Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

This Memorial Day Weekend, Main Street Ottumwa gave our servicemen a very special gift. Families of those who died in service to our country, are serving in the military now or are retired from the Armed Forces were given the opportunity to have banners made in their honor. Those banners line Main Street from Memorial Day to Labor Day, reminding us of the sacrifice they made of their time, energy and sometimes their life, to serve their country. It was such a blessing to see Danny’s banner hanging with these other American heroes. If you are here in the area, I encourage you to go Downtown today and see the powerful display of our local servicemen. If you live elsewhere, find time today to visit your area cemeteries, veterans monuments and patriotic events. Freedom isn’t free - we are the land of the free because of the brave.

See those yellow things all over my planner pages? Back in the day, those “pencils” were used to write words on paper. People would put that paper into folded-up paper in the shape of a rectangle, seal it up and send it to friends and family. Those “letters” in “envelopes” were treasured communication over the miles. In all seriousness, letter-writing is a lost art form. I am the first to admit that I don’t send nearly as many paper messages as I do electronic ones. But there’s something about getting that envelope in the mail that speaks volumes - someone took the time to write, address, stamp and mail something. Imagine that! This planner layout is such a good reminder that people need words of encouragement and love that they can hold on to, not just see on a device screen. If we can be a comforter, a friend and a lifeline by writing our thoughts on paper and sending them across the miles, isn’t that worth a few minutes of effort? Who is the first person you would send a note to?

Yes, I have an addiction to reading. And no, I don’t intend to seek help for it. I’d rather read a book about it anyway. (See what I did there?) During the month of May, I didn’t have as much time to read as I normally do, but I did get to pull out a bunch of old favorites, finish one I started a couple of months ago and get some inspiration for summer fun. Sounds like a good combination to me. The Proposal, The Rescue, The Visitor, The Pursuit and Sophie’s Heart, all by Lori Wick. The first four are her English Garden series, which I haven’t read as many times as some of her other books. For some reason it’s difficult for me to get past people having servants, even in a storybook, even though it sounds silly. Sophie is another great character, and it’s fun to watch her change, grow and fall in love. Good stuff! From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. This book is from my childhood book collection, and we just found it a couple of weeks ago. I immediate...

I did something earlier this week that I haven’t done in ages - I started a project and finished it in the same sitting! This collection of blue cards made my heart sing in ways I can’t really describe. God created me to create, and having time to sit and make something beautiful was exactly what I needed! My favorite envelopes measure 4.75x6.5 inches, so I cut down an 8.5x11-inch piece of white card stock to fit. The card itself measures 4.5x6.25 inches, leaving two strips around the edges. I cut two 4.5x2.25-inch pieces, a 2x6.25-inch bookmark and 2x2.5-inch tag.    Folded up, they make a card, two gift cards, a bookmark and a tag. Then I cover them with colored card stock. For each one, I cut decorator paper 1/4-inch smaller so there is a border of color around the outside. My favorite part, though, is the decorating. I love coordinating colors and patterns and words and embellishments to create something new and beautiful. Digging through all my bits to find those perfect ...

I have put many different things inside crescent rings over the years: chocolate, sliced meat and cheese, and shredded chicken, to name a few. All you really need are two cans of refrigerator crescent rolls and a lot of imagination. My imagination led me to some of our Butcher Box ground beef and that tempting package of bacon that’s been hanging out at our house. I added a little cheese and the next thing I knew, there was a bacon cheeseburger crescent ring coming out of the oven.  It doesn’t get much better than that! Ingredients: 2 cans crescent roll dough 1lb ground beef 5-6 strips of crispy bacon 1 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2. Brown ground beef in an iron skillet using your favorite seasonings. 3. Cook bacon as directed. 4. On a large baking stone, arrange the crescent roll wedges into a large circle using an upside-down bowl in the middle. 5. Layer ground beef, bacon and cheese around the wider end of the crescents, by the bowl. The...

