The Saturday Six

One.

Last Sunday, one of the Howard County Sheriff's deputies was killed in the line of duty while serving an arrest warrant. While every life lost in such a way is tragic, this one hit very close to home, as Ryan's brother serves the same department. What a reminder of the personal safety risked every day by people who are just like us: people with lives and families and dreams and un-checked bucket lists. Deputy Koontz left behind a wife and infant son, and I just cannot imagine their grief. Our prayers continue to be with the Koontz family and with the HCSD family as well.

Two.

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If you read this blog regularly, you will recognize Tamar's name, because she comments almost every day {I LOVE THAT, TAMAR! THANK YOU!!!} She takes some of the most beautiful photos I've seen, and sometimes after I look at one of her pictures, I think "Now I see that every day but I never thought of getting it from that angle." She's got a gift, and she took that gift to a flower show a few days ago. I LOVE flower shows but haven't been to one in years. Anyway. Check out her pictures - both for the photography and the the subject matter. Great work, Tamar!

Three.

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As I've gotten a little braver on the Beachbody eating plan, I've started eating out a little bit more. I have to be careful because I know that even things that SEEM like healthy options in a restaurant might be loaded with good-tasting badness. {I read an article a while back that said some kale salad available through McDonald's was actually worse for you than a Big Mac. I think it had to do with dressings and other toppings they put on top of the kale.} ANYWAY. Found this post with some already-figured-up options for eating as healthy as you can while you're out. Even if you're not 21 Day Fixing it, these are helpful guidelines.

Four.

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I am sure that several of you still follow her blog, so you know this, but this week marked one year since Kara Tippetts passed away, and her husband posted this about the long year since her death. I always marvel at his posts; he expresses himself so well and so vulnerably. Loss is always hard, and there is never a prescribed way to do it, but he seems to be doing it in the most healthy way possible. I appreciate his thoughts.  

Five.

 Ryan actually contributed this one to the Six this week. I dare you to watch it and not smile. Seriously dare you.  

Six.

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Know what I missed this week? Sitting and reading an entire book in one fell swoop. As you might imagine, with all the house fun, it just wasn't possible. But I did finish the third book I've been reading for my personal devotions this year, and I wanted to tell you about it!

The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson is not a new book at all. He published it back in 2011, and I had started to read it shortly after it came out, but I never finished it. I think that was because God knew I needed it right now and not because it was in any way a lackluster book. {This happens to me sometimes. I'll start a book, put it aside, and come back to it in the perfect God-timing. I've learned not to be irritated by it when I "can't" finish a book, because I know it means God has another plan.}

If you're not familiar with this book, Mark introduces reasders to Honi, a first-century Jewish sage who boldly drew a circle in the dirt, stepped inside and prayed fervently for rain in the midst of a drought that threatened to kill an entire generation of people. Honi's bold prayers brought rain, and the concept of praying circles around everything from problems to dreams was born.

This book is filled with examples of HOW you can pray. Not that they are the only ways to pray, but they might be ways you've not considered. From recording your prayers to be able to look through them later, to praying literal circles around things you desire, Mark offers very practical suggestions, and I practiced some of them in these past few weeks of praying for our house to sell. There is indeed something powerful about putting actual feet to your prayers.

He also shares heavily from his own experiences of drawing prayer circles, sharing specifically and vulnerably about how those times strengthened his faith. I think many of his stories resonated extra with me right now, because they were based on real estate prayers, just like mine have been! {If you're not familiar with Mark, he's the pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C. and the church has worked to purchase several prime locations in the heart of the city so they can use them for ministry centers. As you might imagine, acquiring those properties was not an easy task, and much prayer was required.}

Mark is careful to say we should steer clear of "name it and claim it" type prayers or of treating God like a genie in a bottle, required to fulfill our wishes, but he also says that praying specifically and boldly often brings about miraculous answers we couldn't even have imagined.

I came away from this book both challenged and encouraged. I'm excited to grown my own prayer life more and more. {I'm still reading the 40 day companion guide.}