My Favorite Parts of 2019
‘Tis the season for “best of” blog posts right?
Well this is not one of those posts!
Okay, it is one of those posts.
Since 2019 has taught me so much, I wanted to share a few highlights with you but without a Pinterest-length food recipe introduction.
So without further ado, here’s some of my favorite parts of 2019:
My 3 favorite books of 2019 were Signs of Life, The Color of Compromise, and Majority World Theologies. You can read my book review of Signs of Life here and you can see my whole list of 2019 reads here.
My favorite new podcasts that I was introduced to this year are The New Activist by International Justice Mission (Tip: Check out their mini-series on “Esther”) and The Moth (a podcast sharing true stories from real people at storytelling events across the world.)
My two most-read blog posts of 2019 were about The Future of the Church and my reflections on returning to the United States from West Africa in my post One Year Later.
I am also extremely excited about a non-profit that officially formed in 2019. The ministry of Streetlights (which has been around for several years) became their own not-for-profit ministry this year. And their Gospel-centered work has only continued to explode into new avenues of ministry presenting the Bible in innovative ways. Their core work? The best audio Bible available. Check out Streetlights here.
This fall presented two amazing opportunities to preach here in Nashville. I was able to preach on Christ the King Sunday at our home church of TCC as well as speak in Trevecca Nazarene University’s chapel in September.
Two of the best email newsletters that I get on a regular basis are: the Goats & Soda e-newsletter, which is NPR’s global health and development blog, and Skye Jethani’s daily devotional entitled (fittingly) With God Daily. I read several e-newsletters every day, but these two are some of the few that I open every single time I receive it. Check them out!
And now that my family has relocated to Nashville, I have to tell you the two coffee shops you need to check out when you’re in town (besides Cream, which everyone will tell you to visit - and it is solid coffee!). You should check out Caliber Coffee and Humphrey Street Coffee, they are both serving up great coffee and awesome atmospheres while also accomplishing some amazing work for their respective communities. Great coffee plus great causes? Get me a refill!
But my favorite parts of 2019 were hands-down the arrival of our baby daughter, Ruby, (and her little cousin four days later too) into the world and starting a new season of ministry at Trevecca Community Church in Nashville.
In short, 2019 has been an awesome, chaotic, educational journey. And I hope you check out some of these links and resources as you start 2020!
Here’s to a great new year and decade.
Let’s do this!
