What I Learned in February

How is it that January flew, and February crawled, even though it's a shorter month? How?? You would think that for as long as the month felt, I would have learned a lot more than I did. Maybe my brain was just too overwhelmed to take in more information; I'm not sure. But whether or not this is of lasting significance, here's what I learned this month!

1. Kleinfeld keeps extra dresses in the ceiling. 

Earlier this month, I found a Say Yes to the Dress marathon on TV and watched it until the commercials for Dr. Pimple Popper made me so sick to my stomach that I had to turn it off. But Ryan asked me a question about the show that sent me Googling...and although I didn't find the answer I was looking for, I did find this fascinating list of behind-the-scenes info about the show. They say the store is much smaller than you'd think, and the stockroom is so packed, they have to store some of the dresses on a mobile rack in the ceiling. It kind of reminded me of the doors in Monsters Inc.

2. Potholes can pop up in a big way in no time at all.

I mentioned this in a Shuffle post earlier this month, but we went to Ryan's mom's house one evening and our street was fine. By the time we came home a few hours later, the road was completely torn up for several feet. How did that even happen??

3. People pay attention to where you sit in church!

Yes, I'm a creature of habit, but even more than that, I'm a girl who needs structure in life. That spills over into seating, I'm afraid. Whenever I go to Bible studies or meetings or church or any other organized event like that, I like (and somewhat need) to sit in the same place. We've had our seat in church for a while, but we began to notice that occasionally another family liked to sit there, and it seemed to be as important to them as it was to me. We didn't want to create a stumbling block for them by taking their seat, so we found a new one. You would not believe the number of people who commented on the fact that we were in a different seat! It made me giggle!

4. Some carts are designed to physically not leave the store.

During our belated Valentine's Day date, Ryan and I shopped in a variety of stores down in Indianapolis. One of the stores had carts for your shopping pleasure, but we learned (at the expense of the guy in front of us) as we were leaving that their carts have wheels that actually lock up when they are pushed outside the store. That's one way to keep them out of the parking lot! We had never heard of such a thing. Have you?

5. Online writing conferences are the way to go (for me). 

I've been to a few traditional writing conferences in my day, and not too long ago, one of my friends asked if I planned to attend one this year. I decided against it, partly because of the cost involved (both financially and in time away from home) and partly because I wasn't sure if it was wise to commit to one with all we have going on with Ryan's mom. Then I learned about the Flourish Writing Conference, which is a free online conference (available for just a few more days if you're interested!), and I signed up. This may have been the most perfect conference for me in this season of my life. The conference is 6 days long, with a total of 25 sessions spread over those days. The whole thing was free for the space of a month (with an option to buy a lifetime pass if you want), and I could watch the sessions at my leisure. I could watch crazy late at night, super early in the morning, or even while I had something else going on. I didn't have to pay travel expenses, I didn't have to feel like I was abandoning my other work, and I learned so much. I'm so very grateful for the chance to learn right from my own couch.

6. You can live (permanently) on a cruise ship.

Did you know this? I sure didn't! You can live full time in a studio, one, two or three bedroom apartment on a ship that sails all around the world. The cost of the residences do not seem to be published. I'll go ahead and guess I can't afford it. ;) But a girl can dream, right?

7. Ryan's wish came true.

If you heard the podcast, you know he was hoping (with crossed fingers AND toes) that he would get to know the joy of his very own winter storm. Per The Weather Channel, his dream has come true. And we documented it.



PS - I haven't linked up with Emily in forever, since she doesn't do these monthly anymore, but she was the one who got me started on this monthly post, so I linked up today!

How We're Trying to Stay Healthy

I hesitate to even write this post, because as sure as I do, one of us will get sick, right? Ugh!

