7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 50): humor, faith, and hearing God

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Happy Friday, everyone!  If you haven’t yet discovered the gem that is Random Cathy: Life Outside The Lines, now is your chance!  Cathy wrote a post last week called Thoughts On Growth And Change that perfectly captures the fluidity of faith and the constancy of God.  It’s probably poor blogging strategy to be all like “hey, welcome to my blog – now go read someone else’s” – I really doubt it’s the sort of thing Michael Hyatt would champion – but seriously.  Go read that post – and then come back!!!

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There are few things in life that drive me crazier than bad Christian movies, but that said, there’s one coming out this winter that actually looks really interesting.  I’m hoping Old Fashioned comes to a theatre somewhere nearby:

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Also, my friend Josh Schicker has a song in the soundtrack to Old Fashioned!  You can check out Josh’s music anytime at https://www.facebook.com/JoshSchickerMusic or catch some of his music videos on YouTube.

— 4 —

It’s been a really long time since I’ve needed to look for a new job, and let me tell you, job-hunting is a way different experience in 2015 than it was in 1998. Social networks – online and off – have changed the playing field a lot, and the more I read, the more I realize how much I really don’t know. So for any fellow job-hunters out there (or fellow social-media enthusiasts), in case it is useful to you, here is a great article on 8 Mistakes Not To Make On LinkedIn.

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photo courtesy of ©Depositphotos.com / jenmax

Want to hear a great joke?  A third-grader with an amazing sense of humor shared this with me today.

Q: Why did the student eat her homework?

A: Because the teacher said it was a piece of cake!

Okay, I know it’s a silly joke – but my point in sharing it is simply this: sometimes you just need a good laugh.  I don’t think I’d realized how much I did, until I spent the morning with two fabulous kids who have no trouble finding (or creating) hilarity in the smallest things.

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Speaking of good laughs, this video is priceless: it includes a moment where the soundtrack from Frozen meets the parable of the unmerciful servant. (I’m so not kidding.)

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It was a well-intentioned habit at the outset, but has quickly turned into an organizational disaster – when I come across something on the internet that I think is worth including in a quick takes summary like this, I bookmark it, and then at the end of the week, I go back through everything I’ve read or watched or thought about, and choose the seven I think are most worth mentioning.  Which is a great idea, except for the part where there are weeks when I forget to go back and look, or I have too many or not enough – which has left me with a bookmark folder overflowing with things that… well, I just have no idea.

Looking through that folder tonight, I came across an article in Relevant Magazine that I bookmarked quite some time ago, called What Does God Sound Like?  It’s a good article – and it reminded me of this quote by Henri Nouwen.  (I’m sorry I don’t know where it is from; it was shared with me in a newsletter, and not referenced.)

“Many voices ask for our attention.  There is a voice that says, ‘Prove that you are a good person.’ Another voice says, ‘You’d better be ashamed of yourself.’  There also is a voice that says, ‘Nobody really cares about you,’ and one that says ‘Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.’ But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.’ That’s the voice we need most of all to hear.  To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen.  That’s what prayer is.  It is listening to the voice that calls us ‘my Beloved.’ ” – Henri Nouwen

May you listen, and hear only that One Voice this weekend.

Grace and peace,

Happy

For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain’t The Lyceum!