5 Friday Favorites: May 4, 2018

Happy Friday, Friends. 

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

Here are some of my favorite things from this week.

1. John Crist Comedy

The other day I had a deadline on a devotional that I was writing for my church. So, I thought to myself, "What I need to do now is to dive deep into the Word and pray for the Holy Spirit to give me all manner of inspiration." This always sounds like a great plan for writing deadlines, but this time, I jumped into my usual routine for calling up enlightening thoughts by first searching the JCrew website for the perfect white summer top, looking in the fridge for about ten minutes to see if there were any words in there and then, going to John Crist's website and watching at least an hour of his videos.

I'm pretty sure the Holy Spirit was all, "CAN YOU PLEASE FOCUS, LADY????"

If you have not heard of Crist you must go now. He is a Christian comedian and . . .

What? That's not a typo. Those two things do not cancel each other out, I promise.

I've heard him on a number of podcasts lately and he's hilarious. If you follow him on Instagram and watch his stories your every single day will be brighter. He was in the great state of Texas at a Buc-ee's yesterday. He was wearing a Daniel Boone coonskin cap around. What more do you need to know? @johnbcrist on Instagram.

2. You Make Me Brave - Amanda Cook and Bethel Music

This is perhaps one of my favorite worship songs of all time. It's also the song that makes me keep running that last mile when I want to give up, calms me when I'm worried about my children and this week has given me hope and courage when I was fearful and shaky and had run out of ways to pray for a friend going through a uncertain time. He makes us brave, He hears us and He gives us grace sufficient for each day. This song serves to remind me of that every time I hear it and some days I have to play it four or five times in a row.

3. Target's Spring Tops 

Target has some cute tops for spring and summer and they're, of course, not too hard on the wallet. Except for the fact that you'll end up with 432 other things in your cart, so maybe multiply these prices by 5. This white top is available in limited sizes. So pretty.

I think this one is really cute and it has a sweet lace detail on the back.

Floral patterns are everywhere this season and while I'm not sure they're my thing, I think this is pretty.

I am generally anti-bell sleeves, not because I don't like how they look,  but just because I can't imagine how I wouldn't ruin the sleeves since I spend 80% of my day rinsing dishes at the kitchen sink. Still, I think this is very pretty and the back is cool, too.

4. My Utmost for His Highest

Oswald Chambers

I'd say that this is likely one of the most popular and widely read devotionals of all time and although I've had it for years, it had been awhile since I opened it up. I started back to it this week and I remembered why it is so renowned. The original text is very old so the language can be difficult, but since I'm a nerd I like mulling over the words and trying to figure out the message on most days. Other days, I think, "Oswald, my man, could you speak English, please?" Apparently, I'm not the only one because I found an "updated language" version available as well.

5. Freshman Year's a Wrap

As of yesterday at about 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time I  my son officially made it through his freshman year at a university over 200 miles away where he resided for many weeks and even months away from my daily nagging wisdom and helicoptering unconditional love. In a stunning development that no one saw coming he STAYED ALIVE.

I don't even know how to exactly handle this turn of events. I promise you there is not one school year in the history of school years that has flown by faster than this one. I literally feel like we went on our college shopping trip five minutes ago and dropped him off at Penn State one minute ago. I will likely write zillions of words on what I learned in the last nine months, but I am still processing all of it.

Suffice it to say that my biggest advice for moms with seniors leaving in the fall is this: Do not borrow grief from the future - and this relates to the future your college kid has and the future of the family left behind. Remember that your kids are individuals. They are not exactly like you in their experiences, their strengths, their weaknesses or their emotions. Don't put your fears on them and expect them to struggle with the same things you do. There will be things that you're worried about which might never even cross your kid's mind. Let them find their own fears and work through them with their own set of strategies and faith. You might find they weren't ever afraid. You might find that you will learn more from how they handle change and challenge than they will learn from you. It's pretty amazing, Mama. Hang in there. You must only find strength for this day - not tomorrow, not this summer and not drop-off day. Not yet. Just today. That's all you need.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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