Red State Ramblings

Isn’t it interesting how God created humans to thrive on inspiration? He could have just said, “Here you go. Here’s a list of rules. Figure it out.” But He didn’t! He gave us His Spirit to comfort and direct. He gave us simple pleasures that delight our eyes, warm our cheeks and make our taste buds happy! And He allows us moments of joylessness, fear and doubt that we would look at all He has made and all He has done in the saints who have gone before, and turn away from our mediocre selves to something awe inspiring.

Today, we wanted to share with you some of the resources we’re being encouraged by – things that have uplifted, challenged and informed us along the way to help create the convictions we hold. Of course, no inspiration outside of God’s Word is infallible so take our recommendations as a grain of salt, but if you’re feeling weary or uninspired, try one of these out and let us know what you think!

And don’t forget to leave us a comment with one or more of your favorite book, music, movie or podcast recommendations! When you do, we’ll enter you into a drawing for a free copy of Aggressively Happy or, if you already have that one, we’ll send you another one of our favorites!

Tennessee

Books

• Aggressively Happy by Joy Marie Clarkson (Working through this one now which is why the subject of inspiration is on my mind…)
• Them Before Us by Katy Faust and Stacey Manning (Should be required reading for every adult in America.)
• Gentle & Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane C. Ortlund (Life-changing.)
• The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (The movie is also good if you have a kid who is struggling to finish the book.)
• Suffering is Never for Nothing by Elisabeth Elliot
• How to Grow a Connected Family by James and Lynne Jackson (Best parenting book. Love.)
• A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell (Highly recommend if you want to understand the division between leftists and normal folk like you and I. Check out a review I did here: http://redstateramblings.com/conflicting-visions-thomas-sowell-saw-it-coming/)
• I Am N: Inspiring Stories of Christians Facing Islamic Extremists (I gave this to one of my boys who isn’t usually a fan of reading and he gobbled it up.)
• Brave Little Ollie Possum (Wonderful for kids struggling with fear.)
• Mother & Son (Good for moms to understand respecting their boys.)
• Atomic Habits (If you’re stuck in a rut, this book has already helped a TON of people.)

Podcasts

• RELATABLE with Allie Beth Stuckey (You can buy the fabulous shirt pictured above here: http://shop.blazemedia.com – comes in a ton of other pretty colors.)
• The Ben Shapiro Show
• The Alisa Childers Podcast
• At Home With Sally – Sally Clarkson (A wonderful, softening agent in my life when I start to get a little bit – or a lot a bit- bristly.)
• Just Thinking
• Cooper Stuff (A good resource to share with teens.)

Movies

• Shut In (Daily Wire’s new movie. Not for little kids. Great, NEEDED message!)
• American Underdog (Perfect for the whole family.)
• The Ride (Amazing true story.)
• Misery with Kathy Bates (A better horror story does not exist – not for kids.)
• Nobody (Extremely violent but awesome message, especially for dads – not for kids.)
• Quiet Place I and II (Wonderful message – great for teens.)
• Anything with VID ANGEL! (If you’re like me, frustrated every time you show your kids a movie from your past after realizing it wasn’t quite as wholesome as you remembered, you must use Vid Angel. You can filter out anything you don’t like and keep the good stuff!)
• BBC’s the Chronicles of Narnia (I shudder to think of what my childhood would have been like without C.S. Lewis.)
• BBC’s Anne of Green Gables (DON’T WATCH THE NETFLIX SERIES – GARBAGE!!!!)
• Mary Poppins (Don’t mock me. It’s the power of a woman’s influence and I love it.)
• Father of the Bride (Simply the best.)
• Tortured for Christ (The true story of Romanian pastor, Richard Wurmbrand.)
• Dry Bar Comedy on YouTube (You’ll never hear anything dirty. Some comedians are funnier than others, but when you find a goodie, they’re hilarious. My favorites: Nate Bargatze and Leanne Morgan.)

Music

• The Gettys (Their album Confessio is beautiful.)
• When This is Over by Jimmie Allen (I cry when the old men sing at the end. Gets me every time.)
• Walking With the Wise (For your littles. My youngest loves it!)

Tennessee Politics

• The Tennessee Conservative https://tennesseeconservativenews.com

Idaho

Books

• Lamplighter books and audio dramas http://lamplighter.net

Podcasts

• Durenda Wilson (For all you homeschool mamas out there!)
• Truth for Life by Alistair Begg

Movies

• Angel Studios for Tuttle Twins and Dry Bar Comedy

Political

• Prager U
• Daily Wire
• Rumble
• Epoch Times
• For California politics – Kevin Kiley’s blog https://blog.electkevinkiley.com

Music

• Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy
• Jim Martinez https://jimmartinez.com
• Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers
• Miles Davis “Kind of Blue”
• Thelonious Monk “Monks Dream”
• Bill Evans trio “Portrait in Jazz”
• Harry Connick Jr.
• Diana Krall
• Cain
• Jordan Feliz

Michelle in Texas is busy doing good things but I’m sure she’ll have some recommends for us down the road!

May you be inspired by truth, goodness and beauty no matter where you live!