It’s hard to believe that it’s Friday again. I don’t know if the week seems to go by fast because I mark the end of each one with this post, or if it seems to go by fast because it’s truly going by fast.  Having a little 18 month old mini-me walking around the house, noticeably changed every single morning she wakes up, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s the latter. Time is going by fast.

On Tuesday this past week I took my toddler girl with me to vote. There was a Senate and House seat open here where we live in North Carolina, along with a Supreme Court Associate Justice seat. Typically I don’t think much about voting. It’s one of the many American things I take for granted. But this past Tuesday was different. As I walked out of the small church fellowship hall, the voting location for our area, holding my female toddler, and me of course a female too, the hundreds of girls taken captive in Nigeria flashed across my mind. I smiled at the three people handing out campaign flyers, two men and a young woman, told them to have a nice day, got in my car and started to cry. I couldn’t help it.

Here I was a woman – by the world’s standards, and even history’s standards as far back as the Old Testament, just merely a woman with no real worth or dignity – walking out of a place where I exercised my God-given right to a voice in our country’s political system. And there, on the other side of the world, young girls are enslaved primarily because they were going to school.

Pure grace.

That’s all there is to it. Pure grace reigning down on me from Heaven. Pure grace for being born in a country where the goal is for women to be treated with the integrity that God gave them. No, our country hasn’t always gotten it right. And no, in some ways it’s still not right. But at least I’m not enslaved for going to school. And not only that, I get to vote.

A Lot of Prayer

I love praying for each of you every Friday and over the weekend, and please know that I do. And this weekend I will be praying for you, too. But I want to ask you to join me in praying not for ourselves but for those hundreds of girls who are captured and in slavery. It is so easy for us to disassociate because, to be completely frank, sitting in our comfy homes being in the top three percent of the wealthiest people in the world (even if you’re living at a poverty level in America, you’re still among the wealthiest from a world perspective), it’s impossible to even slightly fathom what life is like in slavery. Plus, it makes us not feel as bad or guilty if we just don’t think about it. But God does not call us to disassociate. He calls us to mourn. This weekend let’s mourn for these precious girls. Let’s cry out to God and plead with Him to give them hope and strength and freedom. Let’s love them in the only way we can – by praying for them. This is the verse we’ll be praying this weekend:

And a Little Encouragement

Sign up now! Starting May 28th we’ll be going through the Bible/book study Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I want you to join me! You don’t have to buy a book! Yes, a book will help you go deeper, but every week I will post study notes and scripture for you to read and work through. All you need to do is go to the private Facebook group here and say “hey”!! Thank you so very much for taking this short survey! And if you haven’t already, please, please take it now!

And here are the links I’ve read this week! Are Christians Romanticizing Risk? by Rebecca Halton – Okay, so this quote from this post says it all,

“There is a HUGE difference between trials and testing that God allows — beyond our control — and sin we choose with our free will. And it seems like every week, there’s a new example of a professing Christian forging ahead with a choice they admit is risky.”

Recently I’ve been asking myself the question why Christians continue to do things they know are outside of God’s will? (Myself included!) These thoughts from Rebecca Halton are very insightful. Plus, I’m happy to share with you that in a few weeks I will be guest posting on her site. Super excited about that, so please be sure to check it out! Questions to Ask When Preparing for Marriage by John Piper Walking the Wedding Aisle Without Your Virginity by John Piper

And Even Some Fun

This week’s Cents of Style Fashion Friday Deal: All scarves are 50% off the marked price with the coupon code MAYDEAL. And several scarves have an additional discount today!  

(These are my affiliate link!)

Praying for you this weekend! Leave your requests below!