Megan Byrd

Writer

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Share Four Somethings: April 2019

April was a pretty full month. The kids had spring break which found us at Six Flags twice, enjoying local parks, attending a Braves game, and seeing Wonder Park with some friends. We also experienced the end of the Lenten season and the celebration of Easter. My nephew joined his church, Jackson played some baseball, and we had warm spring-like weather in Georgia. It was a bit of a challenge to narrow down my favorite things but I did my best.

Something Loved

April in Georgia means massive amounts of pollen, but also the blooming of many trees and flowers, one of the most iconic being the azaleas. One of the most famous displays of azalea blooms is at the Master’s Tournament in Augusta, GA. This year I won tickets to one of the tournament days so Adam and I spent the day together wandering the course and watching the world’s best golfers. We went on Thursday which was a beautiful, sun-filled day. My shoulders ended up a little sunburned but it was a wonderful experience. No phones or cameras are allowed inside so everyone is distraction-free and can enjoy where they are and who they are with. I told my husband that it reminded me of life in the 1990s when we were still untethered from technology. I loved the whole experience – the environment, the company, the weather, and the novel activity (it was my first time at a golf tournament).

Something Said

One morning in my Christian formation class, Dr. Tim Larsen, thoughtful historian and scholar, gazed out over his students with a grin. “You all doing well at your Lenten practices?” he asked. We nodded, proudly. We were super holy. “You do know that part of what Lent is supposed to teach us is that we are weak and can’t earn our salvation, right?” he asked. “If you don’t fail at least once, you aren’t doing Lent right.” –From Almost Holy Mama by Courtney Ellis

I have practiced Lent off and on since I was in elementary school. I find it a helpful tool to prepare my heart and mind for Easter. I had never heard this interpretation of the purpose of Lent before but it makes complete sense to me. I struggle with perfectionism so I skew quite hard toward self-sufficiency and not asking for help. I thought sticking to my guns and not giving in to temptation was proof of my devotion to Jesus. I never thought that I was inadvertently conditioning myself not to rely on him and recognize my dependence on him. I now have a new facet to the Lenten season to consider and perhaps use to alter how I go about the fasting process. I used to think that the mini fast breaks many people took on Sunday was cheating, that people should try harder. Maybe the fast breaks help us remember how weak we really are and how grateful we ought to be to Jesus for being righteousness for us.

Something Learned

I love our local library. I am usually there with the kids several times each month. They enjoy picking out new books and using the computers. I enjoy perusing the shelves for new and interesting reads and the occasional move or puzzle. One day I went while the kids were in school because we had books to return and books on hold. I decided to wander through the shelves on the adult side and noticed, for the first time, that there are study rooms over there. I asked a librarian about it and she informed me that it is first-come-first-serve but you can use them for two hours. It’s just a small room with a chair, desk, and desktop computer. I thought that this might be a great place to come and do some writing when I want to get out of the house but don’t want to be somewhere with lots of other people (like Starbucks or Panera where I usually go). I look forward to utilizing this new option available to me.

Something Read

Several years ago I read The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. It is about middle-aged genetics professor Don Tillman who works at an Australian university (whose temperament reminds me of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory) who decides he wants to find a wife and develops a questionnaire for this purpose. What follows is fairly entertaining. The second book, The Rosie Effect followed and was equally enjoyable. I discovered that a third book is coming out this year and requested The Rosie Result from NetGalley. It was a wonderful addition to help complete this trilogy. I don’t want to give too much away because the books build on one another but I enjoyed this series and the issues discussed in them.

If you want to read more about other people’s favorite April moments or share your own post, visit the blog link up at HeatherGerwing.com. I’d love to hear your April highlights. Leave them in a comment!

Share Four Somethings: March 2019

We have reached the end of March which means it’s time once again to share my experiences of the month through four categories: something loved, something said, something learned, and something read. This prompt is part of a blog link up with other writers. You can check out the original post at HeatherGerwing.com and add your own four somethings!
March has 5 Saturdays this year and I didn’t realize the link up is on the 4th Saturday, so this is a few days late but I’m going with “better late than never.” Scroll down to check out mine!

Something Loved

This month I finished up the Harry Potter series with my daughter Kaitlyn. We managed to get all seven books read in two months! Kaitlyn also plowed through the unofficial eighth book, The Cursed Child, because she wanted to know more about what happened to Harry. I thoroughly enjoyed the series. It was very engaging, suspenseful, and entertaining. I see why so many people have loved it!

Something Said

“In Seeing White, we set out to turn the lens. To look at racism not mainly through the experience of people on the receiving end, as we journalists usually do, but by examining those of us whose ancestors built this contraption, this white supremacist dream. Those of us conditioned not to see whiteness, even as we accept its advantages as our birthright. We set out to get better at seeing the water we’re all swimming in. And maybe we have. If you’re like me, you’ve still got much, much to learn. But also if you’re like me, you know enough now. Enough that there’s no longer any excuse.“

This was the closing statement by John Biewen of the last of fourteen episodes called Seeing White on the Scene on Radio podcast. It was a very educational and eye opening series about where race and the idea of “white” came from, the systems that were set up to promote whiteness, and the ways it has impacted people of color in the United States. It takes a real look at how our country was established including slavery and the taking of land from Native Americans. It also asks us to talk about what it means to be white and the advantages being white has provided and continues to provide. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the history of race and racism in America.

Something Learned

Our washing machine started leaking and I called to get it repaired. I first tried some potential quick fixes which, unfortunately, didn’t work. When the repair technician came out, he remedied the issue very quickly. Through this process, I learned a lot more about my washing machine and how it works. I now know where all of the filters are as well as the fact that you can quickly remove the top of the machine by removing two screws. I was able to see the inside of the machine and the various hoses and parts it holds. If it leaks again, I will have more knowledge to try to remedy the issue myself before needing to call a professional. Not necessarily knowledge I wanted to have, obviously, but useful nonetheless.

