A Few of My Favorite Things…Gift Ideas for Christmas

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(This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure HERE.)

Sometimes coming up with Christmas ideas that are new and different is so difficult. I love when somebody else makes a list of their favorite things because it gives me new ideas for things to try. So I made a list of some of our family’s favorite things. Hopefully, it will give you some ideas.

Some of Our Favorite Games

  1. Five Crowns Matt and I love to play this game on date nights or days off. It’s a fun card game that you don’t have to think a whole lot about and can just sit and talk as you play. The kids enjoy playing it as well.
  2. Werewolf This is a great party game. The more people, the better it is. It’s great because it has an app that goes along with the game. You can download the app for free. It does all the work for you. It tells you when to put your head down, who looks up and what action they do. It’s super fun, and kids and adults love it.
  3. Telestrations This is another fun party game. It’s like whisper-down-the alley but pictionary style. It’s hilarious and super fun!
  4. Ticket to Ride This game is a little expensive. Somebody bought it for us, but we like it. It’s a longer board game, but it’s not complicated. Even our five and six-year olds can play it.
  5. CodeNames- Disney We have CodeNames and CodeNames Disney. We love these games! Super fun family game. The kids have a blast; we’ve also played it with adults and had just as much fun. The kids of course loved the CodeNames Disney the best!

My Favorite Hand-Crafted Gifts

  1. Emily Lane Designs I have recently discovered Emily’s handmade clay earrings. They are amazing! They are beautiful and so unique and different.
  2. Masterpiece Candles Co My friend, Keya makes and sells amazing candles on Etsy! Check out her shop. You won’t regret it! A few of my favorites scents are Candy Cane, Vanilla, Cinnamon Bun, and Birthday Cake.

Gifts for Her

  1. Impress Nails These are my go-to when I don’t have time or money to get a manicure. I love these press-on nails. My sister got me started on them. You can’t go wrong with the price, and there are lots to choose from!
  2. PaperMate Colored Pens These are my favorite pens to write with, and they make a great present too.
  3. Lap Desk Matt got me this lap desk, and I love it. I use it all the time. It’s a perfect gift for the person who is always working on their laptop.
  4. Apron Matt gets me these aprons from Williams Sonoma. After ruining countless shirts from cooking, I wear an apron every time I cook now. These aprons are great because they are really hardy, almost like a canvas material. I love mine. I saw they even have a cute Christmas one this year.
  5. Clear Coffee Mugs These make the perfect mugs for company. They go with any place setting and look dressy without costing lots of money. I’ve had mine for sevaral years and can’t remember which exact ones we bought, but the ones in the link look just like mine.
  6. Erin Condren Personalized Planner These planners are awesome because you can personalize them with a picture and a name on the front. We love them.
  7. Books
    1. My Faithfully Stepping Journals
    2. Devotionals by Matt and I
    3. Forgiving What You Can’t Forget by Lysa TerKeurst
    4. Falling Free: Rescued from the Life I Always Wanted by Shannan Martin
    5. Don’t Overthink It by Anne Bogel
    6. My Fantasy Series
    7. Love Lives Here by Maria Goff

Gifts for Him

  1. Bose Wireless Speaker. This is definitely a more expensive gift, but we got one of these years ago and use it every day. It’s great becaue you can take it with you to every different room in the house for music or take it in the car for road trips. We listen to music, podcasts, and audio books on it.
  2. Bluetooth transmitter for car. This is a nifty gadget that we need to get. My father-in-law has one in his car. You can plug it into the auxiliary power outlet in your car and play music from your phone through the car’s sound system. This is great if you have an older car that doesn’t have Bluetooth capability.
  3. Parker Pens. My husband loves these pens and asks for them every year. They write really smoothly, and he uses them all the time.
  4. Books
    1. Play the Man by Mark Batterson
    2. Gears, Grease, and God by Matt and Tom Manney
    3. Men’s Daily Journals
    4. Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
    5. The Artisan Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus
    6. Dream Big by Bob Goff.

