Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Are you busy? Like, finishing the end of November and getting ready for a crazy December busy? I’m going to help in the yummiest of ways, and I’m only going to use three words: slow cooker chili. Here’s what I need you to do…go to the grocery store with the shopping list that follows and buy two or three of everything. Then make one batch this week and save the rest for another one of those days you know will be super busy. All you have to do is brown the meat and throw everything in the slow cooker for the day. You’ll have something warm and yummy to eat on a cold December day. You’ll have several meals planned and ready. And you’ll expend very little effort in a short amount of time. Bake up a big batch of cornbread to go with it, and you’ll be in winter weather heaven. Pass this simple recipe on to others so they can join in - that’s all the thanks I need! Ingredients: 2lbs ground beef Chili powder to taste 2 10-oz cans diced tomatoes with green chilis 1 15.5-oz dark red kidney bean

At the beginning of November, I started a month-long Thanksgiving project by Illustrated Faith called Gratitude Documented. They give you a daily prompt, Scripture, die cuts and numbers to count three things you’re thankful for on that day. Twenty-nine days ago I wouldn’t have guessed how much this study on gratitude would affect my heart. The situations and circumstances of everyday life take our eyes and our focus away from the blessings God loads us with. With those blinding, distracting influences hammering away at us, gratitude can be the furthest thing from our minds. But then November appears just like it always does, and we’re suddenly surrounded with gratitude. It’s the season of thanks and giving and blessings, and we’re encouraged to look for all the blessings of life. We just finished a 5-week study in youth group about blessings, looking at Scripture, hymns and stories that center our hearts and minds on naming them ton by ton. We have pumpkins covered with blessings, a fa

So I turned the page in my planner this weekend and saw the strangest thing. It was a new monthly spread. And there’s only one left, which means it must be for December. I’m not sure how that’s possible, but I went ahead and pulled out all my December and Christmas-themed planner bits. These tiny garlands, stars and branches were just in between the larger phrases and images in my sticker books, and they worked perfectly for the month spread. I didn’t realize how many Christmas and winter stickers I had until I pulled them out and put them all in one place. It was super simple to make everything coordinate on these list pages, and I was actually inspired to create some layouts I’ve never tried before. It would be neat to have snow on the ground here to match my pages, but since it was 65 and sunny yesterday, I doubt that will happen. Since I don’t use a Happy Planner but have Happy Planner stickers, I normally use them as center borders on my weekly pages. I added some extra journal bl

It’s hard to believe that this Thursday is Thanksgiving. That means we’ll be just a week away from December. Wow. What a year so far, right? So in honor of this week of thanks and giving, I made my last fall planner layout of the year. I’ve been finishing so many other autumn projects that I’m literally down to the nitty gritty of supplies, but I love the way these pages turned out. I’ve had these arrows in my stash for at least 3-4 years. I’ve used some of them in my Bible journaling, but most of them were still attached. Apparently they were made for this layout because they’re the perfect color combination and size for some planner accents. I also adore this quote about gratitude making us joyful - I’ve seen this in my own life recently as I’ve been more diligent in keeping my gratitude journal, and I’ve personally seen what a difference being thankful makes. Friday will be Day 2 of my four-day weekend, and I’m all set to fill this page with books I’m reading, Bible study I’m workin

What do you do with a box full of fall craft supplies at the end of the season? You make the most adorable gift bag tags ever and take them to the church on Wednesday night for all the kids! We filled the bags with fall treats, candy, stickers, a few toys and some school supplies, then tied it all up with baker’s twine. They turned out great, and the kids absolutely loved them! To make some tags of your own, start by dumping out every single fall-themed paper craft supply you can find onto the table. If you’re like me, this took a while in itself, but it was totally worth it. To make the closure, fold the top down twice and crease it. Punch two small holes through all three layers, making them evenly from the edges. Cut a length of baker twine - or whatever you have that you want to use up - and tie the bag closed. Cut a piece of decorator paper into a tag shape that fits the size of your bag. I’ve had these orange bags for at least a year, so apparently I was saving them for just such

These last days of fall are the perfect time to pull out your slow cooker. Nothing compares to coming home after a long day of work, smelling the yummy smells of supper and knowing you don’t have to do anything else. This feeling of satisfaction multiplies around the holidays. There’s enough rushing and hurrying and doing as it is, without adding in one more dish to make. That’s where this cheesy ham and potatoes recipe takes the prize. It’s an amazingly comforting side dish that will go perfectly with your Thanksgiving meal plan. These amounts are for a small slow cooker (about 4-5 servings), so double it for a larger group. A few notes before you begin: 1. Don’t use any nonstick spray on the inside of the slow cooker. It’s not necessary and it makes everything super-greasy. 2. If you’re using pre-diced ham, rinse and dry it all thoroughly before layering it in, otherwise it will just make the bottom layer of potatoes soggy. 3. Don’t add any more than 2/3 cup of cream, no matter what

I threw our youth group for a loop a few weeks ago. We had been studying blessings leading up to Thanksgiving, and we’d created a beautiful fall mood board with songs and blessings and leaves everywhere. As we walked past the little kids’ table where they were decorating pumpkins, I grabbed two big pumpkins and toted them down to our teen room. They were very excited that they were going to get some pumpkin carving time, too. The confusion grew when they realized there were just two pumpkins and way more of them. That’s when we sat down and talked about two kinds of blessings. One type of blessings is the kind we receive with joy and appreciation. God answers a prayer in a beautiful way. A friend shows up at just the right moment. The mail has a fun surprise inside. A message on your phone makes you smile. You learn that you’re being prayed for, thought about, cared for, even spoiled a little. These are the blessings that come when you need them most because they change your mood, your

