Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

It's the first day of fall, and I hope I'm not the only one excited about it! This is my season - the colors, the crisp air, the smells, the flavors, and the need for sweaters and fuzzy socks. Throw in a fluffy blanket and some apple cider and you've just designed my perfect time of year. Whether you're totally on board with the change of seasons or you're gripping the last moments of summer with all your strength, let's make a plan for the fall. A bucket list, if you will, with everything you'd like to tackle between now and the end of November. I've put together a fun graphic for you with just a few ideas to start your creative flow. You can make one of your own - on your phone, on a pretty piece of paper, printed off the computer or tacked to corkboard on the kitchen wall. Or use a clipboard so it's portable and you can take it in the car. Not sure what to put on your fall bucket list? Check out your local tourism office's website. If the conv

One of my least favorite things in the entire world is dry chicken. This recipe makes that essentially impossible. And that's a very good thing. I wish this was more difficult so it would look like I'm an expert in the kitchen. But it's not. And I'm not.  But I also like that it is so simple that prep time is only a couple of minutes - about as long as it takes the oven to heat up. And a four-ingredient marinade for the chicken doesn't hurt either. Ingredients: 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup ketchup 1/4 cup water 1 pkg dry onion soup mix 1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray the bottom of a medium-sized baking dish with nonstick spray. 2. Combine the four remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over the chicken. 3. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, when chicken juices run clear and the sauce has thickened.

Oh, perfection. If only we had the perfect life: the perfect husband, the perfect family, the perfect home, the perfect job, the perfect circle of friends, the perfect church family. Then we'd really have it made. Life would be great if we could just figure out how to be perfect. The problem with this line of thinking is that nothing is perfect. In this life, in this world, nothing will never and can never be perfect. Sin creates that truth for us. There is no possible way to never make a mistake, never lose a loved one, never let somebody down. Things break. Bodies wear out. People die. Liars lie. Cheaters cheat. Thieves steal.  Killers kill. Lazy people stay lazy. Then why on earth would Scripture tell us to be perfect? If perfection is impossible because of sin, why does Genesis 17:1 say: And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. Didn't we just say that we can't

Maybe it's just me, but I love turning our usual crafting techniques on their ear. Or, in this case, on its side. I'll think outside the box ... and off the edge of the card. Honestly, I had planned to make this a straight-lined card with two background layers and a square of decorator paper on the right side. Then the sentiment could be written in three parts and adhered to the left side, overlapping the square. Unfortunately, my 12-panel piece of paper wouldn't fit top-to-bottom the way I wanted. Instead, I had to turn it a little and let three of the four corners drift off the page.  And that's how you get a fun design by accident! In honor of the kids in our community returning to school this week, let's turn today's sketch into a new teacher card!  Start by choosing a decorator paper for the focal point, then match two colors of card stock with it. These two colors will be the background and mat to build the card on. Cut the decorator paper in a square larg

We had an absolutely fabulous time in South Dakota over my birthday weekend. So a fabulous trip needs an equally fabulous scrapbook, right? I'm glad you agree. It's in the works! One of my biggest challenges is having enough journaling space on each page. I want to tell the stories I wrote in my actual journal by the pictures, but there's not always room. That's where creative, hidden journaling blocks come in. For this page, I started with a torn background and side border. This is the first page of pictures in the album, so it's going to set the tone and theme for the entire book. I purposely chose the kraft book for that outdoorsy feel, and there's so much paper in my stash that will go with this. I wanted all four pictures to have a hidden journal block behind them, so I just started at the top and worked my way down. Here's the method for all of them: start with the picture in the bottom left corner with the top of the photo on the right side. This will