But we have both noticed (and dared to comment) that we've not struggled with sickness this year like we normally do. To be fair, we are actually pretty healthy people, and we are grateful for that. I read on Facebook about all these friends of mine who struggle with all kinds of respiratory things and ear infections and asthma flare-ups (and on and on the list goes) and we have historically not had all those things. We're also both pretty terrible patients, so maybe its just a big old blessing that we don't have to subject each other and all those around us to the sick versions of ourselves.

Because of our insane schedule as of late, we have definitely both had a lot of days when we've been exhausted almost to the point of feeling sick. And we've spent a lot of time in hospitals (visiting and working). They're not known for being germ-free, you know. So I have tried to figure out what we've done right or differently this year that has helped keep us well when there are so very many things working against us in life as a whole. Here are the things I came up with. They're in no particular order.

1. We're changing the sheets more often.
This was actually Ryan's observation. I'll make a confession: I used to be pretty terrible about changing our sheets. We tend to make the bed very first thing when we get up in the morning, and then I'd forget to unmake it and wash the sheets. Embarrassing but true fact about my housekeeping. Sigh. But this year, with the new cleaning schedule I'm observing, I wash the sheets once a week. Ryan is convinced that this one thing has made the biggest difference in our wellness this year. Maybe he's right. Maybe he's not. But it surely can't hurt, right?

2. We diffuse pretty much every day.
We've been using essential oils for about four years now, I think, but I've historically not been consistent about running the diffuser. I would run it like mad if one of us felt sick, and I would run it if the house smelled funny, but I didn't run it every single day. This year (with the exception of when we've had dogs around) I've run it almost every day. (I know some oils shouldn't be used around dogs, so just to make sure we don't make any of them sick, I just don't diffuse when they're here.) I have used all kinds of blends, but I really do think it's helped.

3. We've been using immunity blend rollers.
Also at the start of the year, I looked up a recipe for an immunity blend roller and put one together. Though I will confess that we should use it more diligently than we do, I do think it has helped. I put it on about every half hour when we were spending our days at the hospital.

4. Hand sanitizer!
Ryan uses a hand sanitizer at work a million times a day, because that's just what they're trained to do. I confess I'm not a fan of the hospital grade sanitizers, but I have made myself use it regularly when I'm there to visit or work out. (ESPECIALLY working out. I don't know who held onto the treadmill before I did!) But we use the Young Living Thieves hand sanitizer at home, and we have tried to use it more than ever. Obviously we wash our hands a lot too, but having hand sanitizer on the run is helping, I think.

5. We're doing better at cleaning the house.
This probably should have gone right after #1, and I really have no idea if it's helping a lot or just a little, but like the sheet theory, I think it can't be hurting! I have a schedule that keeps me cleaning one thing a day, so our bathrooms, floors and general surfaces are getting a lot more attention than they used to. The one thing I need to do even more? Doorknobs. Kind of like the sheets - I always forget about them!

6. Bundle up!
We're trying to do a good job of making sure we are consistent in wearing hats, scarves (okay that's just me), and gloves every time we go out in the cold. Ryan is good about wearing a hat, because he doesn't have hair to keep him warm, but I haven't always been great about it. But I'm determining this year to ALWAYS take time to bundle up, even if it takes forever. (Try telling Deuce about the importance of that when he's ready to go outside!)

7. Get ahead of it at the first twinge.
Ryan learned kind of by accident last year that if he starts to feel a cold coming on and he immediately starts regular doses of Mucinex, it kills the cold before it starts. We keep it on hand so if we start to feel a little twinge of something coming on, we can immediately start trying to counteract it. We're both cheap and hate the idea of "wasting" it, since it's not the most inexpensive medicine on the planet. But it's cheaper to take a couple of doses and ward it off than it is to need two (or more) bottles (each) during a cold!

8. REST!!!
Like I said at the beginning, the physical and emotional toll of this season has worn us down faster than anything else. We are trying to be very diligent to allow ourselves rest, because we really do need it. This past Sunday, I started feeling really achy and sick at church. I had no idea if it was an actual sickness or just being run down, but I didn't want to mess around with it. Ryan brought me right home and I spent the rest of the day on the couch. I think I took three naps. We can't always rest to the fullest extent when we wish we could, but we try to give ourselves the biggest graces we can when time allows.

