Gleanings : : Summer Junk . Depressed . Hungry Kids . Facebook . Trader

SUMMER-IZING WITH FLOWERS AND JUNK

'I always claim I’m not a seasonal decorator.  I just leave out what I like, then add small additions that jive with a given season.  But there is one sure fire way to make your home feel like summer nearly immediately, and that’s with ...' 


What Christians Need to Know About Mental Health

'Dear Church, Cancer can be deadly and so can depression.  So can the dark and the shame and the crush of a thousand skeletons, a thousand millstones, a thousand internal infernos.  We could tell you what we know.  That — depression is like a room engulfed in flames and you can’t breathe for the sooty smoke smothering you limp ...' 


When school's out for summer, many kids are at risk of going hungry

'Across the country, schools are getting out for the summer.  And while most students will leave their classrooms happy for the break, some parents will be fretting about how to feed their children without meals provided through schools.  The hot summer months bring a fresh challenge for food banks in the nation’s poorest and hungriest counties: How to make sure millions of children get regular, healthy meals when they aren’t in school ...' 


In the great social war, it's Facebook against many

'Sorry, Facebook — but it's time to change our relationship status to "It's complicated."  While the Home of the Poke still retains a billion-strong user base, people are starting to use it less, divvying up their interactions and uploads, and all kinds of apps and services benefit as Facebook's hotness fades.  It used to be that we used Facebook to ...' 


Trade Up for Your Best Life

'The more I think about the Be More with Less philosophy and the minimalist mindset, I realize that it really isn’t about owning less.  Instead it is the willingness to consider that in order to live your very best life, you have to make a trade.  Your best life is not a result of having it all or trying to have it all, but including and appreciating what means most to you.  That almost always means giving up all of the things that mean little or nothing.  It means making big and small trades ...'