Our church family is amazing at sharing of their bounty. This summer we've had all kinds of fruits and vegetables brought in for sharing, and it's definitely been a blessing to our hearts ... and our stomachs! Last week it was tiny peaches, and they were sweeter and juicier than any regular-sized peach I've ever had. Since I had a container of fresh-picked blackberries in the refrigerator, I knew I had to make a cobbler with them. What I love about this recipe is that you don't have to peel anything, just combine the dry ingredients and toss the fruit in. In just a few steps you'll have a bright, fresh, warm dessert that only needs ice cream to make it perfect. Filling Ingredients: 10 small peaches 4 cups blackberries 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 3 Tbsp lemon juice 3 Tbsp flour 2 Tbsp cinnamon Topping Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter 1/3 cup water 2 Tbsp cinnamon 2 Tbsp sugar 1. Pr

You're going to be so proud of us. We spent several hours this week sorting and organizing our books, to get the piles and stacks in the office under control. The result is a beautiful library with books in categories, and all the ones I've read have bookmarks in them so I can easily recognize them. And for clarification, sorting means putting them on shelves, not sorting them out to be sold or donated. I'm just not comfortable with that concept. I love to read with all my heart. Reading has always been my love, my escape, my knowledge-maker, my fun, and my comfort. Danny gave me the best T-shirt ever for my birthday - it's purple and says "I closed my book to be here." That's how seriously I take our books. Many of the books in my TBR pile (to be read) are commentaries and studies of the Bible. There is one shelf in the book nook (ok, it's the closet) that is just studies on certain parts or books of Scripture. And now the study books are in biblical

In honor of all those kids who have to go back to school in August, I pulled out one of my favorite School Days cards. I'm a huge fan of layers - it just makes the card look more intentional and finished - and this is a great example. I make my cards by starting with an 8.5x11-inch piece of card stock and trimming it down to 6.25x9 inches. After folding it in half, I covered it with a sheet of decorator paper so that one of the pre-printed phrases was in the bottom corner as my sentiment. Then I cut two more pieces of card stock to the right width and tore them across the long edge. This created three distinct layers of pattern from top to bottom. My large embellishment is a coordinating 3D die cut matted on a piece of decorator paper, matted on the same grey paper that I used for the background. The small embellishment next to the wording is pre-printed as well.  Ready to make this card your own? Start with a plain piece of card stock, folded to fit your envelope, and cover it wit

It will be a full week at work starting today, with meetings, writing, photography, and lots of financial calculations. The work our office does impacts the visitors who come into the community and supports our local businesses and organizations. This is incredibly important to me, and I want everything that comes out of our office to be at its best. With this much responsibility comes the great need for prayer. I can't do anything in my job without the blessings of the Lord. I can't be creative, helpful, interesting, or even efficient unless I'm in close, personal relationship with God. One of the best ways I've found to do this is to start the day with a prayer walk of my office. From the front door to our reception area to the motivations behind our work, I want to bathe all of it with the presence of the Lord. If you've never prayer-walked your workspace before, here are 13 places and prayers to include. 1. Your building - Lord, please place a hedge of protectio

After a week together traveling and celebrating my birthday, Danny and I came back rested and relaxed. It was the first time he had been on a vacation that didn't have a schedule or event to attend, so it was a full week but not stressful in any way. In tribute to that week of spending time together, I found this beautiful card to use for this week's sketch.  After covering the card with solid card stock, I cut a piece of decorator paper slightly smaller to make a mat. This card features one of my favorite love verses, This is my beloved, and this is my friend. Song of Solomon 5:16, printed on card stock from my computer. The two paper flowers are attached with a metal flower brad, and two of the corners are embellished with tiny pink gems.  Ready to make this card your own? Start with a piece of card stock cut to 6.25x9 inches and fold it in half. Then cover the card with a colored card stock, and cut a piece of coordinating decorator paper slightly smaller to make a mat. Prin

