Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Last week was the Frozen Treat Trot portion of our office's Restaurant Showdown. I was a willing participant, taking one for the team and going all over town to sample the ice cream and frozen yogurt our city has to offer. I know ... selfless, right? So here's what I learned along the way: Our city has so many restaurants with ice cream that I didn't even know had it on their menu, so there were several I had never tried. I learned that there's a lot happening around here and that I need to look around more. How about you and your town? It's fun to order something that I've never had before. Many of our treat spots have a Flavor of the Day that might sound a little crazy at first, but I'm so glad that I tried them! This week it was Orange Pineapple and Red Raspberry. I will report that they were both scrumptious. I will never let the fact that I've never been in before stop me from trying someplace new. I've learned that some people are hesitant to w

Do you have decisions that need to be made in the coming days, weeks or months? The guidance you need for making the best choices possible can be found between the covers of your Bible. It may sound  cliché, but everything you need for making a godly choice in right there on those pages. In black and white. Without exception. The book of James in the New Testament is a great place to start, as this letter was written by one of Jesus' brothers to a church where they weren't living holy lives. These poor choices were affecting everyone around them, especially their brothers and sisters in Christ, so James wrote very plainly about how to make better decisions. Read on for a few examples of God's wisdom for putting Him first in all your choices. * Before all else, pray and ask God for His wisdom. (1:5) * Ask believing, not double-minded or wavering (1:6-8) * Decide whether your choice will help you endure temptation or give in to it. (1:12) * Take time to consider whether you w

Sometimes you just need a word from God. This is one of those times, and my planner is the perfect place to put it.There is so much love covering each of us, straight from God's heart to ours, and sometimes we're just too blinded by the circumstances of the moment to pay attention. That's why I want to slow my week down and turn my eyes and heart to that agape love that can only come from God. As these die cuts and images so beautifully put it, His love is steadfast, unfailing, everlasting and totally unconditional. It's that love that abounds and believes in us, especially when we don't believe in ourselves. I don't know what you're facing this week, but I pray that you'll be purposefully aware of the agape love that God is lavishing on you, even as you're reading these words. His love will never change, never go anywhere and never diminish. With that truth firmly before us, let's walk into this week with confidence - not in ourselves, but in Go

It's less than 24 hours until our first craft show in a very long time kicks off. I'm a little nervous, a lot excited and so blessed to be able to present our work to the world. Some of our tried-and-true customers are planning to be there, and I can't wait to meet a lot of new, potential friends, too. So all this week I've been praying specifically for this event. But before you think I'm praying that we'll make a ton of money and retire to the islands, I have certain business-centered prayers that are always on my heart. But first, why do I even pray for our business in the first place? Why #1 - God has given us gifts, and it's our responsibility to be good stewards of them. Without the skills and interests that naturally live in our hearts, placed there by God, we wouldn't even be doing what we do. I know for me, personally, I get heavy and weighed down when I'm not making something. I know that crafting is an outlet placed in my brain and my hear

It's just two days until Stuff From Trees has a booth set up at the Ottumwa Community Market! (Shameless self-promotion: Saturday from 8-2 at St. Paul Lutheran Church) It's been months since I had a show booth, so I'm super excited, and I'm looking forward to getting our handmade pieces into the hands of people who will love them and use them. I'm spending the last week before the show stocking up our inventory of handmade cards. Almost all of them have KJV Scripture on them or in them, and it's fun to find new ways to attach these verses and phrases. I usually mat or double mat them in coordinating colors if they're on the inside. Double stick tape is my best friend. It's always a challenge to creatively add Scripture to card fronts. I refuse to glue a picture to a piece of paper - so boring - so I'll often use 3D adhesive to give phrases and images some dimension. You can see the shadow in this picture, and it's only about a quarter of an inch

Can you tell that I'm in an autumn mood? It's only two days until the first day of fall, so I used one of my favorite autumn ingredients - pecans - to create a dessert or snack or treat or whatever you want to call it! These pecan pie cookie bars take a few steps to make, but only a few ingredients. Make sure you use real maple syrup, and cut the butter into the crust with a pastry blender. You'll save yourself some time and energy by not using just a fork. Also, do not spray the parchment paper with nonstick spray thinking it will be too sticky. I only used a light spray and I still had to wipe oil off the bottom of the cookie. Ingredients for the crust: 1 cup flour 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed Dash of salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with parchment paper. 2. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and salt. 3. Cut the butter into 1-inch chunks. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture. Small

