Friday Favorites, 4.9.21

 

Happy Friday, friends! I am linking up with Andrea and Erica for my favorite blog post of the week.

It's been such a great week, one of my favorites to date, if I'm being completely honest. I'll tell you why at the end of this post. 

I was totally making fun of myself when I shared this on my Instagram story yesterday, but this is probably my favorite kind of lunch. I had slices of sharp cheddar cheese with that same amount of crackers, celery with salt, fruit and Twizzlers. The Twizzlers is why I was laughing at myself. It's all about a healthy balance, right? I love to munch on things like this for lunch and I try to have some variation of this same thing everyday. 

I rarely brag about my sons, but I have to do that for a few minutes. It's not my nature to do this, but sometimes we have to just profess to someone how proud we are of our kids. I looked out the window yesterday while I was cleaning and found one of my favorite scenes playing out before me. Jonah is such a great young man and one of the kindest people you'll ever meet. All of my sons are this way, actually and you can tell by the way they treat other people and animals. Anyway, Jonah picked up our little neighbor yesterday from his elementary school and after he finished cleaning his truck and put all of his equipment away, he went across the street to play basketball with Lane. Lane is basically Jonah when Jonah was in the third grade. I think this is the sweetest thing ever and Jonah has no idea the impact on this young boy's life that he is making. I got a little emotional over this picture.

Jonah (in the black shirt) was about that age that Lane is now when I took this picture of this group of boys at kids camp one summer. I can't believe they're all graduating. All of these young boys have remained friends over the years. I love that!

I took this yesterday as I was sitting and writing on the new Bible study we're currently working on. Thursdays are for writing, apparently! I got a lot accomplished. Twinkle's favorite thing is to get up in the window sill and watch the outdoors unfold before her. She wants to go out so badly, but she doesn't have claws, and I think it's mean to put her out there with no defenses mechanism. 

According to all the comments, a favorite blog post that I wrote this week is this one called Currently. I love writing these types of posts and having them to look back on each month.

I needed a boost one afternoon before I started on dinner and enjoyed this snack above, which is one of my favorites. The salty of the cheese-its and the cold chocolate milk are all of my favorite combinations.

This is my favorite picture of my dad! Sandy sent this to us this week. It was him dressed up for church on Resurrection Sunday. 

Nail days (and hair days) are my favorite days! I love this shade of  turquoise. It's been ages since I've done a shade of blue. I've become boring and usually go with white or shades of pink. In the cold months, I lean a little gothic (thanks, 90's) and go with dark purples and blacks or grays. 

One of my very favorite things in all of the world is for this table to be full of guys. I love to feed people! The more, the merrier. This was us having a special dinner for Drew on Sunday night. I love having all these guys come and go from our house. It's very rarely just us for dinner. 

These last two pictures are why this week has been one of my favorite weeks to date. I started reading this book last week because I am in a class on Wednesday nights that my Pastor is teaching on it. This little book has changed the course of my week, friends. I know most of you know that I am a believer and I am very consistent in how I spend time with Jesus each day, but sometimes I get into a very deep prayer rut. Do you know what that feels like? Your prayers feel dull and mundane. Well, I picked up this book and come to find out, it wasn't that I've been in a prayer rut, it's that I've not been spending enough time with Jesus in prayer. I have a terrible of rushing through prayer and then spending time reading His Word, but it shouldn't be like that. So, each day since I started reading this, which was last Friday, I've been spending a solid 30-45 minutes in prayer each day. I know that seems like a long time, but when you pray according to the acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) and spend a good amount of time in each of those areas, it FLIES BY. 

I don't even remember what I pray, I just know that before I know it, I am pouring out my heart to the Lord in prayer and all of that time has slipped right by. I've felt closer to Him all week long, because I've been drawing near to Him. James 4:8 says that when we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. It's so true! I share that not to brag, but to encourage you. Try it for yourself! Don't spend this time as you're doing other things, get somewhere quiet and alone and dedicate a set amount of time to Him everyday. The author of this book does suggest 30-60 minutes a day with Him and that's the amount of time I've been setting aside for Him. He includes Bible reading in this time with God. 

If you want more information, reach out to me! My email address is allboys@gmail.com. I'd love to talk to you more about this. Prayer is such a vital part of our relationship with God. Imagine not talking to your best friend everyday—after days in a row of that, you will eventually grow apart. That's what happens between us and the Lord when we don't spend time with Him. I just want you to know that you can start this daily habit NOW. I firmly believe there is no time like the present. 

I've been getting creative in my spots for this time each day. I have to move around and switch up my routine or it becomes rote. On Wednesday morning, I made my second cup of coffee and went to sit on our swing on the deck. I am sure the neighbors were probably wondering who I was talking to, but I didn't let that stop me. I encourage you to do the same!

Well, thanks for reading my blog, friends! I hope you have a great weekend. Love to all.