Weekly Worship - Steven Curtis Chapman - "Still" (Official Audio)

This is one of Steven Curtis Chapman's newest songs.  He's one of my favorite artists and I always enjoy his new music! 

Our Week in a Glance

 I felt like this week was a little more busy.  We had a few things going on and were maybe out and about a little more than normal.  When I look back though, there weren't a lot of "picture moments"! 

On Saturday we headed to my nephew's house for a birthday party.  It was a great day with family celebrating a great one year old!  Lots of visiting, some amazing burgers on the grill and such their back deck is just so relaxing - you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere!  My nephew Kaleb is the oldest of the my mom's grand kids and Joshua and Nate are the two youngeset so it was fun to get a photo! 

On Sunday we went out to lunch "one last time" to a long time local favorite - Southside Restaurant.  It was originally a Big Boy but a few years ago the owner became independent and called it Southside.  After 30 years he decided to retire and, according to the rumors, the person who bought it does not plan to turn it into a restaurant. Darryl and I have enjoyed a lot of meals or desserts here through the years.  It will be missed. 

On Wednesday, one of the kids I babysit had to leave for a drum lesson mid-day.  When she returned, she surprised me with a specialty coffee form Sozo - a favorite coffee shop,  I enjoyed it while reading a great book! 

Finally, on Friday we had a meet-up with our Homeschool Co-Op at a local Ice Cream shop that also has a fun play area/sand lot for the kids to play in.  Well, they had fun burying one of their friends in the sand!  Everyone went home full (from ice cream), sweaty, sandy, and, I think, pretty content from a great afternoon. 

Weekly Menu

 I have no wise words today.  I am just trying to stick to our menu and make sure to plan in a way that I actually want to cook the food!!  

Friday - Roasted Pork Loin, Fried Zucchini, and Green Bean Casserole

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's 

Sunday - Josh actually has to play at the Ionia Free Fair today so I know at some point we will be eating some fair food.  We will have sandwiches after church to hold us over until we can get an elephant ear! 

Monday - Lemon BBQ Mini Meatloaves, Mashed potatoes, Peas and Rolls 

Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie Bread and Salad

Wednesday - Chick-Fil-Lay Nuggets, Baked Mac and Cheese, and Fried Zucchini.  ** Disclaimer - I'm not a big fan of baked mac and cheese but most others in the family love it HA!  I do have a recipe I've made before that I like as long as it is hot!! 

Thursday - Stuffed Shells, Green beans, and Garlic Bread

No Skinnytaste recipes this week :-)  I'm reading the point of summer cooking that I'm looking for easy, "old" favorites so I don't have to think much!  

What We are Eating - Coconut Shrimp

So, I love coconut shrimp.  I order it almost anytime I go to a seafood restaurant.  Yet, I've never made it at home until recently.  This was absolutely amazing and the sauce included with the recipe is spot on.  This has become my go to lunch lately too.  (Actually, I'm the only one who likes coconut shrimp - so it is perfect for lunch!).  I just serve it with some fresh cucumbers on the side.  

This is a Skinnytastse Recipe and you can find it HERE 

 

Walk With Me

Not long ago, I was at Tae Kwon Do with one of my guys, hanging out in the nursery (because it has comfortable chairs!) with a friend when another mom stopped by, all dressed in her workout clothes, and said, "I'm walking, do you guys want to go?".  My friend and I were both like . . ummm No.  HA!  But, it got me thinking about something.  

Anytime friends announce something to this line of - "Hey, a bunch of us are going to meet up at the trail and walk and talk while the kids burn off some energy."  I always say no.  I don't so much say no because I don't want to hang out but because I'm a super slow walker.  I mean, just in every day life I walk slow.  It's the course of my life.  Way (WAY) back in middle school when we had to do the Presidential Fitness Program and had to walk a mile around the track . . . I failed.  We had to walk the mile in 30 minutes and well, I never finished before it was time to go in for our next hour.(For the record - I can now walk a mile in less then 20 minutes!)  Darryl has learned to just walk and then stop and wait for me - I'll catch up eventually.  (Good thing he likes to read all of the information signs in the museums or walking trails and I don't - he gets to read them all while waiting for me).  Anyway, I digress.  I don't join the group of friends because I know they plan to actually "walk" and I will either not keep up or be unable to talk from walking so fast!  So instead I stay home.  

I then started thinking about how this relates to our Christian Life. In 2 Corinthians 1:4 Paul wrote, "He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us."  Notice how it says "He comes alongside us" which to me reads that when Jesus is walking with me he is walking WITH me, at my pace.  He isn't speed walking; or looking back to make sure I'm keeping up,  Instead, He is matching my stride and making sure that He stays with me as we walk through hard times or even good times.  THEN it says, "he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so we can be there for that person."  Wait.  That means that I'm not running in front of them yelling back, "Hey!  Come on slow poke, you have a lesson to learn here!" but, instead,  I should be slowing my pace down, taking a breath, and making sure that they don't feel defeated.  Walk at such a pace that they can keep up -- learn, understand, listen, talk.  Things that are hard to do when you are out of breath from trying to "keep up."  

The reality is that we never know what place a person is in that is needing someone to walk beside them.  They may be beat down from the constant noise around them telling them what they "should" be or how they "should" be doing things.  They may be full of joy because of the great things happening in their life.  Either way, though, we are instructed to come alongside . .. to listen . .. to hear. . . . to just breath.  Not to run ahead and expect that weary or tired or joyful person to keep up.  Instead of keeping up they may just fall back and find themselves walking that path alone once again. 

Weekly Worship Tasha Layton- How Far

I enjoy Tasha Layton's voice and her style of music.  This is a new favorite I've heard recently.  Enjoy! 

Our week at a glance

 We had a pretty quiet week even with a holiday thrown in the mix.  Here's a look back! 

Friday started with a sleep over.  Nate has been asking for months to have a couple of his closest friends spend the night.  So they did.  There was a lot of video game playing, snack eating, and even a movie or two.  They all managed to stay up all night too.  I think it was a success! 

Sunday we went to church and then came home and chilled.  We enjoyed some chicken on the grill and then some fireworks!  Josh treated us this year by buying some special things and I pulled out what we had left over from last year and New Years.  Plus the neighbors were out too so it was a really fun evening of firework fun. 

Darryl actually worked on the 4th but Joshua, Nate and I had brunch together.  It was yummy! 

Later in the day we went to my mom's for a cook out.  Molly adores Nate and waits for him to sit on the couch so she can hang out with him :-) 

The rest of the week can kind of be summed up in the following two photos.  

Yep, we did a lot of nothing!  I took Nate, Cooper and Maeve out to do their Pokemon gathering a couple of times which is a nice break in the day but otherwise it was just some normal days.