What I Learned in August...

I think I have been participating in this monthly Link Up over at Emily Freeman's place long enough that y'all know how much I love it! It is fun and quirky and filled with tips and tricks and great lessons learned... if you don't play along yet, I think you should!

Let's get started!

12 Random Things That I Have Learned...

That Thing I Do Now - Volume 111

Happy Weekend, Y'all!

I hope this weekend is finding you ready to slow, to enjoy, to unwind... (and to maybe do a little reading, of course!)

Featured today are posts by Annie Downs, Kaitlyn Bouchillon, Lori Harris, Michelle DeRusha, Laura Boggess, Alia Joy, Preston Yancey, Colleen Mitchell, a post from right here, and - of course - a video to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)

Never Alone... A Five Minute Friday Post

It was so nice to be back... even if I was in and out for the party! My how I have missed this Community and our talk of books and food and Jesus... (of kids, and vacations, and --well, What About Bob!) This tribe, these people?  These are my people and I am so very thankful for them!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: ALONE

{GO}

My first thought is how being Lonely and being Alone are two different things... 

...of how as an introvert, being alone can feed me and fill me up - but as a human, I fight off feelings of loneliness from time to time. (Even though I thrive with chunks of time all by myself!)

I think of how He is with us always, and when I am feeling lonely, that truth alone sinks deep and stirs hope to arise once again, no matter what...

My heart has felt heavy and tired this week... not so much for myself, but for others.  I have felt a heavy burden that is not mine to carry and I have found myself praying often under my breath... sometimes I know who I am praying for, and sometimes I do not... and yet, this call to pray has not lifted all week long.

Finding Home... Wild in the Hollow (A Book Review & a Giveaway!)

I know... I know... me and all. the. books. right?

But this summer is FILLED with some amazing new releases and this one by Amber Haines? Well, I knew before I ever held it in my hands that it would be filled with lovely words and deep down truths that would find their way into my heart.  The way this woman weaves poetic words around my soul and causes all the Yes and Amens to rise to the top just leaves me breathless!

Because I was blessed with a copy ahead of time (Thank you Revell!) --but had already pre-ordered it myself... well - you win! (Or, more accurately, if you are in the US, you have a chance to win...)

This, by Amber:

"...I wonder if you feel it too --the homesickness for a people and a place to belong, the desire for the freedom and safety you might find there, the thrill and the comfort. Maybe it's what draws you toward the things you hold dear. We often hold on to memories, places, people, and things because there's something of home in them. There's a sense of freedom, the belonging that happens with real friends that makes you feel at home. So many of us are working out a homesickness, and I believe the homesickness is what all our wanderings are all about. We're searching for home --a place of acceptance, a place of fulfillment, and a place of identity. At the basest level, we suspect that home is the place where we'll find our fit, where we'll finally be free."

Yeah... that is just from the Introduction, y'all! 
(Read: You're gonna want this book!)

Time is a Gift that God Lavishes Upon Us...

I sit in the quiet... drinking in the stillness of a Monday morning on the patio.
I breathe in deep... slow... relishing this one more day of vacation with My Honey 
before we completely return to 'normal' life.

I ask God what He wants to speak to me, through me, today. 
I ask, "What Small Wonder do You have in store?"

Immediately, this is the whisper on the wind that I hear:

Time is a Gift that God Lavishes Upon Us...

We are free to spend it, to invest it, however we want.  
But we can. not. save it or store it away!

It's like manna, only good for one day.

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 110

Hey Sweet Readers...

Well this may be a shorter edition than normal because I am heading for the island for a much anticipated few days near the water! Still - I am not going to leave you high and dry! (Ya see what I did there?)

Featured today are posts by Kaitlyn Bouchillon, Michelle DeRusha, Winn Collier, Glennon Doyle Melton, Kristen Welch, Lisha Epperson, Jen Hatmaker, a post from right here, and - of course - a video to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)

Ready to Listen, Ready to Hear...

It's Wednesday,
and I breathe in deep,
letting the morning breeze shower me
with sprinkler mist, like dew
gently refreshing and waking me
to wide-open possibilities
and an unplanned day.

Inhale.  Exhale.

I close my eyes and open my ears.
Ready to listen, ready to hear.

When Benches (and Tuesdays!) Beckon You To Slow... A Book Review for Simply Tuesday by Emily P. Freeman

So y'all know how I adore Emily Freeman, right?

I adore her because I think we are kindred in many ways and I know that when I grow up (I know - I'm older... whatev's) I want to be like her... but she just keeps reminding me that what I really want is to be more like me.  Yeah. That. Because I adore her so much, sometimes I forget...

But Emily... she is consistent in reminding us to just be us... to stop trying to strive and instead, make space to let our souls breathe.

When I heard about Simply Tuesday (and read the subtitle: "Small-Moment Living in a Fast Moving World.") I just knew...this book? This is all kinds of wonderful and filled with all kinds of wonder.  It is full of confirmation of things that God has been doing in and working through me for awhile now and it is so nice to find an invitation to do a little soul breathing and bench sitting and embracing of the small.

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 109

Hey Sweet Readers...

I hope your week was filled with good things, great memories made, and of course... a little reading time!

