Memorial Day

 [️MEMORIAL DAY] In honor & memory of those who gave their lives during military service to our country. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

[FIRE UP THE GRILL!] Planning a barbecue for this Memorial Day? Go with the basics of hamburgers and hot dogs or search for the latest cookout-friendly recipes for grilled starters, patriotic drinks and desserts to kick off the unofficial start of Summer! 🌞

 

Memorial Day can be a dichotomy. A day of mourning and remembrance of those who lost their lives in the service of our country is starkly different from a 3-day weekend filled with fun, parties, pools, shopping, and the frivolous. that brings on the unofficial start to Summer. Mourning vs Merriment.

To me, though, it's not difficult to combine all that make this holiday special. We should always give honor those who gave their lives to protect and defend our freedom and rights. In the past, many families spent Memorial Day bringing flowers and cleaning the graves of loved ones. It took several hours of work and quite often meant sharing a meal while there. The sense of community with family and friends paying respect to the dead, sharing memories and meals was also a means of support in grief.

Each Memorial Day be sure to remember those who sacrificed their lives, but including a picnic with family and friends to celebrate life and freedom is not meant to dishonor the memory and sacrifice of those men and women. We Americans live in the land of the free because of the brave who sacrificed their own lives. Take time to remember those who died and celebrate the gift they offered their fellow citizens with family, friends, neighbors. Their lives made a tremendous impact. #MemorialDay

The Loneliness Solution

 

We are lonelier than ever. As countless students travel home for the holidays, many may feel especially isolated and lonely, even while "keeping up" with friends on social media. Social media tricks us into thinking that we are engaged in genuine friendships. Yet instead of intimacy, we get little more than what amounts to digital small talk. But there is a solution.

With plenty of good humor and practical advice, Jack Eason invites you to discover the benefits of doing life together with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Grounding his message in Scripture, Eason helps you

· learn the obstacles to real community

· reimagine what real friendship looks like

· discover a place of true belonging

· and more

If you're tired of feeling lonely, this encouraging and community-building book is just what you need.

 

 

 MY REVIEW: This book on loneliness comes along at a perfect time. Not only is this a real struggle for many anyway, 2020 has been a year of enforced loneliness like most of us have never witnessed. Social Media, for over a decade, has given us an illusion of friends despite most being superficial relationships. As Eason puts it, we are satisfied with "digital small talk" rather than real relationships. Masks, social distancing, online church, and Zoom Meetings have made us even more isolated.

One sentence that particularly resonated with me was, "Fitting in and Belonging are not the same thing." (pg 57). Even as a young child I understood that I often felt lonelier in crowds even if I appeared to fit in. Quarantine has emphasized that: even those who normally spend a lot of time alone have found the awareness of being lonely has increased.

Eason's encouragement of getting more involved with helping others, preferably with others who are like-minded, can give you real community rather than a sense of community. When you are literally placed in a new location, don't cling to your old relationships without seeking new ones. "Doing life together" may seem like an overused expression, but we do need to be more intentional in finding our tribe. Getting to know others and permitting them to know you at a deeper level is beneficial for all. This book helps provide biblical steps that truly will make a difference.

I received a copy of this book for review purposes with no compensation, nor was a good review required. Thanks to Revell Books and FlyBy Promotions.

GIVEAWAY! I have one copy of The Loneliness Solution by Jack Eason to give away. This is great for your personal library or a donation to your church library. People need the encouragement to step out and build relationships, especially during this time of physical isolation. Enter the contest by posting #LonelinessSolution. The contest ends December 15, 2020. 

 

Jack Eason serves ministries and non profits throughout the United States and around the world sharing principles for fundraising, growth and development, board governance, and other areas of ministry leadership. He enjoys serving as one of the pastors at Cross Roads Baptist Church in the Upstate of South Carolina as well as the of Crossover CUPS Mission, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that has been privileged to serve the local Church and missions-related organizations around the world for 30 years. Jack also travels speaking to students in high school and college and talks about the issue of loneliness, how we can make good friends, and the power of togetherness.

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