Donan's Favorite Books of 2020

Here's my 5-star reads of the year-to-date:
1) A Different Pond was 2018 Caldecott Nominee so I wasn't surprised it was good. I was blown away by the illustrations which lead to me to exploring more of Thi Bui's s work including...

2) The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir which was a powerful refugee story as well as a reflection on parenthood.

3) Truly Devious series was recommended by a good friend. Compelling characters, layers of mystery, smooth writing-- really loved it!

4) Peace Like a River was also recommended by a friend. I enjoyed the family and setting but also gave up in the middle when the plot began to drag. However, the concluding/resolution scene was so beautifully written it made up for any pacing problems. I'm going to recommend this one around to many folks!

5) The One and Only Ivan was the 2013 Newberry winner. I read it for a Book Bingo category (animal as a main character) but this story was so much more-- what does purpose look like? how do you define family? what good can come from loneliness? 

6) Gilead which won 2005 Pultizer Prize for fiction (and thus probably read by many of you) has been on my TBR list awhile. I'm thankful I read it during the election season to remind me of how history impacts communities.

Testimony to God's goodness!

I wrote this in December 2019 as a reflection on my summer. I spent 12 weeks making 50 asks to individuals and churches to support the work of InterVarsity in the Inland Northwest. I share this as a story of God's goodness, abundance and generosity!

MPD= ministry partnership development. We invite people to become partners with InterVarsity who financially give, pray, serve and advocate.

I have been afraid of MPD for as long as I can remember-- deep, 15 years in the making, decision-altering
kind of fear. I felt overwhelmed by it, unsure of what I should do when faced with the reality of it. I wanted
the fear to just go away but I had no idea where to start. 

When I said ‘yes’ to being an Area Director, I knew I needed to address my MPD fear. I didn’t want to pass
along my fears to staff that I supervise. I felt powerless to help others thrive on staff when I was crippled
with fear.

Last December my supervisor asked me to consider the Elevate cohort. My first feeling was shame, “How
did I left my fear shape my life so deeply?” My second feeling was skepticism, “How can I possible make
50 asks in one summer?” As I took some time to pray, I felt a deep sense of peace and partnership with
God; I felt like this cohort might be the fear-facing opportunity I needed. 

And yet, even as I said yes, I didn’t really believe I could make 50 asks in a summer. I kept telling myself
that even 35 would be more than I had made in a single summer. I figured that the cohort would give me
the tools to make at least 35 asks. I would get some training and accountability to make it possible.

About three weeks into the summer, we studied the passage out of Exodus where God gives the Israelites
directions about how to collect the quail and manna, detailed and daily instructions. I wondered why God
would involve the people so regularly in the importance of gathering food? Why not sure provide them with
food that never ran out and never spoiled in a central location? I wondered if God was using the food
gathering process as part of the people’s formation-- was God inviting them to trust Him every day through
the process fo collecting?

And something in my heart leaped at the invitation this passage extended to me-- God is inviting me to
trust in Him as I make regularly asks in MPD. MPD was no longer about the yes and no answers or the
money raised. MPD was part of my spiritual formation. Would I engage in the process that God invited me
into? MPD was about confronting my fears but about daily trusting in God’s faithfulness.

Internally, that shift made all the difference. I found freedom in responding to God instead of being confined
to accomplishing what felt like an impossible task. I was quicker to ask for prayer when I struggled. I
made riskier asks for appointments because I believed God was doing something in the process of
asking, not just in the yes or no to an appointment.