Currently

Reading: As I roam on Instagram, I find book suggestions from other Jesus girls.  Two books that kept popping up on social media are Girls with Swords by Lisa Bevere and Wild and Free by Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan.  One of my coworkers was also talking about Radical by David Platt.  I love being able to have time to soak up a good book.

I haven't started Wild and Free yet, but I have read half of Girls with Swords.  Bevere's main idea is that the devil  is out to get us girls because God has called us to do mighty things for His kingdom.  I 100% agree with her on that.  It is so easy to feel like a target, but God has given us tools to fight back against the enemy.

"You are a royal daughter of the King - handpicked for a purpose."  Lisa Bevere

"Lovely One, you already know you are a target.  You might as well choose to be a warrior hero."  Lisa Bevere

Radical is about the church in the United States.  He makes readers question, what is the point of church in the USA?  Are we spending more money on fancier buildings, air hockey tables for the youth room, or are we using our resources to reach out to the lost people?  Especially since I am working as staff at a church, this book is making me think about what we do and why we do it.

"We are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in His Word, we might discover that He evokes greater awe and demands deeper worship than we are ready to give Him."  David Platt

Finishing: Garden City by John Mark Comer - a nonfiction book about work and rest and finding our passions.  I feel like I am in this strange in between time of trying to figure out what is next in my life.  This book encourages us to use the passions God has placed in our hearts.

"If you don't do it, not only do you rob yourself of the life God called you to live, but you also rob the rest of us.  We need you."  John Mark Comer

Writing: Prayers and song lyrics that touch my heart and bring me back to Jesus.

Listening to: Thy Will by Hillary Scott, Hay Libertdad by La IBI, Estar a tus pies by Miel San Marcos, and Messengers by Lecrae and For King and Country

Using:  Recollections washi tape in everything!  In my Bible, prayer journals, notecards...

Obsessing over:  Anything and everything with pineapples.  Stickers, clothing, wall decals, journals.

Teaching and Learning:  Wednesday nights I co-lead the middle school youth group at my church.  I love that God uses those moments with them to teach me lessons as I am teaching them.  Last Wednesday we had a campfire, and we read through Exodus 3:1-12, the story about Moses and the burning bush.

I love how Moses asks God, "Who am I..."  Many times I feel inadequate to do what God calls me to do.  But if He is asking us to do whatever it is, He will not leave us on our own.

This week we went to an arcade/game center nearby.  One of the girls had never been on the go-karts before, and she was too short to drive one herself.  I volunteered to drive her.  Every single day I drive.  I have been on go-karts many times before.  I was happy to go, but she was ecstatic.  She was screaming from happiness as we went around the course.  She had a huge smile on her face, even after we stopped.

I was thinking about how so often when we start or do something new - job, relationship, project, etc., it can seem so thrilling at first.  But then, we get into a routine.  We get bored, and it loses the specialness.  I want to encourage you all to take back that excitement, that zest, for whatever you are doing in life.  Do it with joy.  Do it with love.  Do it with passion.

Con mucho amor.