It is only three days until the first day of fall. Reread that if you need to. Somehow we have raced through winter, spring and summer of 2022, and now we're headed into sweater weather and bonfire season. It's my favorite time of the year, so I'm ready for it! When I change the seasonal decorations at the church, I always switch the bulletin board to match. This year my fall board has three Scriptures on it:  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Proverbs 3:5 Keep me as the apple of your eye. Psalm 17:8 The third verse was the only one I would have thought of on the theme of fall and autumn. I suppose you could use any Scripture on a leaf or an apple and call it fall-themed, but there are several more I would pick from. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the e

This Thursday is the first day of fall - can you believe it? I guess it's true that the older we get, the faster time goes by. I'm more than happy, though, to pull out all my fall craft supplies and get my planner ready for the change of seasons! If you participated in my " Do this before you buy one more fall decoration " challenge, hopefully you have some stickers, washi tapes and other embellishments already gathered and sorted. If not, I'll wait while you catch up. Ready? Good. I made top and bottom borders with a pretty leaf washi, then placed my three phrases. Those were each accented with metallic leaves and some tiny phrases. So this will be the official beginning to using up every single fall image, phrase and ephemera I can find in this house. Self-inflicted challenge accepted! Between you and me and the chair, I could probably create an entire planner full of fall pages, but where's the fun in that? The fun will be seeing how many different pages ov

I wish I could say that the Carrell Wildlife Preserve was full of fall colors. I'm beyond ready for summer to be over - I'm a sweater weather kind of girl. Sure, I'd love to see reds and oranges and yellows of every shade. But, little by little, yellow is creeping up on us. If you look at the edges of my favorite tree, you can see the yellow at the ends of each branch. Soon it will be a riotous rainbow of colors, but for the moment, I'm happy with the beginning of that rainbow. In certain parts of the timber, there is a deep contrast of greens. And again, there are hints at the breathtaking beauty to come. That hope is easy to enjoy because we have seen this happen year after year. Green will turn to red, to yellow and to deep orange. It's just the way God has blessed the nature around us. Little by little summer will fade into autumn, the temperatures will drop, we'll drink more lattes and less iced coffee, and sweaters will feel oh so good again. And little by

The most powerful and most loving act we can do for our husbands today is lift them up in prayer. It may sound trivial, but I am determined to be a prayer warrior, standing in the gap for my husband and fighting Satan in spiritual warfare. Every day I put on my combat boots and get in the trenches with Jesus Christ. Scripture says that He is seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us, so I'm going straight to my Intercessor on behalf of my husband. Daily, hourly, sometimes minute by minute. This is my fight and my battle for my marriage and my family, and I take it incredibly seriously. I hope you do, too. If you're interested in some very specific, very practical ways to pray for your husband, here are seven suggestions to get you started. It's always good to pray Scripture and insert your husband's name into every verse, so I've included a verse with each prayer to pray over him. 1. Pray that your husband will understand God's calling and purpo

In less than two weeks, on September 24, Stuff From Trees will have a booth at the Ottumwa Community Market. It's been close to a year since we've been to a show, so I've been prepping for a few weeks. One of the major projects is updating price tags, like these on Danny's pens and pencils.  With many different kinds of products, all made from different combinations of wood and paper, there are different kinds of price tags for each. While I would never consider individually pricing cards or bookmarks or tags, there are many different ways I can let customers know their prices. Many of our tiny pieces are packaged in different sizes of plastic bags. This protects them from sun and dampness, and it also makes them perfect for those small garage sale stickers. I write the price on them in Sharpie and stick them to the back of each bag. They can be quickly and easily removed at the cash register, and then they're packaged and ready to give as a gift or kept safe until

 

Over Labor Day weekend, while Danny was working hard on outdoor projects, I decided to up my grilling game and find some new recipes. Danny is the grill master in our house, so it was definitely a little out of my comfort zone, but I took a leap of faith! As soon as I got up that morning, I fixed two different marinades - one for chicken breasts and one for beef tips. I cut each into chunks large enough to either thread on a skewer or put in a single layer in my grill basket. The corn is super simple, since I'm an Iowa girl. After pulling off the silks, I break the ear in two, coat them with butter and lay them on a piece of foil. Then I liberally coat them with salt and pepper. They get wrapped up in the foil and placed on the grill for 15-20 minutes, turning two or three times. The corn will come out tender and juicy and yummy. I'm not a huge steak eater, but I really like them with just a steak seasoning and then directly onto the grill. They take 4-5 minutes per side on a h

