Time for "Bread and Wine"!!!!

This book releases today...

Bread and Wine

I have been a fan of Shauna Niequist ever since I read Bittersweet.

I'm a fan of writers that are real, honest, and open.

Writers that when I finish their book I feel like we could have dinner together,

grab a glass of wine and talk like friends.

You know that feeling? Or am I the only one? HA!

If I finish a book and don't feel like I know the person who wrote it...

TOSS...I'm a lover of stories, real stories, people's raw and real stories.

And Shauna does this so well! I think she might be one of the best today.

So, needless to say...I loved this book.

It's about sharing life with others, letting people into the heart of your home,

opening the doors of you soul and bearing it all.

Bread and Wine is stories and recipes.

But, more then that it's about finding community around the table.

Nourishing your spirit and your body.

I love this! Because Jesus throughout scriptures married the two.

Sitting at a table he told stories, sitting on a hillside he broke bread

and made a miracle, sitting in an upper room he gave

the first communion.

I very deeply feel that the two are connected.

That gathering people to your table will allow them to feel safe,

allow them to be themselves.

And magic moments can happen there.

I'm challenged after reading this book to open my table.

To my neighbor, to my church friends, to my leaders,

even to my own children.

To make our time eating together as meaningful and connected 

as possible.

Practically, I just bought this...

Amazon

It's a box of daily scriptures...promises from the Word of God.

We're going to read one at dinner, talk about it

(which will be about two minutes for my squirmy boys!)

and we'll pray.

We'll ask about the highlight and lowlight of the day.

And we'll be done.

Right now, that's all my little ones can handle. HA!

But, the habit will be there.

We share, we pray, we feed on the Word.

And my prayer is that when they are 15 the table will be a place

they linger at, that feels like home to them.

A place where hearts are shared and uncovered.

A place to find nourishment.

So, there ya go!

Read the book.

Gather people around your table.

And try the recipes!!!

They are so good! I made the dark chocolate toffee...

and it was amazing!!!

A little sea salt on top...mmmmmm.

I wish I has some now!!

So thankful to get to preview this book and share my thoughts on it!

It is released today!! Go get it!

Inching along...

We are inching along...in our adoption process. 

Sometimes it feels so far away.

And some days I'm okay with that...to be honest.

I've got three little ones right here, right now, that need me.

I've got a husband who needs me.

My plate feels full.

Right now I fill out paper work and get fingerprinted

and log countless hours of online training.

My heart wonders. My heart dreams.

But, there are no little ones in a picture by my bed yet.

There are no letters to write to them, no room to prepare for them.

My grace right now is for what is before me.

When it's time to open my heart to these little ones in Africa,

when I see their faces for the first time, hear their names,

my grace will expand. 

My capacity will expand. 

I know this with absolute certainty.

It will begin to take root.

Today at our home study appointment the case worker asked me

what I have learned from the training about adoption.

I told her and then I talked about what I'm learning from others.

Others who have gone before me, paved the way, in my life.

And what I've learned in parenting my biological kids.

I've learned that His grace is enough.

That my portion is pleasant.

That He gives wisdom when we seek Him.

That just when I think I can't take on any more...

God calls me to step out in faith.

And my grace "pasture" expands.

"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; 

surely I have a delightful inheritance"

Psalm 16:6

So long Google Reader...

Oh, man! I have about 10,000 unread blog posts on Google Reader. HA!

Do you love reading blogs? I LOVE them and I've had seasons where I've been following way to many blogs. So, I'm streamlining a bit and pairing down to the blogs I really truly love. I used Google Reader to keep them all in one place...

Then I used my top sites in Safari...but that didn't allow me to follow all the blogs I love.

So, Bloglovin it is!! I've had an account forever and never used it. But, now it's time to make the shift!

What do you use to read your blogs?? Have any favorites that I NEED to add? : )

You can follow me on Bloglovin..
here