Summer reading

Join me on June 1st for an online book club. We will be reading The Antelope in the Living Room by Melanie Shankle aka Bigmama. 

I have been reading Melanie's blog for almost ten years. http://thebigmamablog.com She was recently a guest on Focus on the Family. 

I hope you will join me this summer. Each week we will read a few chapters and every Monday I will post "discussion questions". We can "discuss" through posting comments. You can pick up your copy at LifeWay or Target (I'm sure it's other places, I've just seen at both of these) as well as Amazon. It is also available as E-reader format. 

This is from the back of the book. 

(See you back here June 1st!) 

Marriage . . . you gotta laugh.

They say that marriage is a lot like insanity, in that they both require commitment. I so get that.

When you’re in those first giddy stages of dating, you have no idea what life is going to throw your way. You’re just two bright-eyed kids full of optimism, convinced you’re going to be the happiest married couple ever.

Y’all. Trust me. Saying, “I do” is easy. It’s the next fifty years or so that can get a little tricky.

There are days you feel like you’ve never loved each other more. But there are also days filled with disappointment and silence that never seem to end because you just can’t seem to find the words to make it right.

Marriage can be the biggest blessing and the most significant challenge two people ever take on. It’s the joy of knowing there’s someone to share in your sorrows and triumphs, and the challenge of living with someone who thinks it’s a good idea to hang a giant antelope head on your living room wall.

And yet we are in this thing together. For the rest of our lives. Not just for better or for worse, but for better AND for worse.

That’s what this book is about. The times that brought us together and the times we were falling apart. The days we wouldn’t trade for anything in the world, and that time he hung an antelope on my wall.

Welcome to the story of a real marriage.

Melanie (aka Big Mama)

Another reminder of how He loves

Yesterday, as we (Katie, Mary Margaret & Sophia Vaughn) were heading to church, I had Katie snap this picture of our street. 

We slowly made our way out of the neighborhood and onto Battlefield Rd. As we started down the big hill on Battlefield, just before Lone Pine, the car in front of us lost control & slid into the middle of the road, going sideways. In trying to brake, my car started sliding as well & we missed the other car literally by inches. As we got right up to it, and I thought we were going to hit it, I saw the faces of the two ladies in the car, and it was two of our senior ladies from Second. The terror on their faces was indescribable. I was able to steer my car into the turning lane & go around them. As I regained control & kept going, the girls & I watched in the rear view mirror as cars were coming over the hill. Somehow, the lady was able to back up, turn her car around & keep going in the right direction & the cars coming down the hill toward her were all able to stop. 

We get to church, I see Jay, and I just lost it. Then, as soon as we started to sing, I had a "flashback." As we were backing out of the driveway, I prayed out loud, asking the Lord to put His angels of protection around us & get us safely to church. At that moment, I was so overwhelmed at the clear realization (once again), how personal my Savior is. He is the King of all kings, yet still cares about me, my daughters, Sophia, our safety. This is not new information for me, just a fresh reminder of how He loves. I was so overwhelmed I could not stop my tears. 

I am reading Pursuing the Christ - Prayers for Christmastime written by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. My friend Mary Kate gave it to me. I'm a big fan of JKD but had not seen this book before. There's a reading for each morning & evening, for each day of December. This is part of last night's --

"Knowing that you have given to me Your finest treasure, I can rest assured that You will not withhold anything good from me. You shower me moment by moment with tokens of Your love. I pray that my eyes stay open to see the good and perfect gifts that are always flowing from You to me."