5 Friday Favorites: May 6, 2022

 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.

Happy Friday! What a week! May comes crashing in as it always does and leaves us exhausted before we're even through the first week. We had prom and a Young Men's Service League banquet, four baseball games on the schedule and a whole lot of writing and meetings and Bible studies and all manner of activities. It's fun though. I will never tire of all the things when we had almost two full years of none of the things. 

Here are some favorites from the week.

1. Amazon "Linen" Dress

This is a really great easy-breezy summer dress from Amazon that I first saw on Melanie Shankle's blog. I don't know if this will last real long because I'm not sure it's 100% linen, it's only $26.99 and well, Amazon. ;-) I really like it though. It's comfortable and flowy and comes in a bunch of colors. I think it just might be the perfect thing to wear if perhaps you had too many baskets of chips and gallons of queso on Cinco de Mayo.

2. Spicy Sausage and Shells from Mix and Match Mama

Mix and Match Mama's blog is one of the best places to find easy, quick meals for seasons when you need easy, quick meals. . . which for us is baseball season. We had four games on the schedule this week. This Sausage and Shells is so easy to make ahead of time and heat up for whoever shows up and wants food whenever they show up and want food. Big hit with my guys this week.

3. Annie F. Downs That's Sounds Fun Episode: Q & A: Prayer Part 2 (April 28, 2022)

In this podcast episode on prayer, Annie F. Downs asks Carlos Whittaker, Kevin Queen and my favorite ever, Beth Moore, to discuss prayer and I've listened to it twice now. The question of whether our prayers change the will of God or whether they are solely about our connection with God and changing our hearts has always been a confusing one for me because there are so many opinions on it. I'm not sure I'll ever figure that one out on this side of heaven, but this thought from Annie was so encouraging to me. I'm not sure everyone would agree with this, but I sure have been thinking on it a lot. (and she backed it up with Scripture. Boom):

"Prayer is about connection. It's about relationship. It's about expressing what you need and what you want and it's about aligning your heart with God's will. . . that is why we encourage so much to pray the Lord's prayer . . ' Your kingdom come, Your will be done' . . also . . I think all the time our prayer moves God's heart. I think sometimes our prayer moves God's hand, too."

4. Le Tauci Large Pasta Bowls

Reader. Are you sitting down? I had a revelation this week. And it involved pasta bowls. 

(I know. What with all the pondering on prayer and God's will and all? It was a doozy of a week for my brain.)

I decided that I don't have to keep using the Crate and Barrel pasta bowls that I put on my registry (along with every other bride in the 90s) lo so many years ago. It's like the words from Isaiah came to me as I spooned some sausage and shells into those things this week: "See, I am doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness, and streams in the wasteland." (i.e. It's 2022, sister. Buy thee some new stuff.)

I bought these bowls and they'll be here soon. I think I might even put salads in them, too. Maybe stir-fry dishes as well. His mercies are new every morning. Amen.

5. A Prayer for Athletes

The news that another college athlete died by suicide in the past few weeks has been the topic of much discussion in my house and among my friends who have athletes. Of course, suicide is an issue for all people - young and old - no matter their interests, hobbies, or vocations. For whatever reason, some stories hit you in the gut and remind you that it's time to sit your kiddo down again with a reminder of who he is and more importantly, whose he is. I saw this on Twitter a few days after the news broke about the death of a James Madison University softball player and promptly sent it to my son. Such profound truths in this. (a reminder: these are not my words. They are from Sonya Mabry Mongero)

You are more than your skill. You are more than a player. You are more than a position. You are more than a number. You are more than a stat. You are more than a teammate. You are more than an athlete. You are more than a student.  Your athletic ability is a gift from God, which He wants you to use for His glory, so that when others see you, they see Him.

Sports are a metaphor for life, not life itself. Sports are meant to be fun, challenging, competitive, and a lesson in how to work hard and play hard. Sports give you "a brotherhood from another motherhood" - a family that wins and loses together and treats both the same. . . understanding that THE RELATIONSHIPS are greater than THE RECORD and that wins and losses don't define you, but DEVELOP you into all that Christ wants you to be.

The life you live out before others and TO OTHERS, day in and day out, is far greater than the game you play.

You are a CHILD of the KING, fearfully and wonderfully made. You are my son. You are a student-athlete and you are loved beyond measure.

-Sonya Mabry Mongero

Have a blessed weekend, Friends. 

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