Stacey Pardoe

Encountering God in the Ordinary

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  • My Books
  • Free eBooks
  • Faith and Family
  • My Story
  • Articles

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  • Purposeful Living

    4 Ways to Stay Focused on Jesus at Christmas

    December 11, 2024 /

    For the first year in decades, I counted winter as a gift this year: not a grueling season to survive, but a wonderous season to embrace.  As I aim to give thanks for the colder weather and darker days, I’m also reminding myself to stay focused on Jesus at Christmas this year. I tend to get pulled into the rush of my Christmas to-do list, making it tough to stay centered. If you can relate, here are four ways I’m helping our family stay focused on Jesus at Christmas this year. How to Stay Focused on Jesus at Christmas Let’s look at several practical ways to keep our focus on…

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    Transform Your Life With These 5 Prayers for the New Year

    December 27, 2023

    How to Love Like Jesus When You Feel Annoyed

    December 15, 2021

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    May 3, 2017
  • Purposeful Living

    3 Ways to Have Less Stress at Christmas This Year

    December 3, 2020 /

    We walk to the hill where the fir and spruce trees 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 and ask God to help me push back against stress at Christmas this year. Later in the day, after the tree is wired to the wall in the corner of the living room, I reflect on my desire for peace this Christmas. It dawns on me as the Christmas bulbs glow in a rainbow of color: Peace on Earth has already come to dwell…

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    Five Benefits of Spending One-on-one Time with Your Child

    March 7, 2017

    5 Practical Ways to Sit at Jesus’ Feet

    September 1, 2021

    Safe With God: When God’s Will Feels Risky

    April 25, 2018
  • Purposeful Living

    Keeping Christ in Christmas: 8 Practical Ways

    December 11, 2019 /

    We recently pulled out the Christmas boxes.  Surrounded by a hodgepodge of fake pine, glitter, and the faint aroma of cinnamon spice, I reminded myself of the importance of keeping Christ in Christmas.  It’s easy to get so caught up in holiday festivities that we overlook the reason for celebrating. Keeping Christ in Christmas If the idea of focusing on Jesus at Christmas resonates with you—and if you want less stress and deeper peace this Christmas—here are eight suggestions to help you. 8 Tips for Keeping Christ in Christmas 1. Keep Christ in Christmas by slowing down. Whether you’re shopping for gifts or decorating your home, aim to complete these…

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    March 25, 2020

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    November 20, 2022

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    February 12, 2020
  • Purposeful Living

    4 Ways to Have a Christ-Centered Christmas

    December 4, 2019 /

    December has arrived, and I’m not sure I’m ready.  I’ve been staring down my to-do list and feeling anxious.  I want our family to have a Christ-centered Christmas, but my to-do list is stealing my focus. Sadly, 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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    Showing Grace

    7 Practical Ways to Show Grace to Others

    March 15, 2017

    8 Powerful Scriptures to Pray Over Your Children

    March 8, 2019

    16 Practical Ways to Keep Your Heart on Fire for God

    August 30, 2023
  • Purposeful Living

    7 Ways to Show Hospitality This Winter

    December 5, 2018 /

    Backyard bonfire days and barefoot swimming parties are a distant memory as we prepare for the long winter months ahead in these parts.  Nevertheless, I am reminded that the call to open my heart and home to others has not changed.  There are plenty of ways to show hospitality, even in the coldest winter months. While it’s refreshing to invite the neighbors to the backyard for a picnic, it sometimes feels overwhelming to open the doors of our inside worlds and welcome the noise and the mess. If you’re longing for socialization but not sure you want to open wide your front door, remember that hospitality can happen anywhere. 7…

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  • Purposeful Living

    6 Creative Ideas to Help You Show Hospitality This Fall

    September 12, 2018 /

    It’s a clear evening overlooking Granite Creek. The sun has slipped behind the canyon walls, and alpenglow paints the West Ridge salmon.  I’m not thinking about how to show hospitality this evening – not in the least. The year is 2001, and I’ve just entered the identity-searching decade of my twenties. This will be the decade when I stumble blindly in the relentless search for the woman I want to become. I’ll begin my teaching career in the public high school. I have no way of knowing these things now, of course. For now, I’m content with my three-month job of washing dishes in the lodge where the teachers come…

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    Radically Remake Your Prayer Life With This Simple Tool

