Favorite Book
Lies Girls Believe – and the Truth That Sets Them Free * – My sweet girl’s school is offering a Bible study for girls in her grade to study this book. There is a mom’s companion guide, so we’re reading it together. It is a great way to start the conversation about self-worth, body image, and even the early stages of puberty discussions. Anchored in the truth of who God made each of us to be, it has been a wonderful way to more formally kick off discussions that I know we’ll be having for the rest of her life.
Favorite Concert (maybe of all time)
Lauren Daigle World Tour – I saw Lauren Daigle in concert for the first time this month and I’m still wrecked by it. She is lights out talented and sings so much truth. Her voice is even better live (how is that possible?!?) and hearing her sing to a sold out arena was an incredible experience. Holding my almost ten-year-old gal and singing “You Say” at the top of our lungs may be one of my all time favorite parent memories ( and yes, holding her toddler style on my hip…she is small, her mama is clinging to her little girlhood, and, if you’re interested, my hip is still out of alignment). I highly recommend seeing her on this tour…but you may want to think twice before you succumb to all the feels and hold your child who is too big to be held.
Favorite Podcasts
Proverbs 31: How does 1 and 2 Kings Apply to My Life Today? – This is a great podcast that gives a snippet of the latest study released by Proverbs 31 on the books of 1 and 2 Kings. Found this one to be super relevant even if it is about kings.
Arise Ministries-Equip Podcast: Managing Out-of-Control Emotions – I’m new to discovering Arise Ministries. They are based in Oklahoma and are a ministry for single moms. They’ve got a podcast series. This is the first one I’ve listened to and I found it to have some great thoughts – whether you’re a single mom or not.
Terrible, Thanks for Asking: What Happened to You (Parts 1 and 2) – Nora McInerny has a knack for story telling some of the worst things that have happened to people in a way that is respectful, honest, poignant, and, at times, irreverently funny. She is witty. She is direct. She does not hide from the dark. And she sometimes uses language my mother frowns upon – consider yourself warned.
“What Happened to You?” is a compelling series of podcasts looking at what experts are warning to be a public health crisis – childhood trauma. Nora follows the story of a young woman with trauma in her childhood, using this story as a case study for how trauma in childhood can influence our adult lives. She includes input from medical and public health experts sharing how this is a crisis we are not treating in our world today. I am only through parts 1 and 2 – topic and spicy talk leaves this one as a podcast I only listen to when my kids are elsewhere. I highly recommend putting your big kid pants on, getting past a few choice words (really fewer than some of her other episodes), and listening up if you have, have had, or love young people in your life.
Annie Downs That Sounds Fun: Matthew and Emily West – So, at the beginning of February, I declared a month-long fast from my girl Annie. She launched her annual couples podcasts series for the month of February. I (foolishly) puked in my mouth and decided I wanted none of that.
In all fairness to Annie, not all of the couples are romantically connected. But, in my mind a lot of them were and I don’t need any of that nonsense in my brain. Thankfully, I have smart friends who know when to tell me I’m being stupid. One of them did and specifically told me to listen to the one with Matthew and Emily West.
Y’all. I love them. And yes. They talk about their marriage. And yes that is hard to listen to even six years removed from marriage apocalypse. But, it is also encouraging and honest and sweet. And when Emily West talks about praying for her infant children and starts bawling uncontrollably…I was bawling with her…while trying to apply mascara. Fun times. Don’t do what I did. Don’t overlook this one. It is good and certainly worth your time.
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