June Fave Fives #2

Friday again!  A busy one awaits me.....a more casual day at school today (team games, entire school out on field for water play, arts and crafts, ball games, etc) and a BBQ lunch.  At my 5th grader's elementary school, she is having "June Jamboree" which includes team tug of war, relay races, water games, and she is jump roping for 15 min to raise money for the American Heart Association. She has done it every year since kindergarten!  and tonight she has her full Dress Rehearsal for the Annual Dance Show with all the students from the Dance Academy where she takes ballet.  It's going to be a

 l-o-n-g day!

It has been a great week of many blessings......and once again we all post our favorite moments or things the Lord blessed us with that make our "favorites" list.  A huge thank-you to Susanne from Living to Tell the Story for hosting this each week.  If you want to play along, simply click here.

Here are FIVE FAVORITE THINGS that BLESSED ME this past week:

This cedar-wood jewelry box!

Tyler, Courtney's prom date, is holding it.

He made this in his woodworking class at his high school....he carved her name on it. The top lifts up and he carved several roses into that part of it.  They are all interwoven together...it is just a beautiful piece of woodworking.  I wish I had taken a pic of the top for this post!  She was thrilled to receive it and we were all very surprised.  The reason it makes my fave five list is because it is such a thoughtful gift from a really nice teen to a teen whose primary love language is gifts!  Perfect!  A nice memento of her friendship with Tyler!

Watching my 16 yr old put on her date's boutonnière. This was just great.  Dave talked her through the steps while I snapped pictures.  Definitely a fave moment watching our teen princess ride off with her closest school/church friends to her Junior Prom!  She had a blast! (for more prom pics, please scroll down this page or if you are on FB, I have lots more on there!) 

This Bible Study book.

I joined a women's study group and we are doing this each Wednesday evening.  Since 110 women signed up, we are divided up into small groups of 8 women each. After we have a 45 min sharing time, we come together as a large group to watch the DVD.  Our first small group meeting was this past week. I cannot begin to tell you, how after just the first chapter, I am hooked on Beth Moore!  I had heard from other friends and acquaintances that her books are good but I never had done one before now.  What really makes my fave list this week though, is the group of women I am in.  There were 8 of us and these women are all about my age (except for 2 who seem to be young, and new Christians at that...they are probably not much more than 30!)  The rest of us are in our late 40's/early 50's.  One woman might even be 60....she had alot of spiritual insight and wisdom.  What a blessing for me!  I haven't been a part of a small group or even been in a Bible study that "goes deep" in over 3 years. The Moms in Touch group that I lead is NOT a study group, but a prayer group.  Big difference!  (Dave and I did some marriage small groups our first 2 years at this church, and then I did another women's study for 8 weeks).  That group ended and I never had the opportunity to join other groups, mainly due to serving in 2 busy ministries and the girls' extracurricular activities.  I was meeting with an acquaintance last autumn but that ended abruptly so I finished the study on my own. I have also been reading through "Deeper" (see my side bar book-basket list) as a personal study....but... There is just something about getting together with women who are yearning to go deeper in their relationship with the Lord that excites me!  It also spurs me on to go even deeper my self!  This particular group I am in seems very spiritually mature...I know I am going to glean alot from them!  I have been praying about how to get over a loss in my life regarding talking with someone about spiritual things...I have one friend, my friend E, whom I talk to about everything... but we are in different churches and she works full time so we don't get together very often.  I lost someone dear to me due to some misunderstandings or something....not even sure what exactly as her reasons didn't make sense to me but....... she was someone I felt so comfortable talking with....so, this group is like an answer to prayer that I haven't really even spent much time praying about!  I have a group of women to study with and possibly some new friendships to share with.  I am a little more guarded these days though...but...there is nothing like sharing what you have learned from a study...I LOVE it!! and the really neat thing is that I already knew 3 women (friends from the youth group we serve in) but I was put into a small group with none of them...we all are in totally different groups!  I think it is neat, because now we are meeting even more new people! It just really seems like a mature group (spiritually speaking!) and it's only for 10 weeks...very doable with my summer schedule!

Claire, our 5th grader, went to NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) for the first time last weekend.  Each year, students in grades 5 -12, are encouraged to go to NYSSMA competition (competing against self) to see how they perform on their instrument.  She went Level 1 (there are 6) and she received a 27/28 for an award of "Outstanding" (highest level).  We are so proud of her for persevering on the violin.  (now, if she had just kept on piano to make her mama happy!!)She said she much prefers the violin to piano so my "homeschool piano teaching days" are over. :(

Reading on Rainy Evenings 

We had a couple of rainy evenings this past week so once I was home from the evening extracurricular activities, I had a chance to sit and read in my living room with my summery candle flickering, and a steaming mug of French Vanilla coffee.  Monday evening was beautiful, so after I did my power-walking and put Claire to bed, I curled up to begin this novel. I read half-way through it, and then finished it on the 2 rainy nights we had....sooo much better than TV!

  How I loved this book!  I had only read a couple of Lewis' books many years ago....(The Shunning and the one that came after that...can't remember the title!).  It was ok.  I enjoy learning about the Amish, thus our trip to Lancaster County 2 years ago.  But none of Lewis' other books really beckoned to me.  Until I saw this at our town library last week.  This is the first in a series called "Seasons of Grace".  It is about a young girl whose mother just up and leaves the family. Most unusual for an Amish woman.  She is carrying some kind of secret.  I am waiting with bated breath for Book 2 to be available at our library.  I am on the waiting list!

So.....what about you??

Do you have any favorite moments, or favorite items from this past week??

If yes....please share them!

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How about leaving a comment, and I'll try to respond within a day or 2......I love hearing about how everyone is doing and how God is blessing you!!

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ENJOY THE START OF THE WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!