Tuesday, March 97th and a few odds and ends

I saw that in a meme a couple of days ago, and it made me laugh.  "In case you're wondering, today is March 97th.", or something along that line.  It feels true, doesn't it?  If I think too far ahead, I could easily get overwhelmed, as we all recently learned that the "shelter in place" has been stretched to April 30, a whole month away.  So I don't look far ahead, I take things slow, and by just one day at a time.  That's my quarantine advice for the day. 

I was looking at a couple of my sons last night, and they are really starting to need haircuts!  I have to laugh, as I wonder what we'll all look like, because my own hair is in need of highlights. 

I soaked the dip powder off of my nails Friday night and cut them all back to short again, which is how I prefer them, and painted them.  And then last night, I cut them a little shorter, and gave myself a pedicure and manicure. 

I found a show to watch on Hulu every morning!  I've not watched the news at all for the past week, because I cannot bring myself to turn it on.  I found Counting On, which is a continuation of 19 Kids and Counting, and a lot of the siblings are now grown or married and with kids of their own.  I loved that show from years ago, and I don't know if you remember, but it ended very abruptly when it came out that one of the sons, Joshua, had inappropriately touched girls when he was younger.  And then a few weeks after that leaked, it also leaked that his names was one of the names found on that dating website that encouraged people to be unfaithful to their spouses.  Remember that whole scandal?  Some of that is talked about on this show, Counting On.

My dad turned eighty nine on Sunday!  That picture of him and me was the day after I got married.  All of our parents came to eat breakfast with us before we left on our honeymoon.  And this is him just a couple of days ago, on his birthday.  Because of the quarantine thing, we wanted to respect that and not get too close to him, so though we didn't hug him, we sure did spread the love by spending a few hours outside of their house on Sunday afternoon.  It was a gorgeous day, and we all sat far apart and had cake and caught up.  It was such a sweet afternoon.  It was just my sister Trish and myself that went, as I didn't want to overwhelm him with too many people.  It was so good to see him and to be able to give him his birthday cards.

Here's the new Scripture writing plan for April!  It's hard to believe tomorrow is April 1.  My Drew turns 20 on Friday, and he's a little bummed to be spending the day and evening alone. 

Well, thanks for reading, friends.  Love to all! 

how we're staying sane during quarantine

I know everyone is in the same boat, and that the novelty of being quarantined has started to wear off.  If I'm being honest on here, and I always try to be honest, I will confess that everyone's fuse seems to be a little shorter than normal.  At one point last night, my husband was so bored that I think delirium set in for a few minutes.  We had a good laugh about it, and I'm glad the emotions came out as laughter, because sometimes it could be through tears that we express all these feelings.

My fuse is shorter than normal, too, and I really have to stay in the word of God and pray my way through these times.  I discovered a couple of days ago that though I'd been having quiet time each morning, by the time I would be ready to start praying, that everyone would start coming downstairs.  These days remind me of when the boys were little.  I had to push to get up earlier than them, and I am going to have to start doing that again.  Prayer is vital to my emotional well being.

Those are two ways I'm staying sane: being grounded in God's word and through prayer.

Another thing I've been doing is trying to get out of the house every few days.  I still have to shop at the grocery store, and the other day I delivered some things to my dad, because they were out of a couple of things, and I was talking to Sandy right as I was pulling up to Kroger.  I am glad I had that opportunity to do that, it was good to be outside, and it was really good to see them.

I delivered birthday cards to Dad yesterday, so because I'll be out today, I will probably stay in again until Tuesday or Wednesday.  I've basically been getting out once in the week, and once on weekends.  Prayerfully, all this will be over soon.

Praying about my attitude has done wonders for me.  Having a husband who has made the boys all chip in with chores has helped tremendously. 

I'm still reading a lot, my favorite series of books, and I'm trying to stay busy.  I pray this encourages you in some way...I'd love to hear what you're doing to stay sane.  This week, we have some projects we're hoping to complete.  That will help a lot, and it'll be exciting to see them all done.  I'll post about it another day.

