Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Can a four-ingredient dessert be all that great? Don't you need fancy ingredients and lots of time and energy to make something lovely? The answers are definitely yes and absolutely not! We always have a variety of nuts in the pantry for baking and snacking. Right now there are seven different kinds, if you count the four flavors of spiced cashews, which I do! How many will you find in your kitchen today? These cookie cups are sweet, decadent treats that satisfy any sweet tooth. If you use pre-cut cookie dough, it makes them even easier. And the filling can change based on your mood at the time, which makes them even better. Ingredients: 1 24-count package of refrigerated cookie dough 1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped 1 1/2 cups whipped topping, thawed 1/4 cup maple syrup 24 pecan halves 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick spray. 2. Place one square of cookie dough in each hole of the muffin tin and press in the middle to make a little cup.  3. Divid

Once again, be careful what you pray for. God's always listening. A week ago, I sat down to write a multi-day lesson for our youth group's Easter study. Herein lies the quandary - I never want to give teenagers the kindergarten version of Easter, but I also don't want to give a college-sized textbook of detail and commentary. So what's a girl to do? Pray.  Yep. I prayed that God would help me study and write this lesson as if I've never taught the story of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. If it wasn't new and exciting to me, it definitely wouldn't be new and interesting to junior high and high school students. Starting in the book of Matthew and harmonizing the last days of Jesus' life, God gave me so much material to work with. I shouldn't be surprised when He answers prayer, but this was above and beyond. Thanks to the inspiration and illumination of the Holy Spirit, my introduction was a full typed page. The difference this time, though

I'm beyond ready for spring. Winter was just weird this year, it was too cold for a couple of weeks, and the year isn't off to the best start. To remedy the situation, I turned our dining room table into a beautiful easter tablescape, and I hope it inspires you to do the same, Black labs are optional, but definitely recommended. Start with a table runner that suits your theme. We've used this burlap runner on our Stuff From Trees display table for years, and it fits my spring vibe. I found these two garlands in my bulletin board decorations stash and had to cabbage them. I don't remember buying them or putting them there, so it's like Christmas in March! These lead crystal candleholders were in one of my mom's boxes, along with a note that she bought them in Germany. I love their shape and the fact that they're so very pointy.  Then I took apart a stem of green grass left over from another floral project and tucked the pieces into the garland for filler. The

In January 2023, our youth group began a chronological study of the Bible. After 13 months, with a side trip to Job to follow the Bible's timeline, we studied through Genesis 36. That dropped us on the doorstep of Joseph, a teenager no older than some of our youth.  In a matter of weeks, we've talked about some of the major themes in Joseph's story: fratricide, passive parents, jealousy, anger, God's presence, the Master's plan for our lives, and resisting temptation. We've really been digging into the deep topics, getting away from the kindergarten and Hollywood versions of the story. These are the issues our teens are dealing with right this minute in their own lives, and we want to show them how the Bible is full of truths that apply to the here and now. So I wasn't surprised when the Lord gave me a nugget for my own struggles smack dab in the middle of a lesson for teenagers. He's good like that. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselve

My life has absolutely nothing to do with luck. My God has blessed me every step of the way, and that's the message I wanted to convey on our church bulletin board.  I haven't been able to find posterboard letters that I like lately, so I printed my own on card stock and cut them out. Word programs these days have so many free fonts that it's easy to find the good ones. The shamrocks were also printed on card stock, and the foam table scatter was attached with yellow sewing pins. This way they not only have a 3D effect, but they spin. My thanks to one of our little girls who figured that out for me! It was fun. Instead of just stapling or pinning the shamrocks to the pot of gold, I taped them to lollipop sticks and tucked them in behind the gold. Three staples on the sides and bottom of the pot leave the top open for tucking in the sticks. I love the way they look like they're trying to escape. There are two different garlands - one for the whole border and one to drape

It's amazing how many different recipes and creations you can use a 13x9-inch baking dish for. As much as I love a good, savory dish, I'll experiment with sweets all day long! These bars are a perfect combination of sweet, salty, crunchy, and chewy all in one bite. My recommendation is making a double batch so you can ... sample it before sharing it. Yep, that's what I'm going with. Ingredients: Crust: 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 cups flour Filling: 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup corn syrup 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp salt 3 eggs 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans 1 cup chocolate chips, melted 1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. 2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, and vanilla. Stir in flour to make dough for the crust.  3. Press dough into the bottom of the baking dish, pushing it up about an inch on the sides. 4. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes. The edges will brown slightly

