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About Me

Welcome to Women Living Well Ministries! I’m Courtney and I have been married to my high school sweet heart for 14 years. I homeschool my son and daughter and am a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Evangelism and Discipleship.

After over a decade of leading women’s Bible studies, a Mentorship Ministry, and Titus 2 Workshops at my church, I decided to move my ministry home in 2008 by blogging.

In November of 2009, I received an unexpected email from a producer of the nationally televised CBS Show, The Rachael Ray Show. The producer had stumbled across my blog and invited my husband and I onto the show to share about our marriage, parenting and homemaking. At this time, my blog took off.

My passion to see “women living well”, inspired me in 2010, to start a second website with my highschool BFF Angela, called GoodMorningGirls. There women gather together to dig into their Bibles daily through tech accountability groups called “Good Morning Girls.”

I can also be found here:

Women Living Well Facebook

Women Living Well Twitter

Good Morning Girls Facebook

Some of you may remember when my header looked like this! If you do – then you have been following Women Living Well for a REALLY long time!!! I’m still not sure how people found me that first year…my link was SO long – www.WomenLivingWell-Courtney.blogspot.com That “dash Courtney” part – who does that? lol! What was I thinking when I typed that in? Obviously I had not read ProBlogger yet! But that was my web address when the Rachael Ray Show found me - clearly God’s hand was in that – because they found a needle in a haystack!

So I’m all grown up now with a more mature header and a simple dot org name but the same mission and purpose for writing.

Here’s a 5 minute video of The Story Behind Women Living Well :

In the video, I shared that as a teenager my dream was to become a missionary and take God’s word to the world!!! I had read many missionary stories and I was ready to get my jungle gear and head off to far lands to do something great for God! And I failed. After graduating from Bible school with my 4 year degree, I married my high school sweet heart, got comfy in America and never went. This is something that has haunted me for over a decade. The tears sting even as I type this right now – the sting of failure…the sting of guilt – knowing my life is so cushy while many of my college friends are on the mission field now – right this very minute – facing hardships that I will never know.

At one time, I thought, well maybe it’s God’s will we just financially and prayfully support a lot of missionaries since my husband has been blessed with a good career. Maybe that’s why God gave me this burden…so we sought out missionaries to be committed to…but it didn’t scratch the itch of my teenage dream. I shoved this dream deep down inside and pressed on in life with women’s ministry in my church, evangelism in my sphere of influence and having babies!

Then one day – I started this blog thing…you know – the one with the dash and the bubble bath logo lol! Expectations were low – it was more of an outlet than a ministry…but then something happened…people started reading…more and more people…and emails started coming in from Australia, Scotland, Brazil, Japan, Egypt, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Argentina, Croatia, Hungary…

One day as I looked at the part of my site meter that shows a map where my readers are located…I had a full circle moment and a rush of tears! God had done something beyond my dreams…something unimaginable to me – he had allowed me to “go into all the world” from my kitchen computer! My teenage dreams were coming true – but in a way I could not image as a teenager (peeps – I’m so old they didn’t even have cell phones back then – much less the world wide web!).

So I’m living an Ephesians 3:20&21!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Never stop dreaming great things for God!

Every woman has a dream – from the young girl waitressing in the corner diner, to the mom with 5 kids just trying to survive the day, to the woman with the corner office. God has placed those dreams in his children’s hearts for his glory and though our dreams may not play out as we have planned in our minds – God will use those to guide us to his will for our lives. Be patient, pray and be in God’s word daily and go forward in peace “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6)

Walk with the King!

Courtney

25 Random Things about Me:
1. I am the youngest of 3 girls.

2. I have loved Jesus as long as I can remember – I have excellent parents!

3. I married my high-school sweetheart and we have been married for 14 years.

4. My dream as a little girl was to be a stay-at-home mom – and I LOVE it. I have an 9 year old son and 7 year old daughter.

5. Being a mom has been very humbling.

6. I love Starbucks – Mocha Frappucinos!

7. My favorite hobby is reading – and now blogging!!

8. I love books about marriage, parenting, homemaking, and theology.

9. I hate to exercise – but I do it at least 4-5 times a week.

10. I love facebook and keeping up with my friends there!

11. I went to college in Chicago and dated my husband long distance for 4 years!

12. My husband is the smartest person I know – he has taught me so much.

13. I love Ohio and we are HUGE Buckeye fans.

14. I love all the seasons equally! I love summer – and getting a tan, I love the fall crisp air and football season, I love winter and the beautiful snow and I love spring with the birds chirping!

