It was 1995. I was away at college when my mom said on the other end of the line – “there’s trouble at church. We might be leaving.” WHAT? My beloved church? The one where I had spent all my Jr. High and Sr.High Years learning and growing in Christ. Basically – my most profound years of growth in my spiritual walk that led me to to Bible college. Leaving??? My safe haven away from public school. The place where I sang songs of worship with my best friends, went on missions trips yearly and learned how to share my faith. The […]
Read MoreHow to Deal With Wounding In the Church
Insults hurt from those outside the church but inside the church, the wounding can hurt so much more deeply. The reason is because the church is meant to be a safe place. Over the years, I have experienced my deepest wounds from my church family. I suppose it’s because I trust the people in my church and have assumed that if we are all following God’s Word, wounding should not happen. But it does. Why? Because the church is filled with sinners and the reality is we fail each other. Sadly, I have been naive at times and too trusting. […]
Read MoreBalancing Family & Ministry Webcast + Everyday Confetti Giveaway!
This is it – our final webcast replay of the series! Grab a big pile of laundry to fold and enjoy this 40 minute webcast featuring Karen Ehman as our keynote speaker and Darlene (TimeWarpWife.com) and Ruth (TheBetterMom.com) on the couch as we discuss balancing family and ministry. (if you cannot see this video – click here) Karen is giving away TWO copies of her newly released book titled Everyday Confetti (co-authored with Glynnis Whitwer) Here’s what’s inside Everyday Confetti (isn’t the cover adorable!!!): When a busy woman looks at her calendar and sees a birthday, holiday, or special occasion, […]
Read More“Your Ministry” Webcast & Extra Resources
We have completed Part I of the book. Next week, we will begin Part II on “Your Marriage.” I’m super excited about that!!! This book was written with our inner world in mind – but we MUST not forget that there is a hurting world outside of our home that we are called reach out to and love! So, today we have a treat. Many of you know and love our Wednesday recipe girl – Janelle from Comfy In The Kitchen. She has a warm, inspiring message for you. The first 20 minutes are Janelle sharing her heart and the last 22 […]
Read MoreThe Women Living Well Book Club – Chapter 5 {Never Walk Alone}
Welcome back to the Women Living Well Book Club! Chapter 5 Discussion Image via Sally Clarkson In Chapter 5, I list the 4 ways I have found community, accountability and friendship within the church. 1. Women’s Bible Studies – raise your hand if you have been in a women’s Bible study! Women’s Bible Studies are not all created equally. Depending on the leader, the book choice and the group that attends – experiences can vary. For me personally, this has been a huge piece of the puzzle of my spiritual growth and connection with other Christian women. I LOVE Women’s […]
Read MoreI Need Your Feedback
I need feedback from – you – my faithful readers. Your comments and emails encourage me, teach me, comfort me, challenge me and bless me. Last year was crazy full with the WLW Conference, Webcasts and book launch. I am looking forward to a much quieter year in 2014. I have turned down ALL speaking opportunities and am clearing my calendar for more reading, writing, you tubing 😉 and for you! I plan to attend a few conferences – not to speak – but to get filled up so I have more to offer here. This blogging world has […]
Read MoreBalancing Family & Ministry & Launching a Book
I get asked all.the.time ,“How do you do it all?” My answer – I don’t. As a matter of fact, I have a feeling if we exchanged homes, husbands, kids and calendars there is NO way I could do all you do – you know why? Because God gifted you to do what you do and me to do what I do and if we swapped…I could not fill your space like you fill your space! God created you unique to do what you do and he uniquely pieced together your family with your husband and children to be with […]
Read MoreI’ve been Ruined!
Last November, I sat back and assessed my life and determined – this blog –this “Women Living Well” thing, has changed my life…At first –it seemed to be changing it for the better. It was so fulfilling to be able to connect with women and exchange encouragement. But then it all morphed. Numbers, stats, hate mail, drama, expectations, insults, stress, hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and all sorts of other ugly things came along side this great joy in ministry. And when I took a break in November I was thinking – What have I done to my life? Then, over Christmas, I read in a book about […]
Read MoreHave You Lost Your Edge?
The end of 2012 was really hard for me. In November, I had a little meltdown late one night as my husband and I talked about life. I started crying and just couldn’t stop – which is very unlike me. I think I cried for over an hour. I was simply exhausted and the idea of adding my Christmas to-do list to homeschooling and blogging and book edits — completely overwhelmed me. Of course, it was all so clear for my husband that I should just put the blog on hold till after the book edits were complete (they were due January 2nd to […]
Read MorePics from the Webcast & Where to Watch the Replay!
On Thursday morning I left my house for North Carolina at 6am! I met the blogger Kelly Stamps (far right) in the airport and then we were off to lunch with Lysa Terkeurst and Renee Swope from Proverbs 31 Ministries! Oh – I LOVE these women! After some girl time together in the afternoon – we headed out to a Mexican dinner and then we were off to the set for the taping of the live Unglued Webcast! Squeal! Here’s some pics from our evening: Lysa with one of her amazing assistants! Fun on the set! Kelly in the […]
Read MoreHow To Discover Your Spiritual Gift
Do you remember in Elementary School the “gifted” classes. I had a sister who was in ALL of those classes – she graduated as Valedictorian. I’ve always admired her intelligence – and truly she is gifted. I was the chatty sister – hence I grew up to write blogs!!! Haha! If there was a gifted class at church it would not be exclusive because God’s word says we are ALL gifted! Romans 5:6 says “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” Then it goes on to list some of the gifts which include: serving, teaching, encouraging, leading, […]
Read MoreThe Story Behind Women Living Well & A Vlog
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 […]
Read MoreFamily Ministry and Being Dignified
Yesterday I mentioned that I am headed to speak at Sally Clarkson’s Mom Heart Conference this Thursday. Here’s more from my archives of what I learned at last year’s conference… Family Ministry: Watching Sally’s husband and children come up on the stage one by one and sing, play their compositions they had written on the piano and share their hearts was moving. Sally said that when God called her to ministry this meant that God had also called her children and husband. I have never viewed Women Living Well as a “family ministry” but in that very moment I realized that indeed – not […]
Read MoreI Was Contacted To Have My Own Reality Show
So this production company contacted me to have my own reality show. Okay – you can scrape yourself up off the floor now from laughing because trust me – that’s what I did too! Back in October, I got an email and I returned the call. The company said they were interested in a documentary. That caught my attention and I was very interested. We talked multiple times on the phone as they interviewed me and learned more about my life. (I first verified that this production company was respectable with 2 people in show business). They wanted to know about my marriage, faith, […]
Read MoreWelcome To My New Home Page!
I’m super excited to be “All Grown Up” now!!! I have been blogging at a “Blogspot” for nearly 3 years. This has meant that the address to my blog has been very long and at times hard for people to find. My old address was womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com…long! My new blog address is WomenLivingWell.Org! I moved from an editor named “Blogger” to “WordPress”. The lovely lady who did the delicate move of migrating ALLLLLLL my old blog posts is Erin from Design By Insight. Isn’t she amazing?!!! I was a bit nervous that all my content could be lost but it […]
Read More
