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
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In our SPARE time, we took our special needs daughter to see 
If you haven’t seen this movie, I recommend it for it’s poignant portrayal of modern day race relations, told from the vantage point of a teen. That part is important if you want a 14 year old to watch with you. And speaking of the constant search for something Miss I-have-all-the-entertainment-I-need-on-my-phone will watch and discuss with us, we have landed on 
The OG. Starting with season 1. I don’t mind at all taking a trip back to the cross country move of Brandon and Brenda Walsh, but my husband is less than thrilled. He gets out voted, though, because my daughter is into it! We also wrapped up season two of 
I’m not sure I can recommend this one across the board. There is more language and course talk than I usually indulge in, but the content was so much fun for this child of t
In activities a little more cerebral, I picked up some good books. 
by Jami Amerine top the list. If you have yet to discover this little gem of an author, I am pleased to make your introduction. She writes beautifully real, broken and Jesus filled words. She also blogs at 
by William Strunk Jr and 
by Elizabeth Gilbert – content as different as day and night. And just in time for your light and breezy summer reading, 
by Lincee Ray. Inside this pretty pink jacket you’ll find funny, clever and touching personal anecdotes wrapped up in a Jesus bow. She 
by Elizabeth Goudge. This lengthy piece of fiction is like a cross between Ken Follett and L.M. Montgomery.
I know, I know. What is a broad bean and how can they possibly taste good? I don’t know and I don’t know. But I LOVE them. They are low in calories, high in protein and fiber, and gluten-free all while masquerading as a delicious, crunchy carb! I’m also a new devotee of this 
As a passionate fan of the flip-flop, my feet stay about as soft as asphalt – until now. I slather this lotion on after every shower and my feet are now as supple as 45 year old skin can expect to get.
I’ll round out the wrap-up with what is most important. As God continues to prick my heart with lessons on obedience, I am listening to the audio book 
by Priscilla Shirer with said Life Group. Both books cover the topic of hearing from God in different ways. I’m circling the Shirer book for the second time as well as 
by Alan D. Wright. I ordered this last one on a whim after telling a friend how ginormously it changed my prayer life years ago.