Why Twitter?

May 042012
 

icons by Pasquale D'Silva of darkmotion

It’s been Tweeted and Retweeted so often that no one knows where it originally came from: “Facebook is for for friends who are now strangers, Twitter is for strangers who should be friends.”  And in a way, it’s true.  After all, half of the people I’m “friends” with on Facebook are people who are no longer much of a part of my life — but we’re Facebook friends so we can sort of keep in touch.  I have only a handful of family members on Twitter, but my Twitter lists are filled with professional contacts and references.

Facebook is personal and you begin your influence by first gaining personal friends to follow/like your blog, etc. Twitter is more for outside your personal sphere.
-Mandy, @DailyCupOfGrace

According to writer Jeff Goins, Twitter is a unique resource, a “conversation that connects you to the world.”  It can be very fast-paced.  It’s very real-time.  And it’s also very overwhelming until you get a handle on the fact that you don’t have to read each Tweet by everyone you follow.

Twitter is much more than a social media network; rather, it’s a global real-time information network
-Claire Diaz-Ortiz (@claired) in Twitter for Good: Change the World One Tweet at a Time

So why would you want to join another network—especially one that’s often more professional than personal?  Because it cuts out the spam and the junk: on Twitter, it’s all about quality content.  You follow people on Twitter not only because of who they are, but because of what they share.

I was attracted to Twitter because it seemed to be the more professional and serious sharing network. The simple fact that the content is reduced to text and links keeps so much foolishness (like Farmville requests and photos of people I don’t know) out of my feed.
-Trina Holden, @TrinaHolden

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an attitude of prayer

May 032012
 

Dear Lord,

It’s past 1 o’clock in the afternoon on this, the National Day of Prayer here in the U.S.  The house is finally quiet, for the first time since the middle child woke us all up at I can’t even remember what time. 

I sit down with my Bible and a hot cup of tea and a blank computer screen.  Waiting to hear Your voice. 

And the phone keeps ringing in between Psalm 63 and 64.

I don’t know when I last sat down by myself with my Bible. 

There are three different CD’s of three different styles of music playing within our little home, lulling three children to sleep.  But I want to shut it out and just listen to You.

It’s the National Day of Prayer and it feels like I should be praying some grand prayer for our country, for the upcoming election.

But instead the tears come as I contemplate all the miscellaneous affairs of our own little household—small in comparison with those of the nation but big in the perspective of three little children and their mommy who hasn’t slept a night through in I don’t know when.

I know.  People tell me I’m “in the thick of it” right now, with three children four and under.  And I know I am.

But I’ll always be in the thick of something, Lord. I want to be able to be in the thick of it in a little more of that perfect peace, the mind that is always stayed on You. 

It seems to be a lot more about meditating on You in the watches of the night than shutting myself up in a prayer closet these days.

Praying in the shower happens a whole lot more than praying in the middle of the kitchen with an apron thrown over my head.

But if I want to raise more John Wesleys for this next generation, I need to learn to pray in the midst of the loud and crazy crush of it all and not just the quiet moments I snatch once every week or so. 

I need to chime in with praise along with the three children at my feet who are “singing” at the top of their lungs.  I need to let them hear me praying for strength when I don’t know how I’m going to make it until dinner time—let alone what I’m going to make for dinner!

Lord, I know that I need every day to be a day of prayer in our house.  Please let my heart be soft to Your voice next time the stress mounts and my attitude shows anything but a heavenly perspective in the midst of it all.

The baby’s awake again, Lord.  But You can see through the stack of papers on my desk down to the to-do list.

Help me to do it all—the rocking the babe and the paying the bills and the editing the words—with an attitude of prayer and thanksgiving. 

Amen.

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Twitter 101: A Few Do’s & Don’ts

May 022012
 

dosdontsWhen you go to compose a new Tweet, Twitter asks you, “What’s happening?”  But the truth is, not everyone really wants to know what’s happening in your life every single second of every day.  Twitter is about what’s happening—but not just what’s happening to you. <—click to Tweet this

And when it comes to answering that question in 140 characters or less, there are a few easy do’s and don’ts to keep in mind—especially if you want more people to actually be interested in what you have to say about what’s happening.

What's happening?

1. Be Helpful

Twitter is a real-time information network.  It’s a great place to go for information and help, especially within relevant hashtags.  But if you want help from people when you need it, be helpful when they need it.  It’s the Golden Rule again.  If you can answer someone’s question, if you can help them out by a Retweet, do.  You don’t have to answer everyone’s questions all the time (unless they @mention you, of course!), but you’ll never regret being known as a helpful Tweeter.

The real beauty of Twitter lies in the fact that it is not a one-to-one service, but rather a one-to-many service—allowing you to both follow and learn from all the many individuals who do not personally follow you. When people ask me “What’s the first thing I should do when I sign up for Twitter?” I say “Help someone.”

-Claire Diaz-Ortiz (@claired) in Twitter for Good: Change the World One Tweet at a Time

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planting miracles

May 012012
 

Last week, I planted miracles in the ground.  Racing the coming thunderstorm, I spaded the earth and pushed them into the holes.  With one eye on the lightning streaking through the black clouds, I covered them quickly, knowing the rain would soon do the rest.

Little bits of dried up nothing.  Barely a wilted green stem poking out.  Cast-offs, extras, dug up and discarded because they were in the way. 

But next year, they will be little spots of sunshine, miracles of daffodils, tulips, and irises, blooming all along our driveway.

I love driving through farm country in the springtime.  The random patch of daffodils in the midst of a field is often the only evidence of a long-forgotten homestead.  Sometimes, there’s a lone old oak tree beside it, that someone couldn’t quite bear to cut down. 

The farmer has probably cursed those daffodil bulbs and their tenacious capacity for growing against all odds, for spreading when split in two.  He’s probably tired of farming around the tree.  But to me, they represent miracles and memories.

So I keep planting miracles around our little farmhouse, knowing someday the memories surrounding each will be precious.

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community

Apr 282012
 

I grew up in the same little community my dad and grandpa had before me.  I went to church with the same ladies who’d babysat my dad when he was little.  We had shirttail relatives everywhere.

Moving to a new town when I got married, looking for a new church, all in a community where my husband’s family was relative strangers, was a bit of an adjustment.  Nobody knew me by who my daddy and grandpa were anymore.

But these days, I recognize more faces on the street here than I do back where I grew up.  It’s not quite as small a town, but it’s a farming community, and that makes it small enough in its own way.

My husband’s family moved here twelve years ago, I joined them almost six years ago now.  I’ve been visiting here for over a third of my life.

We have loyal customers who return each year to support our family farm. We have a church family who has been with us through my husband’s accident and the births of each of our three children.  I have made friends with other young moms in the community.  And I’ve even found some author and blogger friends nearby.

I’d have moved anywhere to be with my husband, but I’m extra thankful the Lord put us here, in this community I love calling home.

Five-Minute Friday: Community

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That Works for Me! (giveaway)

Apr 252012
 

WFM 250x250 featuredAre you the sort who always reads the tips column in whatever newspaper or magazine you pick up?  Are you always looking for hints on ways to save time and ?  Then That Works for Me! is the eBook for you.  It’s a compilation of “Tried and True Tips” from “Works for Me Wednesday,” compiled by Kristen Welch and Jennifer DeGroot.

Its unique format organizes tip summaries under broad categories, with a link to the original blog post to read more.  You’ll find 800 tips for everything from laundry to morning sickness to crafts and blogging.  And right in the Time Management section, you’ll find a tip from yours truly, on organizing your to-do list by your roles.

To enter the giveaway for a copy of That Works for Me!, please comment with a favorite tip or trick you’ve learned.  Giveaway ends May 4.   Congratulations to Elissa for winning a copy of That Works for Me!

Visit the That Works for Me! website and submit your own tip for a chance to win a gift card for housecleaning ($150 value).  Plus, find lots more “works for me” tips on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.  To save $1 off the regular price of $8, use the coupon code: SAVE1.

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Real {Fast} Food – review & giveaway!

Apr 232012
 

Cover2You know the person that you always call when you have a question about healthy food?  The one you call, not because they make you feel guilty for eating the way you do, but because they give you really good, helpful advice in quick, easy-to-follow steps?

That would be my friend Trina Holden.

When I first met her, we were rooming together at a conference.  She brought a cooler with her own yogurt she’d made from raw milk.  Along with whole wheat rolls (from soaked, sprouted wheat flour, I’m sure) and, get this, homemade mayo.

Our other roomie and I enjoyed the fruits of Trina’s obvious passion for real food.  But we soon learned something else about Trina: she was also very passionate about saving time and living intentionally.

Real {Fast} Food is not just a recipe book; it’s an inside look at how a busy mom of three little kids makes “real” food fast and easy.

But the best thing about it is the fun and conversational style it’s written in.  Reading Real {Fast} Food is just like talking to a friend on the phone.  Trina’s passion for real food is infectious, her time-saving tips easy and memorable.  She makes meal planning fun and batch cooking simple.

Real {Fast} Food is empowering: it gives you not only a fabulous collection of “normal” recipes made with real food, but the know-how of planning and preparation, and the “why” of eating this way. 

There’s no condemnation for those who don’t follow every technique she outlines.  In fact, the book makes it easy to pick and choose new real food methods to try without feeling like you have to do it all.  But Trina’s batch shopping and cooking methods will give you more time to invest in your real food experiments.

And after reading Real {Fast} Food, you’ll find that things like soaking a recipe or sprouting wheat berries don’t sound so intimidating any more.  Trina explains seemingly complicated concepts in simple language and easy steps, complete with color pictures of the process.  Her whole wheat bread recipe was the first I’ve ever had turn out so well—Real {Fast} Food open to Chicken Pot Pie while making last night's dinnerand all because her simple explanation of the way the gluten works finally helped me understand how long I needed to mix my bread dough.

We love the Apple Egg Muffins, and the Nut Butter Brownies are as heavenly as they are healthy!  Whether you want to learn how to make your own tortillas or just looking to save time and eat more real food, Real {Fast} Food will be a boon to your kitchen.  It’s available on Kindle and Nook, but I’m guessing you’ll also want the PDF version so you can print it out and put it in a notebook for frequent use.

Trina is giving away a PDF copy of Real {Fast} Food to a Pink House reader.  Just comment to enter!  Giveaway ends April 30 at midnight.  Congratulations to Annie — commenter #20 was chosen by Random.org as our winner!

Enter the other giveaways on the Real {Fast} Food Blog Tour:
Read more reviews of Real {Fast} Food:

Listen to a podcast interview with Trina on FLN Radio!
And visit the Allume blog for a post by Trina summarizing her book.

Be sure to “like” the Real {Fast} Food Facebook Page for all sorts of real food tips and photos.

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