9. We try to eat well and work out.
The working out part doesn't happen as much as we wish it could right now, but we get to the gym every single chance we get, and we hope that exercising and clean eating will help keep our bodies happier! (And we also think the occasional Blizzard could only boost it, right?)

Could we do more to help ourselves? I'm sure we could. We don't have a vitamin routine, and like I mentioned earlier, I could probably do a little more in terms of sanitizing door handles, phones, laptops, etc. But when I think about all the germs we've encountered, I feel like we've done a pretty good job trying to stay ahead of sickness-paloozas!

Do you have any good tips we should add in for staying healthy in this cold and germy time?

92 County Tour: Kosciusko County

Before we tell you about our latest county tour, we pause to bring you a fresh round of podcast stories! Enjoy!

Listen here

Wow. It has been NINE MONTHS since we last toured a county. What in the ever loving world? It's true. Our trip to southern Indiana for our birthdays last May marked our last county tour. And in some ways, the one you're about to read about was very abnormal for us. But it felt good to whip out the chalkboards again and do something normal and Shaffery.

If you're new around here, you're probably very confused. County tours? What? Five years ago, Ryan and I began a project that is apparently going to take us the rest of our natural lives. We intend to visit every single county in the state of Indiana - and there are 92. Our goal is to find fun and unique things to do in each county, and of course: find a coffee shop. We've had such a blast visiting new-to-us places and seeing portions of our state we'd never seen before.

Because I spoke in Warsaw this past Saturday, we decided to officially mark its county off our list, but this one wasn't handled in a normal way at all.

First of all, I should tell you the name of the county: Kosciusko. Try saying that three times fast. Or spelling it fast.

I absolutely thought this county's name was probably Native American, because many counties in Indiana are tied to them in some way. But I was wrong! I learned (Wikipedia, you know) that it was named after a Polish general, Tadeusz Kosciuzko, who served in the Revolutionary War and then returned to Poland. And the county seat, Warsaw, is named after the capital of Poland. Something fun and different for state history!

It's actually one of the bigger counties in the state in terms of land, but even though it doesn't have a huge number of cities, there's much to do in this county. You know why? LAKES! Several of the most popular lakes in the northern portion of the state are located in Kosciusko County - including our beloved Lake Webster, where Ryan's family has a cottage.

That's actually what made it kind of tricky for us to visit. We've gone to North Webster, where Lake Webster is located, every single summer since we've been married. So it seemed silly to spend part of our day there, when we already have so many adventures and memories documented. And there are a couple of other areas we plan to visit in the county later this summer when it's...you know...NICE outside. So our time on the "official" documentation was spent in one little part of a great big county with lots to see.

But let me point you back to some of the fun we've already had at our lake! Here's a peek at our first summer visit to the lake. It was not a pretty weekend to be there, but we made the best of it, and Ryan got to barefoot on the lake, which made him so happy. And here's a year where the weather was actually nice enough to see sunsets! That same year, we visited Dixie Days, the town's claim-to-fame festival, and we also went to Dan's Pies, which was amazing. (Dan was the cook at the church camp Ryan and I went to growing up. He's retired from camp cooking and opened his own pie shop. I believe it's only open in the summer, but it's worth every penny. That was also the year we first encountered The River Coffee Shop, which quickly became home to us. We still love that place so much. And before we move on, here's another fun day with family, shopping, and walking around town, and here's the day we met our blog friends, Dave and Natasha and took them around North Webster!

As you can see, we have much love for and many traditions in North Webster. (And one day I will ride the Dixie!)

But our official county tour day began right before we spoke at the Warsaw First Baptist Church. Before we went there, we stopped by a franchise of one of our favorite Indiana donut spots: Rise n Roll!

