rainy days

It has been unusually rainy for the past week or so, and I couldn't love it more.  Normally by this time we are beginning to creep in to the triple digit era of summer.

Have I mentioned that I hate summertime?

I am not built for the heat, and where I live, it is basically a nine month summer.  

*sigh*

I am LOVING The Selected Journals of Emma M. Lion.  I started book five last night.  I LOVE the narrator - she does SUCH a great job!   This series reminds me of a mix of Anne of Green Gables, Jane Austen, Gilmore Girls, Jane Eyre (a bit!) and The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Society,   I love how much she loves books!!

I am in 1 Chronicles (with Psalms scattered in) for the chronological Bible plan I am using and I am so thankful for the person(s) who created this plan.  I cannot believe what a difference this makes in my grasp of God - who He is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. 

Have a great rest of the week.

Two planned and one completely spontaneous

Re-read Emma M. Lion because I forgot I started the series (back in February!) and went ahead and listened to book two.  You HAVE to listen to this series (and read it!) because you need to experience the absolute joy of the narrator - she is SUPERB. (series by Beth Brower)

I also picked up a book, The One with the Kiss Cam by Cindy Steel, on a total spontaneous splurge and it was SO good!  I read it in one night.  Really enjoyed it and highly recommend it! (bonus, it has zero spice and is clean!)

Twenty-six years later...

three kids, countless pets, innumerable appointments, housing drama, moment upon moment has stacked up to equal such a beautiful and enduring love.  I am so thankful for my husband and love him more today than I did when we were young, clueless, and naively entering into marriage.  So thankful he asked and that he proved to be even more wonderful than I thought I knew him to be,  I love you Richard.

Re-read The Charmed Life by Jenny B Jones

this week and it was just what I needed.  

Easy, quirky, and cozy.

So much has happened in the past few weeks, but we are finding ourselves, slowly but surely getting back to a semblance of a schedule.  And for that I am so thankful.

Every summer it seems like we have some sort of wildlife show up to our house.  (we have had foxes, opossums, raccoons, turtles, and snakes (ICK)...and the list goes on and on)

Last year a Carolina Wren built a nest in my potted plants right by our front door, a mommy and daddy duck splashed around on our street for about a month, and hawks, an owl, and some turkey vultures made an appearance.  This year the ducks (I am not exactly sure it's the same ducks, but in my mind it is the exact same ducks 😁) made a cameo for one day only and a pair of brown thrasher's are currently living in our front yard area.  I know they are territorial and can be aggressive - but so far ours are just funny.  They haven't chased off any other wildlife or bothered the other birds building nests nearby.  

Hopefully it will stay that way.  

I have been thinking a lot about surrender these past few weeks.  And how hard it is, but how it blankets your soul in only a peace God can give - surrendering to His way - His timing - His outcome. The peace isn't always a feeling or a relief from your grief, anxiety, fear, or sadness, but it is a certainty - that God has you and has this, and somehow, someway it will all be ok.  So although the feeling of peace doesn't always follow obedience, the certainty of it does.

So much of life is mundane, that we seem genuinely shocked when life suddenly changes - at least I am.  Even with our unpredictable days and the chaos hard days can bring, it still jolts me when things suddenly change - and I am (again!) reminded that I do not and can not control anything.  Every moment that I thought I had things under control, it was just an illusion.   

May was horrible...

I am so glad that we are bidding this month good-bye.  We are just now celebrating one of our daughter's birthdays this weekend and it feels good to say "good-bye May".  We hope when you come around again next year, that it is with gentler tidings and better memories.  I am thankful that we survived this month, but I would not want to re-live it.

I re-read/re-listened to two books this week - The Princess Companion by Melanie Cellier and So Not Happening by Jenny B Jones.    I find such comfort in re-reading and re-listening (and re-watching).

I am working my way through a John MacArthur study on the book of James right now, and it is coming at the perfect time.  God is so incredibly faithful.

Hope you guys have a great weekend. 💖

Calm My Anxious Heart

by Linda Dillow

This book was originally published in 1998 and was somewhat hard to find.  I finally found a used copy that someone with a VERY bright yellow highlighter owned.  

Years ago, when we first began homeschooling, a mom shared the following quote on a blog post (and it cited this book as the source, which was what originally drew me to the title) :

Never allow yourself to complain about anything - not even the weather.

Never picture yourself in any other circumstance or someplace else.

Never compare your lot with another's.

Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.

Never dwell on tomorrow - remember that (tomorrow) is God's, not ours. 

I was intrigued by these precepts and copied them down.  But then life unfolded, and I forgot about the book.  And then last year, another special needs mom recommended the title again so I pulled it out and put it on my TBR shelf with plans to read it soon.  

This past week was the perfect time for me to read this, and I am so glad that I did.  

I highly recommend tracking down a copy of this book (I just checked and not only is it now available on k!ndle, @m@zon also offers it in paperback - NEW!  I guess it was re-printed in 2020, which is awesome!)  

Lynette Eason

Have you ever read any books from this author?  She is a fantastic Christian suspense author.  I really enjoy (most) of her books.

This week I finished book three A Killer Among Us, from the Women of Justice series.  I did not read book one, book two was a bit too creepy for my liking (but I did push through and finish it), and I am glad I gave book three a chance.  It was much better than book two.

Have a great weekend.