Top 7 = QT w/ kids + read the audiobook + "Carolina" rolls

This week I took a few days off exercise, leaned into finishing some work projects, and still made time to read an audio book. 

(Link to your free audiobook below, BTW.)

Here’s the top 7–

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Fitness = Took a few “off” days on the routine… was worth it

First, I decided NOT to exercise for a few days. It was pre-meditated. 

I was tired. 

I was in the middle of a huge push to finish a few projects. 

I decided that my body needed to recalibrate. 

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Finance = Mini worked while John and I fixed the mini-bikes

Last Christmas the boys wanted motorcycles— to ride through the trails around our house. 

We decided we would NOT get motorcycles (too much 💰 if you’re not sure that they’ll like them), but we would get them old school mini-bikes. The same kind I rode when I was a kid. 

After all, if they decided they liked riding the trails, I could always swing back later and get the real deal. 

Plus, the smaller kids can more readily handle a fat-tire mini-bike. 

The only problem with the bikes… is that I didn’t teach them how to properly maintain them. So, we’re creating a system for that (now) just as we did for the yard and everything else…

John Adams, the guy who helped me reach the highest places on the tiny house and helped me finish Bob’s deck Fall 2020, came over to show me about engines. He’s a top notch mechanic.

Here’s Mini waiting to ride, earning some cash, while we work on the bikes…

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Family = Judah = the QT kid of the week + Ivey’s car

Last week, Salter told me he wanted a “Carolina Roll” for dinner when he got back home from his mom’s (that’s a CALIFORNIA ROLL for all you sushi eaters 😂). 

I made sure it was ready…

Then Judah and I ran a few errands. In fact, this week, I spent a BUNCH of time with him. 

Here’s a snap from Tuesday…

That afternoon I received a call from Ivey, “Someone is towing my car! They said I’m parked illegally, but I’m at my own apartment and they’re driving off!”

Turns out, she was right. 

This VERY SHADY company— Birmingham Towing and Recovery— yanked her car. It was after-house at the leasing agent, so we went to the towing company…

After they hung up on me three times— while just trying to get the info from them as to why they took the car, where it is, and how to get it back (without filing a police report)— they gave me an address.

While at the tow station I told the worker, “It seems like you’re just grabbing cars from places that have a sign that says they will tow… she actually has a lease there.”

“It says you have to have a permit placed on your rear view mirror.”

“It doesn’t,” I told him. “I just looked at the lease.”

“Well we work for the city— so it’s not.”

I called the police department— just to check.

“I’ve heard of that company,” the officer told me. “We get complaints about them ALL THE TIME. They do NOT work for us.”

I retrieved the car and assured the tow company they would hear back from me— via an attorney. 

Judah rode with me to grab the vehicle for Ivey, so we stopped at Taco Bell on the way back. We were nice to the guys at the checkout, who gave us free food, offered Judah a “freeze” (read: slushee-type drink), and more…

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Field = read the Stronger audiobook, all day, Saturday 

Saturday, I read the entire book— all about “Biblical insights for men on masculinity and spiritual leadership.”

The title comes from one of the phrases throughout the book: “Lead Strong + Love Stronger.”

We often presume the two are at odds— but they’re not. They should be, ideally, one and the same. 

The webpage for the book is in process here— www.Jenkins.tv/stronger   

Enter the coupon code STRONGER at checkout for the audiobook-- and it's free!

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Faith = Season shift, from sowing to reaping 

Throughout the past few months, I felt I was sowing… and sowing… and sowing….

… but not a lot of reaping occurred. 

For sure, you always reap LATER and GREATER than you sow. But many times that “lag time” can just get frustrated. After all, like a farmer, you tend and water seeds— seeds which, for a season, remain COMPLETELY under the surface. 

This was one of the weeks where several things came together…

• A few contracts signed
• A few projects hitting visible markers

Here’s one of the books we’ve been working on… 

Transformation is a 4-week study by my friend Kent Mattox, a tool that helps people— 

👉 understand their identity 

👉 align their life with the Kingdom agenda (think about how your car wobbles when the wheels are out of alignment… sometimes, just shifting “your life” into alignment with God’s agenda is equally as liberating— he tells you how in the book)

👉 discover the source of empowerment— to function at a level that exceeds their natural ability by stepping into God’s supernatural capacity 

👉 see exactly where their sphere of influence is, and know out of all of the things you COULD do how to focus and understand what you SHOULD do…

I like that last point… 

There’s never enough time and energy and resources (in our possession) to do everything that we COULD do, but there’s always MORE than enough to do what God’s called us to… the things we SHOULD do…

We posted the first look at the webpage this week, as well….

https://www.lifeoffreedom.site/transformation

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Friends = Full House

This week we had a full house… all week. 

And everyone brought friends. 

Multiple times, I think, we had 13-15 people in the home, overnight… 

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Fun = Minions with Salter + I enjoyed it more than he did

Salter has begged— since the trailers were first released— to go see the new Minions movie. 

So, we did. 

And I liked it more than he did. 

Mini and Beth went, too, so we grabbed dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. 

On the way out, we bumped into this van. I have no idea who owns it, but since it said “Mini” on it, we grabbed an obligatory pic.

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I’m not sure why I have this pic— other than Salter must have slid it to “take over” the remote at some point just before we were starting a movie— and then insisted this photo make it in…

That’s the highlight reel for the week. As you know by now— if you’ve been here before— I try to crank these out once a week. 

I sit down at some point each weekend, ideally on a Sunday afternoon, while planning the week ahead and doing my weekly review of the week behind, and make a few notes. The planner I use— which I designed for the Advance workshops I led for a season— contains journaling prompts for each day where I, generally, jot down 3 things I’m grateful for (as well as some things I could have done better, etc.). 

You can download the planner free at www.Jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF.

Or, purchase it in our online store at https://www.thehilltop.shop/product-page/advance-planner