we ended up frustrated going through thrift store racks, tired of sewing yet another stuffed animal, and oh-so-ready to be done with the holidays.

So, twenty-five dollar Christmases, we don’t do anymore. But I still … I can’t go back to the days I knew as a child: the mountains of gifts, those gift exchanges where we’d text “What does (some dude) want for Christmas?” from the mall because we and dude didn’t know each other well.

I suspect this might sound familiar. Perhaps you’ve found some kindreds in The Year of Small Things because you want something different — starting with Christmas.

Me too. Let’s do this together.  

I’m issuing a Small Things Christmas Challenge! 

How will you err on the side of generosity this season?

How will you give differently? How will you refrain from buying too much stuff? Here are some ways that’ve worked for our family since our Grinchy Christmas:

  1. Experiences over gifts: My inlaws start asking for Christmas lists before we’ve even trick-or-treated. So, I needed ideas. I’ve started a conversation in our Facebook group (join us!), where the general consensus (hear me, grandparents!) is that experiences are better than stuff. Zoo memberships, movie gift certificates, trampoline park passes, a promise to go camping, and yadda yadda.
  2. The “want, need, wear, read” list: Something they want, something they need … You get it. We’re doing this in a shortened version; please don’t tell my kids all four of these categories or we can’t be friends anymore.
  3. Pay to play: my kids want to do soccer but the fee is ridiculous. Same with swimming, a music class, or whatever sport they choose (that doesn’t meet on weekend morning and only practices maybe once a week).
  4. We “adopt-a-child” through the local children’s home. The kids get to shop and learn how to pick out items other kids would like (not just “CAN I HAVE THIS”), and it generates a lot of conversation.
  5. We talk at the table about our budget, especially letting everyone choose which nonprofits we’ll donate to (besides our church). Generally, we give more away than we spend on our own gifts, and the kids hear that, even if they don’t quite get why yet.
  6. I’m still looking for a new monastic orthodontist. That really has nothing to do with Christmas, but I want to throw it out there.

TAKE THE SMALL THINGS CHALLENGE: Share ONE small way you’re celebrating differently this year.

Join us on Facebook to talk about it, or comment below! 

The summer crazies (and a FREE calendar!)

Sarah Arthur

Okay. We’re the first to admit it feels like the crazies are winning. All those long, lovely, leisurely days we envisioned in May have given way to shuttling our school-free children all over the Midwest, frantic loads of laundry between trips, and the subtle sleep-deprivation that comes from staying up way too late, thanks to endless dusk. My best attempts at a daily schedule deteriorated within days of Micah’s kindergarten graduation, replaced by variations on, “Didn’t I just feed you?” and “Leave your brother alone. Now.”

 

Meanwhile, other than an evening sailing and a fun trip to Erin’s hometown in Ohio, the Wasingers and Arthurs have barely managed to greet one another at church, much less meet weekly for dinner. All those good intentions, those small but radical changes for the sake of Jesus, seem to have been obliterated by simply surviving summer.

When did this happen? How did summer become the crash zone for the intentional life of faith? We can’t be the first Christians to experience this, not when monastic communities for centuries have farmed the lands they lived on. Seedtime, harvest, baby livestock, upkeep of the grounds and buildings, storing food for winter, washing every last thing while there’s hot sun to dry it…and yet the daily rhythm of prayer, shared meals, and worship never cease. The bells still ring, summoning the community together. A reminder to pause in your labor. Rest from your striving. Seek the presence of the One whose sustaining power is everlasting, no matter the season.

Breathe.

Consider this update one of those bells. Restore the rhythm. Don’t let the crazies win. Step back from the fray, revisit your spiritual goals. What one small thing are you working on? Is it living simply, befriending the poor and marginalized, caring for creation, seeking justice, being honest about your mental health? Don’t wait for September 1 before you take some practical steps again. Call one of your covenantal friends right now. Today. Reread the chapter that inspired you.

And download this spectacular FREE calendar–a gift from our publisher to you–that tracks The Year of Small Things starting August 1, just like the book itself does. A daily, visual reminder to put first things first, even if they’re small.

 

And if you need some extra encouragement, here are some opportunities for further reflection:

  • We love this excellent interview in Interpreter Magazine: “We’re not in ministry to the struggling. We are called into friendship with those who are struggling. That is a whole different thing.”
  • Here’s a thoughtful, insightful review in The Christian Century: “The Year of Small Things is about doing the dishes. It’s about the hard work of serious discipleship when you have a life and family.”
  • Don’t miss these podcast interviews with Jen Pollock Michel, author of Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home and with Brian Bantum, author of The Death of Race: Building a New Christianity in a Racial World.