Gifts for Kids

  1. Bliss Lights My brother-in-law got all three colors of these for my kids. We absolutely love them. We put them on every single night. They are by far the best night light. You have to check them out.
  2. Fire Tablets We scored these last year for $20 on Black Friday, but they’re still a great deal at $40. Our kids use their tablets all the time. On their day off, they can watch stuff on them like Netflix or Disney and play games. Instead of them fighting over the tv, they can each watch what they want. They also use them for alarms and for listening to audio books or podcasts or music during rest time. We love them and get a lot of use out of them!
  3. Books
    1. Wings of Fire Series
    2. Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Series
    3. Mr. Lemoncello Books
    4. Dog Books by Jennifer Li Shotz
    5. Kingdom of Wrenly Series
    6. Kid’s Daily Journals
  4. Magnetic Bookmarks Our kids love these and use them all the time.
  5. Kinetic Sand I’m not sure what it is about kinetic sand, but our kids love it. We usually buy some every year for Christmas.
  6. Dot Markers All ages love these markers. I love that they’re so easy to use that my little ones could use them when they were little, but my older kids now still love using them too.

Those are some of our family’s favorite things. Hopefully, it gave you some ideas to finish up the last of your Christmas shopping!

If you enjoyed this and want some other ideas, try Revolutionize Your Morning Time with These Ten Products.

3 Truths You Need to be Reminded of This Christmas

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Macey and Me at the Hershey store

Four Suicides Too Many

Overall, Christmas 2020 looks a little different than any other year. This year has been a year like no other. Some people have been able to continue on as if nothing ever happened, and others have had their lives literally torn apart. I started a file of pictures on my phone of people that we know that have taken their lives this year. Right now, I have four pictures in that file. That’s four lives too many; four lives cut short way too soon. My heart breaks every time I look at those photos.

I keep those photos because I don’t want to forget the huge impact this year has had on some people. Unsurprisingly, this year, more than any other year, we have dealt with divorce, infidelity, depression, and suicide more than any other year in our ministry.

3 Truths Somebody Needs to Hear From You

I say all that to encourage you with this— Don’t underestimate the power of a kind word this season. This year more than ever, we need to remind the people in our lives of these three truths:

  • They are loved.
  • They have value.
  • They are needed.

If you’re not struggling this year or this season, use your strength to help someone else. Give your love to somebody this Christmas. Write a card, call someone just to let them know you are thinking of them, cook a meal for a family, send flowers, do Christmas for a family. If you look around, you won’t find it hard to find someone who needs extra love and encouragement this Christmas season.

3 Truths You Need to Hear

Maybe you are at a place where you need to hear these truths yourself. Maybe you are the one who needs to hear these truths. So, let me repeat them.

  • You are loved.
  • You have value.
  • You are needed.

Don’t believe the lie of the devil that your family would be better off without you. We’ve been there too many times to pick up the pieces after a suicide. Let me tell you—the family and friends left behind have never been better off. Their hearts and lives are beyond devastated, and they aren’t sure if they will ever be whole again.

Whatever you are dealing with or going through right now, I know with one hundred percent certainty that your family is not better without you. They need you. They can’t do life without you.

More Encouragement

Two of the Christmas songs that I am loving this year are Hope is Here by Building 429 and Behold Him by Francesca Battistelli. Both songs came out within the last month or two. Listen to the words and let them encourage your heart as they have mine.

For more posts like this, read Now is Probably Not the Time and What Now?

**With a post like this, I feel that I need to say that if you are seriously struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, please get the help you need. Get professional help. There is no shame in that. We all need extra help sometimes.


Black Friday Traditions

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My Favorite Day of the Year

I think over the years that Black Friday has become my favorite day of the year. I like it even better than Christmas. Every year, we get up and make a nice breakfast. Then we drag the tree and Christmas boxes up from the basement. We put on our favorite Christmas movies like Elf, Noelle (Disney), The Grinch (the one with Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of the Grinch), Christmas Chronicles (Netflix), and more. We spend the day watching movies while we decorate both the inside of the house and the outside.

We make fun treats like Christmas bread and Christmas cookies and homemade Chex mix, inspired by Pioneer Woman. Matt has perfected this recipe over the year by making it gluten-free and tweaking some of the spices, like adding extra Worcestershire. It’s soo good, and it makes the entire house smell amazing.

Early Black Friday Shopping

Mom and daughter ready for Black Friday shopping
Maddie and I early this morning

We usually stay home every year on Black Friday, but my daughter Madison has been begging me for weeks to take her shopping on Black Friday so she can use her money to get Christmas presents for the family. So I caved and took her out early this morning. We had a good time together. She got all her Christmas shopping done; then we got home to make breakfast and get started decorating.

