Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

It's been quite a while since the puppies were featured here, and I just have to share their holiday celebrations with you. They slept (like Parker is here), they ate, they played, they napped, they pulled the tree skirt out from under the tree, and they barked at wildlife through the window. The end. Well, they also rearranged their blankets multiple times a day. They were pretty busy with that. Then they had to take a nap to recover. Lined up. In the sunshine. You understand. And sometimes they didn't even make it to the floor. Their schedule was so exhausting that they fell asleep right where they were. Diesel usually chooses to doze with his chin on the couch. Just his chin, though, because puppies aren't allowed on the couch. But don't tell Molly that. She sleeps like this every evening, making sure she can keep an eye on me. Doesn't her graying fur make her look so distinguished? She turned 10 in November, and she'll always be the four-legged love of my li

Danny and I have always said that we study Scripture for our own personal growth, we just let the youth group listen in while we talk about what we've learned. We pray every week that the teens will get something out of what we teach, and if it's even a fraction of how we're affected by God's word, then He will do the work in their hearts. He is definitely working in ours. That's exactly what happened to me this week in our Wednesday night meeting. We were talking about how to trust God, even in the hard times, every day for an entire year. It seems daunting, this trusting God completely. It's easy to question, to doubt, to wonder what's really going on when you're knee-deep in troubles and trials. But to trust God no matter what? It sounds like a church phrase that we say without thinking. NASA says that the sun is 93 million miles away from the earth. It would take the fastest rocket ever designed around 100 days to get there. That's really difficu

I've never had this happen before. I found a bag of dried cranberries in the pantry. I don't remember buying dried cranberries. The expiration date is a couple of years down the road, so I must have bought them recently.  So what do you do when you unexpectedly find dried cranberries? Combine them with wild rice to make a delicious side dish, of course! Go see if you have any secret cranberries in your pantry, and let's get started. Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked wild rice 3 Tbsp minced garlic 1 cup dried cranberries 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 cup sliced mushrooms 2 1/2 cups chicken broth 2 Tbsp olive oil 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken tenders Blackening seasoning 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. 2. Rinse rice according to package directions. 3. Heat wild rice and water to boiling in a saucepan, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes and drain.

I always feel terrible when I write about my favorite books. I've read so many books this year, and it feels like I'm telling the other dozens that they're not as good. But they were! They'll just have to understand, I suppose. The most exciting thing I learned in 2023 was that I love history. I've never even liked history. All through school, I felt like I had to learn names and dates about a bunch of made-up events. History didn't seem real, even after our eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C. It just wasn't interesting, so I didn't care. Until this year. I've read so many history books in the past 12 months, probably more than I've read since high school. And a large section of my TBR bookshelf is about history topics, so get ready! My favorite history book of the year was Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. It's written as a novel, keeping with the historical timeline of those days in April 1865. It is filled with details

Gracious heavenly Father, help me to love You first, with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind. I am Yours before I am my husband's, and I love and honor him because I love and honor You. Touch my heart, help me not be jealous, not boastful, not self-seeking, but patient, kind, always trusting, hoping, and persevering. These are difficult fruit of the Spirit to cultivate, but with You, all things are possible. My husband is my heart, and I want to show him mine every day. Please help me to treat him the way I want him to treat me. Enable me to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. I desire these traits in my character so that I can prevent communication problems before they begin. Let my words be kind, uplifting, and full of Your truth. Keep me from speaking lies, half-truths, and exaggerations. Help me be content in all my circumstances so I can treasure my marriage, my home, and my husband as blessings from You. I know that You have blessed us beyond