Reading Challenge Update

 I am tired of calling these posts about the reading challenge the same thing over and over - but since I can't think of anything else to title it 💝...

The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes - OK so I am a HUGE fan of the Hunger Games trilogy, but ultimately I did not like this book.  I don't know if it is because I was predisposed to really NOT like Snow, or what, but as a whole, although I am glad I read it, I did not like it.

Expectation Corner by Emily Steele Elliott - I loved this little book (it was recommended in Waiting on God by Andrew Murray).  Here are some thoughts I noted down:

pg. 19 "My soul wait only upon God: My expectation is from Him!" (which is Psalm 62:5)

pg 26 "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?"

"...every morning ask God to let you see His ordering for the day...ask Him to enable you to do all - even the smallest things - from the one motive of love to Him who gave His life for you."

pg 39 "...and crown Him Lord of all."  They quoted from the hymn and the character's response?  "If that means anything at all, it means everything."  WOW - so true - but something I forget all of the time.  

pg 40 I love this - "Let in the love of Christ; live out the love of Christ; work out of the life of Christ; look on to the coming of Christ."

Of Literature and Lattes by Katherine Reay.  This is a 'sort of' continuation of the character's lives from The Printed Letter Bookshop.  I liked this story, but I loved The Printed Letter Bookshop.  I felt like ultimately the story was a bit rushed at the end.  BTW, if you've never read a book by Katherine Reay - I HIGHLY highly recommend Dear Mr. Knightley.  That is hands down my favorite, favorite book that she has written.

Suffering by Paul David Tripp - This is a MUST have manual if you are going through a season of suffering of any kind!!! I love this book!  I am reading, highlighting, and note-taking my way through and it is blessing me so deeply.

I am eagerly awaiting a book that will be released on September 8, 2020.  It is called Fear Gone Wild by Kayla Stoecklein.  I have pre-ordered it, already read the pages she released as a pre-order bonus, and canNOT wait to get my hands on this book.  

                                                                    

In my stack next:

I have the story of Mulan my kids want me to read aloud in anticipation of the movie, I need to finish Knowing God by JI Packer (I paused it to read Suffering), and also some books to shed light on new diagnoses we are facing...so here is to a happy reading weekend for you all - hope it includes cups of yummy drinks (hot chocolates!!!) and lots of blissful hours tucked away reading ❣

Today, I am thankful for...

Hot chocolates with whip cream on top

Fall aisle at Hobby Lobby

BoredPanda.com

Funny videos 

Parenting Fails that moms aren't afraid to share

Deuteronomy 31:8

Driving in the pouring rain yesterday and seeing a rainbow arch across the highway

Jesus

Cinnamon Spice candles

A cinnamon stick in a piping hot mug of coffee

Compassionate healthcare workers and first responders

Macadamian Nut breakfast energy bars

Paul David Tripp

Pandora's Christmas station

A brand-new lesson plan book waiting for me to fill it up

Giant flip charts with blank pages

Whoever thought of the concept of anchor charts

Elizabeth Gaskell, Jane Austen, LM Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott 

BBC period dramas

Old tv shows

Lamentations 3:21-26

Journal pages

God's ever-present mercy 

Coca-cola in a glass bottle

Cuddly puggles and sweet chihuahuas

Doggie kisses and rabbit hops

Beta Fish

Instagram

Anne Graham Lotz

Paul Washer

David Platt

You Version Bible App

Scripture Writing Challenges

Early Mornings one on one with my girls

Trash treats

Stickers (especially scratch and sniff!)

My husband

Hummingbirds

Gladiolus 

Lillies

Daisies

Crepe Myrtles

Lilacs

Biking, walking, running

Sweet friends and supportive co-workers

Music

'It Is Well With My Soul'

'You Already Know' 

'The God Who Sees'

'My Prayer For You'

The richness of His Word

The comfort of His presence

The quietness of early mornings

The faithfulness of His Spirit

Oh my goodness, I am SO embarassed...

If you posted a comment on my blog and it didn't show up - I am SO, SO sorry.  I was getting ready to sit down and write another post today and saw something on the side, so I clicked on it...☹ oh my goodness, I feel terrible.

Anyway, thank you SO much for taking the time to comment on my blog.  Please know it is a reflection of my ineptness of technology - not for lack of caring what you had to say.

Suffering

Last year I bought a book by Paul David Tripp called Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense and also ordered a few more copies for gifts.  Some people close to me were going through hard seasons, so I thought this book might make it easier for them to process their struggles.  Also, Paul David Tripp is a very talented writer with a solid gospel foundation, so a win-win.

I started reading it around Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas of last year.  But then I put it down to read something else and subsequently forgot to get back to it.  I think in the back of my mind I was avoiding it because we are never too far from a hard season and so I thought if I didn't get back to it, well surely we are right on the cusp on an easy season, right???  I mean we are due for some smooth sailing, calm days, beach sunrises and gentle breezes, so why not put off reading the book until much, much later, if at all?!?

I was desperately hoping that suffering would not knock on our door and if it did, I could choose to ignore that call and instead answer another one.

Then 2020 dawned.

And suffering didn't just knock on our door, it has taken a halligan bar and forced its way front and center.

No amount of tears, begging, or pleading is working.  There is no way to go around or under this mountain that has planted itself smack dab in the middle of our lives.   We can't turn back, we can't avoid it or choose a different path, all we can do is to put one foot in front of the other and slowly climb up this monstrosity.  I, at times, am not completely sure we will even make it through this thing intact.

I am so sad.  And terrified.  And anxious.  And angry, so very angry at life - that it has to hurt and be so hard.  I want desperately to choose another way, another path.  But...

This I call to mind and therefore I have hope;
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him."
Lamentations 3:21-24

And by the way, that book that I was avoiding?  That I would have rather not read?  That's the book I find myself reaching for in the quiet of the morning before the household awakens before the dogs whine, the phone rings...in its pages, I am finding someone who has walked the path of suffering and lived to tell the tale. I highly recommend reading this book, as a way through, a road map of sorts, explaining those impossible seasons of hurting through the lens of the gospel.