reads for your weekend

• the only thing more important than what you say is how you say it | henry cloud

"Your 'tone' is the way that you talk to someone, especially when they are doing something wrong, or not doing something that you want. We all have a tendency at some level to get aggravated and amped up a bit, depending on how much we are hurt, frustrated, or afraid. But, the kicker is this: the more our tone is negative towards someone, or angry, or escalated, the less chance we have of getting the outcome we desire."

• sara's broccoli game-changer | shauna niequist

If you haven't tried roasted broccoli, do it. And then do the same with cauliflower.  

•  on materialism + contentment | her southern charm

This post really hit a nerve. I buy way too much stuff. Target gets me every.time. Every time. 

• rick warren's grief: the comfort & cruelty of speculating on suicide | rage against the minivan

"When we hear about grieving parents it can be so tempting to try to assign blame, because if they aren’t to blame, then we have to grapple with the reality that sometimes, tragedy is senseless. This is an uncomfortable truth: awful things happen to children that parents cannot prevent.  It’s a truth so painful that we would rather throw grieving parents under the bus than face it."

• a new approach to the table | shauna niequist

"I want you to stop running from thing to thing to thing, and to sit down at the table, to offer the people you love something humble and nourishing, like soup and bread, like a story, like a hand holding another hand while you pray. We live in a world that values us for how fast we go, for how much we accomplish, for how much life we can pack into one day. But I’m coming to believe it’s in the in-between spaces that our lives change, and that the real beauty lies there. "