Friday Favorites

Hey there! Happy Friday!! Yay for the weekend!

I've seen some friends and fellow bloggers join in on the #FridayFavorites fun, so I decided to take a plunge and join in on the fun as well! I enjoy reading other peoples' faves and get great ideas.

Here are some of my recent, or not so recent favorites...

Date Night Blog Questions

It's a rare, yet sweet occasion to have a date night to ourselves. We don't typically have an enjoyable "date night" evening when our conversation overflows with negativity or work-related topics, so we do what we can to avoid that. This usually involves random convo, but sometimes it's difficult to avoid the not-so-fun topics that might be dominating our thoughts. Thanks to Pinterest, we've found that these questions are a simple, fun solution! 

A couple of the blog questions we have used or started, but not yet finished:

Link

Link

Kelly Clarkson's "Heartbeat Song"

This song makes for a great jam session! I've always been a fan of Kelly Clarkson, but I'm a huge fan of the way she uses her baby's heartbeat as inspiration for song writing.

My Students' Blogs

Here are a few links to some that are pretty creative and it's giving other students ideas in writing. Sentence structure has gotten stronger, adding details is becoming easier, and the students are becoming better writers over all! I'm excited to see them grow through blogging and experience some excitement with the freedom they have received in (monitored) online writing.

Eloy's Awesome Blog

Brookelin's Amazing Thoughts

Trinity's Fantastic Blog

Madison's 4th Grade Blog

You can find the rest of their blogs HERE.

Coffee House Cafe

I was introduced to this place over the Christmas break with some friends I grew up with and it is AAAAAMAZING!!! Best coffee, food, and atmosphere! I will definitely be going back!

NBC's New Series "A to Z"

This show comes on Thursday evenings on NBC and it is adorably hilarious! The main characters make for a sweet couple who date while facing the everyday challenges that come with new/continuing relationships. The series is "a comprehensive account of their relationship from A to Z" with humor and your not-so-typical love story. 

Piko Shirts and Tunics

Shout out to one of my teammates, Shelbi, who told me how comfortable these tops are! I LOVE them!! They are simple. You can dress them down, or dress them up. I'm sure they can be found at many different stores, but I've had good luck with these at a boutique called Groovy's. Click HERE for their online store and boutique. Groovy's is definitely a recent favorite and they have cute, cute clothes!

Lavender Essential Oil

There are two things I use this oil for the most- detox baths and in my mascara.

The detox bath includes 2 cups of epsolm salt, 2 cups of baking soda, and 8 drops of lavender. I've used it for gifts and probably every other night for myself... It is the most relaxing resource that gets me through the week sometimes. It helps with sore muscles and gets all the bad toxins out of your body. Healthy, relaxing, and incredible!

I also love using the lavender oil to make my mascara last longer. It helps keep my eye lashes from clumping up too. 

This Book.

I started this book in the summer and I've read it over again a couple of times since then! It has/is changing my perspective and challenging me to guard my heart in productive/scripture referenced ways. I'm learning not to just value God's opinion the most, but how to allow scripture, truth, and the spirit to lead my thoughts and life. I've always allowed other people's opinion to shape who I am and that power shouldn't belong to anyone else. This book is teaching me how to change that. It's definitely a process.

Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

Hope you enjoyed these Friday favorites. It was really hard to choose just a few... What can I say?? I just love the crap out of everything! It's a problem, but not one that I'm ready to get rid of. I think I broke the Friday Favorite's rules because you are only supposed to choose 5, right?? #oops

Happy Friday!

What are some of your Friday favorites??? I'd love to hear (read) about them!!

Trust- love it and hate it.

Where to begin? I've been burdened by some fears that seem to overpower my thoughts at times and leave me in despair. It's the craziest thing, and honestly something that I absolutely hate to confess.

The future. It's frightening to ponder. Some of my deepest fears involve the future.

Yikes!

