A Collection: A Summer Heart Check, More Digital Scrapbooking, and Summertime Reading

Do you need to pull aside periodically (often?) as I do, to take care of your heart? Whatever the season is, there are just some days when I just need to push the pause button. Maybe even for the whole day. In our retirement life, pausing for a whole day can actually happen. In other seasons of life, it needed to be for a shorter time. I also remember well when our kids were little, my husband would routinely give me an "evening off". Time to pay extra close attention to my heart. Those times were life-saving for me. 

And these times of pausing continue to be life-saving for me. I recently had such a day. It was at the start of a new week, and I had lots (unending) things to do. But I knew ... I needed to choose the better. Time to pause, just sit and spend extended time with Jesus, time to let Him care for my heart. My heart is completely connected with everything I do. And I desperately need to have my heart watered and cared for. Even day-by-day, and even moment-by-moment. And sometimes I need to pause for extended life-giving watering of His love and grace. 

I am so thankful for His love and grace. Always available as we soak up His Words of Truth, as we choose silence and quiet above the noise, and as we open our hearts completely to Him. Maybe your heart is calling for the same at the end of this month of June. 

More Digital Scrapbooking ...

What would we do without photos? I'm so very thankful for photos to help us hold memories close! It was a joy to have our granddaughter Abigail and Addison here from Japan for a visit the first part of April. And ... to be able to  meet and hold our very first great-grandbaby in our arms! Lily was three months old at the time they were in our home. Here are two of the five digital scrapbook pages I put together recently of their brief visit with us, including some four generation photos! The time went by too quickly; I am thankful for these photos that helped us to capture that treasured time together.

Summertime Reading

Whatever the season, it's a treat to read good books. I love to be continually reading an inspirational book, one that I can learn and grow from. And, also, I love to have a fiction book to relax with. My choice is most often a historical fiction book, where besides reading an engaging story/plot, I also can be learning of another time period from the past.

One of the two fiction books I've been reading this month is Judah's Wife, this one set in Biblical times. It was a great choice! I've been reading through the Bible chronologically, and recently completed the Old Testament. I did some extra reading about the "400 Silent Years" between the Old and New Testaments before continuing on with the chronological reading of the New Testament. I also was quite pleased to find a fiction book to read, as well, giving great insight into that time period that we usually hear so little about. From the book's back cover: "To be silent would be to deny their God. To defy would bring the wrath of the king. The miraculous story of the courageous Maccabees is told through the eyes of Judah's wife, who learns that love requires courage ... and sacrifice."

(NOTE: the beautiful setting for the photo above was at the home of one of our daughters, near McCook, NE. We recently spent 10 days there caring for their home and animals while they were on vacation. The perfect place to relax with a good book! (Thanks, Carrie, for the fun of being at your & Tyler's beautiful place!)