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Encouragement for Tired Moms: 5 Ways to Add Joy to Your Life
I discovered a meatball under the china cabinet this morning. Suffice it to say, this wouldn’t be a huge deal if we’d dated meatballs in the past few days; however, we haven’t had meatballs for at least two weeks. We haven’t had meatballs for two weeks. As I scrubbed the floor, I felt compelled to offer a few words of encouragement for tired moms everywhere. Ten years ago, I spent my days teaching students with disabilities inside the walls of a respected high school. Each new day brought new challenges and changes in my schedule. During those years, my husband and I traveled overseas often. For fun, we regularly took…
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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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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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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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7 Powerful Bible Verses About Stress and Hard Times
The awakening of spring feels like a rebirth of sorts. The pungent scent wafting from the once-frozen creek bed stirs life in my soul. Today, I’m in the woods with my Bible in search of Bible verses about stress and hard times. Bible Verses About Stress and Hard Times If you need encouragement today, I invite you to join me in the woods, and we’ll see what God’s Word says about stress and trouble. Bible Verses About Stress and Hard Times 1. Psalm 135:1-2 Praise the name of the LORD. Give praise, O servants of the LORD who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of…
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How Do We Glorify God in Our Daily Lives?
How do we glorify God in our daily lives? The Bible offers plenty of examples to help us give God honor and glory in our everyday moments. Today, we’ll unpack a few of these insights as we aim to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. I invite you to join me in the woods, and we’ll take a closer look at honoring God in even our most ordinary moments. How Do We Glorify God in Our Daily Lives? I’m on my knees with my camera lens inches from a dwarf ginseng. As I watch its tiny snowflake head bob in the breeze, I suddenly realize we’re not alone.…
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7 Practical Ways to Show Grace to Others
Dawn came too early today—like an interruption to a night that went too fast. As the first rays of light poured through the windowpane, I asked God to fill me with his grace for the day ahead. Showing grace is never easy when we’re weary and on the brink of burnout. I went to bed late thinking about writing projects, our child’s science fair project, and what I was going to send to school for snack day. My mind raced for hours. When dawn came too soon, I had no desire to race into anything. I brushed my teeth thoughtlessly, and the impending nature of my to-do list weighed me…
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Joy in Jesus: How to Cultivate It in Your Life
The yard is muddied with footprints and tire tracks, and a warm front blows in from the south. I’m thankful for the early thaw. Winter was long, and I grew weary from completing the same tasks day after day. I want to live with joy in Jesus, but this kind of joy can be challenging when the daily grind is wearing. Sometimes my life feels like an endless cycle of the same tasks. The tasks roll on, day after day, and I wonder if it will ever end. There are days when I’m disappointed with the ordinariness of it all. But I’m learning to find joy in Jesus in the…
