Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

One of the main reasons I love that Danny and I work with the youth of our church is that we can be the leaders I wish I had when I was their age. I hate to admit it, but I honestly don’t remember much about my youth group growing up. I remember the drama of who was dating who, what snacks we had that night and what trip we were about to take, but I don’t remember the lessons or the worship services, and that makes me sad. I want our teenagers to understand is that God is who He says He is and His word holds the answers to all of their questions. I want them to know that they are loved by a holy God who wants the absolute best for their lives. I want them to understand the plan of salvation and what having a relationship with Jesus Christ looks like. I want them to know these truths above all else: * The God of the Bible, the one who did miracles and created all things, is the same God they experience today. * Having a relationship with Jesus Christ is so much more important than the f

I am not a one-color kind of girl. Especially when that color is black. Which isn’t really a color, but a shade on the light scale. Nevertheless, sometimes it’s fun to do something completely outside your wheelhouse just for the fun of it, because you can and you have the supplies to do it with. That’s how I ended up with a planner spread completely in black and white. So not my thing. But I have to admit that I kinda like the way it turned out. I had several sets of black and white stickers across my collection of sticker books, and the mix-and-matched fonts look great together. I added a few border stickers and tiny stars to add some layers, and they go together really well. What projects do you have in your home right now that you’ve never done because you really don’t know how? Do you have everything you need to make them, you just don’t know where to start? Or did you get them thinking you might one day create something amazing, but you have no idea what you’re doing? I know this

This has been a crazy year in so many ways, from viruses to busy schedules to just keeping up with the everyday routine. I felt it most obviously when I looked through my pictures to share these with you today. On a normal day (whatever normal looks like), I would find hundreds of property and wildlife photos, but I really had to do some looking today.  When I get wrapped up in other stuff, I can miss the little things like our geese having their first baby that lived to this age. They have had a few babies in past years, but because we also have coyotes and other predators living here, they usually don’t live very long. So this family picture makes my heart happy. And for some reason, Iowa has a plethora of bunnies right now. I went on a walk in town with girls from our youth group, and we literally saw dozens of rabbits in just the few blocks around their house. The same goes on the property - you can go out on the deck at any given moment and see them hopping around, not a care in t

We’ve been covering also many deep spiritual topics in our youth group as we read through the book of John verse by verse. And for kids in 8th-10th grade, who are either new Christians or don’t have a relationship with Jesus yet, it can be pretty daunting. So we regularly plan an activity that isn’t necessarily spiritual to begin with, but still has a message in it. One of my favorites is pulling out the LEGOs from the dollar store and piling them up in the middle of the table. They love that surprise when they walk through the door. One week it was about building bridges, and they had to work together to connect their two creations. Another time it was about designing houses and comparing it to how God designs our earthly and heavenly homes. However we plan to circle back to the Lord with the lesson, it’s fun to see their imaginations run wild for a little while. This week we gave them each a base and told them it was their own personal island. They had seven minutes to build and deco

It is so much fun to research new recipes, experiment with flavor combinations and try some new technique for the first time. If you look through the cooking label on the side of this page, you’ll see how much I enjoy playing around in the kitchen. But there are some days - and I know you know - when I don’t have time, energy or money to put together some huge recipe. Those are the days where simple is key and the pantry is the only place I’ll be shopping today. That’s why this one-skillet chicken dish is one of our favorites.   When you know you’ll only have a few minutes to get dinner on the table some night this week, thaw some chicken and have a couple of bags of frozen potato/veggie mixes in the freezer. Pop them in the microwave to steam while you cook diced chicken in a large cast iron skillet with your favorite seasoning. For this skillet, I used Flavor God’s Italian Zest and two different Simply Steams mixes. In less than 20 minutes we had supper ready to go. Let’s be practica

Forget the relish - let’s put the pickle inside our burgers! I couldn’t resist trying out this recipe I found in a cookbook from the 1960s. The idea of wrapping ground beef around a dill pickle spear made me smile and then wonder how that could even work. So I pulled out a baking sheet and gave it a try. Really, that’s all you need! Not even a skillet is required. The final report: it’s fun. Plain and simple. And it’s surprisingly flavorful. I tweaked a few ingredients and measurements, making it a great Saturday lunch treat. Ingredients: 1 lb ground beef 1 egg, beaten 1 Tbsp onion powder 2 tsp horseradish 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce Salt and pepper to taste 5 dill pickle spears 5 hot dog buns 1. Move your oven’s rack to the second rung from the top. Turn on oven broiler and let it heat up while you prepare the meat. 2. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, egg, onion powder, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  3. Divide meat into five pieces. Gently wrap the meat arou

On Tuesday I’ll be going back to work after a 4-day weekend. I feel like I’ve been organized and productive here at home, but I’ll have to change gears when I get back to the office. That’s why I put together this planner spread using some fun journaling blocks for all the lists I’m sure I’ll be making. Sometimes it’s hard to use journal blocks because I have limited space on my pages. The best way to make everything fit is to layer and overlap them with other embellishments. On my Tuesday page, I started with borders of washi tape and layered the blocks on top. Then each block is accented with words and images in coordinating shapes and colors. I don’t believe there is such a thing as too many layers, in my planner and on my handmade cards. I absolutely adore the binder clip washi tape I used on both pages, so I cut some clips off the tape and used them as embellishments all over the spread. I’m excited to start filling in these pages with many ink colors, keeping the multi-colored th

June in Iowa is notoriously hot. So are July, August and September, but we’re not quite there yet. Even with acres and acres of trees around the property, the area by the house is pretty sparse. So the puppies don’t get to be outside right now as much as normal, but they love their time on the deck. The deck faces west, so it’s in the shade all morning. By evening, as the sun is setting, it starts to cool off. But in the middle of the day, they don’t even want to be out there more than a few minutes. So our solution was to put up a specially designed netting on the sliding glass door so they can go out onto the deck in the cool times and come back inside when they get too hot. Not only is this easier for them to run around and bark and stuff whenever they want, it also means they’re not barking at me to go outside every other minute. Bonus! What I love more than anything is seeing them happy, enjoying the fresh air. Our work schedules have gotten pretty crazy over the past few weeks, m

I absolutely adore the book of John. It’s filled with so many stories of Jesus Christ, His miracles and His interactions with people. Last Sunday our teens talked about Jesus feeding the 5,000 men (plus their families) and still having 12 basket of fragments - enough for each disciple to have a full meal once they finished serving.   So for our morning snack, I made goodie bags with Swedish fish and package of crackers. They immediately got the connection between their treats and the fish sandwiches Jesus made for the people. The disciples were concerned that they would have to spend their entire purse on food, and Philip came right out and said as much to Jesus. Imagine having seen three miracles first-hand and still doubting He could do something as simple as feeding a few thousand people. But don’t we have those same doubts all the time? Andrew brought the barley loaves and the small fish to Jesus and watched as the fourth miracle took place. Jesus blessed the broken bread, giving t

At this time last year, everything was shut down and we were working from home. I wasn’t able to eat out or go to the gym or visit people and places that were important to me. Depression was settling in, I was very sedentary and I wasn’t eating very healthy.  Then I discovered 99Walks and all that changed. 99Walks is a community of mostly women who motivate themselves and each other to walk intentionally. I set a goal at the beginning of every month, track my walks on the map and receive a themed bracelet when I reach that goal. Sparkle makes everything better, right? I am absolutely delighted to share with you that I received my twelfth monthly bracelet, representing an entire year of reaching my walking goals! They aren’t huge and they aren’t very awe-inspiring, but they are to me. I have a visual reminder every day that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to, regardless of how I feel. Because some days, those few miles were difficult and painful. But I didn’t give up. I walked a

Breakfast is a tricky thing for me. I know it’s supposed to be the most important meal of the day, which puts me in a quandary. If I eat a good-sized breakfast, I’m hungry by the middle of the morning. If I eat just enough breakfast to take my vitamins, I can go all the way until lunchtime with no hunger.  So the challenge is whether I want to eat breakfast and take a snack with me, or whether I want to skip it and fast until lunchtime. Hmm... On the days that I do want breakfast, I definitely want something healthy and filling. If you’re the same way, try a couple of these breakfast ideas this week and let me know what you think! * Breakfast banana split bowls, like the one pictured here. * Overnight oats * Any variety of loaded toasts * Breakfast wraps with egg, cheese and spinach * Healthy versions of your favorite muffins and donuts * Omelettes filled with lots of fresh ingredients * Protein-packed sausage and egg muffins * Protein shakes and smoothies

