Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Oh my goodness, this final recipe with blackberries from our property is possibly my favorite of the year. There’s just something about that combination of lemon and blackberry that makes the . I started by baking two 8-inch round cakes from a boxed lemon cake mix and letting them cool overnight. They needed a little bit of cake taken off the top of each to make them flat, which is so important when you’re layering them. To make the frosting, make a simple syrup by heating 2 cups of blackberries and 1/2 cup of sugar in a saucepan over high heat. Stir it frequently to break the berries down and dissolve the sugar.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat two packages of room-temperature cream cheese until smooth. Slowly pour in 1/8 cup of the blackberry syrup from the saucepan and mix completely. To finish the frosting, add powdered sugar to the cream cheese mixture a cup at a time, mixing thoroughly each time. Use less powdered sugar for a true glaze, and more for a tick frosting. I use...

If you’ve read the Bible for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the big stories found among its pages. If asked, you could tell the stories of Eden, Moses, Joseph, David, Jonah and Jesus’ parables. They come to our minds easily because we’ve read them, heard preaching about them and maybe even taught them. But how often do you take the time to study and dig deeper, go beyond the kindergarten version with coloring pages and find the layers of treasures underneath? Here’s what I mean, using the well-known passages about Mary breaking the alabaster box and anointing Jesus’ feet. Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.  There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.  Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled wit...

If you look back a few weeks and look at my planner layout for the month of August, it will look very similar to this picture today. I have very few August pages completed, and even some of those didn’t get written on. I had grand planner plans, but many of them didn’t come to fruition. Am I bummed? A little. Am I discouraged? Perhaps. But mostly I’m giving myself a little grace. There were two weeks in mid-August when I was so wrapped up in Babe Ruth planning that I didn’t stop long enough to write anything down. I was busy making banquet centerpieces, making sure our guests of honor were taken care of and counting and recounting banquet tickets so everyone who wanted to be there could be there. In all that hustle, which I thoroughly love, it wasn’t practical to write everything down. I was more concerned with accomplishing the things, not making a list of the things I was already doing. Planning doesn’t have to mean hours of writing, lists of your lists or filling the page by the end...

The world is spinning out of control all around us, and it can be overwhelming. It’s heartbreaking to watch the news, pick up a newspaper or even talk with friends. The negativity and chaos and confusion paint everything with a dark paintbrush, making us wish we could just go back to bed and pull the covers over our heads. Withdrawing from the world sounds like a safe, comforting idea, but then we miss out on the beautiful moments all around us.  A sunset that knocks your socks off. An unexpected note from someone special. A walk around a beautiful place.  A conversation that lifts your spirits. A Bible verse that hits your heart in a powerful way. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 We are never left alone to deal with difficult situations by ourselves. Jesus promised that He would leave His followers with peace in the Person of the Holy Spirit. The Com...

It is almost the end of blackberry season on the property, which is sad because I have so many more recipes circling in my brain! There will be a couple more bites of inspiration over the next few days, though. Keep checking back. Finding the right seasoning blend can be a challenge with pork. Right now I’m using a couple of favorites from Flavor God and one from our local Dutch store. You can experiment with combinations until you find one you love. And eating the experiments is totally worth it. Sometimes you don’t need a huge, dramatic blackberry presence to enjoy these tasty berries. For this salad recipe, the blackberries are garnish and the tenderloin is the star of the show - and that’s ok! And the secret ingredient is revealed during the deglazing process … too much fun! Ingredients: 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 1lb pork tenderloin, sliced 2 Tbsp of your favorite seasoning 1 cup Sprite 4 cups spinach mix 1 cup blackberries Assorted salad fixings 1. Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron...

For the past two weeks, Ottumwa has been hosting the Babe Ruth 14-Year-Old World Series. I’ve been living and breathing baseball for months as we’ve been preparing for this event, and it’s been absolutely amazing. I didn’t want to go cold turkey now that the tournament is over, so I created a fun baseball-themed layout for my Monday planner pages. I started with red and white star washi tape that is technically from my Fourth of July collection, but I didn’t care. That’s the fun part of having supplies on hand - using them for absolutely anything you feel like! Then I combined three sizes of baseballs overlapping the washi and hanging over the edge of the page, actually creating more baseball pieces to layer elsewhere. A few strategically placed words and a set of number stickers bring this page to life. I only know a few things for my Monday to-do list, but I’m stepping up to the plate, ready to hit a home run! Bring it on, new week! I’m ready for you!

Nothing says summer to me like iced tea. That sweet, cool tea just makes you feel good all over and cools you off like nothing else can. During blackberry harvest here on the property, it just makes sense to add homemade blackberry syrup to my iced tea. I mean, come on. That’s a no-brained. Simple syrup lives up to its name with just three ingredients and a few minutes of your time. And trust me, it’s worth every one of those minutes! Ingredients: 3 cups blackberries 1 cup sugar 9 cups water 6 tea bags Ice 1. Start the blackberry syrup by combining blackberries and sugar in a large saucepan. As the pan heats up, use the back of a large spoon to crush the berries and release more of the juice. 2. Add 1 cup of water and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.  3. In another pan, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Hang the tea bags over the lip of the pan and steep for 5-6 minutes. Remove the tea bags. 4. After letting the black...

The babies got their world rocked when we had new furniture delivered. Suddenly we were telling them they couldn’t get up on the couch or lean on the couch or touch the couch or look at the couch in a weird way. So they started napping on the floor - strange concept, I know. With their favorite blankets on the floor, we thought they would have a safe, comfy place to hang out. They still resent having the chairs in front of the furniture to keep them off it, though. We’ll slowly move the chairs and replace them with smaller obstacles until they understand they can’t get up there, even if it’s empty. But for now, the chairs are the enemy! They break my heart, though, whining and asking for cuddles like they’ve had for their entire lives. These four are very resistant to change anyway, but this is a little more difficult.  And for Diesel, that means finding a napping spot wherever he can, as long as he can see me at any given moment. Yes, I’d love to nap with you … thank you for askin...

I was finally at the stage in my craft room clean up that I could set up my planner desk this weekend! My planner supplies have been traveling from the dining room table to the computer desk to a folding table behind the sofa for months, and it was getting very old very quickly. So having one entire table next to the window overlooking the pond was an invitation to myself that I couldn’t resist. As I’m putting together my planner for the month, I have a few necessities close at hand: card stock and decorator paper in stacking trays next to the table, a basket full of washi tape, my Planner 52 binder and plenty of tape and scissors with arm’s reach. There are two of my favorite Thirty-One bags, one for planner sticker books and one for tools and punches. The printer is set up close by so I can print planner pages as I need them, and I have preprinted planner pages and notepaper for monthly, weekly and daily spreads. Having everything with reach and not having to move it from place to pl...