Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

It's been strange to go back to a three-dog house after losing Callie this summer. These six months have been an adjustment, but everyone is doing great and enjoying a not-so-cold winter.  Molly, our Great Dane-German Shepherd, turned 11 in November. She has the joint issues that come with being an older, bigger dog, and she's moving a little slower like the rest of us. Her favorite things int he entire world are treats, dinner time, and cuddles. Her least favorite things are rain, lightning, flashing lights, and not getting enough treats.  Diesel has done so well without his sister, and I'll admit I was incredibly concerned about him at first. He had a seizure a couple of days after she died, and we thought we were losing him, too. He's always been a velcro dog, but now I don't get to go anywhere without him, ever. He's seven now, which doesn't seem possible because he's still my tiny boy dog. Parker is our little old man, and he's turning 13. The v...

The response to my email was short and sweet. And filled with passive aggressive blame. I reached out with a question, and now suddenly I was in the wrong.  It's not the first time this has happened. This is an amazing person with lots of great qualities, an opinion I share frequently with other people, but communication is not one of them. Their intelligence, passion, and expertise are quickly overshadowed by a sharp tongue and lack of patience that turn into overblown situations. Do you know how hard it was to not stay in the flesh and respond in kind? Of course you do. I'm sure you've had similar conversations, both digitally and in person. An eye for an eye and pain for pain just because you can - it's so easy and would feel so good momentarily. Other people do it and get away with it. What I wanted to do was sit down at my computer and fire back word for word and hurt for hurt. I can still feel the heat in my face when I think about those words. Someone's got t...

It's been so long since I've actually felt like cooking. Oh, we're not starving and there have been meals on the table, but I've not felt that joy in the kitchen for quite some time. As I've been processing everything that's happened over the past year, though, that healing is drawing me back to the things I love. Instead of just deleting the recipes that show up in my email inbox like I normally would, last week I opened one of them. This lovely (and simple) ravioli bake was in there, and I couldn't resist.  I'd much rather have ground sausage than ground beef any day, so that sealed the deal. And we loved it! The recipe below is just how I fixed it. Next time I would use a thicker pasta sauce so it would be heartier, and I'd like a meat-filled ravioli to make it a little more substantial. After you try it, let me know what you loved and if you'd make any other substitutions. Ingredients: 1 1/2lb bulk Italian sausage 2 Tbsp minced garlic 2 24oz ...

I'm ready to breathe. It's been that kind of year. After I wash and dry my face at night, I've caught myself letting out the biggest sigh ever. Then I realize I probably haven't breathed deeply all day. Or I'll hold my breath because I'm stressed or in a rush or so busy that I just forget to inhale. And exhale. And repeat. Breathing has always been an issue for me, physically anyway. I've suffered from exercise-induced asthma all my life, and sometimes just walking is a challenge depending on the day. I remember not being able to walk all the laps around the school in elementary gym class, and sitting on the bleachers being glared at by other high school kids who had to run the track, but I couldn't. Breathing was more important, but it was hard to struggle and be different. So when I got the email quiz for this year's Dayspring word of 2025, imagine what it did to my heart when it came up with Breathe! If you've never taken their quiz, go to www...