5 Friday Favorites: August 20, 2021

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.

Hello, Friends and happy Friday! For the first time this summer, I have been home for an entire week with absolutely no baseball on the calendar.  Actually, I've had barely anything at all on the calendar which has been equal parts weird and wonderful. Kyle and Joe left last weekend to get back to their adult-ish lives and Steve was away on a business trip, so it was a pretty chill week around here with just Drew, the dog, and me.

I realize after watching the news this week that the ability to have "a pretty chill week" is an undeserved gift. The fact that I can come to this space and list favorite things from my life like purses and HBO shows during a week like this? I can't really wrap my head around it. I'm so grateful to have been born in this country. I'm so grateful to live in a place where I can learn and write about my faith or my family or even some dumb mascara I like. I can say what I want to say and be who I want to be. Shamefully, after a year of being frustrated with so many things about my own country, I spent some time this week just thanking God for the glorious grace it is to be born into freedom. I'm praying a lot this week for God's forgiveness for the many days of my life that I have taken this for granted. I'm praying for God to have mercy on all of us.

It has been such a heavy week. It's hard to get out from under it sometimes. It's hard to not feel guilty for the lifestyle we have when we'll never really comprehend why we have so much when others have so little. I saw this from Lisa Whittle this week and I think it is important.

So, I'm going to do that today. I hope you will, too.

Here are some favorite things from this week.

 1. Able 

Seems like a great time to mention a company called Able which employs and empowers women to break the cycle of poverty in their families and communities. I can't remember the first time I heard about Able, but I had a chance to visit the store in Nashville a few years ago. I love so many of their products which include bags, shoes, clothing, and jewelry. Their leather bags are especially beautiful and very well made. I received the Selam Tote in Cognac as a Christmas gift a few years ago and I love it. 

I think the Whiskey color of this Solome Bag is gorgeous and I love the shoulder strap. 

I cannot get enough tennis shoes lately. (aka "sneakers", if you're not from Texas.) I have shown great will power in not ordering these Nera sneakers, but goodness gracious are they cute. They come in this spruce color and a camel color as well. 

I could list a bazillion other things including some adorable dresses and really pretty jewelry. Go check out the site HERE. If you click on  this link you'll  get 20% off an order of $75.00. 

2. Stadium/Concert Venue Approved Purses

Steve and I went to the Chris Stapleton concert last weekend. Remember those? Where people are happy and singing and not scared all the time? Gosh, it was so fun. Right before we left, I remembered that most concert venues now have a "clear bag policy". I remembered that I had bought a clear crossbody bag from Amazon way back in the olden days of 2019 when we didn't know squat about pandemics. Unfortunately, the one I have is currently unavailable, but I found a bunch of cute options here, including this one and this one. So if you're like me and are keeping all your fingers and toes crossed that we'll keep being able to attend concerts and football and baseball games this fall, be sure it's not your purse that keeps you away from the fun and grab one.

3. The Friends Reunion

I know I am late to this party, but we just got HBO Max this week, so I was finally able to watch The Friends Reunion. It was definitely a highlight of my week. And honestly, it really affected me for a few days afterwards. I could not stop thinking about it and more specifically about the time of my life when I watched it.

I distinctly remember the first time I ever saw Friends. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. I was finishing my Masters degree in Education and was student teaching US History to 7th graders. I was only 26 years old, but those full days of teaching middle schoolers wore me slap out. I had stayed at school late one Thursday for some kind of special History Night where the kids did presentations for their parents. I came home exhausted and fell straight on to my bed in my clothes.

Let us pause here to paint a picture of said clothes. I know exactly what I was wearing because if the parents were coming to school I had to have worn my most professional outfit that night. It consisted of a navy skirt, a ribbed mock turtleneck, a blazer with gigantic shoulder pads and gold buttons, navy pumps, and tights - which I'm afraid to say might have been white. (Was I a cruise ship captain or a history teacher? One could not be sure.) Anyway, I turned on the tv to find some new show called Friends. It was right in the middle of the episode where Monica and Ross's grandmother dies and Ross has to crawl into the closet for some reason.

