Monday, July 07, 2008

Weddings Galore!



So about 2 weeks ago, one of my best friends Elise got married in Dallas (SO fun!) and later today I will be leaving for the next wedding in Washington DC for our friend Lindsay...the one besides me in the pictures with dark hair! It is the THIRD summer in a row of 8 or more weddings, which I like a lot, BUT it does get old sometimes:) These weddings however are AMAZING, because of the three women you see in these pics. Elise, Jessie (the other blonde), and Lindsay. We basically lived together in the dorm and the Lord has cemented our friendships since then in a million different ways since then. These girls got my back. AND I LOVE DC! I think the history nerd comes out in me and I can spend hours learning about some of this history stuff. I have my tennis shoes packed to go run around the Mall, chat with Lincoln, experience the excitement of DC from a native's perspective, and just chill with 3 of my favorite people I don't get to see very often. Get ready for more pics next week! Or maybe sooner....

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Shopping for Time

Okay, so I'm not as cool on the technology as my friend D.O., but there is an AMAZING book that needs to be reviewed...thus Shopping for Time. This Carolyn Mahaney read is phenomenal AND it's about 90 pages long! The premise of this book is that we as believers need to be redeeming our time, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil, based off of Ephesians 5:16. So Carolyn and her 3 grown daughters got together and wrote this book with some practical Biblical wisdom about redeeming the time as women. Personally, I think it is just as applicable to men. The greatest thing about this book is how encouraging it is. My roommate this past year, Mrs. Ashley Carl, and I would sit and discuss during roomie accountability how we needed help in using our time wisely during our first year as working women and how it had been a constant struggle for awhile, even back into college. My great mentor Ashley Kinnard kept recommending this book to me and finally I gave in (you have to special order it from Scripture Haven) and read it over Spring Break. Let me tell you, my world was rocked. So much wisdom in such a tiny book! Big highlights that have been huge in my life:

5 a.m. Club-Finding accountability with people (of the same sex:) who wake up around the same time as you NEED to and calling each other so you get to have victory in buying back the best deal of time for the day...hangin out with Jesus. Ash Carl and I went from waking up around 6:30ish to 5:30 and watching the Lord move so much more tangibly because we were prepared and looking to see where he was moving.

Personal Retreats-Going off somewhere for an extended amount of time and listing out your main priorities in life, and then hardcore examining them next to Scripture. It's all about being purposeful in redeeming the time. I actually just did my first personal retreat and was SO blessed by the reexamination. The point of the book too is not for a specific age or time in life. It's applicable for all of us as believers, including moms, college students, and younger/older than those!

I share this because since I have read the book, I have given it to multiple other women in my life and seen radical transformation! It is such an encouragement and is not condemning for those who have struggled with all of this. The practicality and biblicalness of this blows me away! May the Lord bless you as you read and let me know how it goes!