Why is it that I am so dependent upon those that are close and dear to my heart? Why can't I live my life without being fearful? When did my heart become contingent upon being in this world, and with certain people? Where is my identity?

I love being a wife. Truly. More than that, I love being Tyler's wife. If I dig deeper.. I find that I don't want to do life without him. Bottom line. I'm grateful for what we have, and I'm grateful for what we have overcome. I like that he thinks differently than I do and can talk me through a situation apart from feelings or emotions that tend to cloud my judgment. Marriage is hard, but it's good. Forgiveness has become an everyday learning experience for both of us.

There are times that my heart feels so heavily burdened that I've become THAT woman, the wife, that allows fear to define who I am, and to influence the decisions I make.

People let you down. People hurt people. Which leads me to the fact that I hate being so dependent and vulnerable. I feel weak. Anything can happen. The dependency leads to worry. This fear. It consumes me.

All of this boils down to one question. It's a question that I'm challenged to face. It's difficult for me to process and to even acknowledge sometimes.

Do I trust God?

I mean.. really. Do I believe that His plan is better than mine? If I did, then I wouldn't be so anxious about this fear. It wouldn't consume my thoughts every time Tyler goes out of town. It wouldn't keep me awake at night. I wouldn't be so exhausted trying to control this aspect of my life and marriage.

This is an honest confession. Maybe I feel so weak in my fears because my faith has grown weak. When I became a wife, my identity transferred and I made an idol out of being a "wife." And I'm still making it an idol.

I'm all wrapped up in being someone that God intended for something greater. What is shaping my life? What do I want people to know about me within the first 5 minutes of meeting? Being a wife cannot and will not satisfy me for eternity... which leads me to thinking about failed marriages in society. Could the divorce rate be so high because of the identity we place in proclaiming the "perfect" love story displayed to the world? Would the divorce rate become something few and far between if we became a nation that was absorbed in the reality that marriage isn't about ourselves?

If marriage isn't for me, I sure do make it about me.

It's not about what I want or what I deserve. Deserve. This word changes everything. I'm humbled by the fact that I don't "deserve" any of it. This marriage. This lifestyle. Being born in America. Freedom. Suffering. Who am I kidding? What am I trying to prove? Marriage brings joy. Marriage brings suffering. We choose marriage any way. We choose the things that bring happiness and the things that bring hardship. It is inter-connected... somehow... someway.

What comes next... conviction. Prayer. Fighting the "good" fight. The fight against my fears that says, "To die is to gain." Trusting Jesus doesn't give me what I want. However, it does give me purpose. It gives me a reason to be intentional with people. It gives me discernment in my exhaustion of being in this world and not allowing others to define who I am. It gives me a reason to view others as better than myself and seeing through the lens of something greater than I could ever accomplish myself. My conviction transforms my heart into a heart of appreciation, and the appreciation gives me the strength to fight through the fears, the unknown, and the suffering that has come and will come.

Is it unhealthy that I desire and enjoy sharing my life with someone? No. In fact, in the sermon I listened to yesterday, the paster said that "God's very nature is love, so He created individuals He can love and share it with." Since we are made "in His image," we have that same desire. It is unhealthy, however, to trust in my husband or marriage more than the Lord. This is a struggle. Sharing my heart is messy. It makes me extremely grateful for the grace that is covering my selfish heart and sinful desires.

Of course, all of this is effortless to say. Acting on it- completely different adventure. I do love that because Jesus came, I am free to fail, I am free to be weak, I am free to over-analyze, and I am free to be vulnerable. I don't have to be strong, because He is strong for me. The Lord is my confidence and I am free. He has already won this battle, the battle against trust and sharing my heart.

God can make my heart content and barricade the fears. This will always take effort on my part, considering the certainty that my weaknesses will continue to drag me down. God can redirect my frustrations as well. Can I trust Him?

I'm writing this for myself... to read again... and again... and again, when fears engulf my thoughts, when my identity deviates, and when I need to be reminded of His goodness.