Autumn By The Sea by Melissa Tagg - Book Review

This story showed what being a family is all about. There is quite the mystery weaved in the pages and while this story has a sweet ending, it definitely leaves you wanting to read the next one in the series (and the next one!)! 

I really appreciate the community and family aspects of this story. It touched deeply and showed a lot of love from many of the characters. It is all about many pieces of the puzzle coming together to make one beautiful picture. I recommend this book (and any other one by Melissa Tagg)! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! 

Lastly, I just have to say, I love the cover of this book! So beautiful! 

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Prayer

One of my hopes for this year was that I would get in a better rhythm of prayer. I didn't even feel like it was a prayer, because at some point in the past decade, my prayer life had slipped from praying all the time to just praying at certain times (morning, meals, evening, a little in between...). But I didn't want to be in that place. I wanted to get back to 1 Thessalonians 5:17 where it says, "pray without ceasing." You see this is one of my favorite scriptures and I want it to be something I live out in my daily life. I don't just want to think about things. I want to take those thoughts and turn them into actions, into prayers, into a real conversation with God. 

Over the months, I have worked hard to get into a habit of praying specifically for my nieces and nephews. While I can't be there for each one of them all the time, I can be an Auntie who prays and I can do that from wherever I am at anytime.

In the past month, God has really answered my prayer. I have had to trust Him in some big ways. I have really had to lean in to "Thy will be done" even when that is hard. I haven't always known what to even pray in some of the situations that have come up, but I have been praying and growing in my relationship with Christ. It is truly amazing how the trials of this life can really bring you closer to our God. 

This faith walk is a journey and a day-by-day decision to follow Jesus. I am so thankful that God has answered this prayer that just started out as a hope. These past few weeks, my thoughts have turned to prayers and honestly, it has truly become continuously. I don't always have the words to say, but I ask that God's will be done in my life and in the lives of those around me. I pray for clarity. I ask for wisdom, guidance, and peace in decisions and situations. I pray and I pray and when I get done, I talk to God some more. 

I am so glad we have a God who listens to us, who knows our hearts, and who loves us deeply. 

Just like in any relationship, communication is key. Being able to have conversations with God gives us a more intimate relationship with Him. I am thankful for where He has brought me over the past few weeks and over the last couple of years. This journey is by no means over, and in any relationship, we have ups and downs, but I am thankful God shows Himself to us and that we can even see tiny glimpses of how He is working and helping us grow. And even when we can't see it, we can still trust Him and know He is working. We can cry out to Him at our darkest moments and we can sing praises to Him on the mountain tops. He will always listen to us. We need only to start the conversation and be willing to hear from Him.

God is good - in the midst of it all

My family has gone through many crises over the years. 

I look back and remember when my cousin was in a bad motorcycle accident. After that, during my high school years and college years, I watched all of my grandparents go through medical issues and ultimately losing three of my grandparents during high school and my fourth grandparent during college. We spent many days caring for my grandparents, visiting them, taking them to appointments, and many days spent in the hospital for a few of them. These were hard years, but I wouldn't change any of the time I spent with my grandparents. I miss them so much. They were my cheerleaders and I knew they loved me 100%. 

In more recent years, I have watched my immediate family be affected by divorce. I have watched the ripple effects of hurt relationships. It has hurt on deep, emotional levels. 

Then the world experienced a pandemic in 2020 and everyone has been affected at some level because of that. Life has been hard. 

Just a few weeks ago, another relative ended up in the hospital for an unexpected medical issue. This relative has a long road ahead and it is unknown what that road will look like. This was completely unexpected (not that we expect crises...). It was unexpected because it was a person I would have went to if I had a need, someone who has been there for my family over the years. It shook me on a different level. It reminded me that we are all human and nobody knows the time we have left or what might happen to us or to those we love. It reminded me that life is short. It reminded me to live life to the fullest.

I don't share all of this with you because I want you to feel sorry for me. That is, honestly, the last thing I want. (I do, however, appreciate hearing that people care!) I share this because life is hard and I don't want to sugarcoat that fact. And I also want to draw on the fact that God is good, in the midst of life is hard. And God's strength will shine through my weakness. 

You see, in the end, this is not at all about me, but about God, and about how He has carried me through it all. 

 Lessons I have learned and am working on:

Life is hard. God is good.