Let’s begin this new week with a fun Bible study. A friend of mine raises bees, and her enthusiasm is contagious. So let’s talk about how amazing our spiritual life can “bee.” See what I did there? I know, right? God’s word is full of instruction, correction and direction for how to live a life devoted entirely to Him. He never hides anything from us, and He never expects us to figure things out for ourselves. As we learn more about how the Lord wants us to live, the more like Christ we will become.  These are the words I used on our June bulletin board. I encourage you to look up the verses this week and see how the Spirit leads and convicts you to bee amazing in the days to come. Bee Faithful: Psalm 31:23 Bee Merciful: Luke 6:36 Bee Praying: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Bee Reliable: Matthew 25:21 Bee Thankful: 1 Chronicles 16:34 Bee Reading: Acts 17:11 Bee Seeking: Proverbs 8:17 Bee Kind: Luke 6:35 Bee Hopeful: Psalm 33:22 Bee Uplifting: Romans 14:19 Bee Humble: Matthew 23:12 Bee Studying:

  There are three different sets of pages in my planner - the months, weeks and days. On the monthly pages I keep track of my blog posts, and on the daily pages, I have my daily to-do lists and places to journal about my spiritual life. And in between, there are weekly pages like the one pictured here. When I decorate the weekly spreads, I pick a theme for the week and just have fun with it. Since it’s been in the upper 80s and humid for several days, I picked a tropical pineapple motif. The large pineapples are foam, so they’re beautiful and 3-dimensional. I also tend to use whole sheets of embellishments, so they always coordinate. Once they’re done, I use the weekly pages for my meal plan, chores around the house and errands that I need to run when I’m in town. Even with my plethora of adorableness on the page, there is still plenty of room to write and record. Then I mark the day I’m on with a tassel clip so I can turn right to it. So I have fun and functionality combined for a whi

Two puppies got to go to the vet this week. Molly and Parker have both had joint problems for quite some time, but the licking and limping have been getting worse recently. They’ve been on joint supplements and doggie aspirin for the better part of a year, so we were afraid it’s time to go to something stronger. Big dogs especially are prone to joint problems, mostly because of the weight they carry around. Molly was diagnosed with arthritis the last time we went to the vet, and now Parker has been, too. Interestingly enough, just like with people, aspirin over a long period of time can cause liver and kidney problems, so we’re weaning them off that so we can move on to an anti-inflammatory/pain medicine. The other option is shots, but we’re not ready to go that route yet. This is Molly listening to sounds in the lobby. While we were waiting to check out, a couple brought in two Huskies, and those dogs weren’t happy about anything! They barked, growled, whined, snapped, pulled and char

It’s no secret that trees are among my favorite things in the whole wide world. Timber covers most of our property, I always enjoy a walk in the woods and it’s even in our shop name - Stuff From Trees. I wrote a blog post for work this week about Ottumwa being a Tree City USA, an honor given by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It recognizes cities that put urban forestry high on their list of priorities. Not only do trees  help the city’s visual appeal, but they reduce cooling costs during the hottest months, remove air pollutants and provide wildlife habitat. Anywhere you go in our town, you’ll find groups of trees doing what they do best. And it reminds me of Psalm 1:3 when David wrote And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his seasonal his leaf also shall not wither, and  whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. I pray we’ll all have time this weekend to meditate on the beauty of God’s creation and

I was asked to make two cards. No big deal, right? Well, the twist was I had made a card like this ... maybe 15 years ago! After seeing the original, I figured out what stamps I used and remade this very simple, very pretty pair of cards. My first concern was finding those stamps. I used three stamps - the phrase, the music notes and the rose. It took some digging in my tub-o-stamps, but I eventually found them. I had a Plan B with some other stamps I came across, but I didn’t like them nearly as much. To start, I covered a 4.5x6.25-inch card with red card stock. Then I cut three 1.75-inch squares and a torn strip for each card out of white card stock. The rose is designed perfectly for double-inking. With clear stamps, you can stamp two separate pieces and line them up quite easily. But with wood stamps, you have to careful apply the ink so it will look all natural and pretty. Small ink pads are great for this, too, since you can get in smaller places, like the stem of this flower. Pl

One of the books I read in May was a summer crafts and recipes book. I can’t you how ready I am for summer, and this book had some great inspiration.  I’ve been slightly obsessed with bird nests this year, as we have several right around the house, so these adorable white chocolate blueberry nests caught my eye. With just three ingredients and blueberries for garnish, they are much tastier than Rice Krispie treats and much easier to clean up. Ingredients: 2 cups Rice Krispies 1 cup shredded coconut 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries 1. Lightly spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray. 2. In a large bowl, combine cereal and coconut. 3. In a small bowl, melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave. Set the time for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until smooth and creamy, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. 4. Immediately pour melted chocolate into bowl and stir until well combined. 5. When cool enough to touch but still warm enough to mold, divide mixture into the 12 muff