Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Need a last-minute treat for an upcoming Valentine’s Day event? Pick up a store-bought cake, some frosting, sprinkles and a cookie cutter for the perfect snack of all sizes. For my hearts, I bought three small loaf breads in lemon poppyseed, orange and cherry along with a tub of pink frosting with sprinkles in the lid. It was one of those special packages for Valentine’s Day, which was absolutely perfect for me. Most cookie cutters are two inches thick or smaller, so cut your bread into slices thick enough to stand up on their own and thin enough that the cutter will go all the way through. Adjust accordingly. Slices at the ends of the bread are perfect for a couple of small hearts, and the middle are just the right size for large hearts. My guess is that you have heart-shaped cookie cutters in just about every size, just like I do, so go on an expedition to find them! Then lightly frost each heart and dip them in the sprinkles. The whole process only takes a few minutes, a...

You don’t have to spend an exorbitant amount of money to decorate and give gifts for each of the seasons. For just $3 apiece, these adorable light-up Valentine’s jars can be used as part of a tablescape, as gifts for someone special or as a little something pretty for your own workspace. All I needed were these three things, all from our dollar store: a plastic jar, a bag of table scatter and a string of heart lights. Yep, that’s it! Plus batteries I already had. I started with some table scatter in the bottom, just enough to cover the bottom of the jar. Then I layered a few lights on the string, scatter, more lights and more scatter. When the jar was full, I screwed the lid on and kept the batteries in the back. You could tie it to the jar with ribbon, but make sure it’s sheer so you don’t cover up the lights. The jar is too small to have very much covered up. The finished product is this adorable, heart-filled jar perfect for lighting up t...

I don’t know about your guy, but most men aren’t huge fans of sappy, sentimental gifts. I’m not saying that they don’t want us to put thought and feeling into our Valentine’s Day ideas, but schmoopy-schmoopy probably isn’t on their wish list. What can you do instead? Try some of these: * One of our local florists carries candy and snack arrangements that you can give your guy. * Buy a plant that he can put on his desk, in his office or in his home workspace. * Make his gift a trip somewhere he loves - a restaurant, a store or a road trip. * Personalization is fun! Find a keychain, golf balls, coffee mug or watch with names, his favorite team logo or family pictures on them. * Keep giving all year with a subscription box themed with his personal interests. * Surprise him with something he’s always wanted! This gift requires listening and planning, so pay attention. * Give him tickets to an upcoming concert or event, then make a day of it with dinner and shopping. * J...

If you’ve ever wanted to memorize a recipe, this is the one. And not just because you only have to remember the word “one,” but because it is the best peanut butter cookie recipe you’ve ever tried. To make things simple, each large cookie uses one egg, one cup of sugar and one cup of peanut butter. I told you it was easy. The fun part is that you pull the cookie out of the oven while the middle is still a little jiggly, and it will flatten some and create a shelf for the frosting. It’s a little hard to put into words, but you’ll see it when you try it. And you know you want to try it! Ingredients for cookie: 1 egg 1 cup sugar 1 cup peanut butter Ingredients for frosting: 3 cups powdered sugar A splash of milk 1 tsp vanilla 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a heart-shaped baking pan with nonstick spray. 2. In a large bowl, combine egg, peanut butter and sugar. Mix until smooth. 3. Scrape the batter into the baking pan, spreading it evenly. 4. Bake at 350 degre...

When we told our Sunday School class that we would be having a Valentine’s Day lesson next week, you wouldn’t believe the reaction we received. Oh no! Not love! I can’t even watch my mom and dad kiss! Do we have to? Arghhh... I was completely caught off guard. We’ve talked about love in class before without so much as a whimper, but as soon as the word Valentine came up, they wanted nothing to do with it. What I soon understood was they were associating Valentine’s Day with schmoopy-schmoopy love and not a love we can all share amongst ourselves on a daily basis. The Bible has multiple words that mean love - one for friendship, another for general “stuff” that we like, one for believers to treat one another and one that describes the unconditional love of God. All of these use the same English word “love,” even though the action of love in each case is different. What our upper elementary-aged students heard was “love,” and they immediately thought of romantic love the wa...

Have you ever had a week that you knew you’d need a little extra color to get you through? The next few days are shaping up to be incredibly busy, and my planner layout for the week is designed to make me smile every time I look at it! The embellishments are all from one set, so their color coordination makes me happy, too. As a lover and maker of lists, I used small stickers this week to leave lots of room for notes. I’m in the middle of several projects at work, so staying organized is going to be super important. And my favorite part of Sunday afternoon is meal planning, so that box is all set up, too. I couldn’t believe I found these adorable numbers in my collection of scraps. They remind me of a ransom note cut out of magazine pages, which wouldn’t normally be something to love, except in this case. I’m looking forward to filing in the blanks with this week’s youth group lesson - the second half of our discussion on discerning the voice of God - and a couple ...