Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

Starting tomorrow, millions of people will set their New Year's resolutions and face them head-on. For a day, maybe a week, hopefully longer... Has this ever happened to you: you start the new year with a handful of resolutions that will make you healthier, smarter, prettier, and more spiritual. You're motivated and ready to go, and you do pretty well for a while. But then your schedule stops you, your relationships hold you back, your plans fall apart, and soon you've decided it's easier to just go back to the way you lived before your resolutions. Sound familiar? For most of us, this is what the first few weeks (ok, days) of the year look like. There's no lasting motivation to keep going with that exercise plan, Bible study, or house cleaning schedule, so it falls by the wayside. Unfortunately, this also means that our spirits take a beating. Our best intentions turn into something we stick in the back of a closet, only to be pulled out again next January. Suddenl...

Cookies are amazing. Cookies with frosting are even better. Cookie sandwiches with frosting and candy inside knock dessert out of the park! And being so simple to put together is the icing on the cake ... or cookie in this case. You can use store-bought cookies or make your own. Just make sure they're as flat as possible. Then all you need are frosting, candies, sprinkles, sanding sugar, and something to cut a circle. Use your circle cutter to cut the middle out of a third of the cookies. Use something with a sharp edge like a cookie cutter or small glass. Then frost one cookie. Layer the cut cookie on top, pressing it down in the frosting to hold it in place. Add the candies to fill the cookie hole. Then frost the entire top of the cookie to hold the candies in place. Top that cookie with another cookie and frost the whole thing. Fancy it up with a little sanding sugar for that New Year's Eve look. Now when you cut it open, you'll find the candy surprise inside! How cute w...

Lord, I read Your word, and I find myself praying to You using Your own words. The new year is coming so quickly, and I want to live the way You would have so I can serve You the way You desire. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all  men .  v14  I hate to pray for patience, Lord, because I know You will put me in situations where I need patience. But I know this is how I grow, though, and I pray that You will move me, change me, and help me be more compassionate. See that none render evil for evil unto any  man ;  but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all  men. v15 Show me how to be a positive spiritual influence on everyone in my sphere. Help me to follow hard after Your good things, both to be an example and to strengthen my faith every day. Rejoice evermore. v16 In You, my joy is full. I pray that You will show me the moments of joy in the year...

What better way to spend New Year's Eve than in riotous laughter? There is no better way, I promise.  As part of our New Year's Eve Sunday School lesson, we're going to do a good, old-fashioned Mad Lib! These were the staple of all entertainment when I was a teenager, and our youth group loves them, too. (We just have to teach them what adjectives, verbs, and nouns are, which I assumed they would learn in school, but apparently haven't.) To make my own Mad Lib, I started a letter template in Canva. You could use any word processing program or design software that you're comfortable with, but I use these pre-designed templates so I don't have to start from scratch. I'm just lazy like that... As I wrote the form, I left out certain words that would completely change the sentence with different random words. For example: One of my (________) memories of the year was when (________) (________). The first blank is an adjective - "favorite" would be the ...

What could be more fun than looking forward to the New Year? It's a special day in our house, and I found a fun way to celebrate all day long! These countdown gift bags are perfect for marking each hour of New Year's Eve, culminating with a midnight kiss. To make these bags, you only need a few supplies: some clock faces, paper bags, ribbon, and a little embellishment. Decide on a color scheme or theme and coordinate all your supplies. I found my clock faces on a teacher's website and printed all 12 hours on card stock. You can print more or fewer, depending on how long you want to celebrate - or how many gifts you'd like to give! I folded the top of each bag over twice and punched holes for the ribbon. Remember that your gift has to fit inside after the bag's been folded and tied, so plan accordingly. A little double stick tape keeps in the times in place. After tucking the gift inside, I folded the top down and ran the ribbon through.  Then I tied the glittered fl...