God's word is so amazing. I had no idea that the Scripture used in our church's Sunday service last weekend would affect my heart so deeply this week.  I had no idea how I would cling to the words God gave King David thousands of years ago. And I had no idea that my mom would pass away the day after I studied these verses from Psalm 19. The law of the LORD   is   perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD   is   sure, making wise the simple.  The statutes of the LORD  are  right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD  is  pure, enlightening the eyes.  The fear of the LORD  is  clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD  are  true  and  righteous altogether.  More to be desired  are they  than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.  Moreover by them is thy servant warned:  and  in keeping of them  there is  great reward. Psalm 19:7-11 My heart is broken and raw, but Scripture is the salve I need to heal. God

It's been quite a while since the puppies were featured here, and I just have to share their holiday celebrations with you. They slept (like Parker is here), they ate, they played, they napped, they pulled the tree skirt out from under the tree, and they barked at wildlife through the window. The end. Well, they also rearranged their blankets multiple times a day. They were pretty busy with that. Then they had to take a nap to recover. Lined up. In the sunshine. You understand. And sometimes they didn't even make it to the floor. Their schedule was so exhausting that they fell asleep right where they were. Diesel usually chooses to doze with his chin on the couch. Just his chin, though, because puppies aren't allowed on the couch. But don't tell Molly that. She sleeps like this every evening, making sure she can keep an eye on me. Doesn't her graying fur make her look so distinguished? She turned 10 in November, and she'll always be the four-legged love of my li

Danny and I have always said that we study Scripture for our own personal growth, we just let the youth group listen in while we talk about what we've learned. We pray every week that the teens will get something out of what we teach, and if it's even a fraction of how we're affected by God's word, then He will do the work in their hearts. He is definitely working in ours. That's exactly what happened to me this week in our Wednesday night meeting. We were talking about how to trust God, even in the hard times, every day for an entire year. It seems daunting, this trusting God completely. It's easy to question, to doubt, to wonder what's really going on when you're knee-deep in troubles and trials. But to trust God no matter what? It sounds like a church phrase that we say without thinking. NASA says that the sun is 93 million miles away from the earth. It would take the fastest rocket ever designed around 100 days to get there. That's really difficu

I've never had this happen before. I found a bag of dried cranberries in the pantry. I don't remember buying dried cranberries. The expiration date is a couple of years down the road, so I must have bought them recently.  So what do you do when you unexpectedly find dried cranberries? Combine them with wild rice to make a delicious side dish, of course! Go see if you have any secret cranberries in your pantry, and let's get started. Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked wild rice 3 Tbsp minced garlic 1 cup dried cranberries 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 cup sliced mushrooms 2 1/2 cups chicken broth 2 Tbsp olive oil 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken tenders Blackening seasoning 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. 2. Rinse rice according to package directions. 3. Heat wild rice and water to boiling in a saucepan, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes and drain.

I always feel terrible when I write about my favorite books. I've read so many books this year, and it feels like I'm telling the other dozens that they're not as good. But they were! They'll just have to understand, I suppose. The most exciting thing I learned in 2023 was that I love history. I've never even liked history. All through school, I felt like I had to learn names and dates about a bunch of made-up events. History didn't seem real, even after our eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C. It just wasn't interesting, so I didn't care. Until this year. I've read so many history books in the past 12 months, probably more than I've read since high school. And a large section of my TBR bookshelf is about history topics, so get ready! My favorite history book of the year was Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. It's written as a novel, keeping with the historical timeline of those days in April 1865. It is filled with details

Gracious heavenly Father, help me to love You first, with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind. I am Yours before I am my husband's, and I love and honor him because I love and honor You. Touch my heart, help me not be jealous, not boastful, not self-seeking, but patient, kind, always trusting, hoping, and persevering. These are difficult fruit of the Spirit to cultivate, but with You, all things are possible. My husband is my heart, and I want to show him mine every day. Please help me to treat him the way I want him to treat me. Enable me to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. I desire these traits in my character so that I can prevent communication problems before they begin. Let my words be kind, uplifting, and full of Your truth. Keep me from speaking lies, half-truths, and exaggerations. Help me be content in all my circumstances so I can treasure my marriage, my home, and my husband as blessings from You. I know that You have blessed us beyond