Featured today are posts by Joe Kay, Emily P. Freeman, Eugene Cho, Alia Joy, Liz Curtis Higgs, Robin Dance, Shannan Martin, a post from right here, and - of course - a video to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)

May We Never Stop Learning to Lean In - A Five Minute Friday post

I am going to stop saying things like, "I can't believe I had to miss the party again!" because - well, I had to miss the party again! Still - I popped in for a few and I am looking forward to the routine of a Thursday night party again soon... but next week is not looking so good either, FYI! (Well - it's looking GREAT... but it's not looking like I will be plugged in or online anywhere!) But I digress...

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: LEARN

I see the word prompt and I can't imagine how many ways this can go.  So we'll just ride this stream of words flowing and see where they take us...

{GO}

May we never stop learning to lean in.

This is the first thought that comes to me and with all of my breath and heart - even the shaky, hidden parts, I am learning to shout, "Here I am, Lord!" and "Yes and Amen!"

Because here is the deal: Learning is hard.

It takes work and time and lots of effort to learn something new and see fruit come from it. It also takes grace and a willingness to admit that we don't know some things (read: anything, at least sometimes!) It takes being vulnerable and honest and trying new things...

It takes being brave enough to risk failing...

Yes. That. 

Trading Fear for Beauty... aka Lean In and Let Go!

It's true! I am consistently amazed lately at what kinds of Beauty can be discovered when we just stop being afraid!

I wrote about it the other day, how I used to be a runner... as in, I would see or hear a bee buzzing around me and seemingly involuntarily, I would run. (Silly, I know. But the struggle was real.)

But I have come to realize the bees are not, in fact, after me. They are not even interested in me and when I force myself to still, I can see beauty!

Small Wonders Are Oh So Easy to Miss, So Look Closely With Eyes Wide Open!

We know this, right? 

I mean - the bigger wonders... the signs and miracles and dramatic immediate answers to prayers... those we can spot from a mile away and we shout them from the mountain tops! And we should... oh how we should! Shout them out at the top of your breath and let praises ring loud and clear... bring glory to God in the ways He is showing up and showing off... Yes. That.

But also this: I am finding that it's so often those small wonders... the everyday ways that God bestows beauty and grace that add up and shower down and oh how we can miss them if we are not training our eyes to seek and to find!

Life is busy and this world spins on the edge of chaos for many of us. It is easy to miss all the ways He is pointing us back to Him... all the ways He is offering faith, hope, and love to bring back a bit of balance and order. He holds out His hand to stop the dizzy overwhelmed days that string together one after another after another and keeps them from overtaking us!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 108

Happy Weekend, y'all!

I hope August is welcoming you in all the best ways... filled with summer fun and lazy afternoons (and maybe even a NAP, right? #Swoon!)

Featured today are posts by Deidra Riggs, Lisa Jo Baker, Tonya Salomons, Glennon Doyle Melton, Tammy Hendricksmeyer, Tonia Peckover, Ashley Larkin, a post from right here, and - of course - a video to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)

To Be Fully Here, Wherever That Is... a Five Minute Friday Post

I can't believe I missed another Thursday night Twitter party... I blame Summer I suppose, although I can't really say I am mad at her! Still, I have missed y'all over at #fmfparty - and tonight, especially, knowing that a handful of you are all gathered in Nashville for the FMF Retreat! I was live streaming the Wonder Conference at Bethel and oh my goodness, it has been amazing!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: HERE

{GO}

Here... To be FULLY here, wherever that is for you!

I believe that is both the cry of our hearts and the call on our lives in this loud, fast, multi-tasking world. 

I have felt the pull and have heard the sirens song, calling me to come away... to just do one more thing... to not forget about this, or to meet that need and all the while, the Holy Spirit is begging, just be HERE.  

Just be here with Me... just come and sit for a little while. 

Silence the noise and the bossy lists and all the should do's and have to's and let Quiet have its' way with your soul. 

What I Learned in July... A Link Up

It is the start of a whole new month, which means it is time for my favorite quirky link-up, "What We Learned..." hosted by Emily Freeman.  

July was, not surprisingly, a busy summer month - full of all sorts of lessons learned... but it was also full of resting and relaxing and oh my - how Summer has some of those lessons of her own to teach us, yes? I am praying that you have learned some lessons from the busy - and some from the less bossy kind too!

Let's get started!

12 Random Things That I Have Learned...

When You Believe in Living Art, You Will Find It Everywhere You Go!

It's just truth --the statement Jesus made about seeking and finding! Him - of course! If we seek Him, we will find Him... but also this: we will find Him in so many things, in so many ways!  Whatever it is that our heart is longing for... if we seek it out, chances are really good we will begin seeing it everywhere we look. Chances are really good it's been all around us the whole time!

Lately - (read: in the past couple of years really!) God has been speaking to me about Art... about how we all make it and live it and how it is everywhere, all the time, if we will but slow to see it! 

If we will change our drive, shift gears once in awhile and, you know... look out of the box in where we may find Him, He will be found!

That Thing I Do Now - Volume 107

Hey Y'all! Can you even believe it is AUGUST already?

I mean, AUGUST??? How can summer be almost over already? I hope you are enjoying it... savoring it a bit and doing things that cause time to slow just a little - at least now and then!

Featured today are posts by Lisha Epperson, Brene Brown, Kristen Welch, Lori Harris, Sarah Bessey, Michelle DeRusha, Alia Joy, JJ Peterson, Tony Kriz, a post from right here, and - of course - a video to wrap it all up! 

Happy Reading! (Ya'll know to click on the authors' names below to read the entire post, yes?)