Some of my favorite images would look really silly if I shrunk them down. They’d be difficult to read, blurry at best and possibly upside down, who knows. So this week I decided to use several of those large images and show you some ways you can do the same. They’re perfect for full, blank pages intended for note taking. Layering them is a must! And it’s totally ok to let them hang off the edges of your page. You can either trim the off, or it might be pretty to not trim them and have some of those elements visible when your planner is closed. I trimmed all the edges of this spread. Larger images can also be used to cover up pre-printed sections in your planner. I’m not a big fan of the “notes” and hearts on my pages, so I try to find fun, new ways to cover them up in an undercover kind of way. Get creative! I’m such a word nerd, and I couldn’t resist combining these four huge images with three small phrases to create a balanced layout in so many pretty colors. With these embellishment

This year we have two big bucks on the property, along with several does and a few yearlings. Someone asked me about our deer this week because she hadn’t seen me posting pictures of them like I have in the past. Well, the reason is because most of the pictures I have look like this one. These are the deer pictures I love to take - sweet, spotted fawns with those big ears and eyes. I’d happily post pictures of these darlings all year long. But this is how many of them have turned out because they’re taken through the glass of the sliding door. It’s not just because I’m lazy and won’t open the door to take a picture. It’s because we have four dogs who are guarding the back yard with supreme dedication. I’ve long said that I think the deer think Molly is an indoor deer. When she’s standing at the window, they just stare back, wondering how she gets to be inside where it’s warm and they’re out in the elements. She is the same size and color, so I wonder if she thinks they look like her, t

The bright fall colors are almost over in Southeast Iowa. We didn’t have blankets of dramatic colors like we have some years, but patches of beautiful leaves here and there all over the area. Here on the property, the trees changed at several different times, so we have been treated to pops of color for weeks! If you step back and look at the big picture, it doesn’t look as pretty. Many trees have already lost their leaves, while others are in various stages of molting. It’s nothing you’d print on the front of a postcard, even if the color that remains is pretty amazing. But Solomon said it best in Ecclesiastes 3:1 - To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. If you’re paying more attention to the bare limbs of the tree than anything else, it will always be a dreary picture. But as the season of trees passes, you can choose to focus on the gorgeous carpet of leaves that fan out on the ground in front of you. The colors are just as beautiful, as long

It’s not every day that I can complete a craft project in less than an hour. When I pulled this adorable little journal out of my box of fall projects, I was expecting to put in a couple of days work to get it finished. Yes, I honestly put it away last year because it was detailed and time consuming, so I tucked it away for this year. What I didn’t remember was how much I actually had done! I made each spread from a single piece of card stock, covered with squares of textured card stock and fall-themed decorator paper. That part was completely done, so things were looking up. And as I filled through the pages, I discovered that all the large images and journal blocks were already cut and already matted with coordinating card stock. They were even matched up between the pages, ready to tack down and embellish. Get this … I had included a pile of decorator paper scraps left over from making the pages, so all I had to do was trim them to size and layer them behind the blocks. Then came my

I hate to admit it, but I’ve always had a take-it-or-leave-it opinion of tacos, burritos, enchiladas and the like. Or should I say that my digestive system has never been a big fan? Either way, sometimes you find a recipe that defies the status quo - that recipe this week is these yummy baked burritos. It’s really not a recipe, though, at least not one that I found, copied and tweaked to make my own. In reality, I rummaged through the pantry, found a whole bunch of fun stuff and made a dish that would last us for four meals. I’ll give you the ingredients I used, then you can make your own version with what you have on hand. Ingredients: 1lb ground beef 1 pkg taco seasoning 1 10-oz jar corn and black bean salsa 1 16-oz bag shredded Mexican cheese blend 6 large flour tortillas 1 8-oz jar taco sauce 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Brown ground beef in a large skillet, stirring in the face seasoning. When browned, stir in the salsa. 3. Divide the beef mixture between the six tortillas a

It was a dreary, blustery, rainy day. Someone asked me how I was, and my reply was “a little damp around the edges.” I know you know what I mean. It would be the perfect day to stay inside, curl up with a blanket, a book and a cup of coffee. If there weren’t responsibilities outside the house. As I was getting ready to walk out the door, I noticed all four dogs at the window, watching the pond intently. When I joined them, I saw the reason - there were a couple dozen ducks and 12 turkeys. They were just hanging out, having breakfast together, oblivious to the fact that it was raining and stormy. The dogs were terribly concerned about them, but the birds didn’t care one bit. They were finding some great snacks in the grass. There’s always a blessing from the Lord, even on the days that are a little damp around the edges. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17 We

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a rough few weeks. Some things are out of my control, but there are still many things I can do to stay encouraged and motivated. While it may sound silly, my planner is one of those things I have control over. So this week I filled it with more than a few of my favorite things. You’ll notice on Monday’s spread that there are four puppies - one for each of my puppers! Oh, and books. Those too. All of that makes me smile. On Tuesday and Wednesday I’ll get to make my plans around coffee and donuts and cupcakes … oh my! Now I’m just getting hungry. There are three different sticker sets on these two pages, but they go together really well. These make me smile. I’m absolutely certain that I’ve had these bear orchestra stickers since I was a little girl. (BEAR orchestra, not nekkid musicians, I promise.) I mixed them in with some washi tape, music notes from a Faith sticker book and a new set of number stickers for this melodious spread. These make me smi