The Date Inspired by the Letter P

Wait. Didn't we skip the letter O? We did! We'll come back to that one. (I had planned to do that one while we were at the lake, and we didn't go to the lake, so the date didn't happen.)

ANYWAY. This one was fun!

(Fun fact: that band shell behind us? It was the location for some of our favorite engagement pictures! HEY! Same chalkboards!)

But I digress.

Our date took us back to Marion, and our first stop was to get Polar Pops! (Haven't had a Polar Pop since we moved!)

 Up next? Pizza King to pick up dinner. While there, Ryan tried to play Ms. Pac-Man, but it wasn't working right. (AKA, wasn't participating.)

After picking up our pizza, we went to the park for a picnic! (We ate beside the band shell.)

As you might imagine, after all that Polar Pop intake, we needed a restroom. What we found were pathetic potties that frankly scared us. We used them anyway.

And a few minutes later, we found these brand spankin' new potties we knew nothing about. Of course. Sigh.

I will give Marion credit for this: they have a spectacular park. Better than our one in Kokomo, in fact. We paused to walk through the pretty gardens, which are stunning and have expanded since our move a little over a year ago.

We found the bench (you can sort of see it between us there) that was also a location from one of our favorite engagement photos.

 (Five years ago...)

I found a new hairdo. Pink, even.

And we found a new Garfield! (If you don't know, Marion has a trail of Garfields, and we did the whole trail when we toured that county.)

After we left the park, we went to our last stop for the night: putt putt!

We've never played putt putt in our entire relationship. I was a little nervous about it because I thought Ryan really didn't like it, and I'm terrible at it. But we decided to go, have a good time, and see what happened! The conditions were pretty perfect actually. We were the only people there for quite a while, and then another couple showed up. But they were far enough behind us that we weren't rushed. So nice! And the weather was spectacular!

Some sights from our evening:

What? Is this not proper form?

 A for-real hole in one!

 I didn't get a hole in one, but I did manage to get into this tunnel, which bought me a stroke! I have no idea how I did that.

 And on the return-your-ball hole, we both made it into the magic center, so we won free games!

So that was our date! We loved it. One of our best, I think!

Linking up with Tamar!

Ahhhh....School Lunches

Yesterday, as part of my volunteer job at the school, I was in charge of laying out the lunches for one of the preschool classes, so when they came into the cafeteria, everything was ready to go.

It was a fascinating job, actually, because it took me down memory lane a bit when it came to school lunches.

Did you all take your lunch to school? Or did you eat in the cafeteria? I did a bit of both. When I was in lower elementary, I had a metal lunch box (remember those?) with a matching thermos inside. (Things I should have kept, I'm sure.)

Each week, the school would send home a menu for the following week, and I would mark it with the lunches that looked appealing to me. Mom would send enough lunch money to cover those days, and on the days when the food just didn't cut it for me, she would pack a lunch.

Of course there were the infamous rectangle pizzas. You remember those, right? And I seem to remember some sort of stew that had peas, carrots and meat that resembled hamburger. And bread and butter. We had bread and butter frequently. Did you? (It was always cut on the diagonal, and I would eat it starting in the center, leaving the crust.) I also vaguely remember the chili, which I think was served with a peanut butter sandwich. Peanut butter is probably outlawed in cafeterias now, isn't it?

I'm not sure what it says about me that these are the only dishes I remember.

Anyway.

Unpacking the lunches at school taught me about foods I didn't even know existed and reminded me of things I'd forgotten.

* Squeeze yogurt. I don't even know the technical term for these, but several kids had them. They looked like those plastic popsicle pouches that you open by snipping the end and trying to eat the popsicle before it melts into juice at the bottom of the plastic sleeve. Except these had yogurt.

* All the yogurt, actually. I'm pretty sure as a kid, I wouldn't have touched yogurt with a ten foot pole, but these kids had it not only in the squeeze tubes, but also pouches and little tubs. (One kid even got M&Ms to sprinkle in his. Bet his neighbors were jealous of that!)

