I was reading Grace Driscoll's first post on "finding your identity in Christ" this morning, and was inspired by some of the points she made.  Immediately, I knew that's where God wanted me in our quiet time together this morning.  The statement she made that struck me as gold was "Let's not deceive ourselves that we can go about our day without God."  She was stressing the importance of daily prayer, but not only that, prayer throughout the day as well.  One person came to my mind that has modelled that to me. My Aunt Joelle!  She has been known to pray in the car while driving, in the grocery store, in the middle of a breaking news story, or whenever and wherever else! I love her heart for prayer, and it has really given me the desire to have a healthy prayer life.   Most people that spend quiet time with God probably do it first thing in the morning or at night just before bed. That's great and so essential, but we need to remember what Paul sa...

If you're married you know how seasons come along where it becomes sometimes more difficult to keep your "dating life" going strong. After a very busy summer for our family, and the start of the school year/church ministries/etc, I felt like my marriage had reached that season.  Although Scott and I spent a lot of time together this summer, we were always busy and on-the-go with family, and I began to feel like we never spent time alone, dating each other like we used to.  Married couples know all too well that sometimes "life" gets in the way of your marriage. There comes a time where marriage isn't "easy" anymore, and sometimes you really have to "work" at it. I started following people on Twitter that were offering great, Godly marital advice. Through one of them I found this website called www.thedatingdivas.com  It is awesome! You have to check it out. They post tons of date ideas along with a bunch of other really helpful advice! ...

Three nights ago I took a big step in what I hoped would be a blessing to our family. For months now I had wanted to do this, but continued to make exceptions or just gave in to what was easiest (at the time).  Many moms out there are familiar with the show "Supernanny" and its star, Jo Frost. Some of her techniques may be controversial, but I really believe in many of them.  Well, on Sunday night I decided to implement one of her techniques in the life of our family. It's called the Stay-in-bed Technique. In our home, we just call it the "Big girl bedtime".  For as long as Olivia has slept in her own bed we have always tucked her in, then laid with her until she would fall asleep. If you don't have kids you may be wondering what the problem with that is. After years of doing this EVERY night in addition to her waking up several times in the night in the last month, I decided something needed to change in our family's routine.  Now that I'm a mom o...

I drove out of our neighborhood this morning to take Olivia to school. I was running a couple minutes behind because she couldn't make up her mind about who would drive her. So, as I headed off, I noticed there was a bit more traffic than usual. Immediately, I became impatient.  I am guilty of driving over the speed limit, not only when I'm running late. This morning though, there was no way for me to speed because of the bumper-to-bumper traffic.  I got behind this one car that didn't seem to want to drive the speed limit, and I found myself looking for an opportunity to pass them, and probably flash them a look of frustration and annoyance. The opportunity didn't arrive, and shortly I found myself turning into the parking lot of my daughter's school. Right behind that same car. I smiled, and thought to myself, "good thing I didn't race around that car and act like a maniac!"  On my way home from dropping Olivia off, another impatient driver got behin...

I'm going to do my best to write this post in love and not condemnation or criticism. I pray that my heart on this issue will be evident and not misunderstood for something else. I heard a great pastor say about a week ago while he was presenting the congregation with an uncomfortable message "receive this in love". I thought, "what a great way to say what you really think and get away with it b/c you've given the 'love' disclaimer!" But seriously, this has been on my heart for about a year now. I don't know if it's been God that's brought it further and further to the front of my mind in the last month or what, but I felt the need to share. So, receive this in love! Integrity. When most people hear this word they automatically think of the personal meaning of the word. If someone has integrity they have moral or ethical principles.  A more corporate definition of the word as it pertains to the Church or a church ministry is "the s...

I've posted articles from others who inspire me before. I hope they're helpful for those of you who maybe don't follow these other blogs. Some of the most inspiring people to me are Lisa Bevere, Christine Caine, Louie Giglio, Bobbie Houston, Jentezen Franklin, and yes, even my very own husband! I love reading and/or listening to podcasts and posts by all of these writers. Every once and a while I will paste something they've said that really spoke to me here in my blog. Yesterday, I mentioned something Chris Caine had said that really spoke to me. Today, I'm DOING something that she posted that really spoke to me. Today, I'm taking a little "time out" in hopes of spending more "time in". Read this below to know what I'm talking about! Hope you enjoy!  A Little Time Out Ensures a Long Time In Earlier today I posted a tweet saying, "A little time out ensures a long time in." This really seemed to resonate strongly with people...

A couple of days ago I read a post from one of my favorite pastors/speakers/writers Chris Caine. Many of you may know her from all the recent (and long overdue) media exposure she's getting for the A21 Campaign against Human Trafficking.  The post was about all the chaos that comes in the days and weeks leading up to kids heading back to school. She had been shopping all over for certain pieces to complete her daughters' school uniforms. Her daughters expressed the seriousness of having all the "right" things to complete their looks. You know that phrase, "Mom, I HAVE to have those shoes. I'll just DIE if I don't get that headband. Everyone will laugh at me if I don't get this or that!" Chris found herself racing all over town, visiting store after store to make everything "perfect" for her girls when she remember what were truly the important things. I've copied this from that post: "In order for my girls to navigate life ...