A deep breath

~Tuesday Thoughts~

I'm a perfectionist. And I'm homeschooling this year. For those who do either you know it's kind of hard. And really stressful.

Lately I've been challenged to take breaks. To relax. To treat schedules as guidelines instead of law.

And it's been wonderful. I have and will probably still have in the future those doubts and low times and all. Those times when rest seems an unreachable luxury. But even then, I can find rest in the one way it really really matters - in Christ.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

How about you? Have you been pushing yourself too much? When was a time you took a breath and relaxed?

Citizenship in heaven

~Monday Movies & Music~

"Where I belong" is an awesome song by Building429. Here are the lyrics.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ," Philippians 3:20 (NIV)

It's easy to get caught up in the little details of life and stress over things we'll forget about the next day. We need to remember that, in the long run, this isn't even our home. We are heaven's citizens!

When the heart aches

~Saturday Stories~

Tessa Emily Hall does writing prompts every couple of weeks. This week I joined in.


I fell into bed and crawled under the blankets. It should have been freezing, but all I felt was a numbness. I grabbed my headphones off the dresser, but then thought against it. Crying was better done in quiet. I let my hair fall from my ponytail - the one Ana always said looked good on me. It didn't matter anymore. I had jumped up and down when Mom finally conceded to letting her stay for the weekend. Now I wished she had given me that disapproving look she always did and declared "no" in a huff. Ana was going to bring a puppy. We were going to play on the trampoline and swing oh-so-high on the swings. Were. Not anymore. God, I whispered. Help me.


How about you? Have you lost anyone dear to you? How has God helped or is helping you through?

Lonely

~Friday for Friends~

Loneliness can creep in at all sorts of times. We can be in a crowd or by ourselves, busy of free for a bit, in a church, or a school, or in our house.  Sometimes we feel totally invisible, like no one would notice it if we weren't there.

How amazing it is that God will never ever leave us! He will always care! And, though it hurts to be lonely, we can know that nothing will ever separate us from His love. And that is worth so much more than the care of those around us.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" Romans 8:35 (NIV)

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

A time for everything

~Tuesday Thoughts~

Not too long ago Tessa Emily Hall wrote a post on finding satisfaction in every season of both the year and life in general. 

"There is a time for everything,
  and a season for every activity under the heavens" Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)

God knows His plans for us and His timing is perfect. Let's pray that we enjoy every season He gives us!

What about you? Are you in a tiring, stressful season? What are some (perhaps small) beauties of it?

While we're young

~Monday Movies & Music~

"While We're Young is a song by 1 Girl Nation. Here are the lyrics.

"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)

Though young, we can still live for Christ. Amen!

Out with the In Crowd by Stephanie Morrill

~Saturday Stories~

Typical Skylar: I don’t know what they told you at the retreat, but it doesn’t fix everything overnight. Just like me. I thought accepting God’s plan for my life would make it easier. Most of the time, it’s only made it harder.

With her dad and mom back together and an always-caring Connor beside her, Skylar seems to have everything going for her. Until Connor starts spending time with Jodi and mom declares her plans to  move to Hawaii. And since Abbie is intent on ignoring baby preparations, Skylar has to buy all the stuff for Abbie's soon-to-born girl. Wasn't life supposed to be easier after accepting God's plan for her? Had she made any progress at all?

I loved most of Out with the In Crowd- the last quarter especially. The beginning was a little dry and I felt it could use a new character to spice things up. However, the ending was intense emotion-wise and it was awesome. Again, I wish more was said about having and deepening a relationship with Christ. God helping one change was accented, but not the relationship itself. In this book, however, Skylar tried to pray which was good. I enjoyed Out with the In Crowd and recommend it for older teen girls.

This is the second in the Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series. The first and third are Me, Just Different and So Over It. Stephanie Morrill also has a novella, Throwing Stones, free on her website.

For more on Stephanie Morrill visit her website and Facebook page. She also is the founder of Go Teen Writers, a blog with lots of writing advice.