Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Normally we think about change and new beginnings and associate them with spring. New life, new growth, newness all around us. But spring isn't the only season that can be so beautiful it takes our breath away.  Fall is proof that change can be beautiful. Autumn is a season of transition in so many ways - the end of summer, beginning of the school year, job changes, Bible studies, youth group. And, of course, the changing leaves showing off their magnificent colors. Summer was amazing, but here comes fall! Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.  Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness,   and  rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:18-19 Isaiah was writing in a time when captivity in Babylon was the only thing on their minds. The people were looking back on the old days when they were free with longing and regret, which is completely  understandable. Bu...

And here we are, sliding through another month in 2026. August was fun, busy, educational, and full of so many blessings, and I can't wait to see what September's going to bring. Besides a book sale, two weekends of flying, lots of meetings, and a few days of vacation to just stop moving. My monthly planner spreads are where I brainstorm and keep track of my blog posts, so it's the perfect place to use my tiny stickers. September also means the first day of Autumn, and I am so beyond ready for it! This set of stickers was full of leaves, pumpkins, footballs, and sweaters, so it was perfect for this random stamp-style page. Does your planner have both monthly and weekly layouts in it or just one or the other? Have you tried two separate planners? I use the two for two very different purposes, so having both in one place works best for me. That's the cool part about all the different designs and layouts out there - there's something perfect for everyone! I absolutely ...

I was in high school before I ate at a Chinese buffet. (And I loved it!) I was in college before I ordered Chinese takeaway. (The coolest experience!) And I was in my twenties before I even tried sushi. (Who knew I was going to make it a staple favorite for the rest of my life?) Asian food is one of my comfort foods - it soothes my soul and my stomach at the same time. The combination of unique flavors and textures makes my heart happy in a way no other can. While I love being spoiled by the experts who make these delicacies every day, sometimes it's fun to cook some up at home. This is one of my favorite go-to Chinese takeaway dishes that just takes a few minutes of prep and some classic Asian ingredients to recreate a restaurant staple. Ingredients:  2   lbs  chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch cubes 1/2   cup   soy sauce 1/2   cup   hoisin sauce 1/3   cup   rice vinegar 1/4   cup   honey 3 Tbsp minced  garlic   minced 1 ...

Twelve weeks ago our youth group started Summer Celebration (big-kid Vacation Bible School) with a joyful, precious statement: The Lord is my Shepherd. Last week we closed with: I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The first is in present tense. The second is in future tense. The Lord IS, right now, my Shepherd. And someday, I’m going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The words “house of the Lord” actually have a larger meaning than we think. Today we often hear those words and think about the church building. We’re “in the house of the Lord.” But in David’s time especially, it meant the family of God, being in His household, His flock. In just six verses, Psalm 23 walks us through a full year in the life of a shepherd and his sheep. If anyone knew the timeline and needs of a flock: they would spend winter and spring in their home pasture, then spend summer in the mountains  before coming back down fat and sassy for autumn and another winter. I love that picture ...

By Friday last week, everyone was telling me "I'm so glad this week is over!" Many people are having difficult times right now, and I know that feeling. Life is stressful, work can be challenging, and there are *people* everywhere. (You know what I mean...) That's why our planner can be a safe haven, a small piece of calmness and encouragement in the world, and why I chose The Lord Will Guide You Always as my theme for the week. I started the planner spread with my all-time favorite washi tape across the top, the tassel garland. If I ever run out of this washi, I promise you I'll cry. I had used many of the stickers from this set on previous pages, but somehow the Scriptures, phrases, and images still there were perfect together. Not only was there a variety of sizes and shapes to make little clusters across the pages, but they coordinated, they were beautiful together, and they expressed exactly what is in my heart this weekend. I especially love the overlapping ...

On Monday morning this week, I took the puppies to the end of the driveway a little before 6 a.m. We can't actually see the sunrise because the house is in the middle of a hill, but we saw the colors radiating out from it, and that was a beautiful surprise. On Tuesday morning at 6 a.m., we could tell that it was going to be a dreary, rainy day. The color was just along the tree line horizon, but that was about the extent of it. I love that shade of blue, though. On Wednesday morning, the sky was even darker than the day before despite that dramatic pink strip running all the way across. Later in the day we would have sideways rain, blown by gale-force winds, so this sky should have been my indicator of things to come. On Thursday morning, the storm had moved out and the puppies and I enjoyed the fog rolling through under that gorgeous blue-to-orange morning sky. Ok, I enjoyed the sky while they enjoyed exploring and discovering what creatures had roamed the driveway overnight. To e...

Almost every community has some kind of tourism entity: a convention and visitors bureau, economic development, chamber of commerce, or Main Street organization. They each function a little differently as well, but all with one goal in mind - celebrating the good things that are happening and sharing it with people all over the state and around the country. If you don't know who those people are in your city, take a minute now to do a little research and come right back. I'll wait. In my case, I run a 501(c)6 nonprofit that uses its portion of the city's hotel/motel tax to use for the visitor center, marketing, event sponsorships, and advertising our local businesses to travelers outside our state. From visitor guides to digital advertisements to event emails to the Radar O'Reilly interactive exhibit, everything we do encourages visitors to come spend time in our county, getting to know our people and our story. In your town, you have a group of economic development exp...

