July WELCOME Check In

In case you missed it, my word of the year is WELCOME, described by the acronym below. For more details on why I chose this word go here.

Worship – Making room for God
Embrace – Making room for my family
Learn – Making room to grow my mind
Care – Making room for my health
Offer – Making room for others
Minimize – Making room by clearing a thing or practice from my life
Everyday Blessings – Recording the little joys that occur when I make room

WORSHIP
Goal: Fast a portion of each Tuesday focusing on a particular child each week.

As I mentioned last month, I want to spend more time in focused prayer for each of my children. I am not comfortable with giving the details of if or how I met this goal, but I have tried to continue my focused praying.

With all of our traveling this month and some other circumstances, I heard 5 different preachers this month. Each of them preached excellent sermons that challenged me. I so appreciate hearing preachers who love the Word of God and communicating it effectively.

I’m still following this Bible reading plan. Reading Isaiah and Jeremiah in the same month was challenging. I didn’t quite finish Jeremiah and Lamentations, so I will continue them into August.

EMBRACE
Goal: One on one times with each child and Jeff and a fun family day.

I love making time with my favorite people part of my everyday life. So often in the past, I’ve made too many rules about one-on-one times. Here’s what some of these times looked like this month: walking to the ice cream stand after dinner with my husband, stopping for a special drink on the way to an appointment with a son, going out to dinner and then some practical shopping with my husband, perusing paintings at an art show with my daughter and husband, and getting drinks at Panera with my boys while waiting for their haircut appointment.

LEARN
Goal: Focus on writing in the afternoons.

I’m having a hard time focusing on my current writing project. I keep getting distracted with organizing my thoughts instead of just writing scenes. Then, I had fewer available afternoons than I thought I would. So, this goal needs some tweaking in the next month!

Always, I’m learning through reading – one of my favorite pastimes. Anytime I recommend a book (or anything for that matter!), remember it is not infallible and I’m not recommending or endorsing every part of it. With that caveat, here are a few good books I read this month:

On Christian Faith and Apologetics:
Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
by Gregory Koukl
This is one of the most practical and helpful books I’ve read this year! I gained so many insights on how to share my beliefs without hurting someone or the Gospel. A book has to earn its place on my bookshelf, but this is one I am considering purchasing for my own library.

Fiction:
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series was a favorite of mine as a child and teen. After a few disappointments in the fiction genre this month, I truly enjoyed this sweet story. Sometimes you just need an old-fashioned story about authentic people with a plot twist.

Homemaking:
The Inviting Life: An Inspirational Guide to Homemaking, Hosting and Opening the Door to Happiness by Laura Calder
I enjoyed the author’s whimsical style that made this feel less like a how-to book and more like a conversation with a friend. I got a few tips and some inspiration while skipping over the multiple pages involving the serving of alcoholic beverages. It seems I save much time, money and sanity as a hostess by abstaining!

On My Coffee Table:
Since moving into our new home and finding we have room for a coffee table, we’ve tried to rotate through some beautiful books. This month, to help us cool down in one of the hottest month, we have Penguins by Susanne Akesson and Beatrix Potter’s Art: A Selection of Paintings and Drawings by Anne Stevenson Hobbs. For Independence Day weekend, our coffee table book was Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey Through America’s National Parks by Q.T. Luong.

CARE
Goal: Walk each weekday.

I promised myself a new clothing item I’ve been eyeing if I walked every weekday for four weeks. I met my goal, and I will be receiving a package in the mail later this week. It’s not very expensive, but it was enough to keep me from giving up.

OFFER
Goal: Sing in a camp meeting and meet a few specific hospitality goals.

Looking back over my calendar for this month, I’m amazed at all we fit in. No wonder it felt like such a full month! We had an Independence Day picnic at our house the first Saturday in July, visited family in town Fourth of July evening and went to fireworks the evening after. We made our first official visit “up north” to visit family and friends the next weekend. We fit it two eye appointments, closed out the kids’ bank accounts, took the boys to a friend’s birthday party and went shopping with “the girls”. We got to visit our old church and see everyone there after being gone three months. We attended a cookout with extended family and a birthday party for Jeff’s dad. I was able to have friends over for coffee twice and guests for dinner one Sunday. A big highlight of our month was finally returning to church camp. We had to skip last year due to the pandemic, and it was wonderful to see everyone again!

MINIMIZE
Goal: Start organizing photos and school records.

Well, no. This did not happen. Not even a little bit. I am ready for school to begin in two weeks, however. So I did more future-oriented organizing than past.

EVERYDAY JOYS
A few highlights from our July below:

QUOTES OF THE MONTH:

To be in the place we have been given, with the people we have been given to love, it is always God’s gift to us, and it is always to His glory, even when it might not be what we once expected.

From Daring to Hope by Katie Davis Majors

Most people who believe that the Bible is God’s Word came to this conclusion not through argument but through encounter.

Gregory Koukl in Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions

There is always a ram in the thicket, because there is always the Lamb on the throne.

Katie Davis Majors in Daring to Hope

Disclaimer: On any music video I share, I am only attempting to share that particular song. It is in no way an endorsement of the artist, other songs they may sing or any ads associated with the video.

I hope you all had a wonderful July and are setting new goals for August! I’d love to hear some of your goals in the comments or in an e-mail. I’ll check in again next month.