The Saturday Six

One.

Ryan and I have been praying all week for the people of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. My goodness! What a devastating situation! While we have only been there once {and I know some people vacation here all. the. time.}, it was hard to see the pictures of places we had been, that held such happy memories for us, and see the ruin left behind. I know the media hasn't covered the story very intensely, but keep these folks in your prayers! {Here and here are a few of our memories from our trip to this area!}


Two.

Sometimes you need an ornament, but you can't find one that fits, so you have to start customizing! I wanted ornaments for our tree that reflected our house sale/purchase this year, but even after scouring the internet, I came up short on moving-related ornaments. So I found an Etsy shop that made two ornaments for me - one for each house. The seller was really great to work with and even shipped my orders together and refunded me the additional shipping costs. I'm so pleased with the ornaments {in cost and quality} and wanted to recommend her in case anyone needs an ornament made! Lily Reed is the name of the shop! :)

Three.

It's a short little blog post. Doesn't even have a picture to go with it. But it packs a powerful little message. So you should read it. Wise words from Caroline Rothschild.

Four.

Source

'Tis the season of every man for himself, right? Survival of the fittest among shoppers and drivers and...what if we paused to be kind? Intentionally kind? This post offers some suggestions for being kind in the smallest of ways, but it might just make a huge impact!    

Five. 

Source

If you are looking for some not-your-mama's homemade Christmas ornaments for your tree, check out this post by the talented KariAnne. I think some of them {hello, spring snowflake, I'm looking at you!} are just crazy adorable.  

Six.

Source

A couple of weeks ago, I read an interview on my friend Sarah Forgrave's blog about Amelia Rhodes' new book called Pray A to Z. I was so taken with the interview that I knew I had to read the book!


Pray A to Z is an unusual book. It's not a story that you read from cover to cover. In fact, if you're not really a fan of reading at all, you'll like this book, because you can take it one short page at a time. One per day if you'd like. This book is a guide. Who among us hasn't promised to pray for someone and then...we forget...or we don't know what to say...or our prayers turn into a long list of "God bless {fill in 105 blanks}." Maybe we've even backed off from praying like we should because we don't feel effective in our prayers.

That's where this book can help. Amelia has taken the alphabet, something most of us can safely say we know by heart, and she's made lists of five categories we can pray for associated with each letter. And the last two of each of the five categories are positive, uplifting things that end our prayers on a high note of praise. {Because let's face it: praying for the many hurts and wounds can really pull us down, can't it?}

For example, let's just take the letter S, because, you know, SHAFFER, and as you pray through that letter, you'll pray over singles, sexuality, suicide, strength, and shepherd. For the singles, you'll pray for those in your life who are single and need support and purpose, purity and encouragement. Amelia gives you a verse to guide your prayers, ideas of things to pray {like the words I just mentioned} and even a written prayer to further trigger your thoughts. When praying over sexuality, you'll pray for your own purity, for your family's protection, and for the community around you. You'll pray for those being sexually abused or those who are still traumatized from when it happened to them years ago. {There's more, but that gives you an idea.}

When you get to the "prayers of praise" part {still staying with the letter S}, you'll praise God for the strength He gives each day and you'll call to mind situations in the past when He offered you strength in exchange for your weakness.

As I read through the book, I was pleasantly surprised to see how Amelia's guide set my mind free to think of many people in my circle of friends {immediate and far-reaching} who fall into the categories from A to Z. And sometimes the suggestions she gave were ones I wouldn't have thought to pray over, so that was really helpful to me.

If prayer is something you're hoping to focus on in the new year, this would be a really practical guide in helping you stay on track in your prayers. There's plenty of room on the page to make notes, write names, mark answers, etc.

I also think {age appropriately of course} that this method is a great way to teach your kids how to guide their prayer lives. Obviously you'd want to be careful on some topics, but I know my mom used the alphabet method to teach me memory verses, and it was so helpful. I think teaching prayer the same way could be incredibly powerful.

I loved this book, I think it's a helpful guide, a good gift idea, easy to read, practical, and perfect for new Christians and seasoned Believers alike!

* Worthy Publishing provided a copy of this book to me at no charge. All opinions are my own!*

The Saturday Six

One.

Christmas is coming you know. {We're under two months now - EEK!!!} And in case you're a lover of small-shop support and even more specifically, Etsy support, this 31-Days blogger covered a whole list of Etsy shops, so I wanted to direct you to her list. Quite a range of ideas and prices are covered here. Happy Etsy shopping!!

Two.

Source

A couple of weeks ago, one of my friends texted to ask my opinion on day planners, because she said when she thought of people who were passionate/obsessed with such things, I came to mind first. {Not EVEN embarrassed about that! WOOT WOOT!!!} I am actually making my own 2017 planner, but I found this post by Brittany at Where My Soul Belongs, and she compared a couple of planners that were new to me, so I feel it's my duty as a passionate, obsessive planner lover to pass the news on to you in case you're on the hunt!

Three.

Source

As I've mentioned many times this year, I've been doing Beachbody workouts and eating plans, but our one-income budget does not allow me to keep up with daily Shakeology treats. It is crazy expensive to buy a bag of that every month, so we've had to resort to making our own versions of healthy shakes at home. Dashing Dish is my favorite go-to site for clean eating {I've told you about it multiple times before} but this week I tried out the Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie. Oh. My. Word. It was a thousand times better than I even expected. {I used plain Greek yourt in place of cottage cheese for the thickener, and I did not add the cream cheese because I didn't want to open a whole package for a little tiny smidgen. But it was so creamy and tasty.} NEW FAVORITE!!!

Four.

Source

 Back to Christmas for just a moment...I wanted to tell you that Dayspring is having a big sale that ends in a couple of days. {I'm not a Dayspring affiliate, so this isn't a push for personal gain; I just love their stuff!!!} Some of my family members might recognize the chalkboards from this page as one of the gifts I gave last year. This set of stuff makes a great gift because you can add to them to complete the gift! {Make a cake FOR the cake plate, add coffee to the creamer/sugar set, etc.}

Five.

Source

NEXT WEEK is time change weekend!!! As always, I have some pretty strong opinions on time change, but at least this is the change that affords me more sleep, so my complaining is not quite as harsh this time around. But in light of this event, I found an article that suggests some household tasks that need done with about as much frequency as the time change, so tying them to the time change is a good way to remember to do them! Here you go!  

Six.

Source

This week, I read the conclusion of the Emancipation Warriors trilogy written by my real-life friend, Marissa Shrock. I've reviewed books one and two on the blog before, so you can check those out if you missed them before. The First Principle was the first book, and The Liberation released just earlier this year. The final book in this series is called The Pursuit, and just like the first two books in the series, The Pursuit is suspenseful from start to finish!

Marissa is a middle school teacher, and she writes for a young adult audience. But as I said in my first two reviews, I enjoyed reading them and think they appeal just as fully to an adult audience. These books are set in an undisclosed future year, when the United States is no more, and the world at large looks very different from the world we know.

The main character of the series, Vivica Wilkins, is almost eighteen years old, and finds herself a bit stuck in life. She wants to attend college, but her mother, who is the President of the United Regions of North America, hasn't been able to find a school that can assure her Vivica will be safe from the attack of political enemies. So Vivica feels trapped, living day after day in the presidential compound, unsure of how to move forward when she can't move beyond the gates of the property.

The world had seemed unstable before, but grows more so each day. Biochips implanted in citizens keep the government informed on everything from their whereabouts to their health status. Mysterious illnesses that seem to attack certain regions come from "nowhere," destroy lives at alarming rates. And most people have no idea just how deep the government's power runs, including recent technology that experiments with weather control.

When the President dies under suspicious circumstances, and Vivica's friend, Drake Freeman, invites her to join the Emancipation Warriors in their pursuit of complete freedom, she cannot resist. The wars of disease, deception, and determination in the world are large, but even bigger battles rage inside Vivica. A born-again Christian {in a world that does not tolerate its beliefs}, she feels the weight of sharing her faith and seeing those around her, even the enemies, as people created by God. She feels the weight of fighting for anything that will make the world a safer place for her son, even though she gave him up for adoption. And she feels the weight of submitting to God's plan for her life, even if it looks different from what she "feels" it should be.

As was true of the first two books, The Pursuit offers a difficult look into parts of our future that may not be so far away or far-fetched. In those respects, for a scaredy-cat like me, some of the concepts were difficult to face. But the writing itself is excellent, suspenseful, and carries the Gospel message clearly. My own faith was strengthened by the needed reminders that God is bigger than any government entity and always faithful to care for His children, regardless of how hopeless the circumstance.

You'll find love, intrigue, danger, faith, and so much more in this book, and I am so proud of Marissa for completing her trilogy and bringing a faith-based option of dystopian literature to young adults. I'm excited to see what she ventures into next in the world of writing!

 * Marissa sent me a complimentary digital copy of The Pursuit to read. All opinions are my own! * 

The Saturday Six

One.

