Tag: Christ

January 2024: ‘Practicing the Way’ + ‘The Saltwater Chronicles’

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in L I F E

How are your goals and resolutions holding up, friends? If you’re still going strong, I’m proud of you! If you fell off the wagon immediately, I’m proud of you too—you tried, and each new day is an opportunity to try again. 

Here’s your monthly recap: 

Best Book I Read This Month 

It sounds audacious to say I have read my favorite book of the year when it’s February, but I’m confident that the statement is accurate. Practicing the Way is the newest book from John Mark Comer, and it is equal parts convicting, encouraging, and thought-provoking. If you want to deepen your walk with Jesus and become a person of love and peace, this is for you. Find it here. 

Best Article I Read This Month

The end of January brought the very first photographic evidence of a live baby great white shark in the wild! Scientists believe the shark was likely mere hours old. You can read the story and see the photo here. 

Tip + Trick of the Month

I stumbled across this neat little graphic from Shelby Sacco illustrating the habit formation loop. Helpful to those of us trying to build better habits!

Quote of the Month

“Practicing justice is an act of joining God in seeing that the created order (people and everything else) receives what it is due.” -Dr. Gerry Breshears 

Thought for the Month

As an environmental writer who loves the ocean, I have been kicking around the idea of having one brand that hosts a marine conservation newsletter and any other ocean-focused personal projects I may launch. And, after thinking about it for a few months, it’s happening!

The Saltwater Chronicles is now open for subscribers and the first edition of ‘Making Waves Weekly’ will be hitting inboxes on 3/1/24. You can become an early subscriber here to get ocean news straight to your inbox. 

I hope you join me over at The Saltwater Chronicles too, but even if we just stay friends here, I’ll catch you next month.

A photo of a woman sitting on a cliff with a taupe box that has in white words December 2023: 'Better Than Before' + An Argument for Excessive Data Tracking

December 2023: ‘Better Than Before’ + An Argument for Excessive Data Tracking

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in L I F E

Happy New Year! I’m looking forward to seeing what 2024 holds, but have some rewinding to do to December 2023. 

Here’s your monthly recap: 

Best Book I Read This Month 

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin is a great read on habits and behavioral change. While I love books like Atomic Habits, I think this book better highlights personality differences that impact our daily lives and ability to change behaviors. You can find it here. 

Best Article I Read This Month

“In Godzilla Minus One, Government Won’t Save Anyone When the Crisis Comes” is a movie review from the magazine I work for, Reason, that I can wholeheartedly endorse. I don’t typically watch movies in the theater multiple times, but I saw this film and immediately took my sister with me to see it again. I’ve loved Godzilla movies since I was a kid, but this one was perhaps the best monster movie I have ever seen, capturing the idea of Godzilla being a representation of Japan’s national trauma in the aftermath of World War II. 

Tip + Trick of the Month

January is the time for new goals and resolutions, and tracking helps support these endeavors. I’m a fan of data tracking (and I’ll talk more about it later on in this recap) and have found two apps to be extremely useful: 

Tally is excellent for numerical goals. Here are a few examples of things I track: 

  • How many times I walk the dog in a month 
  • The number of hours I spend outside
  • Any sort of weightlifting goal 
  • Number of miles I walk in a year 

Streaks is great for consistency and frequency goals. Here are a couple of things I track: 

  • Did I get 7 hours of sleep last night? 
  • Did I meet my protein goal for the day? 
  • Did I read that day? 
  • Did I close my Apple Watch exercise ring? 

I track a few things throughout the day if it’s simpler for me to reference it in the moment instead of looking up a data point later, but I typically keep things simple and just track everything quickly when I go to turn my phone off every night. Easy! 

Quote of the Month

“Because what you give your attention to is the person you become. Put another way: the mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to. That bodes well for those apprentices of Jesus who give the bulk of their attention to him and to all that is good, beautiful, and true in his world. But not for those who give their attention to the 24-7 news cycle of outrage and anxiety and emotion-charged drama or the nonstop feed of celebrity gossip, titillation, and cultural drivel.” -John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Thought for the Month

I track so many data points in my life: my macros, number of hours slept, books I’m reading, workouts—the list goes on and on. As an extremely type A person, I love being able to have data to reference. But not everyone thinks tracking is a good idea. 