15. I love my church – and Sundays are my favorite day of the week.

16. I home school my children. We started out using the k12 Curriculum, now we use Classical Curriculum.

17. I love schedules – I love typing them up, living by them and dreaming of the next one!

18. I try to go to bed every night while there is still a 10 on the clock and I try to wake while there is still a 6 on the clock — 7 days a week.

19. I am not a movie buff – so when people start to talk about movies – they lose me quickly!

20. I love people!

21. My life verse is Galatians 6:9 “Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season you will reap a harvest if you do not give up.”

22. I tend to see the glass half full and am a bit of an optimist.

23. I wish I were a better cook and had more organized closets.

24. I love to take photos and scrapbook them – but I am very behind.

25. I feel blessed that you even stopped by this website to read these 25 things. I am praying for you – remember – there is an audience of One to please. God is always watching, He is always listening and He cares for you!

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The Blizzard Blog Hop

January 27, 2011 by Courtney 28 Comments

There’s this HUGE blogging conference happening this weekend called Blissdom. So for all the ladies who couldn’t go we are having a Blizzard Blog Hop. So I’m supposed to introduce myself to the other ladies here and write a post about myself – so here it is!

My name is Courtney and I have been married to my high school sweet heart for 13 years, I homeschool my two sweet peas and I’m a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute. I love Youtubing as you can see on the side bar – and I even ended up on the Rachael Ray Show due to one of those youtubes! Go figure!

I blog from my kitchen and here’s what my little desk lookes like:

And I have my quiet times at the kitchen table here:I LOVE this spot in the kitchen because check out the morning sunrise out this window!

We have no pets – oh well actually we had an ant farm once -I wrote about that here (A lesson in laziness) !

And here is a messy picture of our homeschool room! And my two beautiful students!

So that’s a window into my life. I hope you will choose to join me here as I walk with the King! Every week I write on marriage, parenting, homemaking and my walk with God! Come join me in this journey by following me on Facebook, Twitter, Feedburner or Google(along left sidebar).

Walk with the King!

Filed Under: About Me

What Sundays Were Like In the 1950′s

September 22, 2010 by Courtney 62 Comments

On the Rachael Ray Show I was dubbed a “1950′s Wife“. But my grandmother (pictured above), a mother of 4 (one baby is not born yet in this photo), is the REAL 1950′s wife. She is ALSO a Proverbs 31 woman.

Let’s take a look at what her Sundays looked like compared to ours.

Life was different in the 50′s. In Ohio, there was a Blue Law that required stores and most places of work and business to be closed. This made it possible for most people to be in church. My father recalls that almost everyone went to church. This social expectation even crossed into the classroom. My father recalls his public school 5th grade teacher asking on Monday mornings who went to church and they had to raise their hands. His family sometimes missed and he was a little embarrassed he couldn’t raise his hand – could you imagine that now in our schools?

My grandmother usually spent her Saturdays preparing for her Sunday day of rest. This meant that she cooked her Saturday meals (usually simple hamburgers) plus her Sunday meal (usually a roast and sheet cake). After attending church on Sundays, she merely reheated the prepared food and served it.

Following the meal they spent time with friends and relatives. They would talk and visit all afternoon and then return back to Sunday evening church. My father’s family would often go on a Sunday drive to look at the countryside or skip rocks in a lake.

Sunday dress was very different. Men would not even consider going to church without a suit jacket and tie. Even the little boys (as pictured above) wore suit coats. And on 90+ degree days, in churches with no air-conditioning, the men just sat there sweating. The women also wore their best dresses and shoes and hats too.

What can we learn from Sundays in the 1950′s?

1. Worship must be a number one priority. It has become culturally acceptable to not attend church on Sundays (and trust me no teachers are asking!) or to miss for less than urgent reasons. Sports, amusement parks, boating, or doing yard work is generally an acceptable way in our culture to spend our Sunday mornings. While we do not have a legalistic God – and this list is rather legalistic, I just want to point out that God’s word says these things must not be a “habit”. I do not want to impose needless guilt on anyone – so the question you need to ask yourself is – “is this a one time thing or a habit?” Only you can answer that question for yourself.

Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Acts 20:7 says “On the first day of the week they came together to break bread.”

