5 Friday Favorites: March 3, 2023

 It's time for my Friday link up with  A Little Bit of Everything 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.

Good morning and Happy March! March and I have a love-hate relationship because I feel like it promises all the goodness of spring, but doesn't always deliver. We might not get to string together many warm days in a row, but we've still got March Madness with College hoops, High School baseball that started this week and St. Patrick's Day. Let's focus on those things, shall we? Here are some of my favorite things from this week!

1. Cunk on Earth

This mockumentary on Netflix is by far the most hilarious show I've seen in years. I literally laughed so hard my stomach hurt. It is brilliant. I have driven my son and my sister insane telling them about it, but I am beside myself with happiness to have found something that makes me laugh in the midst of all the shows that are dark and sad and bloody or that include Beth Dutton beating people up and making me wonder why someone on that ranch doesn't get that girl and the rest of her family a therapist.

2. All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore

Ok. Truthfully, I do not have this book yet. I've ordered it, but I have to finish Demon Copperhead in time for my book club next week so I can't start it yet. Still, I know I will love it because I adore Beth Moore. Her Bible studies and books have been instrumental to my faith. She is wickedly funny and smart and has been through more in her life than I can fathom all while giving Jesus every bit of credit for getting her through. I hear amazing things about this memoir and I cannot wait to read her story.  

3. Orly Blazing Sunset Nail Polish

If you've been here long enough you know that I have written quite often about Fake Daughter who is a figment of my imagination. Fake Daughter doesn't ever argue with me. We are incredibly close. She is smart and (modestly) fashionable. She likes to have long conversations with me about all the things with nary an eye roll and we will be best friends forever - going shopping and having spa dates and watching chick flicks. Anyway, since Fake Daughter is not a real life human, I've never had the chance to paint her fingernails. Sadly, none of my boys have ever been up for joining me at the nail salon. 

Well, guess what happened this week? I may not have a daughter, but I do have a baseball catcher. Stay with me.

Yesterday was the first scrimmage of the season and I was beside myself with excitement. Just as he was getting ready to leave for the field, Drew asked me to paint his fingernails. 

"What," you ask, "is this joy the Lord has provided her - the mother of three boys who has never once painted anyone's fingernails except her own?" 

Well, apparently, when catchers are giving the signs to their pitchers it is helpful to have a bright obnoxious color on their fingernails so that the pitcher can see the signs well. 

Friends, I must admit that I was more excited about this then I should have been. And incidentally, our pitchers were mowing kids down last night, so I would like to take some credit for their performances because I feel like my manicure skills were a necessary part of the game strategy. Technically, Orly Blazing Sunset is not my favorite nail polish because it is as ugly as sin, but having the chance to paint my son's nails was a task for which the Lord had prepared me well. Let's just say your girl was walking in her calling.

4. Green Lace Top

When the calendar turns to March I become a huge sucker for all things green because I love St. Patrick's Day. I'll be attending a baseball game on St. Patrick's Day this year so I'll probably be all bundled up in my black winter coat and hat since March doesn't always cooperate with "spring" sports. If I wasn't or if perhaps there will be fun to be had somewhere after the game, I might choose this top. It comes in a zillion other colors as well, but since it's March, I'm drawn to the green.

5. On Being Quiet

Friends, do you ever have those days or weeks when you keep coming across the same theme and it happens so often that you feel like the Lord is trying to beat you over the head with it? 

It's kind of like when I accidentally clicked on an ad for some kind of hair strengthening supplement and now every single freaking ad in my feed promises I will have the hair of a supermodel if I just buy a 17-year supply of their magic potion which can be canceled at any time as long as I remember a passcode, change my passcode, wait for a text with an authentication code and then sell them my firstborn. 

I mean, like that except it's the God of the Universe sending the message.

Well, in the past couple of weeks when I was trying to decide what my Lenten season should look like, I kept bumping up against the idea that the Lord would prefer it if I would take some time to shut the heck up. Like close my mouth. Zip it. Put a sock in it. 

On Sunday morning I had started pondering that maybe I needed to do more listening than talking during Lent. In literally every single relationship I have. With my husband, with my kids, with my friends, in my Bible Study discussions, in my business meetings, in social settings . . . everywhere. 

Then the very next day, I read a devotional about a king who was worried about a battle. There is certainly more to this Biblical story, but the gist is that King Ahaz was close to having a hissy fit about the prospect of being conquered by a couple of other kings. So Isaiah gives him this message from the Lord:  

"Calm down and be quiet." Isaiah 7:4a

There was more instruction in the message, but when I read that after all the thoughts I had on Sunday, I was kinda like:

Then on Wednesday I went to our church's Mid-Week service and one of the prayers had a list of things to give up and take up during Lent. The last one that seemed like it was in bold letters just for me:

"Give up words; fill yourself with silence and listen to others."

So, now I'd seen enough and I was looking at the Lord like:

I'm kidding. Kinda. It's pretty clear that this is the call for me during Lent.

So maybe when someone hurts my feelings, I could just keep it to myself instead of calling my sister. Maybe if I'm worried about my children and I'm spiraling down the drain of "possible struggles they will face in life that could range from slightly difficult to utterly tragic" (struggles that could just as easily not happen as happen), I could just not speak those thoughts out loud to my husband. Maybe if someone says something that offends me, I could just let it slide instead of texting my best girlfriend to tell her about it. Maybe if I hear some juicy gossip about someone, I could just keep it to myself. Maybe I could let moments of silence in a conversation just sit there without feeling the need to fill them up with a bunch of chatter. Also, maybe if someone calls me with a problem or complaint, I could just shut up and listen instead of feeling like I need to fix the problem or offer advice. 

So anyway, that's a lot of chatter, but as far as I can tell He's good with me writing words right now. He just wants me to close my mouth more often. I think having close friends and confidantes in our lives is really important. But this week I was reminded of a dear woman named Faye who was in a Bible Study with me years ago. She once said, "Ladies, you better go to the throne before you go to the phone." 

So if you are a part of my real life, I guess you can kick me under the table if I start talking too much. My shins might get kinda bloody. We'll see. I think silence can be scary for some of us. But if we don't find some, we might miss hearing that still small voice. And in my case, that still small voice will find other means to get His message across. Ok, ok, I heard you, Lord. 

I wish you a peaceful, quiet weekend, friends.  

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