Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

  • Home
  • About
  • Favorites
  • Policies
  • Contact

You Can Still Learn So Much From a Good Mom…and Grace and Truth Link Up

May 7, 2021 by Lauren 16 Comments

I want to start by thanking you all for the love and encouragement you are sending for the new series, “Praying God’s Word Wednesday”.  It means so much to me that you see the benefit of praying scripture and want to do it alongside me.  I don’t take this privilege lightly.

 

Confession:  the idea came from my mom.  She has been a daily prayer warrior for me and my sisters since our conception.  And she often uses the Bible to formulate her petitions.

 

I remember her intervention years ago when I ran to her as a newly married wife with a step-son and very little clue.  Before the time of free mobile long distance, I sent her an email spilling all my woes about a very difficult situation.  I had reached the breaking point and felt hopeless.  She sent a message back that morning (I can hear the dial-up tone now) that began with 2 Corinthians 4:8,9.  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed:  we are perplexed, but not in despair:  persecuted, but not forsaken:  cast down, but not destroyed. 

 

The note then instructed me to read Psalm 27:1-14 when I got home from work.  The passage taught of the sovereignty of God.  The Psalmist asked who he should fear if the Lord was his light, salvation and stronghold?  He spoke of the Almighty defeating evil.   Verse 13 said, I am confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

 

My mom then quoted Galatians 6:9 in her note.  Let us not be weary in well doing:  for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  She reminded me that she referenced this scripture to pray for me over and over again during my difficult teenage years.  Her email changed the course of my day.  My mom, using God’s word, put everything in perspective for me.  To top it all off, she and my dad came to my house that very night.  They drove an hour and a half to give me a hug when I needed it most.

 

As a grown woman I still learn so much from my mom.  That email sent many years ago started me on a journey to study God’s Word.  I strive to keep it on my lips for use at all times. Thank you, Mama, for your generous love and good example.  You mean the world to me!  And Happy Mother’s Day to you and all the moms out there.

 

And now for this week’s featured link up post.

 

Mary Rooney Armand of Butterfly Living gave me a name for something I did not know I was experiencing in What is Spiritual Fatigue?  And How to Overcome It.  The author gives us signs to look for to “diagnose” this “condition” and practical ways to combat it.  I may be referencing this for weeks or months to come.

 

 

Grace and Truth_Rules

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate)

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sharing is caring! If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!

To find some great places where I might be sharing this post, click here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

End of April…and Grace and Truth Link Up

April 30, 2021 by Lauren 18 Comments

A month that starts with Easter has to be good, right?  Mostly.  I do want to acknowledge that the celebration of Jesus’ victory over death is a joyous day.  And it should be observed every day.  It is only through His death and resurrection that I am forgiven and saved to live in fellowship with God forever.

 

If you don’t know Jesus and the gift He offers us since the very first Easter, click the contact tab at the top if this page.  That link sends me a private email and we can arrange to visit by messaging or talking on the phone.  There is nothing more important that I could do.

 

On Good Friday a couple of friends came by for a visit.  And then we drove out to my Mama and Papa’s house to see them and my PawPaw for Easter.  We sat on the deck (the weather was perfect) talking and eating ice cream.  The day after Easter, my sister and I met in Dallas for lunch and shopping.  This is a good start to the month.  Fellowship – whether it be with sweet family or friends – feeds my soul like almost nothing else.

 

Circling back to the mall trip with my sister, I feel I must be authentic and not only mention the good things, but the hot mess things as well.  Upon leaving the mall, I found a Lexus SUV parked extremely close to my driver side door.  SUV doesn’t seem quite the right word as it was roughly the size of an elephant.  I did not dare try to squeeze in by the normal route for fear that my 2013 Toyota might graze the luxury vehicle and cost more to repaint than my entire car.

 

Yep, I had to crawl in from the passenger side.  Those that know me IRL might be giggling already.  For the rest of you, let me ‘splain.  I am a large person.  And I don’t mean in that “larger than life, center of attention” kind of way.  I’m over 5ft 9.  In college, a flirtatious co-worker measured me from hip to ankle to announce that I had 6 feet of legs.  And now I’m overweight to boot.  I also have an elevated center console between the front bucket seats, making this more challenging.

