The Next Right Thing: A Simple Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions by Emily P. Freeman is a delightful and heartfelt read from a popular podcast presenter. Her vision is simple, do the next right thing. If you struggle with "decision fatigue" as Emily refers to it, this book will show steps to "create space for your soul to breathe." Each chapter begins with a timely quote on the topic of the chapter. Emily weaves her story along with inspiring actions and new ways of thinking to address the topic. She ends the chapter with a short and hopeful prayer along with a simple practice to guide the reader to give life to the actions outlined in the chapter. Emily is a master in keeping the attention of her readers as she shares her thoughts and musings. The ideas presented are shared in quiet expectation. She is inviting her readers on a magical journey by just choosing the next right thing...today.
Last summer a friend of mine who knows I listen to podcasts asked if I had heard of Emily P. Freeman's The Next Right Thing Podcast. I had not, but as soon as I heard the title I knew I had to check it out. I started at the beginning and devoured the words I heard through my ear buds. Emily's sweet voice floated through my mind and caused me to unearth some hidden thoughts and ideas that I never knew existed. I was so excited to read this companion book and I could almost hear Emily's voice reading it to me as I devoured it too. I crave the simple and quiet spaces in my soul where I can breathe and connect with who I really am. Emily's book is just the right pace to spur me to make decisions with ease and confidence.
* I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Revell Reads for review. All opinions are my own.*
Dear Daughters: Love Letters to the Next Generation by Susie Davis is a sweet book that gives young women wisdom and mentorship from a godly perspective. Susie reaches the hearts of these young women by covering topics such as worry, life's purpose, expectation and caring for your soul. Each chapter is designed to delve into the topic with a friendly opening story and carries along like a conversation. She slowly urges her readers to ponder and answer questions that bring hope and comfort. She also provides a small space for writing thoughts and gleanings from the chapter. Her honesty and transparency are wrapped up in this book that will encourage young readers to lean into God.
I really enjoyed this heart warming book as I think back on my life as a young girl. I have really enjoyed the benefits of mentoring in the past few years and I really encourage every young woman today to pick up Susie's book and let the love and and connection be wrapped in their soul. This book reads like a devotional with stories and questions always leading back to the Lord. It's a perfect gift!
*I was given a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for review. All opinions are my own.*
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Susie Davis is an author, speaker and co-founder of Austin Christian Fellowship. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Will Davis, Jr., and they have 3 delightful young adult children (Will III, Emily, and Sara) who are all married and living their own beautiful life. Susie’s podcast, Dear Daughters, is full of wisdom and joy, offering women young and old the kind of comfort and companionship they crave. Aside from family and ministry, Susie is hopelessly addicted to horseback riding, McDonald’s coffee and pink geraniums. She loves bird watching, creek walking and connecting the dots between God and nature. Her favorites include cooking, gathering people at her big French farm table and asking deep questions. Visit her website: www.susiedavis.org. She is also active on Facebook (@davis.susie), Twitter (@susiedavis) and Instagram (@susiedavis).
It's been quite a crazy month or more for my family. We found out at the end of September that my husband was finally offered the job he had been waiting to hear about ALL summer. You can read about it HERE. So the better part of October was getting our house ready to put on the market. Thankfully we had done a lot of work this summer like painting the house and weeding the yard and painting the fence and front porch. We also stained the decks and sprayed the screen doors so they were crisp white. But in October we had to start packing up everything except what we wanted to keep for the next few months. We also had to stage the house and have pictures. We put in new carpet upstairs and had the carpets downstairs cleaned. We worked many hours and were so thankful for the help of our friends.
In late October we put our house on the market and made a trip out to Virginia to look for our "new" home. My husband had to work at his new job and I was able to tour the area. We ended up looking at 8 homes! We were looking for homes with land and most of them happened to be older. We went into a house built in 1865 and also one from 1895. We felt at home since our house was built in 1905! Well, we finally found a house that seemed just right for our family and we made an offer. We were hoping that an offer would be made on our house soon too.
When we arrived back in Washington, we found out that an offer was made on our home! We were so excited, but also cautious since there are so many things that need to happen before the closing of a home. Well, something did happen. The buyers backed out. I was pretty upset about how the whole thing happened, but then we put our house back on the market the next day. This weekend we had 3 showings, but nothing came from them.
Selling a house is emotionally draining. I have had so much emotional ups and downs in the past 10 months. But I'm learning to keep steady with Jesus. Yes, I know how I wanted it all to work out with a little bow on top, but that is not how it is going. So we are waiting and trusting. We decided to go ahead and apply for a loan and buy the house in Virginia.
I have been trying to look for the "good" in this situation, but right now I just can't see it too clearly. I don't feel good when an offer goes sour. I don't feel good when someone chooses another house over ours. I don't feel good when someone doesn't even stop to go into the house. But God is good and He is working in ways I cannot see to bring "good" to this situation I am going through.
This coming weekend we are having a going away party at our church and then the following Tuesday we leave on our trip out East. We are excited, nervous and ready to start our new adventure.
I ask for continued prayers for the sale of our home. We have put a lot of time, love and energy into making this our home and for putting it on the market.
If you have been following my posts this summer you noticed that we have had a very difficult year. It started last October. Our 17 year old cat was very sick, but she kept hanging on. We had to put her to sleep. It was a sad, sad day for our family. We had Abby from when she was 6 years old and brought home both babies. They grew up with her.
This was just the beginning of our sorrow. On October 28 my 96 year old grandmother passed away. She had been diagnosed with cancer (again!) the year before and went through several surgeries until she broke her hip on June 1. From then on she was in hospitals and then my parents took care of her until she died. I loved her so much! This was the last time I saw her on June 17, 2017.
We went up for her memorial on November 1 and that same day my husband got a phone call that his dad passed away the night before in his home. We were shocked beyond belief. The death of two of our loved ones so close together. Thankfully we were with my family, but the grief that set in was deep. He was such a caring grandpa and had so many wonderful stories to share and life skills he imparted. We miss him so much!
It was a rough and quiet Christmas season as we thought about the recent losses in our family. I still don't think I've been able to work through these losses with all that continued to happen.
Before I share, let me say that I have never felt so close to God and so full of emotions than when I'm going through a trial. I love God, but I am desperate for Him even more in those tough times and I know He's trying to teach me total surrender on Him for ALL things.
In June, my husband and I started thinking seriously about a new job opportunity from his company. It would mean big changes. We prayed, made lists, prayed and stepped forth in faith. It started off so well and positive and then there was silence. We didn't know what to think, feel or do. So we prayed. That's when I wrote that blog post. We waited and it is now 3 months since the step of faith. God was with us and working in our hearts, planning everything for the right time.
This past week my husband was offered the job! This means so much to his career and our family. We are beyond grateful for this answer to prayer and even though it will mean some major changes, we feel confident in this new journey.
As much as we are excited, we also are anxious as we embark on this new life. There are so many details we have to work through now. and the funny thing is I'm feeling the exact same things as I did about moving as when I was waiting. It's just that total surrender and laying it all at His feet is what I need to do.
Is God refining something in your life and heart?
I just never thought about that when we started this process.
Wherever you are and wherever God is working on you, be there with Him.
And may I please ask for prayer for our family as we need to sell and buy a house. I am feeling overwhelmed and not sure how this is all going to work out, but God knows. Thanks for listening to my story. I pray that God will meet you in your greatest need. He loves us!!
So, I am going to be honest and personal again. Truly, I don't know where to begin. I have been on an emotional roller coaster this summer and I'm still uncertain of what is going to happen. As I shared in Part 1, we had a fire in our garage. It's now been 6 months and I think we are getting the final inspections scheduled.
I want to talk today about waiting. Are you waiting for something? Has it come to pass? Was your prayer answered in the way you asked? Are you still waiting?
I have had to wait for a lot of things: getting accepted to college, passing the ACT exam (I took it 5 times!! another story for another time), getting my first job, getting my second job, waiting for a marriage partner, waiting for a child and then another (those are two more stories I linked to on my blog), waiting for a job, and now waiting again.
It seems that God wants to teach me some things. This summer I felt compelled to do this devotion called Unblinded Faith by Elisa Pulliam. Faith. What is it? Do I have enough of it? I once heard my pastor say something like this, "You don't need more faith, you need faith more often." I have faith in God. He saved me from my sins. I live forgiven. But everyday faith. Do I have it often enough? In Unblinded Faith Elisa unpacks many Scriptures that speak of who God is and what He does. Everyday I read the passage of Scripture, the devotion, the prayer and I then I write. I write down all the promises of God and commands of God from that Scripture. God is faithful, He is true, He is trustworthy. He says, DO NOT FEAR!!
I have a friend who posts a daily "no fear" verse on Facebook. I fear because I'm confused about what God desires for me. We stepped out in faith this summer and I feel like I've been standing on the edge of a cliff. The wind might blow me over at some point, but God is keeping me from falling. I don't feel steady or grounded. But God has made it perfectly clear in His Word He is the only solid rock. It's on Him I stand, not on my worries, fears or desires. It's God.
Here are some quotes I've been pondering too:
*"What if the circumstances you're asking God to change are the very circumstances God is using to change you." -Mark Batterson
*Let your FAITH be bigger than your fear.
*"what if"= fear
"even if"= faith
*"No present obstacle is ever bigger than God's glory." -Ruth Chou Simons
*Jesus, we give you our yes and trust You with the outcome.
*"The greater the gale forces in life, the greater the need for peace in Christ." -Julie Sanders
I also found this list of verses to bring calm for the anxious heart from More to Be: 40 Verses
And some verses that were in my prayer journal this summer:
And I've loved these songs:
In all of this I'm learning that true dependence on God is messy, but necessary. My humanness is overwhelming to me when I see how big God is and how small I am. Yes, I'm waiting for a prayer to be answered. It may and it may not, but that doesn't change who God is or my purpose in life. I will choose to trust in the unknown because I am KNOWN. I wrestle and it's OK. God is drawing me deeper to His heart in this journey. It's not about what I want, but His desire for my life. We step forward in faith and we give each step to Him.
