I’ve missed you all during my blogging break and it feels so good to pop in here! I cannot WAIT to get back to you all! I want to share that my blogging break has been exactly what I’ve needed. I have taken time to be alone with the Lord and listen to Him. I have taken time this summer to be with my kids and listen and laugh and cry and eat and explore and soak in every precious moment and memory. I took the kids for a week to the beach and did a little getaway with some […]
Read More10 Verses For When You Can’t Sleep At Night
Have you ever spent the night – staring at the clock – calculating how many more hours until you get up and panicking about how little sleep you are getting? Sometimes I fall asleep, but can’t stay asleep. I wake up and my mind starts working too soon and I want to desperately fall back asleep, but I just can’t. I’m in my bed for 7 to 8 hours but not actually sleeping! One thing that has worked – instead of counting sheep – is meditating on God’s Word and repeating certain verses over and over in my head to stop […]
Read MoreNever Lose Your Hope in God
One of the greatest statements of faith in all of scripture is found right in the middle of Job chapter 13. Job says: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” In its context, Job is desiring to approach God to prove his integrity. He knows that if God is not pleased with his desire to approach him, that he could lose his life. Are you in the midst of a trial today where you feel your hope is fading? Do you feel like the light at the end of the tunnel has gone out? David knew this feeling and […]
Read MoreWhen It Feels Like Your World Is Falling Apart
As we open our Bibles to the book of Job and read chapters one through five, the stage is set for the next 37 chapters ahead on our journey. Job is an upright, blameless man and then God allows trouble – from the hands of the enemy – to enter his life and suddenly Job’s world begins to unravel and fall apart. Join me on this video, as I talk about how to navigate our trials when it feels like your world is falling apart and you can’t seem to find the answers to “why.” (If you are reading this in […]
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 MoreOur Fascination with the Amish
Life in our culture moves fast. We have fast cars, fast food, and fast computers. Life in our culture is busy. We have busy husbands, busy children and busy friends. Life in our culture is full. We have full bellies, full closets and full calendars. But sometimes, even with life so very full –we feel… empty. And we wonder what it would be like to have a life that was not so fast paced, not so busy and not so full. I started reading some “minimalist” bloggers in 2013. These were new bloggers to me and I read and […]
Read MoreUnity With Our Sisters in Christ & WLWW Link-Up Party!
Photo credit I love this image above – it is SO powerful. It shows how the two eggs on the outside may differ but on the inside they are the same. I think of my two children – one boy and one girl. On the outside, they are very different and when they fight it makes this mama miserable! All I want is for my two children to GET ALONG! When they play cheerfully for over an hour together without needing a referee, this mom-heart is blessed! You see what’s on the outside is different but their hearts are the […]
Read MoreThe Problem of Envy and Selfish Ambition
The day you were born-again you grew in wisdom. Your eyes were opened to god’s wisdom and your life forever changed. There are many who are wise in the world’s eyes but true wisdom comes only from God. “Wisdom, does not mean knowledge. It does not mean information. It means the application of knowledge with divine power to the reshaping of life, transforming attitudes, transforming behavior into righteousness. Wisdom then is not what I know, wisdom is how I live. And so how I live according to the wisdom of God is a barometer on my spiritual condition.” ~ John McArthur James […]
Read MoreMy First Failure As a Mother
Pictures don’t always tell the whole story. I could post picture after picture of me smiling with my babies or toddlers and you might be tempted to believe that I must have birthed easy children or am some sort of super mom to be always smiling. The reality is I have found motherhood to be a very difficult road. The daily sacrifice and demands of being a mom can be overwhelming at times. The truth is – I have struggled since my first born son came out of the womb! And I have been a reading maniac, trying to figure […]
Read MoreMy Search for the Simple Life
I mentioned in December that my theme word for 2011 is to “Simplify“. I want to slow down and not sleep walk through life. And this video by Ann Voskamp (she was first on my list of top ten favorite bloggers of 2010) captures my heart brilliantly. Please give it 4 minutes – I promise you that it will speak into your soul and WAKE you up if you are sleeping walking through life! (I’ve never cried during a book trailer before but this one moved me because it spoke so deeply to my soul…the pictures are all taken by […]
Read MoreMy Theme Word For 2011
Snap! Christmas was over in a snap this year! I truly can’t believe how fast the hours on December 25th went! All the days of planning, purchasing, decorating, baking and wrapping can fill us with expectations that this world can never fulfill. Don’t get me wrong – we had a wonderful Christmas! But if your Christmas was less than dreamy, it serves as a reminder that all this world offers is empty. We must not always be chasing the next rainbow, the next high, the next good thing, rather than chasing our Savior. Nothing this world offers can satisfy our […]
Read MoreThis Means War!
Ready or not – here comes Christmas! This is it! This week it all HAS to come together! This is the week that Jesus’ birth is celebrated around the world! There is no day on earth where Jesus gets more attention than on December 25th and you better believe our enemy, Satan, does not like it! He would love to see you buckle under the pressure of ribbons, bows, lights and cookie trays! He would love to see you frustrated and miserable. He does not want this to be a week of peace for you – he wants you to […]
Read MoreBecause We Do Not Rest – We Lose Our Way
Christmas is now less than 2 weeks away and I know that all of our to-do lists are a mile long. And because of our strong desire to make Christmas special and meaningful we women do not rest. And because we do not rest, we miss our target…our target for peace, joy and love. We feel overwhelmed, irritable, frustrated and unappreciated. Emotionally we lose our way. We have been poisoned by the belief that more cookies, more presents, more decorations, more parties, more more more will make us happier. Even when we are pursuing something noble such as serving others […]
Read MoreGirl – You NEED A Bubble Bath
“Go take a bubble bath.”“You should go to bed early tonight and get some extra rest.”“Let me get you a warm cup of coffee, a book and you sit down and take a break.” No one ever says these things to you do they? And so – I’m guessing you rarely do this. You rarely surrender to your weariness. I know this because you are just like me. I mistakenly believe that I can go and go and go like the Energizer bunny without consequence. Electricity has created an artificial day during our nights. And so rather than resting like […]
Read MorePeace On Earth December Challenge – Come Link Up!
The first Christmas Carol was sung by the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14 It was with the birth of Jesus that peace between God and man arrived. He came to die, to offer us forgiveness of our sins, and through our repentance we find peace with God. Yet it is hard to have a peace of mind during this insanely busy time for women. When we lack peace of mind, we lack peace in our homes. In our exhaustion, we become irritable and emotional. God can give us […]
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 MoreTrusting God When We Don’t Understand Why
9/11 brings back a lot of painful memories – shock, horror, sadness, fear. Heroes arose on this horrific day. Firemen sacrificed their lives to save many. God Bless their families. I am also reminded of the amazing story of the widow of Todd Beamer. Todd, a man of faith, courageously led other passengers to overpower their hijackers on flight 93 to thwart the plans of their hijackers. Their plane crashed in a vacant field in Pennsylvania and all on board died that day. Todd is a hero. “I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and […]
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 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 MoreFinding Peace in the Midst of Chaos
On Thursday my video blog was about how God helps us in times of need. An Anonymous commenter said “But practically speaking… what does that mean? HOW does He help us when the baby is sick and the floors are filthy and we haven’t slept in 48 hours and we don’t have help to cook meals. It’s one “theme” I haven’t understood as a Christian.” I repsonded back to her in the comments section and shared with her how our outside circumstances may not change when we cry out to God in prayer – but our inner self – our […]
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