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’ viewing

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!

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MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
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LAUREN SPARKS
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Does anyone else feel like January has been 87 days long? I think I’ve lived many lives since New Year’s Eve!

Family

My Baylor Bears played in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day, so we spent January 1st hanging, working a jigsaw puzzle and watching with my parents and my PawPaw. We would soon learn that we are losing our beloved coach to the NFL, but word has it that His replacement brings a lot to the table. Now I have to wait until August to find out! Baylor basketball is coming in HOT (men’s team #1 and women’s #2), but alas, I don’t dig hoops.

Allie’s choir served as the chorus for her high school’s theater production of Mary Poppins, so we are fighting against with the urge to speak primarily in a British accent. And others are struggling as they hear it! Allie also attended LIVE weekend – a discipleship retreat for teens at our church. We had 240 plus teenagers attend! The worship, preaching, fellowship and small group time make it the best weekend of her year.

While she was doing that, Chuck and I escaped with the help of our parents to try to relax from the weight of family issues and recent tragedies. Oh, and we celebrated 21 years of loving and supporting each other. I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am that Chuck chose me and continues to choose me every day. There is no one I prefer in the good times and we keep holding each other up through the bad. Thank you, Lord.

Friends

I had the blessing of helping some great friends with medical appointments. I took one to the hospital for hip replacement surgery and sat with her granddaughter for the duration. The next day I went with a childhood friend to an MRI appointment. Then I got to take a meal to a recovering mentor. I know most of us – myself included – have a hard time asking for help. I often feel like it’s an imposition. But I can honestly say, it is such an honor for me to be asked to support a friend. So don’t deprive me (or your friends) of an honor by trying to do the thing all by yourself.

Every week I get to meet with a group of women who refer to themselves as “life group misfits”. We’ve all had trouble fitting into and maintaining a place in traditional church life groups. But we found each other and call ourselves “Lady Friends”. That name brings me almost as much joy as being in the presence of these precious, funny and real women. And I finally had enough flex in my daytime schedule to squeeze in lunch with another lovely. We had so much to catch up on that she brought a list of things to make sure we covered! I loved it. She made me feel like a celebrity being interviewed on a talk show! Then the two of us and our husbands double dated the next night. We planned to eat a progressive dinner, going to three different restaurants for appetizer, entree and dessert. Well, it was Saturday night in a Dallas suburb so we should have known wait times would slow us down. We only made it two places, but had fun in the process.

Entertainment

When I could steal a few moments alone to read, I devoured Why I Hate Green Beans: And Other Confessions about Relationships, Reality TV, and How we See Ourselves by Lincee Ray. This felt like laughing and relating with a girlfriend. And last I checked it was free on Kindle! Sharing Love Abundantly in Special Needs Families: The Five Love Languages for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities by Gary Chapman was a little disappointing. I learned so much from his original Love Language book, so it seemed like a good idea to read this with a young mom I’m mentoring. We found it, quite frankly, lame. But it gave me one really good idea. So there’s that. And I finally came back to and finished Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson.

We caved into some FOMO and subscribed to Disney+. Our first show? High School Musical the Musical the Series. We loved it. Clunkiest name for a series ever, but we pushed through. And having all the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse videos available for Shelby on demand is both a good and a bad thing. During the Christmas hiatus, I enjoyed catching old episodes of Wings, but now all our regularly scheduled programs are back in full force. Plus, it’s awards show season. Something I kind of like (as long as I can fast forward through the boring parts), and my husband kinda hates. Even though we didn’t watch any of the Grammy’s, we watched Gayle King’s Grammy Special!

We only went to the movies one day this month, but made up for it by watching two in a row. Knives Out is a fantastically fun Clue-style who done it with lots of twists and surprises. Just Mercy wrenched my heart, opened my eyes, and called me to do better. I highly recommend both. And I added a couple more podcasts to my earbuds. After hearing at least 10 people rave about Dolly Parton’s America, I am now 4 episodes in. So good. I have never really been a Dolly fan, but she is pretty fascinating. I also downloaded Showmance: The Glee Recap Edition. I loved the show (the first two seasons anyway), but the jury is still out on the pod.

My husband and I still carry heavy burdens of grief and struggle for on-going things in our families. We humbly ask you to continue to bring us and our loved ones before the throne of our Heavenly Father. Your prayers mean so much.

Thanks for looking over my January with me. What did you do in yours?

Featured Post

Today the featured post from last week’s link up is from Laura Thomas. She shares a touching story from her own life to illustrate God’s faithfulness to us. You will be so encouraged if you click over and read.

Now for The Featured Post

Treasures From the Sea: Family Miracle, Faithful God

by Laura Thomas

Now for this week’s link-up! Let’s bless and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord.

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Maree Dee

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Lauren Sparks

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