Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and her friends for the writing of this blog post.

This was actually from last week, but it's one of my favorites that I forgot about.  I'm so happy for him!  This is Drew, and for the SECOND YEAR STRAIGHT, he won the fantasy football league at church in the youth.  I don't know how he does it, but once again, it came down to him and this guy Mark.  Same two guys, two years straight.  Isn't that crazy?

He even got a trophy, which will be given to the next winner, next year, but hey!  It's his for the year.

Yesterday I had to get out and run a few errands.  One was to Pet Smart to replace a warming bulb for one of Jonah's and Noah's critters (I can't keep them straight, honestly, but I think it was for the lamp that sits atop Pascal's cage...that's their bearded dragon.) and one stop was Michael's.  I have not stepped foot in a Michael's in forever.  I was on the hunt for a new journal, but I got slightly sidetracked.  Remember the planner I got for Christmas that's my favorite thing ever?

Well, you can buy tons of fun things to go inside of it like what you see hanging in the picture I took yesterday at the store.  Isn't it so fun?  I love things like this, and I was definitely in my favorite kind of happy place.

In a discussion about bibles this week, I thought I'd share about mine.  First, it's my favorite one that I've ever owned.  (I'm pretty sure I say this about every bible I ever buy.)  You know I don't keep the same bible for long.  I love to write in mine and mark it all up and take notes in the margins, and because of all that, I go through them pretty quickly.  It goes with me EVERYWHERE, too, so the binding usually gets pretty loose after a few years.  I also want my boys to have these someday to remember me by.  So, last Christmas, my dad and stepmom  bought me a bible, but it was one that I had to return.  With that money, I picked this one.  Here it is on Amazon, if you want to read about it, but it's a women's study bible and it's HCSB.

Here are a few reasons why it's my favorite.

There are PICTURES inside, y'all.  Like of where Paul was believed to have been in prison, and what things would have looked like back when that particular book was written.

It is so close to the original language (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek).

There are word meanings inside that shows how to pronounce that word in the original language it was written.

All the pronouns that talk about God~He, You, Yours, His~are capitalized, just like I did in my example.

There are tons of study notes at the bottom!  This makes my heart so happy.

Here's what the inside looks like.

I believe that teenagers need good study bibles, once they become a certain age, like sixteen and up.  That being said, I'm on the hunt for a new bible for Drew.  Graham has one and now Drew needs one.

This is my best friend's daughter.  This was exactly how I felt about going to church Wednesday night, and getting hugs from all my favorite teenage girls.

This color might be my new favorite.  It's similar to the color Nicki Minaj by OPI.

(This actual color is a number, so I can't give you a name.)

I've had black with sparkles for the last two weeks, so I was ready for something more fun and bright.

One of my favorite moments from the week was this moment, sharing lunch with sweet Noah.  He stayed home with Jonah last Sunday and watched out for him and even watched our service on live stream.  He told me all about it when I came home.  Bless him.

I visited my favorite room in the whole church this week.  I love that there is this room, so hidden and so inner (if that makes sense) that people go to pray.  You should see the carpet...it's worn, I would imagine, from people getting on their knees and praying.  I am so thankful for the power of prayer and that the body of believers we belong to is so prayer dependent.  I do not take this lightly, I promise.  It is such a privilege to do this every single day of my life.

What hope we have, those of us who are believers in Christ Jesus!  I cannot imagine my life with Him.

This picture is my very favorite, and it's one I'd totally forgotten about.  This was Todd and me twenty years ago, on our honeymoon in Banner Elk, North Carolina.  I found this at my in-love's house yesterday when the boys and I went there.  Actually, Noah found it and died laughing, but whatever.  We were BABIES!  We were nineteen years old when we got married.

I loved everything about what I had on, I do remember that clearly.  I think my shoes were Berkenstock, and my socks and flannel were from Eddie Bauer (I worked there before we got married), and I m pretty sure I thought I looked similar to Annie from the movie Father of the Bride.  (What was it with me and "Annie's" from movies?!)  Also?  We had on matching coats.  Insert laughing face emoji here.

Todd does not have a black eye in this picture, but in 1995, he was in a really bad bike accident and skidded down a hill on his face.  He had a TON of stitches in his face, and this was when the scarring was still fresh.  You can still see the scars today, but not like you could here.

We have grown up together, he and I.

Lastly, this was my quiet time space this morning, and I did not "pose" these items.  (I do that sometimes.)  This was how I'd used all these things, and as I was finishing up, I noticed how neat it all looked.

If you do not already, it's important to have a space for a consistent quiet time.  Mine changes, but lately, it's been at the kitchen table.  I need lots of room to spread out.  I don't always have candles lit, and I don't always have instrumental music playing on my bluetooth speaker, but today I had both.

Quiet time each morning is my favorite thing to do.  I love to pray and I love to read the word of God.  I hope this encourages you to start this on your own, if you're a believer.

Thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all.