Something Read

One of my favorite books read this month was Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The author compares seashells with seasons of life and uses the experience of vacations at the beach to help remind us of more natural and beneficial life rhythms that we tend to forget in normal life. The book itself was very engaging and thought-provoking. Published in 1955, its content is still quite relevant for American women today. When I learned that it was her oldest son that was the infamous Lindbergh baby who was kidnapped in 1932 I was intrigued. I looked her up on Wikipedia and learned a lot more about her highly public and interesting life.

Those are my Four Somethings for March. Click on the link to see January or February. I would love to hear about your highlights for the month. Comment and share them with me!

Share Four Somethings: February 2019

We’ve come to the last Saturday of the month which means it’s time to share four somethings! This is where I review my month and highlight something from my life in four specific categories: something loved, something said, something learned, and something read.

This is a blog link up with other writers. If you’d like to participate, head over to HeatherGerwing.com and share your own post!

Something Loved

My son Jackson has been hesitant about riding his bike without training wheels. He was nervous about falling off. My husband tapped into his natural inclination for sibling rivalry by telling him that if he learned now, he would be younger than his sister was when she finally rode on two wheels. That was, apparently, all it took. He is now a bike-riding machine! He zips around our cul-de-sac like he’s been riding forever.

Something Said

You say ‘What can I do? What can I do? I understand this is a problem. I’ve watched these black children die on the news and I can’t stand it anymore. What can I do?’ First, you can listen to the people who are willing to share. Don’t approach a black friend or a black media figure with the expectation that they owe you an education. The first thing you should do is start following voices and listening and absorbing and studying like you are in school, without comment. And then as you learn more perspectives…as you start to understand these systems, one of the best things you can do as a white person is taking on the burden of explaining white supremacy to other white people. To stop requiring the people suffering from these systems to also explain their harm…White people who are starting to wake up or are not awake yet would be more comfortable hearing these ideas from white voices…We white people have to start driving the conversation about white supremacy with other people and with our children.

I have been going through a lot of material lately to become more informed about racial and social justice. Be the Bridge, an organization to help the church with the aim of racial reconciliation, has provided a number of helpful articles, videos, and podcasts to grow my awareness and education in this area. I listened to an episode on The Liturgists Podcast titled Black and White: Racism in America. It was a very interesting and informative conversation. One of the hosts said the above quote toward the end of the podcast and I found it very helpful as I’ve been trying to figure out how I can be involved in reconciliation efforts.

Something Learned

My husband and I have started watching Drunk History on Comedy Central. It is entertaining but also informational. On a recent episode, I learned that Bessie Coleman was the first African-American woman to get her pilot’s license. She had to learn French and travel to France in order to be accepted into an aviation school as none in the U.S. would admit her. She earned her license in 1922 and specialized in stunt flying and parachuting.

Something Read

Jesus understood that loving those the world loves does nothing but loving the marginalized can change everything.

One of the most challenging books I read this month was Not Your White Jesus: Following a Radical, Refugee Messiah by Sheri Faye Rosendahl. In it, she reminds us in scripture of Jesus’ love for the persecuted and marginalized and who he might welcome and spend time with if he were in our country today. She tackles topics such as racism, nationalism, refugees, and misogyny, using stories from the Bible to illustrate how Jesus lived and loved the least of these.

Those are my four somethings for the month. I’d love to hear about some of your highlights from February!

Share Four Somethings from January

Last year I enjoyed reviewing each month and sharing my favorites in four different categories: something loved, something said, something learned, and something read. It was so much fun that I have chosen to continue the fun in 2019, though this year all posts will be the last Saturday of the month instead of Fridays. Feel free to share your own four somethings and join the link up over at HeatherGerwing.com!

Something Loved

This year my daughter has decided to read through the Harry Potter books. I haven’t ever read them either so I agreed to read them along with her. It has been so much fun talking about what we’ve read and discussing our thoughts on various events and the characters in the book. I love it so much that I hope we will continue to have a mother-daughter book club even after we finish this series!

Something Said

“When you know who you are you don’t have to worry about what you aren’t.”

I am going through a study called I Declare War with a group of women in my church. Each week we work through a study guide and watch a short video that relates to the content. This quote is from the video and is also found in the full-length book that can also accompany the study guide. It was an encouraging statement to me because I tend to worry about pleasing others and this reminds me that I was purposefully created and shouldn’t worry about the things I was not made to do.

Something Learned

My son is in kindergarten and part of his homework is reading each day. We have been reading through the Magic Tree House books together. In some of them Mary Pope Osborne (the author) shares a little of what she learned from the research she did before writing the story. In our most recent one, Polar Bears Past Bedtime, she shared that polar bears (who can weigh up to 1000 pounds) are able to walk on ice that is too thin for people to cross. They can balance their weight on the ice by laying flat on their bellies and pulling themselves across with their paws. Amazing!

Something Read

A friend lent me her copy of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I had no information other than she thought I might enjoy it. It was quite different from books I usually read but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was immediately sucked in by the story and the way it unfolded. I raced through it, anxious to see how it would end! However, I was quite shocked when the pages ran out before I thought the story was finished. Turns out this is part one of two, the second of which has not yet been written. I really want to recommend this book, but I would suggest waiting until the second book is released (at a future unknown date) so that you can have the closure I’m still seeking. If that doesn’t bother you, then definitely check it out!

These are four parts of my January experience. Yes, they all involve books. If you know me, you won’t find that strange. I would love to hear some of your favorite things from the month so please leave a comment. Come back at the end of February to check out the next installment of Share Four Somethings!

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