2. Prepare ourselves for the day of worship. Your temperament on Sundays affects your families and their ability to enjoy Sundays. If your mornings are CRAZY and everyone is on edge because you have not prepared on Saturdays – nor gotten up early enough on Sundays – determine to set time aside on Saturdays to have all your ducks in a row. Proverbs 31:27 says a wise woman “watches over the affairs of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Do not let your idleness on Saturday night effect the Lord’s Day of worship. Be diligent.

3. Make Sundays a family day. Our culture is very active and busy. Families become disjointed as each individual does their own thing. Families are breaking down as a result. Sundays are a great day to slow down and reconnect. Be purposeful in thinking through how you can create a simple day for the family to be together.

4. Dress your best. Now again – here’s where I do not want to cross the line into legalism. I know in many churches jeans are acceptable and God truly is judging our hearts not our outer wear BUT that being said. Put some thought and time into what your family wears on Sundays. If you were going to meet the President today – what would you wear? Be sure you don’t respect the President more than God. More importantly – modesty is a HUGE issue in church today. In the 50′s women were modest in church. If you are a mommy of little ones – be sure your dresses are not too low or too short. Too often men get an eye full when moms are leaning down to pick up babies. I know it can be completely unintentional. Just guard your body and modesty. Double check your dresses by leaning over in the mirror – if cleavage shows – put a tank on under your dress.

I don’t want to return to the 1950′s, but I do think there are a few things we can learn from the Titus 2 women of the 50′s. Try to implement one of these things this Sunday! I’m working on number 2 – being more prepared so the mornings can go real smoothly. What do you need to work on?

Walk with the King!

I am linked up here today:

Word Filled Wednesday’s and Wordful Wednesday.

Filed Under: 1950's Wife, Modesty, Proverbs 31

Comparing Myself to a REAL1950′s Wife

September 8, 2010 by Courtney 47 Comments

On the Rachael Ray Show I was dubbed a “1950′s Wife“. But my grandmother, a mother of 4, is the REAL 1950′s wife. She is ALSO a Proverbs 31 woman. On Mother’s Day we sat in the Cheesecake Factory and I had my notebook and pen in hand and I wrote and wrote and wrote about what life was like in the 1950′s. Here’s some of what I learned.

My grandma had a weekly schedule that my mother rattled off as quickly as my grandmother did!! So this must be where I get my scheduling tendencies - it’s in my genes lol!!!

Mondays – Wash Clothes (by hand in sudsy water, ring it, rinse it, ring it, hang it outside to dry. This took all day.)

Tuesdays – Iron ( Iron everything – shirts, pants, and underwear. There was no permanent press – everything was very wrinkly. This took all day.)

Wednesdays – Mend and work on new sewing projects (She sewed patches onto pants and mended socks. My grandmother sewed all of my mother’s clothes until she reached the middle of high school.)

Thursdays – Cleaning of bedrooms and bathrooms (They only had one car which was normal in those days. Grandpa did the grocery shopping and grandma worked the garden.)

Fridays – Cleaning of living room, dining room and kitchen (Grandma baked every day. She made cinnamon rolls, pies, donuts and cakes from scratch.)

Saturdays – Prepare for Sunday by cooking double meals and giving baths etc. (Grandma always made hamburgers for dinner on Saturdays because they were fast. Then she focused on the Sunday Roast and sheet cake that they would eat after church.)

Sundays – Day of Rest

Grandma’s life was full and busy as she lovingly cared for her family. She served God by serving her family. She worked with eager hands (Prov. 31:13b), she set about her work vigorously (Prov. 31:17), she watched over the affairs of her household and did not eat the bread of idleness (Prov. 31:27). And the most beautiful part was she feared the Lord (Prov. 31:30).

Do I want to be a 1950′s wife? Not really, I certainly do love my modern day conveniences. But if there’s a 1950′s wife I’d like to emulate, it’s not June Cleaver – it’s my grandmother. Her God and her family were of prime importance and her daily priorities show this to be true.

As Proverbs 31:31 says “Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

My grandmother’s works are worthy of my praise. And I pray that my generation too would be remarkable in our care for our families and homes and that we too would be worthy of praise. We must work with eager hands! The world may not praise us but one day our husband and children will rise up and call us blessed and our works will bring praise. So endeavor today to make your God and your family your first priority as my REAL 1950′s grandmother did.

Walk with the King!

I am linked up here today: