Friday loves

It's Friday! This week has been hard, but here are some fun things that are getting me through the week! What are you favorites this week??

1. The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines. This book is so sweet and hilarious. I love their down-to-earth attitude and godly attitudes!

2.

Shania Twain is releasing a new CD in September, yeeeessss!!!

3. Morning coffee. I know it sounds silly considering my Starbucks obsession, but I have never been a  morning coffee drinker. Unfortunately, I've been having a harder time getting up in the mornings. Fortunately, coffee with cream and a drop of vanilla syrup is there for me.

4. The Color Story app. It's the perfect way to edit your photos oh-so-pretty!

5. Undisclosed podcast. Okay, I know I'm soo soo late to the game, but I just discovered this follow-up to Serial. Ever since Serial ended, I've been desperate to know more. I am currently listening to Undisclosed season 1. All I can say is that this one better not leave me hanging!

Approaching the Psalms

Good morning! I had to be up extra early today for an orthodontist appointment before work. I was looking through old posts of mine and found this one that has some of the highest traffic of all my posts. I thought I'd share again these thoughts on how to "decode" the Psalms that I heard from a speaker at church. Let me know how it works for you!

Like me, the speaker had struggled with finding interest in the book of Psalms. I don't know about you, but I've never really enjoyed reading the Psalms. I find that I use verses from the Psalms to support studies or topics I am writing on, but I wouldn't open to the Psalms to just start reading. 

However, the class opened up my perspective on the Psalms. As the speaker pointed out, the whole Bible has a practical application for us. It is true of the Psalms, and here are a few steps he used to show me how to really enjoy the book of Psalms! The same can be done with any area of the Bible you are struggling to enjoy.

Approaching the Psalms:

1. Day-to-day advice

-- Look for themes and advice on your relationship with others

2. Objectives for life

-- Look for guidance on goals for personal growth

3. Guidance for your relationship with God

-- Look for evidence on how the Psalmist speaks to God

Afterwards, I spent some time reading the Psalms and using these tips. I found that the Psalms truly are useful and practical! Thankfully, God is SO much bigger than I!

This Sweet Life We Live

Hey friends! I randomly got this Friday off, so YAY! As usual, life has been jam-packed with good stuff. 

An unrelated but pretty picture!!

Daniel and I have been looking for a new place for some time, because the place we rent is being sold. On Sunday, we went to look at an adorable two-bedroom cottage and signed the lease on Tuesday! It's a great place and we are excited for the move. However, I've loved this little house we live in now and it will be very bittersweet to leave. 

My youngest brother is graduating from high school and I couldn't be prouder of what a wonderful person he is. Colton is fun to be around, always willing to help anyone out, and most of all, loves God. He's a pretty great guy!

I just received a gorgeous copy of The Nesting Place, which you should totally check out for book club this month! 

In other news, we have a houseful of people coming over tonight and I think my dishwasher is broken. I may spend the rest of my day off washing all the dishes that I have crammed into the dishwasher for the last 4 days. I'm actually drinking cranberry juice out of the bottle because we don't have a single clean cup, but I can't bear to wash one by hand. Yikes! #firstworldproblems

Anyway, I'm just heading out to start my long weekend with a 9 mile run. I'll be out there with my raisins and my Jamie Ivey podcast. I'd rather do just about anything else. Wish me luck! 

Happy weekend! What are you doing this weekend?!

Meeting Together

If we look back to the Old Testament and the 10 commandments that God gave the Israelites, we hear about the Sabbath. So what's the Sabbath all about?  

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11

It is interesting to note that observing the Sabbath was one of the ten commandments. It's purpose was to draw their hearts from themselves to God. Later, in the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had so many rituals and rules about following the Sabbath that they completely missed the purpose.

What was the purpose? I think it was to refocus, to bring spiritual renewal. As our constantly-working culture has begun to discover, working all the time leads to problems. We NEED rest. We need renewal. God knew so much better than we did that humans needed that day. But it wasn't just a day of relaxation, it was a day to focus on Him. He knew that the cares of daily life would draw us away from Him. So He commanded that one day be set aside to Him, because He knew we needed that.

We still do. We might not follow the Sabbath to the T, but we do follow it in principle. Instead, we are commanded to meet together on a weekly basis. I don't take this commandment lightly. There is a REASON God told us to do this. It's not just a suggestion, it's a reminder that if we don't leave time for that weekly renewal (which really should happen on a daily basis), the cares of this world will pull us away.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

Miss one week of church? The second week becomes easier. Then, the third and the fourth week. Maybe it seems like not such a big deal and we still believe in God. But God knows what we need. It's not to remember Him in the quiet of our home on Sundays. It's not to remember Jesus in the woods. It's to meet with those of like faith. I truly believe that is an essential piece. Meeting together brings encouragement to us and to others. That's not to say that we can't remember Him individually, but we do need that meeting together frequently.

Too often, we believe that church is about what it brings to us. I don't believe it always is. Hopefully it brings us encouragement and renewal, but sometimes I understand that we just don't feel like being there. Be there anyway. 

Make meeting together your first priority. It shows others and it shows God what is priority in your life! Next time you plan a vacation, plan it so that you can still meet with those of the faith. Next time you go on a road trip, make sure you don't spend Sunday morning driving. Next time you are faced with a decision to either worship God alone or in fellowship with others, choose fellowship with others. God knows what we need so much more than we do and I am so thankful for that. I'm also so thankful for those that I meet with on a weekly basis to give me much needed encouragement from my day-to-day life. 

Lift up your eyes, look up from the drudgery of life! Rejoice because of the hope God has given each of us and encourage each other with this hope!

Friday loves

Oh Friday, how I love you! It was SO nice to have a 4 day week but I am ready for the weekend, again! This weekend, I'm thrilled to just be relaxing (I think)-- which really means studying, running, doing chores and other such fun things. 

How was your week? Here's what I am loving this week!

1. Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos. It's the sequel to another book I enjoyed called Love Walked In. They are enjoyable, feel-good reads (at least this one is so far). 

2. Kenra leave-in conditioner. I've been using this EVERY day for at least a couple years. I forgot to take it on my trip last weekend, so I had a newfound appreciation of it once I got home!

3. This HIIT workout for the legs. It was super hard (to me, at least), but I thought she did a great job of targeting all the major leg muscles. 

4. The book of Hebrews. Every year, we follow a daily Bible reading plan and right now we are in the book of Hebrews. It's a pretty difficult book to understand, in my opinion, but also very exciting when you can begin to put the pieces together! 

5. Dasani black cherry water. I have been drinking lots of La Croix, but Daniel picked up these and I love the black cherry flavor! They are so perfect for a refreshing, cold drink after a long day of work. 

What are you loving this week? Hope you have a fabulous weekend!