* Juice boxes and pouches. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh the fun of trying to stab the straw through the foil seal without jamming the straw or shoving it clear through to the other side. I would like the record to show I had 100% success.

* The thermos of hot food. Took me back to my own first grade days when Mom would pack leftover soup for me in a thermos. One kiddo had a thermos (and a parent with wild muscles to seal it) full of something warm and homemade smelling. Comfort food for the win!

* Pop Tarts. I lived on those for several years. Brown sugar cinnamon, S'mores, Chocolate, even the occasional strawberry. I'm not sure I've touched one since college or shortly thereafter, but apparently they're alive and well in school lunches!

* Lunchables. I used to think it would be the ultimate to eat a Lunchable. (They were never in my budget. So expensive for so little food.) And apparently some come with bite-sized candy bars!

* Crackers and cheese. Not the sandwich crackers with cheese in the middle. The cracker sticks that you dip into the nice hunk of processed cheese. I always wanted to eat the cheese with a spoon.

* Homemade delights. There were a few fun homemade things tucked in. A quesadilla, a wrap, and a couple of good old fashioned sammiches.

And then I came home and fixed Ryan's lunch. It was new for us on the home-front: a spinach, feta, chicken wrap with strawberries and ranch. For the first time ever, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Why are we eating strawberries with ranch?"

Just trust me, I said.

So he did. Probably in much better fashion than most preschoolers would have.

His verdict?

"Genius. You wouldn't think it works, but it does. I can't believe it."

Just for Fun on Tuesday!

Hey, guess what? Spill the Beans is back this week!! We have some stories for you and hope we can make you laugh! :) Thanks for the grace last week while we took a break!

Listen here!

I had a blog post planned for today, but I needed a little more time to finish it, so I opted to go for some fun. Can you handle some fun on a Tuesday? Borrowed this list from Sarah's blog - and you're welcome to chime in with some answers of your own!! I know I've done similar lists before, but this one was a little different. Might even learn something new!

1. Pool, lake, or ocean? For swimming? Pool. For lounging nearby? Lake. For listening to waves? Ocean. The good news is I'm not greedy!

2. Camping, cottage, or hotel? For a week? A cottage. For a night or two? A hotel. And if, by camping, you mean in an RV, then I guess that might be our future someday! Tents? Oh no. I need my air conditioning, toilet, and shower.

3. Favorite ice cream flavor? Moose tracks!!!

4. PJs, nightgown, or t-shirt and shorts? I grew up on nightgowns. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too twisty for me. Then I graduated (in college, embarrassingly enough) into plaid grandpa PJ's. I grew out of that phase. I learned that t-shirt and shorts are the way to go, because you can just roll out of bed at hotels and go to breakfast, and people think you've been working out! SCORE!!!

5. Fave summer beverage? I don't drink nearly as many of these as I used to or want to, but I splurge on a few frappes throughout the summer. I like the summer flavors Starbucks has, primarily the s'mores one!

6. Would you rather be hot or cold? COLD ALL DAY LONG! You can always put more on. There comes a point, when you can't take any more off (without being arrested) and being overheated is one of the worst feelings I can experience. It incites anxiety attacks for me.

7. Sandals with heels or flats? I'm a flats girl these days. Partly because I'm almost the same height as Ryan and I don't want to be taller, but partly because I have wonky equilibrium and heels throw me off. I'm so 80.

8. Shorts or skirts? Depends on where I'm going! I like both equally, but I won't wear shorts some places. (Like church. I just can't.)

9. Sit in the sun or the shade? Shade! See point number six.

10. Water, tea, or Coke? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the conundrums. I primarily drink water, and I no longer hate it. I love, love, love tea, but I'm super picky about it. (None of that fake stuff from fountain machines. I would drink Coke all day every day if it weren't so awful for me. But it is indeed my first love.

11. Fave summer fruit/vegetable? I'm not sure I have a favorite vegetable from summer, but I do dearly love a good strawberry. (On a shortcake. But I digress.)

12. Sunrise or sunset? Seriously? Ummmmm sunset.

13. Bike ride or walk? Given that I broke my leg by falling off a bike when I was 11, I still prefer walking. I'm not super coordinated.

