Purposeful Living
Creative ideas for enjoying your family in all seasons of the year, including spending time in nature, creative ways to celebrate holidays, and ways to teach your children the art of hospitality.
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How to Focus on Jesus Instead of Focusing on Your Problems
The seasons are changing in our part of the world. I watch from my window, where I’m lost in stacks of first-grade homework, bills, and messy reminders about the reality of my actual life. I want to focus on Jesus this morning, but I can’t clear my head in the middle of the mess. You probably know a thing or two about messes. You want to live by faith and focus on Jesus throughout your days, but the chaos of your life pulls you away. How to Focus on Jesus I want to learn to keep my eyes on Jesus, but sometimes, it doesn’t feel practical. Here’s what I’m learning:…
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How to Make a Child Feel Loved: 25 Ways
Author Toni Morrison once asked the question, “When your child walks in the room, does your face light up?” I was not yet a parent when I first considered this question, but it stuck with me. And perhaps, when it comes to learning how to make a child feel loved, this is the greatest truth of all: Let your face speak what’s in your heart. How to Make a Child Feel Loved: 25 Ways What do our kids see when our eyes meet? I think of these words in the early hours of dawn, when fuzzy heads stumble from their rooms and greet me. I consider these words when I’m tired…
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Discover These Gifts by Slowing Down in Life
I asked Caleb what he wanted to do for his third birthday, and he wanted hot dogs and marshmallows for breakfast and a trip to the sandy beach. He settled for powdered doughnuts for breakfast, but I came through on the trip to the sandy beach. Slowing down in life, for even a day, felt like its own kind of gift. The sandy beach is the name the kids have affectionately labeled a stretch of sandy shoreline along the creek behind our house. We’ve been known to catch bluegills and crayfish in the shallow part of the pool, and surrounded by wilderness, the sandy beach feels like an escape to…
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Living in the Joy of the Lord: 6 Practical Ways
It’s an overcast evening with light air hanging over the black-eyed susans that blanket the fields behind the house. I’m not thinking about living in the joy of the Lord, but I’m about to learn a lesson that will forever change my life. I’ve spent most of the day cleaning the house, dealing with a frustrating computer issue, and searching the basement boxes for size 3T sweatpants. By the time the food is on the table and the family is gathered on the deck for dinner, I’m weary. Living in the Joy of the Lord We’ve just finished our meal when it happens. Our sweet little girl winds up with…
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How to Glorify God in Your Body: 5 Practical Ways
Have you ever wondered how to glorify God in your body? Perhaps you’ve read Romans 12:1 and want to apply it to your life: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (NIV). Today, we’ll talk about how to glorify God in your body with five practical steps. I invite you to join me on a clear winter morning, and we’ll explore the idea of bringing God glory in all we do. How to Glorify God in Your Body Birdsong tangled in the spruce boughs the morning…
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How to Change the World Through Kindness
Julio Diaz gets off the train like it’s any other day. His mind is fixed on grabbing a bite to eat at his favorite café. It’s an ordinary day in an ordinary place. Nothing about the day leads Julio to believe he might change someone’s life. He’s not thinking about how to change the world. As Julio gets off the train, a young teenager approaches with a knife. The teen wants Julio’s wallet. After giving up the wallet, Julio turns to the young man and hands him his coat, saying, “If you’re gonna be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to…
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How to Step Out in Faith When the Next Step Feels Scary
It’s late August, and the ironweed boasts deep purple blossoms among fields of green and gold. We stand at the end of the driveway with anxious hearts. Today is an opportunity to learn how to step out in faith. We all feel just a little bit scared. I honestly believed I’d be more nervous than our extroverted five-year-old when the first day of kindergarten came, but it seems she’s the one with the jitters. We review the directions to her classroom for the third time. I remind her to focus on eating her sandwich at lunchtime. We discuss important topics like hand sanitizer and hydration: the stuff moms worry about.…
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Refresh Your Soul: 15 Creative Ways
Do you long to refresh your soul but feel unsure of how to do this in practical ways? You are in the right place. Today, I invite you to join me in the woods as I step out of my everyday routines to refresh my mind and body. Then, we’ll talk about practical ways to refresh your soul, even if you don’t particularly enjoy the woods. 15 Creative Ways to Refresh Your Soul Last summer, I took our five-year-old daughter, Bekah, to the woods for her first overnight backing trip. “I don’t think most mothers take their little girls into the wilderness on backcountry camping trips,” a friend remarked. “But…
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7 Encouraging Bible Verses for Struggling Moms
As I sit to write these words to you, there’s a pile of luggage at the bottom of our stairwell. It’s an array of minion-decorated backpacks, colorful duffel bags, and pink handbags adorned with flowers and fairies. Looking at it makes me feel overwhelmed. I share this with you before I share today’s Bible verses for struggling moms because I want you to know that I have walked in your shoes, friend. I have endured months of sleeplessness with infants who refused to sleep. The demands of motherhood have worn me thin, and I’ve locked myself in the bathroom while little fingers wiggled under the door. Bible Verses for Struggling…
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How to Rejoice in the Lord in Every Season
The tulip poplar leaves are just beginning to emerge like tiny hands waving at the cobalt sky. For six fleeting months, they will greet the dawn with their flapping waves as if they’re living to the full. As I gaze at them, they’re a reminder of how to rejoice in the Lord no matter what the season of life looks like. How to Rejoice in the Lord in Every Season A red-winged blackbird glides over the field behind the house, and our caged quail calls for a mate. I turn the pages for words about how to live this day to its fullest, and I find them: This is…
