I shared a couple of months ago that for a while now I have had a dream of sharing some Monday inspiration and encouragement on the blog. Life is hard and I know full well that in the difficult times it can be hard to find inspiration, so a couple of months ago I shared my first post (which you can find HERE and all of the Monday inspiration posts HERE) and I plan to routinely share with y'all different things that I have found to be really inspiring and encouraging from all different genres and hope that it will encourage and inspire you for your week!
{one} Every book that I write is deeply personal in sharing my heart, but none so much as my heart through Lyme Disease as my new book, When Truth Refreshes that released last week. So I am completely overwhelmed to have received notification from Amazon that it stayed in the top 500 books these past two weeks in a couple of categories. Thank you so much for your support of this project!!
AND here is an exciting announcement if you missed my post earlier today!! If you purchase When Truth Refreshes during the rest of the month of May I will send you a copy of Praying through Lyme Disease (the 2nd Edition) that is releasing June 1st for FREE. Simply email me (rebeccaannvandemark@gmail.com) with a confirmed purchase number from where you purchased the book or picture of your receipt and I will send you a copy of Praying through Lyme Disease (the 2nd Edition) in June! If you have already purchased When Truth Refreshes you are still eligible for this! Thank you again for your support of this project!!
{two} I love reading inspiring stories of those who have done unique and amazing things to touch and change the world around them. Here are a couple of my favorites that I read this past week from this article HERE:
"Jeremy and Kaley Carling were unable to have kids of their own so they pursued adoption. But after supporting a woman emotionally and financially through a pregnancy, she changed her mind about giving up her child after giving birth. But their heartbreak has a happy ending: On August 11 they received a call from social services that biological sisters Haven and Indie were up for adoption, and another call about a birth mother who wanted to place her twin girls with the Carlings. They decided to adopt all four kids. “I always felt like we would end up with the children that we were supposed to wind up with,” Kaley told Us. “Now that they’re here, I believe that more than ever.”"
Kasey Simmons, a waiter at an Applebee’s in Little Elm, Texas, was waiting in the checkout line at Kroger supermarket when he noticed the woman ahead of him had been crying. He decided to pay for the stranger’s $17 worth of groceries and gave her his contact info, along with an offer to come by his workplace for a coffee or dessert on the house to talk. The next day, Simmons received a $500 tip on a 37-cent bill for a flavored water. A note on a napkin read, “On behalf of the Sullivan family, I want to thank you for being the person you are. On one of the most depressing days of the year (the death of my father, 3 year anniversary) you made my mother’s day wonderful. She has been smiling since you did what you did.”
{three} Are you traveling to Canada this summer or in the fall? Want to explore any of the parks? Guess what? Canada is celebrating 150 years of Parks and Historic sites and you can receive a FREE park pass to all of the national parks and many of the historic sites in Canada simply by filling out an application. I did this a couple of weeks ago and mine just arrived in the mail this weekend. SO neat! You can find the Free Pass HERE along with more information!
{fourth} Okay, at some point y'all may get tired of me talking about ice skating (*smiles*), but this performance by 17 year old Evgenia Medvedeva at Worlds was stunningly beautiful. She is the first woman since Michelle Kwan to win back-to-back World titles and seriously it is hauntingly beautiful. You can watch it HERE.
{fifth}Since posting the above picture on Instagram several weeks ago I have been receiving emails asking what journaling Bible that I use. I use the ESV Journaling Bible (The Interleaved Version). The cheapest that I have found it for was on Amazon which you can find HERE. If you are looking for the non-interleaved version that looks similar you can find it HERE.
{sixth} Years and years ago when I was graduating from college one of my favorite Pastor's, Alistair Begg preached a sermon entitled "My Times are in Your Hands" from Psalm 31. To be frank these last several weeks have been incredibly difficult and I kept returning to Psalm 31 again and again remembering the truth of those words preached so many years ago. Yesterday, when I went to listen to church online I was delighted to find a couple of youtube videos of a similar sermon with the same title that Alistair preached at a different university. If you are struggling, need encouragement, and are looking for some gentle truth I can't recommend these two sermons enough. You can find part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE.
I hope that you are inspired and encouraged by these six things on this Monday afternoon! What about you? What is inspiring you recently?
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