We visited the flagship store (ha!) five years ago when we went to LaGrange County. This is an Amish-originated bakery, and my parents (who go to Amish country a lot) bring us treats from there nearly every time we go. It seemed wrong to NOT go for ourselves when in the area. It was a cute little store inside! They even had these adorable bikes as a nod to the Amish background.

Around here, the donuts are known as Amish crack, and once you have one, you understand why. So. Addictive. Ryan and I each got one to eat for our breakfast there in the store, and then we bought some to bring home to one of our friends who was having a birthday. (Okay, okay, we also got a box for ourselves.)

I think he liked it.

After we left the donut shop, we went to the church to speak and have brunch, and then we headed over to the little village of Winona Lake.

Winona Lake is quite possibly one of the cutest places in the state of Indiana. It's just adorable. I actually told Ryan that if we didn't live where we did, I would probably want to live in Kosciusko County, and Winona Lake specifically.

Here.

That's an old hotel converted into condos. They have huge ones and little studio ones. I mean, not that I've looked online to see them or anything. SO CUTE.

I'd first gone to Winona Lake back in 2008, with my friend Marie! That was a much prettier day than what we had, but we still had fun.

First, we took our official county photo. :)

Then we took a gander at all the little stores. They're set up in cute little houses along a canal, and they're as cute as they can be.

We also took a walk along part of the river. It was frozen over, but still OH so pretty.

Ryan was pretty hungry, because he hadn't been able to eat much at the brunch. He had helped the men serve the food and then he had to jump in and run my Power Point. So we went to a restaurant/café I'd picked out.

It's called the Light Rail Village Café, and it was REALLY good. Ryan had a brisket sandwich and I had a half salad. We shared a dessert and fresh brew. We loved the food and the atmosphere!

Winona Lake is also a college town; Grace College is located there. So there were a bunch of college students with textbooks and laptops hanging out in the main space of this café. Happily, they had made the porch dining area somewhat winterized, so we were able to sit out there and enjoy ourselves!

Fun fact (which you may have already heard about if you've listened to the podcast: I came to this same building for lunch with Marie the day she and I hung out at the lake. It was a different restaurant then, but we sat on the same porch, and I had my picture taken that day too! Two different days, two different restaurants, and in some ways, two very different Bekahs!

After we ate and did a little more walking around, we hopped back in the car to drive through the Grace campus. (Would have been great to walk, but the temp was dropping quickly!)

We had a fun day and were glad to have an official tour under our belts again. We'll look forward to the third segment of this county this summer!

And just for funsies, here's a peek at all our tour photos so far! 27 down, 65 to go! (I was very wrong on that count in the podcast.)

PS - To see all the rest of the county tours, take a look at the bottom of this page!

Women's Brunch!

Ryan and I had such a fun day this past Saturday, and it started with a morning of ministry.

Several weeks ago, I received an invitation to speak at a women's brunch in Warsaw, Indiana. (That's about an hour and a half north of where we live.) The friend who invited me "met" me back in my WBCL days, but until Saturday, we'd only talked through email and Facebook. It was our first time to meet in person!

If I understood her correctly, this was the first time their church had an event like this - at least for quite some time - and she was excited that so many had signed up to be part of the morning.

We found the church, and I was excited to meet Melinda in person and give her a big hug! She is a treasure.

I have spoken at many churches for brunches/dinners served by the men of the church, and they're always well done.  But I have to give an extra special shout-out to the guys of this church. Part of the reason this morning even happened was because they wanted to do something to serve the ladies of the church in a tangible way, so they made this entire morning happen. That made a huge impression on my heart, and I have major respect for them taking an idea and putting it into practice.

I walked in to the most beautiful setup, and Melinda said it was all done by the guys. They'd set up the room, set the tables, created centerpieces out of fruit and flowers, and planned the menu for the morning.

