Monday, May 12, 2014

Friday Randomness {on a Monday} (Vol. 23)


I do realize I'm sharing Friday Randomness on a Monday but I'm off schedule with posts and decided why not. 

May your day and week be blessed and joy-filled. I wish you grace upon grace.


Scripture speaking to my heart

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." ~ Hebrews 4:16

A few of my favorite blog reads

"All I want them to see is Jesus.  A layed down lover who is nothing in herself, but was offered grace freely....The breath of God living in me out of mercy so undeserved." ~ When You Just Need to Slip Through Cracks of Grace by Jen of Rich Faith Rising

"When I choose to trust God’s plan to be the best plan in the midst of the change, my spirit knows peace." ~ Seasons: The Changing of Seasons, by Jeanne Tekanaka

"I want you to like me. I want the women who attend this weekend to like me too. I want them to like Winsome. But I'm seeing how like gets in the way of love." ~ Like . . Love's Worst Enemy, by Kim Hyland of Winsome Women

"How do we forgive ourselves when who we are turns out to be less than whom we can accept?" ~ When You Don’t Know How To Forgive Yourself, by Karin of Sunrise With A Six Pack

"YOU ROCK!! That is what I would say to you if you were standing in front of me." A Shout-Out to all of my Fellow Military Spouses, by Jana of Jana's Three Dresses // Military Spouse Appreciation Day has passed by Jana said so well what I wanted to say to all military spouses.

(in)Courage Community Groups

"Do you ache for companionship, or to have a friendship with another woman who encourages you? Does you heart call for a group of friends to sit with you on the bench as your toes play with the grass beneath you feet?" ~ Are You Looking For Encouragement? by Diane Bradley // I'm joining Diane and many others in encouraging you to consider being a part of one of the community groups offered through (in)Courage. There is a group for nearly every stage of life and various interests. There is surely a group for you. I'm excited to be co-leading the Military Wives community group for the upcoming session.

Inspired blogger

I'm always inspired by what my friend June shares at her place and simply wanted to share her with you. I have also been truly blessed from the encouragement and prayers she has sent my way outside of our blogs. She has touched my heart deeply. You can visit June here.

The Love Dare Challenge

If you've missed it, I'm blogging my way through The Love Dare book. You can catch up on the first three dares here: Love is patient, Love is kind and Love is not selfish.

I'm going to allow myself to be vulnerable and share what is on my heart. The views on my last post were down significantly which has me second guessing continuing with this series. After time in prayer, God reminded me of how this has nothing to do with the number of people who read a post. He has placed this love dare challenge on my heart because my message is and will always be that choosing love, God's kind of love, leads to transformation. It changes lives. God's kind of love always wins.

My marriage was not in a bad place but this challenge is doing something incredibly beautiful to my relationship with my husband even though he is on the other side of the world. It is also doing a transformation in my own heart that was truly needed.

So this series will continue and I pray God uses it to lead others to the transformation only He can give.

Online friends become INRL friends

I had the opportunity to meet two online friends this past week. Last Sunday I met my friend Kristin Taylor and her family at Navy Pier while they were visiting Chicago. We had a wonderful afternoon together, which included a ride on the ferris wheel.



On Saturday I spent three hours at Panera getting to know my friend Ceil Ryan of Surrounded by the Spirit. She noticed through my blog that I live nearby and reached out asking if we could connect in real life. I'm so glad she did. We had a fabulous afternoon together and I'm pretty sure we could have talked for three more hours.

She gave me this lovely rose for Mother's Day too.



In honor of Mother's Day

I had a quiet Mother's Day. It began with a beautiful gift from my son and his girlfriend. We had breakfast together and then took our two dogs for a walk before I headed to church. My oldest son is currently at sea so I did not anticipate hearing from him. Early afternoon I did get a message from him saying, "HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!!! I wish I could be home to celebrate with you."

The rest of the day was spent writing and ended with a late dinner celebration. My son and his girlfriend take such good care of me. They also gave my rose a few friends. So sweet!


In honor of Mother's Day (even though the day is over) I also thought I'd share a picture of the day I became a mom. We were rather young at the time.


And my forever favorite picture of me and my boys.


Being a mom . . . oh, what joy. Thank you, God, for the precious gift of being a mom to my two boys. It's a title I will never give up.

Two of my favorite Mother's Day posts:
Dandelions and Weeds in Crystal, by Amy Breitmann
To The Mom Whose Children Are Grown, by Duane Scott

Finding joy in a deployment #JoyDare #1000gifts

I continue to count His gifts . . . His graces . . . but since it has been several weeks since I've shared them here I've decided not to continue to list them in a post.

But I will leave you with this from the lovely Ann Voskamp:

"God is always good and I am always loved. Everything is eucharisteo.
 Grace, thanksgiving, joy. Eucharisteo."


24 comments :

  1. Super inspiration here today, my friend ... to choose substance and meaning and purpose over views and stats and all that. It makes me wonder what our writing would look like if there were no numbers to be found ...

    ;-}

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    1. Thank you, Linda. I appreciate your kind words. It can be hard not to look at the numbers so there are times I wish there were none. But I am always reminded that I write for Him and I trust He will bring here those (even if only one) who need to hear what He has placed on my heart to share.
      Much love to you. I'm looking forward to our time together on Saturday.

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  2. Beautiful post, dear one! Glad you decided to be random on Monday! :-)

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  3. Happy Happy week after Mother's Day! Your photos were so wonderful - made me remember that sweet mom-son relationship from when they were little - it was a magical time!

    Each quote you shared spoke to my heart - what wonderful messages for a Monday Morning - and I'm with you - follow God, not numbers! The last few weeks has been a challenge for me because He didn't give me anything to write - and I felt so lost - but I didn't post anything new (posted vintage messages that spoke to my heart) - and I waited - until He gave! Following Him, regardless of numbers is a win-win!

    Wishing you blessing this week as you trust in Him!
    ~Maryleigh

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    1. It was a magical time but I love how the moments even with them grown are still magical. :)
      Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your own heart here, Maryleigh. I truly do appreciate that. And I loved what you said, "Following Him, regardless of numbers is a win-win!" THANK YOU. Your comment really hit the spot today. Blessings to you.

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  4. Love you and your insights. Glad you decided to share today.

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  5. Great encouragement. Sweet pictures :)

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  6. I always look forward to these posts, no matter what day they come! :) So glad your Mother's Day was a sweet one! Love you so much! Heart Hugs, Shelly <3

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    1. You are so sweet. I just adore you. Much love and (((hugs))).

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  7. I love mixing things up! Friday on Monday...why not? :-) Thanks for linking up, Beth. I always love reading your thoughts and the things you share about your week!

    Blessings & love, Joan

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    1. Thank you, Joan. I was thrilled to have a post to link up with you today. Mixing things up worked out rather nicely. Love you.

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  8. Beautiful, Beth.

    I love how you were honest about the blog comments thing. I took last week off, and my numbers went way down. Frustrates me how easily the enemy can pull me back into that comparison/need for approval trap. It's all about God, and evidently, I need to keep reminding myself of that on a regular basis!!

    I'm hoping that you had a lovely Mother's Day. That picture of you and your boys is so precious. I have a few *early* photos of me with my two boys, and there's something captured there that I hold close to my heart. I wasn't with them yesterday, but I was able to talk to them. And I, too, am so grateful for their presence in my life. And this year, it was such a blessing to have a new daughter-in-law, and to have such a wonderful relationship with her. God is good, and I am blessed.

    GOD BLESS!

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    1. I'm glad to here you gave yourself a week off, Sharon. We need those times of refreshment. And maybe God even used it as an opportunity to remind you it's all about Him. I know I need to remind myself of the same. It's hard. This blogging stuff has a way of tugging at your heart...good and bad...but primarily good. We need to keep that enemy away!!
      Thank you for sharing about your Mother's Day. I'm glad you were able to talk to your boys.
      Blessings to you.

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  9. Hi RLF! (Real Life Friend) I'm so happy that the yellow rose got some company. You are so right, your son is a keeper! (And so is his girlfriend) They made your day a special one, and that seems completely right to me.
    Thank you for again pointing out your fav bloggers. It's nice to see what other writers are doing.

    What a great photo of you and Kristin and her daughter too? You had a fun ride there!

    Well, we only glossed over metrics in our talk at Panera (what in the world did we talk about that took up three hours?? Next time please tell me to clam up so you can talk too...Yikes!) I don't think there's a blogger in the world who doesn't think about that. Love that you took it to prayer and got your support from the one who called you to blogging in the first place. He will never steer you wrong.
    Thank you again for meeting me, and I look forward to getting to know you better. I don't know if you go back and read comments, so I'll just mention that I'm putting up a little photo and a few words on our meeting too. Yay!
    Hugs,
    Ceil

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    1. I wouldn't tell you any such thing, INRL friend. :) I loved that we were so comfortable sharing with each other. The time seemed to fly by. I can't wait for the next time. Blessings to you and many hugs.

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  10. Beth,

    I always love reading through your lists and quotes. So enriching!

    I also enjoy Inspired by June!

    I hope you are having a wonderful week after such a nice weekend! What fun to meet some online friends! I hope we will be able to meet someday <3

    Fondly,
    Elizabeth

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    1. She is fabulous, isn't she? I'm glad you enjoy this randomness, Elizabeth. I hope we meet one day soon too. :)

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  11. Beth, I had a few minutes, and wanted to stop by your place. What a beautiful blog. Heb 4:16 is one of my favorite verses. I love that you're pondering it. :) Thanks for sharing my blog too. How sweet you are. :)

    Thanks for your reminder that when we seek to love better, even if we share it on our blogs, how others respond doesn't matter in God's eyes. He wants us to love well regardless. I so appreciate that reminder.

    Loved your pics of you with your boys when they were young! Have a beautiful week!

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping by, Jeanne. It's wonderful to see you here. Thanks for your sweet encouragement. Wishing you a wonderful week. Blessings.

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  12. I am so excited you linked up with us this week, precious friend! I love your randomness posts. What a great list of material to encourage hearts. :) I can't wait to dive further into the material you listed. xo

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  13. Kristen Taylor??? I always think she seems so real and nice. Fun you two got to meet up!

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Much love to you.