As I mentioned above, this has been a strong theme. The VBS theme in 2019 was "Life is wild. God is good." with the focus on one of the days being "Life is hard. God is Good." It was something I needed to hold on to, just as much as those kiddos who attended.

In my weakness, God is strong. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 says: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Worship in the midst.

There are so many scriptures about worship in the Bible. We are called to rejoice always (1Thessalonians 5:16), to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalm 100), and more. We can fight the spiritual wars through worship, worship in the form of prayer, song, etc... 

Job, in the midst of trials, still blessed God, "And he said, '...The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'"

We see many other passages about worship:

"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" Romans 5:3-4 

"I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1

A couple songs come to mind, too: 

Praise You in This Storm - Third Day

I Choose to Worship - Rend Collective

I will praise you through the fire
Through the storm and through the flood
There is nothing that could ever steal my song
In the valley you are worthy
You are good when life is not
You will always and forever be my song

Oh, we choose you, Lord
In the middle of our dark
Over every fear, over every lie
Oh, we stand our ground
We make our choice
You're our sun in the darkness
We choose you now

Be grateful.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to "give thanks in all circumstances." Not to give thanks for all our circumstances, but in all of them. Meaning that even in the midst of trials and crises, we can still thank God because He is a good God, and He is always with us.  

Show up.

Some of the most meaningful moments have been when people have unexpectedly shown up for our family. I have also been blessed when I have listened to the Holy Spirit's promptings and God has called me to show up for others. 

It may look like praying for someone God lays on your heart. This seems so simple, but I believe it is so powerful. Over the last year especially, I have been working on listening to the Holy Spirit's prompting. One of the ways I've found is to just simply pray when I start thinking about someone. Sometimes it is just a simple whispered prayer, other times I have felt the need to do some real battle for someone in prayer.

A few weeks back, I was heading to the grocery store with my mom. I had a family on my mind. A day or so before, I heard on the radio that one way you can help a mom/family is to just say, "I'm at the store. What can I grab for you?" instead of saying, "If you ever need anything, let me know." I felt like that was what I was supposed to do just that in this situation. I said as much to my mom and she said she had felt the same thing on the drive in. It was amazing how the Holy Spirit prompted us both. While there have been many times I have pushed that still small voice aside, I am glad I listened that time and am learning to listen more.

People over things

This is something that our family has said for quite a while. But it is also something I need to remind myself of over and over again. When things, to-do lists, schedules all seem to take priority, we need to re-shift our priorities, back to God first, but then to the people He has placed in our lives. 

To God Be the Glory.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

Walking the Christian life is not easy, no one ever promised it would be. In fact, in James 1, it says ^"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." It doesn't say if, but when, for we will face trials. But I like how this passage continues... ^"for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness..." 

May we be steadfast in Him. May our strength come from Him. May He get the glory. May our lives be a testimony of who He is and may we point others to Jesus in all we do and say. 

God is good.

Goodbyes - Adventures in Odyssey Quote

I recently listened to albums 68 and 69 of Adventures in Odyssey. (In my opinion, you are never too old to listen to Odyssey! I have literally been listening since before I was born!) 

I thought the writers did an excellent job of conveying today’s struggles, without talking about a pandemic. They managed to talk about school struggles, missing family members and friends, and other issues without making it all about Covid. I appreciate them touching on some of the issues without making it into something that would date the albums to this time of history. 

Below is one particular quote from one of the episodes that really stood out to me:

“Here is what I have learned about goodbyes...You say a lot of them in your life. Most of the time they'll hurt. I've found a few things that help though. 

One is spending time alone with God and asking Him for comfort.

The other is knowing when you had the chance that you took advantage of the time you did have with your friend. Just looking at one another. Talking. Even saying nothing. I think it is significant that, when faced with death, Jesus spent His last night eating supper with His best friends." 

-Whit

Volume 68 - Out of the Blue

Episode 5 - Always Home 

Adventures in Odyssey

Grace and Gratutide - 2021 "Word" of the Year

 Below are some scriptures and quotes that go with my "Word" (theme) of the year!

Definitions

Grace

a : unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification

b : a virtue coming from God

c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance

(Merriam-Webster)

 What is Grace? By Christianity.com

Gratitude

: the state of being grateful : thankfulness expressed gratitude for their support

(Merriam-Webster) 

 

Scriptures

(Underlines are my own!)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth... For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

John 1:14, 16

 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Phillippians 4:6-7 

(I love how this verse flows from my word last year (peace) to gratitude.) 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

 

Psalm 100:4 

 

Quotes

 (from Pinterest)

Word of the Year 2021

And my word of the year is...

