Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Can you believe that it’s already the day before November? Now we’re in the season of thanks and giving, two months of gathering and gratitude. What a great time to use these themes in our planners, reminding us of what’s truly important. At the beginning of each month, I put together three different planners spreads - monthly, weekly and daily. In between these are always some notes and journaling pages so I can write out my prayers and make lists for the days ahead. On the weekly pages, I do my meal planning and house cleaning routine. By running a banner of stickers across the middle of the spread, the page gets divided in a fun, pretty way. I have several books of Happy Planner stickers, which all have these gorgeous blocks in them. They don’t fit my planner squares, though, so this alternating of patterns and colors lets me use the ones I like in a different way. If you’re a crafter of any kind, you probably have a collection of something: paper, stickers, yarn, canvas … you get t...

When I was asked to decorate for a recent work banquet, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for centerpieces. The event was fall-themed, and I pictured farm fences with wheat and pumpkins and wood. And the reason I had this image in my head was because we already had the fences! We used them for both the Babe Ruth World Series coaches’ breakfast and the Champions Banquet. They had been put in storage for just such an occasion, ready to have a couple of alterations for this fall event. And here’s how we did it! My sweet friend Emily designed these fences and passed her creativity on to me. I painted two dowels for each fence, cut to the height of the chicken wire.  Each 12-inch-high fence is cut to 18 inches long. This gives plenty of wire to wrap around the dowels, curve a little and stay standing upright. The length can be adjusted if the wire is taller. After wrapping the cut ends of the chicken wire around the dowels, two sizes of greenery is hot glued to the bottom of the dowels...

I’m waiting to see God move in about a dozen different situations right now. I’m looking forward to bragging on Him, being able to give Him honor and glory for each of those prayer requests being answered.  But here’s the deal. I’m waiting. I’m not the best wait-er in the world, so saying this is a challenge is putting it mildly. What I want to do is run in with guns a-blazing, hurry to fix everything and get on to the celebrating and praising part. But let me tell you, that’s not what God has in mind right now.  So I’m waiting. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Psalm 25:5 Waiting is difficult. It’s painful. It’s supposed to grow us, even when we’re not sure we want to grow this way. So we wait. Even when we’re not sure exactly what we’re waiting for. But we know exactly Who we’re waiting on. What you do while you’re waiting says a lot about your relationship with God. I know very, very few people who are g...

It wasn’t until this October that I discovered that I’m a pumpkin spice lover. I’ve always loved pumpkin pie, I was given some great pumpkin-flavored coffee for my birthday and then I had a pumpkin spice latte for the first time ever. And I liked it! So it seemed natural to do up a “pumpkin everything” planner layout for the last week in October. The layout starts with a border of washi tape, which was also a first! Before this weekend it was just another fall embellishment … but now it’s true! I had a few bits-and-pieces from some sticker sets that combined really well to make a notes page to use for my weekly prayer list. The pumpkins in the corners are glittered and textured, making them even cooler. On the Monday page, I created a top border with a torn washi tape title and the date, written in black, glittered, 3D number stickers. Then I used the matching blocks and pumpkins to connect the two pages with colors and patterns. I used the journal block on this page to start planning ...

This fall favorite is going to be my go-to fellowship and potluck treat. Not only are these apple pie bites yummy, they really do have just two ingredients, and you can have them on hand for last-minute sweets. Normally when I write out a recipe for you, I include the ingredient list (in this case, refrigerator cinnamon rolls and a can of apple pie filling). And then I give you the steps to make them: Press each cinnamon roll into a muffin tin and top with coarsely chopped apple pie filling. Bake at 375 degrees for 13-14 minutes. Drizzle the package of glasses over the top and serve warm. Here are a few ways to make these pie cups even more special: * Sprinkle with cinnamon before drizzling the glaze. * Try them with a variety of pie fillings. * Play around with combinations of cinnamon roll flavors. * Add a drizzle of caramel before the glaze. * Definitely serve with ice cream!

Is it silly to look forward to a certain day of the week because you’re excited about that day’s planner pages? Then I am totally goofy. I can’t wait for Tuesday and Wednesday this week. These two pages are a great example of using tiny embellishments to make a big statement. The Captivated Print and Pray set from Illustrated Faith’s Tiffany Johnson is one of my absolute favorites. It comes with a set of tiny words, like the magnets you put on the refrigerator, so I cut some of them out and scattered them over the two pages. Their colors, mixed with coordinating images, tie this layout together in the prettiest way.   I’m sorry, but if your planner layout this week doesn’t have a Polaroid camera on it, you’re missing out! I love how all of Tiffany’s images are so pretty and so much fun. Tuesday morning to Wednesday night are going to be my favorite 48 hours of the week! I challenge you to turn a handful of tiny embellishments into some extraordinary planner pages.