14. Winery or brewery? I don't drink (at all) so we'll go with CAFE! Coffee brewery! LOL!

15. Garden or no garden? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo garden. I haven't recovered from growing up with gardening. At this point I'm not hopeful it will ever happen.

16. Big summer concert or music in the park? Neither, actually. Not that I hate them both, but we just don't really do either one.

17. Fave cookout food? Hmmmmmmm. My father-in-law smokes some mean pork. That is probably my favorite.

18. Dine indoors or patio? I do like patio dining, but the conditions have to be just right and in Indiana, this mostly never happens. It's usually the bugs that get me. They enjoy dining on me.

19. Fave summer destination? Lake!! We didn't get to go this year, so it will have to be next year's fave summer destination.

20. Big theme park or local carnival? I HATE rides, so I'm really out for both, but I do love carnival food. I missed our fair this year too. :(

21. Drinks blended or on the rocks? Well, as previously stated, I don't drink alcohol, but I do put away coffee at an alarming rate, and 100% I'd go blended on that.

22. Popsicle or freeze flavor of choice? I'm assuming by this, they mean Blizzard or Frosty, right? I'm not really a popsicle or frozen ice kind of girl. Put some cream in it and hand it over.

23. Hamburger or hot dog? HAMBURGER!!!! (We do turkey burgers, and I actually like those just as well!)

56 Months Strong!

Last week marked 56 months of marriage for us!

 (This bush had a lot more flowers on it at this time last year!)

Anyway. Fifty-six months of fun together!

Not long ago, I heard a gentleman talking about people who want to give marriage advice. He said, "Don't come to me with marriage advice until you've been married at least twenty years. I might listen then. Five years? Forget it." (He wasn't speaking to me personally, but it struck me anyway.)

I understand what he's saying. At not quite five years in, I know there's a lot we don't know about each other or the art of marriage. But I don't think 56 months makes us ignorant about marriage, either. I feel like we've done many things well, and it's been an honor to share our thoughts with others (who have a slightly more welcoming approach to accepting input) based on our experiences!

One of the things I'm glad we've done for these almost five years? Monthiversary observations. I know some have been skeptical of our choice to do this, and that's fine, but we love it! It's not just scrapbook fodder for us. It's an actual opportunity to pause and reflect on another milestone and all we've enjoyed together since saying our vows.

Sometimes we do a big date for our monthiversary, and sometimes we just hang out at home and enjoy being together. This month was the hang-out-at-home kind of day. Well. Except for work. Ryan did have to go to work.

I made an asparagus quiche for lunch, and it was quite yummy!

After work, we needed to run a few errands, so we went across town right during rush hour. Now, allow me to be fair by saying we don't live in a huge city, and "rush hour" here isn't what many of you deal with every day. But my goodness! When you're not used to being out in the thick of things during busy traffic times, it's maddening! I've never been so glad to see a parking lot!

Our shopping find for the day? These tumblers! I told you before that for Christmas, we received RTIC tumblers that keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold. We love them, but they're huge and we can't put them side by side in our cup holders in our car. So we wanted to try to find something similar in a smaller version! SCORE!

We had dinner at home: leftovers, actually, from the night before, when we ate at Phoebe's people's house. (We could only eat about a third of what they served us, but it made for a lovely monthiversary meal!)

(Photo was from the night before.)

We did have our own dessert, though, and Ryan got some frozen yogurt to go with it. Interesting pattern there, isn't it?

He keeps me laughing! :)

Happy 56 months, Ryan! Thanks for celebrating with me and for buying the official gift for 56 months: tumblers!

The Shafferland Shuffle

A year ago today, Ryan and I were in Kansas, celebrating the wedding of my niece, Cassie, to her husband Kasey. How has it been a year already!??!?! Happy anniversary, you two!