Helping decorate the tree

Keeping Traditions

There’s something about traditions, about doing the same thing each year. It’s predictable and something to look forward to. Sometimes the best traditions don’t cost anything; they’re simply about being together with the people you love. It’s about being purposeful and sticking to the tradition, even when you don’t feel like it.

Whatever your traditions are for the holidays, don’t give up on them this year just because everything is different and more difficult. In a year when everything is topsy- turvy, sticking with your traditions can help bring a sense of familiarity and comfort to you and your family.

If this post encouraged you, check out God’s Gifts at Christmas.

Don’t Cancel Thanksgiving Just Yet

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Canceling Thanksgiving

With some states shutting down again and others feeling like a shut-down is imminent, and being told how many people we can have over, or if we can have anybody over at all, it feels like maybe the best thing to do is to cancel Thanksgiving this year. I feel your frustration.

While Thanksgiving is going to look different for all of us depending on where you live, I want to encourage you to not give up on the holiday. Find a way to make it work, even if it’s just for those who live in your home. Thanksgiving is too important of a holiday to miss. Satan would like nothing better than for us to miss this holiday altogether.

Thanksgiving is about 2 Things

Thanksgiving is about two things. It’s about setting aside a day to focus on our blessings and give thanks to God for all he has blessed us with. Secondly, it’s about spending time with family and friends and sharing with them how grateful we are that they are in our lives. We all know we should show our gratitude all year long, but with the busyness of life, it’s nice to have an entire day set aside to allow us the time to be grateful.

So even if it’s just the people or the person who lives in your home, make it special. Still make a turkey or a turkey breast, make some mashed potatoes and gravy, and all the fixings that make Thanksgiving special for your family. If you’re not a pie fan, like me, give these pumpkin bars by Pioneer woman a try. They’re amazing!

Setting the Table

thanksgiving table
My table from last Thanksgiving

Set a beautiful table, light a candle, and play soft piano music in the background. You don’t have to spend a lot. You can see from my table last year that I used paper plates and a plastic table cloth and just some decor items I had in the house. There’s something special about sitting down at a beautiful table.

Sometime during the meal, spend a few moments sharing what you are thankful for. It doesn’t have to be long and drawn out. Before we pray, we simply go around the table and say what we are most thankful for this year. The kids usually say something quick and easy while the adults may say something that’s on their heart that’s a little longer. It doesn’t matter how long or short it is; it simply matters that you took the time to be thankful.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psalm 100:4

Thanksgiving Fun

Our books from the library and crafts from Hobby Lobby

We like to spread Thanksgiving into the entire week. We got to our library and get all the Thanksgiving books we can find. We just took back our last haul of Thanksgiving books that we have read the last two weeks. I think we got all the good ones. These were the ones that were left when we went this week. The week leading up to Thanksgiving and the week of Thanksgving, we tried to read at least one Thanksgiving book every day.

We also get Thanksgiving crafts to do during the week. Hobby Lobby is my go-to place for holiday crafts. I also bought Thanksgiving place mats for the kids to color on Thanksgiving while they are waiting for the food to finish up.

Don’t Cancel Thanksgiving

Don’t cancel Thanksgiving this year because it feels like you’re being pressured to skip it. Hold the line and celebrate this important family holiday with whoever you are allowed to celebrate with. Choose to make the most of it whether that’s with one other person or twenty.

If you liked this post, check out Don’t Let This Holiday Pass You By.

Enjoy the Stage of Life You’re In

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This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure HERE.

Picture of mom and daughter
Macey and me

We just recently got Madison a new bed, so we could get Macey out of her toddler bed and into the bunk beds with Maggie. I took a picture of the toddler bed and sent it to my friend to see if she wanted it. After I took the photo, I looked at it for a few minutes. It kind of made me sad. The bed was the last of our baby and toddler stuff. We had already gotten rid of the crib from when the kids were babies. I can’t believe how fast time has flown. It made me think about what I would tell the younger version of me, the one so stressed trying to keep everything together with four little ones under foot.

toddler bed
Macey’s toddler bed

Dear Weary Mom,

If I could give advice to the younger version of me, I would tell her to relax. The time is coming when I will have a perfect house. The furniture won’t have stains on it, the mirror won’t have handprints on it, there won’t be spilled juice on the floor making it sticky, there won’t be toys everywhere. There’s coming a time when I won’t have to pick up my house twenty-four seven. In the blink of an eye, I know this time will have passed.  

Our oldest is already pushing eleven years old. We have seven more years with him. After that, I don’t know what God has for him. I know that I left my home at eighteen, went to college, married right after college, and moved away. Too soon, our home will be empty. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will wish for toys on the floor. I will look longingly at my mirror and remember the handprints that used to line it.  

Mom and son
Malachi and me

I will look back at the craziness and the chaos and miss it. I will wish that our house was loud and messy once more. Even now, I miss the baby stage. Though I don’t miss late-night nursing sessions, carrying a heavy diaper bag everywhere I go, and cleaning up diaper explosions, I do miss the snuggles of a baby. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would choose to spend less time trying endlessly to get the house clean. I would choose more time rocking my baby, snuggling with my toddlers, and playing hide and seek with my preschoolers.  

Enjoy this Stage of Life with Littles

The thing is, that exhaustion that plagues you every moment of the day with littles will pass. You will get past this stage. Life will get easier. Those babies will grow up. They will be able to help as they get older.  

For now, soak in those baby cuddles. Embrace the time with your littles. Spend time doing the things you can do now that you can’t do once they go to school. You have five years with your first child before they go to school. Once they go to school, things really change. It’s really hard to let them go. That’s one of the reasons we love homeschooling so much. We don’t have to let them go. I get to take an active role in their education. I don’t have to send them away every day, and I love that. 

The Days are Long, but the Years are Short

The best phrase I have heard when dealing with littles is this: “The days are long, but the years are short.” It’s so true. The days were and still are at times so very long. Yet in the blink of an eye, the years have passed. I can’t believe our oldest is almost a teenager. It seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. The years have flown by. All too soon, he is going to be leaving us. God has great things in store for each of our kids, and I am excited to see what they are. But I know it’s going to be hard to let them go. So, I am going to spend the time now, while they are still in my care enjoying every minute of my time with them. I’m saying this as a reminder and challenge as much to myself as I am saying it to you.  

Choose to Make the Most of Whichever Stage of Life You Are In

Malachi, Madison, me, Maggie, Macey

Whatever stage of life you are in, soak it in. Enjoy it. Too often, we want to just jump to the next stage of life. Choose to love the stage of life you’re in right now and all that goes with it. There is joy in each and every stage, but we will miss it if we have our eyes focused on the next stage.

If you’re single, enjoy this time. Do things you can’t do when you’re married. Travel, experience life, have fun and soak in this time. If you’re married but don’t have kids yet, enjoy the time with your spouse. Take trips together, go on dates often, visit extended family, plan game nights with friends. If you have kids in your home, plan family days and spontaneous trips, read aloud to them, explore new places, and make family memories. If your kids are grown and out of the house, do the things you always wanted to do but couldn’t because of the kids. Write a book, start a business, create the products you always wanted to, learn a new skill, spend time reading or drawing, or whatever brings your heart fulfillment.

We can be sad about leaving a particular phase of life or we can choose to find joy in the stage of life we are in and thrive.

More on This Topic

If you enjoyed this post, another post you might enjoy is My Reminder from a Heart in the Sand. My book recommendation would be The SuperMom Myth by Becky Koptizke. It’s one of my favorite “mom” books. I loved it and marked mine all up.

What Now?

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What Now? graffiti on a wall
Photo Credit: Tim Mossholder

What Now?

With the kind of year 2020 has been, we shouldn’t be surprised at how this election is going. Yet, most of us are still shaking our heads saying, “What now?”

I told my ten-year-old and my nine-year-old that there has never been an election like this before. In elections past, if you stayed up really late, you would know who the winner was. If you couldn’t make it that late, you could wake up the next morning and check the news to see who the new president was. But not this year! Because this is 2020- the year of insanity!

I think I speak for most of us when I say this- we are scared right now. There is so much divisiveness in our country, and this election is just stirring up more unrest. No matter who you voted for, there is uncertainty, fear, and frustrations on both sides.

What Do We Do?

There is only one place to turn when life is uncertain and fear is so prevalent—God’s Word. I read these verses in Psalms, and they were a comfort to my heart. I hope they bring you comfort as well.

