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15 Tips for Camping With Kids: How to Make Amazing Memories!
Last summer, our family embarked on an 11-day camping road trip. As we prepare for this summer’s similar road trip, I’ve been reflecting on last year’s journey. Today, I’m sharing tips for camping with kids as well as a few reflections from last summer’s adventure. (If you’re eager to get to the camping tips, scroll to the bottom of this post!) Tips for Camping With Kids Twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have considered an 11-day road trip across the country an epic adventure. Throughout my twenties, it was no big deal to drive from my home in Pennsylvania to the Rockies. One summer, I even made the trek twice. In…
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A Glimpse Into Our Family Road Trip to the Rockies
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to take a family road trip across the country? Maybe you’ve considered the idea, but it doesn’t seem practical. Last summer, alongside our three children (ages 12, 8, and 4), my husband and I traveled thousands of miles, climbed mountains, shivered in our sleeping bags, and cooked over campfires. We used our tailgate as a table, dealt with deflated air mattresses, and bathed in the middle of the woods. Our time on the road was exhausting, amazing, and everything in between. As I reflected on our trip, I also sensed that God was showing me that many of the same mindsets…
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Check Out This Tween Girl Devotional Online and in Print
Do you want to help your preteen daughter grow in her faith while also deepening your mother-daughter relationship? I am the mom of a preteen girl, and these are my heart’s desires as well. For this reason, my 11-year-old daughter and I recently wrote a new tween girl devotional online and also a book called Girl Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith. A Tween Girl Devotional Online and in Print My tween daughter, Bekah, and I write together on a blog just for tween girls. Check it out right here! We also invite you to download our seven-day free online devotional, The Girl to Girl…
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5 Creative Ways to Offer Hospitality This Summer
Daylight comes early now. Hummingbirds suck down our sugary syrup before the slow drip of black coffee has even begun. Summer is the season of long, lush days that open wide with possibilities. It’s the season for picnics and bonfires – fireflies and s’mores. Summer is also the perfect season to offer hospitality. You might think of cookouts and sparklers when you think of summer hospitality. However, hospitality involves more than just opening our homes; it’s about opening our hearts. We can offer hospitality anywhere. We weren’t made to do life alone. Every time you open your heart and life to someone else, you extend hospitality. This can happen in a…
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3 Ways to Have Less Stress at Christmas This Year
We walk to the hill where the fir and spruce mingle in a dozen shades of emerald. Within milliseconds, the youngest falls into the thorny branches of a hawthorn crabapple, and the oldest is tangled in a knot of burdock. I take a deep breath, remind myself to give thanks in this moment, and say a prayer for God to help me push back against stress at Christmas this year. We’re living in stressful times, and I don’t have to start listing the circumstances that make this year tough. You have your own circumstances. They aren’t identical to mine, but they carry their own challenges, and if nothing else, wouldn’t…
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6 Outdoor Hospitality Ideas for Autumn: How to Connect in These Pandemic Times
There’s a single-file row of foxtail grass bending over the roadside like a line of school children dropping pennies off a bridge. Oddly enough, seeing them posed over the gravel gets me thinking about gathering with others and embracing autumn’s invitation for offering outdoor hospitality. It gets me thinking about standing with others to admire the season as it unfolds all around us. A few years ago, I wrote a series of posts on how to offer hospitality that changes lives (Check out the most popular post in this series here: 8 Surprising Ways to Extend Hospitality). The underlying message woven throughout these posts was this: Hospitality is the art…
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8 Free Family-Friendly Outdoor Activities
Are you looking for family-friendly outdoor activities? Our family has made getting our kids outdoors a high priority, and the results are powerful. I’m revisiting this post today now that our oldest is a teenager, and I’m grateful that she still loves spending time outdoors. 8 Free Family-Friendly Outdoor Activities If you’re looking for free outdoor activities for your family during this time, you’re in the right place. Here’s our family’s list of fun ways to enjoy the outdoors together. Family-Friendly Outdoor Activities: 1. Wildlife Scavenger Hunts For this activity, I create a list of items we are likely to see in the forest near our home: pinecones, different colored…
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3 Practical Ways to Encounter Christ at Christmas
We recently pulled out the Christmas boxes again—a hodgepodge of fake pine, glitter, and the faint aroma of cinnamon spice. As we unpacked the boxes, I reminded myself to remain focused on Christ at Christmas this year. I thought about Jesus’ presence with us as we stung the colored bulbs on the tree and wrapped the branches with a long burgundy ribbon. The spirit in the room was nothing short of celebratory. Amid the celebration, something within me seemed to stir to life, as if the celebration, itself, was ushering me into Jesus’ presence. I soon realized that the simple act of celebrating was pushing out worries and cares. I…
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4 Practical Ways to Transform Christmas Stress into Christmas Worship
December has arrived, and I’m not sure I’m ready. I’ve been staring down my to-do list and feeling anxious. I don’t want to acknowledge that this Christmas stress is stealing my joy. Nevertheless, I must admit that the demands of this season feel more like an invitation to stress than an invitation to worship. Advent is the season for fixing our eyes on the coming Christ, the One who came in the flesh two thousand years ago and will come again to reign forever in glory. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised there is an enemy out to distract me throughout this season of anticipation. After we cut down the…
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How to Raise Frog Eggs and Have a Blast Doing It
Spring is here, and the world is coming alive again. As we embrace longer days, sunshine, and spring bulbs rising through the soil, this season is a perfect opportunity to help our kids connect with nature. This year, our little family is learning how to raise frog eggs, and we’re having a blast in the process. Providing children with opportunities to interact with wild creatures in safe ways is one of the best ways to spark life-long interests in the natural world. A frog egg project is a great place to start, and even the least savvy naturalist can pull this off. I remember multiple frog egg projects throughout my…
