Wednesday in the Word: Read Big Sections

 

When we came home from our walk last night, I noticed the coleus plants were looking a little droopy, and that reminded me that the rain stopped a couple of days ago and my watering hadn’t picked up to replace it. I turned on my Bible app to listen to my Bible Recap passage while I watered, and I paid extra attention to the words, because they happen to be from Acts, which is where I’ll be teaching from this fall in my Growth Group.

                I listened for a while, making mental notes of things I want to explore with the group, and that was a good time to remind myself that reading (or listening to!) big sections of Scripture at a time is such an important practice. My nerdy verse-mapping, word-studying self gets so caught up in dissecting a verse at a time to learn as much as I can about every little word and phrase…and that’s not a bad thing! There is absolutely a place for that.

                But there’s also a place for the big picture.

                There’s a place for seeing all the things you miss if you never move faster than one verse at a time. I discovered things I didn’t know – or hadn’t remembered, anyway.

                And so today, rather than unpacking a single verse with you, I just want to remind you to not abandon the practice of reading big sections of Scripture. You don’t have to take notes on it. You don’t have to consult commentaries. You don’t have to pull it apart and cross-reference. You can just read it and let it settle over you.

                (Perhaps I say this more to myself than to any of you.)

                Try it. You know…four or five…or even ten…chapters? It’s not as overwhelming as it might feel at first.

Tuesday Tales: Blooms with Bekah

 

A week ago today, I had the chance to enjoy a fun first! Well. First, I did NOT enjoy a not-so-fun first. I hit a deer. That happened on my way to work and broke my heart. I am choosing to believe the sweet little deersie is enjoying life with his family again (I was unable to find him after the collision), and the car doesn’t look as bad as the estimate would suggest.

                But after THAT, I had a fun night at Steele Farms Flower Patch. Marah, who owns the Flower Patch, asked me a while ago if I’d be interested in speaking at a women’s event, and I said yes!

                The night before the Blooms with Bekah, it rained so hard…but I was so thankful that event night was beautiful, sunny, and offered a slight breeze. Ryan even accompanied me and took some pictures!

                We had about 25 women there, which felt like a perfect crowd! I talked from Matthew 6 about the flowers of the fields and how they don’t worry or labor, but they grow to such beauty in the care of God. We learned that belief makes us blossom and worry makes us wither.

                After we learned together, I encouraged the ladies to walk through the fields and think about belief blossoming in their hearts as they looked at those flowers.

                And then we made bouquets together. The flowers were SO beautiful.

                It was the perfect night. Gorgeous flowers and stunning sunset.

                Oh – and did I mention Marah had the prettiest cupcakes for snacks after I spoke? Everyone said they were too pretty to eat. I worked through that. 😉

                It was such a sweet night. I’m so thankful for a chance to be part of it!

Menu Monday: Nourishing Body and Soul

 

We tried some fun new recipes last week! Want to see??

Monday: Southwest Chicken Salad and Steamed Green Beans

What We Liked: We love experimenting with different kinds of chicken salad, and this one was a really fun take! Some corn and black beans in the mix gave it a fun flavor! We steamed green beans from our garden, and they were a tasty side dish!

Tuesday: Greek Turkey Burgers and Cucumbers

What We Liked: These turkey burgers had a lot of flavor with Greek spices and a little feta worked into them. The sauce tasted like gyro sauce and was made from Greek yogurt, so it added some protein. I had cucumbers for a side dish and used some of the sauce as a dip!

Wednesday: Leftover Greek Turkey Burgers and Cucumbers

What We Liked: This was a rough day, so leftovers were a win!

Thursday: BBQ Pork and Roasted Zucchini

What We Liked: I ALWAYS like a slow cooker recipe, and this one was so good. We used G Hughs BBQ sauce, and it was so good – and sugar free! I used garden zucchini to make the roasted zucchini and it was SO good.

Friday: BBQ Pork and Bell Pepper

What We Liked: We had leftover pork but no more zucchini, so we had bell pepper for a side. It was just as good left over! (Note: I was SO HUNGRY, I ate before I remembered to take a picture. Ryan made me this one so I’d have something for the blog. Man. If only my actual food presentation looked that good!)

Saturday: Grilled Chicken and Potatoes with Broccoli Salad

What We Liked: We hosted small group and made our favorite marinated grilled chicken. Ryan cut up some small potatoes, sprinkled cheese on them, and cooked them on the grill too. And one of the other couples brought broccoli salad. (Linked is my recipe for broccoli salad, but I did not make this one.)

Sunday: BBQ Pork and Bell Pepper

What We Liked: Remembered to take a picture this time! Last of the pork for the win – and now we have a clean fridge for a new week!

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments from the Week

 

We bid farewell to July this week and welcomed August. August (at least in our world) signifies the return to routine, and we look forward to that. Even though we don’t have children to return to school, all the routines of our circles settle back in this month. We also have some fun plans this month, so we look forward to those. But amid all our reflecting and expectations, here are some of our memories from this past week!

Last Sunday, Ryan sang a solo at church for our special music. I was admittedly nervous for him, because I hadn’t heard him practice it, and I knew it was a new song for him, but he did an amazing job! To be clear, I knew he HAD practiced and practiced hard! I just didn’t know how confident he truly felt about the song. But I was so proud of him, and I was excited to hear people say such kind things to him.

Monday I traveled to Marion for a funeral visitation for one of our church members’ dads, and then I came home to work for the rest of the day. We had some pretty strong storms pass through (though nothing like Marion had!) but once they cleared, the sunset was GORGEOUS. Ryan and I were able to squeeze in a walk before it got dark, and I grabbed this sweet picture of him and Lexi when we came back home. I love this picture so much, I might print and frame it.

Tuesday night was such a fun night and I’m going to tell you more about it this week. I spoke at an event at the Steele Farms Flower Patch, and I had the best time. I loved what God pressed on my heart to share – and I loved just being with friends, picking flowers, and enjoying the stunning evening.

Wednesday was a little less exciting than Tuesday. 😊 Ever have one of those days where you just feel like you’re moving in slow motion, and you can’t gain traction? Welcome to my Wednesday. But the best part was in the evening when Ryan and I had some really great talks and we were finally able to sit down on the couch, rest, and enjoy our flowers and faux island scenery. Simple rest for the win.

We had a little more of our garden produce ripen this week! A cucumber, some zucchini, and a few more green beans! We are enjoying the fruit of our own labor – and the gifts from friends and neighbors whose plants seem to be a little farther along!

This was kind of how I felt about the month of July…but also how I felt about homework, come Friday afternoon. 😊 I was excited to work from home and eventually abandoned homework in favor of some actual work.

We started August by hosting our small group for dinner. It rained most of yesterday, and I maintain that even a gross and rainy day is beautiful when spent at the lake. We put the leaves in the table, brought out the small group dishes, and enjoyed some fabulous conversation!

And before I sign off today – happy 164^th monthiversary, Ryan! I love you!

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

Welcome to August! I posted my July photo dump to Facebook last night and was worn out by the end. What a month it was! I’m excited for August. We have some fun things planned…but in the meantime, I have some fun finds for you today!

Have you ever moved with professional movers? We have not. On our fancier days, we’ve rented a UHaul. On our regular days, we’ve had kind friends show up with pickups and trailers – and we’ve made many, many trips with our own vehicles. Maybe that is why I found Brendt’s post about utilizing a moving company so intriguing! It was interesting to read about her experience and what it’s like to have other people pack and move you!

Home should tell a story. I’m a firm believer in that. And this home tour on YouTube tells the story of Melissa Austin-Weeks’ home. I adored hearing her talk about how her husband’s English heritage and her childhood with her hospitable mom have influenced the home she has now. She’s a delight!

Over the years, I’ve read many posts about how to assemble a guest room that gives your guests everything they need. They’ve all been good and informative, but I think this one is the best I’ve ever read. She remembered tons of practical options – including phone chargers, a night light, and a sound machine. And I really like her luggage rack, which has a lower shelf for shoes. (And it’s not that expensive.) Brilliant!

I had to read Christine’s words several times, because they struck something deep within me. I wonder, quite often, if I’m longing for too much. Am I discontent? Indeed, I think there’s a possibility that I might be wrestling with contentment more often than I want to admit. It’s the by-product of living in an influencer-saturated world. But as Christine says, we actually are creatures of longing. But what is the object of our desire? Take a read (or two or three) and see if this strikes you the way it did me!

I can’t pack for CHURCH in a carry-on, but Candace managed to get an entire two-week vacation in a carry-on, and I thought her choices were adorable. I actually had a lot of fun going through her wardrobe roundup and picking similar outfits for myself (for my imaginary European vacation). Could you do it? Two weeks in a carry-on?

Three of the five houses we’ve lived in have had very small closets in the bedroom, our present house included. I’m always intrigued to see how people organize their closets to maximize their space! KariAnne shared a closet makeover that is brilliant, in my opinion. (Also, I’m pretty sure this exact closet existed in our Marion house! Sometimes it isn’t about gaining more actual space but being creative with the space you have.