Many roll their eyes at data tracking, especially when you are tracking something you already like to do. “Why not just enjoy it?” “Why stress yourself out?” 

There are three reasons why I think data tracking is amazing, even if you enjoy the task you’re tracking (or hate tracking): 

1. It is simple to default to comfort, and on hard days it’s easier to stream Netflix and hang out on the couch than it is to pick up a challenging book, get a walk in, or cook an actual meal…goals serve as behavior prompts and tracking is the daily reminder of these goals. 

2. On the days when I don’t believe I’ve accomplished anything I set out to do, actual data reveals that I am casting votes for who I want to be.

3. Data tells us the truth. It’s easy to convince ourselves we’re getting enough sleep or working out every day. Tracking our actions can either prove us right or expose where we’re fooling ourselves. 

If you have never tracked a goal before, I encourage you to try it. You may find data tracking to be a useful tool. 

Good luck with sticking to your goals to start the year—I believe in you! I’ll catch you next month. 

Pine trees with the caption in white letters November 2022: '16 Rules for Living With Less' + Anti-Social Advent

November 2022: ’16 Rules for Living With Less’ + Anti-Social Advent

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in L I F E

What were you grateful for this Thanksgiving? Here’s the monthly recap: 

Best Book I Read This Month 

My recommendation this month is a little different. I was recently introduced to the work of The Minimalists (their Patreon content is definitely worth the small cost), and they offer a free ebook that is a great short read. You can find 16 Rules for Living With Less for free here. 

Best Article I Read This Month

What time is it? Time for some shameless self-promotion! Really, I want to share this article with you all not because I wrote it but because I want people to have the information it contains. “A Consumer’s Quick Guide to Environmental Certifications” is available to read here. 

Tip + Trick of the Month

This one is short and snappy from Becoming Minimalist’s Joshua Becker: “The less you own, the easier organizing becomes.” 

Quote of the Month

“It only takes five minutes to break the cycle. Five minutes of exercise and you are back on the path. Five minutes of writing and the manuscript is moving forward again. Five minutes of conversation and the relationship is restored. It doesn’t take much to feel good again.” 

-James Clear, author of Atomic Habits 

Kelvey’s Thought for the Month

This Advent season, want to get anti-social with me? 

I’m not talking about ignoring your friends and family. (Although, depending on the person and the calendar, it might be worth taking time to do that too.) 

I’m talking about getting off social media. 

Advent is the second period of time when I typically take an extended social media break (with the first being Lent). Both of these seasons are times that encourage us to turn toward Christ. But Advent does this by prompting us to slow down, to turn off the noise, to wait. 

Now, I have to add some nuance here and tell you that I’ll still be on social media for work during the weekdays. Social media management is a huge part of my job, and maybe it is part of your job too. I think that’s a little different. 

Outside of work? I can add to the limits I already put on my social media by completely turning it off. I can step away from the frenzied pace, comparison game, and anger perpetuated on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

I can slow down. I can turn off the noise. I can wait. 

And maybe you will too. If you want to dial down the volume on the world this Advent season so that you can focus more on Christ our King, this may be a practice for you. 

And I’d love to hear if it is. Feel free to hit the reply button on your email or the comment button on Substack and let me know if you’re joining me this season. 

Just don’t tweet me. I won’t see it. 🙂 

Merry Christmas. I’ll catch you next month.

Green leaves in the background with white text overlaid and a white frame around

July 2022: ‘Things That Matter’ + Resisting Consumerism

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in L I F E

We’re more than halfway through 2022. Wild, right? Here’s your July 2022 recap: 

Best Book I Read This Month 

Many people think that minimalism is about getting rid of things until you have one lonely chair sitting in your pretty empty home. But what if minimalism was about refining your life to live on purpose? Joshua Becker explores this concept in his books. Because I’ve been reading a lot of Becker’s work, this month is a two-for-one recommendation. Find out more about Becker’s Things That Matter and The More of Less here. 

Best Article I Read This Month

Shameless self-promotion here. July played host to Shark Week! I love sharks and I love writing – read the combination of these loves here. 

Tip + Trick of the Month

July was all about minimalism on the homefront. Have an overabundance of towels and blankets that have seen better days? Don’t throw them away – take them to your local animal shelter! As someone who has volunteered for two different shelters and has a shelter pup of her own, I can testify that there is always a need for more soft things for dogs and other animals to sleep on. 

