The August List

-- The irony of that 'busy trap' article (an introvert's perspective).

-- Il y a by Lala Joy - oh so catchy. Love it! And with a name like that, who wouldn't?

-- For some insanely awesome photography inspiration visit BellaPop 

-- Deeply challenging. What are you longing for?

-- Have I mentioned that I love a bit of french music?

-- Reading Anything.

-- The song on repeat, repeat, repeat.

-- This girl, who sings. And shares some great thoughts on inspiration.

-- Adoration.
-- Praying in colour.

Overwhelmed

Sunday evening. Time to prepare for the week ahead. Only on this Sunday evening I've been struck with a feeling of complete and overwhelming panic. It feels like my ever growing to-do list has grown into a giant monster that threatens to swallow me whole. My mind rushes at a million miles an hour when I think of all the things that need to be done. And as fast as I check something off the list, there are a multitude of things to take its place. How do I live a productive and fulfilled life without freaking out every ten minuets because I can't do everything that needs to be done? Note to self - time management Jo, it's called time management.

Yet just because I'm completely overwhelmed in this feeling of inadequacy, I'm choosing to embrace it. Because this is a place where I can't live in my own strength. I need Him. I need His grace. I have to lay down my inadequacies and hang-ups and cast those worries onto Jesus. Because he can handle the things that scare me and overwhelm my soul. 

Let's face it, I can't do everything. Perfection is unattainable. Yet in His perfect love, He extends grace to my momentary freak-outs when life feels too much for me to handle. But these moments are good, they're important. Because they make me seek a little change of perspective. 

O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! // Psalm 61:1-4

#SheReadsTruth

One morning while browsing through my emails during my tea break, I came across something interesting about women getting together online to read the bible together.  I thought it sounded great but didn't have time to read it straight away. So I promptly filed the information away in the back of my mind for future reference.

But when later came around and I went back through the myriad of email messages trying to find the email-of-interest to investigate further, I couldn't - it was gone! And I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was even called so that I could search it on Google. Has that ever happen to you? Don't you just hate it? You'd think it would just take a minuet to click on the little star that marks the email as being noteworthy but no, that didn't happen. And to my complete frustration! It plagued me for days. 

source

Then I visited Katie. It had been awhile since I'd been over at Katie's blog (she is wonderful by the way and you should go visit her after reading this). She wrote a post about prayer and surrender that really stirred my heart. But not only that - I found it!

#SheReadsTruth is a bunch of woman reading their bibles together. That's it. No fancy devotional, no one person giving their thoughts on something God is saying or doing for them but has no direct relevance to me. Even though everyone reads the same thing each day, the Spirit breathes life and leads and speaks to each one on a personal and totally individual basis. As only He can. Isn't that just awesome?! 

God truly amazes me. His timing on this has been so incredible. I've been searching for a way to make reading my bible more do-able. I've been wanting to really dig into God's word so that I can hear from Him. But I haven't known where to start. It's kind of daunting when there are so many possible starting points. I've also been thinking a lot about prayer. The whole concept of prayer has been coming and going in the back of my mind for months now. What is prayer, really? And how do I pray? Do I really even know what it is to pray? Am I doing it right? How can I cultivate a deeper prayer life? What can it look like for me? Well, guess what the study was that the ladies at #SheReadsTruth were doing? Yep, prayer.

So I've been shaking up my morning routine with a fresh dose of scripture every day and loving it. #SheReadsTruth is starting a new study next Monday (the 6th of August). Maybe you'd like to consider joining? You can find out more on their blog (the 'how?' page is a great place to start) and on Twitter. And if you decide to join in, please let me know. Let's journey together.