Thanks for reading!  I'd have written about the weekend, but we've not done anything noteworthy.  Until tomorrow.  Love to all!

Friday Favorites {edition twelve/quarantined edition}

Happy Friday, friends.  Or, happy just another day at home.  That made me laugh.  All the days are running together, as I'm sure they're doing for all of us.

I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals, and her friends Erika and Narci, for this blog post.

I have been loving and looking for the bright side of all this crazy all week.  I have found things that have moved me to tears, I've found things that have made me laugh out loud, and I've been sharing them with the people I love.  I thought I'd do that here, now.  These types of things are my favorite thing about what we're all going through right now.

Anyone else have the munchies nonstop?  I laughed really hard when I saw this.

SO MANY TIMES I've missed hugging people.

My own included!

Let's just say we all may looking a little rough by the end of all this, those of us who use salons for services like nails and hair and botox.

I have dip powder on my nails right now, but they're really long and in need of a refresh, so I'm going to have to soak the powder off this weekend and just paint them.  I can't go another week with them as they are and I can hardly type, they're so long.  (I am the opposite of most people and hate long nails.)

Another favorite thing is that many recording artists are using their time at home to do sing-a-longs or hymn sings.  This is Keith and Kristin Getty and two of their three daughters.  I listened to most of this a couple of nights ago.  I've also loved watching/listening to Natalie Grant and her husband Bernie Herms.

Easy mornings spent drinking coffee and watching shows on Hulu or movies are another favorite.  So is the Christmas mug you see.

Pineapple salad is one of my favorite things to eat, and this was lunch a few days ago.  It's been ages since I've had it, and I enjoyed every single bite, even it may have given me an ulcer in my mouth from the pineapple juice.

Last Sunday a very small group of people met and helped put on our church's livestream service.  I was so glad to have been a part of it, and helping lead worship is one of my favorite things, but this was one of the most strange things I have ever done.  Trying to lead in worship without "performing" for the cameras that were directly in front of us was interesting.

This is the chronological bible I'm reading along in, and coming across my dad's words is always a favorite thing.  He and I passed this bible back and forth over the years, taking turns reading in it, and this was a surprise on Saturday when I opened up to that day's reading.

Isn't the eighties everyone's favorite?!  One of my favorite human beings had a birthday yesterday, this handsome fella and patriarch of the Goodwin family.  My father in law turned seventy-seven and we look forward to celebrating him when all this stuff is past us.

Well, that's about all I've got for this week.  Thanks for reading!  Love to all.

a few things about the people in my house

I used to do posts about the people in the house a long time ago, and I think I titled them "He".  I was inspired by another blogger to do this today, though, and to have it to look back on someday.  Crazy times!  

Graham and Todd have been working from home ever since mid-week last week, so it's still the same.  Today they both actually had to put on real suitable-for-the-public clothes and go do a couple of jobs.  Graham has worked on his truck, detailed his truck, deep cleaned his room, and binge watched tv shows on Netflix.   I think I heard him on the X-Box a couple of nights ago, too.  Periodically he will get in his truck and go drive.  His truck is a diesel and it really does need to be cranked and driven every day or so.  I think the dogs have enjoyed him being at home so much.  At least Crash has. 

He's gone and gotten takeout a few times since we've been told to stay home, and he comes downstairs every once in a while and sits and does this. 

I think more than anything he misses going to truck shows and meeting up with the friends he's made there.  Who knows when that will start back up.

Drew has been enjoying some much appreciated rest and relaxation.  His schedule is crazier than anyone I know, and I know he has loved the mornings to sleep in and the nights of not having to be anywhere.  He works from 7:15 to 9:15 every morning, most weeks, and also 3:15 to 6:15 at a Christian daycare.  In between that, he goes to school and keeps up his grades.  He came down at two today for lunch and told me how messed up on time he is right now, because he's been sleeping in every morning and staying up until 3 a.m. playing X-Box with friends over the internet.