This week, things were slightly lower key. :)

* Last Sunday, Ryan and I took our new prayer notebooks to church. We both decided to buckle down and try new methods to keep track of our prayers and what we hear from the Lord. Bet you can't guess which notebook belongs to which of us! After church, Ryan surprised me with a lunch date to McAlister's, which was delicious! We took it easy all day and that night, we candled my ears. (We have all the fun. Don't be jealous.)

* Monday, Ryan didn't quite clear the jump box during our workout, and he ripped up his shin! Poor guy!!! (That did not get us out of working out for the week, by the way. But it still hurts!) That evening we went to a viewing for a man who was one of the guests at our wedding. We had to wait a couple of hours in line, but we also got to see a bunch of old friends while we were there!

* Tuesday morning, I went to meet my friend Olivia at a coffee shop. I also drank coffee on my way to the coffee shop. You are welcome to analyze me if you'd like. Anyway, it was fun to see Olivia. She lives out of state, so our visits are waaaaaaaaaay too infrequent. That night we went to have dinner at Phoebe's house. Her people can cook! We were spoiled!

* Wednesday was our 56th monthiversary, and I made a special lunch for us to celebrate! We ran a few errands that evening and got to spend extra time together, which made us both very happy!

* School started around here on Wednesday, but Thursday was my first day. When I got in the car for my first round of carpool, I found a card from Ryan waiting on me. Ahhhhh, what a great husband! Thursday was also my first day for my new volunteer job at a school. I had fun! In fact, the whole day was fun until evening when tornado warnings showed up. Again.

* Friday morning I got a text from Ryan that said he really wanted a donut. I got right in the car and drove to the store to buy him a donut. THEN I found out what he really meant was there was a whole box of donuts at work and he was trying to avoid temptation. Whoopsie!! Oh well. Friday was a pretty day, but it sure felt like fall. I had to pull out the jeans! I was so brain dead and sore from working out that I mostly hung out with Braeya on the couch!

* Ryan worked yesterday and when he got off work, we went to a birthday party and then out for what turned to be a much longer shopping trip than we planned. We are now well stocked-up on coffee. (We almost ran out of our lunch supply. Can't let that happen.) We stocked up so much (on supplies in general) that we filled up the car seat that now resides in the back of our car! (See the aforementioned carpool runs.)

The Saturday Six

One.

Listen here!

A few weeks ago, on the Saturday Six, I reviewed my friend Jody Hedlund's latest book, called With You Always. This week, I had the privilege of talking with her about her life, her writing, and this latest book (which is the first in a series). Jody is my real-life friend for over a quarter of a century now (how is this possible!?!?) and it was a treat to interview her. For those of you who missed a Spill the Beans episode this week, here's a podcast for your weekend!
Two.

This sermon illustration is a powerful one. I didn't see it in person, but I heard about it (via Facebook). Our friend Dave, who preached the sermon, recapped it here.

Three.

 This sums up exactly how I felt when I left my job at WBCL. This call of obedience to walk away from something that had my heart...for the ONE Who had my heart. Wise words from Sarah Koontz.

Four.

If you're an Indiana person, and you haven't seen this map, you might want to check it out. It shows when/how much of the solar eclipse we're supposed to see on August 21. Of course, it's Indiana, so who knows how much the sun will even choose to appear on that day! So fickle, our weather.  

Five.

Wise, warm words from my friend Marissa Shrock. If you're single, read this. 

Six.

Source

This week, I ventured into a genre I don't read often: Amish fiction. And I read an author I've never read before: Wanda Brunstetter. Wanda is a legend in Amish fiction, having authored dozens and dozens of books. (How I've not read any of her work before now is a mystery to me!)

I hesitated to read the book, because the few times I've tried to read Amish fiction in the past, I haven't been able to really immerse myself in the stories. (This is so strange, because I live in Amish country, so the lifestyle is very familiar to me.) But the plot intrigued me, so I picked it up.

The Blessing is the second book in a series called "Amish Cooking Class." In this book, a young Amish woman named Heidi Troyer and her husband, Lyle, are in the process of adopting a little baby, after discovering they're likely unable to have a child of their own. Prior to starting the adoption proceedings, Heidi had taught a small cooking class in her home. It went so well, she decides to try it again, and a diverse group of people sign up to learn more about Amish cooking. A troubled teenager, a new caterer, a food critic, a hunter, a lonely wife, and a mailman come together every other Saturday morning to learn about food and possibly forge new friendships.

