{"id":8104,"date":"2014-03-02T13:26:03","date_gmt":"2014-03-02T18:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=8104"},"modified":"2014-03-02T13:26:03","modified_gmt":"2014-03-02T18:26:03","slug":"book-review-notes-from-a-blue-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=8104","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Notes from a Blue Bike"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Notes-Blue-Bike-Intentionally-Chaotic\/dp\/1400205573\/ref=la_B003GMBD32_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393783615&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8106\" alt=\"1400205573.jpg_4\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/1400205573.jpg_4.jpg\" width=\"263\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/1400205573.jpg_4.jpg 263w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/1400205573.jpg_4-193x300.jpg 193w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A great friend of mine introduced me to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tshoxenreider.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tsh Oxenreider<\/a>\u00a0a few weeks ago during a conversation about being more intentional about how we are investing in our families. \u00a0My friend mentioned Tsh\u2019s blog and also that she had just written a new book\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Notes-Blue-Bike-Intentionally-Chaotic\/dp\/1400205573\/ref=la_B003GMBD32_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393783615&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Notes from a Blue Bike<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0I mentally stored the name and title to check it out sometime soon. \u00a0I was pleased to find the book available for free through a group that I belong to that offers free copies of books in exchange for a blog review. \u00a0Seems easy enough\u2026need to simplify and be more intentional\u2026and they were going to give me the book for free. \u00a0What could go wrong?<\/p>\n<p>I immediately felt a connection with Tsh in the introduction to her book when she asked the poignant question, \u201cDo the choices I make line up with how I really want to live?\u201d \u00a0Oxenreider\u2019s book shares the adventures that her family (her husband and three children) have been on the last several years as they have lived in a variety of cultures around the world. \u00a0As someone who has been on a number of international mission trips, I can agree with Tsh\u2019s point that people outside the United States seem to live so much simpler\u2026and ultimately, so much happier.<\/p>\n<p>This book went back and forth between conversation, philosophy, theory and practical application. \u00a0I truly think this book did a great job of acting as a handbook for how to live more intentionally by covering items such as: travel, work, education, food, entertainment, renewal and restoration, and even finances. \u00a0In an age of hustle, hustle, hustle, this book was truly a breath of fresh air that lingers long after I closed the book and began contemplating where to go from here.<\/p>\n<p>I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do the choices I make line up with how I really want to live?<\/li>\n<li>Just because the culture around you says your family needs to live in such-and-such a way, doesn\u2019t mean you have to.<\/li>\n<li>We were made to live slower than our fast-paced Western culture deems normal. \u00a0But it means paddling upstream through strong currents.<\/li>\n<li>If you know the right thing to do and don\u2019t do it, that, for you, is evil. \u00a0James 4:17<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s hard to slow down when the race has no finish line.<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m learning that being intentional about my life\u2019s work demands conviction that the what, the how, and the why of what I do rests well with me.<\/li>\n<li>Just because my phone vibrates in my pocket doesn\u2019t mean I need to stop everything, bow down in worship, and see what it needs. \u00a0I may miss something\u2014or, quite blissfully, nothing\u2014happening around me.<\/li>\n<li>My ability to do something and my available time to achieve it don\u2019t oblige me to say yes.<\/li>\n<li>Give me enough food to live on, neither too much nor too little. \u00a0If I\u2019m too flu, I might get independent, saying, \u2018God? Who needs him?\u2019 If I\u2019m poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God. \u00a0Proverbs 30:8-9 (MSG)<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<em>Try to pick a profession in which you enjoy even the most mundane, tedious parts. \u00a0Then you will always be happy<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0Will Shortz, creator of the crossword puzzle<\/li>\n<li>The time we spend at our jobs should tap deep into our skills and passions so that we love what we do, zealously.<\/li>\n<li>Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value.<\/li>\n<li>Humans were made curious. \u00a0We are all innately driven to explore, create, and wonder.<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<em>The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man<\/li>\n<li>Our home will be the most significant place during our kids\u2019 childhood. \u00a0I can\u2019t ignore it\u2019s influence.<\/li>\n<li>The educational goal for our kids when they leave the house is that they\u2019ll love to learn. \u00a0No one learns everything he or she needs to know by twelfth grade, or even by college graduation. \u00a0Our intent is that our kids will want to find their own wells and fill up their own buckets.<\/li>\n<li>People are willing to be brave when they admit their smallness within the enormity of the world, and the best way to understand our smallness is to leave our comfort zones and start exploring, one foot in front of the other.<\/li>\n<li>When we travel, no matter how near or far, we share moments that shape our family culture.<\/li>\n<li>When we\u2019re intentional about what we watch, it\u2019s a lot more interesting to watch it.<\/li>\n<li>Boredom is a relatively new concept.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s all well and good to want to live more intentionally, but nothing will happen unless there\u2019s a plan. \u00a0This is the first of these truths, no matter who you are or where you live: living with intention requires a blueprint.<\/li>\n<li>Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. \u00a0Philippians 4:8<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s something magical about doing nothing, and we don\u2019t do it often enough.<\/li>\n<li>More than anything, living according to my values and passions in the real world means extending grace upon grace to others when I intentionally live differently.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i>Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s 16 CFR, Part 255 &lt;http:\/\/www.access.gpo.gov\/nara\/cfr\/waisidx_03\/16cfr255_03.html&gt; : \u201cGuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A great friend of mine introduced me to\u00a0Tsh Oxenreider\u00a0a few weeks ago during a conversation about being more intentional about how we are investing in our families. \u00a0My friend mentioned Tsh\u2019s blog and also that she had just written a new book\u00a0Notes from a Blue Bike. \u00a0I mentally stored the name and title to check [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,35,25,16,23,17,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-creative","category-education","category-family","category-generosity","category-leadership","category-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}