As summer winds down but the heat and humidity ramp up, this is the perfect week for a Summer Vibes planner layout! Pull out everything you can find in your collection that's made for the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer and we'll get to work. Turn on your summer playlist, crank the volume, and get ready for a very special craft session today.  These large vinyl stickers came from a set made for many different craft uses, and the large spaces on my planner pages made them the perfect size. I also used my favorite summer sunglasses washi tape, some phrase stickers, and tiny circle stickers to make six groupings across the spread. Can we just talk for a minute about how two tiny dots made each of these clusters pop? Loving it!  My prayer this week is that we'll each find something absolutely fun and unexpected that makes us smile. It's gotten pretty serious in the world around us, but that doesn't mean we have to fall into the negativity trap. Dig out some outrageous ...

Continuing with our tradition of monthly fudge recipes for the year, let's bring out the oranges and get a little tropical! This beautiful swirled fudge gets a kick with orange extract and spicy gumdrops for garnish. Think orange creamsicle, but way better. You'll be able to cut 36 pieces from one 8x8 pan of fudge, and each piece gets half a gumdrop. The flavor combination is out of this world, and the swirls make it look so sophisticated. This is the perfect summer treat, it only needs six ingredients, and it's so simple to put together. Enjoy! Ingredients: 1 12-oz bag white baking chips 2 Tbsp butter, sliced 1 16-oz can vanilla frosting 2 tsp orange extract Orange gel food coloring 18 gumdrops (9 orange and 9 white) 1. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with parchment paper. 2. Combine white baking chips and sliced butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring until combined and smooth. 3. Remove the lid and liner from the frosting. Hea...

It's totally ok to have a favorite washi tape, right? People of all different kinds of crafts have their favorite mediums, tools, and color pallets, so I can have a washi that I love more than anything. It's that metallic paper clip washi at the top and bottom of this week's planner layout. It's shiny and random and perfect and I love it. That's why it's the anchor design for this spread all about ... planning! The other washi tapes are from the same collection as the paper clips, so they're the perfect color combination. And there in my planner sticker pile was a set of office-themed stickers in the same pallet, so they are all combined on these pages. I laid them out in a right-to-left line down the page, then offset the upper left and bottom right corners with two more clusters of phrases and images. The result is colorful, balanced layout across both pages. My prayer for this week is that my heart and mind will be as colorful and balanced as this calenda...

Whether they're nine years old or 14 months old, dogs all have different levels of patience. (But open a chip bag, and all bets are off...) Our Diesel dog has the patience of Job. He will stay by our side no matter how long the wait might be, regardless of what we're actually waiting for. He's just steady like that. The tiny dog, on the other hand, has the attention span of a flea. Cooper is just over a year old - still a puppy - and wants to know absolutely everything about everything. He's still working on his sit-stay commands, and he'd much rather have whatever his brother has than what is right in front of him. With one exception. We go out to open Danny's garage door when he texts that he's on his way, and the boys know exactly what that means: door up ... Daddy home. And then we wait. They will stand here for what seems like hours but is only a few minutes, looking down the driveway, waiting for him to turn the corner through the trees.  And when he d...

Beautiful new month, beautiful new planner pages! I absolutely love the greens of summer, and I can't think of a better way to capture them than on my calendar. These August pages are ones go back to all month long, so they'll capture the summer season for 31 whole days! The random-stamp pattern of this layout took an entire page of stickers from one summer set - I think I picked it up at Walmart on clearance. This page is phenomenal because each leaf and branch is a different shade of green, and they all go together to make a lovely forest on paper. This kind of thinking may sound silly, but it can help you turn a blank piece of paper into a tiny work of art. The monthly layouts are the pages I use to keep track of my blog posts, so having enough space to write a few words is plenty. That's why the random-stamp effect works so well - I can use a ton of smaller images and phrases, and in this case make it look like growing and thriving trees. What can you use to personalize...

It is now three days after my 49th birthday, and I feel like I'm 90 years old for some reason. Maybe it's because I was so busy in July that I only read six books all the way through. Oh, I have several started with a couple pulled for the TBR pile, but only finished six. And one of those was a birthday present! Here are the books I read in July: Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States by Dave Barry. In honor of the 250th anniversary of our nation, it felt right to bring out this favorite. If you've ever read one of his books or newspaper columns over the years, our senses of humor match perfectly. Knowing more about (actual) history than the last time I read this classic, it's funnier than ever! Hidden In Time by Michael Phillips. I had to keep reminding myself that this is a novel about discovering the ark of the covenant, a work of fiction, because it was so well written. It is full of Bible truth, along with several very clear and well-written ...