Friday Slice

My baby turns six today.

{Insert painfully true cliches about time flying and they grow up so fast.}

Hey, they're cliches because they're true.

Six years ago today, I lay in a hospital room watching coverage of

• the anniversary of the Columbine shooting
• the anniversary of Hitler's birthday
• "National" Smoke-out Day

Happy birthday, baby.

After flipping through those channels, we also caught a news story on babies with severe birth defects, and people dying of ordinary procedures in the hospital.

I settled for ABC Family and spent my labor time watching Full House and Gilmore Girls re-reruns.

So, while we're off celebrating six years of awesome-ness, here are a few links for ya.

Writing a Mission Statement--Questions and Themes--Y'all already know I love Renee's blog. She's posting lately on writing a personal mission statement. I've never done that, and I started answering some of her questions in my journal on a whim. Oh mercy. Visit this link if you're feeling a little lost and turned around.

In Praise of My Un-Spectacular, Pre-Pinterest Wedding--"Try as we may, we don't get to custom-build our happiest moments. Instead, they sneak up on us." I love this truth from Rachel Held Evans.

Every Twelve Seconds: Animal Suffering and Normalized Violence--I love that Rachel points out our habit of closing our eyes.

Keeping the Faith as a YA Writer--Over at the Redbud blog, Karen Halvorsen Schreck talks about her upcoming YA novel release. I'm super excited about this book. (And about a million other Redbud releases I can't wait to tell you about!)

Have a great weekend!