Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  I'm linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals for this blog post. 

I thought I'd share a few favorites this week that are a little different. 

I'll start with an incredible book by one of my favorite authors. 

This book just keeps getting better.  I've just not been making time to read.  I'm halfway through it now, thanks to a good wait at a doctor's office yesterday and the fact that I read a lot last night while my hubby watched a show on Hulu.

Next up is what I use to read the bible chronologically each day.  There are several different chronological reading plans, but this is the one the women at my church are using.

I've been in Psalm all week, and I LOVE EVERY DAY OF READING.  It's been so good and very timely.

Speaking of Psalm...

Oh, I love this verse.  I saw this on Instagram yesterday from Sweet Blessings Shannon and borrowed it.

Favorite cute image on the internet all week:

 I reposted this from Country Living Magazine.  "Stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet on the inside."

I shared this with my ninth grade community group girls because I loved it so much.

One of my favorite Timehop memories from this week:

We had been up for more than twenty four hours on this particular night and after she got the grumpies out, she crossed over into delirium and I was little scared of her.  We were at high school beach camp with a bunch of students (as in thousands in the city of Daytona Beach) and we were roomies and bed buddies.  I still feel sorry for the poor teenage girls who shared our room.  We were beyond exhausted all week, but MAN.  We had fun.

This is so random, but my sister Debi shared this with us a couple of weeks ago when she went on a weekend getaway with her hubby. 

I can't even take all that gorgeous landscape around them, but this is the BEST picture of them and I might have printed it out. 

We all think it should be their empty nesters' Christmas card this year.

I'll end with two last pictures.  I took these pictures on Sunday to share with my friend Amy.  We had met for about an hour on Friday of last week and I was telling her about the greatest marriage advice I've ever heard.  It all came from my friend Sunday's mom, Mrs. Teresa.  I  took a picture of the inside covers of her bible and copied all that she had written inside my own bible.

I thought someone else might need to read this too.  Excuse the lighting, I was at my church and it was this color before the service started. 

Well, I need to run!  My dad will be here soon and I have laundry calling.  Thanks for reading!  Love to all. 

life lately

This week has been slightly crazy, because our church is hosting Backyard Kids' Clubs all over our cute little town.  Some started on Monday night and some will end on Friday night.  The one my boys are at has been Tuesday through Thursday nights, so after that is over at eight, they go do something fun with the other high school students.  It's been pool parties and Sonic for them each night, and they're all living their best life.

On Monday night, though, Todd and Graham had a guys' night at the shooting range.

This is their favorite thing to do, I am fairly certain. 

On Tuesday night, Todd had a mandatory meeting for the sheriff's department, and I went (along with two other friends who rode with me) to a friend's house out in the boondocks.  We were going to watch a movie, but we ended up just eating and talking all night.  #storyofourlives

We're going to read another book together for our book club, so I'm excited about that.  We will talk more about the book the next time we get together. 

Drew met with an academic adviser at Southwest and she recommended all of his classes for him.  As of yesterday afternoon, he is all registered and orientation is on Monday.  I'm so proud of him!  He had signed up for his classes and then found out they were all over the place, so when he told Todd about this, Todd went to see a contact friend of his he has that works at Southwest.  (He has two such people there at the Union campus that he knows.)  The lady led him to his other friend, and when Todd told him what was going on, he just called Drew himself and told him what to do, and who to stick with, because certain professors are better than others.  So he dropped all the classes he had just registered for and started over, and now his schedule makes so much more sense. 

He will be on the Union campus two days a week and the Collierville campus two days a week.  And one of the people that Todd knows there?  Y'all.  He is the DIRECTOR OF NURSING.  I kid you not.  (Drew is majoring in nursing.)

God is so good to us to do things like this.  And there are too many of them to count!  I had to tell you the story, because God gets all the credit for that.  Imagine my delight when I read this verse yesterday!  I read it later than normal, at night, because I left yesterday morning for the majority of the day.

