An Invitation From Angela…

December 15, 2011 By Courtney 6 Comments

Angela (my Highschool BFF) and me in Dallas, Texas earlier this year

My partner at Good Morning Girls, Angela, is opening her home (via this post) to you…come take a peak at her Christmas decorations and then visit us over at Good Morning Girls as enrollment for the winter session begins TODAY!

Angela writes:

The fall session of Good Morning Girls ended last week so I invited my GMG friends (who all happen to live near me) to come over to my house for a Good Morning Girls Christmas party. What I LOVE about Good Morning Girls is it’s more than just keeping each other accountable to be in God’s Word, we form lasting friendships and when given the chance to get together many do. I’ve received tons of pictures of GMG groups getting together for play-dates, girls nights out or even traveling to see each other face-to-face! Its amazing the bond that can form when women start digging into God’s Word and sharing what they are learning!!!

Before the party started I decided to open my house to all of you as well…..by taking a few pictures. You are welcome here……come sit down, make yourself at home and I’ll grab you a piece of cake! I’m happy you’re joining us!

Please note, I did NOT make this cake!!! My husband and I love to shop at Costco and while you can find good deals there…..you can also pick up this delicious cake! Did you notice I didn’t even take off the plastic bottom?!!! The cake was so heavy I was afraid to!

Come sit down, this is my favorite chair in my house!

I love to add these Christmas ball ornaments throughout my house. Its a simple, easy way to add some color to any room.

My mantel- simple again, all the Christmas decorations I purchased at Target…another one of my favorite stores.

My staircase, I purchased this garland at Costco and just added the red Christmas ball ornaments to give the garland a little “pop”.

My FAVORITE place to sit with my family…..my kitchen table. For those of you who have seen some of my GMG videos…..you’ll recognize this spot! I love it in the winter because of the fireplace. I love it in the fall and spring because of the great breeze that comes in when I open the windows…but most importantly I love this spot because of the ones who sit around it.

I have my manger scene located in my kitchen right next to my table….it’s a great conversation piece and its actually plastic so my girls can play with it…although baby Jesus does tend to do some uncharacteristic things sometimes and Mary has to put him in timeout. Ha!

Well I hope you enjoyed my GMG Christmas party tour! Now lets get started forming your own GMG group! I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this session!

Here’s a few IMPORTANT details:

1. RETURNING Good Morning Girls - please RE-enroll. We wiped clean the old message boards and start new every session. So in order for us to know who is out there and to get an accurate count – we ask that you re-enroll.

2. Ephesians Bible Study gals! Subscribe - We encourage you to subscribe to the feed of GoodMorningGirls.org. Our Monday, Wednesday, and Friday posts will come into your email inbox so you never miss a day!

3. Ephesians Bible Reading Plan & SOAP Print-out sheets coming soon...

4. Can you have a Good Morning Girls group but opt out of the Ephesians Study? Yes, your group may already be in a Bible study together or each do your own thing! The Ephesians study is optional!

5. When do we start? You will begin emailing/Facebooking/Tweeting/texting your groups Sunday, January 15th is a warm-up day just to say “Hi”. The Ephesians Study Week 1 reading will begin on Monday, January 16th!

For NEWBIES! Here’s what you do:

1. Invite your friends to join your Good Morning Girls group – it runs from January 15th-April 15th. If you don’t like email – use Facebook, Twitter or texting!

2. Don’t have friends to invite? Go to the Message Board and find like-minded women there who have already started groups or start your own on there!

How to Enroll:

Click here – then go to the thread “ROLL CALL” and enter your name, city and state, and number of girls in your group.

Can you join the on-line study and not have a group? Absolutely!!! We welcome anyone who wants to join us to study God’s word and we invite you to leave a comment on this post if you are joining us without a group so we know you are here!!! We are curious to know how many follow along without a group (for future studies) – so please let us know you are here!!!

So let’s get Roll Call started! Are you in?

Love God Greatly!

GoodMorningGirls.org

Filed Under: Good Morning Girls, Quiet Times

Winter Bible Study Announcement & WLWW Link-Up Party!

December 6, 2011 By Courtney 11 Comments

The Fall Good Morning Girls session is coming to an end on December 15th…on that same day, enrollment for the winter Good Morning Girls session will begin!!!

The winter session will run from January 15th-April 15th.

The Girls over at GoodMorningGirls.org have been on the edge of their seats waiting for us to reveal our new Winter On-line Bible study!

And the book of the Bible we have chosen to study issssssss…

Ephesians

Angela will be creating a Bible study plan that will be available in January.

We have a special method of studying the Bible we call the “SOAP” method that we will explain in further detail.

So you may be asking, What are the Good Morning Girls all about? Here’s your answer:

And if you still aren’t sure – here’s more details (please note that this is an older video…and the dates are incorrect – the next session runs from Jan. 15th-April 15th and enrollment has NOT begun):

For even more details visit GoodMorningGirls.org today!
But now it’s link-up time! It’s Women Living Well’s Wednesday Link-Up Party!!! Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don’t forget if you join below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (Posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting, homemaking, finances, recipes, organization and more!)

To find the code go to the sidebar – or right click and “save as” the button and then upload it into your post!

Walk with the King!

Filed Under: Quiet Times, Women Living Well Wednesdays

Free Advent Devotionals

November 28, 2011 By Courtney 12 Comments

I am so excited to share with you this free resource titled Reasons for the Season! It is 24 Ready-Made Family Devotions that will put the focus back on Christ and Christmas. Starting December 1st there is a verse, discussion starter, short lesson, activity, prayer and then an optional extra activity that you can do with your children! Fun! !

Kathy from www.toddlerbitesblog.wordpress.com has created this ebook. She sent it to me and I have permission to share it with all of you. I think it’s a huge blessing! I have it all printed out and I’m excited to do the activities with my children.

Simply click on the image above and the ebook will open!

Thank you Kathy for a great resource!

I also wanted to include two other resources for family devotionals:

John Piper’s website, Desiring God, recommends this Advent Guide .

And my friend, Ann Voskamp is offering this Free Jesse Tree Family Advent Devotional to all those who subscribe to her blog.

For many women, the demands of Christmas will be heavy over the next month.

I pray that you will create moments of solitude – alone with Jesus – to recharge your batteries.

I also pray that you will nuzzle your children in closely each night for a time of worship.

Often times we think it’s the shiny ribbons, bows and twinkling lights that the children will cherish when they are grown…but truly it’s those intimate moments of family time together.

Christmas independent of God is empty.

Walk with the King,

Courtney

Filed Under: Holidays, Quiet Times

Teaching Our Children To Study Scripture

October 6, 2011 By Courtney 6 Comments

Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

The kitchen, it’s the place where I feed my sweet ones breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a sacred place where our hearts join as we feast on simple pleasures of temporal food. But it’s also the place where we as a family feast on the eternal truths of God’s word. As we rise in the morning, I open my “kitchen Bible” and we read.Words fall off the pages and fill our starving souls to the brim with hearty words of hope, joy, peace and comfort. And so in the summer of 2010, we felt compelled to write. The goal: to write out the entire book of First John by the end of the summer….

To read the rest of the story visit me at The Better Mom.