The Saturday Six

One.

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I happened upon this blog post through Twitter last week and loved it for many reasons, but I am going to have to follow this to see the updates on this blogger who just stepped with both feet into her dream of flipping houses! But even if house flipping isn't your gig, read this post to be reminded of how and why God cares about the dreams He places in our hearts. {The REAL reason I needed this post right now.}

Two.

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While my love with Ryan is still fresh and new, and while we haven't hit slumps and speedbumps that have derailed us, and while for the most part, I believe either of us would tell you we don't think our marriage is the hard work that it seems to be for some, I think this article speaks so much truth! The "for better or for worse" of marriage does mean that you'll see each other at your best and worst and sometimes be the cause of the appearance of the best and worst. And through all of that, you choose to keep investing in, loving on, and believing in each other. Beautiful words.

Three.

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Oh, my goodness, yes. While I am not a big lover of thrifting and antiquing, I have begun to see the value in finding new life for old things, for reclaiming when possible, and turning an old {and slightly falling apart} back door into a chalkboard and focal point. But Shannan's words stopped me when I realized I am terribly guilty at NOT giving people the same second chance. Conviction in a post, right here.  

Four.

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This season of our lives is all about dreaming. We've been dreaming up ways to make this house our own, dreaming up adventures for life here in our new town, and dreaming about what God might have for our future here, as a couple, and in pockets of ministry. Sometimes dreaming is daunting, because it's hard to imagine any of them might come true. And so...these words.  

Five.

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Ryan and I celebrated monthiversary #42 this week and just for fun, that evening, we answered the questions from this Not-So-Newlywed game. It was fun!! {And boy do I have a story for you about that! Coming soon!} 

Six.

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I've been working my way through my bookshelf this year to read books I already owned as a guide to my devotional time. Because of how the alphabet falls, that means this was my third consecutive Mark Batterson book! I finished All In, which is his follow up book to The Circle Maker {which was the first of the three I read, followed by Draw the Circle, his 40 day companion guide to the first book}.

I want to be quick to say that All In was not a bad book - at all - but it was my least favorite of the three. I think there were some stories in All In that I'd already read some version of in one of the other two books, maybe, and while it's perfectly fine for authors to reuse material like that, I think I was ready for something completely fresh. Maybe it was just too many months on one subject. I'm not sure.

The first two books were a guide to specific prayers about areas of life, and this book continued that practice, but it focused more on how our job as believers is to be all in for Jesus. He's not Lord of some, He's Lord of ALL areas of our lives. Or He should be. {And I agree with that wholeheartedly!}

As usual, he had many underline-worthy quotes, and I did put down the book nearly every day feeling convicted about the passion of my own fire in serving the Lord.

Here are some kickers for you:

"It's time to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death." - page 14.

"God will go after anything you trust in more than Him until you put it on the altar." - page 44.

"Faithfulness is not holding the fort. It's storming the gates of hell and taking back enemy territory that belongs to God." - page 87.

"The blessings of God will complicate your life, but unlike sin, they will complicate your life in the way it should be complicated." page 101.

Many, many good things, and at this juncture of my life, as I am working my way into writing and speaking, it was good for me to spend some time being reminded of heroes of the faith {biblically speaking and throughout other parts of history as well} who only made the impact for Christ that they did because they went all in for Him.

So while I think The Circle Maker was my favorite of the three that I read, this was by no means a waste of my time. I did learn and I did come away challenged.

{By the way, this is not a new book either. It was published in 2013, and I believe I acquired it back when I worked at the station. I just hadn't read it until now!}