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 Friday! Hope everyone had a great week and that you didn't do the superfreak like I did yesterday when I realized that it's already August and we are fully into the 2nd half of 2024 and time won't stop zipping by and Drew leaves in a few weeks for his sophomore year and can someone pump the brakes because this is BS.
Oh, you were fine about it? Sorry.
Right up until yesterday's existential crisis, I had a gloriously mundane week. I'm still savoring being in my own home in my own bed with no travel in sight for a little while. I was able to catch up with some friends both on the phone and in person for the first time in long time this week and am hoping to do some more of that in the next few weeks. I've done a lot of writing, reading and watching tv which is really the best way to spend a week in the summer. I've also been able to work out on a more consistent schedule which I seriously hate with a passion, but unfortunately, it does make me a better person all the way around. This turns out to be a truth that annoys me to no end.
Anyway, now that we've established the range of emotions we're working with here, let's look at some of my favorite things from this week.
1. Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Salmon Bites
 |
| bestofyum.com |
For Christmas this year, my mother-in-law gave Joe, Kyle and me new air fryers. I honestly am so lazy about learning new things - especially those that have buttons and gages and settings - so I haven't used it much, but I found this recipe online and it looked easy and healthy. I called Joe to ask him how to use the air fryer. This was a first in our parent-child relationship. I have to call him for the Netflix/Hulu/Amazon login ten times a week, but asking him a cooking question was a new experience. Everyone agreed that the salmon bites were amazing and cooked perfectly. Drew cannot stop talking about how much he loved them. It was my 2024 Olympic moment.
2. Sandwich by Catherine Newman
This author has clearly been reading all my mail, all my email, all my texts, all my search history, listening to my phone conversations and living inside of my brain. My friends who are reading it are saying the same thing. Sweet, funny, charming, sad. Highly recommend this book if you and I are around the same age.
3. Code Names
We had dinner at the home of two of our dearest friends last week and we tricked Steve into playing board games. Board games are one of my most favorite things in the world, but I can almost never get him to play. This is perhaps the most difficult challenge of our almost 30 year marriage. Please pray about it. We played this game which I had never played before and he even admitted that he liked it. Super fun game to play with couples or family.
4. This Romper AGAIN
Y'all I know I just mentioned this romper a few weeks ago, but due to the fact that the weather has been downright hateful, I feel compelled to mention it again. It's my favorite because it barely touches your body. Apparently it's illegal to wear no clothes at all even when it's a bazillion and one degrees, so this is the next best thing. I have the pink, but I like the green. the beige and the black. There are quite a few other colors to choose from so if you live in a place that remains hateful during the beginning of football season this would be a perfect thing to wear in your school colors so that you don't stroke out right there in the bleachers and ruin everyone's Game Day experience.
5. The Poetry of the Amazingly Gifted Kate Bowler
 |
| https://divinity.duke.edu/faculty/kate-bowler |
I've been writing a lot of words for the book I'm working on so I'm a little tapped out this morning. So we're going with the words of the divine Kate Bowler for #5. There are a number of writers whose words have had a profound effect on me and Kate Bowler is quickly making her way to the very top of that list. Her book, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day is a gem that I read just about everyday.
I write a lot about trying to find an extraordinary God in an ordinary day. This requires opening our eyes to the present moment. I'm real good at writing about it, but truth be told, not as good at doing it as often as I'd like. Bowler acknowledges the difficulty in enjoying the fullness of the day in a real life full of responsibilites and burdens. She gives us all a break on the pressure to live in the moment in her poem below (page 55 if you have the book.)
This bounded space that is today
is the gift I gently hold with my two hands
like a familiar, cherished face.
Oh, God, let my thoughts be kind
as my mind sweeps over the hours in front of me.
The sights and sounds of all
who will greet me,
my ridiculous, favorite people.
The sound of each voice and sigh.
That shoulder slouch, that grin.
Let me squirrel every image away
as a treasured possibility.
It's a little trick I learned when I am sad.
Steal from the future
and make it mine now.
All I have to do is feel
every imaginable love
to close the gap between time and space.
Look, if I don't keep my gaze soft
I will probably notice all this laundry.
I will remember that there were thirty-four tasks
already promised and undelivered.
But I see and hold it all now,
as if my life had been cleaned, polished,
then suddenly returned to me.
Lord, fill me with happiness
because these hours and minutes
are so inconceivably,
astonishingly precious.
And as I begin the day,
translate all things ordinary
and commonplace,
stupid or boring, funny or profound,
into yet another reminder
that each is somehow shimmering.
I mean. Kate Bowler. Gah. What a talent. Yes, you do need the book.
Have a beautiful weekend, friends. I hope it shimmers.
Disclosure: The View From Behind Home Plate is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn small fees by linking to amazon.com. Post might contain other affiliate links as well
No comments:
Post a Comment