Woo-hoo! Today is a 5-star Friday! Time for me to share  links to great online reading, words that are edifying and share some true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy ideas.

1. Adeye at No Greater Joy Mom offers these “Good Words.” She’s right; words are powerful, as I concur in my own post: “Words I Can’t Edit.”

2. Kevin Deyoung’s “Parenting 001” really cracked me up. It’s so true-to-life, and be sure to stick with it to the last paragraph, which explains his noble aim in parenting.

3. Over at Heart of the Matter, Cindy West’s “Why Study Nature?” provides biblical reasons for studying God’s creation. Her intended audience is homeschoolers, but I think it applies to any parent at home with kids this summer.

4. Speaking of summer, it’s crunch time for making summer plans! In the first part of two, “Summer Goals for Family Fun and Growth” over at Mentoring Moments for Christian Women is an excellent resource when evaluating what to do and what not to do. I am eager to read the second part whenever it goes live!

5.  Another very admirable article on summer — and heaven — and how Christians should view both is “Summer Mindset” by John Piper. I adore this lovely quote: “That’s what summer is: God’s messenger with a sun-soaked, tree-green, flower-blooming, lake-glistening letter of love to show us what he is planning for us in the age to come—’things which the eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love him’ (1 Corinthians 2:9). Don’t fall in love with the video preview, and find yourself unable to love the coming reality.”

I pray that these words encourage and edify you as much as they did me. Enjoy the weekend and your summer, too!