Currently: July 2024
The one year anniversary of Currently!
July Recap
If you saw last week’s newsletter, then you know that we moved states! After a month of packing, loading, cleaning, moving, and unpacking, we are so thankful to be getting settled in our new home!
With that being said, this month has certainly held a lot. I feel like I have felt so many feelings in the past few weeks - nostalgic, frustrated, joyful, overwhelmed, excited, stressed, capable, anxious, grateful, confused, determined, tired, and hopeful.
So here’s my reminder to myself, and to you, that these things can co-exist. Life can be beautiful and heartbreaking, fun and scary, overwhelming and so blessed.
Now, let’s get into some fun things from July!
Check out past editions of Currently here!
Reading
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - This literary fiction novel is about a bank robber who fails at robbing a bank and ends up accidentally taking a group of strangers at an apartment showing hostage. It kept me on the edge of my seat and was a heartwarming story about human nature, forgiveness, and seeking to understand others.
Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan - This was such a perfect romance! It is a childhood friends to lovers, closed door, second chance story set on a Long Island beach. The story flip flops back and forth between when Sam and Wyatt, the two main characters, were teenagers and present day, when they are in their 30s. I feel like this dual timeline allowed the book to have all the best parts of a young adult and an adult romance. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read more of Annabel Monaghan’s writing!
Watching
We got rid of our TV this month! I might write a whole newsletter about why we decided to get rid of our TV and how it has affected our lives, but for the purposes of this newsletter, it just means we aren’t really watching anything!
The one thing I am still watching is YouTube. Here are some of my current favorite creators:
Julia K Crist - I love her tech content and her vlogs!
Destiny Sidwell - I found Destiny from reading videos, but I absolutely love her vlogs!
Flourish Planner - Being in a new place and going into a new school year, I have been in a planning mood, and I have loved watching her videos to learn more about digital planning on my iPad!
Lily Ann - Lily Ann is so positive, and I just want to be her friend! She also has such a fun business, and I love seeing the behind the scenes in her vlogs. I recently bought some of her iced coffee coozies, and I love them!
Listening
Audiobook: Funny Story by Emily Henry - I read this book earlier in the year and absolutely loved it, so I downloaded the audiobook to listen to during the long drive for our move. I thought I didn’t like audiobooks, but I had never really listened to a fiction audiobook. I loved this one!
This is Our God by Phil Wickham - These lyrics! “Remember that fear that took our breath away? Faith so weak that we could barely pray, but He heard every word, every whisper. Now those altars in the wilderness tell the story of His faithfulness. Never once did He fail, and He never will.”
Doing
Walking, biking, and running more! One of the reasons we love our new home is because of how easy it is to get outside. There are so many trails and parks that we have just scratched the surface of in our first few weeks here. I especially love being able to ride my bike because that was one of my favorite things to do as a kid!
Learning new ways to use my iPad! I have been drawing on Procreate, digital planning on Goodnotes, and doing logic and sudoku puzzles. While I am always trying to decrease my screen time, my iPad feels like a relaxing and creative space for me that I have really been enjoying!
Setting up my new classroom! I am teaching here in Indiana, so I have spent a couple days (with the help of my amazing parents) getting my new classroom all ready for the school year. I am so thankful for the space and so happy with how it is coming together!
Searching for our new church home! Something else we were excited about in our move was finding a new church home because the Indy metro area is FULL of amazing churches. We have already visited two that were very different but both very promising, and we still have more on our list we want to check out. I am so excited to see where God has us and get involved!
Quote
“Insecure people don’t love well.”
The pastor at one of the churches we visited said this last Sunday. It was by no means the main point of the message. He really just said it in passing. But it hit me in the gut.
When I am insecure in who I am, I am not good at loving other people in who they are.
Loving well means facing rejection. It means taking risk. It means being questioned, and judged.
Loving well takes confidence. It takes security in your identity. And in my experience, a secure identity is only found in Jesus.
I hope you go into this week with confidence to love well.
Thank you for reading!
Take care,
Caroline
Funny Story is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year! I used to never be a fan of audiobooks, but now I love listening on long car rides or while cleaning around the house!
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