Youth Retreat

Last weekend was Kayla's eighteen birthday. One of the things that Kayla had requested was "if at all possible bring the youth group up for the weekend." We made it a youth retreat weekend and surprised her by showing up with everyone Friday afternoon. The closer we got the more we started talking about Amish people. We passed several Amish homes, several Amish buggies, and even saw some Amish kids playing in their front yard!

 Once we got there, Kayla and her roommate, Julia, took our group on a tour of the campus. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and after being cooped up in the van all day, it was nice to stretch our legs. After the tour we grabbed Kayla's stuff and left campus. We stopped at Walmart to grab a few groceries and headed to the house where we were going to be staying for the weekend. We explored the house and yard a little bit, got our stuff set up and then the pizza showed up. We ate dinner, sang happy birthday to Kayla, then we had our first service of the weekend. After the service we played games, chatted, and got ready for bed. Lights out was at 11pm.

Saturday morning we had breakfast, did our service...and then was interrupted by something moving in the yard! Upon closer inspection it appeared to be a groundhog. I won't say which young adults ran into the yard (one barefoot), trying to investigate further. Nor will I say which one grabbed a stick and started poking the hole that the groundhog had disappeared in. All I could see was visions of that thing coming out of its hole and having to take some young adults to the hospital from an angry groundhog attack! After that we went out to explore The New Testament stone garden. Once we were done there we headed over to Ariel park. We were going to explore the whole park, but after most of us attempted to climb the 224 steps up to the tower, we were pretty wiped out. We did a quick exploration and then headed back to the house for lunch and some downtime. The afternoon consisted of games, naps for those who wanted them, homework for those that needed to do it, and exploring the graveyard beside the house. After dinner we had another service, followed by a movie, showers and bed. Sunday morning we got up, had a quick breakfast, did another service, dropped Kayla back at school and then headed home. It was a really great weekend, lots of fun, lots of laughter, a time of connecting as a group, but also a time of studying God's word and letting go of all our distractions for a weekend. I am thankful we had the opportunity to do this. I think the thing that surprised me the most is that we ended up having too much food!!! That is something that I NEVER thought I would say of a group of 9 adults/young adult!!

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.

Monday Motivational

MONDAY MOTIVATIONAL: For the online Bible Study I am a part of I was asked to share how I have overcome the comparison trap. I thought I would share it here as well. While I would love to tell you that I have completely overcome comparison, I do not believe it is something that we will ever COMPLETELY overcome. However, there are some things that I have learned along the way, that helps to keep comparison at bay, or at least manageable. 1) Comparison is a JOY stealer! When we take our eyes off of God and put them on another person and we start seeing that they have all this "good" stuff going on, it starts that bitter root of discontentment. When we allow that to fester and grow, it can cause some major issues in our lives. That discontentment says to God that we are not happy with where He has placed us and the circumstances that He has placed us in. It tells God that we think we know better than Him. The truth is, we do not know the road that someone else is walking, and just because it "looks" good, does not make it good. We need to focus on the truth of our own situation. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has a plan for each of us. Our plan is OUR plan, He has a plan for our friend/neighbor/spouse etc. that is THEIR plan, no need to compare, He has plans for all of us. 2) The world will throw lies at us and knock us down, no need to tear our own selves down. When you start think you are not good enough, not pretty enough, not skinny enough, do not have enough money, kids, your house is not big enough etc, I am going to ask you to STOP! God knit us together exactly how HE wanted us to be!! (Psalm 139:3). I point you back to God has a plan for each of us, and He designed us the way He wanted us. You know that crazy hair you hate? Yeah, God gave that to you. The funny shape of your nose? Yeah, God did that as well. EMBRACE how God made you. Thank Him that He did not make us all the same, He made us all different and the world is a better place because of it. When you fully embrace who you are, quirky looks or personality, you will be SO MUCH HAPPIER!! When you truly know that you are a child of the King and He made you EXACTLY how He wanted you, then you will not feel the need to compare yourself to someone else. If you have not truly embraced these TRUTHS from Scripture, I would advise you to do so, it will make your life so much better. "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32)." 3) When you are allowing yourself to wallow in bitterness, self-pity, etc., the devil has you right where he wants you. When you are wallowing you are not praising God. If you truly cannot find ANYTHING that is praise worthy in your situation, I would tell you to simply say the name, "Jesus." Over and over again until you can say more of a prayer. This will help to reset your mindset and your focus. When you are wallowing you are focused on this world, your feelings and your circumstances, not the the One who can help you through the difficult circumstances you are facing. When you utter the name of Jesus, it helps you to remember that you are not alone, Jesus is always there with us, and He is for you, not against you. In chapter 5 of "Why Her," Nicki tells us that when life gives us difficulties, we always have a choice, bitterness or breakthrough (p78). So, I ask you, what do you choose, bitterness or breakthrough? Joy or discontentment? Satan's lies or God's truth? To compare or accept who you are? The choice is yours. Choose wisely.