Tune In Tuesday, Part Two

Yesterday, I posted on Twitter something along all the lines of this:

"Shout out to Coldplay for making me not be able to correctly 'paradise' anymore."

I'm sure this made some of you wonder what in the world I meant. Well peeps, here ya go. You're welcome:





Coldplay has quickly become one of my top all time favorites...right up there with U2. (I'm not being blasphemous Robby, seriously...)

I'm getting their CD next week because I will earn a $5 gift card to Target when I get my flu shot. So, by golly, I'm treating myself to something after the pain!

If you want to go ahead and get yours now (CD version), click below to go to Amazon (affiliate link):




Here's the link to the MP3 download, a great, quick option:

It's A New Week!!!

Happy Monday Recreational Word Slingers! It's a brand new week, and I pray that you guys have a great week. This is a good week for me:

-worked half a day today...which means I will probably get a gazillion calls the rest of the week!

-going to Knoxville to watch my Tennessee Vols beat South Carolina...the best part is the people who I'm going with (you know who you are)

-I actually might play well enough in my tennis match to make it competitive :)


What do you guys have going on?? Let me know by commenting below!

P.S. Sorry if this post is badly formatted, I'm posting from my phone.

He Reigns Over the Pain

God reigns...

-over your pain
-over your relationships
-over your unemployment
-over your promotion
-over your infertility
-over your spouse & children
-over your gifts & abilities

-over everything

Things I Love Right Now

I love to run these days. It really clears my head and helps me think.

I am in love with all things pumpkin. Pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, pumpkin muffins that my sister-in-law made, pumpkin muffins that I made yesterday, and pumpkin scones that I want to make next week :)

I love that I'm going to be an aunt...I can't wait for my little niece or nephew to get here, so I can spoil them like crazy. I can picture a lot of spend the night parties with my fav little dude or dudette!

I am obsessed with reading right now...just finished Emily Giffin's Something Blue. It's totally a chick read, but I had fun indulging myself! I've got several more serious books that I'm about to start reading, so it's all good.

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What about you? What things do you love right now?

Gracious Words

What percentage of your speech yesterday was negative, sarcastic, or condescending?

This is the question that greeted me in my devotional this morning. Talk about a slap in the face. Not that I consistently smack talk people throughout the day. That’s not the part that got me. What I struggle with is the sarcasm aspect of that question. I don’t know why I love sarcasm so much…maybe because I like to crack jokes, maybe it’s because I avoid being authentic, maybe I should be lying on a couch talking to my therapist about this instead. By the way, I don’t really have a therapist, but I thought that sounded funny there. OK, I think I figured out which one of those it is!

Anyways…sarcasm does not build anyone up. It is not gracious speech. Gracious words do not exist inside sarcasm. Translation…it’s not good. One thing that I do is sarcastically argue with my husband. We aren’t “real” fighting, but we are “play” fighting. What purpose does this have? None. There is no possible way that our “play” bickering can increase the affection we have for each other.

In the book, The Love Dare, I found a great quote about what to do in situations like the one I just described. “More than biting your lip, more than clapping a hand over your mouth, patience is a deep breath.” I love that. Patience is a deep breath. Just take a deep breath and don’t say anything! I need to work on keeping my mouth shut and increasing the gracious things that I say.

“Gracious speech is like clover honey-good taste to the soul, quick energy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24 (The Message)

“Thoughtlessness is a silent enemy to a loving relationship.”

-       The Love Dare

Want to Get Better?

When was the last time you stopped for a moment and took a self-inventory? I have to be honest…it’s been quite a long time for me. I generally know areas that I need to improve in, but I rarely sit down to evaluate my life as a whole.

Last Monday, I lost (significantly) my first tennis match. When I got home, I took about ten minutes to think about what had gone so wrong. Turns out, there were many things! I also thought about how to fix those errors. I wrote it down, and I determined that I was going to try and improve on those things in my next match.

This got me thinking about why I don’t do this for all areas of my life. Physically…mentally…emotionally…spiritually. So, that’s on my to-do list for tomorrow. Here are a couple of questions to help you get started with this inventory:

1. How do I feel physically? Am I getting enough rest, exercise, and nutrients?

2. What am I doing to continually stretch my mental abilities?

3. Have I reacted too strongly in an emotional setting recently?

4. What does my relationship with God look like?

Always ask: how can I improve? This helps you to realize that you can always get better.

Become Dumb

I've got a confession to make...lately, I have been feeling apathetic. And, it's not just confined to one area of my life...it has spilled over into all aspects of my life. I knew that something had been a little "off" for awhile now, and I know the cause of it, too. The only problem is the solution is not in my hands. I tried all summer to "solve" this problem, and it just didn't work. Granted this is something that has more to do with other people making decisions than with me doing my thing. So yesterday afternoon, I decided something:

I AM JUST PLAIN TIRED OF TRYING RIGHT NOW.

It feels like every time I take a step forward...I take two or three back. I know you guys are tired of reading these depressing posts (I'm gonna try and do a pep talk at the end, so stay with me here), so I just want to let you know that I haven't been myself since about May. I hope once everything gets straightened out then I can back to my old self.

I know there are a lot of people going through situations or a season where there is no end in sight. Marathon seasons. Remember this, you can't sprint throughout a marathon. There is absolutely no way that you can run at 100% speed for 26.2 miles. Even professionals slow down during a race...granted their pace is still like 5:00/mi when they slow down, but still!

Take it a little at a time. Turn your brain off for a few hours or so and just forget about the situation. Become "dumb" to it. Maybe when you turn it back on, you'll find that your care was turned back on, too.