His daycare has been closed this week for cleaning and it'll be closed again next week, and it hit him yesterday that he'll be away from his beloved kiddos there that he adores and that he'll be here and alone on his birthday a week from tomorrow.  Poor guy.

Other than that, he's loving the online school thing, because just last night Todd caught him "in class" while playing a video game.  He also thoroughly cleaned his room this week. 

Jonah has been bored out of his mind.  I've not made them start back to school yet, like I said I would, but he's been keeping busy.  Or trying to.  He's cleaned the garage out two different times now, and detailed three vehicles.  (For free.)  He stayed up until three a.m. one morning watching YouTube videos on how to construct some high shelving in the garage, and dreaming up the plans.  (And today they went and purchased the materials needed to complete the job.)

He's cleaned his room, he's gone to get takeout, he's gone for drives, he's been to the store for me, and he's played video games and watched a new show with Todd. 

Jonah loves to be busy and is very social, so this hasn't been the easiest for him, but overall, his attitude has been great.  He's been battling a sinus thing all week, and in the midst of all this, he's not been feeling great.  Just imagine what he can do when he feels great.

Noah has gone to work several times, and a couple of those times, he's been sent home early because they weren't busy.  He's played video games, cleaned their room, gone to the gas station and to get takeout, and laughed his head off with Drew. 

He's also really social, but he's also okay with being at home.  He offered to help his twin clean the garage the other day, but Jonah actually said he preferred to work alone, that everyone else would get in his way.

Todd has been binge watching a show on Netflix that I am ready for to be over, he's messed around in the garage, he's done a couple of honey do things for me, he's helped me by shopping at Costco, he took Crash to the vet, and he's worked. 

And you know what I've been doing. 

So that's us for now, and how we're all "handling" this.  Some days are really good, like today because of the sunshine, and some days are sad when things hit them, like Drew being at home alone on his birthday.  We're just taking things like everyone else, one day at a time, and staying off of all the media outlets.

I'm leaving you with my new favorite thing on the internet.  Click here to go listen to an incredible video of a bunch of singers in Nashville collaborating for a hymn sing type thing.

Thanks for reading!  Love to all. 

just another day and when all of us are at home

If I'm honest here, I have to confess something: I love that all of us are at home.  Not one vehicle was started yesterday, and you should have heard the things going on inside this house! 

I was so glad that Todd was home all of yesterday, because he helped Drew get all of his online school stuff set up.  At one point, Drew had both his laptop and mine upstairs trying to figure it all out.  He came across a couple of snags, though, and that's when he came downstairs to ask Todd for help.  It's nice having a tech guy living in the house with you.  Or three.  (Drew and Noah~not so much.)

Graham gave his room a good deep cleaning, then Drew did the same in his room, and then Jonah and Noah followed suit.  I love the sound of the vacuum when I'm not the one behind it.  Jonah was busy making plans in the garage most of the day, and he told us that on Sunday night he couldn't fall asleep, so he stayed up until after two a.m. watching YouTube videos on how to construct some shelves up high in the garage.  And I really think that he and Todd are going to do this today. 

Around four, Drew came down and asked Todd to play Monopoly with them, and they were all in the dining room for a couple of hours while I was busy getting dinner ready.  They finished their game around seven, and though Noah started the game by losing, he smoked them all by the end and made them all go broke.  This is where I need to tell you that we have sore losers in this house.  Ahem, Todd.  After that game, Jonah wanted to play sorry, so he, Noah, Todd and I sat down to play that, and after THAT, the four of us played Skipbo, in which I was the loser of every round. 

In between games, I made a pan of brownies for us. 

It was a fun night, and I feel like we all made the best of the situation.  Drew is enjoying time off this week, since his daycare that he works for is closed for cleaning.  I don't know if they'll open back up next week or not, I would imagine so because they could be considered an essential place of business, but Drew said he would find out today.

I sat in my car for close to an hour on a Zoom video call with some ladies from church.  It was interesting!  I had to sit in my car because my house is loud, what with all the people and dogs.  And at one point, Drew found me "hiding" and was very perplexed about what I was doing.  He cracked up when I flipped the phone around to show him the other ladies on the call.  It was so good to see familiar faces, though!  I miss seeing people.

Here is the SECOND time in a couple of days that Jonah cleaned the garage.  He pulled out all the shoes and the rack and cleaned it all up, got rid of some old shoes that just needed to be tossed, and then put them all back nicely. 

I'm not the only one who has loved having all the people at home.  Crash was getting in some quality snuggle time with Graham the other night.

While they were in the dining room finishing up their game of Monopoly, I sat for an hour and edited a current writing project.  I will be working on finishing this project all of this week and hopefully next week I can make the edits and send it in email form for other eyes to view it all.

This was lunch for me yesterday!  I haven't had pineapple salad in ages, and this hit the spot.  I may have it again today.

I've also been eating cottage cheese with fruit, thanks to my mom-in-love who mentioned it last week, and leftovers. 

I crossed over into the book of Joshua yesterday when I was catching up on Bible reading from Sunday, and it's so good! 

On the agenda for today is more of the same.  I slept a little later than normal (7:15 over the usual 5 or 6 something) and am just now finishing up coffee.  I hear someone in the shower, so I'm assuming Graham is going to do a job and then he'll come back home.  I think Todd may make a trip to Lowe's today for materials for projects inside the house.  I'll be cleaning a little, washing my hair, making the bed, doing laundry, and working on my closet and bedroom.  (I have a ton of pictures I need to take out of frames.)  At some point I'll do some writing, I'll read, and then I'll get started on tonight's dinner: breakfast casserole, pancakes, and fruit.

What are you working on today?  Share!  Thanks for reading.  Love to all. 

Monday {quarantined edition}

As far as weekends go, this one was good.  I got to get out on Sunday, which was so nice.  It was also incredibly weird, because I haven't been out that much in two weeks worth of time.

My husband worked a couple of shifts with the sheriff's department over the weekend, and I spent a couple of nights here with the tv to myself.  I watched some episodes of Call the Midwife, and I got caught up on my other shows.  I'm so bummed that season finales are coming up soon, and think it's so dumb how fast the shows go by now.  When I was young, a show would go from September-May.  Not we'll be lucky if a show makes it to April.

(First world problems.)

This was me on Saturday morning, when I made the horrible decision to watch the movie A Dog's Purpose.  I sobbed uncontrollably the entire movie.  I don't recommend watching it.

After that I switched to cooking shows.

I wrote some on this day, and I had my quiet time as normal and came across this.

I love coming across Dad's handwriting in my One Year Bible.  We have passed this Bible back and forth as we've read it over the years.

This was me at church on Sunday.  There were a very few select people there to put on the livestream service our church did.  We had a praise team and we led in worship, and then our pastor preached from the pulpit.  It was so good!  It was also extremely strange.  It was odd to sing to just a small group of people, knowing the majority were watching on screens in their living rooms.  It was weird seeing people when I haven't been out much in almost fourteen days.  It's still strange not hugging people, and I am a hugger!

I saw this and laughed because it's how I feel:

I also saw this on a friend's Facebook and laughed out loud, because duh.

I know you all must feel the same as me, about how we're in the kitchen all the time these days and that we keep on having to feed our people.  In light of that, what are y'all having for dinner this week?  I know I am in need of some ideas, and I'm sure you could use some as well.  Here is what I'm thinking for our week so far, but of course it's always subject to change:

Monday night: roasted turkey breast, broccoli and homemade macaroni and cheese
Tuesday night: breakfast casserole, pancakes, and fruit
Wednesday night: leftovers, and/or salad, sandwiches (they can pick and choose, but I'll have leftovers and toppings for salad)
Thursday night: stir fry veggies (and hopefully chicken) and rice (or fried rice)
Friday night: open for suggestions

By planning the week out this way, I won't have to go grocery shopping until Wednesday morning, hopefully, and it'll be for milk, eggs, and lunch things.

I'd love to hear your plans for another week at home and dinner ideas.

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.

Friday Favorites {edition twelve}

Happy Friday, friends.  Saying tha todayt is a little different, since we've all been home most of the week already.  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals, and her friends, for this blog post. 

I love that museums across the nation (world?) are offering virtual tours right now!  I plan on doing some of this today.  HERE is a link for you through USA Today.  Their page will take you directly to the participating museums. 

Having all my people home has been one of my favorite things this week.  I've seen them more this week than I have in the previous weeks, and last night as we sat around the dinner table over a delicious meal and laughed our heads off, my heart was full to overflowing.  I wouldn't have dreamed of getting up to sneak a picture either, I just treasured it in my heart and thanked the Lord for it. 

Speaking of family time, if you're in need of a show to watch, try this one!  Todd and I discovered it this week, and I love Melissa McCarthy in it, especially because she is appropriate and hilarious. 

Your kids would love watching this with you.  Jonah and Graham have both watched snippets of it with us over the last couple of nights.

Another thing I've loved is that on Instagram, a couple people I follow have been putting on "shows" for their Instagram followers.  One is Natalie Grant and her husband Bernie Herms, and they've been performing a song a day.  The first one I watched was her singing His Eye Is on the Sparrow, and I was moved to tears.  Last night they played/sang a song from The Preacher's Wife.  The other one is Cassie Sugarplum, and her husband has been playing music on the piano.  I love hearing him play.  Music is definitely one of my favorite tools right now, and I always love it, but even more so here lately. 

Fresh flowers are always one of my favorite things.  I got some when I grocery shopped on Wednesday.  I was walking to the produce department, and just so happened to pass the flowers on my way, so it was inevitable.

I read something this morning, about doing little things to lift your spirits, and they mentioned lighting candles.  I do that a lot usually, but I haven't this week.  I don't know why, now is a perfect time to light one.  I love for things to smell good and to look pretty.

Reading has been my favorite way to pass time, and these are the books I'm reading.

One of my favorite things in all the world is a cleaned kitchen.  I have this routine every night in that before I go to bed, I go through the kitchen and make sure it's all clear of glasses/dishes, that the countertops are cleaned and wiped off, and that the coffee pot is ready to brew as soon as I come downstairs the next morning.  This was me going through that routine a few nights ago.

(Thanks, Google, for your images.)

I've been reading in Psalms a lot this week, and I've written out several chapters in a notebook I found.  I'm still doing my normal scripture writing plan, too, and I'm still reading along in the Bible chronologically.  Now is the time to amp all that up, with all this time on my hands, and God's word has brought some much needed comfort to my anxious heart.

Things like this have made me laugh this week, and that is always a favorite thing.  I would say now is the time to also start watching something to bring that out in you.  If ever there were "comfort shows" on our streaming devices, now is the time to watch them.  I haven't watched a lot of tv this week, but when I turn it on, I tend to go back to my old favorites. 

Well, I have to get out in just a bit for one quick errand, so I'm going to wrap this up and start on the day.  Thanks for reading, and love to all!

what we've been up to during this strange time

I thought I'd share a little bit of what we've all been doing since COVID19 has overtaken the world.  Plus, my blog is mainly for my own self, and I'd like to have some of this documented so that I can look back on this strange time.

The first thing I have to say that I've been doing is laughing over images I see on social media.  I don't need to read any posts that make me anxious, and I keep unfollowing people on Facebook, but I can definitely appreciate some posts that make me laugh.  I need to laugh.  Needless to say, when I saw this next image, I laughed out loud and had to send it to the ongoing group text my sisters, mom, and neice having going.

