Lately I feel like I need to apologize every single time I start a blog post, sort of like that sweet Jennifer on this season’s The Next Food Network Star who can’t so much as boil a potato without telling everyone how sorry, how terribly sorry she is that she maybe didn’t boil the potato quite like they would have liked because she really doesn’t know that much about potatoes except that they are delicious and she enjoys eating them but oh look she’s rambling, she can’t even believe how she’s rambling when she really just needs to describe the potato and she’s terribly sorry about the boiling and the eating and the rambling, ALL OF IT, EVERY SINGLE BIT.

But my word, y’all. I can’t seem to to write anything that has, you know, a point. And points are good when writing. Or “writing,” as it were. And so when I start writing a post that doesn’t have a point – LIKE THIS ONE, FOR EXAMPLE – I immediately feel the need to apologize and beg for your forgiveness.

Not that the begging for forgiveness part wouldn’t be just a smidge overwrought, of course.

So. All that being said.

Yesterday we tackled a mighty big to-do list, the boy and I, and by 11 AM we had conquered the bank, post office and library. The next item on our list was getting Alex a hair cut since lately his hairstyle has been looking eerily reminiscent of David Cassidy circa 1972, and quite frankly I’m not so sure that long, feathered wings are the best look for a five year-old.

(Sidenote: it’s now an hour after I wrote that last paragraph, because thinking of long, feathered wings reminded me of that Showbiz Moms & Dads show that was on Bravo a few years ago, so then I had to consult Google to check in on all involved parties, and I have been clicking away on a gloriously aimless YouTube journey ever since.)

(Addition to sidenote: perhaps this is why I’m struggling with the writing. Because I’m too busy chasing interweb rabbits.)

Anyway. The haircut.

When we walked in the salon I noticed that the girl who usually cuts the little guy’s hair seemed to be squinting, and upon closer inspection I realized that she really wasn’t squinting at all, it’s just that her right eye was almost completely closed. So I asked her if her eye was okay, and she said yes, it was fine, but over the weekend she was involved in some sort of minor accident involving errant fireworks and suffered a scratched eyeball as a result.

And then, in what had to have been one of the most surreal moments of my entire life, that kind girl proceeded to cut my child’s hair with only one eye open, all the while offering him valuable tips on fireworks safety.

The whole experience was so oddly touching and undeniably strange that I didn’t even care what Alex’s hair looked like (and it looked perfectly fine when she finished). I mean, have you ever tried to cut hair in a straight line with one eye completely shut? It cannot be easy, my friends.

We came home after the haircut so that I could turn my house upside down while I looked for a Payless receipt because I needed to return some shoes, and after about thirty minutes of TOTAL OBSESSION, I remembered that I’d put the receipt in the secretary in our bedroom before I left for SheSpeaks, and y’all, when I put my hands on that receipt I sighed with such relief that David actually looked up from his computer, laughed, and said, “This is when I wish that I had a blog.”

I thought it was real sweet that he would want to give the internet a whole new perspective on my crazy.

So Alex and I left the house again to go to Payless and the grocery store (I was in desperate need of Mrs. Meyer’s countertop spray; whatever would I do if I couldn’t make my kitchen smell like geraniums?) and finally around four we returned home so that I could cook supper and gear up for the MOST DRAMATIC BACHELORETTE EPISODE EVER.

So.

Alex wanted to play a game on my computer while I cooked, but when I tried to put the game CD in my disk drive, I couldn’t. This is no doubt related to when I dropped my computer in the airport right before I left for Africa and dented the area around the disk drive pretty badly, but for whatever reason everything has been functional up until now. However, clearly something has happened to jam the disk drive, and as a result of that my computer has gone from needing some minor body work to being a full-on – and much-beloved – Hoopty Laptop.

(Other things wrong with Hoopty Laptop: it will not shut, the fan does not work, the power cord won’t stay plugged in and I cannot run more than two applications at a time without being hypnotized by the colored spinning wheel.)

(Also: F and H pop off of the keyboard if you click on them the wrong way. Or if you click on J and G the wrong way. I think F and H are sort of over me at this point, truth be told.)

So I found a screwdriver and pulled up the frame surrounding the disk drive (I seriously doubt that prying apart the Hoopty Laptop frame with a screwdriver is a Hot Tip in the Mac forums), and I finally managed to insert a CD. I was even able to eject the CD once Alex finished his game, and I didn’t even have to use tweezers to pull it out. I thank the Lord for small mercies.

I would also thank the Lord if someone from Apple emailed me this afternoon and offered me a new laptop for free, which, by the way, is totally not at all likely.

