"The Newest Love"--a new short story at Spark magazine

Hi folks!

I'm happy to announce that I have a story in the latest issue of Spark magazine! It's a flash fiction romance piece titled "The Newest Love," and it's set in a NICU. (Hey, love can happen in the stressful places as well as the relaxing places!)

And, I have to admit, as a writer, I am more than a tiny bit thrilled to see that not only did my story make the cover (!), but it also is the very first story in the magazine (!!!).

Hope you'll check it out; these days, a collection of short, cheerful love stories might be just what the doctor called for--an antidote to all the grim headlines.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell



This post contains Amazon affiliate links; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price. I will probably use it to buy more books. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

a few recent publications: "The Miracle of Love" and "The Life-Changing Magic of Volunteering at Church"

Hi folks! I haven't been around here much lately (though I've been posting a fair bit on Twitter), but I wanted to stop by and let you know about a few things I've written lately.

The first is a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul's new book, The Miracle of Love. And...my story is also the first story in the book! It was a thrill to get my author copies, open up the book, and see my name on the first page!

The second is a blog post: a little while ago, I got to guest-blog for the lovely and talented Anne Kennedy. You can read my essay, The Life-Changing Magic of Volunteering at Church, over at her blog Preventing Grace. Here's a small snippet, to whet your appetite:

Volunteering at church will change your life, but I’m not writing this as a how-to article. I am writing it as a testimony. What I have found in these last five years of service is precious, and I want to share it with other Christians who might be looking for what I was looking for: a way to really feel at home in the church, a way to really get to know their fellow believers. A way to belong.

I'm busy with a few other things I'm hoping to post here soon, including the continuation of my series on writing a Rule of Life. (The truth is: my own Rule has dictated that my time be spent places other than this blog for the past few months. But that looks to be changing soon!)

I hope you have a good Saturday, and an even better Sunday, full of rest and worship!



Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell



This post contains Amazon affiliate links; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price. I will probably use it to buy more books. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Regular Meals--at Home, and at Church

This past week, a pair of things happened that made me sit up and take notice.

They were a pair of meals: one was a family meal, and one was a meal at church.

Both meals stood out because of their delightfulness. They were both normal meals in most outward respects--normal in that they were the meals we all expected to have, with the people with whom we expected to have them.

But they both seemed to have a bit of something extra. At the family meal, everyone was just a bit happier than usual. The conversation, usually good, was even better. The food, also usually good, was amazing. The smiles and laughter, usually plentiful, seemed to overflow.

At church, it was Trinity Sunday. The sermon, usually good, seemed to strike at the heart even more deeply. The music, also usually good, was even more moving. The eucharistic meal we shared, always a fearful joy, felt even more meaningful.

The Normal and the Good
Experiencing these two very good meals, the one following closely on the other, made me think: The only way to have very good meals like this sometimes, is to have normal good meals all the time.

You can't really plan for a normal, regular meal that is better than usual--a normal meal that suddenly lifts up onto a higher plane of happiness and delight. It just happens, sometimes.

But it only really happens when you have normal, regular good meals, well...regularly.

Yes, there are things like wedding feasts--meals you expect to be extraordinary, both in fare and in delight. But...those are the exception.

In day-to-day life, the really good meals happen because the sort-of-okay meals happen. Because you faithfully show up, and prepare food, and listen to the people you love, and clean up afterwards.

Both at home, and at church.

If you want the extraordinary, you need to be there for the quotidian.

Show up.

Love.

Partake.

And then see what happens.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

linky linky links

Here are links to some good reading, for what's left of your weekend:


-Starting with this one, which is ridiculous and trainwreck-y. Um, these people are nuts. Bless them, but they're nuts: We Bought a Crack House.

-And this parody of the nutty situation: We bought a $3 million bungalow full of bats and were not happy with the result.


-On a more serious note, I appreciated this take on children's literature: Welcome to Lizard Motel.