And when I say they planned a menu, I mean they planned an actual menu:

We marked the menu with what we wanted and they delivered our plated breakfast to us, so we didn't have to stand in line at a buffet to serve ourselves. They kept our water/tea/coffee/orange juice filled, and when we were done eating, they cleared our dishes away.

The food was delicious and the portions generous. I was truly impressed.

They'd asked me to do a talk called "Take Up Your Towel," which is a talk about servanthood. (Wasn't it so great of the guys to provide a tangible example for us?)

This group was so kind, so inviting, and so wonderful to share with. I had a really wonderful experience!

What a great morning and a great group of ladies. I'm thankful I had a chance to serve them and be part of the day! Thanks, Melinda, for your invitation! Thanks, ladies, for your many kind words!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Morning, everyone! Happy Sunday! We had a fun weekend that we can't wait to tell you more about, and we're looking forward to a nice, restful day today! :)

* Last Sunday morning (as I told you earlier this week) I spoke at a little church not far from home, and it was a great morning! Our friends at the church invited us to eat lunch with them, so we went out to Prodigy. We'd been there before, but they hadn't, so we really hoped the food lived up to our hype! I think it did!

* This cracked me up: I did some laundry on Monday and hung up one of Ryan's shirts to dry, since it had a stain on it and I wanted to make sure I got it out before it went through the dryer. All day long, when I walked by the guest room, I thought there was a person in there watching me! Ha! We took care of Ryan's mom that night, and she wanted him to read her the children's book, The Wonky Donkey. (Confession: I don't like the book, but he rocked the presentation!) He must have worn himself out, because I looked up later and he was out cold IN HIS BIBLE while he studied it. (No, that is not a posed picture.)

* You heard about my Tuesday too, but I'll say again that it was a fun day. I went with my mom and her friend Sharon over to Gaither Family Resources to have one last hurrah before it closes in a couple of weeks. We ate lunch together, I got my final frappe, and purchased just a few things. (And I'm glad we had our outing on Tuesday rather than the next day. MUCH nicer day.)

* I spent MUCH of Wednesday watching sessions for the writing workshop I signed up for. I took so many notes! Braeya was utterly bored by the whole thing, but she sat with me. And Ryan was cracking me up at lunch - pouring his salsa on his chips bite by bite. I guess that's one way to make sure your ratio works out!

* I made shrimp fried rice (okay...cauliflower rice) for lunch on Thursday, and it was pretty yummy! We went to Ryan's mom's that night, powered by espresso. Aren't the beans so pretty??? I actually took a small break from the evening in order to visit some of my friends who live close by, but then I came back to work on some homework for a church committee and tried to keep Ryan awake!

* Friday night, Ryan and I had to do a grocery and errand run, so we turned it into a mini-date. It was so wonderful. I looked at this silly picture of the two of us with our pre-grocery coffee, and I think it may be the best picture taken of us in a long time. Not-totally-exhausted smiles for the win! And how can Ryan always always always make me laugh with his store shenanigans?

* Yesterday was a good, full day that we loved. We got up early and headed up to Warsaw, Indiana, where I spoke at a women's brunch. I can't wait to tell you more about that. The ladies were so kind, and the guys that did all the work for the morning were amazing! After our morning of work, we had our first county tour in many, many months. It was a gray and kind of cold day, but we had so much fun. A great end to the week.

The Saturday Six

One.

I really should ask you all for information more often than I do! Today my first item comes to you in the form of a question, because I'm curious to see if any of you have used this (or a similar) website. I was looking at one of my friends' Instagram profiles the other day, and she linked to a gift registry for her new baby. The registry allowed her to link items from anywhere on the web, so she had everything from restaurant gift cards to baby clothes to essential oils on there. I know there are more general gift wish list sites that allow a similar thing, but I've never used any of them. I did a little hunting and was intrigued by Checked Twice. Anyone used them? Liked them? Didn't like them? Preferred another site? Tell me what you've tried - if you have!

Two.

