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Adios to August: A Temperature Lament

August 26, 2022 by Lauren 6 Comments

lamentWe are almost ready to turn another calendar page.  Metaphorically for me, as I keep everything on my I-phone calendar now.  And for all the many, many calendar entries for August, I could sum the month up in one word.  Hot.  My sweat droplets gave birth to sweat babies who grew to full grown sweat children in the month of August.  I am so ready to be less moist, more comfortable and much less olfactorily offensive.  This concludes my temperature lament.  But it only begins my August round up.

 

Week One

 

Since just returning from a full 7 day family vacation, we all hit the ground running August 1st.  Chuck and I back to a busy work grind and Allie to her school’s All-State Choir Camp.  Allie also began her term as high school choir president.  She secured and painted her senior parking spot in the school lot – a fun and longstanding tradition.

 

Over the first weekend we hosted some friends for game night.  SO MUCH FUN.  If you haven’t played Blank Slate, Code Names or SkyJo, I recommend picking one up and gathering up family or friends or both!  The next day Allie camped out for a COIN concert with a friend while Chuck, Shelby and I went to church and then a Texas Ranger game.  Chuck and I are not baseball fans, but somehow Shelby became one and she loves this team!  So we always try to take her to at least one game a season and she loves it so much!  The smiles and cheers are well worth the cost and time.

 

Speaking of COIN, have you heard of them?  I have seen them described as feel-good indie pop.  My daughter had such a great experience at their show and meet and greet that I started listening.  I’m now kinda obsessed.

 

Week Two

 

The second week of the month, Allie jumped into rehearsals for her next school play as well as meetings for PALs (Peer Assisted Leadership).  And the biggest news?  My husband had his feeding tube removed!!  Another step to feeling more normal.  He is eating almost everything the kids and I do now.  He still can’t taste much, so it’s not fun for him, but he is maintaining his weight with no assistance.

 

That weekend we manned a table for the high school’s theater department (which Chuck sits on the board for this year) at Panther Pride – the annual back to school celebration and pep rally.  We enjoyed visiting with other parents, teachers and kids as we sweated (did I mention my temperature lament?) on the football team’s indoor practice field with the garage doors rolled open.  Then Allie’s jazz choir sang the national anthem.

 

And Number Three

 

Allie had senior sunrise 2 days before school started.  It’s a little bit of a non-event but a tradition for students to gather at the lake.  I’m really not sure how my baby is a senior and I’m a little in my feels about it.  Overall she is very excited about a year that includes 4 challenging AP classes, 2 choirs, PALs and musical theater.

 

As choir president this year, my girl attended her first choir booster board meeting with me.  She said it was the longest hour and a half of her life and a tad anxiety inducing to hear all the mama bear opinions about all of the things.  She may have preferred to never know how this particular sausage is made.

 

That’s Entertainment

 

The hubs and I haven’t had as much time in front of the tele lately.  We did check out the Netflix original movie The Gray Man.  I like Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, but found this flick meh.  If you like action, there is lots of it.  But hardly any dialogue.  We also took in the documentary Keep Sweet, Pray and Obey about the FLDS.  It’s like a train wreck you can’t look away from.

 

I am reading Dolly Parton, Songteller:  My Life in Lyrics.  It’s like a history lesson on all her songs.  And I love to learn the meaning behind lyrics.  It felt appropriate to check it out from the library after our Tennessee vacation.  I also started Friday Night Lights.  It’s football season now!  I loved the TV show based on the book but have never read it or seen the original movie!  And last, I am going through Chase the Fun with Annie F Downs and her tribe.  Since learning that fun is rest for me, I’m going deeper and learning so much about myself.

 

Be sure and drop me a comment about what you’ve done this month or a TV show or movie I should watch.  That you take the time to read and comment means more to me than you will ever know.  And as always, I love you, I thank you and I hope September brings some fall weather!

 

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

 

As I’ve wrestled with what it means for me to rest and eliminate my “shoulds”, Grace and Truth’s own Lisa Burgess spoke into me with What Do You Really Have to Do Today?

The Link Up

 

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

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

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

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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.

 

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What Should We Do With “Should”?

August 19, 2022 by Lauren 16 Comments

What should we doThe past few months I’ve been sharing what God is teaching me about rest.  Rest is my one word focus for 2022, and it has opened up a whole can of worms.  I keep writing about this journey largely because I don’t think I’m the only one who struggles with rest.  Resting our bodies, resting our minds, resting in the Lord.  And this month my lessons on rest landed squarely on this question:  What should we do with “should”?

 

I have been “shoulding” all over the place.  And I really had no idea how often I “should”, but now that I’m aware, I’m letting you into my sickness.  Let me stop and define exactly what I’m talking about.  There are “shoulds” in our lives that definitely SHOULD be (pun intended).  We SHOULD follow the laws governing our country.  Second, we SHOULD honor our commitments.  We SHOULD be faithful to our spouses, do the job we were hired to do with excellence and care well for the children and/or possessions God has entrusted to us.  And we SHOULD abide by God’s Word.  As a contributing member of society and practicing Christian, there are some things we SHOULD do.

 

However, many of our “shoulds” we impose upon ourselves.  At least I do, and I have a feeling I’m not alone.  Right now, learning to rest looks like releasing some of my self-imposed “shoulds”.

 

What are Self-Imposed “Shoulds”?

 

For example, I love to read.  But in the name of productivity, I usually only allow myself this luxury in bed right before I go to sleep.  This = not much time to read.  So I went to the library yesterday and checked out a huge, heavy, hard-backed coffee table book I’ve had on my list.  There is no way that book is fitting in the bed with my husband and me – even though we sleep in a king!  I will have to read it sitting up in a chair.  So if I want to finish it before the due date, I will take a break from chores and projects to read during the day.What should we do

 

Do you think I’m crazy yet?  If not, let’s talk about reading some more.  I love novels, but I also like learning through non-fiction.  I’m drawn to books about defending the faith, mental health, race in America, issues faced by myself or my loved ones, and many other things.  So in the interest of making my reading time count, I have believed I SHOULD alternate between fiction and non-fiction.  Except that some of those non-fiction books have been weighing me down lately.  And since I’ve realized that fun is rest to me, I gave myself permission (are you hearing this?) to put some books on hold that I think I SHOULD read to make room for what I really enjoy reading.  At least in this season.

 

More “Shoulds” I SHOULD Dump

 

Are you getting a picture of the prison “should” became for me?  Let’s keep going.  I enjoy podcasts.  Or do I?  I subscribe to a couple that make me laugh.  But most of the ones in my feed are of a more informative nature.  Things I think I SHOULD listen to.  Topics I SHOULD learn more about.  In this we reach the depths of my disordered thinking.  It stresses me out when my podcast list backs up with episodes I haven’t finished yet.  Something that I used to enjoy has morphed into a chore to check off my list.  These tools no longer serve me, I serve them.  To the point that I no longer allowed myself to listen to music because I had episodes to check off.

 

So I unsubscribed to some podcasts – good podcasts that I have learned from.  And I gave myself permission (again with this?) to save others until later in favor of my favorites now.  I actually thought I SHOULD listen to them in date order.  But since releasing this “should”, I even listen to music sometimes.  Singing releases feel-good endorphins.  And I need all of those I can get.

 

None of this means I will cease to be a student of things that are important to me and mine – and the culture at large.  But God is showing me that I had morphed into an all-business kind of gal.  And it’s not helping me rest in the Lord.  He created us for joy and in the stresses of every day life, I’ve set joy aside.  Well, no more.

 

Did I Share Too Much?

 

I hope you still consider us friends after this glimpse into my warped mind.  I was on my way to becoming a task oriented robot, but with God’s help, I’m learning how to rest from my self-imposed “shoulds”.  Are there any “shoulds” in your life that are just not necessary?  What SHOULD you eliminate to find more rest or joy.  Let me know in the comments below to continue the conversation.

 

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

 

I could not decide on a single post to feature this week, so I’m bringing you 3!  First, Michele Morin and I have been on similar journeys with rest and I can’t say enough about what I absorbed from Embrace a Life of Restful Exertion to Counteract a Self-Help Culture.  Amy Jung hit the nail on the head for me with the reason I am focusing on rest with Do I Practically Live as if I Don’t Trust God in Certain Situations?  And last,  Lisa Burgess, my partner at Grace and Truth spoke to my doubts and insecurities with Is There a Future in Blogging?  14 Reasons to Keep Writing Your Blog.  And there’s a book giveaway attached to this last one!  Check out all of these amazing writers.  And thanks everyone for linking up with Grace and Truth.

 

The Link Up

 

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

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

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

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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.

 

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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.
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