Every single person you will come into contact with today needs some encouragement. We will never know exactly what's going on in that person's life, mind or heart, but rest assured they would love someone to step up with an encouraging word or act. National Day of Encouragement shouldn't be a once-a-year recognition. As Christians, we are called to lift each other up every day. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. Romans 14:19 If you can encourage someone today, what will you say or do? Here are just a handful of ideas to get your creativity sparked: * Send an email or text to someone going through a difficult time. * Share a favorite Scripture that always makes you smile. * Write a short note and drop it in the mail. * Tell someone what you appreciate about them. * Smile at absolutely everyone you can! * Let someone know you're praying for them. * You don't have to say anything - just listen. *

I have big dreams. I hope you do, too. I'm not hoping and wishing on a star because I pray to the God who created the stars. I hope you do, too. So let's dream some big dreams this week and pray for the moving of God to make them happen. Take this week's planner layout to the big-dream scale. Choose one sticker set and use every single piece of it somewhere on your pages. That's what I did with this two-page spread. I used banners, images, phrases and lots of little arrows and tags - what can you use to make an inspirational layout? Don't ever stop dreaming, and don't ever stop praying. Keep the words, and word of God, in front of you at all times. With my planner on my desk every day this week, I'm giving Him some crazy faith and He'll give me exceeding abundantly more than I can ask or think. And that's something to look forward to!

Hello - it's only 16 days until fall! But who's counting, right? At the beginning of September each year, I start sorting through my fall decorations, craft supplies and baking goodies to get ready for the change of season. Fall baking is probably my favorite part, especially when I can whip out a good spice cake. But what if you could turn a spice cake mix into delicious donuts? Yes, it's true and it's possible! Instead of following the directions on the box, use the ingredients and measurements below to turn the thicker batter into yummy breakfast treats. Ingredients: 1 box of spice cake mix 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 cup water 2 eggs 1 can salted caramel frosting 2 Butterfinger candy bars 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray four donut pans with nonstick spray. 2. In a stand mixer on low, mix the cake mix, oil, water and eggs until combined. Increase to medium speed for two minutes and batter is smooth and thick. 3. Pour batter into donut pans, filling halfway.

Action words are powerful words. They describe what we do, from running and jumping to studying and learning. Verbs paint a picture of the movement in the constant motion of our day. Some of us use more verbs than others. Instead of sitting and relaxing, we're cooking, cleaning, errand-running, working, building and creating. Sound like some familiar action words in your own life? Paul knew all about verbs. He fills his letters to the various churches with words that spurred action. He wanted to encourage other believers to get up and do something, and it was always personal and specific. 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;  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all pa

It's always a good thing to stretch yourself creatively. And there's nothing worse than sticking yourself in a rut and staying there. I followed my own advice setting up my planner pages for the week, and I'm so glad I did! Pulling together three different sticker sets in similar colors was so much fun because these styles aren't something I would normally choose. Those colors jump started everything, beginning with the flowers in all four corners.  I'm a big fan of tiny images randomly thrown around the page, so the white space is broken up with encouraging phrases, fun designs and a few work-related bits tossed in for good measure. Add a little overlapping and you've got a great layout for the week. What sets are you using to decorate your planner for the next seven days?

Are you one of those people who can't resist buying new decorations for every changing season? I refuse to answer, on the chance I would incriminate myself. Let's just say I've decided that this fall I'm doing something different. I'm going to shop for autumn decorations in my own house, taking inventory of what I already have, before I even consider walking up and down those aisles at the craft store. I'd guess you probably have some storage boxes that look like this, too. Mine is filled with fall leaves, wreaths, an occasional football and lots of baskets, mugs and lights. This is a good place to start - who knows what's in the bottom of that tote? Instead of bringing home new floral stems or arrangements, use some colors and styles that you already have. They might now be traditional fall flowers and leaves, but they'll blend in nicely and be a breath of fresh air. Start thinking about how you can bring the outdoors in. This is one of my favorite pain