After supper I started watching THE MOST DRAMATIC BACHELORETTE EPISODE EVER, and since I am Very Refined I was enthralled from the get-go. I won’t spoil the ending for anyone, but I have to say that my absolute favorite moment was when Jesse presented DeAnna with a small scrapbook of their time together, and he referred to the scrapbook as A Book of Thoughts.

I have never loved Jesse more than I did in that moment. Because he had some thoughts, and he put them in a book, ergo: A Book of Thoughts.

In fact, I’m contemplating changing the name of my blog to A Blog of Thoughts. Because I have some thoughts, and I put them on a blog, ergo: that title I just mentioned.

And do you know what would be super awesome? If I could take those thoughts and turn them into points.

Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll even have A Blog of Points.

An Unapologetic Blog of Points That I Composed On My Hoopty Laptop.

A girl can dream, internets.

A girl can dream.

As part of our ongoing efforts to convince the five year-old that an indoor activity can actually be fun EVEN IF IT DOESN’T END WITH THE LETTERS “ii,” I pulled out the paints and canvas this afternoon so that the little guy could exercise his inner Picasso.

And apparently, if what I’m seeing on the canvas is any indication, the inner Picasso sitting next to me has quite the thing for brown.

He’s gettin’ his earth tones on. That’s all I’m sayin’.

So anyway. I thought this might be an excellent time for me to share some announcements with the class.

1) Several of y’all emailed me asking if Believing God is available online. And the answer is yes, it is – videos and all. You can find all the info right here, and I’m sure there’s some sassy way several of you could go through the study together. I’d actually love to go through the study again, but I can’t right now seeing as how I’m seriously overcommitted and all.

2) I mentioned Brooke Fraser a few days ago on my links page. LOVE HER. And last night, when I was looking around on iTunes because WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO DO, CLEAN OR WASH CLOTHES OR SOMETHING, I noticed that her most recent CD is an iTunes editor’s choice right now, which means you can download the whole thing for $5.99. Personally I think that is quite the bargain.

3) If you live in the same area that I do, you can find BlawgHer information right here.

4) The Third Day Revelation giveaway will be open until 6 PM central time Monday. Then I’ll shut ‘er down and draw for winners.

5) On the 4th we went to the symphony pops thing in my hometown. It was a typical July night in the Deep South – maybe just a smidge cooler than usual since it was only about 85 degrees with 98 percent humidity. I wore shorts and a tube top.

OH HOW I KID.

I mean, I think we all know that I like to save my tube tops for church.

So I wore shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Mama and Martha wore long pants. No surprise there since neither of them, to my knowledge, has bared a leg in public since sometime around 1974.

But here’s the kicker: do you know what they wore with those long pants on Ye Olde Independence Day? They wore blazers. BLAZERS. Just in case there was a chill in the air.

In Mississippi. In July.

And as I sat there with them I couldn’t help but think that if I too had been wearing a blazer, I would have sweated off fifteen pounds in water weight before the fireworks even started.

Either that or I would have died.

Now do have a lovely Sunday evening.

Yesterday I received an email from a reader named Mary.

Here’s what it said:

You obviously love music and I do too, I just haven’t really listened to Christian music since Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and Carman were practically my only choices. I’m a huge fan of country music and that’s pretty much all I own. I would really love to find some good Christian music to listen to though, I’ve been very convicted lately about what enters my heart through my ears and eyes, and I’m hoping you can help.

Here is the question:

If you had to choose 10 cd’s to take on a cross country road trip (no more than 10!) what would you choose?

Thanks so much!

Oh, Mary – you’re exactly right. I’m slightly obsessed with the music. And about five years ago I really got convicted that I needed to pay more attention to what I was listening to. I still listen to a wide variety of stuff – I like all sorts of music and find it difficult to listen to any one genre exclusively – but I have to say that listening to Christian music on a regular basis has had a huge – HUGE – impact on my thought life.

Also: thanks for the reminder about Carman. Took me right back to youth group circa 1987. Good times.

Anyway, here are the first ten CDs that I thought of when I read your email:

Pagesby Shane & Shane

Alive Foreverby Travis Cottrell

The Best of Passion (So Far)by Various Artists

God Speakingby Ronnie Freeman

Glory Revealedby Various Artists

A Grateful Peopleby Watermark

The Twenty-First Timeby Monk & Neagle

Tell Me What You Knowby Sara Groves

Recollection: The Best of Nichole Nordemanby Nichole Nordeman

So Far: The Acoustic Sessionsby Bethany Dillon

So those are my ten. Until I think of the next ten. And since I’m a huge believer that we shouldn’t let the old hymns fall by the wayside, I’d also suggest having a couple of CDs that feature hymns. Here are two of my favorites:

Greatest Hymnsby Selah

Hymned No. 1by Bart Millard

Not to mention that there is one more CD we should all own because IT IS A CLASSIC, PEOPLE and never goes out of style:

Amy Grant: The Collectionby Amy Grant

Which brings us to thirteen CDs. There you have it. I did the best I could, Mary.