Hurry with your answer, God!
    I’m nearly at the end of my rope.
Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me!
    That would be certain death.
If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice,
    I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you.
Point out the road I must travel;
    I’m all ears, all eyes before you.
Save me from my enemies, God—
    you’re my only hope!
Teach me how to live to please you,
    because you’re my God.
Lead me by your blessed Spirit
    into cleared and level pastureland.

Psalm 143:7-10 MSG

How do we Alleviate Our Fears?

I love all of these verses, but the part that caught my attention was verse eight. “If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I’ll go to sleep each night trusting you.” David understood getting up early to spend time with God. He makes references to it many times in the Psalms.

If we can make a habit of getting up first thing in the morning and spending time with God, reading His Word and praying, we can go to bed peacefully at night. Getting our hearts aligned with God every morning helps us to sleep peacefully at night.

With everything going on around us, our automatic response is to hide, to not deal with what’s going on. We are tempted to sleep in and not face life or get up just in time to get ready and head out the door for work. But it’s during stressful times like these that we need God the most.

So as hard as it is, (I get it) try to get up a few minutes early to be able to spend time talking to God and reading His Word. I promise if you do, you will find incredible peace.

If you want to get started with your own morning time, read Creating a Morning Time Routine You Love.

What to Read?

If you don’t know what to read, start with the Psalms. The Psalms are very peaceful and meditative. It’s exactly what we need right now when stress is running high. Just pick one chapter in Psalms to read each day. Pick a verse or a phrase that stands out to you and write it down in a journal for the day. This will help you remember it, so you can think about it throughout your day. When you start feeling fearful or stressed, think about that verse and let it calm you and bring peace to your heart.

My morning time with my Bible and my Faithfully Stepping Journal

What to Pray?

If you don’t know what to pray, follow this simple process.

  1. Thank God for something today.
  2. Confess your sins from yesterday.
  3. Pray specifically about today.

Simply talk to God. Tell Him what you’re scared of, what you’re struggling with. If it’s easier, write it down in a journal. Get what’s in your heart and rattling around in your head down on paper. If you do that and give those burdens to God, you are going to feel so much lighter as you begin your day.

Then as you head to bed at night, pray one more time. Give your burdens, worries, fears, and questions to God. Then sleep peacefully knowing your God is watching over you.

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8 KJV

What’s the Point in Worrying?

So instead of throwing our hands up in frustration asking, “What now?”, let’s turn our attention to the One Who is in charge. The thing is, God already knows who will win the election. He knows what’s going to happen after the election. He already has it under control, and us worrying about it isn’t going to change one thing. So give your burdens to God today and sleep peacefully tonight knowing that God has it all in control.

The Next Right Thing from Frozen 2

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Olaf standing on a table
One of my kids’ Olaf toys

Have you seen Frozen 2? It’s a favorite at our house. We’ve watched it countless times. I enjoy it just as much as my kids do. There’s a really sad part in the movie, though, when Elsa freezes and Olaf slowly begins to melt. Anna is left by herself. She cries, then rises to her feet slowly and sings a song entitled, “The Next Right Thing.” The first time I heard it, it wasn’t really my favorite. But it’s kind of grown on me.

Disney Theology

I don’t usually take my theology from movies, especially a Disney cartoon, but that song has stuck with me because the principle is pretty good. I have found myself even using it on my kids during homeschool.

Sometimes we get stuck in life. We feel battered and confused, frustrated and weary. It can paralyze us from moving forward. We get stuck because we don’t know what to do next.

Choose to do the Next Right Thing

When I wake up feeling this way, it’s the worst feeling. I hate that feeling of discouragement and hopelessness, when you feel like the only thing to do is just stay in the bed for the day. It’s on those days that this principle comes to mind and helps me to move forward. I drag my body out of bed and just keep telling myself to do the next right thing.

So, first thing in the morning, it’s getting out of bed and going downstairs. Then it’s making coffee. After that, I head to the table to start my morning time routine. Sometimes that’s enough, and I’m off for the day. Other times, I have to just keep telling myself all day to do the next right thing.

Once I get started, I can feel God guiding and directing me. He keeps me from falling and helps me get through another day.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.

Psalm 37:23,24 KJV

Keep Going Until You’re Back on Your Feet

If you’re feeling stuck today and don’t know how to move forward, I feel your pain. Instead of focusing on everything that’s falling apart around you or the fear of what’s to come, simply focus on doing the next right thing. Keep doing that for as long as you need to until you’re back on your feet. Every day won’t be like today. Don’t focus on tomorrow or the day after that. Simply focus on doing the next right thing at this moment. Eventually, you will find solid ground beneath you and the ability to be able to move forward once again.

My Reminder from a Heart in the Sand

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A Heart Drawn in the Sand

My parents flew in from Colorado to visit us in Pennsylvania for a few days, so we took them to the beach for the day. We played in the sand for a while, splashed in the water, and searched for the best seashells.

My parents with Macey, Maggie, and Madison

When we were ready to go and I started packing up and grabbing all our belongings, I saw a heart drawn in the sand with the word mom and a smiley face. I stopped for a minute and stared down at it. I wasn’t even sure which of my children created it. One of them had drawn it without saying a word to me and then went on their way.

For some reason, that little heart with the word mom in it and a smiley face stopped me in my tracks. It caught my attention like nothing else could have in that moment. The child who made it didn’t come over and tell me they loved me, they simply created an expression of what they felt. I felt so loved in that moment. Yet, it made me stop and wonder… Did that child feel that same love in return from me or was I too busy for them?

Living In the Moment

I get so busy with life. Every day, I have more on my to-do list than I can possibly accomplish for the day. The days run together and life just seems to fly by. I feel like sometimes life passes me by in the blink of an eye, and I miss so much. Then I see a simple heart in the sand with the word mom in it, and it slows me down.

It made me stop and think and ask myself some tough quesions. Am I living in the moment? Am I enjoying this time with my family, or am I just trying to get through it and move on to the next thing? Am I paying attention to those around me? Am I giving my family members the love and attention they need? The heart was just a simple reminder for me to live in the moment, to love the people that are in my life.

A Quiet Whisper

God has a funny way of getting our attention sometimes. I’m reminded of the verses in I Kings when God gets Elijah’s attention. It’s not how Elijah thought it would happen.

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

I Kings 19:11,12 KJV

God wasn’t in the hurricane, the earthquake, or the fire. God’s voice came to Elijah in the form of a quiet whisper.

Missing My Heart in the Sand

Often, I look for God in the big moments of life, when something incredible happens or when there’s a storm rocking my world. Those are the times that I’m not worried about missing God. I know He’s going to show up, and I know I’m going to see it.

What I do worry about missing, though, are the times God shows up in a quiet whisper like He did for me at the beach. God used a heart drawn in the sand with a simple message to catch my attention, to remind to focus on what’s important, to live in the moment. Life is passing me by too quickly. My kids are going to be grown and gone in the blink of an eye. I don’t want to look back on the years I had with them in regret because I was too busy to focus on what was important. I want to focus on Living the Life I Have, Not the One I Want.

I left the beach that day with a renewed vision to live in the moment. I don’t want to miss out on memories, meaningful conversations, and chances to speak love into my children’s lives simply because I was to busy to do so.

Book Recommendation

If you are a mom with kids still at home and this topic resonates with you, you would enjoy Hands-Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford. She teaches us how to “live a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions.”

Developing a Faith That’s Strong Enough to Stand On

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Stocking feet on steps in the fall
Photo Credit: Alex Geerts

Is your faith strong enough to stand on? We think we have faith until everything falls apart around us; then we really see how much faith we really have.

When My World Came Crashing Down

A little over two years ago, my faith was tested, and it surprised me how weak my faith really was. I’ve always considered myself to have a lot of faith, but sometimes being tested is a true sign of where you are at.

Over the course of just a few months, we lost several giving families in our church. For a small church plant, that was devastating. I remember Matt’s face when he told me that we wouldn’t be able to make payroll that month. I just stared at him.

“What does that mean?” I asked, totally surprised, even though I knew exactly what it meant.

“It means we don’t get paid,” he said before leaving the room.

I sat there for a few minutes, then prayed. “God, we really need you to come through for us. Please provide for us.” I left the table and moved about my day, confident that God would come through for us. He had come through for us so many times in the past, why would this time be any different? Little did I know, God wouldn’t come through for us that month. Nor would He the month after that and the month after that.

Going From Bad to Worse

The next several months brought all kinds of mayhem with it. I watched as our carefully planned life and ministry came crashing down around us. Things went from bad to worse, and I had no idea how to fix it. My faith was stretched so much, I thought I was going to lose it altogether.

