July Memories – 2023

July has been left in the dust for a week now, so let’s review it, shall we?

There is only one Being Who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oswald chambers

Things worth remembering…

• friends and flowers and birthday cheesecake
• not dumping the aforementioned cheesecake on one of the aforementioned friends
• detours in the rain
• a baseball game
• learning that camo and hot pink bridesmaid’s dresses have been attempted and never should be again
• harvesting slightly-stale cheesy puffcorn from the gravel (five minute rule, right?)
• attempting cheater ax throwing for the first time
• scheduling developmental edits for Project Redemption!!
• postponing aforementioned edits when Reality Struck

Little is much when God is in it,
Labor not for wealth or fame;
There’s a crown, and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ name.

Kittie l. Suffield

What I’ve been reading…

Wildflower Pages – Brittany Litster

practice giving your time and flowers // practice giving more than required // expecting nothing in return // it mimics the Father’s way of doing things

This was such a lovely collection of poetry that focuses on the simplicity and beauty of living each day with Christ. Some of the poems did seem to get a bit repetitive by the end, but it’s amazing and definitely a collection I’ll be referencing!

(It’s also the first book I’ve colored in since toddlerhood…see the pictures here!)

The Secret at Lone Tree Cottage – Carolyn Keene

The Dana girls had found the teacher’s car. But where was Miss Tisdale?

My teenage self would have loved this so much more than my current self did this summer. XD

Think Nancy Drew, but it’s two sisters at a boarding school instead with all of the fun no-gore mystery and adventure elements. It was a fun riveting read for a week and I’d hand it over to my little sisters with no qualms, but there’s no character development that would induce me to spend much more time on this series because my TBR is so long!

And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie

“I have, let me confess it in all humility, a pitiful human wish that someone should know just how clever I’ve been…”

I’m still not sure how I feel about this one…it’s an absolutely brilliant mystery, but due to the sheer number and type of murders, it felt extremely dark. It’s not really something on which I want to be dwelling.

The Memories We Painted – Caitlin Miller

But wasn’t that what love looked like — loving and being afraid? Wanting the best for someone but afraid of what that meant, of letting go when everything in you still wanted to hold on?

I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for so long! I’m still at the beginning.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – E.L. Konigsburg

Instead of oxygen and stress, Claudia thought now of hushed and quiet words: glide, fur, banana, peace.

I’ve been reading this one to my little sisters and skipping the unsavory parts. XD It’s been such a fun read with so much laughter.

“I know that You can do anything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.”

Job 42:2

From the journal…

The proof of the gospel isn’t in poetry or flimsy words; it’s lived out in a transformed life.

Oh, Lord, help me to remember that even my breath is Yours…Yours to recall whenever You so choose. Help me to live wisely in light of that! Show me where and how to spend my minutes.

and so I run…

barefoot, restless, reckless through the grass,

fingers splayed wide as they reach with expectance

for a warming horizon…

ready to catch the rays of the sun

as soon as they spill o’er

the edge of the world.

What were some of the highlights of your July?

❤ Laurel

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash