Friday Favorite Things!

I always love seeing what other people are into at the moment, so I thought I'd share with you what's been on my mind and in my hands lately! I would love for you to share your favorites back too.

1. The Happy Hour Podcast with Jamie Ivey
I've never really listened to podcasts before, but I seriously can't say enough good things about this one! I can't stop listening. It's as addicting as your favorite show on netflix. I've got this great drive into work & the gym these days with our new move, so it keeps me fed with all these great resources and inspiration. She even gives you a "how to" if you've never listened to a podcast before and need to learn how to get started. She's friends with some of my favorite authors, and I love the behind-the-scenes everyday life picture you get from listening.

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2. Serial Podcast
Literally this is the second podcast I've ever listened to and I couldn't stop. I love a good murder mystery and this is based on a true story with a reporter that tries to find out if the convicted-for-life felon is truly guilty or innocent. At the end of the show, you get to decide. I still don't know what to think about this particular case, but it's fascinating (and addicting). Warning, it's not kid-friendly content due to language and some graphic details. Listen at your own risk.

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3. Audible Book Downloads
Honestly, I can't say too much about this cause I just downloaded my first FREE book. Joe and I are going out of town this weekend and I got a book I thought we would both enjoy listening to on the drive. Again- I think I'm just learning about this whole "listen in your car" thing and I'm LOVING it. In case you are curious, I downloaded "Through the Eyes of a Lion" by Levi Lusko (I mean have you see Joe's back tattoo?) Levi is a pastor in Montana who lost his daughter at the age of 5 to an extreme asthma attack 5 days before Christmas. He's a wordsmith and I just can't wait to hear his story. I'll tell you more about it after this weekend.

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4. Hello Fresh
If you know anything about me you know how much I HATE cooking. So, in good fashion, I heard about "Hello Fresh" on The Happy Hour Podcast, and decided to try it out. Your first week you get 3 meals (which I only ordered enough for 2 people, cause Lord knows my kids eat like birds right now) and I got $30 off. So the total was only $39 for 3 farm-fresh meals. I'm going to try it out and see how it goes. I also got really enthusiastic and made a recipe binder that's still sitting in my car, ummmm ya. It was a good thought. Plus, I heard about this book "Devotions for a Healthier You" by Katie Ferrell and I stuck it in my Amazon account that Joe and I share, and he surprised me and bought it. I'll let you know how that read goes later. It has yummy recipes, it's just designed cute, and it was on sale, plus it's a hardcover. I love hardcovers.

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5. For the Love by Jen Hatmaker
Speaking of cooking and inspiration. I really, really love the writings of Jen Hatmaker. I think she just speaks my language. She shared about a time in her new book "For the Love" when she decided to start to enjoy cooking. She was a macaroni and cheese, hamburger helper, peanut butter and jelly kind of cook, and then shifted her thinking. Started watching the food network, kicking the kids out of the kitchen while cooking if they were whining and complaining, turned some good music on, and created a process and love for the kitchen. I'm a work in progress, but it really inspired me. PS. I bought 5 copies of the book to giveaway. Let's start today! If you want a chance to win a free copy of the book (Guys, my name is in the back credits, gah!) comment below (on the blog or facebook) with one of your current favorite things! I'll randomly select a winner on Sunday 8/9. The books are shipping on August 18 (the release date of this little treasure.) Pre-order a copy today too! PSS. If you're extra interested, listen to Jamie Ivey interview Jen Hatmaker on the Happy Hour podcast. It's a good one.

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I've got a lot more favorite things to add to this list right now, but I'm going to stop with this and continue next week! Cross your fingers for some more goodies.

Thanks for reading and comment for your chance to win a book!

xoxo

anything story // the hurting never stops

Jennifer Turney accidentally stumbled in our small group in October 2013 at Capital Christian Center in Sacramento, CA. Jennifer had recently been diagnosed with Systemic Lupus and had to resign from her occupation as an Addiction Specialist working for STARS (Specialized Treatment And Recovery Services) but she knew there was more to life than resigning to pain. I was leading a group called MOPS (Mother’s of Preschoolers) at the time and was looking for a way to blend a privileged community of moms with mothers needing a helping hand. Mentor Moms was birthed over breakfast at Ettores (a local bakery), while we shared a passion and a dream to connect the two diverse populations.

Jen & I

Jen's story is quite different than mine. Jen doesn't like talking about the past much because she feels like it highlight's too much of what the enemy has stolen from her. She wants to spend more time on what Jesus has given her instead! However, she survived human trafficking, eating disorders, domestic abuse, drug addiction and homelessness. Beyond that, Jesus came to her. Jesus rescued her! Jesus took all the broken parts of her past and showed up in a big way. He showed her what truth looked like for the first time.

