5 Friday Favorites: July 31, 2026
It's time for my Friday link up with A Little Bit of Everythingand 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.
Happy Friday, Friends! Steve and I are on our way to the airport to go visit Child #2 in Nashville, so I gotta hustle. We’ve had a great week house/dog sitting and are, as usual, incredibly grateful for generous friends and sweet doggies.
Here are some other favorite things from the week.
A Rip in Heaven by Jeanine Cummins
First of all, a warning that this book is about a brutal crime and above all else is an incredibly heartbreaking story. However, if you find true crime stories compelling this is a very well-written, fascinating book. The author recounts the horrific crime her brother and two cousins experienced in 1991 in St. Louis. I was hooked from the first page.
2.Creamy Corn Orzo
We had dinner at my friends, Jen & Mike’s last week and they served this Creamy Corn Orzo and it was delicious. 5 Stars for a summer side dish!
3.Green Print Maxi Dress
Oh my goodness, I LOVE the look of this dress. I don’t see any reviews and I don’t have it myself, so who knows what the quality is like, but the photos are so pretty. I am a sucker for a green print, but it looks like it comes in several other prints.
4.Trader Joe’s Neroli Blossom Scented Room Spritz
I have no idea if you can still find this at Trader Joe’s because it is a seasonal product, but if you can, I highly recommend it. My friend, Jen, gave it to me and I promise I sprayed it once in the morning, left the house and came back a few hours later and could still smell it. In full disclosure, Drew thought it smelled to perfume-y, but he’s not the boss of me and I would caution you against taking your home fragrance-recommendations from a college boy.
5.The Power of Two or More
This week one of my favorite people in the world had a very serious, difficult and long surgery. The night before her surgery as she traveled to New York for her procedure, I was placed in a text group with some of her close friends - none of whom I know. The only names I recognized among 30ish random numbers were her name and her husband’s. Area codes unfamiliar to me flashed across my phone screen - strings of digits belonging to nameless, faceless people who I may never meet and never know.
And yet, I understood very quickly that all of these nameless, faceless people know the same God that I do. They are all people who believe that this God of ours sees us, hears us and was without a doubt watching over our dear friend. And what I know for sure is that a group of people like that are an awfully bright force in the face of darkness.
I kept the phone close, praying at the sound of each buzz alerting me of another message and hoping for a positive update. When we were told that she was stuck on the tarmac, we begged God to get her to her destination so that she wouldn’t miss her early morning surgery time. For over 24 hours, there was a constant stream of Scripture verses, bold prayers, and encouraging reassurances. In essence, the little rectangle in my hand was bursting with the faith, hope and love of believers all around the country in places I may never set foot, praying the same prayers to the same God.
And while we all desired the same answer to our prayers, deep in the words that flashed across the screen was the trust that our God was a good God and that His plan was a perfect plan whether it aligned with our pleas or not.
So we waited. And we prayed for our will and for His. And we kept those dang rectangles close. At each buzz or ding or chime, we lifted the screens to our faces, breathing out dread and fear and breathing in hopeful expectancy. Finally the text came after our girl had been on the surgeon’s table for over four hours.
Everything went great. They think they got it all. Surgeons are very optimistic. God is great.
And the prayer emojis rained down like manna from heaven.
There is a long road ahead for our beautiful friend. More prayers to be prayed. But as I clicked off my phone that night and lay my grateful head on the pillow, I was reminded of Matthew 18:20.
Wherever two or more are gathered. Indeed.
Y’all have a great weekend.