Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

 I'm desperately trying to clean out things in the house that we're not using. I've determined not to buy new craft supplies of any kind until I use up most of what I already have. That's leading to a little frustration from time to time, but it's also made me be a little more creative with what is here. That's where these adorable clam shell notebooks came from. We get stuffed clam shells from the grocery store quite frequently, so I have quite the collection of shells. They're so pretty that I hate to throw them out when I can do something with them. Inside are card stock pages for writing, drawing or leaving little notes. I'm planning to make several of these for Walk On Art Street in September. I soaked the shells in water for a few hours to soften them up a little. Then Danny drilled three holes in each shell for me. You can do it by hand with an awl, but it's very time consuming. Fold an 8.5x11 inch piece of car...

In Chapter 17 of Acts, the disciples have reached Thessalonica and are teaching in the Jewish synagogue. Paul is preaching the word of the Lord, that Jesus is the Christ, having suffered and died, only to rise from the dead. Jews, Greeks and women were all being convicted and converted. They didn’t just pass through town with their heads down, hiding their faith so no one could identify it. They were openly on fire with the need to share the Gospel. Can you name one time in the past week when you’ve been observed in that condition, let alone felt that way? Verse five explains that the “Jews who believed not” were envious of Paul and Silas’ results, and conspired to attack the house of Jason where the men were staying. In verse six, we learn that the disciples were not there, so they brought Jason and his brethren before the city’s leaders to complain. What a tragic turn of events for these non-believing Jews. They have committed their life’s work to the church, and now Christians...

Sometimes you want your sentiment to be the focal point your card. There might be some other patterns or small images, but the message itself if what you're trying to get across. Try this sketch for just such a situation. You'll want to choose a patterned paper and two or three solid colors. Begin with a matted background of solid colors. Then add a circle of the patterned paper and some tiny embellishments. For my card, I chose the card stock sticker phrase first, then matched it with a patterned paper and two solid colors of card stock. The background is three layers because I wanted the black to be on the top, right underneath the phrase. Then I cut a circle of the patterned paper. It is then accented with eight acrylic dots to fill in the simply spaces. You can find this card, along with many other paper crafts and wood gifts in our Etsy shop . Come visit today to get some ideas and maybe a special gift.

At any given moment, you can find several pairs of shoes at our front door. There are outside shoes, boots, muck boots, flip flops - different footwear for different needs. But the one thing they have in common is keeping your feet clean and dry while you're out walking. They may all look different and have different purposes, but they're all used the same way. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10 Make this a weekend of walking worthy. Paul even tells us exactly how to do that so there is no mystery or question. We are to please God, be fruitful in our work and keep learning about God and the things that delight Him. Whatever footwear you put on this weekend, strive t...

Whether you're a housewife, stay-at-home-mom or working woman, I'm sure you have an overwhelming life. Balancing God, husband, kids, house, work, family, hobbies and the rest of your everyday tasks can wear you down and confuse you to no end. Then you try to organize and plan for the day to come and you just want to jump back in bed and pull the covers over your head. But what if you forget something? What will happen if that one thing doesn't get done? How can I get done what I need to and want to both? Will I go crazy in the meantime? Is there enough caffeine in the world to keep me going? The answer begins with prayer and ends with an organized to-do list. If you've known me or been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I love lists. I love writing them, thinking about them and, most importantly, crossing things off them. Sometimes I even add things I've already done just so I can cross them off. I. Love. Lists. I have a list of...

As I mentioned earlier this week, all of our blackberry bushes are in berry mode! Every day for a week I've been going out first thing in the morning to see how many bucket-fulls I can gather. I think I've found my true calling in life - berry picker! I couldn't find a recipe I liked for my first bucket of blackberries, so I created my own. I love the combination of brown sugar and blackberries because they two ingredients compliment each other so well. Serve this up with a big bowl of ice cream and you're all set. Hopefully you love it as much as we did. Ingredients: Cake - 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup butter flavored Crisco 1 egg 3/4 cup almond milk 2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups blackberries Streusel topping - 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup flour 2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup butter (half a stick cut into tiny pieces) 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray. 2. Mix brown sugar, Crisco, egg, mi...