Lupus took away some basic functions of life. Some days it's tricky to brush her teeth, style her hair, get dressed, put on makeup; the pain comes in like a flood and quickly strips her of normality. Other days, she's able to slowly get ready and make it out to a couple appointments. She's currently undergoing a trial-based treatment getting infusions (similar to chemo) every-other-week. She easily could give up on purpose in life. She easily could resign to pain and bed-ridden days. But she's not! She said an "ANYTHING" prayer when Jesus rescued her. She can't stand the idea of mothers never hearing the truth and freedom of Jesus. Though the pain in her physical body can be unending, she always mentions the hurt and the pain in the lives of women in our own Sacramento community that will never end until they are shown love in practical ways through our mentors. She's famous for saying, "I won't stop working because the hurting on the street never stops."

Jen & Laine with Mentee Amber & Kids

Jennifer had access to drug and alcohol treatment centers, transitional living programs, and CPS cases from her previous exposure and employment which helped provide a referral system for the mentees in our group. We were able to quickly create training material, recruit reliable mentors and set up a non-profit organization in the last two years through the good and the bad days of Lupus. Jen is a fighter. She's not going to go down without seeing God do a miracle. We are seeing miracles every day in the lives of our mentees who are overcoming huge obstacles. Even if her physical body is not healed on this earth, she is apart of healing hearts everyday and extending the love of Jesus.

Her story was shared at our Easter services in April 2015. You can watch part of her video here: https://vimeo.com/123719488

Jennifer Turney from Capital Christian Center on Vimeo.

#anythingproject

You can read more about the #anythingproject here: ANYTHING

Follow more of what Mentor Moms is doing on our social networks:
facebook.com/SacramentoMentorMoms
instagram @MentorMoms
twitter.com/MentorMoms

heartalk // capital women

there are seasons in life that come and go. i think the word "season" comes with even more impact and gurth when you become a mom. you travel quickly from infant season to toddler stage to preschool to elementary, etc. to top it all off, our culture puts various expectations on women to do it all and be it all to everyone. it becomes nearly impossible. the guilt piles on and we are left feeling undone, unsuccessful, unfulfilled. so, how to we go through these seasons of life with purpose, feeling free and alive? good question, right?! i don't know the answer, but i'm willing to walk out on the road to finding some peace in each season of life.

mops was a season for me. an extremely effective, growing, learning season. i loved every minute of it and the friendships that were birthed and maintained. but with much prayer, conversations and wisdom from friends and family, that season is over for me. it's time for something new. something fresh. something that can reach more women in this culture that we live in (large population of working moms). and with all that said, we want to join women who are walking through various seasons of life. generationally we can learn from each other. i desire to have people in my life wiser, with more years under their belt having those hard life conversations with truth and honesty. i also desire to walk with those younger than me, full of creativity, the world at their fingertips - how can we collide all types of women? again, i don't have the answer, but i don't want to sit still waiting for something to happen- i want to be apart of the solution.

this all leads up to "heartalk." it's a stirring in my heart and those i surround myself with. it's a desire to gather women from all seasons of life and talk "JESUS." talk about what Jesus is doing in our life. talk about how to include him better and more. talk about real life. the good, bad and ugly. Jesus promises us that we can have life abundantly and live in freedom. i want to take hold of that promise!

more to come. this is just the beginning.

Find out more info or RSVP for the event at: https://ccc.webconnex.com/heartalk

Discipline & Needed Change

My sweet little love decided she was sick of preschool after being in her new class for a couple of months. She's too smart for her own good, and went on a two-week spring of acting out in order for me to get the "preschool suspension" phone call and have to come pick her up. After a couple parent-teacher conferences, we all were wracking our brains for various ways to halt this spree of "sad heart choices" and we came up with plans to work together. (If you are looking for parenting advice, you've come to the wrong spot. I'll share my experiences with you candidly, but I'm not sure you will want to duplicate all the failure along the way.)

In the midst of it all, I sought to find humor in the disturbances. You can't make up the kind of outbreaks that Izzy attempted in seeking havoc in her classroom. My stack of incident reports is going to have to be displayed in her wedding video montage at some point. Her teachers are saints. They truly love her and were trying all kinds of methods to get her to listen. She just wasn't going to have it, because her ultimate desire was to get out of class and spend time with me. She knew what it took to achieve her goal. Act out dramatically (see report). Sit in the principles office (which is a resort to her). Phone mom for an early pick up and get an extra day off due to bad behavior (the best kind of consequence a three-year old could come up with). Don't feel sad for us just yet, this story gets better.

I attempted to share my "real life" parenting mess with the general public for these reasons below:
1. It's quite humorous
2. I enjoyed people telling me "paybacks a $#87!"
3. Some actually suggested good ideas and solutions
4. Some just came along the pity party with me
5. It's quite humorous (again)

I guess you would say most people probably look at my life and surroundings and think I should have this parenting thing all figured out. The good news is, I can't fool any of you. Each kid is uniquely designed and with God's help and guidance, we are doing the best we can. If you've got parenting struggles, know that you aren't alone! It happens to the best of us!

As stated before, the story gets better. My sweet, sweet grandmother (Mary Ann Cole) is an angel here on this earth. After seeing a couple of my facebook posts and incident reports, she called my father with sadness. She didn't think Izzy was capable of such disrespectful behavior. My dad reassured her everything was ok (and that Izzy just isn't saved yet and reminded her of my childhood) and she did what any amazing grandmother would do; she started praying for my dear child. During her prayer time, God gave her a new creative idea (seriously God-breathed). She asked me if she could pick Izzy up a couple days a week around noon. She would give her some one-on-one time (Izzy's love language would be "quality time") and they could play together. I didn't even hesitate! That would be the perfect solution for my little cherub. She could give her the quality time that I couldn't (I'm a working mom- thank you Jesus!) and it would break up Izzy's week a little.

Needless to say, she's been faithfully investing in Iz for the last three months. They've gone to the salon together, Nordstrom, the grocery story, walks to the mailbox, puzzles galore, coloring and so much more. Since she's been picking her up, I haven't received one incident report. Not one. I can't thank my grandma enough for following God's leading. They've got a special relationship. It's the sweetest. I think God knows what each of us needs. When we ask, he always answers!

Crying in the Costco Bathroom Stall . . .

I have been told that I was a "strong-willed" child. I've also been told that entering into parenting my past faults would come back to haunt me. I guess you could say it's the circle of life or whatever, but the truth is, it's becoming my reality.

Sample Incident Report

Don't get me wrong, my children are amazing! They surprise me everyday with glimpses of hope. But I'm also in the trenches right now. I'm walking through the messy parenting stages of life with a 4 and 2 year old. I cross my fingers daily as I go to pick up Izzy from preschool that she hasn't had a rough day. My stack of incident reports is growing (the only competition is my sister-in-law with my niece Ella- ha). My parent-teacher conferences are getting scheduled more frequently. It's no joke. I'm in the trenches.

I'm sure you are wondering what this all has to do with crying in Costco- so here goes. My cute little family of four adventured to Costco on Saturday before heading to a few family and friend BBQ's last weekend. We had to pick up "the goods." We like to think we have our shopping trips mastered at this point. Joe grabbed a cart and stuck Judah in it. I grabbed another cart and stuck Izzy in it. Divide and conquer, right?! Well, everyone needed to stop for a potty break so we headed to the bathroom. And so it begins. . .

Izzy is smart. Izzy is potty trained. Izzy is independent. She opened a bathroom stall and proceeded to go potty all by herself. I headed to the stall next to her (TMI-sorry) rushing quickly to make sure she didn't have any escapades crawling between stalls (cause that has happened before) I was done and waiting for her to finish. She started taking her time and I was in a little hurry to get our shopping trip done. I knew for sure at this point the boys were so far ahead of us, that I knocked on her door and offered to help her get her pants up. She insisted that she could do it herself which was fine for the first minute that passed. But with the clock ticking, I opened her door to which she responded by screaming loudly in the echo-y bathroom. I continued by pulling up Izzy's pants and carrying her out of the stall to her dismay. Those in the restroom (and outside the restroom) heard her disappointment and frustration. To me, it wasn't that big of a deal (maybe it should have been?). Just a battle of the wills at this point and I was going to win.

Well, I take Izzy up to the sink to wash her hands and she's still upset, but I'm #winning. I guess not only was Izzy upset, but an older woman also became very upset that I wasn't doing anything to put Izzy in her place. Washing her hands next to me, she looks over and says "Aren't you going to do anything about that? You know there is something you can do!" (I'm guessing she's referring to "spanking" her). To which I turn and say, "Thank you," very kindly as to not enter an altercation.  She grabs paper towels on the other side of us and turns to Izzy and says "Brat." I think more than anything at this point I was kind of in shock. No words came out of my mouth. She continued to exit the restroom and then turned around back to me and said, "You know the only reason she is like this is because of you." Still in shock I said, "Thank you, you have been very helpful." And she walked out the door.

She then runs into Joe and asks, "Did you confiscate my cart?" To which he replies (not knowing any of what just went down inside) "No, but your husband confiscated our extra cart and moved down that direction." She muttered under her breath and walked away.

I actually did not end up crying in the bathroom stall (just thought it would be kind catchy) but I know plenty of young, tired moms (without much support) that easily could have ended up defeated and crying in a stall. I probably felt a little deflated, but I won my battle with Izzy (even though it wasn't a quiet win). I explained to Joe what took place and he laughed. He said, their home must be really lame and not filled with much life. I guess the husband was standing by Joe (after the husband confiscated our extra cart) and when Izzy uttered her first frustrated scream the man said "Jesus Christ" to which Joe replied, "No sir. It's not Jesus. It's just Izzy." The man then walked further down the lane to remove himself from the scene of the crime.

Well, I know I don't have parenting figured out. Seriously, I don't. My children don't always listen to me at my first request. Sometimes there are tears, timeouts, spankings (we actually do spank sometimes) but I do try to ask God for help along the way. I know that He has given me my kids for this time in history. I know that He has equipped me to be their mom. To win some battles of wills, but more importantly to teach them that Jesus loves them. That Jesus has created them to show love to those around us. That Jesus has blessed us, so we can in turn bless others. We are walking life out together. I just wish that the nice old lady could have looked at me instead and said "I've been there. Keep fighting the good fight. You've got this."

I hope my little story sparks something in you today! Don't be discouraged. You've got this! My little fighter (her name is Ireland people) is going to be something mighty! This will be a story I can tell her when she ventures into parenting and has one just like her. Good luck!

My everyday life.

MOPS Be You Bravely . . .

MOPS International announced their theme for 2014/15 not too long ago, and everyone is buzzing with excitement. It's a great follow up to A Beautiful Mess. We have wrote out our stories, we have dug down deep to find our callings and what we are good at; now, we get to live it BRAVELY!

Here are just a few graphics we created (with the help of the leaders idea board on mops.org).

Our leadership team is getting ready to start planning our retreat to get away this summer. We are excited about the future, and ready to live Bravely.

Download the PSD (photoshop) files for the images above here from Dropbox:
1. Facebook Cover: https://db.tt/8yRyNSOM
2. 5x7 Postcard Front Image: https://db.tt/ewOfXy4L
3. 5x7 Postcard Back Image: https://db.tt/pirDSx9q

What Does Jesus Say? (Free Scripture Printables!)

Lately, I've been getting asked some tough questions. Questions about grey areas in life. I don't consider myself a Bible scholar by any means, but I keep coming back to the simple thought - "I wonder what Jesus says about that?" This isn't a profound blog by any means today- just something that's been on my mind lately. I want to know what Jesus says. I want His words to matter and change me. Change my thoughts. Change the world. 

I've asked a couple of "leaders" in my life to help me figure out some of these grey areas. Each of them keeps saying to me. Go read the Gospels. The first 4 books of the New Testament. Jesus has a lot of good stuff to say in there. I was thinking they might just give me a quick answer so I wouldn't have to go study on my own, ha- but after pondering those instructions, it's been inspiring me. Bringing some new life to my outlook on how I read the Bible. 

I happened to stumble onto Ann Voskamps instagram account (@annvoskamp) on accident as she was tagged in someone else's post. I'm glad I did. Because not too long ago- she posted this amazing blog about bringing scripture to life. It's long, but it's good! A couple of her quotes that moved me:

• "Is Jesus merely useful to you — or is He ultimately beautiful to you?" When Jesus is merely useful to me, I want Him to move my world. When Jesus is ultimately beautiful to me, it’s my heart that is moved – and this begins to change the world.

• What if Jesus’ Word was more than useful to us? What if it was beautiful to us?

This inspired her to create a project she titled "The Jesus Project" where they are taking 24 verses from the book of John and making them art for the purpose of memorization. Isn't there something so new and fresh about Scripture when it looks pretty? I hope that doesn't mean I'm a little materialistic here, but it's so much more fun to read when it's artistic. So, head over to her blog- you can download the 24 prints for FREE! If you get stuck here and don't know how to print these out, let me know- I'd be more than happy to help give a tutorial on how to print these! (Her blog is long- they are located at the bottom of the page).


Then to leave you with something else. This is a key verse that has become one of my "life verses" lately. I used it in "my story" that I shared at MOPS. Not only is this scripture thing going to challenge me to read the gospels more enjoyably (or fresh) now, but it's also inspiring me to potentially create some more Scripture prints myself. (It's something I like to do in my spare time- at like 2am in the morning, ha!)... 

Stay tuned! God is changing me through His Word and I hope you allow Him to do the same for you! Download my print quality scripture for free here!