Good morning, friends! Let’s do something a little different today and go on a virtual coffee date. Rather than you just reading my words on a screen, let’s pretend for a bit that you and I are sitting across from one another in a small, quaint cafe playing relaxed, acoustic music. I’ve got leggings and a big sweater on, and you’re dressed equally as comfy. I’m cradling a big mug of foamy pumpkin spice latte and you’ve got your favorite warm beverage. All is right in the world and we get to catch up, just you and me.
In our time together, here are some of the things I would tell you …
As much as I didn’t want summer to end, now that I am back home from the lake and settling into the routine that being home entails, I am officially glad for the change of season. I absolutely adore fall – the chill in the air, the changing colors, the decor, the noise of football on the television, and the coziness that this season brings complete with big, fleece blankets, good books, and fires in the fireplace. It’s bliss.
I would tell you that I have an usually long list of books I want to read over the next few months, and into the next year. Between going to the used bookstore up north this summer to stock up on good, cheap reads and learning about new books that have recently been released, I can hardly wait to just curl up and get lost in their pages as time allows. You will most likely find me doing this in the hours before bed on weeknights and on Sunday afternoon while my hubby watches NFL football, which I don’t care for as much as I love college ball (Go Green!).
I would tell you that I am oh so thrilled to have my new website launched and that I am absolutely LOVING jumping on each week to prepare new content. Stringing words together to tell stories and share my heart and life with the world brings me much joy. I have been intentionally praying over this platform and am asking God to give me fresh and inspired things to share with all of you. I never want this space to become ordinary, but rather I want this space to be extraordinarily infused with His presence and Spirit, with Him giving me the ideas and ways to speak to all of you and Him speaking to you and encouraging you through the words He gives me to write. May this be one of the sanctuaries in which you know you are loved and cared for by an amazing God.
I would tell you that I have been getting “dangerous” with my bible journaling efforts lately, as I’ve been painting (gasp) and stamping (oooo) and embellishing (ahhhh) pages of scripture with the insights spoken to me at the Influence Conference and through the bible study I’m currently doing. Since visiting the Illustrated Faith booth at the conference, I’ve felt more confident and daring in getting my hands dirty and bringing the Word of God to life with color and other fun things. I’m still very much a newbie when it comes to all of this, but it’s a blast (and very therapeutic, I might add) to turn on some music and get creative with ALL THE THINGS, washi tape included!
I would also tell you that I’m officially in my last week as a thirty year-old, and that a week from today I will embark on another new year. So far, I am loving my 30’s! I feel so much more laid back and able to enjoy life these days. Even though I still have things to do and places to go and people to see, it feels overall like less striving and surviving and more focus on what really matters, on what I really want to be doing, and it’s an amazing place to be after a lot of time spent in what seemed like a mental spin cycle of anxiety and stress. Praise God for this beautiful time of life!
Lastly, I would look across from you at the table and ask you how you are doing, and inquire on what’s new in your life and world. I would listen intently and laugh at your funny stories or cry with you in your sadness, if that’s what life feels like right now. I would encourage you to look at the days ahead in this glorious gold season and make the most of them. To do the things that light your soul on fire and be present in the mundane and exciting moments and to make room for God move and work out the incredible things He has planned for you. I would tell you that I am in this with you and that everything is exactly as it should be.
And then we would wrap up our get-together, give each other a hug, and make plans to do this again soon. We’d go our separate ways, blessed by this time with one another and feeling a little lighter for the things ahead of us. And I’d thank God for the lovely time with you today.
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