So, how’s it growing? Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18 Peter had it right. If we’re growing stronger in our faith or learning more about Christ every day, we’ll produce spiritual fruit and be effective witnesses for Him. If we’re not growing ... we know how painful the pruning process can be. But what does it mean to grow spiritually? The last thing we want to do is throw a bunch of super-spiritual words around to make ourselves look good. The word Peter chose here is a prolonged form of the word grow, which simply means it’s a verb that is continually happening. It’s growing continuously over a period of time. Grow means to enlarge, to grow up, to give the increase. It makes perfect sense when you think about a plant growing - i...

If you’ve ever ordered Bible journaling supplies from a place like Dayspring, they were probably from Illustrated Faith, one of my favorite companies. This week I used five of their most recent Print & Pray digital downloads to create my planner pages. On Monday, I used Weeds and Wildflowers from Shanna Noel for a country-chic look. On Tuesday, it was the most adorable succulents ever from Becca Bonneville’s Like Flowers in the Desert set. It has the perfect mixture of big titles and tiny plants, plus a beautiful combination of pink and green. On Wednesday it was Tiffany Johnson’s Captivated, my personal favorite kit of all time. Those Polaroids, pens and tiny words just make me smile. Thursday was Bekah Lynn’s Good News ephemera from the Easter set, just because I love it so much. Those flowers - wow! And I wrapped up the week with When I Rise from Kelly Bangs. This is so totally out of my comfort zone, but it’s so cute! If you had to do a week’s worth of planner pages al in one s...

On Wednesday night, our children and teens all met together for a night of games and cake and ice cream. We’ve been studying a lot of deep topics recently in youth group, so we needed to wind down a bit and just enjoy each other's company. I set up tables in the gym as game stations, and we worked our way through three of them. On one were stacks of worksheets - mazes, codes, word searches, crossword puzzles and coloring pages - that they could work through on their own or race to the finish. On the second was a stack of paper plates, and we practiced our “drawing with our eyes closed” skills and learned how to help each other draw on top of our head. Trust me. It was hilarious. At the next table, all I had was a closed up paper bag and my iPad. They were intrigued to say the least and wanted to do that game first. I gave the first girl the bag and had her pull out one item. This was apparently a challenge because there were more than 20 items in it and there was a tremendous tempt...

It’s been such a crazy year and a half, but it finally felt normal to have the Bullriders of America bring their finals competition to Ottumwa this past weekend. It’s been held in February for the past 9 years, but this year it was moved to May. As if I’m not already confused enough as it is. And it changed from a 2-day event to a three-day, so that didn’t help things in my brain. Two days started with Cowboy Breakfast with the bulls, which is always so much fun! This year one of the bulls would walk right up to its owner, so the kids (and a few adults) got to meet him up close and personal. We sat at the breakfast table with two adorable kids and their mom, and we introduced them to Dalton, the barrel man for the weekend. He had them help him with a rope trick and had them smiling in no time! It always amazes me how big some of these bulls are. And when they stare at you like this, it’s more than a little intimidating.   The special event the first night is always Kids Night, wher...

We’re having that kind of year on the property, from crazy beavers and getting buzzed by low-flying geese to a brand-new bird nest on a post behind the big garage. It’s just far enough below the roof line to slip my phone in and take pictures, even though they can come out pretty blurry.   When this nest started out, there were two white eggs. In just a couple of days, there were two white eggs and two speckled eggs. I immediately sent a note to a friend at county conservation, and she said the new eggs were probably from a cowbird, a species that pirates nests, lay their eggs next to the ones already there and leave them for the other mama to raise. I was shocked to learn this, especially when I went back out and there were only three eggs. And suddenly there were four again, but the new one was speckled, too. It’s been an adventure just to see what’s in that nest on any given day. Then one morning there was a pleasant surprise - babies! It’s nearly impossible to tell who’s who ri...

