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You are here: Home / Archives for Books

Books

Fearless Faith – It’s book release day!

Books, Diary

So I have a new book out today. In case you’re keeping count at home, YES, this is my 74th book to come out in the last ten months. Some days I wonder why I have felt so tired and burned out and all out of words and then I remember I WROTE THREE BOOKS IN ONE YEAR. I realize this is probably significantly less books than Francine Pascal wrote in a year during the height of the Sweet Read More

So what’s everyone reading?

Books

Y'all. This is a big week for me. I mean, for Harry and Meghan. It's the big wedding and in true wedding form, you have some relatives that have decided now is a good time to act crazy banana pants. Royalty. They're just like us. Except with easier access to tiaras. The sad truth is I probably won't even get to watch the wedding until Monday morning because Caroline has a soccer Read More

Book releases and ovens that won’t come clean

Another day, Books

Listen. I don't even know what to say about how y'all have supported Everyday Holy. It means the world to Richard and me. I mean, look what you made happen. I posted that picture on Instagram along with this caption about Richard wanting to rename the devotional book Richard Calling since Jesus Calling is pretty much the bestselling devotional book of all time. And then look Read More

Everyday Holy

Books, Diary

So I have a new book out today. And it's weird because I keep forgetting about it. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I feel like I was just doing all this with Church of the Small Things and now here I am again. Or maybe it's because it's mid-April and we're just in that crazy downhill run to the end of the school year. Or maybe it's because Cardi B. is pregnant and I'm just focusing on Read More

I’ll take “Things I never thought would happen for $500, Alex”

Books

So I never really thought I would write a Bible study. Not because I don't read the Bible and love Jesus and all of that, but more that it just seemed really difficult to write questions and find practical applications and to feel remotely qualified to teach about anything. I am a girl who never won a Bible drill in Sunday School and still can't find Habakkuk or Zephaniah in my Bible on the Read More

Welcome to the world, Church of the Small Things

Books, Diary

Before I say anything else today, I have to express how deeply heartbroken I am for Las Vegas and those who were tragically killed and those who are fighting for their lives in the hospital. My prayers go out to them and their loved ones as we all struggle to wrap our minds around this tragedy. I hadn't heard what happened until I arrived at the T.V. studio after I'd dropped Caroline off at Read More

An excerpt from me about Piper and Mabel

Books, Diary

Merry Church of the Small Things Eve! Is that a real thing? Only if you care. And apparently I do because I got home from church yesterday and spent the entire afternoon cleaning my house from top to bottom. This is not normally how I spend my Sunday afternoons. But it's like I was nesting before my new baby arrives. I can't explain this phenomenon except that somewhere it's triggered Read More

An excerpt from Gulley about Autocorrect

Books, Diary

It is now officially just one week out from the release of Church of the Small Things, which means I am doing a lot of deep breathing and hiding out in my house. I've had October 3, 2017 circled on my calendar and by that I mean that I've had it marked on my iPhone calendar for almost two years so it's a little surreal that it's almost actually here. I guess part of me thought maybe Jesus might Read More

An excerpt by Bops about Bops and Caroline

Books, Diary

Today we have an excerpt read by my dad, also known as Bops. He decided before Caroline was born that his grandpa name would be Pops, but Caroline pronounced it as Bops when she was a little over a year old and so Bops it is. He is the best. Also, this is a picture from about four years ago that is exhibit A of how much they favor each other. There are still a few signed, first Read More

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Who is Melanie?

Melanie ShankleMy name is Melanie and, in some strange twist of fate, I’m also known as Big Mama because I started this blog in July of 2006 when my daughter, Caroline, was not quite three years old and I was in the process of convincing her that BIG girls use the potty and BIG girls don’t have pacifiers, thus she thought BIG was the highest compliment in the land and began referring to me as BIG MAMA.Read More

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Scenes from an Aggie baseball weekend. ⚾️⁣
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This one will go down as a favorite. The Fightin’ Texas Aggies are headed to Omaha. ⁣
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BTHO Everybody! ⚾️👍🏻⚾️
And just like that, her first year at Texas A&M is And just like that, her first year at Texas A&M is over. ⁣
⁣After we moved her out of the dorm last weekend, we looked around the empty dorm room and she said, “This has been the best year of my life”. And because moms know these things, I can attest to that. ⁣
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I loved Texas A&M as a student, but I love it even more as an Aggie mom. What it has given my girl over the last year has been beyond anything I even prayed for. The way she has grown in her faith, the incredible friends she has made, the professors and advisors who have guided her, the experiences she’s had, the Aggies beating Alabama at Kyle Field…it’s all been Ephesians 3:20 in action…more than I could ask or imagine. ⁣
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When she left home at the end of last summer it felt like an ending, but what it has actually been is the most beautiful beginning to the future God has written for her. And it’s a reminder to me that the best prayer we can pray as a mom is, “God, this one is yours. You are the author of her story and I trust you to write an amazing one”. ⁣
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Thanks and Gig’em. 👍🏻❤️