 Just kidding! Read on to find out!

------------------------

It is March 1, and I am finally writing my "word of the year" post! If that doesn't give you an idea of how hard the decision was, I am not sure what will!

Typically, I feel God leading me to a word late in the previous year. But the last year has been different in so many different ways. So why not this, too!?!? I had a few different words running around in my head, but none were THE word. And as much as I wanted a word, I didn't want to settle and I didn't want to pick a word just to pick a word. I wanted to have conversations with God about the year. I wanted Him to lead me to the word, just as He has faithfully done over the past 5 years of choosing a word for the year. 

A few of the words I contemplated were: Abide, Sabbath, Rest, Joy, Closer... But none of the words were working for me. All good words, but just not what I felt in my heart was right for this year. 

As I mentioned in my goal post, I want to focus on growing closer to God. I want to be in prayer more. I want to be in the Word more. I want to be more thankful. I want to have a deeper relationship with Him. And I want to be a light that shines for Jesus!

At the root of it all, I wanted a word that shows how being a Christian sets us apart. What makes us different from all the world offers? What do we have to offer others that the world doesn't offer them?

Last year, God taught me so much about peace. About what peace looks like in my life and how to pray for peace for others. How to live in peace even in the midst of 2020, a year where so many of us struggled. 

A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through Instagram and came across something that really impacted me. I follow this page called A Gilded Line. It is a company that makes hand-stamped jewelry (I bought my word of the year ring from them a few years back!). I came across this new bracelet and it said "Grace and Gratitude." When I saw that post, it struck a cord with me. It is not often I see those two words together, but there they were and it made so much sense to me. 

Here is what it said in their post:

Been thinking a lot about how gratitude changes perspective & gives you ease of offering grace. These words are such good reminders to focus on the things that matter & make an actual difference in people’s lives.

Look around, be grateful. Name the things out loud. See how easy grace rolls off your tongue.

Check out A Gilded Line here: https://www.instagram.com/agildedline/

These are two of the ways we live our lives differently than the world. Instead of always looking for the next best thing, we are called to be grateful for what we have now. Instead of getting back at people or being unkind, we are called to offer grace...just as Jesus offers us grace.

So instead of one word for the year, God has given me a theme.

Grace & Gratitude

Even before God gave me this theme for the year, I could see Him pointing me in this direction. Earlier in 2021, He showed me how I need to show grace...even when I don't want to. All the way back to October of 2020 when I bought a 5 year journal to use as a gratitude journal, He was pointing me to this. (Note to self: Don't get stuck on one word when God might be trying to show you more!) 

I am excited to see how God uses these two words in my life this year. I have already felt how hard it can be, but I have also realized how powerful God's grace is to us, to me. In the midst of struggling to offer grace again and again, I am reminded that God offers me so much grace every day. And in being grateful for what God has already done, I pray that grace will more easily come from me in my interactions with others.

______________________________

(I will post some scripture and quotes on my theme for the year in another post!)

2021 - Goals and Looking Forward

It is almost the end of January and I am finally sitting down to share some goals for the year. I hesitate to make any after last year, but in the end, I think it is better to make them and not succeed, than to not make them at all. 

So here are some goals for 2021:

• Listen to the whole Bible Chronologically. 
• I am using the YouVersion Bible app for this and am really enjoying it. I actually started it mid-December am already 32 days in. I am not doing this quite every day, but when I do listen, I tend to listen to a couple days at a time. I have already listened to Genesis and Job and am now in Exodus.
• Read the Prevail daily devo book by Susie Larson. 
• Again, not doing daily, but trying for 4-5 days a week.
• Write in my 5-year Gratitude Journal.
• Goal: 4-7 days a week!
• Pray for my nieces and nephews (and other family and friends).
  
• I believe the best thing I can do for my nieces and nephews is to be a praying auntie. I was reminded again this week how important it is to lift up people in prayer. (Go watch War Room!) I also was reminded how prayer changes you first and then the people you pray for. 
• For practical purposes: I wrote all my nieces and nephews names down on index cards and I plan to pray for a couple of them each day. I will pull out a couple random names form one jar and put them in another jar until I get through all the names and then I will start over. 
• I will also be using the book Pray for Me by Tony Souder.
• Read 60 books this year.
• 48 fiction (about 4 per month)
  
• 12 non-fiction (at least 1 per month)
• Get back to exercising more. 
• 3-4 times per week.
• Just being intentional to move and get my heartbeat up for awhile!
• Be intentional about encouragement, gratitude, and being there for people. 
• After a year of not having enough connection, communication, and just time with people, I want to be intentional about reaching out to people. Not sure how this will look yet, but it is on my heart. I want to intentionally reach out to people and be authentic and real.
  
• Some ideas:
• Thank you cards
• Notes of encouragement
• Texts
• Showing up for people (when not expected)
• Bringing someone baked goods or meals
• ... 
• Fun Goals
• Wear a dress or skirt each week
• I love wearing dresses, but I don't much in the Winter because I don't like all the layers. This goal is to help me overcome the "I don't like wearing dresses in the Winter" and just doing it anyway!
  
• Bake bread each week (Try new kinds)
• Also have my sour dough starter going again!
  
• Work on my graphic design skills!
• And sharing my designs.
  

My goal is to break all of this up into monthly goals!

Word of the Year update: Short answer is I don't have one yet! I don't want to settle on one to just have one. I want to wait until I know that God is showing me a certain word. I have a list of them, but not sure if any of them are right. I am still praying about it and will post here when I have one for 2021!

Looking back at 2020

Ahhh, 2020 is over. In some ways, it is a relief, in others, I am sad that a whole year has flown by. 

Let's take just a minute to look back before going forward. 

Last year, my word for the year was PEACE. It was exactly the word I needed in the midst of chaos and a trying year. God knew the word I needed.

Looking into 2020 last January, I didn't want to make a lot of resolutions because I thought other things were going on. (There was, but not what I thought! Or anyone!).

 Here is what I wrote last year when I chose my word and thought about making resolutions:

In 2020, we have many commitments including politics, campaigning, helping with the local homeschool co-op (I am also teaching this semester), hosting a reader's retreat, VBS, graduations of close friends and family, a major election, work, family, to name just a few.

Looking back, this how that turned out:

In 2020, we have many commitments including politics Yep, 

campaigning Looked so different this year, 

helping with the local homeschool co-op (I am also teaching this semester) Until we cancelled in March due to Covid, 

hosting a reader's retreat Postponed to 2021, 

VBS Postponed to 2021, 

graduations of close friends and family Happened, just different than we would have guessed, 

a major election Again, looked so different this year, 

work Thankful for my job, looked a lot different this year, 

family Time with family also looked different, to name just a few. 

Funny how our expectations vs. what happened last year were so vastly different. Most of the above did not look like I would have expected. But somethings were even better. There were definitely things to be thankful for in the midst of 2020.

Here are a couple of the things we listed on our Christmas card this year:

•  A new niece born in January
• Family vacation in July
• My sister getting engaged and married
• Fall family camping trip
• Seeing "Noah" at Sight and Sound in Branson 
• Lots of produce from our garden (1st time in a long time!).
• Technology
• Friends and Family
• Jesus!
  
• And so many more.  
  

Looking back on 2020 will always be hard, but I will try to find the joy, the blessings, and give thanks for all them. I will remember that God is always good and was and is with us always. 

I think it is good to look back on the things we grieve (write them down and release them), but then to also write a list of things to celebrate and give thanks to God for how He is always working in our lives. Look for those God sightings! You might just be surprised!

Book Review - Timeless Treasure by MaryLu Tyndall

I have been reading MaryLu Tyndall's books for over 10 years, but out of all of her books, I really like the books that are set on pirate ships, as this one is! This book was particularly interesting to me because it was a time-slip novel. Tyndall did an excellent job of maintaining the present-day story while "slipping" back in time to the pirate's story. I really appreciated the craftsmanship of the story and the way you jumped back in time through reading letters, just like the characters in the book were doing! I also liked finding out that the story was based on a real pirate and that the author stayed true to his story. What a fun way to learn more history!

The story was woven so beautifully. I believe you will fall in love with both the present-day and the historical stories in this book.

Lastly, I love how so many of Tyndall's books weave a thread of redemption throughout the stories. This book has a truly beautiful ending. I hope you will take the time to pick up this story and discover what the Timeless Treasure is all about!

 (I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)