Favorite Finds: March (bring the light) Edition
Are you craving sunshine on these cloudy winter days?
We are in the weary, dreary days of winter when we cannot wait for the sunshine. And we just slammed up against Daylight Savings Time which for one little hour of adjusted daylight did in fact shift the sky and shake the earth. I need more coffee, more springtime and more creativity while I adjust.
Here are my favorite finds to get you through the lingering winter months. Remembering it is Lent and we are in the dark march to the cross, let's remind each other that the Resurrection is on the other side.
With that in mind, here is
Favorite Finds (bring the light) Edition.
I Need Sunshine on a Cloudy Day.
We were tired of beeping, buzzing or even a tune breaking into the darkness and shaking us awake before the sun came up. In an attempt to wake up consistently, naturally and early (do those things even go together?), Mike bought this alarm clock for us.
Here is how it works. We set the light for fifteen minutes before we want to wake up. For those fifteen minutes, slowly and gently, the light glows increasingly brighter, like the sun peeking over the horizon and through your bedroom window in summertime. Then after fifteen minutes, birds start chirping, faint at first and then as if someone opened your bedroom window just a crack to let the full sound drift in.
This clock-light sits on Mike's side of the bed,so he does all of the setting. I go to bed every night asking, "Do we get the birds in the morning?".
I am waking up happier and more ready for the day even in the dark.
Read the reviews for yourself as it is on the spendy side, but I think it is worth very penny.
Still, it does not replace coffee, thank goodness!
Wake up to this Sleepy Monk brew.
Another way to wake up on these dark days is with some of my favorite coffee beans. I like any excuse, or none at all, to visit the Pacific Coast. While I am there I like to purchase fresh beans in their shop at Cannon Beach and save the shipping. But you can have these fair-trade beans delivered straight to your door and save a bit by ordering in bulk and sharing with a friend.
I prefer the dark and French roasts. My favorite is the Brackish Brew, but choose the roast you like.
And remember this little happiness when you order - Sleepy Monk beans still come in full 16 oz. bags for the same price as most other beans 12 oz bags.
Stock up on Sleepy Monk Coffee
Rummaging around a thrift store recently, I found the perfect reading companion for early morning rising and sipping Sleepy Monk Coffee. It is the story of one women's journey as she finds her way back to her faith by weaving her life in and out of time at a Benedictine Monastery.
Living a liturgical life is relatively new to me. I have only been exploring those rhythms for about 3 years now, so anything that speaks to reorienting your days around the life of Christ catches my eye. And Kathleen writes from the heart of a poet which makes us kindred souls, me as the little sister tag-along.
Grab a copy of The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris to read as you slurp good coffee.
"God is my Shepherd and I am his little lamb."
And last but not least, in keeping with this theme of light, this is what our grands, Crosby and Eliza, a.k.a. the Wonders, are getting in their Easter baskets from me and Mike, a.k.a. Papa and Jojo. It is a board book from two of my favorites, writer Sally Lloyd Jones and illustrator Jago, the dynamic duo behind The Jesus Storybook.
The pages are full of sunshine and Light.
A little peek inside Found by Sally Lloyd Jones and Jago
One of these favorite finds is sure to bring light to your life in some smallish way on the dark path to the brightest day in the history of the world.