    January 22, 2020

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  • Purposeful Living

    6 Meaningful Christmas Traditions That Put Others First

    December 20, 2017 /

    In a season saturated with commercialism and consumerism, it’s easy to lose the meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, some of the most meaningful Christmas traditions are the ones that put others first. Meaningful Christmas Traditions One way to add a layer of richness to the Christmas season is by implementing meaningful Christmas traditions that focus on making a difference in the lives of others. This list of ideas offers practical ways to involve everyone in the family in making someone else’s holiday brighter. 1. Color a smile for a soldier. Holiday seasons tend to be bleak for those who are away from loved ones. Show a member of our military just…

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    How to be Hospitable Without Being Stressed

    January 15, 2020

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    August 14, 2024
  • Purposeful Living

    5 Christ-Centered Christmas Traditions

    December 13, 2017 /

    The world is aglow in colorful lights as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Light of the World.  Sadly, it’s easy to become so engrossed in the hustle and bustle of the season that we forget why we are celebrating.  Perhaps you’d like to help your family celebrate with some Christ-centered Christmas traditions this year. Let’s look at five family traditions that can help us keep Christ at the center of our Christmas celebrations this year. 5 Christ-Centered Christmas Traditions If we want to be more attuned to the wonder of the incarnation, we begin by slowing down. We stand in awe that the God of all creation…

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    March 1, 2017
  • Purposeful Living

    How to Choose a New Thanksgiving Tradition for Your Family

    November 8, 2017 /

    November is here with the grey branches of maple trees reaching heavenward and once-vibrant fields of wildflowers wielding frost-burned tufts in unison.  We pull the Thanksgiving decorations from the basement shelves and start thinking about instituting a new and meaningful Thanksgiving tradition for our family. It seems appropriate that this month of transition is also culturally known as the month for giving thanks. We are often most desperately in need of reminders to practice gratitude when the tides are shifting in our lives.  November has always felt like a changing of the tides for me. November is the time when the kids bound from the bus wearing feathers in their…

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    6 Creative Ideas for Showing Hospitality This Spring

    March 13, 2019
    Showing Grace

    7 Practical Ways to Show Grace to Others

    March 15, 2017

    Inspiring Scripture About Serving in Quiet Places

    June 10, 2020
  • Purposeful Living

    5 Ways to Celebrate Autumn Without the Spookiness

    October 6, 2017 /

    It’s a pristine October day that feels more like early September than mid-autumn with all its color and brilliance and the scent of freshly fallen leaves blanketing the earth. We go to the woods in search of fall decorations to help us celebrate autumn and come home with plastic bags overflowing with sticky pine cones, acorns, leaves, ferns, and rocks.  The pine cones find new homes in baskets throughout the house, the leaves are scattered across the dining room table while crayons make leaf imprints on construction paper, and the acorns and stones find their way to vases.  We have been on a quest to celebrate autumn without embracing spookiness,…

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I’m so glad you’re here!

Welcome to Encountering God in the Ordinary. I'm Stacey Pardoe, and I hope to help you connect with God in ways that refresh and restore your soul. I warmly invite you to get started by checking out my library of free devotional books on my “Free eBooks” page.

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My Books

A mother-daughter devotional book to help moms and daughters connect with each other and grow closer to God! Written with my teen daughter, Bekah!

God is waiting to set you free!

Lean Into Grace

Are you tired of feeling stuck in some area of your life? God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you've been unable to achieve through willpower alone. Let Lean Into Grace lead you into God's love as he heals your heart, refreshes your soul, and sets you free.

A mother-daughter shared devotional journal just for teen girls and moms!

This mother-daughter devotional helps moms and daughters discuss tricky topics, including purity, peer pressure, dating, and more, while also leading them both closer to God.

I also offer more than a dozen free eBooks and online devotionals!

Check out this link to view and download more than a dozen free eBooks and online devotionals.

Recent Posts

  • What Is the Spirit of Offense & How to Overcome It
  • 12 Ways to Destroy the Works of the Devil
  • 10 Spiritual Reflection Questions for Growth and Renewal
  • 10 Bible Verses About Not Giving Up in Tough Times
  • 10 Reasons to Trust God in Uncertain Times
  • 5 Gifts Found in the Valley of Weeping
  • Is God Calling You to a Balanced Life? (10 Insightful Scriptures on Balance in Life)
  • The Secret No One Tells You in Your Lowest Moment
  • 14 Free Devotional Books to Help You Grow With God
  • A Free 2024 New Year Devotional to Help You Grow With God
  • How to Cling to the Lord When You'd Rather Cling to Control
  • Your Pain Has a Purpose, and This Is Part of It . . .
  • How to Find Freedom From Your Secret Sins
  • How to Stop Worrying and Trust God in Tough Times
  • The Lie You Might Believe if You're in the Refining Fire

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