I am not much of a tennis player, but I did take eight weeks of lessons when I was a child. Because we were beginners, instead of playing on a full court we spent most of our early lessons practicing against a wall. I was always a better player when I played alone than when I played with another player because I could anticipate my own moves better than others’ moves. I found the same to be true in cross-cultural service. I was the kindest, most thoughtful, generous teammate during my quiet time. When it was just God and me, reading a passage or thinking through my day, I was exactly who I believe God made me to be.

And then a teammate would not come to a meeting prepared, or the electricity went out, or I had to make three trips to the store because I kept forgetting a vital ingredient. “Suddenly” I was not as patient or kind or generous as I was when it was just God and me.

Part of playing with a full-court, so to speak, involves tending your soul and growing personally and professionally so that who you are alone is who you are when interacting with others. Playing with the full court involves drills for both your soul and your skills. With that in mind, Tuesdays are called Soul Tending Tuesdaysand every Tuesday you will have an invitation, insight, spiritual practice, or suggestion for how you can tend your soul as a cross-cultural worker. Thursdays are  Skill Building Thursdays and you will be offered tips, insights, and suggestions to help personally and professionally develop.

Because today it the first Skill Building Thursday, I want to introduce you to the one of my favorite parts of Global Trellis. I grew up hearing stories of a great aunt who earned her doctorate at Yale before women were allowed to use the library. Okay, women were allowed to check out books, they just could not enter the library; instead they had their own window (or door?) and could request a title. An employee would spend who knows how long finding the book, and then bring it to the patient female student who waited outside.

I remember being incensed because the men had a distinct advantage when it came to poking around neighboring books. I’ve always loved seeing a whole shelf of books, spending time looking at books shelved near each other. And I’m sorry, but Amazons “you might like this” is not the same. Enter Global Trellis’ “library” . . . not quite a library because you will have to buy or borrow the books yourself. However, if you click up on the resource tab you will find a “resource library” that contains lists of books specially curated for you!

Currently there are five categories: Leadership, Spiritual, Cross-cultural, Personal Development, and Relationships. They are organized alphabetically by book title and if you click on a book, you can buy the book on Amazon. Over time, books will be added to these five categories and even more categories will be added! 

Happy perusing, I hope you see some old favorites and some new friends. What caught your eye?

Photo by Airam Dato-on on Unsplash