share four somethings, January edition

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm linking up with Heather for this month's edition of Share Four Somethings, a monthly blog post where we share what we have loved, gleaned, braved and achieved all throughout the month. 

Loved:

I have loved the three times that it has snowed this month. If it's going to snow here, I prefer that it happen in the month of January. Two times it happened on a Sunday and once on a Thursday. It's always so beautiful! 

Once February arrives, I'm usually over the season of winter. It's strange how fast it happens, because I love winter. I love the cold, I love the shorter days and the cozy nights. Sadly, there are years when February and March are our snowiest and coldest times of year here in the good old midsouth. This is proven by the fact that we've had to cancel birthday parties for the boys, because of being snowed in. Graham, Jonah and Noah are all March birthdays. Graham is the eleventh and Jonah and Noah are the tenth. Another thing I've always loved about the month of January is that the whole month feels like a giant time of rest. After the bustle of the holiday season, this always feels good to me. 

Gleaned:

I'm loving our Bible study right now! 

Each week we're studying things like why God made creation the way He did and we're learning about the biblical male and female roles in life and in marriage. When we started this last week, I gleaned some new information about God's creation right at the beginning as we looked at Adam and how he got his start in life. This is a great study and I'm thoroughly enjoying the time I spend doing homework each week. I love our small group time and I love talking about what we all learned throughout the week. I am just a facilitator and we all learn from one another. 

Braved:

Over the weekend, I braved being in a large crowd while out shopping with my mom and sister. I say this like it's a new thing—it's not. I just couldn't figure out what else to say for this word. I will say, I don't love being in crowds very much anymore. People feel a little meaner and more unfriendly than they've ever been before. I usually don't let that stop me, though. I know that people need people to be kind, so as much as I'm able to, when the Lord gives me an opportunity, I try to make the most of that moment. I greet people by name in stores that check me out, I smile, I make conversation, I try to mention the name of Jesus somehow. I don't always do all of those things, but I try to always extend kindness, grace and mercy. 

Achieved:

I'd love to say I've achieved a lot this month, but it wouldn't be true. I did clean out and organize the pantry yesterday! That counts for something, right? Seriously, I've achieved things like reading books, watching movies and seasons of shows on Netflix and HBO Max. Remember how I said this is the month that reminds me of rest? That's a small part of what rest looks like to me. I am updating this to add something my friend Maria suggested and that is writing. I've achieved a lot of that this month, both here and in my journal. I've written here regularly since October, I'm not sure if you've noticed that or not, but since I started my blog calendar in a notebook, I've written one post (sometimes two) every day since then. Before it was more hit or miss. I write them and work them throughout the week and then I schedule them to publish at midnight the next morning. Many of you are early birds! I'm looking at you, Maria! Thanks for your encouragement.

Well, that's about all I've got today, friends. What are some things you've loved, gleaned, braved and achieved this month? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog! Love to all.