weekending/Hello Monday/Not Just a Mom link parties (1.9.23.)

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday, and Jen and some other ladies for the Not Just a Mom link parties. Before I start, and for this month's topic of "introductions" on the NJAM link up, I'm sharing a picture and the caption I posted on Instagram and Facebook Friday night. 

Major life update: I am the newest teaching assistant at one of our local elementary schools! I have so much to say that I can't even begin to do that here and won't try, but basically, the Lord Himself created the perfect job for me that was totally unexpected and dropped it right into my lap. I applied a week ago, the principal emailed me on Monday, I interviewed yesterday and was offered the job this morning! It's been a whirlwind, but I'm so thankful how the Lord worked in my heart, through the words of my friend Kim, and the prayers of other family members and friends. In the words of my current fav worship song Sovereign by Chris Tomlin, all my life, from beginning to end, is in the hands of my Almighty God. ❤️ I can't wait to start my new (full time) job!

I just copied and pasted what I shared on those social media sites to my blog, because I don't have additional information yet. I'm writing this on Sunday morning, so with the timing of when all of this went on during my day Friday, the school offices had closed. I received a congratulatory email from the school district, with the promise of an email to come early this week. So, I've been hired, but I don't know when I'll start yet, though I sort of assume it'll be within the next week, maybe two. I'll keep you posted, but I can't even BEGIN to tell you how excited I am about this fun, new opportunity! I still have so many words to say about it all, but I'll save them for a later day. Read what the actual lyrics to my current favorite worship song say:

In your everlasting arms

All the pieces of my life

From beginning to the end

I can trust you.

The song is Sovereign, by Chris Tomlin. There are so many things that happened along the way in this happening, including the fact that I was not looking for a job other than the one I have right this moment. I actually applied for a different position, but this is the one that was meant for me. 

Now, about my weekend, and on a much lighter note...

Have you watched this yet?! Todd and I watched it Thursday night per the recommendation of our oldest son, and it was excellent. There are so many good people in this movie!

This is my favorite way to start a morning at home. Since I've been working part time in August, my mornings are so different, and they're about to become even more so. That being said, I was able to stay pretty caught up with my Bible reading in 2022 from August until December 31st, and finished reading the Bible in chronological order again, but I wanted to do something totally different in 2023. Instead of reading through the whole Bible, I'm just reading through portions of it, starting with the book of Psalm and slowly working my way through. I'm also doing a daily devotional, and I'm memorizing Scripture. My first verse to memorize this year was Psalm 98:1, which says, "Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his strong arm have worked salvation for him." 

My second verse to memorize in 2023 is Jeremiah 33:3, which says, "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." I subscribed one time to a way of studying God's word through a website called The James Method. If you're interested in learning more about this, click on that link and read about it for yourself. I've been so pleased that I paid one time for a membership...it was around $10, and I receive all kinds of tools and resources to help me study. I am a lifelong student of God's word! 

I loved having Dad at our house on Friday! It was so good to see him in his spot on the couch, and I love this picture of him looking at Jonah. Jonah was showing Dad something on his phone and I couldn't help but to take this picture on the down low. Dad and I left here to go put gas in my car shortly after this, I took him home, then I went to Mom's for dinner. Our food was delicious! Todd worked that night, so when I got home, I watched a show and went to bed to read. I was up early on Saturday morning, and per my weekly tradition, I watched this movie.

It's been ages since I've seen this—I probably haven't seen it since it was in the theaters! That was back when I paid money to go see movies, which I rarely do these days. I prefer to watch them from the comfort of our home. I saw this image below as I watched and loved it and wanted to share it with you as well. 

Isn't that great? And true? I used to spend so much time worrying about other people, what they did, and what they thought. It was exhausting! I finally realized, that they only person I need to worry about is myself. I can work on myself and nobody else, not even our sons. They're all adults, we have raised them, and did our best to teach them, but I no longer worry and fret over them. They're adults, and they have the freedom to make their own choices. I pray for them, I encourage them, I offer my thoughts and advice when they ask for it, but they do what they want. If they're dumb about something, they pay the price for their mistake (and there have been a few, trust me), and they learn a lesson the hard way. Of course I love them and don't want them to do dumb things, but when they do, I trust God that there is a lesson for them learn in the process. For Christians, this is called the sanctification process. It's a daily process that shapes and molds us into who we someday become. 

This is the book I'm using to help me along in reading and studying the book of Psalms. It's a great resource! A friend from church gave this to me back in 2020. 

I went out on Saturday with my sisters. We never get to do that, and since one was here in town and Mom didn't feel well, it was just us. We had so much fun! We went to a beauty supply place, where I bought two new hair clips and a silk scrunchy, then we went to lunch at a place that was new to us all—Moondance Grill.

Look at my amazing lunch! I had lettuce wraps. It was really good, there was just so much food that I couldn't eat it all. We did a few more things after lunch, then I came home around two thirty. Todd and I went out for Vietnamese again Saturday night, to a place that was a bit more our speed, and had a delicious dinner. He had the pho again, but I had a beef vermicelli bowl. 

It's warm spicy beef, rice noodles, carrots, and some other veggies that is served with a side of dressing to pour over it all. I doctored it up with soy sauce and sriracha, but I ate more than half of what they brought out. It was a LOT of food! We got frozen yogurt afterward—both of us had dark chocolate—then we came home and watched a movie. It was the perfect date night.

We were both at church early on Sunday, then home after for lunch. Drew came over for a few minutes for something quick, then Todd went to work, I started watching Friday Night Lights again on Netflix, then I went to Mom's for dinner. I was back home before eight, and watched tv, and worked on blog posts for the rest of this week. Speaking of that, when my new job starts, I'm not sure how often I'll be posting. I might cut back on some of the posting until I get the hang of working full time, but I will keep the link parties going and will be here at least two or three times a week, hopefully. I'll have to see how it all goes, but you'll know by the frequency you see when the time comes. 

(Sunday outfit check, as always.)

How was your weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends! I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!