Starving...

... for the Lord that is.

With life so crazy lately, I haven't found enough time to spend with God. Not time to do anything out of the ordinary, just time to talk to him. [Reading back over this-- what an awful excuse that is. What I should have said is that I haven't made the time.]

We all do it. Life gets busy, hectic, and stressful and we become way too busy worrying about what we're going to do about situation this or that. When all we really need to do is just let it go. A few weeks ago I met with a small group of ladies that I am going to be joining consistently for a book study. One of the girls mentioned [that girl is Ruthie... yes of The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart, and yes, I know her in real life] something that keeps surfacing to the front of my mind. She said something along the lines of "...take that list of difficulties, frustrations, etc., crumple it up, and give it to God." How true is that? When you can't handle anymore, He is there to take over!

Like I said before, my life lately has been all of the above. Today I sit here writing this post and can't help but notice that I am starving, craving, and begging for the Lord to come into my life. I wish I could sit peacefully in my room all day, just talking to him.

Unfortunately we have bills to pay, work to be done, and a home to clean. Fortunately beginning in November, our small group will be reading and discussing Esther- It's Tough Being a Woman by Beth Moore.

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Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman by Beth Moore provides a personal study experience five days a week plus viewer guides for the group video sessions of this in-depth women's Bible study of Esther - a profile in courage. Join Beth in a very personal examination of this great story of threat and deliverance as she peels back the layers of history and shows how very contemporary and applicable the story of Esther is to our lives today. If you've ever felt inadequate, threatened, or pushed into situations that seemed overpowering, this is the Bible study for you. Just as it was tough being a woman in Esther's day, it's tough today. This portion of God's Word contains treasures to aid us in our hurried, harried, and pressured lives.

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I'm not sure what this book has in store for me. I don't know that it is exactly what my life is craving right now. I do have faith that it will speak to me, and am praying that it moves me the way it has others. Whatever it may be that it does to me, I know my life will only be brightened by studying the words of God and I am so excited to start this journey with and learn from some amazing God-fearing women!

Just Call Me Katniss

Hello & happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Our weekend here was filled with a whole lot of... not a lot.

Friday night was the usual for us-- Raymond's softball game. They beat the team they were playing by quite a bit, which made for a happy boy. One bad thing about games at 9:00 pm? No time for dinner between work and game time, so we ended up hightailing it to get some grub (and drinks) at 10:30 at night. So bad, but so so good.



Saturday was spent running a few errands, doing a few things for the blog, and cleaning out our closet and dresser helping R clean his motorcycle. I wasn't in the mood to sit inside the house, so my crazy self marched downstairs to the oh-so-hot garage and polished away on the chrome of his bike. By the end of it all, I was in desperate need of a shower and water! I don't recommend volunteering to clean anything ever if you don't have to.

In other random news, I posted this picture to Facebook and my grandma said "Katniss Sheridan?" (Sheridan is my last name for those of you that don't know, and Katniss is obviously the main character from The Hunger Games.) I didn't even think about it when I braided my hair that morning, but I wont lie and will admit that I am totally digging the comparison. Just call me Katniss! I also got Tomb Raider from an old friend (Hi Kyndal!). I'll let you all decide for yourselves:

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I am not a big fan of Angelina (Team Jen!), so I'll take Katniss over Lora any day of the week, as if it really matters haha.

Moving forward from my obsession, Sunday was spent grocery shopping, and making phone calls to the surgeon's office. I had my stitches removed over a week ago and I noticed Sunday morning that my wound was starting to re-open. Totally gross, I know, and totally LAME. Now I've got to drive another hour and a a half both ways just to have it looked at. I'm not excited at all and it totally ruined my plans to finally go swimming and get back to working out today.

Luckily my sulking was overshadowed by a Sunday Funday we had planned to meet some of our newer neighbors. We ended up having a blast BBQing, letting the dogs run wild, and chit chatting for hours.

Another great weekend in the books, and now it's time to sail through this short week before we head out of town on Friday for a family reunion!

See you all on Wednesday!

Book Recommendations

Growing up I really wasn't really into reading so much. The last couple years have definitely changed that! As long as the book pulls me in quickly, I am down to read, and am not afraid to stay in on a Saturday night to finish the book I started 3 days before. Nerd Alert!

Below I've listed a couple of books I have read recently that are really great and would definitely recommend to anyone.

• The Help - No joke, my favorite book of all time. I actually read this book about 2 years ago, and I'm sure many of you have already read it or have even seen the movie, but I have to gush about it. If you haven't read the it, and have only seen the movie stop what you are doing right now, and go get this book. You hear all this praise for the movie... well it AINT nothin' like the book. As much as I wanted to be in love with the movie, I couldn't help but be upset. The movie cannot even compare to the way the actual book made me feel. I beg you to read this book.

• Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore - This book was recommended to me by one of my great friends Rachel, when I put out a call for suggestions on FB a few years ago. It truly is inspiring and makes you want to help others that don't have the same privileges as others do.

• Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts - Looking back on this book, I didn't know that it was written by Nora Roberts (author of the two books below). I am not typically the biggest fiction reader, but since coming across her novels, I have totally opened up to them. This particular book was so difficult for me to put down, I found myself wanting to know more and more as it went on.

• The Calhouns: Catherine, Amanda, Lilah by Nora Roberts - I wasn't quite sure how I would feel about a mystery/romance novel, but just like her other books, I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next!

• The Calhouns: Suzanna, Megan by Nora Roberts - Sequel to above book.

• My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler - Hysterical, disturbing, raunchy, amazing. Enough said.

I am in desperate need of some new recommendations and would love to hear what your faves are. Please do share!