I’ve run across quite a few excellent articles online this week, so I’ve decided to recommend them to you instead of posting a new blog post. (Six posts by others, one of my own.) I decided to share them in a Friday Quick Take post, brain-child of the great Jennifer Fulwiller of Conversion Diary.

1. Prophets – “And here is what I have learned about prophets–they don’t see in black and white, they see in technicolor.  Now I find it interesting that the “tech” in Technicolor was inspired by the founder’s technical training at MIT. The name of his revolutionary color process and company are an homage to inspired instruction and his own innovation in color saturation. The prophets of old are similar in this respect; they honor their inspired instruction (which comes from the Torah) and marry that with their unique innovative vision. The prophets understood deeply the words of Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus and Numbers–and that shaped what they saw and what they spoke.”

2. For the Mother of One Child – Having your first child is so tough, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. (Every mom needs to read this, no matter how many children she has.)

3. Beyond Evangelical – Frank Viola’s fascinating look at the latest Barna survey on church-goers and how people are changing and re-arranging themselves. I find myself in the fourth group he identifies.

4. Marriage Letters – Fighting the good fight in public, Seth and Amber Haines started posting letters to each other. Scott and I joined in this week, and will post our letters each Monday. Join us – write a letter to your spouse! Our writing prompt this week is “nightly rituals.”

5. From Woman in Ministry to Women Who Ministers – ‘The truth is, the women who ministered to my own wanting soul weren’t “women in ministry” at all.’ Fantastic second installment in the Women In Ministry series being coordinated by Ed Cyzewski. (I’m looking forward to posting for this series later in the spring.)

6. The Plunge (Life:Unmasked) – “Confronting someone shows what they are worth to you.” Love this guest-post by Hilary!  (Note: the linky will be open until Tuesday at midnight, so feel free to link up. Please read and comment on at least one of the posts there. Let’s encourage each other in writing our messy stories.)

7. Turtles, Trees, and the Spiral of Time – “I will not say that God causes tragedy, but I will declare that God is not thwarted by it.” Caleb Wilde, who writes at Confessions of a Funeral Director, asked if he could run this older post of mine. Ever since Scott and I worked with the incredible and compassionate funeral home staff to plan Elli’s funeral, I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for the people in this line of work. It is such a privilege to guest-post for Caleb this week, and I look forward to sharing some of his writing with you soon.

What about you? What great things have you read this week? Share in the comments!