Is this not hilarious?  I am one such person in need of some fresh highlights, and I only do it three times a year, and now this has stopped me from going.  You just have to laugh.

And then I thought I'd share the natural highlights that are coming in, and now I'm seriously just contemplating letting all the color grow out and letting it gray naturally.  My late friend Kari did this with her hair, and it was beautiful.  I'll keep you posted.

(A lot of the underneath of my hair is this way...for some reason it's comig in more underneath than on top, though I do also have some grays on top.)

This is me.  I spent a crazy amount of money on groceries yesterday, and it'll last a week, hopefully more.  We'll see.  I'm texting with my friend as I write this, and we're talking about how the stores keep running out of meat.  And about that, I will say this: people need to stop hoarding and stockpiling.  They need to buy what they need, and ONLY what they need, because the ones like me who are doing that will eventually run out of meat, because I'm trying to just make it through a week as a family of six.

And for all my friends who have freezers full of food, I'll be calling on you when I run out.

Kroger, Walmart, and all the other stores need to put a limit on what people can buy.

Okay, rant over, and I'm not talking about that again.

I've loved writing out some Psalms!  I found a new unused notebook and I've been picking one chapter of Psalm a day to write out.  This was Psalm 1.

Yesterday, our garage got cleaned out.  This is a big deal.  With all these people in the house, things get put out of place and all the stuff keeps edging its way more and more towards my car.  They spent a couple hours out there yesterday afternoon straightening up everything, throwing things to the curb for trash or recycle pickup, and sweeping out the floor.  It's so nice having that all cleaned out.

The boys have been mostly at home.  They might go play basketball at an outdoor court where nobody else is, or they might go to the gas station to get a drink, they may drive through to get food, or they may go to a friend's house, but it's always less than ten, and they're not really out in the "public".  It's hard on them, this whole social distancing thing, but they know there's nothing we can do about it, so they're all accepting it.  Drew has actually gone by himself to ATC the past few nights, but there's not anyone else around hardly.

Jonah came home last night and asked if anything like this had ever happened before in our lifetime, and our answer was no.  I keep thinking to myself how weird all of this is.  I've met people in the grocery store who are just as baffled as me about how they keep running out of meat and produce, along with rice, pasta, and beans.  In my personal opinion, I feel like this will die down in a few weeks and especially when warmer weather hits.  That's why I feel like people should calm down, but I know a lot of those people just don't know Jesus.  I don't even want to imagine the shape I'd be in without Him, and I have family members who are lost, and I am praying for them even harder now than before.  He alone can bring us peace.  (If that's you, reach out!  I'd love to talk more about this with you if you don't know Him.)

I've been keeping things as normal as I can during these days with all of us at home.  I like to straighten up each night and get things ready for the next morning, so I took this last night as I was on my way up to bed.

I updated this little area and added more to this board.  I keep piddling around and doing things like this to help pass the time.  I have cleaned and organized and done just about anything else you can think of to keep from being bored.  I'm not used to staying home so many consecutive days in a row, and in eleven days time, I've gotten out four times.  Twice I've gone to church, and twice I've gone to the grocery store.

Speaking of church, we're having ours livestreamed beginning this week.  That being said, we're going about it as normal, and there will be a small praise band and praise team to lead worship, a small tech team, and our pastor will be there preaching.  I love that it'll seem like normal, but with no one there in attendance.

I love for things to look pretty, so I've been buying fresh flowers every three weeks.  The ones at Kroger are so inexpensive and last forever.  I change the water every few days and keep trimming the bottom to keep them from getting gunky.

As I write this, Graham is getting ready to go do a job for their company, and then he'll come back home if he doesn't get another service call.  Drew got sent home from his work until one today, because they're down in their number of kids.  And Jonah and Noah are still sleeping.  Why not?  It's still spring break for them.