Weeks stretched into months, the bills piled up, the credit card maxed out, and we were in serious trouble. Talks of shutting the church down took place. Through it all, I felt like my head was spinning. I couldn’t wrap myself around the fact that God wasn’t providing. Where was He? My family was in the middle of a huge financial crisis, and He was nowhere to be found. I didn’t have the kind of faith that could keep trusting When God Doesn’t Meet My Need. This was all brand new to me, and I could literally feel my faith slipping away.

Excerpt from The Hidden Pain

From my book, The Hidden Pain

This past year and a half rocked my faith. It’s only now that I can look back with just a little clarity, and I’ve realized something about my faith. My faith was weak. I thought it was strong, but it wasn’t. I had what I call a one-to-one faith with God when it came to provision. When I had a need, I prayed; and God would answer. Prayer… answer. He didn’t always answer right away, but He always came through. I understood about things such as illnesses and loss and other requests that God may never answer. But God providing for us? That was easy.

My faith had always worked for me in the past. Now, I was in unchartered waters. This was entirely new. I had never dealt with God not providing. God was taking my faith deeper, and it was painful. This new faith required me to trust God, even when He didn’t provide. This was a much deeper faith. Now it was affecting my kids.

God was saying, “Amanda, will you choose to trust me even when I don’t pay your bills on time? Will you believe that I am good, even when it doesn’t seem like it?” That’s real faith! Easy faith is when you ask for help, and God provides. It takes deep faith when you ask God to provide, and He doesn’t.

The Hidden Pain: When You Feel God is No Longer Blessing Your Life

A New Kind of Faith

I had to learn this new kind of faith. Honestly, I didn’t think my faith would make it through that testing. I believe God let me come to the absolute end of myself to show me what my faith really looked like.

In the book of Mark, Jesus taught His followers about different kinds of seeds that fall to the ground and why some grow and others don’t. I think we can make a direct correlation to our faith.

4 Kinds of Faith

1. A Dissipating Faith

The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.

Mark 4:14,15 MSG

This first kind of faith is over before it’s even really started. This person’s faith dissipates before they ever start their journey of faith.

2. An Emotional Faith

And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

Mark 4:16, 17 MSG

This kind of faith touches a little closer to home. This is the kind of faith that is strong, passionate, and ready to conquer the world. That is until a trial comes. This faith is built on emotions. “If I feel good about my faith, I will stand strong. If I don’t feel it and can’t see it, my faith begins to waver.”

3. A Fearful Faith

“The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.

Mark 4:18,19 MSG

The what if’s of life stop this kind of faith from moving forward. This faith stops growing when fear settles in. “I really want to follow God, but what if it costs more than I’m willing to pay? What if it’s holding me back from where I need to be in life?” That kind of faith eventually fizzles out.

4. A Durable Faith

But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams.”

Mark 4:20 MSG

This is the kind of faith I want to have. I want to have the kind of faith that says, “Okay, God, no matter what happens, I’m all in.” God rewards that kind of faith, allowing us to produce a harvest beyond our wildest dreams.

Faith Check-up

It’s a good time to do a check-up on our faith as we head towards the end of this crazy year of 2020. This year has rocked even the strongest of faith. Some have stood strong, while others have crumbled.

If you’re still standing strong, I want to link arms with you, come alongside you and stand with you. Keep standing. Keep getting up early to spend time with God. Keep doing what it is God has called you to do. Start or stick with a morning time routine.

If your faith has crumbled, it’s time to stand back up, brush the dirt off, and move forward. Faith is not about never failing, never falling, it’s about Getting Back Up After Falling. I want to link arms with you and help you stand strong once again.

Finding the Tenacity to Wrestle with God

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My Six-Year-Old’s Tenacity

My six-year-old, Maggie, has the tenacity of a bull. She gets something in her mind and goes after it with a singular focus that’s enough to weaken even the strongest adult. She’s worn me down more times than I can count, and I consider myself a fairly strong person. More than once, she’s gotten me to give in on something I really wasn’t planning to, much to my regret.

Consequently, my kids have realized her strength over the years, and more than once have sent her to be the negotiator to Matt and me when they want something.

two girls pulling a rope
Maggie’s the one on the right.

The Tenacity of the Blind Men

I was reading in the book of Matthew this week in my morning time. I read a familiar story that made me think of my Maggie. It’s the story of two blind men who ask Jesus to heal them.

