Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Welcome to the first day of the Advent season! It's time to celebrate our coming King and enjoy a month of love, hope, peace, and joy in every way possible. Thank you, God, for Your unspeakable gift! The planner that I'm using this year has a monthly planner layout followed by four weekly spreads. For December, I did a random scatter of tiny images and phrases that coordinate across both pages. There's a few pieces of this gorgeous Christmas tree washi tape, too, with some pink and blue thrown in there for good measure. And that little row of holiday houses just makes me smile. The smaller stickers are perfect for these small boxes, and they leave plenty of room for me to keep track of my blog posts there. This is a great use for the little stickers left from larger sets, as they'll combine really well over a large space. We had our first snow of the year this weekend, so my planner layout is a tribute to how beautiful it is outside right now. And praise that it was onl...

My entire focus at work every day is local businesses. Our job at the convention and visitors bureau is to bring in people from outside the community to shop in our stores, eat in our restaurants, and visit our attractions. We're a huge part of the economic impact in our county, and it's our pleasure to do everything in our power to get people here.  And if it wasn't for our local businesses, we'd have nothing new and different to offer those visitors. Hopefully you're not going to the same chain restaurants when you travel that you go to when you're at home. Hopefully you're trying some local restaurants with menus and specials you can't get anywhere else. Hopefully the same goes for stores and shops you won't find at home, especially this time of year when you're shopping for the people on your Christmas list. Whether you're out and about at home or traveling  today, Small Business Saturday is the perfect opportunity to look local first. Be...

Do you ever have times when you just want peace and quiet and an opportunity to lift others up? As a beautiful fall day ended on our quiet property, I thought long and hard about the noise and chaos that is happening elsewhere.  The world is filled with pain and suffering and so much worry. There is fear and evil and many things to be concerned about. If you've experienced hard times and days full of trouble, it's guaranteed that everyone else you meet every day has (or is) too.  Jesus didn't promise a life without trouble for those who would follow Him, but He did promise salvation, eternity with Him, and peace and support while we're here on earth. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. Romans 14:19 When we're given the peace of God which passes all understanding, we're given the tools we need to edify each other. His peace calms us down and lifts us up at the same time - what an interesting j...

In 1789, Congress passed a resolution requesting President George Washington declare a formal Thanksgiving Day for America. Washington chose Thursday, November 26, 1789, as this national day of thanks. And how much the new country had to be thankful for in those days. In his proclamation, Washington began in the first sentence  of the first paragraph that this thanksgiving was to go one place: to the Lord God  Almighty. Gratitude for His blessings was the whole purpose of the day. His heart was in sharing his Lord with the people of his country. "By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation. Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by ac...

This is the perfect weather for two of my new favorite warm, thick, yummy dishes. Between a hearty beef stew and tuna casserole-turned-soup, you'll have a week's worth of cold-weather goodness.  These two meals use very similar ingredients with two completely different tastes and smiles. And what's even better, you probably have everything you need in your pantry and refrigerator right now.  Comfort food doesn't get any better than that. Beef Stew Ingredients: Olive oil 2lbs beef stew meat 1/2 cup onion, diced 3 Tbsp garlic, minced 3-4 cups chicken stock 1 envelope onion soup mix 3 Tbsp tomato sauce 1/2 bag sliced carrots 2 cups frozen broccoli 1. In a large pot, heat 3 Tbsp olive oil. Add the beef and brown completely, 6-7 minutes. 2. Add the onion and garlic and sauté together with beef for 3-4 minutes. 3. Add chicken stock, onion soup mix, and tomato sauce. Stir well and heat through. 4. Add in the carrots and bring to a boil. 5. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer on low...

I could not be more grateful for all God's blessings since the last Thanksgiving week. Blessed beyond measure may sound like a cliche, but if we were completely honest, we've all seen far more good this year than not. When our hearts are grateful, our lives and our days are full. For this week's planner layout, I raided my entire collection of stickers and washi tapes and threw them all on the page! I had way more Thanksgiving and fall-themed bits and pieces than I realized, and I would wager that you do, too. Go check. I'll wait. The washi tape became the bottom of each day's box and the banners across the top - I mean, who can resist a border that says gobble, gobble, gobble? Not me. Then I clustered phrase banners, smaller word stickers, and lots of adorable leaves and pumpkins all across the spread. Honestly, my favorite is Life's short, eat dessert first! This was a common phrase in our house when I was growing up, one that remains to this day. This week, D...

When I asked Danny what special dessert he wanted for his birthday earlier this month, he knew exactly and immediately. Not cake, not ice cream, not cupcakes. Nothing traditional. He wanted blueberry cheesecake cookies. Can you blame him? Just that three-word combination conjures up ideas of fluffy, yummy, scrumptious cookie-ness. And with just a little prep and a few minutes to put the dough together, you'll have them ready to devour in no time at all. Sounds like a birthday dessert to me! Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened 8oz cream cheese, room temperature 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 2 7oz boxes blueberry muffin mix 1 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 cup white chocolate chips 1. Allow butter and cream cheese to come to room temperature, about 4-5 hours. 2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. 3. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream butter and cream cheese until completely blended. 4. Add sugar and mix compl...

As an Army wife, I think every day should be Veterans Day. I have seen firsthand the sacrifices, dedication, and passion for our country those in the Armed Forces have served for, and I am incredibly grateful to each and every one of them over the past 250 years. Our freedoms have never been free. For this layout, I did something I don't normally do (gasp). I used stickers on 3D adhesive instead of flat stickers. In a planner like this it just makes it more difficult to write on the pages to come, but it honestly doesn't bother me today. I adore these images, I love that they're dimensional, and the messages are absolutely perfect. I will happily deal with the bulk next week. I started with two kinds of washi tape and alternated them down both pages. Then opposite corners got clusters of glittered stars and everything from flags and boots to medals and dog tags. The dog tags even have a little chain on them. Insert heart eyes here. And since our office is closed on Veterans...

As the temperatures get cooler, our hearts get warmer in our little pack. It's hard to believe that next week Cooper will have been with us for three months and Diesel will have been the big dog for just over two months. Time flies when you're training a puppy while being supervised by an 80-pound tank of a black lab. The man at the shelter gave us the best advice: it will take three days for a puppy to decompress, three weeks for him to feel safe, and three months to settle into a routine. We've hit that mark on the timeline, and while I'm not sure I would use the words settle or routine yet, we're definitely getting there. Diesel is 9 years old now, which we just discovered at our last vet visit. We were convinced he was 7, but Dr. Jordan had his adoption papers in his records. My soul dog has aged a little on paper but definitely not in spirit.  Cooper is almost 6 months old, so he's very much a teenager. He's determined, headstrong, very mischievous, stu...

I've been collecting stickers since I was tiny. I remember my mom putting stickers on each piano book page as I passed them and picking them up at the store as rewards for doing my chores.  It hasn't changed at all since I've grown up. It's the first thing I collect at visitor centers, places we visit, almost every Amazon order, and for my planner pages. Now I use baseball card pages in a large 3-ring binder to be able to see all of them easily. So new pages in my journal mean a new collection of stickers to embellish them! It was fun to pick out a few favorites: here's what they are and why I chose them this time. I'm only talking to Jesus today. (I've said this to myself many, many times lately. It's possibly safer that way.) I am the daughter of a King who is not moved by the world, for my God is with me and goes before me, I do not fear because I am His. (So adjust your crown and get back out there.) Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do. Pro...

As we quickly approach the holiday season, let's promise each other that we're not going to do the same-old-same-old decorating. If I hear anyone say, But that's the way I've always done it, I'll probably sigh. It's time to get creative! P.S. Hope you like glitter. This one's full of it. Every year it's my pleasure to decorate for one of our community banquets. For the past two years we've used beautiful blue and gold decorations that coordinate with the invitations. A new team member suggested we dress them up with pops of white. That combination had never occurred to me, but I rolled with it. And it turned out great! So here's the 10-point philosophy we unconsciously used that makes total sense when putting together a fabulous holiday centerpiece. 1. Something textured. The blue deco mesh that goes down first rolls naturally from being on the cardboard tube, and we left it that way. The curl and the glitter give it a fluid look. 2. Something sh...

If I could have sushi every day, I would. I've never met a sushi roll I didn't love. When I found out you can get takeaway at our local sushi restaurant, I knew I was in trouble. Did I mention I love sushi? When I would boxes of microwavable sticky rice in the freezer section of our local grocery store, I knew my life was about to change. Dramatic? Maybe. Yummy beyond words? Definitely. My first experiment was turning the sticky rice into tiny rice cups. After heating he bag of rice in the microwave, I pressed balls of it into a muffin tin and made dents in the middle for the sushi toppings.  And how do you pick toppings? They're pretty limitless, so you can mix and match whatever floats your boat. * Fresh or cooked fish and seafood like salmon, tuna, crab, and shrimp * Vegetables like cucumber, avocado, green onion and carrot * Seaweed salad * Spicy mayo (mayo and sriracha) * Sesame seeds for crunchy garnish * Shelled edamame * Soy sauce or chili sauce A quick search onlin...

So I'm curious. When you do your planner layouts, do you use a whole new set every time, or are you mixing and matching sets to create something new and different? For my November monthly layout, I'm pretty sure I mixed the stickers left over from six different sets. The result is a really cool, random-pattern, fall-themed spread. I use the monthly grids in my planner for keeping track of my blog posts and devotion Scriptures, so I don't do any fancy, busy layouts that take up too much room. Instead, I choose images and color combinations that make me happy and stay on point for that month. For November, I used the last bits and pieces from my fall sets, including two of the cutest foxes I've ever seen! Plus, hedgehog with a leaf on its head. It doesn't get any more fall than that, right? Washi tape at the top and the bottom tie the autumn theme together, and we're ready for Thanksgiving. The very first phrase sticker I saw this week was Life is an open book ......

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24 Today is a very special day - Danny's birthday! God truly showered us with blessings the day He made Danny, and I thank Him for that every day - especially today. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10 Happy Birthday, Danny! I love you! 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

With the book sale over for another year, I found that I suddenly had time to read again! Seems ironic, doesn't it? Being so busy with a book sale that you don't have time to read? And that, my friends, is why I'd struggle working in a book store, as lovely as that sounds. The 13 books I read this month fit into a wide range of categories, which is so much fun! I don't remember the last time I learned so much, enjoyed what I was reading, and wanted to closet myself away with no distractions.  For my soul: When We Pray Like Jesus by Elisa Morgan - the two sides of the prayer coin Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.  Living Well, Spending Less by Ruth Soukup, one of my favorite bloggers - using Scripture as the foundation for how you spend your money so it has eternal value. Leading From the Heart by Jack Kahl - looking at leadership in business as a calling that requires prayer, dedication, and the willingness to humble yourself for others. Is Your Youth Group Aliv...