things I'm excited about & one thing I'm dreading

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I thought I'd share about some things I'm excited about right now and also some things I am dreading. The order of my thoughts will happy➡️sad➡️happy. I never like to end on a sad note. I'll jump in now! 

I'm so excited about my niece and greats coming next week! 

The last time I saw them was when I was there visiting last fall, and I know they're even more grown. I'll see them at the end of this month, and I'll see them again in July, when I'm going there to visit again; I am excited about a summer trip to Colorado. I'd love to do something new and different this time. I'm also excited to talk about all things involving homeschooling with her; we could go on and on about this for hours. 

While I'm excited to see them next week, I'm also dreading next week, because Noah is moving to Dallas. I've been in denial about this since September, when he first decided that he was moving within a year from that time. Remember when he was in Dallas last July and was involved in a wreck? Ever since he came home from that trip, he started preparing us by telling us that he was moving within one year's time. I'm super proud of him for following through with this, even if I hate to see him to leave, but honestly? I don't blame him for wanting to leave Memphis for something better involving his future. That's another blog post for another time, though. 

Anyway, I'm so glad we were at Mom's and Bill's on Sunday so that he could spend time with them before he leaves next week. I can't put into words the dread I have in my heart over him moving. It could be worse, and he could be going so much farther away, but I can't help but wonder if that once he gets there he'll love it and stay there forever. He may do that, and he may not, but I trust the Lord that there's a reason he's moving there. His plans are always perfect and far better than anything we could ever dream or hope for. Proverbs 16:9 says that a person's heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. 

Ironically enough, as I am writing all of that about Noah, I'm listening to this song above. I'm going to write the lyrics, because they are from Psalm 121 and have been such a blessing to me the last few weeks in regards to my son moving and me being strengthened and encouraged through Scripture that is being sung over me. Here are the lyrics to the song, but you should listen to it if you have some spare time; it's beautiful!

I lift my eyes and see

I need not be afraid

All my help comes from the Lord

Who the earth and sky has made

He will keep you from all evils

Behind you and before

He will sustain you, through this journey

From now and evermore.

The Lord will never sleep,

My steps He has ordained;

For the One who holds the night

Is the Sovereign of my days.

He will keep you from all evils,

Behind you and before.

He will sustain you, through this journey

From now and evermore.

I keep praying this blessing over Noah using those lyrics: 

Lord, keep Noah from all evil,

help him to know that you are behind him and before.

Sustain him through this journey,

from now and evermore

Lord, you never sleep;

Noah's steps You have ordained.

You're the One who holds the night,

You are the Sovereign of our days.

Please keep him from all evil,

go behind him and before.

Sustain him through this journey,

both now and evermore. Amen.

 

On a much lighter note, now that I've made myself cry...🤣

I'm really excited for something new I am starting in June—I am starting my first in-real-life book club! I may be looking into book club names as I write this post. 🤣

It's coming together really nicely! There are definitely three of us who are committed right this moment, with a possibility of four more ladies that I know. I've heard that to have a successful book club, it needs to be small in number, maybe from 5-10 people. If that is the case, this one is shaping up perfectly. I tried this before one summer several years ago, and  there were way too many women! Nobody read the book, and the ones of us who did never even talked about it; all we did was socialize. Don't get me wrong, I love that kind of night, but I was so irritated that our "book club" was nothing about books! 

The Lord will bring the ones that need to be there, I am not worried about that at all. We'll take turns making suggestions for books, and will talk about what we're reading next while we're there for our first meeting. I'm keeping it low key and we're meeting the first Monday night of each month, at a restaurant from 6:30-8:30; I also want us to take turns "hosting", because that we could all have a turn picking both the book and the next month's location. Of course, some people may not want to host, so if that's the case we'll just move onto the next person. Which of the names above do you like? Do you have any suggestions? We're all in our 40's or 50's, and there is one who is in her late 60's. My favorite so far is The Laugh Lines Literary Society. I'm basically over here living my dream by starting a book club. I have dreamed about this for YEARS! There are some younger friends that I have that are in a book club; they call themselves The Novelties, which is where I got my idea for naming us. It may seem silly, but this is bringing me tremendous joy right now! 

I actually have a really cool story to share about how the Lord is putting us together as a group, but it's not really mine to tell, so you'll have to trust me. I'll just say that we're all around the same age, our kids are all around the same age, and a few of us are in very similar life situations. Even the first book that we're reading together all plays a part in the big picture of it all, but the Lord really is putting it all together! I never want to get over the awe and wonder of Him when He blows my mind with details like the ones that I just figured out yesterday. I immediately had to call my best friend and share it with somebody, because she's the only one who would appreciate that kind of thing. Also, her mind was blown by my story yesterday. 

I may or may not have gotten a cute little book club reading log on Saturday and a t-shirt from Old Navy that was on clearance two weeks ago! Seriously, I bought the t-shirt before I even knew I was going to start a book club!

I love it; isn't it funny how all the details worked out? What is something you're excited about now? Are you dreading anything? I want to hear all your answers! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all! 

I'm linking up with Joanne for this post.

Jenn 🩷❤️