A Click IS Comfortable! To 'click-off' with other women is the most natural thing to do with special friends at church. As women, we gravitate to our favorite friends with hugs and rapid exchanges in animated conversation. A click can also exclude other women who don't totally fit into our group. They can feel left out and lonely. They might have a real need for encouragement but because they are not accepted, their need goes unmet. The passage we are looking at today in James shows why you shouldn't be in a "click" with women at church. It isn't saying that we shouldn't have special … [Read more...]
Authentic Hearers of God’s Word
Have you ever been following your GPS only to find that it took you to the wrong place? I had that happen a couple of years ago and ended up in a cul-de-sac instead of my uncle and aunt's retirement village. You would think Google Maps could find something as big as that, right? I was totally lost and had to stop at a gas station and ask for directions. Have you ever had that happen and then drive away, promptly forgetting whether your next turn would be a left or right? Today, we are going to continue to look at James' warning to be an authentic hearer by being a doer of the word, and not … [Read more...]
Count it All Joy When You are Suffering the Impossible
God desires for us to have total confidence in His sovereign grace even when we are suffering. More than anything, God is glorified when we have complete joy and satisfaction in Him. (James 1:2-8) Suffering comes in all different ways that most of us hope to never experience. I can't imagine what suffering is really like and feel at a loss in writing about it. The ways that I have 'suffered' are nothing compared to what you might have experienced and usually, there is someone who has experienced far worse! We are never fully prepared for the 'bad' things that come in life. I could … [Read more...]
How To Face Your Trials with Joy
Facing your trials with joy is an unnatural thing to do. James is writing this letter to encourage Believers on how to face your trials with joy. Welcome to the study of the book of James!! I am so glad that you are here and I hope you will be totally blessed beyond anything that you could ever imagine! I hope that you will take advantage of the resources that I am including in this study. There is a worksheet for each week to help you apply what you are learning. I might even include some Bible Journaling Art ideas to stretch your study to a new level. I want this study of the book of … [Read more...]
Weight Loss Motivation How to Lose 25 Pounds
Your weight does not define who you are in Christ Jesus. You are made up of soul and spirit and that is what defines you for all eternity. However. Carrying around excess pounds is uncomfortable and unhealthy. What if you could change all that? You have an image of who you are. You look in the mirror and see a slender, pudgy, or even a fat girl. O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:1-2 You are … [Read more...]
Journaling Through James: Grace in the Fails of Mom-Life
Journaling Through James is the perfect Bible study to help give you grace in the fails of mom-life. Your fails will be turned to blessings as you start soaking in the book of James. This is a powerful book that will take your walk with Jesus to a new level as it encourages you to dig deeper into God's Word. James is a life-changing book. Have you ever studied it before? Whether you have read through James many times, just once, or this is the first time, maybe you have never done a Bible study the way we are going to do this one! If you are discouraged in how your mom-life is playing … [Read more...]
Mary’s Song Magnifies the Lord
Mary's song magnifies the Lord as she praised God for what he had done by allowing her to become pregnant with Jesus, the promised Messiah. What a beautiful story of Mary as she came to visit her cousin Elizabeth after she conceived of the Holy Spirit. This story will cause you to praise God for all that He did for Mary so long ago. It will give you hope and faith to believe that God can still do miracles! Elizabeth and Mary, the old and the young. Both are sharing the experiences of their most unusual pregnancies. Elizabeth is pregnant with John the … [Read more...]
Home For Christmas: A Miracle Home Going
I shall never forget the look on her face as she smiled and waved good-bye. She was leaving us, but she would be home for Christmas. Christmas was always her favorite time of the year. So it was that in November, some three years before, when the doctor had informed her of her need for surgery because of a "mass." She decided to wait until after Christmas, convinced that it was just a benign growth. Then came the dreaded news. It was cancer. The chemotherapy, surgeries, treatments, good days and bad days, ups and downs of the next three years blended together, bringing us to this Christmas … [Read more...]
How To Be Like Martha this Christmas
Martha would be the most amazing woman to come alongside and help you prepare for Christmas this year. She is the best at organizing all the details needed to get everything done before Christmas! She is looking for someone to help her with serving others who understands the importance of getting things done. This could be you! Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Avoid a Covetous Heart this Christmas
The Christmas rush is on and shopping is in full throttle complete with retail marketing tempting our covetous heart. How do you as a mom; decorate, shop, bake, and prepare for Christmas this year without wanting stuff you don't need? I love shopping for gifts at Christmas. If it snows, I definitely want to risk the bad roads because it puts me in such a wonderfully romantic Christmas mood for shopping. Thing is, that when I am out shopping, I see things that I (think) I need. I live an hour from stores and thankfully that has kept me from much shopping throughout the year. So, it is … [Read more...]
How to Beat Your Struggle for Self-Control this Christmas
The struggle with self-control is real once the Christmas programs and parties start happening. My struggle is with eating too much chocolate as I make cookies. Maybe yours is with overeating, overspending, that extra Netflix or too much time on Facebook. Oh my, but the struggle is real! So many health issues can result from eating too much food or chocolate but that is not really what this is about. I was baking those yummy oatmeal kiss cookies for our church Christmas program the other day. After indulging in what seemed like half the Hershey Kisses in the bag, I could feel the … [Read more...]
Re-Evaluating Your Christmas Traditions this Year
It is a good thing to take a look at your Christmas traditions each year and re-evaluate how you are celebrating the birth of Jesus. There is so much pressure from our culture to include things that have nothing to do with our Savior so that we get buried under piles of wrapping paper! I have loved making Christmas traditions over the years with my family. As is true with most of us, I re-evaluated which traditions I would include from when I was growing up. Some of the traditions that I grew up with were fun but didn't focus on Jesus. I wanted Him to be central in everything as much as … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Slow Down this Christmas
When Your Life is Full at Christmas Time There are 5 ways that you can slow down this Christmas and still get things done. Are you spinning out-of-control and with little time for anything extra? My life couldn't be fuller right now and I have hardly any time to write (except that a bit of inspiration hit) and I thought I'd share how overwhelming Christmas can become. Fast. My life is full to the brim (and did I say overflowing too?!) and I am sure yours is too. In fact. You probably don't even have time to read what I am sharing. BUT. You are desperate because you are sinking fast … [Read more...]
How To Get Your Home Christmas-Ready
My home is NOT Christmas-ready but my goal is to have it done soon. I want to keep Jesus first through the hustle and bustle of shopping, decorating, and baking season. In order to keep Jesus first, my goal is to get as much done in the first week of December. I want to relax the last week before Christmas instead of frantically running around. I'm sure that is what you would like too. If you are like me, you are running behind where the planning experts would say you should be as we enter the first week of December. So, stick with me as I share some tips and honestly share where I am … [Read more...]
Giving the Powerful Gift of Words this Christmas
Words can be the most powerful gift we give this Christmas and yet, their importance is often forgotten. You might be rushing around like a caffeinated version of Martha trying to get all your gifts purchased without overspending. Yet, once you discover the value of words, you might spend less time stressing over what to buy and more time finding how to give your words as a gift this year. Have you noticed that you don't get as many Christmas cards and letters as you once did? You might not even send cards out anymore. I must admit that my friends never got a card or letter from me … [Read more...]