It is so weird that I remember that so vividly, but maybe that's why I found myself pretty choked up through a lot of the reunion and thinking about it for days. Those six people were trying to learn how to be grown ups just like I was. The casting was perfect, the lines were hilarious, and the friendship between them on and off-camera was just so darn sweet. I actually feel pretty lucky to have been at that stage in my life when Friends was popular. What a special show. What a special time of my life. I think I'm going to go watch it again.

4. Eye Make-Up Stuff

Welp. We're back to masks in a lot of places, so I guess we can ditch lipstick. Good news is we can spend that money on eye makeup. ;-)

Many years ago I bought the Naked Eyeshadow Palette for a lot of dollars. The thing is I didn't know what to do with 75% of the shades. I do not have the talent or the patience to work with that many colors. I need simplicity and I need direction. The Elf Clay Eyeshadow Palette in Necessary Nudes is exactly what I'm looking for. This eyeshadow palette costs less than $7.00 and there's a clear plastic template that lays over the colors that tells me exactly where to put each one. #eyeshadowfordummies for the win.

I've been wearing make-up since I was applying purple eyeshadow to my lids in 1984 and have never used anything other than one of those sponge applicators that comes with the shadow. Alas, this palette doesn't come with applicators, so I bought this set of five brushes. Five brushes?  I'm basically going to be a professional make-up artist now.

As far as mascara is concerned, it seems like I change all the darn time. I really liked the first couple of tubes of Maybelline Sky High Mascara that I bought, but for some reason, I don't think it's all that great anymore. I know it doesn't make sense, but I feel like the formula has already changed. In any event, I'm back to this L'Oreal Double Extend Mascara. I like it a lot for the price. It doesn't smudge and it easily comes off with warm water - no need for eye makeup remover.

 

I don't know what has happened to my eyebrows in my 50s, but they seem to have decided to take a leave of absence from my face. This means I cannot live without Gimme Brow Tinted Volumizing Eyebrow Gel. I will never be without it again.

5. On Sending Those Kids Off (Again)

We're at that time again. All the kids in the 'hood are going to college or leaving to start their first real jobs. 

And all the mamas I know will hit our knees and pray our brains out. We want them to be strong and smart and focused. To be kind and responsible and resilient. We don't want them to be hurt or worried or scared. We don't want them to be lonely or sad or confused.

I mean, we just want them to be happy! That's all! Happy, happy, happy! Of course, we do. We want the best for them. And happiness - that's the best, right? 

Maybe not. Actually, probably not. 

This week I read an article by Susannah Baker called "If You're in the Middle of Managing Disappointment". The entire article is worth a read, but these lines stuck out to me and I've been thinking about them all week when thinking about my boys.

"I am so tempted to think I know best; not only for me but for the people I love. And my definition of best always avoids suffering and steps around disappointment instead of embracing and walking right through it. But God's best always knows exactly what we need to live a life that is fully surrendered to Him. He always knows exactly what disappointments we need to produce the perseverance, character, and hope that enables us to run a strong race to our forever home."

I already fell into the trap this week of worrying that circumstances would not meet my boys' expectations this year. I already found myself stressing out that they might meet disappointment or rejection or struggle. 

The silliest part of my doing that is the fact that I already have witnessed how difficulty and setbacks have served my adult children well. Just in the past year, I've watched how adversity has produced in one of my kids exactly what God intended it to produce. I've seen immense growth and maturity solely because of a hard situation - one which I would have wished away in a second if I could have at the time. Just this week that kid and I discussed how grateful we were for the way God allowed that hardship. He knows that he can do things that he wasn't sure he could a year ago. He knows now that God is truly on his side.

I know I'll fall into the trap again of believing that "best" equals "easy". I'm human. But when that happens I hope I'll remember that God works all things together for good. I hope I'll look back at this year and realize He has already proven that to me. 

And the truth is that I'll have to watch it happen again. Because there will be disappointment again. There will be struggle again. There will be pain again. 

I'm seeing tons of college drop-off posts on social media with the encouragement: "You've got this!" I'm certain I've said and written the same.

For the most part, they do. They've got it. But at one time or another, they won't. The good news is we know the One who does. And no matter what kind of suffering our kids face, in the end He'll work it out for good. Again and again and again. 

Praying for all the moms and dads who sent their kids off this week. Have a great weekend!

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