Fabulous Friday

Happy Friday to you! 

Today I am taking a few minutes to express things that are making this particular Friday "fabulous." It's kind of another way to say what I am thankful for 😀

Answers to prayers

Gorgeous blue skies

Comfy clothes

Dinner in the crock-pot

Being able to joke with Elijah during school

Saying absurd things just to hear my kids laugh

Friends who check in on you

Sisters

Next two weeks of meals planned

Next two weeks of groceries ordered

 Elijah grasping a math concept he has struggled with all week

Laundry finished for the week

School finished for the week

Music to listen to when working

School set for next week

A hubby who works hard

Time to do what I want

Time to relax

Family time

Captivating book: "Things we didn't say" by Amy Lynn Green

Kayla knowing she could call me last night, (even after I was asleep) because she needed to talk 💗

These are just a few of the things that are making me thankful for Friday this week. What are you loving/thankful/grateful for this week? I would love to hear from you!!! 

 

Finding Quiet

What a timely book for all that is going on in the world today! With a pandemic, election, hurricane season and so much more, it is increasingly difficult to find quiet. This is something that Jamie Grace knows something about, especially in a field where she gets paid to be loud. I had only known of Jamie as a singer, but really enjoyed learning more about her through her writing of this book. One of the things that Jamie said that really struck me is that, "So many times we have the opportunity to face our pain, but we choose to allow noise to cover it instead." Instead of choosing noise to cover the pain, we need to embrace the quiet and see what God wants us to learn from that season, or experience. Another thought that she expressed was the freedom to "allow yourself to feel." Some of the chapters had questions at the end for journaling and reflection, taking the book beyond simply reading, to a more thought-provoking read, encouraging you to process and learn from what you are reading. As Jamie is encouraging us to find quiet, she is also giving glimpses into what inspired some of her songs. This is an easy book to read, with lots of nuggets of good information, and sprinkled with appropriate Scripture throughout. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is struggling to find quiet in the midst of chaos.

 

Books, books, books

 If you know me at all, you know I LOVE to read. I am either reading a book, teaching from a book, researching from a book, deciding what book to read next, or adding books to my to be read pile. My dream job would be to read for a living, I truly love it that much. Matt and I both love to read and we have passed this love of reading on to our kids. 

Recently I asked a group that I am a part of for suggestions for humorous books. I don't know about you, but with the stress of 2020 I find that there are times I just need to read something less serious. One of the authors suggested to me was Michelle Pennington, specifically her Shaped by Love series. Can I just say how much I loved this series?? I literally laughed out loud with her books. Her first book in the series is "A Man Worth Shaving For." With my sarcastic nature, even the title struck my funny bone, much to Elijah's chagrin. It embarrassed him a little bit. But, as I was reading the book, he would get tickled at me laughing and told me how happy he was that I was amused. Laughter truly is contagious. I felt like the first and third books of this series were the best (the fourth is not out yet), but if you are looking for something funny to read, I highly recommend all these books. They are labeled Christian fiction, but they are not at all "preachy." (I know that can be a turn off for many) One of the main messages across these books was having a healthy view of your body image. Isn't that something that most people struggle with? The comparison game? Our body image? Again, I highly recommend them.

One of the ways that I keep up with the books I read and the ones I want to read is through a Goodreads account. What are you reading? Have you read anything funny recently? If so, please share!! How do you keep up with what you read? Do you have a Goodreads account? If so, please let me know, I would love to follow you, I am always looking for new books/authors to read :)

It's been a while

 It's interesting, but I haven't written here in over two years. Life got crazy, but I had also been told that the blogs were no longer going to be active with changes that were being made to the platform. Imagine my surprise when I looked and found this still active! So, this is more of a test post to see if my account is indeed still active. I have missed writing here, so hopefully this will work. Fingers crossed, posting now.