When you pull out of your driveway on a summer road trip, tension and anticipation can be high as you face hours together in the car. If you are traveling with kids, life can get complicated fast since they haven't matured to the point where they can control themselves when hunger or exhaustion sets in. Whether you are going on a road trip with kids or just your hubby, there are some fantastic ways that being together in a tight space can become an adventure. Since we are looking forward to several summer road trips, ideas are fresh on my mind to share with you. There is … [Read more...]
10 Essentials to Pack for a Road Trip
When you pack for a road trip and know that you, your husband, and kiddos will all be stuffed into the car for hours on end, the possibility is that there will be squabbles and unhappy campers!! Road trips can be a fun time to bond with your family. Especially if you take the time to pray for your children as you pack your car before the trip begins. So if you are venturing out on the road this summer (or any time of year) you might want to make it an adventure and the best ever trip in history!! You may have already read about the 6 ways for a summer road trip to be grace-filled but … [Read more...]
10 Things to Be Thankful for Your Mom
Are you thankful for your mom? Motherhood is often thought to be a thankless job. If you were like me, you neglected to show appreciation to your mom as a teenager. It often takes until we are in our late 30s or 40s is at that point realize all that our mom went through in raising us. I want this to be a tribute to my mom and all she did for me. I hope this will encourage you to thank your mom if she is still living and encourage you in whatever you are going through as a mom. Sometimes by the time we are old enough to need our mom really badly, she is no longer living and it is too late … [Read more...]
How To Make A Bible Journaling Basket for Your Quiet Time
You know it's time to get up because the sound of your cell phone seems to be piercing the darkness. You want to read your Bible but you don't know where it is and your markers and pens must have wandered into one of your kid's rooms. If only you had your Quiet Time supplies all in one place! I have just the solution for you! A Bible journaling basket for your Quiet Time! You might even offer your child a reward if your pens are returned, right? Sometimes I have had a special space for my Quiet Time and in other seasons that hasn't been possible. Here's the thing . . . even when … [Read more...]
6 Things You Need for Mothering
As a mother, do you feel like a failure by the end of the day as you lay in bed thinking back over your day? There was one thing that I just couldn't wrap my head around when my kids were growing up. I often lived as if everything depended on me. I found it easy to slip into the habit of mothering by 'self-alone' instead of totally tapping into the Holy Spirit's presence in my life. Your success or failure in mothering your kids all depend on you doing everything by God's grace alone. Here are 6 things you need for mothering by grace alone. It was through my own struggles as … [Read more...]
How To Create Simple Flowers For Bible Journaling
If you have been wishing to learn how to become a creative Bible journaler? Drawing simple flowers is a wonderful way to begin! This tutorial will get you started and you will love every minute of it! You might wonder how you can fit journaling art into your day when you hardly have time to read your Bible! I'd love to encourage you to use this wonderful method of drawing closer to Jesus. Would you like to learn how to start? I thought so! Creatively Spending Time with Jesus All I have to do is gaze out my window at the beauty that surrounds me to realize that my God is extremely … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Finding Time to Read Your Bible
Each day, my cell phone lets me know that it's time to get up! There is not much difference between an exhausted mom or the empty-nester desperately trying to find time to read her Bible. Women can easily be pulled away and distracted from finding time to read the Bible. Keep reading and I'll share some tips for making time in the morning. Does this resonate with you, as it does me? It is easy for many little things distracting you from reading God's Word. Babies and toddlers have a way of waking up as soon as you open your Bible. Now that my children are grown, I can clean the house … [Read more...]
Made By Design, A Biblical Perspective of Women {Book Review}
I was thrilled when my friend, Rosilind Jukic who blogs over at A Little R and R asked me to review Made by Design, A Biblical Perspective of Women in Ministry and Leadership written by F. Dean Hackett, PhD. If you know Rosilind as a gifted writer who challenges you to walk with God, you will come away blessed when you read this book that her father wrote. But who is Dr. Hackett? Dr. Hackett is the Senior pastor at LIVING FAITH CHURCH, HERMISTON, OREGON. He also writes for his blog at Foundational. He studied Marriage and Family Counseling at IMI Bible College and Seminary Whenever … [Read more...]