I didn't feel like I'd missed out because I hadn't read the first book, since most of the characters were new in this one. But the layout of the book caused me to struggle for a bit. Each chapter covered the happenings of not just Heidi and her husband, but also each of the students in the class. I felt like just when I got into one piece of the story, I switched to a new part.

This tactic seemed to work both for and against me, because on one hand, it kept me very intrigued and reading along so I could learn the next piece for each person. On the other hand, it was sometimes hard to remember which character's story I was in.

Some parts of the story were hard for me to wrap my mind around, like an Amish couple adopting outside their own faith community and also the idea of Amish pursuing foster care. Obviously both things must happen, because I know this author knows her Amish background, but it just seemed a bit hard to get my mind around it. Some facets of the class members' stories also seemed a bit perplexing in a real-world scenario, but the story was enjoyable, nonetheless.

The recipes taught in the cooking class are included in the back of the book, so if you enjoy Amish cooking, you'll get a bonus if you pick up this one!

* Barbour provided a complimentary copy of this book; all opinions are my own! *

Date to the Jackrabbits Game!

Last week, Ryan won tickets to see the Kokomo Jackrabbits. (That's our little baseball team, if you're not from around here.) We don't really win things, so just winning in and of itself was really fun!

The day of the game, they were calling for some possible severe weather (imagine that!!) but it ended up being the most lovely of evenings, and we had a great time!

We were going to eat dinner at home, but I saw that it was taco night, so we decided to eat there. We shared some tacos and fries (healthy for the win, right?) and I have to say, both were excellent. My ballpark food expectations are very low, but this stadium always has good food!

Found our seats and got settled just in time for the pre-game festivities!

This night at the ballpark was sponsored by Ryan's work, so some of the pre-game stuff featured former patients.

Last time we went to a game, Ryan got a picture with the Jackrabbit, but this time we just saw him from the other side of the net.

Struggles of the Bekah-razzi: how quickly can I grab a picture of the national anthem singers before assuming the hand-over-heart-and-face-the-flag position?

The game wasn't a nail biter, but it was pleasant to watch, and we won, which was even more pleasant!

I found a player who is almost a name twin to Braeya!

Other random fun from the evening:

I know you had no control over winning, but thanks for winning tickets, Ryan! It was a fun date! :)

So...What About this Speaking Thing?

I've had an influx of questions lately, both in person and through messages, about the speaking I've done and where I hope to go with it in the future. I thought it might be easier to just write a post about it and share it with anyone who wants to know! (So if you or someone you know falls in that "anyone who wants to know" category, here you go!

* So...you speak now?

This is a common (and warranted!) question from anyone who knew me in high school, college, or my early adult years. Back in those days, I was painfully shy, and public speaking was not even in the same country as my radar, let alone on my radar. So the answer to that question is yes! Isn't God good? He can take the most shy, terrified, backward girl and equip her to do what He wants, all in His way, and His time. So, yes. I do speak now. And yes, that is a change from days of yore.

* Where do you speak?

My most common audience is adult women, but they're not my only audience! The bulk of my speaking invitations come from women's groups affiliated with churches, so I usually end up speaking at women's retreats or breakfasts/brunches/dinners. But I've also been asked to speak to Bible studies, senior adult groups, church services, book clubs, business groups, college classes, and even an all-men's group! If the message and timetable of the invitation is a good fit for me, I'll speak wherever I'm invited. But women's groups are my main audience, and it's fair to say that group is my biggest passion.

* Is my group too small? (Or too big?)

A dear friend asked me this not long ago. She was arranging a day for me to come to her church and speak for a brunch, and after all her questions, she added almost apologetically that they were only expecting about 50 people. She feared that might be too small a group to be worth my time. Absolutely not! I speak to groups of all sizes!  

*What do you talk about?

Ryan's patients ask him if I'm a motivational speaker. I always hope the people who hear me can walk away motivated to do something, but I wouldn't classify myself as a motivational speaker. Most of my talks are about a blend of everyday life and serving the Lord (and how to combine the two). I have growing list of topics already prepared, but I'm always happy to write something brand new for a group if they have a topic in mind and it's something I've not spoken about before. My goal is always to present in a way that is creative and will cause anyone who listens to think about life and the Lord in a new way. (I'm also a big fan of visual aids. Kindergarten methods ran deep for me!)

* Will you travel to speak?

This is a question I've gotten a lot lately, and the fast answer is yes! I live in central Indiana, but I am not opposed to traveling to speak to a group. Having said that, if I'm going very far, I need to make sure I can work out the travel details with the place inviting me, and I always want to try to bring Ryan with me if at all possible. (He's my "road manager.")

* So Ryan goes with you wherever you go?

If possible, absolutely! He likes to go with me and support what I do, and he wants to be there to do all the literal heavy lifting of my things, pray over me before I speak, take pictures for me, and just be a general support from the sidelines. I have learned that things go much better when he's there, so I try hard to make sure he can go before I say yes to anything.

* Does he ever speak, too? 

Actually, at my last event, he did! It was a Sunday morning worship service, and the church that invited me had brought me in before, so they were familiar with both of us. They said if Ryan wanted to share in the service, he was welcome to do so, and that was all the invitation I needed! We both shared from the platform that day, and it was a joy to have that opportunity! We are currently working on some material about marriage that we would love to present together, so we hope for more opportunities like that!

* How long will you talk and how much does it cost?

I can speak for as long or as short of a time as needed. I've done hour-long presentations before, I do many that are closer to a half hour in length, and I can do single or multi-session events. The cost depends on the number of times I'm speaking and the size of the crowd. I speak because this is what God has called me to do, so I don't let the money talk drive me, but this is also my livelihood, so I want to be sure to be able to contribute to our household financially through my work!

* How can I get in touch with you or how do I tell someone at my church about you?

In an attempt to make all that a little easier, I have a website now! You can access it here, and it has the bulk of the information on it that any organization would need to know to get a sense of who I am and what I have to offer. You can pass along the site or my email, which is listed under the contact section of the site, if you want to share my information with someone at your church or other organization!

* How far in advance do we need to contact you?

I'm currently working on filling up this fall (2017). Most groups I serve don't meet much in the summer, due to vacations and busy schedules, so they're beginning to reconvene and make plans for fall and the Christmas season, so this is when I'll begin to make those arrangements. Having said that, I have one retreat on the calendar already for spring 2018, and I've had another group ask about the same weekend I'm already committed, so sometimes the calendar does fill up a ways out. Just in case, I always recommend checking in as soon as you think you might be interested, because I always hope the time slot will be open for us to serve together!

So there you go! Working on filling up fall and winter...would love to work with you if possible! 

Let me know, and if you're in a position to share the information with someone who is a planner, please do! I would love to see you while I'm out and about!  

Linking up with Tamar today, too!

The Last Thing I...

Thank you so much for your kind words about the podcast! I was grateful to hear from those of you who missed it, but I/we also appreciate your grace and understanding as we seek the Lord for the best use of our time! (Also: last week wasn't our most fun week of our whole lives, so you probably really didn't miss anything.)

Today is our 56th monthiversary, so that calls for extra celebration, and I want to pause here to thank Ryan for another beautiful and fun month together! I asked him the other day how it's possible that the first 34 years of my life crawled by, but the almost five years we've been together have flown at speeds that defy all measurement!

I had another post planned for today, but I read Callie's post yesterday and that looked more fun, so I'm stealing her idea and using it today! (She said it was okay!!)

Last thing I ate: Raw almonds and semi-sweet chocolate chips. It's my emergency dessert when I have no dessert and need something sweet. Unfortunately that was almost five hours ago. I really don't like to go five hours without eating. Or five minutes. (But I do.)

Last thing I drank: Glass of water. I'm becoming quite the water guzzler these days. My favorite method is drinking from a glass jar with tons of ice inside.

Last text I sent: An hour ago, I texted Ryan, who was still at work, to tell him I planned to try for a quick nap. I had a tiny headache that I thought a nap might help. And perhaps it would have, but apparently I wasn't tired. That was disappointing.

Last book I read: I need to start my book for this week...today, preferably! The last book I read was Irene Hannon's almost-released Dangerous Illusions. It's the first in a new series and releases the first of October. Go ahead and put it on your list. You'll want it.

Last time I laughed. The answer to this question is ALWAYS with Ryan. Today it was when he came home from work and "walked like Mac." (He has this goofy old-man shuffle that is HILARIOUS to behold. We call it the Mac walk, and I don't remember now if it's because we actually knew an old man named Mac that walked that way or if it just reminded us of how someone named Mac might walk, but it is SO FUNNY. I can be in the worst mood ever, and 3 seconds of the Mac walk will cure me!)

Last thing I bought. I met my friend Olivia for coffee, so that means my last purchase was a latte and two cookies. I ate half of each cookie and brought the other halves home to Ryan. This proves my love for him, because we all know: Bekah doesn't share food!!

Last movie I saw. We often have movies on the TV that I don't actually watch. They're just background noise. But the last one we sat and watched was called Passengers. It was kind of an odd plot line for us, but it was set in the future, and a space ship full of passengers were being transported to another planet (galaxy?) to resume life there. It would take over 100 years to make the trip, so they were put in hibernation mode until they arrived, but one of the hibernation pods failed and a passenger awakened decades too soon. Intriguing movie!

Last TV show you watched. I'm "watching" a show on the DIY channel right now called Stone House Revival. It's a home rehab show, but I'm not really officially watching it to have any idea what's going on.

Last thing you Googled. I actually use Pinterest the way most people use Google, and I'm sorry to say my last search was for desserts. LOL!!! Someone has a sweet tooth today!

Hop in and play along if you'd like!! :)

Taking Stock

So here's an awkward start to a Tuesday: Spill the Beans is missing.

(If you are my mom or sister, please sit down and use a brown paper bag if necessary.)

Here's the scoop. We've done 88 consecutive episodes of the podcast without taking a break. We've even taken all our equipment on vacation with us so we could record on the road. And we love our little podcast. We have so much fun bantering back and forth each week and allowing you to listen in if you'd like.

But in the last few weeks, we've been trying to figure out where God is taking us next in the ministries we pursue. Have you ever been there? Lots of good things happening, but you reach a point where you have to step back, take a deep breath, and evaluate everything you're doing to make sure you're making the best use of your time and resources?

It's a great lesson I learned from Lynne when I worked at the station. Every year, when it was time to make plans for the next year's worth of shows, Lynne stepped back and looked at every part of our scheduling. Were all of our regular guests still a great fit? Were all of our standing shows still structured well? She would evaluate, pray, and listen to the Lord's leading to see if anything needed to change. Even if it seemed to be going well and she enjoyed it, she wanted to make sure she was offering what God wanted her to offer.

And that's what we want, too.

As we look ahead to a new season of leading Bible studies, opening our home for hospitality, writing, speaking, podcasting, and more, we want to make sure the breakdown of our time is the best breakdown it can be. If we need to scale back or let go of something, we want to be willing to do it.

So this week, in the time we would normally have recorded the podcast, we made lists and curled up to pray about the future.

We don't think God is asking us to give up the podcast. We aren't sure if He's asking us to continue on a weekly basis or maybe do it every other week instead. We're listening and asking for His wisdom and direction.

So if you came here hoping to hear an episode of Spill the Beans this week, I fear we have let you down. But we hope you understand our hearts and realize that we're trying to step back, take stop, and be the best stewards of our time and resources that we can be.

(It's the first day of a new month, and for some of you, the first day of a new schedule season. Maybe it's a good time for you to take stock, too? Look through your schedule and see if you're doing the best you can with the time and resources you have! If so, carry on! If not, don't be afraid to try a new routine to see what God might do!)