Todd and I started a new show last night on Hulu, called Little Big Shots, and it's so good!  I highly recommend it.  Melissa McCarthy is the host (and in this she is both clean and hilarious), and it's all about kids and the great things some of them do.  It is funny and very heartwarming and something the whole family would enjoy.

That's about all we've been up to....I've also been reading a lot, and I told my best friend I'd share my books with her, because I think the libraries will close down eventually.

What have you and your family been doing to stay busy/sane?  I'd love to hear!

Well, thanks for reading!  Love to all.

women in the word Wednesday

I thought I'd share a few verses out of the book of Psalm that I love and think will bring comfort to you.  And I don't know about you, but when I'm in distress, I like to camp out in the book of Psalm.  Just yesterday afternoon as I waited for dinner to finish cooking, I found a new unused notebook, and I wrote out Psalm 62.  (I'm memorizing a few verses out of that chapter.)

(Thanks to Google images for all these photos.)

Remember how I mentioned this particular verse yesterday, and the last seven chapters of Psalm being like "Psalm Prescriptions"?

The Lord is near to us.  All we have to do is call on Him.  I don't know about you, but sometimes when I pray, I don't always have the words to say.  It depends on how overwhelmed I am at that time.  But all I have to do is say His name, and He knows what is on my heart.  Prayer is the most under used thing we do, as a whole for all of us.  How many times do we talk about things to our friends or spouses, but we don't take them to God in prayer?  I am guilty of that, too.  He reminds me of this often.  I love this reminder for all times, not just for when times difficult.

I cannot read this verse without singing the song from Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir in my head.  (Google it, I'm having issues not being able to embed it from YouTube.)  I love the 34th Psalm!  I've always loved it, but when we seek Him, He answers us and delivers us from fears.  I love all of that Psalm, and it may do you good to read it in its entirety for yourself.  And again with the writing it out...I know not everyone likes to write like me, but it's proven that when we write things out, we remember it better.  I want these beautiful truths to stay planted in my mind.

Some days, I listen to this song over and over.

Psalm 91 is another great chapter to read, and it's one of my favorites.  I memorized some of the verses from this chapter years ago when the Lord had me read this after Noah was involved in a minor accident.  God really did protect Noah and covered him with His feathers.  (Read the Psalm.)

A friend mentioned Psalm 37 to me yesterday, and these are the verses that jumped out to me.

I was so encouraged by my friends yesterday.  I thank the Lord for the ones He has given me, and yesterday I was involved in several texting threads, and we were all passing along encouragement back and forth.  It was the sweetest thing, and I felt very thankful for all of them in those moments.  I do not take them or our relationships lightly.

Today starts a new thing for all of us, and it's that my hubby made the call to stay at home everyday until they get a call for work.  They repair medical equipment, and they're slow right now, so it's a little wasteful to make the drive to their office if they don't have a lot going on.  So, he will be here, and Graham will be here, and they'll be working from home for who knows how long.

Prayerfully, the Lord helps us all get along and to extend grace to one another.

On my agenda for today is going to get my teeth cleaned (it's been way too long) and then (maybe) attempting a trip to the grocery store.  I'm officially out of meat, though we do have things to tide us over if my trip is unsuccessful.

I need to pray for dinner inspiration, with all of us at home.  I'm not even kidding.  I always get into dinner ruts.  Feel free to share some suggestions!  I'm looking for good and easy.

On another note, I just found out that a huge church in my area will be livestreaming their women's Bible study tonight, so I am making plans to participate in that when it starts at six or six thirty.  I thought I'd share that with you, in case a church in your area does that same thing.  This church is Bellevue that I'm talking about, a mega church in Memphis.  Their women are studying the book of John together, and the pastor's wife Donna Gaines and a Bible study author and teacher Jean Stockdale take turns teaching.  They're both phenomenal!  I also found out yesterday that you can access sermons from Jim Cymbala on the Brooklyn Tabernacle website.  And you can do that on my own church's website.  Click here and scroll down.

Thanks for reading!  I pray these verses encourage you.  Love to all.