Do you hear them, the bells? Don’t let the summer crazies win.

Why it’s not ‘The Year of Safe Things’

Sarah Arthur

Everywhere we go talking about our book The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us, we get questions about what it’s like to practice hospitality with those on the margins. After all, Tom and I have offered housing to the homeless, in our actual homes, on and off for over 15 years. Naturally, people are curious how that works. Isn’t it risky? How do you keep your kids safe? Have you ever been taken advantage of? Do you “screen” people ahead of time?

(In fact, one person wanted to know if there was some agency or other that screens people for being hosted in homes. I almost asked, shouldn’t possible host families be screened too? Because who’s to say we aren’t crazier than average? Another post for another time …)

You need courage to open up yourself to hospitality, covenantal friendship, sharing about your struggles. (Photo by Dave Wasinger)

Something we’re hearing from readers is just how “risky” so many of these small things sound. Sharing about your finances with covenantal friends… that requires real vulnerability. Sharing about your own struggles with mental health, including depression … that’s harrowing. And of course opening your life–whether it’s sharing meals, offering rides, helping with laundry, watching small children, providing housing to those on the margins–breaks every rule about privacy and self-protection that Americans value.

But this is not “The Year of Safe Things.” As C. S. Lewis reminds us in The Four Loves, “There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable.” Safety is not one of the fruits of the spirit, nor is it listed in scripture among the promises of God. If anything, the call of the gospel is to risk outrageously for the sake of Jesus and for the vulnerable whom he loves.

What we propose in our book is to start making the turn. To move in baby steps away from the false promises of the American Dream–safety, security, independence, privacy–and to move closer to Jesus. And moving closer to Jesus moves us inevitably closer to (1) his Body, the community of faith, and (2) to those on the margins (and don’t think for a moment those two groups are separate). Because that’s where we find him hanging out.

So is this year of small things risky? Yup. Is it worth it? Well, here are some of our thoughts about that.

How about you? What are your thoughts on safety versus risk?

We’re coming to West Michigan! (& other fun updates)

Sarah Arthur

In the flurry of activity that was Holy Week (Arthurs & Wasingers temporarily gave up trying to slow down, get ourselves out of the way, take the long view–which is probably what the disciples themselves felt like at that point in the story, anyway…), we have been nonetheless excited to spread the word about some upcoming author events. 

  • Tuesday, April 25th – 7 PM Author event at Potterville Public Library in Potterville, MI. We can’t wait to join some of our favorite friends in our new favorite small town for a FREE author talk & book signing! We’ll do a drawing for a free book too (choose from any of Sarah’s titles or The Year of Small Things). NOTE: Please call the library to reserve your spot: (517) 645-2989. 150 Library Ln, Potterville, MI 48876.

  • Thursday, April 27th – 7 PM Book signing at Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, MI. We’re hitting one of our all-time favorite bookstores in West Michigan for a fun author talk & signing — and yes, our signature drawing for a $10 store gift card is in your future! Let us know you’re coming/interested on the Facebook event page. This event is FREE, so bring your friends & family. (P.S. The children’s section is FANTASTIC.)

Some other Year of Small Things goodness: 

  • Don’t miss Erin’s Think Christian article on radical finances. Do you let your covenantal friends review your bank account? Why not?
  • The full text of SOJOURNER’S review of The Year of Small Things (from the print mag) is available online for a limited time. Many thanks to poet Abigail Carroll for her kind, thoughtful reflections.
  • Sarah interviews the famous chicken farmer Joel Salatin on the Small Things podcast.

Eastertide blessings, all!

Motherhood as a spiritual discipline

Erin Wasinger

Our The Year of Small Things perfectly encapsulates the discord between spiritual disciplines and parenthood. For instance: that time our families tried praying with a live candle. Also, the time we had zero energy left to form words, let alone prayers. See also: the time Sarah’s husband remarked that his spiritual life was more Daniel Tiger than the prophet Daniel … on and on.

So we’re thrilled that we got to be in conversation with our Redbud Writers Guild colleague, Catherine McNiel. Catherine’s written a book that speaks to the desire for God in our current realities, and reminds us that God meets us in that everyday chaos. So, so good. Read on and listen to the podcast interview:
 
Download this episode (right click and save).

Catherine, tell us about yourself!

Thank you! I’m a mom with three kids (and a few part-time jobs). I love to read and garden. I love to study theology and ancient cultures. I’m always trying to learn something new. I enjoy getting to know my neighbors and learning how different people see the world. I love to explore how theology impacts our real, physical lives…and how our real lives impact theology. I’m enamored by the creation of new life but find that working in the garden is less exhausting than pregnancy. ☺

Now, introduce us to your book Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline.