Before we begin, are you a fan of delicious flavor? How about layers of delicious flavor? Made in short order with very few ingredients?  If you answered yes to any of the above questions, keep reading. If you answered no, I love you anyway. These adorable and yummy appetizers are the perfect 2-bite snack for any occasion. I make six eggs for 12 halves, obviously, to fill up my favorite Fiestaware deviled egg plate. The recipe is easily increased for larger groups. Ingredients: 6 eggs Stone-ground mustard 1 avocado 4 strips of bacon 1. Fill a large pan with water and bring to a boil. Gently add the eggs using a ladle. Boil for 10 minutes. 2. Pour out the water and cover eggs with cold water. Repeat until cooled completely. 3. Peel eggs and cut in half. Carefully spoon out the yolks and combine in a small bowl with just enough mustard to make a thick filling. Spoon filling back into eggs. 4. Halve the avocado and remove the skin. Smash in a small bowl until smooth. Spoon onto devile...

Did you ever have one of those days where you just needed comfort food? The kind that tastes wonderful and fills you up and just makes you happy? The food itself may be different for each of us, but the results are the same - comfort and contentment. For me, it’s a pretty simple comfort meal: meatloaf, green bean casserole and baked beans. Throw a little fruit on the side to make it even better.  It’s a classic casserole recipe that I’ve been using for years: two cans of French style green beans drained, mixed with one can of cream of celery soup and about a cup of French-fried onions. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, top with more onions and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until all warm and bubbly. The beans take literally no time at all. They’re Bush’s Grillin’ Beans, bourbon and brown sugar, and they’re my absolute favorites. Easy as that. And never again will I make meatloaf in a loaf pan. I’m just sayin’. Once I cooked this meatloaf recipe on a sheet pan, it was like I had ...

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be difficult times of year for many people. They may have lost a parent, are separated from them or never knew them to begin with. In our youth group, we have teenagers who are in foster care, don’t know who one of their parents is, or have both parents but have incredibly difficult and dramatic relationships with them. That’s why it was so important for us to share a lesson about God’s love on Mother’s Day Sunday. I struggled with how to present Scripture about how wonderful mothers can be with kids who have broken relationships with theirs. So we started with mothers and then took it one step further. If you hold your balled up fist to your chest, that’s about how big your heart is. For all the emotion and pain it puts us through, you’d think it would be much bigger, but it’s really just a small part of your anatomy. Now think about the amount of love you have stored up in your heart, and how much love you share with others - I’m guessing it’s a lot!...

I can’t begin to tell you how tempted I was to make a trip to Hobby Lobby last week. They had several sales going on, and the pull was strong to just go look. Look, I tell you, look! But I resisted the temptation - thank you, Lord - and shopped from my own stash here at home. The result was a fun page that used up several pages of embellishments. You probably know the feeling of flipping through your craft supplies and finding little bits and pieces here and there. They’re not really enough to do a whole project, so they go in a collection to deal with later. That’s what I did with my sticker books, pulling out a few pages that had three or four little pieces left. Those all combined into a beautiful collage of colors and patterns that ended up working together perfectly.   There are now a few empty sticker pages in the trash can and a little more room in my sticker book bucket, so that makes me happy. And I didn’t give in and buy supplies I don’t really need, which is also a very ...

  From a distance, our pond looks like a quiet, tranquil place to relax and let the worries of the world melt away. But what you can’t see is the fierce battle we’re fighting with a pair of beavers. How do we know it’s beavers? There are a few clear signs. Sign #1 - the dam they feel it necessary to build across the drain. If we can’t hear the water rushing through it, we know the beavers have been busy that day. Sign #2 - the mysterious disappearance of bushes and trees. It’s super important that we protect as much of our timber as we can, and the beavers go through it so quickly! See their little teeth marks on the stumps of what’s left of a bush? They’re getting down as far as they can so they have big branches to works with. Work on what, you ask? Sign #3 - their ever-enlarging den. They have two or three places under the banks of the pond where they like to hide, but this is their central location. Every time we go down, there are new expansion projects around this area. They’...