Worthwhile words for your weekend

The kids may be back in school, but we’re still soaking in some summer. This weekend we’ll be at Kentucky Lake with friends, where we’ll eat well, laugh much, swap stories, spent time on the water, and surely get in the water with a heat index that’s expected to be in triple digits.

We’ve been spoiled with a cooler-than-usual summer, so I feel bad even discussing this heat. But, you know, it’s hard to ignore when sweat is dripping down my back.

So, let’s move on. 

How about some worthwhile words for your weekend?

NEEDTOBREATHE has some great live music I found on the Internet this week. You’re welcome. {And, yes, now I’m way too eager to see NEEDTOBREATHE live in less than a month in Nashville!} I particularly love this version of “Something Beautiful.”

“… And the water is risin’ quick / And for years I was scared of it / We can’t be sure when it will subside / So I won’t leave your side, no I can’t leave your side

Hey now, this is my desire / Consume me like a fire, ’cause I just want something beautiful / To touch me, I know that I’m in reach‘ / Cause I am down on my knees, I’m waiting for something beautiful …”

And now for more somethings beautiful …

I really can’t get enough of Shauna Niequist right now. I’m reading “Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes.” And then there’s this refreshing blog post that supposed to be about what July taught her but encourages me in what God’s teaching me:

“Here’s the good news, new information for a girl like me: I can rest when I’m tired, read when I’m hungry for words, reach out when I’m lonely. I don’t have to be strong all the time, or on all the time, or working all the time. And under that, creating a deep foundation for that, more good news: God made us, he loves us, and he’s inviting us into a way of living that’s drenched in grace, in true rest, in connection and communion with him and with each other.”

Speaking of books, the ever-encouraging Holley Gerth has a new one out. It’s a devotion called “What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days.” I have no doubt it’s packed with truth and wisdom. My copy is in the hands of the U.S. Postal Service somewhere. You can get yours from DaySpring, where the code HGFRIENDS will give you 20% off, or Amazon.

Meanwhile, I can’t stop listening to “Greater” by MercyMe. My kids know I will turn it up every single time it comes on the radio and may even have it on repeat when they get in the car after school.

“Bring your tired / Bring your shame / Bring your guilt / Bring your pain / Don’t you know that’s not you’re name / You will always be much more to me

Every day I wrestle with the voices / That keep telling me I’m not right / But that’s alright /‘Cause I hear a voice and He calls me redeemed / When others say I’ll never be enough / And greater is the One living inside of me / Than he who is living in the world …

Bring your doubts / Bring your fears / Bring your hurt / Bring your tears / There’ll be no condemnation here / You are holy, righteous and redeemed …

There’ll be days I lose the battle / Grace says that it doesn’t matter / ‘Cause the cross already won the war …”

You can listen here.

What’s on your weekend agenda? Have you read or heard anything worth sharing?

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