Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

With the plethora of sporting events over the next few months, it's time to pull out some really great chicken wing marinades! They're a versatile appetizer that everyone loves, and you can create a different flavor combination every time. I went simple for this batch, using just three ingredients for a 10-hour marinade. They're juicy, a little crispy around the edges, and full of flavor. Orange glaze wing marinade: 3 Tbsp garlic powder 1 1/2 cups soy sauce 1 cup orange juice 1. Place wings in a large, resealable plastic bag and toss with garlic powder to coat. Pour in soy sauce and orange juice. 2. Allow chicken to marinade for several hours or overnight. 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking dish with foil and lightly spray with nonstick spray. 4. Spread wings in a single layer in the baking dish and discard the extra marinade. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, turning once, and make sure the juices run clear. Here are a few other marinade combinations to try....

If you created a place of retreat from the madness and rudeness of the world, what would it look like? Our teens had this assignment last week as we studied Ephesians 4:26-32, and our hearts were blessed beyond measure at the Kindness Zone they designed. I would withdraw to this little slice of heaven every single day, I can tell you that much. Every week we hear stories about how difficult other students are to be around, the bullying that's taking place in our schools, family conflicts that are weighing heavy, and workplace worries that shouldn't exist to begin with. If you're not already praying for the next generation, I beg you to do so right now. The giant whiteboard became their drawing board for a very special Kindness Zone, a retreat from nastiness where they could uplift one another and help each other heal. Their hearts poured out as they named each section they wanted to build: The Encouragement Center A Grateful Garden The Leader Club The Calmness Center A Lear...

And....it's the last week of October. Anyone else struggling with that concept? The one thing that's soothing that "the year is going by way too fast" feeling is that I'm loving the fall vibes that kicked in this week. That's why my planner layout for the week is full of cozy, autumn colors and falling leaves everywhere. There are three sets combined here, mainly so I'd have all the leaves I needed. To start, I layered leaves over the top edge and trimmed them off. Then random leaves cascade down the page, alternating sides. The largest images balance them out, with some smaller borders and images to balance them out. And can we stop for just a moment to say how cute the floating shelf on Tuesday is? Thank you. There's only a small window of rest between the summer months and the holidays when you're in tourism, and we've already kicked back into high gear. I'm sure your community is like ours, and there are tons of local organizations host...

I took a personal day last week for a three-day weekend, my first break from work in several weeks. I slept, ate, read, played with puppies, and spent time with Danny. My heart feels much more at peace, and now my planner layout for next week means even more. For this layout, I drew from the hymn As The Deer Pants and layered forest, cabin, and deer stickers to create small vignettes in each day's block. The sticker sets even had tiny wildlife images to scatter throughout my pastoral scenes, so there are birds, squirrels, and rabbits everywhere. If you're starting the week with any kind of stress or worry, I pray that you'll do something today to bring your heart some peace. Pray, study a passage of Scripture, or read a good book. Work on a craft, create something lovely in the kitchen, or reach out to someone you haven't spoken to in a while. Find the peace of God right here in your situation and seek Him above all else.

As fall settles in this week, we are very close to the end of the wildflowers. But there are still a few standing strong and looking pretty for these last few days of warm temperatures. This is our maiden grass patch by the barn garage. It's a beautiful perennial that gets to about 10 feet tall and has been home and shelter to all kinds of wild animals over the years. This calico aster is showing exactly why it's called calico - the centers of the flower change colors as they mature, from bright yellow to dark red to brown. Here is the whole rainbow on one plant. The goldenrods were plentiful in the wildflower field this year, and their color was stunning. They're crazy-popular with the bees and butterflies, and they're always surrounded by birds. And by puppies. This one I had to look up because I'm not familiar with boneset. It's been in our field the entire time, but I hadn't taken the time to find out what it is. It has large clusters of small, fuzzy flo...

Fall is the perfect time to discuss the immutability of Jesus Christ.  Wait, what? That's a big concept tied to the seasons, but it fits together perfectly. According to the dictionary, i mmutability is the state of being unchangeable, referring to objects or data whose content cannot be altered after creation. How much more so does this apply to our God, who has never changed one iota, ever, and never will. The weather changes moment by moment, month by month, season by season. Rarely do we have two days with the same temperature and wind conditions, let alone a string of them together. We expect that, though. We know that summer will turn into fall, which it is beginning to in southern Iowa, and that soon we'll be talking about coats and snow. That's just how the changing seasons work. But we never have to think about Christ changing in any way, shape, or form. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8 We know this verse from Hebrews forwards...

My goal for the day was to not just follow the instructions on the box of brookie mix. I mean, how boring is that?  So I started with the Betty Crocker Delights Cookie Brownie Bar Mix. That's about all I left the same. Then comes the fun part. There were extra eggs, toffee chips, and chocolate pudding mix all over the place!  After reading the recipe below, what would your perfect brookie combination look like? Ingredients: 1 box Betty Crocker Delights Cookie Brownie Bar Mix 1/4 cup butter, melted 2 Tbsp water 2 eggs 1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 Tbsp water 1/2 cup of your favorite chocolate chips or candy pieces 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. The brownie batter: 2. Combine brownie batter mix in a large bowl with melted butter and 2 eggs.  3. Stir in the box of chocolate pudding mix. The cookie dough: 4. Combine cookie dough mix, softened butter, and water in a small bowl....

I wish I knew what you were going through today. If I knew what difficulties you're facing, I'd know how to pray better for you this week. If we could talk for just a bit, I could learn more, understand more, and pray with you for just what you need. Instead, I'll tell you some of the same things I'd tell you if we were together. These are the Scriptures I would share with you when you shared your struggles with me. I may not be able to make any of them better, but I can lead you to the God who can! If you're battling an enemy this week, read Psalm 37:40. If you struggle with loneliness, read Genesis 28:15. If you need physical or spiritual protection, read Proverbs 18:10. If you just want to be a blessing to the women around you, read Titus 2:4-5. If pride has reared its ugly head, read Proverbs 28:25-26. If laziness has crept in, read 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12. If you're having trouble forgiving, read Matthew 5:44-45. If all you need is peace, read John 14:27. I...

I've heard a rumor that temperatures are supposed to drop a little this week. At this point, starting October in the upper 80s makes celebrating the start of fall difficult, but I'm doing it regardless! So for this week's planner layout, I pulled out the prettiest sunflowers I could find, added some metallic leaves, and decided it's time for some seasonal flowers to bloom! After trimming down two border stickers to run across the bottom of both pages, I created some groupings of sunflowers and leaves in the corners of each day. Those clusters are staggered back and forth across both pages, shining and practically jumping off the page with their layers. Thanks to an included, coordinated alphabet with the sticker set, the bloom on the facing page fits in perfectly. After six weeks of crazy-busy work, church, and book sale plans, I'm looking forward to a week of a much slower pace. (Hopefully it stays that way!) While I don't believe there's such a thing as wo...

Cooper, our newest pack addition, has been with us for almost two months now. It's been a roller coaster - fun, tiring, frustrating, joyful, exasperating, and so interesting. We've not had a puppy this young before (he's not even 5 months old yet), so that's taken some getting used to. By all four of us! We're thrilled with how well Diesel and Cooper are getting along. The tiny dog adores Diesel and is pretty much glued to his side all day. That's the big dog's foot that Cooper's curled up against. Diesel does have his limits, though, and will let Cooper know in no uncertain terms when he's done playing for the moment. Does Cooper listen? Sometimes. Diesel plays a little intensely with him, like he did with his sister Callie, but he's so much bigger than him that we have to keep an eye on them. Puppies' heads don't belong in big dogs' mouths...or so we've been led to believe. Diesel could easily snap Cooper in two, but he's so...

Today's world comes with a lot of background noise. And often, the more you try to tune it out, the louder it becomes. Your alarm goes off with beeps and buzzers and music. Music and news follow you around as you get ready. People and pets talk to you in all their many languages and you reply. You have a podcast on or stream music in your car. Traffic noises surround you on the road. Music and announcements are constant while you're shopping. Notifications come through your phone for every text, call, and email. Construction blares through the window as you drive past. Television or movies are always on. Telemarketers make your phone ring, no matter what precautions you take. And on and on it goes from morning to night. Our entire day is filled with noise, no matter where we go. We're bombarded with people trying to get our attention — they want to change our opinion, sell us something, or fill our minds with whatever message they have for the day. And it's never-ending...

Between preparing for our book sale and life with a new puppy, I didn't get as much reading in last month as I normally would have. Books don't get read very quickly when you're reading two pages, stopping to correct a 4-month-old dachshund, and moving on. But the books I did read were amazing, and I can't wait to share them with you. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger. I had seen good reviews about this post-Revolutionary War book, and it didn't disappoint. Just when you think you know a little bit about history ... plot twist! I knew nothing about the war in North Africa, and the story of these amazing sailors and marines was riveting. It put a new spin on Jefferson and his presidency for me, too. If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name by Heather Lende. This was a book sale find last year, and I'll admit the moose caught my attention. It's written by a small-town Alaska obituary writer and is full of people stories...