This summer I'm reading Brother Andrew to my kids. He took leaps of faith and God was with Him each time. I know God is here right now. He has been preparing me for what is ahead even though I don't see it clearly at all. He is there and He knows.
May what I share today help you in any season you have to wait. Just wait. Stop and be in God's presence. Cry, rejoice, be still, on your knees, hands lifted, soul searching prayers, it's ALL in God's hands. Give Him your everything.
If God chooses a different path, I will trust that is the right way for us.
And this podcast (The Next Right Thing) spoke to me about Looking for Arrows, Not Answers by Emily P. Freeman. (In fact, this was on February 13, 2018- the date of our fire)
If you think of it, please pray for us to follow God's leading no matter what. I promise I will share more when I can. Until then...we wait.
A little over 5 months ago we had a fire in our garage. It was accidentally started by us. But we didn't know about it until 2 hours later. By then most everything near the fire was very burnt and melted. The heat was intense. It even melted things on the opposite side of the attic.
The kids and I were inside the house about 20 feet away. My husband had left for a dentist appointment. About 6 pm we walked out the back door. I saw this smoke billowing out of the garage and bright orange flames through the far window. My brain went numb. My son yelled, "Mom, call 911!" I froze. I grabbed my phone and couldn't figure it out. "I don't know how to call 911!!" As I frantically was trying to sort how what had happened. I vaguely remember my son telling me he was in the garage earlier when my husband was sharpening a chisel and some sparks fell on the sawdust. He said they stamped them out, but apparently not all of them. I know I shouldn't have done this, but the car was in the garage on the left side where you see the fireman. I opened the door and more smoke came out. I called my husband. He was on his way home. Then I kept yelling, "Where are firemen??" The fire station is just a few blocks away.
The firemen came. We ran to the front yard and waited. I was crying. The kids kept asking questions. My husband was calm. We heard glass breaking and saws buzzing. I couldn't imagine what was going on. The firemen were so friendly and helpful. One of them stood right next to us and kept the kids occupied. My husband was able to get the car out before the firemen boarded up the place where the garage doors used to be.
We had to park outside for months
From my vantage point I really had no idea what was going on. They got the fire out pretty quick. There were probably 20 firemen and I saw at least 10 emergency vehicles on our street out front. The garage is behind our house with an alley behind it. Neighbors started pouring out of their houses and looky loos came by. It all happened fast and slow. We eventually went into the house. I started crying. The kids asked if we were still going to Awana.
They were smiling, but they do that for pictures.
It was February 13, the day before Valentine's day.
We called the insurance company and started going through a process we were not prepared for. Thankfully, we have very good insurance.
workbench
I went to bed in shock. My husband stayed home the next day and we very carefully went into the garage and started scribing our content list. It was beyond belief. Everything was so charred and burnt, singed, broken, ugly, smelly, gross and gone! If it wasn't burnt or melted it was drenched. EVERYTHING! We had a lot of stuff in there. The attic held a lot of teaching things, a huge collection of National Geographic, things from my grandma (who passed away in October), lots and lots of pictures, books, things I wanted to pass down to my kids, camping, and recreation supplies, not to mention all my husband's tools (he's the handy man you call), his golf clubs, a freezer and so much more. Thankfully our car was saved, but it had melted stuff all over it from the garage door opener. But it was so smelly I couldn't drive it for a few days.
My BSF notes
It was the worst Valentine's day ever...or was it? My husband stayed home and we got to be together the whole day. And I had made a meal that I was going to bring to church the night before along with a dessert. We slept in and went through this grief together. Not so bad after all.
Melted sewing machine cover.
books and memorabilia
So now it's 5 months later. We spent a LOT of time going through everything. The garage frame was left standing and the attic floor was mostly in tact. But we had to get rid of a LOT of stuff. It was very hard. I cried a lot. But I just remembered it was stuff. It's just stuff.
Load after load we took to the dump
Why oh why did this happen to us? I asked this question and many others in the months after. I couldn't function much. Life was a blur.
We are still living through some hard things which I hope to share in Part 2.
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Every year I choose the Homemaker's Friend Daily Planner because it works for me!
There are so many great features wrapped up in this little book:
*Yearly calendar with extra space for journaling
*Monthly calendars with a space to write goals for each month
*Weekly layout with places for task list, birthdays/appointments and menu
*Tasks list or whatever lists you want to make (I like writing down what I read, memorize, good recipes to remember, etc.)
*Projects lists for birthdays, house projects, business/ministry projects
*Other information like phone numbers, important dates, frequent business listings
*Tear out shopping lists with space at the back to write clothing sizes, gift idea and master shopping lists
*Double sided pocket for storing receipts, stamps business cards, etc.
Of course, one of the best features is the weekly Scripture verse which brings me back to center when I feel that my life is out of control. And it keeps me focused on what is truly important.
There are a LOT of ways to use this handy planner. I keep it next to me and I can even carry it in my purse.
T