I love ALL of this verse, but that first part just jumped right out at me.  "The Lord guards the inexperienced."  WE are inexperienced.  He guards us and He helps us all the time.

Meanwhile, shouldn't they all still be about this age?  It flies by!  Sometimes Timehop just about kills me with all the cute memories, and today was one of those days.  I remember this like it was yesterday. 

Today I'm spending some time with a couple of friends, one this morning, and one later on in the day, if the timing works out.  Also on my list for today is grocery shopping.  I've put it off all week long. 

Thanks for reading!  Love to all. 

my other blog

I'm not writing on this one today, but I did write a post over on my other blog.  I started that one six years ago, and the Lord recently brought it back to my mind and has been giving me some ideas of what to write, along with an idea or two for something more in the future.  I have no idea what that means, but it seems like the Lord is at work here, and it's exciting.  (I actually JUST said those words to my dad last Friday.)

So if you are interested, you can hop over there and have a look around, because it's a lot different.

http://myfridayswithdad.blogspot.com/2018/07/my-dad-and-music.html

And just because I like a picture, I'll leave you with this one above.  I took this as we drove to Branson back in May, and this verse was one I read this morning in my quiet time.  I love it.  From the rising of the sun to its setting, let the name of the Lord be praised.  Psalm 113:3.

Thanks for reading, friends.  Love to all. 

the weekend

I was so tired coming into this weekend!  When my dad was here on Friday, I couldn't stop yawning the whole time we talked.  I tried to take a nap when he left, but that never happened.  My friend Missy and I had made plans with our community group girls to get together on Friday night for dinner and swimming.  We haven't seen them regularly all summer long, so it was fun to catch up with them a little and to see them have so much fun together.  They requested Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner, so Missy shopped and I made the dinner, and they helped with the sides.  We had Caesar salad, the best garlic bread ever and brownies to go along with the pasta.  We sat inside and ate dinner, then we all got in the pool.

And we took zero pictures of the girls, but I did take this one of the chickens and swan.

More than I wish I had pictures, I wish I had video footage of those girls trying to get onto the chickens.  It was hilarious, and we saw that none of them are very graceful.

I'm smiling so big right now.

We had just a small group of girls, only four could come, out of about ten or twelve.  But that was okay, and we had fun with the ones who were there.  The cool water felt so refreshing, and though we had put an end time on the party, we extended it, because we were all having so much fun.  It was so much fun seeing them all be kids again, because things are different for them nowadays.  This was only for our group of girls, who will be sophomores starting in August, and this was girls only.

My husband worked that night, and he ended up working Saturday and Sunday nights as well, because it's been three weeks since his last shift, and he was missing going on ride-outs.

The next day I went and ran a couple of errands, and that night it was just Jonah, Noah and me for dinner, so we went to a local pizza shop nearby.

Sunday was church as usual, then I was home for the rest of the day.  I had leftovers for lunch and dinner and I watched tv all day and took a nap.  It was GLORIOUS.  The boys all just hung out either here or at church with their friends, and Noah went to a friend's house to spend the night, but other than that, we all just had a lazy night.  Two out of four of my kids don't feel great and that started yesterday.  I'm pretty sure it's just a sinus thing, but after he meets with his freshman counselor at Southwest this morning, Drew is taking himself to the doctor for the first time in his life.  Eighteen is nice for that reason.

As I write that, I have to say that I am so thankful to God for healthy kids.  They almost NEVER get sick and we rarely go to see doctors.  They get little bugs or viruses from time to time, but it's things like colds, or stomach viruses, the kind of thing that goes away on its own.  Truly, I realize that is a gift from the Lord, and I am so grateful.

On a side note, I am back in Psalm again, for my chronological reading, and I am loving it!  I love this that I read over the weekend.

I love the reminder here that we are still to bear fruit for the Lord, even in our old age.  That makes me think of my dear elderly friend, Mrs. Audrey, who adopted a group of teenage girls and their teachers (my friend Scottie and myself) and prayed very faithfully for us.  She would make her way up the stairs to the youth area from time to time, even, sharing with us what the Lord had shown her in her life lately.  She has since gone on to be with Jesus, and her sweet and precious husband Mr. Frank joined her in eternity shortly after she passed away, but I am so thankful to have known them for a short while.  And I am so glad for the hope we have in Jesus, and that we will see our loved ones again someday!

The older I get, the more heaven-minded I become, and the more I want to follow very closely, or as closely as I can, the word of God.  I always pray that the Lord would make me obedient to Him and His word, and just this morning, I asked that His will would be done in my life, NOT mine.  I am a creature of habit, and I love for things to stay as they are, if it is something that works well.  Regarding a certain area in my life right now that I help out in, though, it looks like things might change in the fall.  I don't want to hang on to something I should let go, but I also don't want to let go of something that I should try to hold onto.  Ultimately, though, in my praying this morning, I was reassured once again that God is in control.  He knows the situation, the plans that will take place, and I trust Him with the outcome.  I trust Him.  I trust Him.  Sometimes I have to keep on saying that until I  truly believe it in my heart and feel the peace that surpasses all understanding.

Well.  Once again, things took a turn on here as I started writing, but maybe someone needed to hear some of what I just said in the two paragraphs above.  I trust the Lord with this blog, too, and I pray that He uses me even in the mundane things of my life.

Thanks for reading, my friends.  Love to all.

(I don't know why, but I feel like I need to say again that you can find me on Instagram as jenlloydgoodwin.)

(Last one: I started updating on my other blog again.  You can find that blog here.) 

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  Although Friday felt like Tuesday and then Wednesday felt like Saturday, so I don't know what this day feels like, but whatever.  I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals, and her friends, for this blog post. 

So even though I can't ever seem to cool off unless I am submerged in a body of water, and it's not at all my favorite season, I really do love the summer.  I love the laid back days and I love the thought of Independence day and fireworks (without loving the fireworks my family always shoot off), and I especially love getting together with friends and not having to rush to get ready for the next day, like when my kids are in school.  (Well, doing school work, they're not IN school.  We homeschool.)

Moving on, now, with some favorites from this week.

Have any of you read this book?  I haven't read the whole thing, but I pulled it out again this week to start over with.  This is a collection of her newsletters that she would send out a while back, all put together in one book.  Some of this is like reading pages from a journal.  Other parts are stories of some things she has experienced over a life lived for the Lord.  It is wonderful, and I highly recommend it and recognize it as one of my favorite books of all time.  It's all beautiful and uplifting and will inspire you in your walk with God.

I love this picture!  It's one of my favorite memories of something fun we did with my dad on one of our infamous Fridays with Dad.  That is a thing, yes, and even a blog I started ages ago of tales from our weekly dates that have been happening for the past thirteen years.  I need to update it and start posting to that again, because it's been forever.  This was a day when we took all the boys to the children's museum in Memphis.  He was loving this simulation of flying a propeller plane, and eventually I had to tell him to share with Jonah.  I'm laughing as I write that.

Fireworks from far away are my favorite. 

Fireworks up close are NOT my favorite.

They make me so nervous and Drew had a thing happen between him and a sparkler and his bare foot one year and ever since, they make me a nervous wreck.  And they're unpredictable and you never know where they're going to go.

That being said, this night was one of my favorite nights of the week.  We went to my mom's house on the fourth for dinner and to play with the fireworks that Bill and Graham bought.  I stayed inside and watched the one in New York with Mom, because she's not a fan either.

This is not at all spiritual, but I love a good James Patterson book, and this one is INCREDIBLE.  The voice that Bill Clinton offers with all his presidential knowledge adds another level of depth that leaves me wanting more of it every time I sit down to read.  I think I may stay home and read all day long tomorrow, because I want to know what happens.  I highly recommend this book, for anyone who loves or even doesn't love James Patterson. 

