Happy Friday, Friends! I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals (and her friend Shaeffer) for this blog post.
Before I begin, I have something to confess. A week or two ago, I saw this and died.
Ever since then, I've been only using one space between punctuation. I am loving it and it is life-changing.
Okay, I'll carry on with this post now.
Earlier in the week Toddley hung this new wheel barrow. Since he took these pictures, he did go back and make modifications to make it safer and to ensure it would stay put up on the ceiling like this. One of my favorite things is being creative with the space we have, and this is no exception! I'm impressed with his ingenuity.
Another favorite thing is when work gets done around the house. This week we're having concrete poured for our new sidewalk leading to the front door. We will have a bit of extra concrete left when they're done, so Toddley is also making a concrete pad for the trash and recycling bins to sit on. He started that on Wednesday and will finish in a day or two, hopefully. (The concrete guys started Wednesday to build the frame, and will come back today to finish.)
A favorite from the week was having my sister Debi here in town from Denver. I haven't seen her since Christmas, so it was long overdue. She came in last Thursday and stayed through Wednesday morning, and the visit was so good and seemed long. In the picture with the four of us, it's Debi in the front seat with me on the left, then Mom is behind her and Trish is behind me. Anytime Debi is here without our other sister Lisa, we miss her. We had fun running around together while Debi was here, and I got some good quality time in. Quality time is my favorite.
Podcasts are one of my favorite things. I love when someone suggests one that is new to me, so consider this me suggesting this one above to you. I love Joanna Weaver's writing, and her podcast is equally as good. On this particular episode, which is the first of two, she featured my favorite author. (Robin Jones Gunn.)
This man above is someone who was around in my younger years and was the pastor of a huge church in our area. This is Dr. Adrian Rogers, and he is still much loved even years after his death. He was known for speaking the truth in love, and in this picture his daughter was sharing what he would have said today, regarding this crazy time in life. He would have said, "This world is getting gloriously dark! It's not falling apart, it's falling to Jesus."
I couldn't agree more with that statement.
Getting fun mail is my favorite! On Wednesday, I received this book after ordering it from Amazon. Sophie Hudson is another favorite author of mine, as is Melanie Shankle, and their writing styles are similar. Both of them are known for writing memoirs in which they share about life, struggles and how the Lord carries them through it all.
Also on Wednesday, I got my nails done and that is always a favorite day. So is this color! It's a dip powder color, but it's called Pure White.
I love that they feel and look nice, but my favorite part of getting them done is talking with the sweet lady who does them. Alayna is the only one I've ever gone to at the place I go now, and I have enjoyed getting to know her. She knows I love Jesus, and I try to find moments in our talking that I can bring Him up. She knows I'm a believer and she knows how much I love Him and want everyone to know Him in the same way. She knows I pray for her and I pray that she can always see Jesus in me. I pray often that the Lord would use me in my daily life, and I believe that He does give me opportunities to share about Him. It's not easy for me to do that, and evangelism is not my spiritual gift, but we all have a responsbility with all of the spiritual gifts. That means if we know Jesus we should share about Him everywhere we go. I think more than anything else, our attitudes with the people around us are what people notice. I think we need to make sure our smiles are genuine and that we genuinely express a concern for who we're around.
Talking about Jesus is my very favorite, just ask my best friend Missy and she'll tell you He is what we most talk about when we talk thirty seven times in one day.
This picture is my new favorite. Graham had come in from work and was passing through when he stopped to give all the pups a little treat. He knelt down and loved on them for several minutes, and I snuck this picture. On Instagram this week, I shared about how you can tell a LOT about people by how they treat animals. You can also tell a lot about people by the way animals respond to them.
I pray that all of my sons gain wives someday who loves dogs as much as they do.
Tuesday of this week was the day that marked the ten year anniversary of us returning home from a two week trip to Iceland. I took a major trip down Memory Lane this week and went through all the pictures and ended up writing a Throwback Thursday post about it yesterday. In doing so, my heart was flooded with all the warm fuzzies as I remembered our time there and all that the Lord did on that trip. I had several "God things" happen on that trip that I wrote about yesterday, so if you're interested in reading more about, keep scrolling and you'll see the post below this one.
God things are my favorite moments in life. It's a moment in time when God does something nobody else could do and that you can't explain.
The pictures above are some of my other favorites from the trip. It was a once in a lifetime trip and I would love to go back someday and visit Mike and Sheila Fitzgerald, our friends and missionaries who live there. I will never forget all the memories, which is why I like to share about it again periodically. It's scriptural to remember things, did you know that? If we don't remember where we came from or what God brought us out from, we could slip back into old patterns. It's good to remember so that we can remember God's faithfulness in each moment of our lives.
Other favorites from the week include sitting at my kitchen table with Debi while she did work and I did work. We each sat quietly and worked on our laptops for a bit, then we went outside and sat on the swing on the deck.
Another favorite moment was when my friend Amy from church came to my house. We had set up a time to meet at the church, but I was without a car that day so she came to me. I love having people here in my home, and I don't do it often anymore because of our dogs. It was a great reminder to not let the pesky dogs stop me from inviting people in. I put two of them upstairs in closed off rooms, and I left the old man Crash downstairs with us. He loved Amy and immediately laid down on the floor with his head resting on her.
I'm going to leave you with one last thing and I will wrap this post up. It's something my friend posted on social media this week, and it's one of my favorite things I've seen all week. The picture looks a bit deceiving, and I hesitated in sharing because it looks like she is topless; she is not, she has on a bathing suit. You'll see it in the picture.
(It's just riding up a bit in the back, but the point of me sharing this isn't the picture, but these words I will share below in bold and italicized.)
push yourself to get up before the rest of the world - start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. go to the nearest hill with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise.
push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable. lie in your garden, feel the sunshine on your skin.
get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else.
stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything.
buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.
buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small.
strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. wash, then hang them in the sunshine with care. make your bed in full.
dig your fingers into the earth, plant a seed. see your success as it grows everyday.
organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle.
breathe. practice your deep breathing. ground yourself.
have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck.
push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dog’s behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog.
message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. push yourself to follow through.
think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything.
become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. help an animal. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends.
lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. open your eyes.
take small steps to make it happen for you...”
(Author: Emma Elsworthy)
I think all of what the author wrote is some pretty great advice. We would all do well if we followed some of it and by "we", I mean those of us who are believers in and followers of Jesus in this dark world.
Thanks for reading. Love to all.
I love the typing picture reference :). I grew up listening to Dr. Rogers a lot and have some old sermons of his on CD's. Glad you had a great visit with your sister and your nails look great! Enjoy the weekend!
ReplyDeleteI loved it too and have loved retraining myself. This new way is so much easier and wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. That is neat that you grew up listening to him. I did not, but I discovered him in my early twenties as a new and young wife and mom...I remember hiding in my kitchen while I listened to his old messages with my coffee and a notebook and pens. I would furiously take notes and listen intently while my baby and toddler either napped, played nearby, or watched a movie. Those were the days! Thanks~I hope you have a great weekend, too!
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