In an effort to whittle down our enormous pile of pallet wood in the big garage, I asked Danny if he would help me put together a couple of trays. I wanted one for upstairs and one for downstairs, and I wanted something very rustic looking. I'm so pleased with how our creations turned out! This project required a few more tools than I know how to use, and Danny was excited to try something different. He measured out three pieces of pallet wood so the cross pieces would cover the nails.  We were able to use the end pieces that were cut off to make the cross pieces, which utilized almost the entire slat of wood. Doesn't it look pretty already? Then we flipped it over to countersink the screws and attach the cross pieces. This allowed us to use as few screws as possible while still keeping it solid. Then he drilled holes for the handles we would put on when the painting was done. The Danny used the electric sander to even eve...

There is a power line that runs diagonally across our property. It stretches across many, many properties in our area, and the power company has a right-of-way underneath the lines. After many years of not maintaining that area under the lines, they contacted us last week that they'd coming onto the property to trim. I appreciated knowing that in advance, even though they're very hard to miss. After a few hours of cutting, we all realized that this was going to be a larger project than expected. There are distance requirements that trees and other growth can be from the power lines, and we were well beyond that since they had neglected it for years. So here came the special machine that eats up the trees and branches as it goes, leaving a brown path in its wake. From the house, it looked terrible and destructive. The trimmers were taking out foliage all the way up the ridge, following the path of the power lines. Where there were once green, lush trees, there was a ...

Sometimes you can look at the same papers and embellishments for hours and not see the most beautiful combinations. Instead you feel like throwing it all out and starting over. Other times you suddenly see the beauty in the mess and love the results. That's what happened with this sketch. Instead of making a card from a sketch, this week I sketched the card. It's three blocks with your phrase in the middle. They can all be the same size or a mixture of sizes for something even more interesting. Mat the background once or twice - it's entirely up to you. For my card, I used two papers that I've used a hundred times for a hundred different cards, but this time they looked completely different. I didn't use a mat, just the patterned paper as the background. Then I used 3D glittered stickers as the top and bottom images, matted on pink marble paper and then on white. In the middle is my hand-stamped phrase, and the perfect Scripture is tucked inside. ...

If you spend any time at all with other sisters in Christ, you begin to compare yourself to them. Wow, she reads 10 chapters of Scripture every day! I want to start doing that, too! She writes devotions every day and gives them out to her church women. I wish I could do that. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I was asked to speak at a ladies meeting like she has been? She's so wonderful with her husband and children. If only I knew what her secret was, I'd be just like her. Just like her... God didn't call you to be just like another woman, no matter how spiritual or wonderful she might seem. He calls you to be like Christ. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare ou...

 Puppy baths are a dramatic time in our home. Three puppies with three different personalities make it both fun and tiring, but the finished product is definitely worth it. Bailey, our oldest dog, has to be extensively groomed before she can be bathed. She's part black lab and part chow, so she has a very thick under coat. While being groomed, Molly comes to offer support - until she falls asleep. I can usually get at least a bag full of hair out of her before it's all said and done. She loves this part and will gladly turn and flip and do whatever I ask, just so I'll keep brushing her. I'm sure it feels nice to carry about a pound less hair all over. Bailey is also the only one who will get into the tub by herself. If you let her know that it's time, she'll walk right in and wait for you. Happiest. Dog. Ever. This time, Molly had to be right next to the tub the entire time. She wanted to be in the middle of the action fo...

Some of my favorite verses from the Sermon on the Mount are about salt and light. They speak of the testimony were are supposed to have when we go out into the world each day. After studying this passage for several days, I wanted to have something by our front door that would remind everyone who comes and goes about seasoning the world around them and letting their light shine before men. When we were given several wood pieces recently, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. This shelf now sits just to the left of the front door, the perfect place to be a reminder of Jesus' command to His followers. To start, I typed the words into my computer's word processing program and sized them to fit between the pegs. Then I flipped the image ...  ... and printed it on wax paper. Click here for more detailed directions. My favorite projects are the ones Danny and I do together, and I needed him for several parts of this one. Once they were transferred ...