(One of my favorite books of all time is one by him, titled The Beach House.)

Well, my daddy is going to be here in ten minutes, and I need to dust a tiny bit before he comes, so I will stop for now.  Thanks for reading!  Have a great weekend, friends.  Love to all. 

encouragement for social media

In sitting here this morning, and after praying a little and then reading in my daily reading plan, I thought I share about how my friend encouraged me a few weeks ago, on this whole subject of social media.  I don't really know why I even thought of this, except that I often pray that the Lord would use me somehow, and I know He has done that through my blog.  So maybe someone needs to hear this today, or maybe someone needs a bit of exhortation on the whole social media thing.  (I slightly hate that word 'exhortation', but that is one of my spiritual gifts, and I know it needs to be used from time to time.)  And I say that to challenge you to think about how you use social media.  I ask myself this same question all the time, trust me, and it's a battle to try to stay humble in this day and time and to think about my reason even for being on there to begin with. 

These images are ones I've shared in the last couple weeks. 

Without saying too much about this, a few weeks ago, I became so discouraged by a young friend of mine who judges very harshly through her social media accounts.  We all know that type of person, so I won't go into further detail, but that night, I actually deactivated my Facebook account.  I've considered this in the past, especially in the last few weeks, and I've removed the app completely from my phone a bunch of times.  (I don't love Facebook, because it seems to have a different feel to it and with that there is judgment like I experienced that day from a young girl I know, there is a heaviness, and most of what I see is extremely negative.)  So I deactivated my account, and then I called my friend to check if she could still "see" me on there.  She could not, but then we started talking.  She encouraged me to re-think my decision to do that, because most of what I post is something from scripture, and there are a lot of people I am "friends" with on FB that are not believers.  She knows I always pray for them and who knows if the Lord will use a bible verse I post to draw them to Himself. 

She encouraged me to keep posting things (through Instagram, because that's the social media that is my favorite) and to just go and hide all the people who are always so negative and judgmental.  So I took heart to what she said and logged back on, which is how you reactivate the account.  Nobody except her even knows that I deactivated it for a very short while.  I prayed about all the feelings I had about people and social media at the moment that I was going through this, and I asked God to help me NOT take every little thing to heart, or to be easily offended.  And He has helped me in this, and then I went and hid a LOT of people. 

I chose to hide these people because I don't love all the negativity they project on social media outlets.  And on other accounts of theirs, it's not that way, it's just Facebook, where everyone (myself included) shares articles on every topic under the sun.  Again, we all know that type, and often, we do the same thing!  After all, did you know that social media has made everyone experts on everything?  (Said jokingly.) 

So I have taken into consideration all of this, and I am just keeping on doing what I always do.  I post things from my quiet time, and often.  The Lord always highlights something for me in His word, almost every single day, and if it encourages my heart, I figure it'll have that same effect on someone else.  I post about books I read, because people know that I love to read and ask me for ideas for themselves.  (I can ALWAYS talk about this!)  I post old pictures of my boys, because once the teenage years hit, they are far less agreeable to standing still for a quick picture.  I love architecture and cool things like abandoned houses or old buildings, so I post pictures of that from time to time.  I love nature and always seem to be taking pictures of clouds or sunsets or a beautiful patch of flowers or my mom's bushes.  And I love cooking and beautiful plates of good food, so often times I will post a picture of what we ate for lunch or dinner, and then later will share the recipe with folks, because we all get into cooking ruts, and I am always needing inspiration for dinner.

I just share with other people things I love to see, and figure if I like it, they will too.  And if not, well, the option to KEEP SCROLLING is always there.  I had someone get mad at me for posting too much one time.  Y'all.  Then get thee off of social media.  That's what I wanted to say, anyway, but I didn't.  I quit posting for a while because of what they said, and this was someone I'm fairly close to, but then I figured I wouldn't let what they said bother me.  And I also figured that the enemy wanted me to listen to that person, but I stopped listening to what she had said and started posting again. 