As I've been telling you about our pending move this week, I mentioned that I have a planner/binder just for this occasion. I wanted to tell you where you can get it, in case you or anyone you know has a forthcoming move, because it has made my heart beat faster than any planner should. I found it on Pinterest initially, but you can buy it on Etsy. I almost passed it up, because it costs $8.00, and I typically refuse to pay for printables. But when I saw all that it offered, I realized it was absolutely worth the money, and the woman who designed it certainly deserves payment for her design efforts! What I love about it is that it's an instant download, you can choose the color you want {I chose gray because I didn't plan to use up our colored ink on packing stuff} and you can customize the pages on your computer! You can print them out blank and write on them, or you can type in the info and then print it. This planner has single-handedly revolutionized my moving extravaganza. {PS - the link over the words "all that it offered" takes you to the creator's blog post about the binder. The link over "you can buy it on Etsy" takes you to her shop.}

Two.

Source

Last December, when Ryan's sister threw a surprise 40th party for her husband, she asked me if I could take pictures at the party. I told Ryan I was relieved to have a job to do, because then I knew my place and had a purpose. I wasn't the weirdo wandering around with the camera. I was the event photographer {even if not a polished one} and that gave me a place. I love knowing my place and find that I panic a bit in any given situation if I have to just be there and don't know my place. Giving myself permission to just belong because I'm me is not something I'm great at, and that's why this post by Emily Freeman was so good for me.

Three.

Source

I love this little blog and actually interviewed Carmella when I worked at the station. Her posts inspire me to simplify my thoughts {which are, as you might imagine, currently quite chaotic where home and possessions are concerned}. This post reminds me of a truth I'm learning in fresh ways as I pack: it's important to keep the things that mean something to you. That's kind of our rule around here - if it doesn't fit our lives or house a significant memory, it's okay to let it go. When we realize we need something, because without it, something seems missing, we know it matters. Carmella says it better.  

Four.

Source

Here's why I no longer have to feel guilty about my power naps. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH how I love my power naps.

Five.

Source

Jennifer Rothschild is an author and speaker, and if you're not familiar with her, let me just tell you: she is a delight. I appreciated her truthful insights in this post, offering ways to make sure you don't waste the upcoming years of your life!

Six.

Source

I'm nothing if not fashionably late for a party. And this week I finally showed up at the Amish fiction party. If I've ever read Amish fiction before, it's only been one other book, and I'm not recalling it at the moment, but that's okay! Let me tell you about the one I read this week. Jan Drexler's latest novel is the first in a new series called "Journey to Pleasant Prairie," and book one is called Hannah's Choice.  

One of the most surprising things {to me} about this book was its setting: 1842. I guess I had never given much thought to the Amish being active communities back in a time when everyone else in the world lived similarly {in regard to way of life itself}. I'm used to a world where the Amish live without the modern conveniences we enjoy, but in this setting, that would have been a much more level playing field since no one had cars or indoor plumbing or electricity. I typically think of the conflict between the Amish and English world revolving around the presence or absence of those kinds of amenities, but this story showed that conflict is conflict, and it was alive and well back then too, just with different manifestations.

The book chronicles the story of Hannah Yoder and her family, who live in Pennsylvania and have suffered much in the years leading up to our meeting them. Diphtheria claimed three of the children in the family and left soul-wounds that threatened to unravel the remaining members. Hannah is coming of age and wrestles with guilt from the deaths of her siblings, confusion over her feelings toward her lifelong friend Adam, who has converted to the Mennonite faith, and the attentions of a young Amish man who wants to make her his wife.

Hannah's family considers moving farther west, into Indiana, to start over, away from the influences of the world that seem to press in, and though she's sheltered from understanding it completely, Hannah finds herself exposed to the work of the underground railroad and the strange truths that humans are enslaved to other humans. So many choices face her and she wonders what will ultimately become of her if she chooses any of the paths before her.

I had never before thought of an Amish world and a slavery world colliding, so that portion of the storyline was incredibly interesting to me. I appreciated the tug of war within Hannah as she sought to be loyal to her parents, her upbringing, her heritage, her faith, and yet offer her own heart a chance at a promising future. I enjoyed seeing into her thoughts and finding recognizable commonalities from my own days in that age span when I wrestled with similar thoughts shown in different details.

I can say this without spoiling the end of the love triangle portion of the book: she didn't pick the man I rooted for, and that made me sad, but that's just a personal reflection and not any kind of reflection on Jan's writing. After all, isn't life like that sometimes? It doesn't turn out the way we hope, but there's still a beauty within it?

If you enjoy Amish fiction, I think you'd find this a good twist on a genre you love. Like I said, this brings in a time period and pieces of conflict I don't think are typical to Amish fiction as a whole. And since this is the first book in a new series, there's plenty of time to travel with new characters and see what unfolds for them!


* Thanks, Revell, for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. *