If you're a parent, you should probably read KariAnne's post about showing up to parent. But even if you're not a parent, you should probably read the post, because the truth is, we all need to show up for whatever our life asks of us. Show up for work (like really show up for work, not just clock in), show up for your marriage, show up for your friends, show up for your commitments. Just. Show. Up.

Three.

I've read many times that baskets make great buys at thrift stores and garage sales, because you can usually get them at a very low cost compared to what you'd pay for something new. But what do you do with them from there? This post has some tips on cleaning and painting such baskets so they look brand new and full of life. (I never would have thought of stripes!)

Four.

If you're a sucker for beautiful home libraries, you're going to want to see these. Warning: some have ladders. And also: library in a bathroom? INTRIGUING!

Five.

I mentioned yesterday that I've been watching a writing conference online this week. I don't know how many of you out there reading are also writers, but if you are, I have to say this one is very impressive. The whole thing is online and can be done for free. (There is an option to buy an upgraded package that gives you lifetime access to the workshops and some other bonuses as well, but I'm just doing the free version.) I've watched 15 of the 25 sessions and have taken about 10 pages of notes (typed, single spaced). So many presenters, topics, and a VAST wealth of knowledge. I'm impressed by the quality and quantity of material. We didn't have it in our budget for me to travel to a conference this year, so this has been a beautiful blessing and (in my opinion) a worthy investment of my time. Check it out if you're a writer!

Six.

A little over a year ago, I first learned of and read a book by Michelle Griep. It was a Christmas novel called 12 Days at Bleakly Manor and I really enjoyed it. It was a very different kind of setting for me, and I appreciated a captivating option that deviated from my normal fiction options.

So when I saw Michelle had another new book coming out, I decided to give it a try. Ladies of Intrigue just released, and it gave me yet a different spin from my typical fiction reads. This book is actually three stories in one! There are three very different novella-length stories encased in one 282-page book.

Given our current season of life-craziness, this was actually a blessing, because it allowed me to soak up an entire story in a short amount of time and then do it all over again in the next snippet of time. It was perfect for taking with me to Ryan's mom's house when we had our shifts of caring for her.

Each story was set in the 1800s, but each one took place in a different section of that century and also in very different places in the world.

The first story, The Gentleman Smuggler's Lady, is set on the Cornish Coast in 1815. After working abroad as a governess, Helen Fletcher is heading home to England to care for her dying father. Money is scarce, so she manages to find passage on a cargo ship with a kindhearted and compassionate captain. But upon arrival in England, the ship is overtaken by thieves. Though Helen and the crew escape uninjured, she finds later finds herself face to face with the ringleader of the thieves, who seems an entirely different human being in his everyday life.

Story #2, The Doctor's Woman, takes place in Dakota Territory in 1862. Emmy Nelson has just said goodbye to her father, a highly respected doctor. Though she hasn't received formal medical training, a lifetime of working side by side with her father has given her tremendous knowledge and skill. She finds herself brought to Fort Snelling during the Dakota Uprising to help until the Fort's new doctor arrives. When Dr. Clark shows up, he has a personality that doesn't seem to mesh well with Emmy's. But with the need greater than the staff, they have to figure out a way to make working together...work.

And the final story, A House of Secrets (St. Paul, Minnesota in 1890), tells the tale of Amanda Carston, the Ladies' Aide Chairwoman, who is also engaged to be married. Amanda's firm goal is to clean up some of the dilapidated housing in the city, and her first choice is a reportedly haunted house. She has no idea her soon-to-be husband actually owns the house, and she certainly doesn't know why.

I'm always intrigued by authors who can so skillfully write about such widely different places and times. Michelle does this very well, and I didn't feel jolted as I moved from one location and time period to the next.

Who should read this book: If you like stories set in the 1800 time period that aren't just traditional prairie romance, this book is a good choice for you! If your time (like mine) is extra short right now, three small books in one could be a great answer to your time crunch! If you like to travel to a variety of places (within the pages of books) this one will take you a little bit of everywhere!