Quote of the Month

“Often, Christians ask me, ‘How can I love my neighbor without misleading her into thinking I approve of everything she does?’ First, remember that Christians cannot give good answers to bad questions. No one approves of everything that others do. No one. It is a false question. The better question is this: ‘How can my neighbors know that because I live under God’s authority rather than the compulsions of my own selfish desires, their secrets are safe with me?’ The answer is simple: love the sinner and hate your own sin. Or, as Mark says ‘Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another’ (Mark 9:50).”

-Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes with a House Key

Kelvey’s Thought for the Month

As Americans, we’re conditioned to think that more is better. That is the very heart of consumerism. But what if we start to resist that notion? 

I know I have been harping on minimalism throughout this entire monthly update, but I think regardless of how strongly/loosely you hold to such tenets, there is goodness for everyone to find here. As of late in my own life, it has been a freeing resistance to consumerism. Do you know how good it feels to walk through a store and have my brain be thinking about how happy it is to not bring unnecessary items into my home rather than wanting to buy everything? 

Something to think about. Hit the comments or the reply button if you have your own thoughts on this and, as always, I’ll catch you next month.

It's Not Too Late For Advent

It’s Not Too Late For Advent

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in S P I R I T U A L

Do you ever refuse to start something if you can’t start it from the very beginning? I’m like that in a lot of ways, and that list used to include Advent. 

I’d think about it about halfway through the season every year and set it aside. The liturgical element didn’t seem complete without the fullness of all the days leading up to Christmas. I figured I would try to get it next year. 

And then the next year. 

And the next. 

And the next…

Finally, the year I looked at my calendar in time and stepped into the season with an aim toward intention, thoughtfulness, and slowing, I realized what I missed out on for all those years. The fullness of Advent can be found in even a few days. 

Ann Voskamp writes in The Greatest Gift (my favorite Advent devotional), 

“If, just for a moment, you stand in the doorway, linger a bit in front of the tree, it’s strange how you can see it – how every Christmas tree is a ladder and Jesus is your ladder who hung on that Tree…so you can have the gift of rest. When you are wrung out, that is the sign you’ve been reaching for the rungs. The work at the very heart of salvation is the work of the very heart of Christmas: simply rest.” 

And later,

“Stars will come in the night sky, shimmer somewhere. Advent will keep coming, this love story that never stops coming. Love like this could make us wonder. Somewhere, carols play.”

If we refuse to let ourselves step into Advent imperfectly, we ignore the purpose of Advent. To come, be with our God. To slow for a season. To remember for a season. To see things through His eyes for a season. 

C.S. Lewis once said, 

“When the year dies in preparation for the birth 

Of other seasons, not the same, on the same earth, 

Then saving and calamity go together make

The Advent gospel, telling how the heart will break. 

Therefore it was in Advent that the Quest began.”

If you haven’t been remembering Advent, or if you have still been rushing through this season, it’s not too late. It’s not too late to read back through the Old Testament and everything it said about Jesus before his birth. It’s not too late to sit on the couch, stare at the Christmas lights, slowly sip a cup of coffee, and simply let yourself think. It’s not too late to embrace this season with intention. 

Because isn’t that the truth we cling to in Jesus? That even at our worst, his birth meant it wasn’t too late for humanity to return to and be saved their God? Advent is time dedicated to rest in that truth – lean in.

a story of uprooted identity and palm trees

A Story Of Uprooted Identity

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in S P I R I T U A L

Sometimes, I can’t help but feel sorry for uprooted trees, even if they are simply waiting for a plant lover to put them in a more permanent place. Trees are wired to root deeply into things, and having such roots exposed and unattached seems like it would be a scary and raw thing.

I mean, if trees had feelings. Continue reading “A Story Of Uprooted Identity” →

bold as lions

lions to fight and mountains to climb

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in S P I R I T U A L

I’ve stood on a battlefield, staring down a roaring lion, glimpsing the mountains in the background. I’ve stood in that moment and realized that there’s a fight to be had and a long trek ahead.

And that’s before I even opened my eyes to turn off the agitating alarm telling me to begin the day. Continue reading “lions to fight and mountains to climb” →