Lauren Sparks

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Haunted Tales and Stormy Gales…and Grace and Truth Link Up

October 23, 2020 by Lauren 16 Comments

I want to start by letting you know about my new e-book This Was Not on My Bingo Card:  Essays on Cancer and Other Related Surprises.  It is FREE, but the only way to get it is to subscribe to my blog.  Do it today in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month!  I pray you will be blessed.  Now…on to the post: 

 

It was a dark night of the soul.  So begins our spooky tale.  Gather around the campfire – if you dare.  We won’t encounter any ghosts or need to run from hockey mask wearing murderers.  No monsters or other-worldly creatures.  But I guarantee you spine-tingling, gooseflesh inducing terror as we recount…the year 2020!  Muah-ha-ha-ha!

 

Ok, maybe this year hasn’t been haunted; but it has been crazy, unexpected, unplanned, isolated and ( if you haven’t heard this enough) unprecedented.  When you roll all those things together, you get a ball I want to kick to the curb!  As my daughter said recently, I would rather swallow a jean jacket than relive the horror.

 

The Australian bush fires carried over into the first quarter of the year killing untold numbers of animals.  The California wildfires followed.  Covid-19 built steam until it shut the whole world down, killing and infecting huge portions of the population and forcing us all to wear masks – long before Halloween.  George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others died.  We mourned, we protested, and we rioted.  Loneliness and isolation still run rampant as schools, restaurants, stores and churches adapt to changing social distancing rules.

 

Presidential election years are always a disaster, but did you see the first debate?  I’m not sure what’s more frightening than that!  And somewhere in the mix a murder hornet made an appearance?  That’s the subject of a horror flick if I’ve ever heard one!  There are many other components of 202o that I lack space and time to mention, or I have blocked them out to preserve what’s left of my sanity.  But you get the gist.

 

In my family alone we have seen physical dangers, mental illness, broken bones, depression, job loss, and spiritual warfare.  Now before you log off the internet wondering why you signed up to read these depressing posts, I do know the light at the end of the tunnel.  I don’t know when the pandemic will be over.  I have no clue when or if life will resume some measure of “normalcy”.  I can’t promise an end to racial strife or guarantee that any politician ever will be civil and above board.  (Get to the point, Lauren).

 

But God…

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Psalms 46:1 NIV  He promises to always be with us and lend us the same power that He used to raise Jesus from the dead.  That doesn’t mean we won’t still have problems.  In fact, He guarantees that we will (John 16:33).  We live in a messed up world, after all.  But He promises to comfort us in them, so we can pass that comfort on to others (2 Corinthians 1:14).

 

God assures us in Revelation 1:17 that he was here before anything in this world and that when Coronavirus and governments and our earthly bodies are gone, He will remain.  And Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.  No matter how bad it is, He can use it for good purposes if you are His.

 

John 3:16 gives us the instructions for becoming His.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV  You only have to believe.  Trust Him.  And once you’ve been justified through faith, God brings peace( Romans 5:1).  You may not always feel it in a moment of struggle or sadness, but the peace is always there.  Knowing what He has saved you from and what you are being saved to can usher that peace back in.  Just lean into Him.

 

Conclusion

 

I guess our story is not so scary after all.  If you would like to hear more of the story of God’s love for you, I would like nothing better than to share it with you.  Contact me at lauren@laurensparks.net and we will email, text, call or go to coffee if you are close by.  It’s my favorite story to tell.

 

And now for this week’s featured post.

 

Engage multiple senses with Jeanne Takenaka’s Desert:  How to Trust God to Provide in Worrisome Times.  This gorgeous post combines breathtaking scenery photos with a message we might all need to hear right now.  Thank you for linking up, Jeanne.

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

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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.

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I Jumped Over June and Now July…and Grace and Truth Link Up

July 31, 2020 by Lauren 4 Comments

The world has gone crazier the last two months.  At least that’s my perspective.  So much happened in June, in fact, that I completely forgot to do a roundup post.  After the death of George Floyd, racial unrest and protests filled my thoughts and my keyboard.  My heart couldn’t write about anything else.

 

In these month end reviews, I usually tell you about what I’ve been reading, watching and listening to.  I recounted much of that in Resources on Race in America.  To add to that list, I read Sunday Punday:  Celebrate the Little Everyday Joys that Make Us Smile  by Thomas Kincade’s daughter Winsor.  Simple, sweet and only took a few minutes.  I’m also working on an advance reader copy of a book I will review on a later date.

 

Since we spend most of our time at home now, our TV and movie time is through the roof.  I coerced my husband into watching Rebel Without a Cause starring the late James Dean – a classic I’ve always been curious about.  I had no idea it was so tragic.  And Chuck hated it.  We also watched Chappaquiddick.  I’m not sure why, but the Kennedy’s fascinate me.  Shazam disappointed me.  The Farewell with Akwafina surprised me.  We caught up to Queen Victoria.  We love those royal dramas.  Oprah’s OWN Spotlight:  Where Do We Go From Here? rounded out the adults’ viewingThe Farewell

 

As a Family we enjoyed Breakthrough, Remember the Titans and Just Mercy – all true stories.  The last two were rewatches for Chuck and me.  We’ve also kept a fire burning under YouTube for breaks from all the seriousness around us.  James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke and Crosswalk Musicals fit the bill nicely.  Disney+ reignited our obsession with Hamilton 3 years after seeing it on Broadway.  We are catching so much more the 2nd, 3rd and 4th times.

 

I took the recommendation of a bloggy friend and added Pass the Mic to my podcast subscriptions.  And though I don’t listen regularly to Brene Brown’s Unlocking Us, I downloaded the episode with Austin Channing Brown.

 

In real life, we took our kids to downtown Dallas for a Potluck Protest.  The event involved food from black owned restaurants.  The month of July has been all about racial justice at our church as well with the sermon series Lead with Love: a Biblical Perspective on Race and a Prayer Night for racial unity.

 

Shelby and I added zoom karaoke, bingo and a brain booster class to give her back a little socialization and meaningful activity.  We enjoy them together, even if we must participate online.  In the brief period we tried to lift some quarantine restrictions, we took Allie and two friends to a sunflower field an hour’s drive away to take pictures.  And Allie is still in an orthopedic boot – for four months.  Bless.  But after one last surgery (which had to be postponed a week due to a close call with the Rona), she sees the finish line.  Hallelujer. 

 

I saved the retelling of our 4th of July celebration for last because it’s too mortifying not to tell.  Chuck and I invited a neighbor couple over for snacks and games while the fireworks played in the background on TV.  That’s how we roll in a pandemic with the Texas heat.  Mid-game (Awkward Family Photos), my girlfriend asked me what I was drinking.  I showed her the diet root beer and asked if I could get her one.  She declined and then her husband regaled us with tales of how much she hates root beer.  Can’t even stand the smell.  He and the kids breath on her after drinking it or eating root beer barrel candies to get her goat.  Not five minutes later, I took a swig while simultaneously feeling a tickle in my throat.  Unable to control myself, I spit my drink across the table and all over my root beer hating friend.

 

I ran to the sink to spit the rest of my mouthful in a more appropriate location, where I coughed and laughed so hard that I cried down my face and down my leg.  And then the horror set in.  I not only spit on her, but during a viral pandemic!   I could not stop apologizing and she could not stop laughing as we cleaned her up along with the table and the soggy game contents.  I’m so thankful that our friendship is stronger than her gag reflex!

 

The moral of this muster?  In times like these, it’s good to educate ourselves, it’s nice to be entertained, and it’s great to have a friend with a stout sense of humor.

 

What have you done so far this summer?  Drop me a comment below.

 

And now for this week’s featured post!

 

I don’t usually select my fellow Grace and Truth hostesses for the feature, but this week I felt so in touch with Lisa Burgess of lisanotes.com since we both wrote about humility.  Lean into Repeat After Me:  “I don’t know!” for some humble wisdom 😉

 

Thanks for sharing, Lisa!

 

 

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

 

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!  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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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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