* I received this book at no cost from Barbour Publishing. All opinions are my own. *

Lessons in Unlikely Places

I think I may have sprouted four new gray hairs this week, because I realized that next year marks twenty years since my college graduation. Stop it. JUST STOP IT.

I really don't feel any older, though hopefully I am a bit wiser than I was in the days of the unfortunate hair experiments. 

For those of you who may be new here and don't know, I majored in writing. Not journalism. Writing. I went to college fully convinced I would learn to write compelling novels and would spend my life cranking out story after story after story.

If I'd had my way about it back then, I would have just majored in fiction. It's all I cared about, so it's all I wanted to learn. Alas, they didn't have a fiction major, and in order to meet the requirements of the writing major, I had to take classes in all kinds of writing. 

I learned two big truths about myself in those four years.

1. I am not a poet at all. Think of the worst poet you've ever encountered. I'm worse.

2. My heart actually sings for nonfiction, not fiction. 

Who knew?

I had a misconception that nonfiction books were all biographies, and I hadn't read a single biography in my K-12 academic career that I found remotely interesting. Once I learned the proper definition of nonfiction and took a class in it, I found I adore nonfiction and if we're all being honest, I don't have the gift of writing fiction. I'm a storyteller, but not of the fiction variety.

Over the course of the past week, I've been attending an online writing conference, and it has been such a boost to my soul. I've chosen to watch every single workshop, regardless of the topic. I know some of them, like fiction, aren't likely to have a ton of information in them that is applicable to what I do. But along the way, I've learned you can almost always find a lesson in an unlikely place, if you just dare to enter.

After all, that's how I found out my best writing fit in the first place. I dared to enroll in the unlikely-to-fit class of nonfiction.

So I watch every conference workshop, even if I think I might not learn a thing. And so far, I haven't closed a single video without taking a decent handful of notes over meaningful points.

It doesn't just apply to majors or conferences or classes, by the way.

You never know when you might find a meaningful friendship with the most opposite sort of person.

You never know when you'll stumble upon a hobby that zings your creative juices.

You never know when you might discover an author or musical artist that feeds you the very words you need to hear.

You never know when you might unearth a keeper of a recipe simply by trying something new and different.

Lessons and life-changing experiences hide in the unlikeliest of places. Don't be afraid to walk through the door. You just never know what you might find. 

A Legacy in a Bible

This year our small group is doing verse mapping. (If you want to learn more about it, this post by Arabah Joy is a great resource and where I learned most of what I know about it.) The premise of verse mapping is that you take a verse and study it in depth, from a variety of angles, to learn as much as you can about the verse or section of Scripture.

As I told you one day last fall, I was so nervous when we introduced this idea to the group, because it was so different from anything we had ever done, and I wasn't sure everyone would be excited about preparing something of their own choosing to share out loud with the rest of the group each week. I feared some might quit the group on the spot or that in one night flat, we would ruin the trust and ease that our group had been building together for the last year.

All of that fell into the category "lies from the enemy."

It is perhaps very true that some of our group members have been nervous to share. Some may feel like it's a lot of work to prepare a verse for every meeting. But I will tell you this: Ryan and I find ourselves shaking our heads in wonder after every single meeting, because the way the verses dovetail is absolutely amazing. None of us confer before a meeting to see what another person is sharing. In fact, even among the couples in the group, some don't share with their own spouse what they're going to say at the meeting. (Ryan and I often don't reveal our verses to each other ahead of time.)

And yet as we take our turns and go around the circle, we see how the verses all fit together. Each of us has chosen something personally meaningful and in the end, they all blend to make this beautiful study. One person will refer to what another person shared moments ago, and I find myself cheering inside because they're listening to each other! They're learning together and from each other!

