This July has been one of the stormiest months I can remember. Our days seemed to oscillate between over-100 degree heat indexes or storms. I took this picture of the sky right after a storm early in the month.

I didn’t quite capture the beauty I wanted to. But I love the light at the edge of the cloud, which shows more brightly on my phone than it does here. I thought it was a poignant symbolic reminder that storms may seem to come between us and God, but He is always there.

In-between the heat and storms, we had fun celebrating the birthday of our country plus the birthday of my middle son a couple of weeks later.

I mentioned this a few times already this month, but in case you missed it, I had an interview with Kurt and Kate Mornings on Moody Radio Florida to talk about my blog post on regret. Here’s a link to the interview. I started out with some technical glitches, but thankfully everything worked out.

I mentioned on my last Friday’s Fave Five that my husband had discovered this weird but fascinating creature on our patio. It looked like a cross between a bee, a hummingbird, and a moth. My son looked it up, and it’s a hummingbird moth, also sometimes called a hawk moth. Jim took a video, but I can’t upload videos directly unless I invest in the next tier of paid WordPress blogs. But I did manage to capture this photo from the video.

Timothyisms

My daughter-in-law texted me that she asked my grandson, Timothy, where he got his cuteness. He answered, “Mommy.” She said, “Annnd?” meaning, I think, and Daddy. But Timothy said, “And Grandma.” I’m honored to be considered a contributor to his cuteness. 🙂

One night we were playing Uno at our house. Timothy noted that our Uno cards looked different from his. I explained that ours were an older set. Someone else said, “These are classic Uno cards.” Timothy said, “That’s what classic means”–older. 🙂

Creating

This card was for a couple in our church celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary:

The birds, branches, and leaves were made with the Cricut.

This was for Jason’s birthday:

I had an interesting time with this one. I try to incorporate something of the recipient’s interests when I can instead of just making a generic card. All I could think of for Jason is that he liked his family, the Mandalorian, and electric cars (and coffee, but I’ve used that motif in cards several times before). I looked up electric cars in the Cricut image data base, but they didn’t have much of a selection. This one was originally part of a design that had several tiny pieces that I was growing frustrated trying to piece together, then gave up. I tried a couple of other ideas that were ok, but I wasn’t thrilled with. I picked up a scrap that had this part cut out–this was the paper left after I took out the designed part–and I decided I liked it as it was. So I cut it out again and placed it in a better and then cut out the bolt after seeing that incorporated in another design.

This is for a great nephew’s wedding coming up this weekend. I meshed together a couple of ideas I had seen on Pinterest.

The embossing was done with the Cuttlebug. I printed out the “Mr. and Mrs.” on the computer and colored the edges by tapping a foam brush on a silver ink pad and brushing it against the edge of the cardstock.

Watching

I’ve thought about eliminating this category, but I enjoy when others share what they have watched. If you have any good, clean movie or series recommendations, let me know!

Jim likes WWII movies, so we’ve watched a few. One movie we really enjoyed was The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, based on the true story of a Polish social worker who worked with the Polish Underground Resistance and smuggled over 2,000 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto and placed them with other families until the war was over.

We also watched a few old ones. I remember seeing The Great Escape when I was a kid, and it was interesting to watch it with adult eyes now. The Bridge on the River Kwai was good until its very frustrating ending. The Eagle Has Landed was a bit of a disappointment. If I had known it was fictional, based on a novel about German paratroopers trying to kidnap Churchill, I probably would not have watched it. It also had a bit of language, which is not usually a problem with older films. With all of these, it was kind of fun to see actors in their younger days that I had only seen when they were older.

Reading

I’ve enjoyed several good books this month. Since last time I have finished (linked to my reviews):

• Be Compassionate (Luke 1-13): Let the World Know Jesus Cares by Warren Wiersbe
• Be Courageous (Luke 14-24): Let the World Know Jesus Cares by Warren Wiersbe
• Victorian Short Stories of Successful Marriages by Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, and others.
• Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (audiobook), fictionalized account of her short time as a nurse during the Civil War.
• The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron (audiobook), excellent, about two women who secretly work for the Resistance in Paris in WWII.
• Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp. A couple in the American south adjust to each other after the trauma they’ve both undergone in WWII.
• Aging With Grace: Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture by Sharon Betters and Susan Hunt. Excellent, very encouraging.
• Something Good by Vanessa Miller, not reviewed yet. The tag line says, “Three Women. Two Mistakes. One Pivotal Friendship.”
• The London House by Katherine Reay (audiobook), not reviewed yet. A woman is contacted by an old college friend writing an article that exposes her aunt as a Nazi spy. She goes on a search to find the truth.

I’m currently reading:

• Where I End: A Story of Tragedy, Truth, and Rebellious Hope by Katherine Elizabeth Clark
• The Stranger by Melanie Dobson
• O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: Facing Death with Courageous Confidence in God compiled by Nancy Guthrie (not that any of us is facing imminent death, as far as we know. But I saw several quotes from this in Aging With Grace and loved Nancy’s other compilations).
• Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by the Countess of Carnarvon

Blogging

Besides the regular Friday Fave Fives, Saturday Laudable Linkage, and book reviews, I’ve posted these since last time:

• Spiritual Freedom. What we’re saved from and to spiritually when we believe on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
• Objectionable Elements in Books and Films. Some principles drawn from Scripture.
• God Uses Flawed People. Which is good, since we’re all flawed. But we should extend the same grace He has shown to us in our dealings with others.
• Stricter Standards Do Not Always Equal Legalism, nor do freer standards always equal spiritual maturity.

We have a lot to look forward to in August, which my oldest son’s birthday and visit and my birthday.

How was your July?