what I’m into [april/may 2020]

These were the months we were solidly stuck at home. They’ll be the months we will look back on in disbelief that they actually happened – the pandemic, the riots, the events that made history. And yet despite the big earthshaking events around us, our life can be small and ordinary.

These were the small and ordinary (but wonderful) things that made up my life these past few months:

Books

The three books I’ve been digging into through quarantine are:

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazzero – 4.5/5

We’re going through this one with my church – I read the week’s chapter out loud to my city group (story time with Viv!), we then listen to the sermon on that chapter and discuss practical application during city group.

For those of you who haven’t read it, it’s such a classic and a great one to do with someone to keep you accountable – highly recommend!

All that’s good by Hannah Anderson – 4/5

Am about 1/3 of the way through this one, but I always love the stuff Hannah Anderson puts out! Worked through “Made for More” in college which was also very thought-provoking.

This one is about how to cultivate the art of discernment (a topic I don’t hear getting preached much) – to recognize the good things in our life while not idolizing them but rather see them as pointing back to the Giver of all good things.

Counterpoints: Four Views on the Role of Works at the Final Judgment – 4/5

So, note that this is coming from someone who geeks out about theology and just loves the counterpoints series (because it’s like watching a live debate between theologians!!)

I’ve gone through 2 other books by them – one on women in ministry and another on Christian spirituality. But the series never fails to disappoint – they consist of 4 essays of people from varying viewpoints and 3 rebuttal responses to each of those essays.

I never knew the debate on how we merge “justified by faith alone”, and “faith without works is dead” was so rich, but it’s leaving me with a greater appreciation for the diversity of the body of Christ (as well as leaving me wrestling with the many tensions of Scripture….always a good thing :D)

Articles

The Good Trade: How to Read Poetry

Followed by one of my fav poems (because it’s so meta):

Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins

Amen to that. Now you can go read the article on how to read poetry well 😉

Times: A photographer’s documentation of the pandemic
Atlantic: How COVID will end
New York Times: Stop trying to be productive
Desiring God: The sanctifying grace of inefficiency
BBC: Why zoom calls are so exhausting (because they are, and I’m so ready to be done with them…)
The Point Mag: I leave it to you – LOVED this piece written by a friend I went to college with (so I’m going to make a special plug for it – it’s on the loss of serendipity in the pandemic)
On Being: The paradox at the heart (on ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty)

A quote from the article:

“This is the paradox at the heart of being human… if we wait for the perfect time, the perfect person, the perfected self, we’ll stay frozen in an idea of love. But if we fearlessly engage with the life spread out before us, we will be rewarded with a heart that can hold it all — happiness and messiness, clarity and confusion, love and loss.”

-Elizabeth Lesser, On Being

The Gospel Coalition: sourdough and discipline of pace (one of the many reasons why I love baking sourdough!)
Commonwealth Magazine: Sitting till bedtime (another great, lyrical piece on taking life slow)
Times: What will replace the handshake? (I read this and thought – are they serious about the namaste bow??)

Videos

15 Mistakes Most Beginner Sourdough Bakers Make

How many of these have you done? The bench scraper was a game-changer for me! No more dough sticking to my hands and needlessly dumping extra flour onto my dough to try to fix it!

Quarantea with Tori

I love Tori! And during the quarantine, she’s been doing Instagram Lives with various artists – this is her cover of “When you Believe” with Jojo! <3

Top 10 ways to Love an Enneagram Type Two

So, there was one morning that I had extra time and watched a bunch of videos on personality types – there are SO many great channels out there with MBTI and Enneagram impersonations. Some of my favorites are Frank James, Leeann and Michelle, and Abbey Howes (video below).

Beware – they’re super addictive so make sure you have a chunk of free time. But I also feel like it’s a useful waste of time heh cuz they really help you understand yourself better and your partner (or anyone else significant in your life). YAY for emotional intelligence.

Side Note: Literally one of the ways to love an Enneagram Two (which is ME) is to watch these videos because it shows you’re working on your emotional intelligence 😀

Strangers Again by Wong Fu Productions

I really like the things Wong Fu puts out – and this one was just so real and heartfelt. About the stages of a relationship, a breakup and what happens when two people move on (or at least try to).

Music

Soo a couple of really great albums have dropped in these past few months:

1. Peace by Bethel

The first being PEACE by Bethel. The whole album’s really good – what a blessing during these tumultuous times. They’re simply soft, mellowed-out versions of some real solid Bethel classics!

2. Forever Amen by Steffany Gretzinger

The whole album’s good too, but I like this song in particular!

3. Ascent Project’s Worship at Home

Who else LOVES THROWBACKS!! So I stumbled across how Ascent Project was doing these at-home mash-ups and have loved every single one of them. Put them on repeat non-stop (there are about 7-8 of them out right now) and they have ministered to me so much (and have inspired my OWN throwbacks)

4. Christ be Magnified by Cody Carnes/Cory Asbury

Such a good congregational song – but also one that grounds us in Christ as the center! Can’t wait for us to sing this at C21!

Then covering it with one of my best friends from college:

5. Missin’ you like crazy by Us the Duo

On a lighter note, I LOVE Us the Duo!! And this little duet on long-distance relationships just melted my heart 🙂

Cooking

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1. Vegan Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

So I have tried a BUNCH of recipes, and finally landed on a recipe that works every time. It actually gives you a foot instead of a flat cookie (like the last time when it spread out too thin). If you’d like to give it a shot, the link is in the title.

2. Red Bean Paste Pancakes

Loved this dessert which is so easy to find in Singapore, but not so much here! Luckily it’s easy to make!

Homemade Red Bean Paste

3. Oyaki

In my eagerness to use the bamboo steamer basket from my mom and the cloth basket liners my bf gifted me (very practical! haha), I made these eggplant and pumpkin stuffed oyaki (Japanese dumplings) featured on “Just One Cookbook” (my fav Japanese cooking blog out there!)

4. Burgers

I sorta made up the recipe for these burger patties – well, the bun recipe I got from the link above (uses my sourdough starter instead of yeast!) – but the patty I just mashed up beans/leftover veggies and spices with a binder (egg) and baked them at 375F until they looked GDB (golden-delicious-brown :D)

I then dressed them up with hummus, sushi ginger, Japanese mayo and sriricha because that’s what I had in my fridge – but they were super yummy!!

In other news, these past few weeks, Montreal has started to open up more. They allowed outdoor gatherings of 10 people last weekend and with the weather getting nicer, that has meant picnics in the park. I’ve never felt more grateful to be laid out on the grass with chocolate-chai ice cream, butter tofu and garlic naan (thanks to my lovely friends Rafaela and Valentina who have LITERALLY been getting me through this quarantine period <3), laughing out loud.

So here’s to warmer days and embracing the small, ordinary, joy-filled moments in life, even when much around us doesn’t seem to be that way.