When I first saw the list of ingredients for this Asian chicken dish, I almost didn't make it. I'm not a big fan of getting a whole bunch of sauces and spices out to just use a pinch here and there. Call it laziness or just being in a rush, but that extra work doesn't appeal to me in the kitchen. These barbecued chicken thighs changed my outlook completely. Once you have all the ingredients, you can store them all together and use them over and over. That's how good this recipe is - you may never bake chicken any other way. Ingredients:  1/2 cup hoisin sauce 2 Tbsp rice vinegar 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp Sriracha sauce 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp toasted sesame oil 1 Tbsp ground ginger 3 Tbsp minced garlic 2 Tbsp honey 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 2 Tbsp sesame seeds salt and pepper to taste 1 1/2 cups fresh baby carrots 2 cups broccoli florets 4 chicken thighs 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spray a large sheet pan with nonstick spray. 2. In a small bowl, combine hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, 2

Relationships are hard. That's what it comes down to. If you have two people in any kind of relationship, partnership, family, or friendship, it will never be sunshine and rainbows all day, every day. That's just unrealistic. Instead, what we see every day is the give-and-take necessary to preserve peace. It's so simple to reject, raise our voices, let words be our weapons, turn our backs, and stir things up to get our own way. That's what our flesh and our emotions tell us to do - whatever it takes to protect ourselves. Sound familiar? Feel familiar? But that's not what the Spirit whispers to us. No, His response is love and humility. What a stark contrast to the flesh and its red-hot desires. Abraham is an amazing, realistic picture of how to handle the aggravations in our everyday relationships. He and Lot were kin, uncle and nephew, but that blood relation didn't stop the strife. (Oh, don't we know it!) When the herdsmen from their two estates quarreled

Summer's in full swing, and nothing makes the hottest months of the year more manageable than lemonade. Unless it's strawberry lemonade. Better yet, strawberry lemonade cookies. Still better, strawberry lemonade cookies made simple with boxed cake mix! Yep, I'm sold. Not only are they easy to make, they're also thick, soft, and totally addictive. The added bonus is that you'll be using two cake mixes, so you'll have twice as many cookies - more than 3 dozen, depending on how large you make them. That's enough to share and to keep some to enjoy yourself. Ingredients:  1 box lemon cake mix 1 box strawberry cake mix 4 eggs, room temperature 2/3 cup vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, combine lemon cake mix, 2 eggs, and 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Set aside. 3. In a separate bowl, combine the strawberry cake mix, 2 eggs, and 1/3 cup vegetable oil. 4. Place both bowls in

The best big dog in the whole wide world took a trip to the vet's office last week. She's ok for the most part, just getting older and starting to hurt more ... just like the rest of us.  The trip itself was an adventure, as it was her first time in the new car. We got it specifically to keep the dogs safe and sound in the back, not jumping and jostling all over the car and getting us all in trouble. The only sad part is that now Molly's all the way in the back and not up with me. Ok, it's sad for me. She absolutely loved it. She had the windows all to herself, she could see people in the vehicles behind us, and she could sit up and lay down as she needed to. It was also the first time we'd been to our vet's new office. Their new, larger building is perfectly sized for a Great Dane. There were lots of new smells, a new layout, and a new floor to get used to. She wiped out on the kitchen floor once when she was a puppy, and now she's very skittish on slick fl

A couple of weeks ago, Southern Iowa was attacked by intense, straight-line winds. We were both at work when the storm hit, so we didn't get to see what damage it did to the property until lunchtime. That's when I started up the driveway and saw a couple of massive trees across the driveway. From the other side, the house side of the driveway, it looked even bigger.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the only tree down. A second fallen tree was just around the bend in front of the house.  This would be the first one we needed to cut up so it didn't finish falling and hurt someone. Bring out the biggest chainsaw! This is the best way to put the trees in perspective - that's Danny. By the fallen tree. We were blessed beyond measure that there were no buildings, vehicles, or people in the way when they fell. The best part - for me anyway - was getting to drive the tractor. Danny hooked up the trailer to it so we could transport the cut branches over to the tree branch pile. I