It’s been a while since we did this little monthly practice. And by “a while” I mean several months. Ahem.

To be honest, life often blurs together and I can’t remember when I learned x, y or z.

But May held two weeks of traveling overseas and a whole lot of life – good and bad – and I don’t want to forget the little stuff and the big stuff and everything in between.

1. Emma Watson + Beauty and the Beast

Excuse the total fangirl in me, but I CAN NOT CALMLY HANDLE THIS NEWS.

My favorite actress and my favorite Disney movie have collided and March 17, 2017 can’t come soon enough.

2. Ordinary life is our practice.

The above picture is the Valley of Elah and the following words are a reflection from my time in Israel:

The Israelites covered one set of mountains and the Philistines stood ready on the other side. David chose five stones and faced Goliath in this valley. He put on Saul’s armor and then took it off before entering the battle because it didn’t fit just right. He probably could have made it work. Instead, he set down what was made for another and picked up (and used) what he already knew. He had been practicing for years; daily life was his preparation. I bet he was nervous – I would have been. But I bet there was a quiet confidence there, too, because he was ready before the battle began.

Daily, ordinary life is our practice and we probably won’t see it until we’re on the other side of whatever God is preparing us for. Armor might look good and someone else’s story or gifting might look nice, but they won’t fit just right. Live into your story. It was given to you on purpose.

3. Sometimes it’s wise to read the back cover of a book first. (Lesson learned.)

I shared in my newsletter for email subscribers that I never read the back cover until I’ve finished a book. Too often, it gives away the entire storyline. But I may have to change that after reading Colors of Goodbye and sobbing through the first two hundred pages.

Colors of Goodbye, a memoir about holding on, letting go, and learning to walk through grief while determining to live with joy, is one of the most beautifully tragic and tragically beautiful books I’ve ever read. September Vaudrey’s honest writing is exquisite, moving, and comforting. As someone who wrote an entire book about living and loving through the in between seasons of life, including the ones when life breaks and we break and dreams die away, I highly recommend these words to you if you find yourself both holding on and letting go at the same time.

(But you should probably read the back cover first.)

4. The Paris airport has one thing going for it.

This actual sentence came out of my mouth last week: “The only thing I like about Paris are the toilets.”

Now, I’ll admit, this is only taking the airport into account because we didn’t have time to step outside during our layovers. But it was not, shall we say, a pleasant experience.

But. The toilets. They are genius. I know this is silly (and officially the strangest thing I’ve ever blogged about) but for real, it is so smart. Instead of getting germs on your hands, Paris has decided we should all push a pedal to flush. It sounds absurd, but they put the equivalent of a car’s gas or brake pedal on the ground and problem solved — no germs on your hands!

5. May 16th, 2017 has a lot to live up to.

This One Line A Day journal? It’s pretty much been the best thing ever.

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