(Photo by @doubllel)
In light of all our construction issues this week, In light of all our construction issues this week, I felt like it was time for a special edition of grown up story time because I remembered I actually wrote about the poor tile job in our shower years ago in Sparkly Green Earrings. ⁣
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This is when it pays to have a written history to help myself  remember I shouldn’t have been surprised by anything that transpired this week.
A friend texted me this photo the other day. It wa A friend texted me this photo the other day. It was taken my last semester at Texas A&M and I’m with a group of friends at a Wes King concert at Wolf Pen Creek. (Shout out to those of you old enough to remember what a gift Wes King was to Christian music in the early 90s.) I had recently found my way back to God after a long hiatus and wasn’t entirely sure how I ended up at this concert with some new friends who wore Jesus t-shirts, but was so grateful to be there because I felt content and happy for the first time in years. ⁣
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The point of this picture is that if you look on the left you will see a young Perry Shankle with glasses wearing a white t-shirt. And if you look on the far right you will see a young Melanie Marino with an aggressive side part. I don’t think we even spoke to each other at the concert that night. No one would have put us together because we were complete and total opposites. And I like to think God laughed knowing what was ahead. ⁣
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A year later, we started dating. And three years from just about the day this photo was taken, we were engaged. And currently, we’ve been married almost 25 years and are cleaning out the attic together today which is the height of romance. What I’m saying is dream big, kids. You never know what is waiting right around the corner, right in front of you, that will change your life. ⁣
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Side note: If you look closely you’ll see that my friend Jen and I are sitting on a blue striped comforter. Perry still sleeps with that exact comforter every single night so what I’m saying is that on that night back in 1994, he had no idea he was with his future wife and a blanket he would treasure, lo, all these years later. God is good. ⁣
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Also, as for the attic clean out, he informed me last night that he did own two horses when we started dating. That’s why there is a saddle in our attic. I had no idea.
Big night out for Mom and Dad tonight. ⁣ ⁣ We Big night out for Mom and Dad tonight. ⁣
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We went to the wedding of the daughter of some dear friends and it was at the same church and the same reception venue as ours was almost twenty-five years ago. ⁣
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We agreed we barely remember anything about that day. It’s all a blur. But we agreed we like each other more now than we did all those years ago when we had no idea all that our life together would hold.  And that feels like a win because I was pretty crazy about him then. ⁣
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Congratulations to the new Mr. & Mrs. Glass! Loved celebrating with you. 💕
Here’s a confession: I hate waiting. I don’t l Here’s a confession: I hate waiting. I don’t like sitting in the unknown. I’m not sure any of us do. ⁣
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The truth is waiting makes me feel anxious as I worry about timelines and what ifs and when I’ll have answers. And it dawned on me today that waiting is really the crux of Good Friday. ⁣
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I think one of the most powerful moments in the Bible is when Jesus is on the cross and with a loud cry breathes his last breath. Mark 15:38-39 says, “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”⁣
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Think about that. The sky has grown dark, the earth begins to shake and then as Jesus cries out with his last breath, we learn that what has been an impenetrable, thick curtain in the temple - there to separate us from the Holy of Holies - tears in two. It’s powerful enough that this centurion, a battle-tested leader in the Roman army, witnesses it and realizes Jesus is absolutely who He claimed to be. ⁣
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Jesus’ death and resurrection are the moments that changed eternity and gave hope when all was lost. The ultimate victory of good over evil. But there was also waiting. ⁣
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The centurion may have realized that Jesus was the son of God, but everyone had to wait to see what that meant. They didn’t know the stone would be rolled away. They didn’t know the crucifixion was just the beginning of a story of hope and redemption. All they knew on Friday was pain and loss and darkness. They had to wait for Sunday and they didn’t even know what they were waiting for…maybe just a small sign of hope. ⁣
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Don’t we do that? Question if He’s good or if He will come through for us? Wonder how things will work out when all seems lost? Is He who He says He is and what does that mean for our life?⁣
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Here’s what I know. Jesus is the wonder our heart is waiting for. He is our peace, redemption, and salvation. He breaks strongholds, takes away our fear and shame, redeems what has been broken and lost. He does more in our lives than we even know to ask for. We are never so broken that He can’t restore us. ⁣
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All that we wait for, all that we hope for…HE IS.

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TexAgs @texags ·

🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚

It's a SIXTH scoreless inning for @NDettmer21 as he works a perfect SIXTH. A&M leads, 5-0 👍

Reply on Twitter 1539344305596268544 Retweet on Twitter 1539344305596268544 7 Like on Twitter 1539344305596268544 101 Twitter 1539344305596268544
Melanie Shankle @bigmama ·

Palisch = Iceberg

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