12 Tiny Things

In a culture that says bigger is better, it is subversive work to take tiny, lasting steps toward learning and growth. In 12 Tiny Things Ellie Roscher and Heidi Barr journey with us through twelve essential areas of life: space, work, spirituality, food, style, nature, communication, home, sensuality, creativity, learning, and community. In each of these areas, we are invited to take one tiny action that is sure to open up growth and renewal. 12 Tiny Things guides us in curating a spiritual practice that promotes a more reflective, rooted, and intentional life. Regardless of how the ground feels underneath your feet, trust that there are roots there to tend. By trying on one tiny thing at a time, you can slowly, deliberately, and playfully remember who you are. You can nourish that being with tenderness. Together, we will reach and grow toward the sun.

In this collection of longer essays nested within brief, lyrical meditations, each piece focuses on some micro aspect of everyday life as a means of exploring complex macro systems¿families, dinner parties, vineyards, deserts, nations. For example, Walker¿s own experience as the mother of a micropreemie (a baby born weighing less than one pound, twelve ounces, or before twenty-six weeks gestation), ¿the smallest thing in the world,¿ spurs an exploration of, among other things, the economics of health care, the causes of premature births, and the ethics of extreme interventions. Where the Tiny Things Are is a book of ideas and an exploration of science. It is of the world and of the heart ¿ both intensely personal and expansively empathetic.TABLE OF CONTENTS // Microscopium, Micromeat, Microbarriers, Microsurgery, Microencephaly, Microlecithal, Micropreemies, Microbortions, Microkeratome, Microbladder, Microclimates Lower Sonoran, Micromeria, Microbursts, Micro Prairie Dogs & Micro Turkey Vultures, Micro Snow Leopard, Microorganisms, Micromanagement, Micronize, Microhabitat, Neutrinos, Microwine, Microwind, Microgalaxy, Microwindmills, Microhematocrit, Microsoccer, Microtrain, Microblogs, Microfire, Microtopography, Micromeasures, Microgas, Microisland, Microspikes, Distracted Parents of the Micromanagement Era, Microhaboobs, Microbivalves, Biofuels Will Take You Home, Microbags, Microbiotics, Microapocalpyse

In a culture that says bigger is better, it is subversive work to take tiny, lasting steps toward learning and growth.In 12 Tiny Things Ellie Roscher and Heidi Barr journey with us through twelve essential areas of life: space, work, spirituality, food, style, nature, communication, home, sensuality, creativity, learning, and community. In each of these areas, we are invited to take one tiny action that is sure to open up growth and renewal. 12 Tiny Things guides us in curating a spiritual practice that promotes a more reflective, rooted, and intentional life. Regardless of how the ground feels underneath your feet, trust that there are roots there to tend. By trying on one tiny thing at a time, you can slowly, deliberately, and playfully remember who you are. You can nourish that being with tenderness. Together, we will reach and grow toward the sun.

We live in an age uniquely attentive to the problem of mental illness. More than half of us will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in our lifetime. It has been easy, for centuries, to relegate persistent emotional and mental struggles entirely to the realm of a failed personal work ethic ("Just don't worry so much!"), not enough faith ("Just pray harder!"), or, in recent years, a chemical imbalance in our brains ("Just take this pill!"). Yet, for those of us who live with mental illness, none of these suggestions provides the quick relief it promises, and the continued struggle takes its toll on our already burdened hearts and minds. In All Who Are Weary, Emmy Kegler joins the reader on the long walk of reflection, understanding, and compassion, calling followers of Jesus back to ancient practices of lament, vulnerability, honesty, community, and hope. This book is not a map to a cure, nor a perfectly restorative prayer. Written with a wide community in mind--patients, but also parents and partners, coworkers and friends, pastors and therapists, and the whole church--All Who Are Weary points to the embodied grace known in Jesus, trusting in the promise of a lighter load for all.

A Million Tiny Things chronicles the escapades of a wannabe "green mom" trying to keep her sense of humor while hanging on to a lifeline, or at least a laundry line, of hope. In this age of anxious parenting and frantic Save the Earth messages, Kenna Lee answers the question, "How do we stay out of denial without getting depressed?" With a willful optimism, Lee travels the long distance from eco-overwhelm to self-forgiveness via a growing belief that large numbers of small pro-environment actions can add up to a better world.

Ramsey Beyer adjusts to life at college and in the big city - one imaginative and quirky list at a time

Those of us who care for children--biological moms and dads, adoptive parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents, foster parents, big siblings, chosen family, and all the rest of us--know how hard and heroic caring for young people can be. But when we're caught up in the day-to-day challenges of raising children, from teething to teen relationships, we can easily miss the sanctity of these moments. Gifted poet, empathetic pastor, and mom of three Meta Herrick Carlson names the moments we take for granted or that make us second-guess ourselves. Her blessings call out the simple struggles that remind us we are in good company and that we are loved in the midst of loving children. Ordinary Blessings for Parents is a spiritual high-five for parents in every stage of raising kids. The book includes blessings for washing bottles, for belly laughs, for the death of a beloved adult, and for the legacy we want to pass on. If you're a parent or caregiver, you are bound to find a word you didn't know you needed and to pass a blessing or two on in solidarity with other families in your life. Take this moment today to pause, reflect, and appreciate the sacred ordinary within your family.

Category theory reveals commonalities between structures of all sorts. This book shows its potential in science, engineering, and beyond.