As I study my verses for each meeting, I usually go back through each of my old Bibles that sit in my office. I have a dozen or so that I've used in my adult life, and each one represents a different season. I've made notes on their pages - some from personal study and some from sermons and group studies. I've highlighted, underlined, and dated.

When I worked on my verse that I shared this week, I noticed that I'd starred it in the Bible I used for the majority of my twenties. That was the season when singleness nearly flattened me, and my prayers to find my husband soared to never-before-seen heights. In this one particular Bible, I'd marked every single verse I could find that somehow helped me hang onto hope that God hadn't forgotten me. I'd marked the verse I shared.

In this season of life, that verse is still dear to me, but for entirely different reasons. But as I shared with the group, I mentioned how it had been one of my go-to verses as a struggling single girl.

The next day, I listened to a teaching session by a writer. She was speaking to fellow writers about preserving personal stories, which you know is a passion of mine. As she offered different ideas for doing that in a practical way, one of her suggestions (for people who really don't enjoy writing) was to make notes in a Bible and leave your Bible as a legacy for the generations that come after you.

Not long after listening to her teaching session, I worked on my next verse mapping adventure. I paged through my Bibles and noticed my own journey with this particular verse, from my teen years through the present day. I'd marked this verse in almost every single Bible, but it was clear from my other notes around it that it meant different things to me in different seasons.

I don't know whether or not anyone else would find anything of value in my Bible-notes, but I'm confident that I love the growth journey I see in their pages as I move from Bible to Bible.

I hope I never give up leaving a legacy in a Bible. I hope I continue to make fervent notes, marking the things God teaches me along the way, and when I'm old and gray(er) I can sit and look back over our walk together and all He's taught me.

And somewhere along the way, in those scribbled notes, I'll find some pieces of wisdom shared by friends who met in our living room as part of our small group. Friends who mapped out wisdom and shared it with the rest of us, so we could all grow closer to the Lord together.

A Sad Little Goodbye

If you've been reading here a while, you have probably seen a post or two about visiting Gaither Family Resources. If you're new here, and/or not a southern gospel groupie, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about! 

It's a restaurant, it's a store, it's a coffee shop...it's wonderful! And it has a special place in our hearts, too, because we ate lunch there the day Ryan asked me to be his girlfriend! It was also the coffee shop of our choice when we toured Madison County. 

At the beginning of this month, we read the news that Bill and Gloria Gaither decided to close GFR so they can focus their time, energy, and resources on what stirs their souls the most: music. The store and restaurant will close permanently on March 1, which gave people about a month to stop by one last time, have one last meal, and shop one more time.

Ideally it would have been great to go back with Ryan, but alas, our schedule doesn't permit it right now. BUT! My mom invited me to join her and one of her friends for a final outing yesterday. I said yes! (Of course.) We had a beautiful day, which was a blessing, since the forecast for today looks very different.

We discovered when we arrived that MANY other people had the same idea we did. The place was absolutely packed. (We learned you could have made a reservation, so if any of your local people are planning to make a last pilgrimage of your own, there's a tip for you!) We had to wait a little while for a table, but the food was worth the wait. 

This is Mom and her friend, Sharon:

 I really did get food. It just hadn't arrived yet. Mom asked me to pray for the meal, so I guess she was testing my faith level. HA!

 It was so hard to pick a final meal from there, but a chicken quesadilla called my name.

I absolutely LOVE their frappes. They've always been the best. Super creamy. So I determined I wanted one more. And it did not disappoint.

We did some shopping, and I was very proud of myself for not buying MORE. I got a couple of books, a CD for Ryan's mom, and a little writing treasure for myself. And I got this Christmas ornament to add to our collection. In addition to the sentimental attachments I already told you about, this particular song was part of our wedding, so it is meaningful to us! I am looking forward to adding this to our tree later this year, with its beautiful story attached.

One last picture for the road:

Thanks, Mom, for inviting me to join you! It was a fun day. I'll miss this little place, and I'm glad I got to say goodbye.