-The feast of Pentecost is coming up, and this article from Michelle Van Loon explains what it is, why it matters, and how to celebrate it!


-I continue to find Jordan Peterson--and the takes on him, pro and con--kinda fascinating. Here are two good ones from Think Theology:

    12 Rules: the Review

----and---

   12 Rules for Jordan Peterson. 





(And for more links than I ever manage to post here on the blog, follow me on Twitter!)

That's it for this week! I hope you have a restful Sunday.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links!

It's warm enough in SoCal that the hibiscuses are blooming!

Here are links to some good reading and listening, for what's left of your weekend:

-First, from Anne Kennedy, a message on The Life-Changing Magic of Not Tidying Up.

-And then, from Fred Sanders, an excellent sermon on Christ Alone.

-I'm not a huge fan of horror movies, but I like what Mike Duran has to say in this article about Why the Popularity of Horror Movies Might Encourage Christians, especially this bit:

The popularity of the horror genre may be a collective subconscious affirmation that the world is not the way it's supposed to be.

-Yes, yes, yes to all this: 7 Things I Love About Liturgical Protestant Worship.

-From Randy Alcorn: My Writing Process, Advice for Aspiring Authors, and Answers to Other Questions About Writing.

-This is deeply, truly important: Parents, Take Note of the Spiritual Practices Common to Kids Who Flourish as Adults.


(And for more links than I ever manage to post here on the blog, follow me on Twitter!)

That's it for this week! I hope you have a restful Sunday.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

"Turn and Be Saved": post at Biola University's LENT PROJECT

Today I have a post up at Biola University's LENT PROJECT. Here's a snippet:

This is not abstract: Repent. No, really: repent. Examine yourself. Examine yourself even against the exacting and strict rule found in the scripture, not against the weak virtues of your neighbor. Confess your actual sins to the actual God, and ask for His mercy. Intend to forsake evil and do good. Forsake not just the individual acts, but forsake your habits of sin—that comforting sin you turn to time and again. The one you wrap yourself ‘round in like a blanket, seeking comfort from the cold. Forsake it, and turn to the Lord.

To read the rest, head over to the LENT PROJECT site!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Book Notes: "Moments and Days" by Michelle Van Loon

I read this book in the fall, as the year was curving up towards Advent, but it's also a good read for this time of year, with the long season of Lent lying before us.

"Moments and Days: How Our Holy Celebrations Shape Our Faith," is about the Christian liturgical year (that's my jam!), but it's also about the Jewish liturgical year--and it's about how those two calendars do (and don't) fit together.

I really enjoyed it. As Van Loon comments towards the beginning of the book, "By getting to know the Jewish feasts, we know our Jewish Savior better."

That's probably all the reason you need in order to want to read this book, but I'd add a few others: Van Loon is good at making connections (like the one between the Transfiguration and the Feast of Booths) and she's also just a good writer. I love passages like these:

Much of contemporary evangelicalism has been quick to "put the cookies on the bottom shelf," eschewing the church's history and traditions so that spiritual seekers would feel welcome in our midst. In the process, I wonder if we have gotten used to dining on crumbs. Crumbs may fill us for a moment, but we have been made for eternity; our calendar tells us so.

Or this:

...I learned (as we all do at some point in our lives) that mourning is a core reality of our earthly existence. We live in a world shaped by the effects of humanity's disconnection from God. That disconnection manifests itself in loss, sickness, and death. Whether it is a generalized awareness of our brokenness or a specific grief after the death of a loved one, Lent interrupts our regularly scheduled lives to reconnect us with the deepest need behind our pain: communion with God.

Thoughtful passages like that are interspersed throughout the book, but I don't want to obscure the fact that most of the book is dedicated to information: about the Jewish and Christian liturgical years, how they developed, what they are, and what they mean. It's an information-dense book, in a good way.

Recommended.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell



This post contains Amazon affiliate links; if you purchase a book from this link, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price. I will probably use it to buy more books. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)