Long Days of Small Things is a book that looks at the real life work we do in our everyday lives, and finds God right here in the midst of it. It’s a book for moms (or dads…or grandparents…or caregivers…) who know they don’t have any extra time or energy, but still want a way to connect with God and discover how to find Him.

How do you do that in Long Days of Small Things?

In each chapter I tell stories from our real lives—the seasons and stages of motherhood, pregnancy and delivery, infant days, sleepless nights, caring for children of all ages—and the tasks that fill them. I look at spiritual tools that already hide there—like sacrifice, surrender, service, perseverance, and celebration—and consider how we can open our eyes to the spiritual boot camp we walk through every day. Without adding anything extra to our live or to-do lists, we practice so many disciplines every moment of the day.

Why did you decide to write Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline?

A few years ago I was a work-from-home mom with a baby, a toddler, and a preschooler. These precious, demanding children took me all the way to the end of my rope…and left me there indefinitely! My life changed in every way, yet I heard only the same spiritual prescriptions I’d always heard: spend quiet time each day with God. Find 30-60 minutes each day to be in silence and solitude before the Lord. As I considered the classic spiritual practices (which I love!)—prayer, worship, fasting, meditation, service, solitude, etc.—it became abundantly clear that the realities of motherhood meant I was likely to fail. Or opt out entirely.

But my spirit didn’t allow me to do that. I heard a lament rising in the hearts of the women around me—I have nothing left, nothing left to care for myself or give to God. But as I looked at the actual seasons and tasks of motherhood, I was convinced that there was no better “boot camp” for my soul. Each day we mothers create, we nurture. Each day we are pushed to the end of ourselves and must surrender, sacrifice, and persevere. Each day we serve, pouring ourselves out. We empty ourselves for those in our care—and isn’t this emptiness the very reliance on God that the spiritual disciplines are designed to produce?

I’m convinced that motherhood is doing an eternal work on my soul, even if I’m too exhausted and overwhelmed to notice just now.

How is this book different from all the other books and conversations out there regarding motherhood today?

There are so many books out there for moms on the topic of devotion and spirituality. Almost all of them have this in common: after admitting that moms are exhausted, stretched too thin, without any margin or time or energy, they look for a few extra minutes here or there which might be harvested for God; or offer a Bible study or prayer list that might fit in the tiny slots. Get up at 4:30am before the baby wakes at 5am! Read two minutes of the Bible each day!

I’m all for doing these things when it works, but I’m convinced that we don’t need to exit motherhood to have a spiritual life. Our children are what we create, and this is where our Creator God meets us. I’m certain of it. Without adding more “should’s” or “to-do’s” to our days, we can open our eyes to a unique spiritual journey, made just for us—and find him here. We’re already doing it. All that waits is for us to breathe deeply and being to drink.

 

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Catherine McNiel is the author of Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline (NavPress, 2017). Catherine cares for three kids, works two jobs, and grows one enormous garden. Connect with her at Catherinemcniel.com.

Catch the book signing for ‘Year of Small Things’

Erin Wasinger

The more ways you spread The Year of Small Things love, the more likely you are to come out a winner. Literally.

Join us for Saturday’s book signing at Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy (or two) of the book and have it signed by Sarah Arthur and Erin Wasinger. As a thank you for stopping by, we local authors will be giving away TWO $10 Barnes and Noble gift cards!

We’re in practice signing books thanks to Church in a Pub’s book signing.

To enter to win, complete any or all of the prompts listed below. The more you do, the better chance you have for walking out with that gift card!

Saturday’s small things, should you accept:

  • Bring a friend (you both get an entry!)
  • Sign up at our table to receive our blog (or put down your email anyway if you already subscribe)
  • Take a selfie with Erin or Sarah and/ or the book, inside the store (sorry, Mom, you can’t just post my old school photos)
  • Show us that you posted the photo to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #yearofsmallthings
  • Let us video record you answering this question: “What one small thing are you doing this month?”

We’ll do the drawing at 2:55 PM-ish, and you don’t have to be present to win.

The details you’ll need:

  • What: Year of Small Things book signing
  • When: Saturday (March 11) from 1 PM to 3 PM
  • Where: Barnes and Noble (in the Lansing Mall), 5132 W Saginaw Hwy, Lansing
  • Cost: Free. Books will be available to purchase. (Makes a great gift or an Easter basket surprise. See: Chapter 5, on Stuff. Books don’t count as stuff to Erin.)
  • Also: There will be cookies.

Bonus! Some of Sarah Arthur’s other books will be available for purchase, including Between Midnight and Dawn, a devotional for Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide; and Mommy Time, a devotional for new parents.

See you Saturday!