As Jesus was passing through an area, two blind men cry out to him. The crowd that is following Jesus looks at them with disdain and tries to quiet them. That wasn’t enough to stop these men. I wonder if they made a pact together ahead of time.

“Listen, when Jesus passes here, we’re going to get one shot at this. We have to get Jesus’ attention, no matter what it takes. It’s going to take both of us. We can’t give up, no matter what happens.”

When Jesus passes by, both men begin to call out, trying to get Jesus’ attention. The crowd tries to hush them, but that just makes them call out even louder. By this point, they are being obnoxious, causing a scene. But do they care? Nope. They cry out louder, “Master, have mercy on us.”

Jesus Hears Them

When Jesus stops and turns in their direction, I can picture the crowd pausing, holding its breath, waiting to see what is going to happen. The crowd parts and Jesus comes to stand before the two men.

Can you imagine what the two men are feeling now? They probably looked at each other in shock, like, “It really worked. He stopped.”

Jesus’ Response to Them

Jesus asks them, “What do you want from me?”

The two men don’t hesitate; they don’t think twice. They answer quickly and confidently. “We want to see.” These men knew what they wanted and went after it.

Don’t miss Jesus’ response to their request.

Deeply moved, Jesus touched their eyes. They had their sight back that very instant, and they joined the procession. Matthew 20:34 MSG

Jesus was moved by their faith and their boldness so much that He stopped what He was doing to respond to them. Clearly, their tenacity worked.

Jesus’ Humanity

Sometimes when we read the Bible, we miss the humanity of Jesus. Though He was fully God, He was also fully human. He understood feelings and emotions, and He was affected by them. It’s hard to balance Jesus’ sovereignty and deity with His humanity.

I wonder… would Jesus have stopped to heal them if they hadn’t called out? Would He have kept walking even after He heard them call out if they hadn’t increased their volume? I’m not sure. All I know is that two men believed Jesus could work on their behalf and they weren’t going to stop until He did.

How often do we approach Jesus this way? I wonder how many of our prayers don’t get answered because we don’t call out with absolute faith and tenacity, holding on to Jesus until we get an answer. This is what I call wrestling with God.

Wrestling with God

What does it mean to wrestle with God? Here is an excerpt from my book, The Hidden Pain:

What does it mean to wrestle with God? What does it feel like? It’s hard to describe. The only way to describe it is that I have spent many hours on my knees begging God for His blessing. I’ve cried many, many tears asking God why He won’t help things to work out in my life. I’ve questioned His goodness. I’ve wrestled with trusting Him. I have written countless prayers and cries to God in my journal. I have asked, pleaded, argued, and questioned God so often. I feel that after several years of begging God and pleading with Him for His blessing and not feeling like I have gained it, I just want to wrestle with Him more. I feel like I can begin to understand why Jacob wrestled with the angel all night long and wouldn’t let him go until the angel blessed him…

Are you in the same place? Can we encourage each other to hold on and keep wrestling? Jacob wrestled during the night until the morning light finally broke through. My morning hasn’t broken through yet. It’s still dark. I can’t see, but I can feel Jesus’ arms around me, and I am grabbing on to those arms and not letting go until He blesses me.

The Hidden Pain: When You Fear God Is No Longer Blessing Your Life

I think that wrestling with God is equivalent to what the two blind men did. They wouldn’t let Jesus pass until He heard them and answered them. After that, it was just a matter of telling Jesus what they wanted.

Wrestling with God in Your Own Life

What do you need to wrestle with God for in your life right now? What burden are you carrying that you are begging for an answer to? Maybe it’s a financial burden, a health concern, a difficult child, the loss of a friendship, a deep hurt… I don’t know what it is, but I know Someone who does.

Maybe it’s time for us to drop to our knees and call out to God. Maybe it’s time to reach out and get a hold of God and not let go until He answers. We need to develop the kind of tenacity these blind men had. We have to decide that it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. It doesn’t matter how anybody else responds to us. All that matters is getting Jesus’ attention.

That’s the kind of faith that moves Jesus. Jesus put it this way.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: Matthew 7:7 KJV

Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. Matthew 7:7 MSG

When we want God to work more than we care about how we look or sound to others, that’s when we will know we are developing the tenacity to wrestle with God.