Finally.

I will also tell you that I’ve been listening to the latest Third Day CD for the last few days, and it is EXCELLENT. It’s called Revelation, and I actually have ten (TEN!) of them to share with you, the internets.

So if you’d like to win one of the new Third Day CDs, leave a comment that tells me your favorite road-trip CD. Doesn’t have to be Christian music – any kind of music will do.

Happy 4th, y’all!

This giveaway is now closed.

1) Angela’s jeans are by Juicy Couture. She bought them last year on the sale rack at a department store. So odds are that you can’t buy them anymore. But still. The picture of the jeans should, at the very least, help you to solidify some denim goals for fall.

I believe it’s very important that we solidify our denim goals.

2) The green purse is by Guess and belongs to the other Angela on Travis’ praise team (she sings “Mercy Seat”). She bought the purse at TJ Maxx. I looked on the Guess website and didn’t see it, so I’m guessing it might be tough to find, too.

So basically I’ve teased you with the jeans and the green purse. I do apologize.

3) Here’s a picture of JMom from Lots of Scotts, Melanie and me. I wanted to post it last night but I had some uploading ish-ahs.

Personally, I would like to know how J looks so rested when she has TRIPLETS who are FOUR.

4) And here’s an up-close shot of Kay Arthur’s Bible.

I don’t know why this fascinates me so. But you know how she always says that we need some colored pencils to study inductively? Well I’LL BE DADGUMMED if she doesn’t use colored pencils. Love that.

5) I don’t really have a #5. But I liked the idea of an odd number, so I’m improvising.

Have a great day, y’all.

Yesterday the little man and I hopped in the car and drove to Mississippi. Because I felt that I haven’t traveled enough lately.

But the husband has a super-busy workweek, and I figured that Alex and I could either sit around and stare at each other at home or sit around and stare at each other at Mama and Daddy’s house. Since there are always fresh vegetables here at Mama and Daddy’s in the summertime, it was clearly the better option.

And let me tell you: the vegetables have not disappointed. Mama had a pot of fresh squash on the stove when we got here – squash cooked in just a little bit of butter, salt and pepper – and I don’t know when I’ve eaten anything so delicious. Of course, the squash showed up on the heels of a weekend where the healthiest thing I ate was HOT SAUCE, so I was probably overdue for some real-live produce.

And speaking of the weekend.

Oh, internets.

It was so great. I fully expected – because I’d been to Deeper Still in Nashville back in the fall – that I was going to GET ME A WORD (and DID I EVER) but what I didn’t expect was how the relational side of Deeper Still Atlanta was just going to bless my socks off. It was so fun to meet some of the bloggers who were there, and it continues to amaze me how NOT WEIRD it is to talk in person with people I’ve met ON THE INTERNET.

Take sweet JMom at Lots of Scotts, for example. I’ve read her blog for almost two years, and she is always at the top of my real-life friends’ favorite blogs list. So when I saw her standing in front of our seats Saturday, I could not wait to hug her neck and squeal just a teensy bit. She is a doll.

I also got to meet Kim, who is SO BEAUTIFUL, MY WORD, and even though she’s been to my church several times and we’ve talked on the phone, I’ve never had the chance to see her in person. Such a treat to put a face with the name and the voice.

Melanie and I sat with Amanda and Janelle throughout the weekend, and I’m telling you: they are so precious that they make me want to go back to my 20s and try again. They are beautiful inside and out – warm, gracious, funny – and they are so genuinely sweet that I couldn’t even muster up the slightest hint of bitterness or envy about the fact that they don’t have any wrinkles yet.

Meanwhile this crevice on the left side of my forehead is getting so deep that I can pretty much use it to HOLD MY KEYS.

And I would be totally remiss if I failed to mention that Annie and her sweet mama BROUGHT US LUNCH on Saturday, which was unbelieveably thoughtful considering how the lines for food stretched all the way to Chattanooga and back. I don’t know when I’ve ever been so tickled to see some homemade chicken salad sandwiches and Baked Lays. So good.

