Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

A Very Quiet June

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Wednesday the 28th was the National Day of Joy (also National Lauren, Day but that’s neither here nor there).  If you didn’t know, I say it’s not too late to celebrate!  And as joy is my Word of the Year, I would love to hear what brings you joy (or what you would do to celebrate)!

In the Sparks’ house we are having a very quiet start to the summer, but not a bad one!

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Our songbird Allie has been at Camp Blessing working with special needs kids and adults all month so it has been very quiet at our house.  Seriously.  Anyone want to come over occasionally and break into song?  We miss it.  We do get to catch up with her a bit on weekends. She turns in her phone on Monday morning and doesn’t get it back until midday Saturday each week.  It’s a little tough on this mama bear, but I’m so grateful she can experience such quality unplugged time and for all the other experiences she’s having.

 

We did manage to do her zoom advising appointment together from two different locations to get her registered for her first semester of college classes.  So exciting!  But everything else has been kinda left up to me to take care of since she’s off the grid.  It’s been a little stressful and a little counter intuitive since this is the time I should really be handing responsibility over to my little adult, but we live and learn.  When the hubs and I signed off on her working the first half of the summer, I had no idea how much college planning would be expected of her by the university so soon!

 

Not Very Quiet About Our Love for Camp Blessing!

 

Shelby got to join Allie at Camp Blessing for one of those weeks.  We were so ready to see Birdie (her camp name) and get one of her signature aggressive hugs.  Fun time for both of my girls and nice respite for the hubs and me.  On pick up day Birdie let us take her and some of her new staffer friends to dinner.  We enjoyed visiting with these compassionate, funny world-changers.

 

I had the unique opportunity to do a contract gig for a large pharmaceutical company this month.  At a big conference for their staff, I gave a parent’s perspective on what it’s like to transition a medically complex patient from pediatric to adult care.  I was so delighted for the kind attention they gave me as well as questions they wanted answered.  We hear so much negative in the news about big pharma, so to see how much this one cares about the patient and even family experience touched my heart.  And after hearing a lot of good feedback from my presentation, it’s got my wheels turning about future job possibilities for me.  I look forward to seeing what God has in store as I look for my next thing.

 

The rest of the month was pretty routine, but nice (except for this Texas heat, which makes me so cranky…every year).  Doctor’s appointments, work, a fun game night with one set of friends and dinner and a movie with another.  Also I started mentoring a young girl from church and we are studying the book of John together.  I also tried a low-cost vet clinic for the first time to update vaccines on our two dogs.  It saved us a lot of money, but felt like a rodeo with these ill-behaved hooligans (the dogs, not my children).

 

In Our Very Quiet Down Time

 

For entertainment, Chuck and I went on a little documentary binge.  Brooke Shield’s Pretty Baby was heartbreaking.  Same with Shiny Happy People, an expose on the IBLP and the Duggar Family.  And the one on The Secrets of Hillsong.  Why do I keep watching these?  I guess I have to admit I have a little voyeur in me.  And I always think the best stories are true stories.  Mercury 13 – the film about the 13 pilots who could have been the first female astronauts in the 60’s if their training program hadn’t been discontinued – was not very interesting.  There are much better books and articles about them.

 

We ventured to a theater with friends after trying a new slider bar to see Asteroid City.  Save your money.  I feel like it was strange even for a Wes Anderson film.  How he attracted to many big name stars to appear is a mystery to me.  I feel like the movie was trying to say something, but I have no idea what it was!

 

Literary Pursuits

 

I read The Record Keeper, the 3rd book in the Murphy Shepherd series by Charles Martin.  Having read mostly novels from female authors, I’ve enjoyed this fiction with a masculine twist.  Then I sank my teeth into For Such a Time by Kate Breslin.  I have been mesmerized by this retelling of the book of Esther set in WWII.  And for my Word of the Year, I picked up Choose Joy:  Inspiration for Your Heart by Ellie Claire.  It’s an easy read full of quotes and scriptures.  Lastly, on our drives to and from Camp Blessing, Chuck and I listened to Taste:  My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci.  The actor’s cancer and treatment, similar to my husband’s, drew us in.  Parts of it failed to hold our attention and I can always do without a sprinkling of F-bombs.

 

And now I shall close this out to go get ready for a visit from my best friend and her son.  Yay!  I hope you have nice plans for the holiday weekend.  And as always, I love you, I thank you, and I hope July treats you well!

 

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

 

Grace and Truth’s own Maree Dee dropped some wisdom I needed to hear when contemplating Will You Run Out of Resilience…?  Thank you, Maree.

 

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
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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July is a Picnic – Except in a Heat Wave

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Heat WaveIt feels even hotter than a heat wave, but as this publishes, my family and I are on the tail end of a week’s vacation. Did we wing off to Europe, down to Mexico, someplace tropical or are we escaping this southern heat?  Nope.  It’s college visits for us this year.  We went to Montgomery, Alabama and toured Auburn, went to the Equal Justice Initiative‘s museum and memorial and hung out by the pool. Montgomery may not be flashy, but my best friend and her people live there so that’s enough reason for me to visit!

 

We then hopped over to Nashville to tour Belmont and do the whole music scene.  My 17 year old songbird wanted book time in a studio to record a song herself.  We also planned a double decker bus tour and a trip to the Grand Ole Opry with a backstage tour.  The plan is to let her sing in the famous circle there.  I say that’s the plan because I’m writing this all before we leave home.

 

But let’s back up and take a look at the month gone by:

 

We decided to go back to my in-laws lake house for Independence Day.  We can sit on their balcony or even in recliners in the air conditioning and watch the fireworks over Canyon Lake through a huge picture window.  It’s my 4th of July Favorite.  Shelby showed the enthusiasm of a toddler seeing the display for the first time.  She laughed joyfully, exclaiming “Yay!” over and over again – even though she’s seen fireworks many times before.  She made the whole thing so much more fun.

 

Upon returning home Allie had a day and a half before leaving for All-State Choir Camp at a nearby college.  We were able to attend a camp-ending concert which showcased how much these talented kids learned in 3 days time.  Then Allie was home for another day and a half before leaving for volunteer training at Camp Blessing.

 

I took Shelby to Camp Blessing (with the help of my good road tripping friend Terri) the day after Allie went.  This week was amazing and meaningful for both girls.  Camp Blessing is a Christian sleep-away camp for special needs kids and adults.  Shelby has gone for many years now and I cry every year when picking her up knowing that a young person gave away her time to care for my daughter.  And this year I not only had a camper, but one of those selfless volunteers as well.  What an indescribable gift.  Allie wants to go back as staff for multiple weeks next year!

 

Chuck and I took those kidless days to play a little.  We went to a dine in movie for date night, hosted a game night with friends at our house, and I had a day date to another movie with a girlfriend.  Fun = rest for me so this was good soul filling time.

 

Those movies I mentioned?  Thor:  Love and Thunder and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.  I found the first one funny (lots of slapstick that some critics are not loving) but not really in keeping with the MCU.  The later is so very charming.  I don’t know if you can still find it in the theaters, but go if you are able.  Especially if you like a period piece and don’t like the foul language and crassness of most modern movies.

 

At home the hubs and I started the series The West Wing.  We never watched it during its network TV run, but knew we would enjoy it since we liked Designated Survivor – another political drama.  Not finding The West Wing for free on any of our streaming services, we opted to kick it old school and check out the DVD’s from the library.  This worked great until we finished the first season and now wait as someone else has season two check out.  Old school problems, am I right?

 

To fill the time we started How I Met Your Mother on Hulu.  I enjoy a traditional sitcom and Chuck tolerates it until we can get back to our drama.  We side-tracked into the documentary Janet about Janet Jackson.  Originally on Lifetime, you can find it on Hulu or Prime now.  An interesting look into this show business family and the 2nd most successful sibling.

 

I tried the YA drama The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime but bailed by the 3rd episode due to repeated F-bombs and other unsavory content.  We also checked out The Terminal List – also on Prime – after hearing good things but I couldn’t get past the language again.  I also heard it contained a lot of violence, but we didn’t get that far.

 

That about wraps up July for us.  I would love to hear what you have been doing with your summer – or if you have any TV or movie recs to help us pass the time until our next West Wing DVD.  Good grief! And as always I love you, I thank you, and I hope this heat wave does not extend to August.

 

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

 

Lynn J Simpson ministered to me this week with What I Know for Sure.  Her thoughts on dreams unrealized and resting in God’s plan felt like a balm to so much of what I’ve been dealing with.  Maybe her beautiful words will touch you, too.

 

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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