A Wednesday list...

1. I'm visiting an old friend this week -- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Some friends decided to read it in anticipation of the movie adaptation coming out soon. They asked if I wanted to read along with them, and I am all here for it. I loved this book! I started my re-read last night and even just a few pages in I was transported.

2. I've gotten really into Instagram the past year or so, and one of my favorite people to follow is the children's book author Sally Lloyd-Jones. Instagram is all about photos (and sometimes captions), and Sally Lloyd-Jones' feed is partly adorable pictures people send her of children reading her books, and pictures of nature or architecture -- the kind of picture you take when you're out on a walk and something just catches your eye. She lives in NYC and travels quite a bit, and looking at her pictures are like going for walks around the world with your favorite aunt. They fill a tiny corner of my soul that loves finding art in the mundane.

3. Needtobreathe (my favorite band) recently announced a new tour by dropping a new song that you can either purchase or stream on their web site. Go listen to it...

So good, right? They're coming to Houston in the fall, right around my birthday, which is when they've been in Houston their past few tours. It's basically a birthday tradition, and I am NOT complaining. If you haven't seen them live, do yourself a favor and find a tour stop near you and get tickets. I could listen to their albums all day long, and they are even better live.

4. I've got an idea brewing...I know, I feel like I say that every week. And it's kind of true. I'm trying to stay tapped into my creative writing gene, and keep up the momentum I started building last year. It's life giving (and actually...John Eldredge talks abut that in The Journey of Desire, which I'm still reading and still loving). I'm also trying to use the kids' time at Mothers' Day Out to see if I can channel some of that writing/editing energy into extra income. It's been slow going, to be honest, which keeps me in an almost constant state of re-evaluating my efforts and focus. And to be honest again, all this thinking has become my excuse for getting as active in submitting my finished manuscript to agents. I'm finding excuse because if I don't submit my manuscript, I can't get rejected, right?

5. And for a little Wednesday inspiration, here's another quote from The Journey of Desire:

"The kingdom of God brings restoration. Life is resotred to what it was meant to be...For it to be good againis not for it to be destroyed, but healed, renewed, brought back to its goodness...When he announces the full coming of the kingdom, Jesus says, 'Look, I am making all things new!' (Rev. 21:5 NLT). He does not say, 'I am making all new things.' He means that the things that have been so badly broken will be restored and then some."