3 Lessons I Learned from My Husband
The three lessons that I learned from my husband were hard lessons because God spoke to my heart. It wasn't like he was intentionally teaching me something but more like I thought "I" was right until I saw the lesson that God had for me. It was an ouch-moment if there is such a thing. Sometimes marriage is so hard. I love my husband dearly and would never know what to do without him. He is my best friend but yet, for some reason, we are opposites at times. He doesn't understand me and more often than I care to admit, I don't understand him. He doesn't understand why I put on … [Read more...]
When You Think There is No Time to Pray
Your day starts off with the baby screaming and there is simply no time to pray. The question isn’t when to pray or how long to pray. I know that you want to pray. Very much so. When you think there is no time to pray, how do you find the time? I am a mom with seven children. I burned the candle at both ends for many years and in fact, I often still do. I would work into the evenings preparing for homeschool the next day and wake up around 5am to nurse a baby and start my day. There isn’t a free moment when you have been up during the night and then wake to a toddler or nursing baby … [Read more...]
5 Reasons to Workout Every Day
Do you workout consistently or only once in a while? Although most of us struggle with staying in shape, it is important to include movement into our routine every day. We are to be doing everything with all our might, strength, and to the glory of God. Here are the reasons to workout, that I found to be important in my life. I did happen to be sort-of-athletic but that kind-of-dissipates as we age and our body changes. When I was in high school and college, I had a love/hate relationship with running. I could easily have been on the track team but my parents thought our family supper time … [Read more...]
How To Handle Interruptions in Your Quiet Time Routine
Interruptions can break your routine and it is difficult to handle them with grace, especially when it happens during your Quiet Time! I have not handled routine breakers with grace much of the time but I have learned enough to share some tips. Interruptions are Routine Breakers! If you have been reading my blog for long, you might know that I raised seven children. A large family caused me to develop a routine. I did say routine and not schedule. I always found it impossible to be on a schedule! Everything was 'good' until there was an interruption and then my day, let alone my … [Read more...]
June Bible Reading Challenge With Scripture Printable
Summertime is here and it's time to dig into God's Word with your June Bible Reading Challenge. There is even a Scripture Printable and a Journaling Page to go along with this month's reading plan that you will just love! Besides, it's totally FREE! Fitting Prayerfulness into Your Summer School is out for the summer and the schedule is gone. Life is more relaxed with a summer Quiet Time Routine to take its place. I want to challenge you this summer to do the 30 Days of Prayerfulness so you learn to be an intense warrior-woman. This challenge is easy to fit into your day because … [Read more...]
5 Powerful Reasons for Praying Scripture
You might have seen encouragement for praying Scriptures as a way to turn prayerlessness into prayerfulness. It is powerful when a woman becomes a warrior in prayer in her closet be it literally a closet or binder where she records her requests and prayers. Today I am excited to delve into prayer again as I continually ask my Lord, "Teach me to pray!" This is the journey I want to be on as I include praying the Scriptures in my prayer-time with the Lord each day. I want to grow, not in the words or wordiness that I choose but in the motivations of my heart. My words aren't always … [Read more...]
5 Motivating Reasons to Grab onto God in Prayfulness
Are you moving towards prayerfulness as you grab onto God? The best way is to just start praying frequently throughout your day and say, "Lord, teach me to pray!" I shared my honest struggle with prayerlessness the other day and assumed that you have a similar dilemma in your prayer-life. It seems like the disciples struggled in the same way too. Not that there is any excuse for a lack of enough prayer in your life (mine especially) because when we get a 'D' in prayer, we should just start praying again. Grab onto God with Persistence Is it your prayer that you will pray more and with … [Read more...]