I think we all need to be encouraged and exhorted from time to time.  I love posting things that are uplifting, because who needs all the negative junk that's always out there?  It's literally all around us, so I like to be a light in the darkness.  The bible tells us that God Himself is light, and in Him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5).  And Jesus said that He is the light of the world (John 8:12).  I take those words very seriously, and I try to be that same way.   And also, for those of us who are believers and followers of Him, we might be the only glimpse of Jesus that someone ever sees.  I know that for me, He has given me a verse image on Instagram right at a time that I needed it.  One morning just a few weeks ago, He had me see a verse out of Jeremiah three times before eight thirty in the morning!  It was about Him refreshing those who need refreshing, which was right what I was going through at that moment in time.  So He can even work through social media, my friends.  There is nothing that is impossible for Him, and His Holy Spirit leads and guides us.  It's so strange to think about, but I know He has done that for me, and if that is the case, than He can do the very same thing for someone else. 

That's about all I had to say about this topic.  I pray that it encourages someone today, and I hope it challenges you to think differently than everyone else.  For those of us who are believers, let's share more of Him!  I love seeing such things on social media, I couldn't care less about selfies and pointless or mean spirited stuff.  If that is something you want to do, then just pray and ask Him to help you in this.  I promise, He will. 

Thank you for reading my blog!  Love to all. 

catching up from the weekend

Todd, Drew, Jonah and Noah just returned home from youth camp in Chattanooga, Tn last night.  Todd left on Wednesday after lunch, and the boys left Thursday morning.  I thought I would miss the house being loud, and while it did get really quiet at times, I thoroughly enjoyed the alone time with my oldest boy.  I was also glad to have another human in the house each night when I went to sleep.  

My mom let us come over for dinner Friday night and Graham wanted to drive us out there, so I let him.

I love this kid.  He is so proud of his truck, and after a very long stint with a Bronco that never seemed to run right, I am so thankful he has a dependable vehicle now.  He is in the process of getting it just like he wants it, and is having the time of his life.

This was on our way home, and look at that sky!  I love a good sunset.

On Saturday, Graham played disc golf, and I stayed home with the dogs.  That night, my sister Trish and I took my dad to dinner for a belated Father's day celebration.  We ate at a really good Mexican restaurant called Frida's, we walked around Barnes and Noble for a little bit, then I took them to a park that my boys love.  

This is Hinton park in Collierville, and there are xylophones of differing sizes on one of the play areas.  We were all playing with them, and it was just a really fun and memorable night.  

On Sunday we went to church, and I had lunch with Mom right afterward.  We went to a sandwich place nearby, and Graham and Rachel joined us.  I came home and took a nap, then that night Missy came over with her food, and we ate dinner (I ate my leftovers from Saturday night) and then we watched a Christmas movie.  My favorite, actually, The Family Stone.  

It is July, friends.  As in, Christmas in July.  It's a thing, don't pretend it's not.  Most of you know how much I adore Christmas.  :)

Yesterday morning I went to dear friend's house and before we realized it, two and a half hours had flown right by.  I went to the grocery store to replenish the pantry for my family coming home, and then came home and did laundry to free up the washer and dryer for all the camp laundry, then by six last night, we were all back under one roof.  Well, Graham worked a shift with the sheriff's department, but mostly, we were all home together.  

They all had a blast at camp, and this was the theme of the week.  You matter.  It's also Jason's (the youth pastor) life motto.  I was so glad to have them back home, though.  None of them really wanted to talk, though, because they were all exhausted, and Todd was in bed by seven thirty and asleep by eight.  He slept for TWELVE solid hours.  

And two of them are still sleeping right this moment.  I am doing laundry all day long, washing my hair in between (that is a chore), and I am going to Costco for some very important essentials, like coffee.  

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.