Summer, space, and other obsessions

Road trip recs, good reads, & a quick giveaway

I’ve long loved Carrie Newcomer’s music. This wisdom from her latest Substack on the view we need right now is a long deep breath: Stop being a glass. Become a lake.

Ditto for Courtney Martin’s latest prayer-poem: Fishing before you know how to fish.

Another thoughtful perspective from the NYTimes: Is the world really falling apart, or does it just feel that way?

In the same vein, this WaPo essay on not reading the news is a surprisingly constructive criticism of our creation and consumption of news media.

If you’re obsessed with Webb Telescope images like I am, you might love this book that pairs Hubble images with words from scientists, poets, and theologians: The Hand of God: Thoughts and Images Reflecting the Spirit of the Universe.

I got to preview God’s Holy Darkness, a new children’s book from Sharei Green, Beckah Selnick, and Nikki Faison—a thought-provoking book to reexamine metaphors of darkness, blackness, and night in Scripture (likely with older children since there’s lots of text).

My latest column for Catholic News Service: Catching God at the ballfield.

Be A Heart Design sent a gorgeous new prayer journal and liturgical year academic planner that I love. I’ll bury the lede & hint that I have plenty to pray and plan these days so…get 10% off yours with code MESSYGRACE10.

Weekend plans include diving into the latest book from Mark Yaconelli (whose storytelling workshop I wrote about here): Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us. 

You might have seen that we just returned from a 2600-mile road trip to Yellowstone with our 5 kids. Here are a few recommendations that made the hours between national parks bearable: my friend Kathryn’s road trip meal planning, this Kavu bag that holds all your hiking needs plus a diaper & wipes if you’ve still got little ones, this LCD doodle board and water wonder books for the aforementioned toddler, origami puzzles that stumped the tweens in the backseat, this family card/conversation game, and two epic Spotify playlists (Classic Road Trip Songs and Family Road Trip).

I’m delighted to be writing for Give Us This Day who generously sent 2 copies of their September issue for me to give away. Leave a comment below if you’d like one and I’ll pick two winners! Give Us This Day has been a favorite monthly prayer resource for years, with the daily Catholic Mass readings plus an easy morning/evening prayer. Highly recommend.  

Peace,

Laura

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