Southern Iowa is always a little slow to turn colors in the fall. But when it does, it does it right. We’re starting to see a few patches of yellow here and there around the property, and even a little bit of red in certain places. Against that bright blue sky, they stand out even more! The trees around the big pond are always showing off. Show-offs. Our driveway is one of my favorite spots on the property. Every single time we come home, it feels like we’re driving into a state park with all those trees lining the drive. And at this time of year, it’s even more dramatic. When the sun is shining at just the right angle, the trees actually glow. I think if you turned the sun off for a few minutes, the leaves would glow in the dark. How cool would that be? The fall leaves forecast says we should be at peak color in the next couple of weeks. I can’t wait!

As part of my job at the convention and visitors bureau, I have to know as much as I can about our town, our county and our state. Tourism is such a great industry to be part of because I get the chance to showcase our city every single day. So when I came across this vintage, handmade book about the state of Iowa, it was like finding a gold mine. (Yes, that’s my name on the front. I was a writer even then.) My second smile came from seeing my book-making technique. It has three thin strips of construction paper stapled to both covers like a strap to keep everything contained. I’m not sure if that was my flash of brilliance, or if that was what the teacher suggested. Either way, pretty ingenious. For the record, my knowledge of Iowa and farm facts is pretty ok. At least that’s what my test says at the top of the page. I have absolutely no idea when I made this in school, though judging by my handwriting, it could have been any time. Alas, my penmanship is still not the best, but at lea...

We’re getting ready for a banquet at work next week, and I just had to make something special to add to the centerpieces. All of these adorable wood pieces will be given away at the end of the night, along with some mini pumpkins at every table. Not only are they stinkin’ cute, they’re also easy to make. All of the crates, trays and pallets are from the dollar store, and we already had the stain and foam brushes, so they cost next to nothing, too! When I apply stain, I always begin with a thick layer, then wipe away the excess with a paper towel or microfiber cloth. The wood these are made from is very dry, so it sucks up a ton of stain very quickly. There’s something very satisfying about seeing the stain change color as you wipe it away. Or maybe that’s just me. I’m a big fan of natural wood, so I chose two different stains - light and dark - because I wanted to do a couple of different embellishments on them. And they need to dry overnight before adhering anything to them. At the en...

Hello, my name is Laura, and I am addicted to vintage cookbooks. There’s something about the colors, patterns and photos in those great cookbooks from decades gone by that makes me smile. I grab them up whenever I find them at thrift stores and book sales.  But now the truth … I do actually use them! It’s fun to flip through a cookbook from years past and choose a few to try. It’s fun to experiment with them and see if they’re still workable and yummy. This one definitely was. It’s a ground beef cup shaped over the bottom of a muffin tin and cooked, then inverted and filled with mashed potatoes and a lovely, cheesy sauce. The one thing I would change is making sure the meat is fairly dry before forming it because it was fairly juicy and didn’t hold up all the way around each cup. Other than that one change, it was such a good experiment! Ingredients: 1 egg 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup crushed crackers 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 lb ground beef 4 servings mashed potatoes 2 T...

Last week I was able to hold pages from Bibles printed in the 1600s. To some people this may not be the most wonderful thing in the world, but to an avid bibliophile and Christian woman, I literally had goosebumps. It’s true that God, from the beginning of time, has preserved His word. In was originally spoken, passed down from generation to generation through stories, celebrations and memorials. Then it was written in various forms and languages, but it was still God’s word, saved and treasured and special. Holding these 400+-year-old Bible pages was more than just touching a piece of history, although that makes them special, too. I couldn’t help but think of the people who had suffered, were tortured and killed just for the right to have a Bible and read it. People down through the centuries have given their lives for me to hang these pages in our church. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I...

At the beginning of October, I changed up the way I’m putting my planner together. In the grand scheme of things this may not seem huge, but I just don’t have time to design my own pages anymore, cut them out and decorate a two-page spread every day. Using just preprinted, single-day pages has been interesting, though, because they coax out some new creativity. They’re still a two-page layout, but they’re shaped the same way instead of being mirror images like before. So for this week’s pages, I challenged myself to use up a whole bunch of supplies I already have, plus coordinate colors and designs on both pages, plus make them the same but different. Challenge accepted. I started with one of my favorite washi tapes and covered some of the pages’ printed lines with it. Then I added two banners to each page, the same colors but different patterns, and the numbers. Again, using the same three shapes on the left hand side, I coordinated some beautiful patterns one both pages. Two cute lab...