Current Inspirations and Announcement!

Maybe it's because I've been spending a lot of time in front of a screen, between studying, keeping up with the blogger peeps, and beta reading/reviewing three totally different but enjoyable stories: Jordy Leigh's soon-to-be-released novella, Isolated; Jesseca Wheaton's latest short story, A Place Called Lonesome, and They're Rugby Boys, Don't You Know? which I received in exchange for a review through this website. My mind is swirling with things I want to share, but every time I sit down to a blank document, the words just don't come. I'll get them out soon enough (I have a feeling God is trying to teach me something with this), but in the meantime, here are some things which have been keeping my inspiration levels up:

Hosanna's new blog page: The Story. If you only check out one of the links in this post, make it this one. I've read The Story a few times now and it still gives me greater glimpses into what Jesus really did for me, for you.

Hosanna and Paige's recent posts about Project Love (Hosanna's here, and Paige's here). This is an awesome project which technically started on the first of June, but it's never to late to love more.

Kara's thought provoking post: What Feeding Your Brain Looks Like. This post is relevant and practical and true - something I needed to read.

When God's Commands are Unpleasant, over on Gloria's blog. I hadn't read anything like this in a while, so it was refreshing, and... convicting. What is my Nineveh?

Another convicting and heartfelt post: For Them/By Them {the lost}.

Elissa's recent posts: His Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Vision, Broken People Sit in Church Pews, and Be. Wow, each one has such a good message.

And this thought out and fascinating post on life by Anna: Have We Been Misunderstanding Life All along? I only recently discovered her blog, and it was a great find.

Emily's poem: Spring Rain. I really like the flow of words in this - it matches the title perfectly.

I also have to mention Julia Ryan's book of her poetry is now available to buy! (See her poems here, and blogs about life here.) I rarely,  rarely, like free verse poetry but Julia's poems are an exception, and I hope to acquire a hard copy of them soooon. Also on that note, Schuyler is publishing her book, War of Loyalties, and she's running a Kickstarter to pay for the publishing, which I think is a brilliant idea. Of course, helping her out means getting the book and other bonuses in the end (unless you live outside the USA like me :/).

This beautiful quote from Kailey Anne's blog:

"There are some questions we will never get the answers to until we reach the other side.  Some things will just never make sense while we're here.  Life burns but it's happy too.  When I was younger I expected life to roll out exactly as I expected.  Woah.. was I wrong.  Things never go as you expect.  I was supposed to be fulfilling my "big" life purpose traveling the world, working an amazing job that I loved.. etc.  It's hard to accept years of seeming emptiness.  But here's something I've learned:  Nothing is ever wasted.  Even if our only response to things is "why?" uttered from the deepest longings and aching of our souls.

It will all make sense someday.  Even if that someday is when we reach the other side."

Ezekiel 34:11-16 & 30-31. There's so much of Ezekiel I don't understand, but that passage speaks to me. If you need encouragement, go read it. God's love for us, his sheep, is overwhelming.

Now the announcement (don't miss this):

My fabulous, awesome, sweet-as-date-pudding-with-icecream, super inspiring, sister Rachel has started blogging! I've had the privilege of hearing her deep spiritual thoughts and lessons from life, and reading her writing, (and yes, goofing around together when we're meant to be asleep), and I'm so excited to see her start reaching out to others through blogging. I know God is going to use her blog: Me, My God, and Maverick. Go help yourself to the amazingness, and see what I'm talking about (or at least find out who Maverick is)!

Thanks for reading this disjointed rambling post, and I hope you have an excellent weekend. What's been inspiring you recently? Any posts or blogs or books I've been missing out on? Have you checked out my sister's blog yet? ;)

P.s This is the first time in over four years blogging I've written a post straight on blogger. Does anyone else write up their posts in Word, or somewhere else, before posting?