The Halfway Point
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
It’s July 1, which means we’re halfway through 2026. It’s easy to let time slip by without pausing to notice whether we’re actually using our time the way we want to. Today I invite you to do a little check in. Are you living into who you want to be this year? Think of these prompts like an examen. Don’t spend too much time on them. Consider them. Answer them. Move on. Pause at the end look back and get a broad view.
When have you felt joyful and carefree?
Maybe a trip, hike or retreat comes to mind. Maybe art-making, time with friends or time alone lightens your load. Whatever it is, name it.
What are you proud of?
This can be something small like forming a new habit or something big like finishing an ongoing project.
What are you grateful for?
What makes your heart full? Hold these things in your hands and offer thanks.
Pause here. Note the themes that emerge in your joy, pride and gratitude from the first half of 2026.
Where have you experienced peace, contentment, beauty or a sense of God’s presence? These are consolations from God, freely given.
Where have you felt pre-occupied, depressed, anxious, lonely or the absence of God? These are moments of desolation that all believers experience.
Consolation and desolation are the ebb and flow of a life of faith. What have the tides of your life looked like in 2026?
The year is only halfway over, so now is a good time to notice what you’re longing for.
Is there a long-term goal that you can pursue?
Is there a friendship you’d like to kindle or rekindle?
How can you do more of the things that make you feel most alive?
How do you long to change or maintain the way you’re spending your time?
Book Corner:
What I’ve Been Reading Lately
via library loan:
Girl’s Girl by Sonia Feldman
As a mother to three young women, the parents of the current generation have my most heartfelt empathy. Parenting wasn’t the point of this book at all, but I couldn’t help but think about how I would love, nurture and protect my daughters in the environment that first person narrator Mina describes. Mina and her friends spend hours doing their hair and makeup and choosing their clothing. They document every little event photographically. Feldman captures the reality of the way many girls experience themselves largely as objects to be seen.
Apart from a view into today’s teens, I also appreciated Feldman’s portrayal of the inner lives of fifteen year old girls. She really gets to the heart of how relational girls are and how they see themselves based on their relationships to others. Even I, who was a teen four decades go, remember how important my friendships were to my sense of self. I loved that Mina could trust her friends’ opinions of her, even as her closest friendships shifted, changed and evolved.
If you’re the mom to a tween or teen girl, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s not prescriptive of your daughters experience, but I suspect it might rouse some empathy when relationships inevitably strain.
How to Survive in the Woods by Kat Rosenfeld
If you love a good long hike and want a twisty turny thriller set on the Appalachian Trail, this is the book for you. Emma, Taylor and Logan are messily intertwined and a hike on the northern end of the AT in September quickly takes unexpected turns. This was a quick read and would make a good beach read (or cabin read if that's more your style).
Mid Year Book Check In
I set my reading goal for this year at 100 books. I’m at 75 books as of right now, so I’ll easily surpass that goal— but I really only set a goal because Goodreads invites me to. I read because I love it and reading helps me grow as a person. I try to set an achievable goal so that I am willing to linger in a good book, not rush through it for the sake of an arbitrary number.
For several years, I did Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge, but I stopped a few years ago when it began to feel like a slog to participate. This year, I decided to modify their challenge and make my own. I chose twelve categories and taped a list of them to the inside of my planner. I like the idea of challenging myself to read some books I would otherwise miss. My personal read harder categories for this year are:
A book by a librarian
A queer picture book
A book recently adapted for film, TV or musical
A book by a d/Deaf author
A recipe from a cookbook about a culture whose food I’ve never eaten
A YA book by a Latine author
A novel with a main character who uses they/them pronouns
A romantasy book with a queer and/or BIPOC main character
A nonviolent true crime book
A book by an African author
I’ll update this list next quarter with links to the books I’ve chosen to complete these categories.
How do you choose what you read, watch and listen to?
May you have the grace to live into the invitations 2026 brings to you. May today’s pause to look back at the first half of the year inspire and encourage you to keep going… or change course.
Peace & Grace,
Shannon