Chip Ingram writes: The enemy of our souls wants “To mess your life up. To ruin your relationships. To separate you from God. To make you be emotionally depressed. To cause you to physically go into areas that will ruin your life. I mean, the whole goal of the world system is to destroy you.” The world has a mold and it wants to squeeze you into it! Just look at the magazines at the check-out counter. Promises of better relationships, beauty and business success, sell millions of copies every month. We long to live a better life but this […]
Read MoreThe Power of a Positive Woman in Her Home
Sometimes life throws us a curve ball. As we seek to make our homes a haven, reality strikes — headaches, hormones, financial pressures, and difficult relationships stand in the way of our dreams. Recently, I was listening to a speaker who said, “we should balance every negative interaction with 10 positive ones”. Our negativity can become like a heavy cloud in our homes when we are expressing frustrations (not just about our husband or children) but with the world in general. We can seem unhappy and make others feel like they are walking on egg shells when they are around us. […]
Read MoreMaking Your Home A Haven 6th Annual Fall Challenge
Welcome to the 6th Annual “Making Your Home a Haven” Fall Challenge! If you’ve been around a while – you know all about this series and might already have your candle going right now! I can’t believe we have been doing this for 6 years – it’s been such a life changer! I have been lighting my candle all winter, spring and summer long. It’s my daily habit to light my kitchen candle and then say a prayer for peace in our home. Oh friends, we don’t want to just read God’s word – we want to live out God’s […]
Read MoreHow To Make Your Home Sing!
Last week we had a two-fold challenge, “light a candle and every time you see the glimmer of it pray for peace in your home“. I want to encourage you to keep your candles and prayers going. This week’s challenge is two-fold also: Play soft music everyday in your home. Choose worship, classical or another form of peaceful music that the family enjoys. Focus on using peaceful words and maintaining peaceful relationships. Remind your family to avoid seething anger, tattling, criticism or back talk. Role model gentleness this week. Let’s start with your music choice. If you need […]
Read MoreI Wish I Had a Counseling Degree
There are times I receive emails from my dear readers that contain questions far too difficult for me to answer. When the questions are beyond my experience or studies I often say “I’m sorry I am not a counselor. You need to seek out a pastor, trusted Godly friend or call Focus on the Family’s 1-800 number (1-800-232-6459). I deeply regret this is beyond my expertise.” There are moments I feel inept to write on this blog because I am not a counselor – I just don’t know all the answers and I so wish I did!~ Thankfully there is […]
Read MoreThe Christmas Version of I Corinthians 13
I came across this Christmas poem about I Corinthians 13 – the Love Passage. For me, the week of Christmas can be the busiest week of my entire year. And though I am trying to make it special and meaningful for the family, I often feel like a failure when my patience is short or things don’t go as I envisioned. This poem reminds me of what really matters and what really lasts…Love. If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another […]
Read More3 Ways to Put "Merry" in "Merry Christmas"
The word “merry” means cheerful, joyous, and lighthearted. We all want to create a “Merry” Christmas for our families – but is our family experiencing a wife and mommy who is “merry”? Are you smiling at home? Who you are at home, is who you really are. You can smile at church, smile at your neighbors, smile at strangers in the grocery store – but if you aren’t smiling at home – then that’s who you really are. For the past 12 years of marriage, Christmas has been the season where being “merry” in the midst of the stress from […]
Read MoreDealing With Loss During the Holidays
For some, you will experience your first Christmas without a loved one. Whether through death, divorce or distance you are dealing with loss. I want you to know that you are not alone. I am reminded of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who on Christmas day, 1864, received word that his son, a soldier in the Civil War, had been wounded. Just two years before, Henry had lost his wife in a fire. As this devout Christian man sat alone with his grief, on the most joyful of Holy Days, he penned words of hope to challenge his own despair. […]
Read MoreWill You Choose Joy or Defeat?
Little eyes stare up at me, her head is hot and feverish and she’s thirsty. With her lamby lovie in one arm and her purple blanket in the other she heads to the couch to get some rest and drink from her sippie. I lay a cold wash cloth on her head and the dimple gleams for a moment “thank you mommy.” She chooses joy. Little eyes stare up at me as he begs to play monopoly. Exhausted I answer, “Not tonight dear”. Son’s countenance falls…my heart feels heavy too – “go get the game.” We play, we laugh, we […]
Read MoreI Was a Recipient…
I was a recipient…of a random act of kindness! Yesterday I was grocery shopping in Aldi with both kids. We were in the meat department and the children were buzzing around this poor woman like bees swarming a hive! I asked the children to please stand by the cart – so they did. The woman smiled and said “it’s okay, I have 3 of my own, I know how hard it is.” I apologized and said “well, you are here without them so you deserve a moment of silence and not my kids bothering you. Enjoy your moment.” We both […]
Read MoreVideo Blog: How To Deal With Difficult People
Don’t forget to pause the music on the sidebar! “You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.” – Saint Francis de Sales Walk with the King!
Read MorePraying for Your Children
Last night some friends were over and we made “Prayer Cards” for our children. We printed out the 7 Prayers below and then put them on scrapbook paper and decorated them. Aren’t their cards adorable?! I laminated mine! Parenting is a challenge and we must not try to do it alone! Remember we have access to the God of the universe and we must never fail to pray for our children. Every phase of life has it’s challenges with our children. It seems that as soon as my children are trained in one area they begin to fail in another […]
Read MoreWeight Loss: Self- Control vs. Gluttony
Proverbs 23:20, 21 say “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” Gluttony is eating without restraint. I have never been drunk but I see the correlation between the two. They both cause drowsiness and essentially ineffectiveness for God’s kingdom. Proverbs 28:7 declares, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” And Proverbs 23:2 says, “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.” That’s pretty harsh isn’t it? But […]
Read MoreAre You Gentle?
On April 24th I shared with you all that I had begun a ” 30 Day Gentleness Challenge“. For the last 18 days, 4 moms and I have been keeping each other accountable as we work on displaying the fruit of the Spirit – gentleness – our goal was to work on not raising our voices or speaking harsh words to our children. So every morning we report to each other how we did the previous day. We want to abide by Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” and Proverbs 31:26 […]
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