 

After assessing the situation, I decided I needed to go butt first over the center hurdle.  After removing the drinks from cup holders and everything occupying my front seat, I handed them to my sister.  I almost immediately ripped the shirt I was wearing, so I took it off.  It was dripping in fringe and I didn’t want to get further tangled in it.  I eased into the passenger seat and hoisted my behind up onto the console.

At this point, my head is caught between the rearview mirror and the glass.  My sweet sister is laughing so hard that I started laughing and peed my pants.

Click To Tweet

 

At this moment my sister exclaims, “Why am I not filming this?!?”  I manage to duck my head and slide my backside off the console and into the driver’s seat.  My many years of yoga practice did not prepare me to tuck my knees up one at a time near my adam’s apple so I could get them from the passenger seat into the driver’s side floor board.  Once I did, panting and sweating and still laughing, my sister asks, “Are you alright?”  “I think I may have tweaked my back”, I answered.  “But mostly ok.”

 

Thankfully, I did have a tank top on under the shirt I removed so there was no arrest on the way home.  Just a weird cat call from a dude driving a food truck.  The end.

 

My Allie girl started work at her first job.  A little ice cream and candy shop on our town’s Main Street.  So proud of her initiative and pray it continues to be a good experience for her.  I had to take off a day of my work to go get my second vaccine.  Almost exactly 12 hours later I woke up shivering uncontrollably with a headache and body aches.  It lasted about 12 hours and then pretty well disappeared as quickly as it came.  Glad to have that behind me.

 

We finished up the month with Allie’s annual high school jazz show.  It was incredible.  So much fun to see my girl and her friends in their element.  And she had a large cheering section of family that came into town to see it.  That was fun too.

 

On a trip to the used book store, I picked up Eat Cake.  Be Brave by Melissa Radke.  Am I glad I did!  This author is hilarious.  I kept retelling parts of the book to my family (I was indifferent to their indifference).  That’s how you know you have a good book.  So I  subscribed to her podcast and now want to watch her reality show!

 

I checked out Good Vibrations:  My Life as a Beach Boy by Mike Love from the library.  Can’t say that I enjoyed it.  The author’s self-importance is off putting.  And the dark subject matter?  Depressing.  Destructive drug habits, infidelities, family betrayals and broken marriages made we wish it was over.  But I have a weird thing about not finishing books.  I can’t quit unless it is extremely profane or unbearably dull.  Some applaud the commitment and discipline.  Some call it insane to waste time on something neither enjoyable nor beneficial.  Whatever it is, this is me.

 

The hubs and I watched Genius:  Aretha.  So much tragedy in the life of the queen of soul.  We enjoyed this and the first season of Genius on Albert Einstein, but didn’t make it through season 2 on Pablo Picasso.  Well look at that?  I can quit something.  We did get through The Taking of Pelham 123, even though it took three tries since my sweet spouse kept falling asleep.  (He gets up early.  He works hard.  Whatcha gonna do?) As always, I love you, I thank you, and I pray May treats you well!

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

I just had to share Amy Jung’s article with you.  Will I Pilot Life By God’s Truth or By My Feelings? is just what we all need to be reminded of.  We live in a culture that is screaming at us that our feelings are our truth, and we are all suffering the consequences of it.  Amy reminds us that God’s truth is THE truth, no matter how we are anyone else feels about it.  And that’s good news.

 

Grace and Truth_Rules

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace Truth_Button

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sharing is caring! If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

To find some great places where I might be sharing this post, click here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
« Previous Page
Next Page »

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
Read More

Subscribe for Updates

Enter your information below to receive the latest updates from the blog!

Recent Posts

  • Quiet in This Christmas Season
  • Remember Me?
  • An Election Year and Titus
  • Christmas is Over. Now What Do We Do With Jesus?
  • Thankful Thursday

Find Devotionals By Me in These Books and Click on Image for Order Information!

A 25-Week Bible Study with Topics from Abide to Zeal
A 26 week journey to a better prayer life.
30 devotionals for faith that moves mountains

For Sharing

Lauren Sparks

Like Podcasts? I’m on This One

…and This One! click to listen.

Click below to get a free trial of my favorite technology monitoring platform

Need More Than Just Monitoring? Find Filters and Accountability Here

Search This Site

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2026 Lauren Sparks | Design by Traci Michele | Development by MRM