5 Friday Favorites: April 24, 2026
It's time for my Friday link up with A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals.
On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick.
Hello, Friends.
Happy Friday! The Skinner fam had the absolute BEST weekend with all of our boys together to watch Drew’s baseball games. Well, to be honest, there was one part that was the absolute WORST. The baseball itself continues to delight me to no end and then promptly smash my heart into 1,347 pieces. Here’s some evidence of the best parts:
So being with my guys was glorious. However, if you read a couple of weeks ago, you know the drill. I start out with a super chill attitude about the games. Drew’s team has struggled here and there this season and we were playing a really good team, so I entered the ballpark with low expectations, remarking on the blessings of all three of my sons being together, the bright sunshine, and the glorious gifts of health and an abundance of Diet Coke. Nothing was gonna get me down.
Then, as this stupid sport tends to do, I got sucked in because we were up 8-4 in the final inning. Only needed three outs to pull off an underdog victory. You can probably guess what happened next. The other team tied it up. Extra innings. sigh
Cue King David: HOW LONG, O LORD? HOW LONG MUST I WRESTLE WITH MY THOUGHTS AND DAY AFTER DAY HAVE SORROW IN MY HEART?
Oh, I’m kidding. Everything’s fine. We hosted some of the guys for a cookout that night and they were all delightful. As some wise person once said, “All’s well that ends with cheeseburgers and whole bunch of chips.”
Here are some other favorites from the week.
Free People Striped Linen Pants
My friend, Keri, wore these adorable Free People linen pants a couple of weeks ago. They come in several color options, both striped and solid. If you’re not up for that price tag these from Amazon are similar.
2.Theo of Golden: A Novel by Allen Levi
There has been a ton of hype about this book. I finally read it this week. In my opinion, the hype is beyond warranted. This is a delightful, deeply meaningful, charming book and I highly, highly recommend it. I found it slow at times, almost methodical in its cadence. It required that I think and sit with the words long after I had finished a chapter. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat. I wouldn’t call it a page turner. I wasn’t in a rush to get back to it every minute of the day. Which seems to me to be the most important and comforting element of the entire story. It is like a deep sigh of relief. 62 chapters of audacious hope. Do not miss it.
3.Justin Bieber’s One Less Lonely Girl plus all the rest of his early songs
The footage of Justin Bieber at Coachella had me running to my Apple Music app to revisit some of his first songs. Singing Baby, Baby, Someone to Love, One Time, Boyfriend, U Smile, and One Less Lonely Girl turned a regular old Thursday into a joyous dance party for one in my bathroom while I was getting ready for my day. It also reminded me of that time I joined my friend, Nancy and some of our neighborhood girls at a Justin Bieber concert way back when I first started this blog. I wrote all about it in a post titled: Ode to Joy: Observations of a 43 Year Old Teenage Girl. And you can tell how long ago it was because I was still typing two spaces after a period. It also happened to be Election Day in November 2012. That seems like a million years ago, doesn’t it?
Anyway, oh the memories. 5 Stars, Highly Recommend Vintage Biebs music for a mood lifter today.
4. Anrabess Short Romper
It was 95 degrees at the baseball game that broke my heart on Saturday, so thank goodness I wore this romper. If you’ve been around here awhile you know I’m a sucker for a romper/jumpsuit/overalls situation. This one is very lightweight and comes in tons of colors. Some of them are up to 58% off. I also like the length because I ain’t no spring chicken and the short shorts days passed me by a long time ago.
5.Some Rambling Thoughts on Acts 3
I’ve been in Bible Studies for over twenty years and I have never studied the book of Acts until this year. This week in my Wednesday Bible Study we focused on Chapter 3 and I couldn’t stop thinking about four verses from that chapter. We had a great discussion about them. I read those four verses over and over again. I read them in different translations. I contemplated them for the whole day. What I’m is saying is I HAVE THOUGHTS. SO MANY THOUGHTS. TOO MANY THOUGHTS. And when I have too many thoughts, I end up spilling them out here. They aren’t particularly profound. It’s just that it continues to amaze me how a few verses stuck in the middle a chapter of a book of the Bible that I haven’t read until this very year can make such an impact on me.
My friend, Brenda, would have this to say about that: “Jenn, that’s how the Holy Spirit works. Duh.”
She might not say “duh”, but she should.
In Chapter 3, Peter and John are going into the temple and they encounter “a man crippled from birth” who was there everyday to beg. Every. Day. The man asked the two disciples for money. Here’s how verses 3:4-7 describe the scene: Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.
The man goes on to walk and jump and praise God. The text says the crowds around the temple were “filled with wonder and amazement” at what had happened.
So the thing that struck me was not the miraculous physical healing. It was not even that Peter and John had the power to do such miraculous healing.
One thing that moved me was the fact that Peter and John “looked straight at him”. And that Peter says, “Look at us.” Our group discussed that the temple court would have been crowded with people. And it is highly likely that those people had been walking by that man for years without looking him in the face. It occurs to me that the man at the temple felt rather invisible, so much so that he probably was too ashamed to meet the eyes of the people from whom he was begging. Peter and John looking at him is a way for them to acknowledge his worth. Peter imploring him to look back encourages the man to engage in a real conversation. Human to human. Peter wants to see the man’s eyes. As followers of Christ, we are called to look at each other through the eyes of Jesus.
How many of us will not look a beggar in the eye? I’ll admit that I rarely do. I pull into the lane farthest away from the median where they stand. I cross to the other side of the street from where they sit. There are plenty of reasonable arguments for not giving money to beggars, but can I not look another human in the face? Can I not allow them that small measure of dignity?
The next thing that struck me was the fact that the man does not even ask for healing. The only thing he thinks he needs is money. He has accepted his situation, perhaps settling into being a victim of terribly bad luck, and seems to be stuck in his role. He “was put there everyday to beg.'“ Everyday his only quest is to ask for money. It simply never occurs to him to think beyond that one goal.
But Peter offers him something more. Better even than silver and gold. And I would contend that what he gets is even better than the physical healing. In an instant this man is fully seen and known by both Christ and the Christians who he has encountered. A man who was an invalid now understands how valid he actually is.
So many of us have tunnel vision. We think that financial success, or popularity, or powerful positions or any number of goals are the things we really need. We get stuck in cycles of striving. I am an All-Star Striver. And so often, I keep chugging along, sweating it out, working myself to exhaustion without ever stopping to look into the face of the only thing that will give me true stability and peace.
That thing? It can’t be bought. We can’t work our way up the ladder to it. We can’t stay up later to find it. We can’t score more points than the next guy to get it.
It’s simply not that hard to come by. We first have to realize that we need Him. Maybe, like the man at the temple gate, we haven’t acknowledged that we even need healing, much less that it is available to us. And once we realize we need it, all we have to do is to look Jesus in the face and trust that He’s looking back.
Today might we lift up our faces and feel Him gazing back at us. Let us believe He sees us. Because He does. And when we truly understand that, then we can rest from the striving and there will be no end to the wonder and amazement we will find.
Have a great weekend, y’all.
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