I could go on and on. It seemed like every time we turned around, there was a blogging buddy to hug. I loved it.

And then there was Beth.

I mean, you wanna talk about a GodStop? Sweet mercy.

I’m not typically one to be at a loss for words (unless Christy Nockels is in the room, at which point all conversational bets are off), but when I met Beth Friday afternoon, I kept repeating the same two words over and over: “Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.”

STOP. IT.

Because her Bible studies have PROFOUNDLY impacted my life in ways I will never be able to articulate. I mean, I can hardly think about Believing God without getting huge tears in my eyes. You want to talk about something that God used to break down some serious patterns of sin in my life and in my marriage? You want to talk about something that continues to encourage me, by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, to break free of some strongholds?

You want to talk about something that helped me to see that every single thing in my life – EVEN THE BAD STUFF – happens because God allows it and because He, in His unfathomable wisdom, knows that I am better able to serve Him for His glory after I walk through those things?

COME ON, NOW.

Believing God was a turning point for me. It was when I stopped giving lip service to a God I thought I knew and got serious about really getting to know Him through the study of His Word. It transformed my relationship with Him. And it transformed the way I live, because I finally realized that it is only in total surrender to Him that I am free.

So you might say that Beth’s obedience to the calling God has on her life has resulted in some pretty big changes in my life – and Believing God was just the beginning of what has been the wildest, scariest, oh-my-lands-I-have-no-idea-where-He’s-leading-but-you’d-better-believe-I’ll-follow adventure I’ve ever known. It hasn’t been easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it has been WORTH IT. Every single step of the way. I imagine that there are thousands of people who would say exactly the same thing about the impact of Beth’s ministry.

So. All that being said.

Friday night right before the praise and worship music started Melanie and I realized that Beth, Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer were going to be sitting on the row in front of us (since we were sitting with Amanda, we were near the front; otherwise my crazy would’ve never been allowed that close to the stage), and once the reality of that started to sink in, we proceeded to elbow each other in the ribs for the next 30-45 minutes. I was probably the most nervous about the fact that poor Priscilla was going to be subjected to hearing me sing since I was sitting right behind her.

Remember: my singing voice is not intended for public consumption. I can only hope that my tenor-esque monotone wasn’t too much of a distraction.

At one point Beth turned around and told us that she was concerned about her hair, and after we assured her that it looked darlin’, just darlin’, we went on to share what was no doubt the strangest bit of encouragement she had ever received before stepping onto a platform: we told her that the hem on her pants was perfection.

But it was, y’all. It was PERFECTION. And personally I think we should affirm a good hem when we see one.

Not too long after that Kay Arthur stepped away from her seat for a few minutes, and she left her Bible behind. Now I’m a curious person by nature (as Charlene said one time on Designing Women, “I love knowledge. In fact I yearn for it.”), and I couldn’t help but think GOODNESS GRACIOUS I would love to open up Kay Arthur’s Bible and just see what her notes look like inside even though that would be WRONG, ALL WRONG, I MUST REMEMBER APPROPRIATE BOUNDARIES, LORD HELP ME REMEMBER APPROPRIATE BOUNDARIES.

And about that time, Beth turned around, looked at Melanie and me, put her own Bible in an empty seat, and slid Kay’s Bible in her lap. Then she opened it.

For that short little moment, it was like we shared one mind. One silly, mischievous mind.

Because in the midst of 19,000 women who were there to hear her teach, Beth was just another blogger who understood the value of a funny picture. And I loved that.

So yes, the weekend was wonderful for all sorts of reasons: there was praise and worship music that prepared our hearts to receive whatever message God had for us; there was serious teaching from Scripture (Melanie and I are doing recaps this week over at AllAccess); there was conviction falling afresh all over the place. All of those things blessed me straight down to my toes.

But on top of all of that, I was also blown away by the fact there were women at Deeper Still who have grown to love and support each other through this crazy little community we have here on the interweb, whether those women are married, single, working full-time, staying home with their kids, or, you know, teaching the Bible to thousands of women in a sold-out arena.

And you know what, internets? That’s a mighty cool thing indeed.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”- Hebrews 10:23-25

We shall behold them.

Yes, we shall behold them.

Face to face.

In all of their glory.

Oh, they are some SASSY jeans, my friends.

And the weekend? Was phenomenal. In a hundred different ways and for a hundred different reasons. We’ll be posting recaps of the teaching over on the AllAccess blog this week (and maybe next week, too), and I think you’ll be blessed by the messages that Priscilla, Kay and Beth shared over the weekend. So timely, so encouraging and so convicting.

See y’all tomorrow.