Fridays are not always the … easiest days of our week, so we thought we might bring a little therapy to your Fridays. Not necessarily of the retail variety either. Because budgets. Instead, we wanted to share all the things with you that bring us JOY.

I won’t lie, sometimes a cute jacket I found 40% off at Target brings me a lot of joy. But most of the time it’s an easy recipe all my kids happily eat, a new worship song that makes me cry in carline, a podcast I randomly come across while wasting time on the internet researching important things. It’s stuff I’ve tried, loved, and kept using. If it doesn’t bring me pure, 100% joy (thank you, Marie Kondo), or if I don’t think it will bring YOU pure joy, it won’t be on this list. That’s a promise.

Here are this week’s Friday (Night Wives’) Favorites:

Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin

A small group of women in the Friday Night Wives Facebook group read this book last month, and I did a very poor job of keeping everyone accountable by finishing the book two weeks late. #stillreallysorry #somuchguilt This book is for any woman who wants to read and study the Bible more often (or start for the first time) but doesn’t really know where to start, or any woman who has read the Bible a thousand times but is wanting to go deeper in her study. Jen is clear, concise, and offers practical examples on how to use her techniques. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, this book has changed the way I view and approach the Bible.

RunBet App

Do you want to get back in shape but you are struggling to find the discipline or motivation? This is the app for you. Here’s gist: the app offers several different “games.” Each game is a running program, typically 6 weeks long. I signed up for a 5K trainer that which requires me to run four times a week and put $40 into a pot, and then it uses a GPS to track my runs each week. BUT HERE’S THE AWESOME PART. As long as I complete all my runs, I’ll get my money back. If I don’t? My $40 goes into a pot for the winners to split amongst themselves (after fees are taken out). You know what hasn’t motivated me to run every morning? My health (or my cellulite). You know what gets my butt out of my house four times a week? The thought of losing $40. It’s sad, but it’s true.

Friends Reruns

Listen, Netflix. I blame you for the fact that it took me two extra weeks to finish that book (refer to #1). If you haven’t watched all the way through since 2004, take it from me: somehow, it’s better fifteen years later. Also, Rachel is about to be 50. What is life.

Kodiak Cakes Pancake Mix

I would think most of us are trying to feed very hungry men. And while my favorite food is chocolate, my husband ismore along the lines of grilled chicken and quinoa. These pancakes are our favorite easy and filling meal. They are “protein-packed,” so they fill him up more than a regular pancake, and you can just add water so they are perfect for the busy season in which we currently find ourselves. Pair with bacon and fresh eggs from the backyard and you’ve got a meal that pleases everyone. They also make these on-the-go snack cup thingies that my husband goes bananas for.

Kara Zimmerman’s podcast Headed Someplace

I binge-listened to this podcast on a six-hour road trip by myself this summer and only stopped because I had a headache from the emotional roller coaster. Headed Someplace highlights stories of real women going through real struggles and the ways they’ve seen God show up. Sometimes, okay most of the time, in crazy, unexpected ways. Kara will make you laugh hysterically and cry alligator tears. Her latest interview with Natalie Yurrita is so stinking good … and I’m now convinced Natalie and I would be besties in real life. (Also, so that I’m being totally transparent, Friday Night Wives has an interview on there … we just don’t talk about it much because I’m SO awkward in interviews.)

So there you have it. Anything you’re familiar with? Let us know if you’ve tried any of these out – we want to know if they bring you joy, too! Happy Friday, friends! Wishing everyone the best of luck tonight (or tomorrow).

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