5 Friday Favorites: June 1, 2018

Happy Friday, Friends. 

It's time for my Friday link up with A Little Bit of Everything, Grace and Love, and Momfessionals. 

On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick!

So here are my favorites from this week.

1. Thayer's Witch Hazel Alcohol Free Toner for less than $11

I'm not sure if you're aware that I've been mildly obsessed with skin care products lately. I am willing to throw some money around at times for a product or two, but toner is not one of them. I am not a dermatologist or a scientist, but it seems to me that this is a place where I can save some pennies. There was a time I paid 4 times this much for a bottle of toner less than half this size and to that I say,

I saw this recommended on a Instagram story by Jamie Golden, who not only co-hosts two of my favorite podcasts, The Bible Binge and The PopCast, but who also is a wealth of information when it comes to beauty products. She's also hilarious. You can find lots of fun product information on her Instagram Stories. Thayer's Witch Hazel Toner is offered in many different scents, but I love the Rose Petal. I love the price tag even more. I found it at Target, but it's also at Amazon.

2. A Summer Dress for Less than $25!

As I said, I simply went into to Target because I was out of the toner. THAT'S ALL. I just needed the measly bottle of toner, but then out of no where and against my will, this adorable dress happened. So cute. So summery. So less than 25 American dollars. I noticed that the new Universal Thread line has a ton of great summer pieces for less than $30 each. Why, Target, why???? 

3. Beth Moore on The Twitter

I have to say that The Twitter can bring out the worst in humanity just like any other social media outlet, but it can also be hilarious and a beacon of hope and light all at once if you just so happen to follow the right people. I've done a number of Beth Moore Bible Studies including those on Esther, James, and The Fruit of the Spirit. She is an incredibly gifted Bible teacher. She is really active on Twitter and can be funny and adorable and also can bring the Word like no one else. This was one of my favorite of her tweets this week:

"100 years from now, if Jesus tarries, imagine Satan reminiscing over this era. “Oh yeah, those were the days alright. All I had to do was get them swept up in fear & it did the rest. Led a whole nation by it. And the funniest part? Christians were the biggest fraidy cats of all.”

We have not just caught the world’s fears. We are leading out in them. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be so. We may call ourselves Christians but we cannot call ourselves Jesus followers and be led by fear. They are going polar opposite directions.

Jesus warned us in the Gospels that there would be endless & increasing causes for fear yet over & over He commanded - not suggested, commanded - His own “Do NOT be afraid.” This was meant to set us apart in eras of terror. This was meant to attract people to our fearless Leader.

Fear makes horrible choices then heinous choices. Its daily confession of faith is “God, thou art weak but thine enemy strong.”

Fear fuels hate. It is incapable of loving its neighbor. Fear refuses to change because the devil it knows is not as scary as the devil it doesn’t."

-Beth Moore (the one and only)

4. Asian Glazed Chicken Thighs

www.allrecipes.com

I made these roasted chicken thighs from a recipe I got here. By some miracle of the Lord, I happened to have all of the ingredients in my kitchen - except for Asian (toasted) sesame oil because calm down, I'm not a superhero. I used regular oil and it was really easy to make and turned out fine. I think all of your people will go beserk over this meal. 

1/2 cup rice vinegar

5 Tablespoons honey

3 Tablespoons Asian (toasted) sesame oil (whatevs)

3 Tablespoons Asian chili garlic sauce

3 Tablespoons minced garlic

salt to taste

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (mine had skin and bones)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together all ingredients. Place chicken thighs in large ziploc and pour half of mixture over thighs. Refrigerate for an hour. Heat remaining sauce to a boil over medium heat and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often, to let it thicken. Remove chicken from the bag and discard used marinade. Place chicken thighs on roasting pan and brush with 1/3 of heated sauce. Cook in oven for 30 minutes, basting again after 10 minutes. Let cooked chicken stand for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring marinade back to a boil for 1-2 minutes and serve chicken with hot marinade from saucepan. Then sit back and watch as all of your people decide they love you more than they did yesterday.

5. This Verse

Years ago, I was at a basketball game sitting in the stands next to a woman I didn't know. Something terrible had happened in the news. I don't even remember what it was. We chatted about it and she looked at me and said, "Girl . . . it's the times. It's just the times."

My friend, Nancy and I use that phrase on the regular now to describe seasons when we just can't find any other words to say. These times? They've been kinda rough for my friends and me. May brought us some big change and none of those changes were ones that we welcomed. 

I suppose it's our season of life. We wake up and find that our little world which was moving along just fine has changed abruptly from yesterday. And it seems as the great philosopher Jon Bon Jovi says, "There's a whole lotta leaving going on." 

Whether it's the sudden loss of health when a cancer diagnosis comes or the shocking loss of a parent even when you thought you were prepared, or the bittersweet feeling of loss that comes with a child graduating and moving away, these times force us into change and force me to look desperately for something that is forever true and forever stable - something that will stay. 

Yesterday, I searched and searched for verses to remind me that my God is that truth, that stability and that surefire ever-present help in trouble. There are a lot of them proving that our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is the same God who listened to our cries in May of 2018 and He is the same one who waits for us today in June. 

Of all of the comforting verses I found, I think Malachi 3:6 is the simplest and the most powerful. I am holding on to it today, putting in my heart and reciting it in my head over and over.

"I am the Lord. I change not." 

Of all of the amazing characteristics He holds this unchanging, ever-present, enduring love of my Savior is perhaps the most important to me today. When we look around and feel loss at every turn, might we find comfort in this. He has not, does not and will not change and He will never, ever leave us. 

Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.

Happy Weekend, Friends.

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