High Five for Friday

Linking up again with Lauren and From My Grey Desk.  TGIF everyone!

1. Last weekend Knoxville's beloved Tennessee Lady Vols earned their 16th SEC title.  These girls seriously rock.  And I just love this picture of Coach Summit.

2. Tennessee Men earned a #2 seed in this weekend's SEC tourney (woot!).  After their fantastic win over Vandy last Saturday, all of us with orange running through our veins can't help but be excited to watch them play tonight.  Check out ESPN's Joe Lunardi's thoughts on our guys and their chances for the Big Dance.  And how can you not believe in them?  Look at Tatum dunk!


3. This week our small group began its study of Linda Dillow's Calm My Anxious Heart, a book focusing on how women struggle with contentment.  A couple of years ago, my other small group worked through this book, and Dillow's challenging and encouraging words have continued to resonate with me.  Having the opportunity to go through this book again, now with Amber and our girls, is indeed a gift.  As women, we are so prone to worry, to control, to dwell on the "what ifs" and the "if onlys."  Dillow offers an understanding ear but more importantly, she exhorts us to fix our eyes on the Savior whom we can fully trust, fully rely on, and in doing so, we can experience peace beyond all understanding.  This week I have been focusing on the below verses and enjoying the New Living Translation's phrasing:

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. 

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 

Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. 

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."  

Philippians 4:6-7

4. Watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy...again.  For the past few weeks as Doc and I have spent time with one of our favorite families, we adults decided that we should begin movie marathoning, and what better place to start than Middle Earth?  What I love is that we are all equally excited, engaged, and committed to the films, which simply can't be watched in one time slot.  This weekend will be our fourth go around, and I expect we'll see the 10,000 Uruk Hai ultimately fail at Helms Deep.  Then it's off to Mount Doom and Minas Tirith. (I am a full-fledged LOTR nerd and proud of it!)


5. Another English teacher cartoon.  I think this spot on my Friday list will be reserved for such antics, and rightly so.  We all need a good laugh at the end of the week, so here's my effort to offer just that: