my blessed life

I'm excited about this new year!  I'm so ready to put last year behind me. 2015 was just a tough year with lots of challenges.  Not that I don't expect challenges in this new year but I am just planning to face them with more grace, more patience, more of reliance on God.  Basically just more of God.  Without Him I can do nothing! My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness. II Corinthians 12:9 Some ways I am taking on the new year's challenges are: daily Bible reading ...I'm going back to one of my fave reading plans: the chronological one with the YouVersion Bible app reading a new-to-be but old devotional for the first time: My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers beginning my mornings with prayer and coffee--the best way! How are you beginning  your new year?

I love Easter!  Not only is it in the lovely season of spring, it represents all that makes life worthwhile--HE LIVES and because of that I can live in fullness of life, too.  Not just in Heaven, but even here on earth.  I'm so thankful for that! As long as I can remember Easter has always been a "busy" day for me.  I grew up in a minister's home so my dad was always preaching somewhere on Easter--whether as a guest minister or in the church he pastored for several years.  Then I married and my husband and I have also been in ministry full-time for 14 of the 18 years we've been married--the past 4 years as senior pastors. And the Easter weekend just gets busier.  But it's a good kind of busy.  Like today, we were at our church nearly all day for a fun event we like to call Easter Eggstravaganza.  It's a fun day for our church to simply bless our community with free food, games, petting zoo, some fun giveaways, and an egg hunt for the kidd...

Happy New Year to you!! I hope you have a wonderful first day of the first month of this fresh slate we're blessed with each year. While any time is a good time to read the Bible, January 1st is an obvious choice to begin to read the Bible through in a year.  And a great way to do that is by using the You Version app on your smart phone, tablet, or computer! I used this reading plan for the first time last year and loved it!  I could pick up my phone anywhere and have my reading plan at my fingertips.  And as a person who loves to see progress on my 'to do' lists, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the little graph each day showing me my reading progress for the year:) Another benefit to this app is that you can choose different styles of reading plans.  Last year I chose the chronological plan and absolutely loved it.  It was so interesting to see exactly where all of those prophets fit into the timeline of the Old Testament!  You can also choose diff...

I know it's been a while.  And I've missed being here.  I hope things are going well with you. Life has been fast and furious around here these past few months and I simply needed to step away from so much time online in order to keep my sanity. I had lost my zeal for blogging.  Sort of lost my direction, in a way.  There are so many voices out there telling me how to improve my blog, how to make more money from  blogging, how to promote yourself better...  I just got tired of it all. I needed a little break.  So I took a couple of months off and it's been good. ***** Life has been a bit hectic lately and I am desperately trying to be intentional about how I spend my time.   More intentional in my walk with Jesus.  More intentional with my children.  More intentional with my marriage.  More intentional in my home. Believe me, I'm not getting it perfect.  In fact, most days I fail miserably.   Bu...

Well, I'm not actually here to debate; however, we did attend the much-talked-about debate between evolutionist Bill Nye and creationist Ken Ham earlier this month.  It's been so crazy around here that I haven't even had a chance to mention it.    When the debate was first announced, we thought it would be a good experience for our family.  So my husband was up bright and early the day that tickets went on sale.  It's a good thing, too, because they sold out in 2 minutes!  We were very excited! So we made the trip up to the Cincinnati area the day of the debate and just got checked into our hotel and headed back to the debate to get as good of seats as possible.  As you can see in the photo above, we were toward the back of the auditorium.  It was a packed house!   And it truly was a great experience for our family!  I really did wonder how my kiddos would do, needing to sit through a 2.5 hour debate with no restro...

It has been a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend here!  Mine has been filled with family, food, laughter, games, shopping, and more food.  We enjoyed time with both of our families this holiday and that has been so nice. Today was also a great day with our spiritual family at our church.  It was wonderful to worship with fellow believers and to hear a message of hope . Tonight our family enjoyed sitting around our kitchen table and lighting the first candle on our Advent wreath~which represents hope, by the way.  I always love this special time of the year when we begin the special family devotions of Advent. I just wanted to share with your some of our favorite resources. For several years now we have enjoyed reading through The Advent Book each night in December as we count down to Christmas Day. We also love the Jesse Tree devotionals by Ann Voskamp.  You can click here to download them for free. This year we are also using some notes ...

(this post contains affiliate links) I remember first hearing about " stick-figuring through the Bible " and was a little perplexed and a little intrigued by the concept.   Grapevine Studies were unlike any other Bible curriculum that I had seen.  So when I saw a freebie lesson offered on Facebook last winter I snagged it.   The lesson was on the Last Supper and it was perfect for our Good Friday family Bible study.  And we loved it!  The kids thought drawing out each aspect of the story was so much fun and they really enjoyed it so much.  And I did, too.  It was a joy to teach!  So when it came time to finalize our curriculum for this fall I knew that Grapevine Studies must be included.   I decided to start with New Testament Overview Part 1: Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry for my son and we have not been disappointed.  He LOVES it and requests to do it first thing every day.   We are using the Level 2 c...

I rarely have a quiet Sunday morning.  Usually Sunday mornings are filled with activity for me: getting myself ready for church (I am a pastor's wife, after all), helping my children get ready for church, preparing a quick breakfast, maybe preparing something for lunch, making final preparations to teach a children's class, making sure the dog is taken care of.  Then when all of that is finished, we jump in the car and head to church where much more activity ensues.  Sundays generally don't have a quiet moment for me until the afternoon--and sometimes even those can be busy as well. Today is different though. I am sitting here by the French doors to our back deck watching the rain come down, as I stay wrapped up in my pink Snuggie in a comfy chair with my cell phone, my Bible and some good books and the laptop for my companions while my family is all at church. I am recovering. This past week I underwent a hysterectomy.  It was a long time coming and my body ...

This month has been so incredibly busy.  I still can't believe that it's nearly over.  And May is shaping up to be a total blur! Sometimes you just have to let some things go and hang on for the ride.  I feel like that's what I'm doing these days.  There is just so much going on at this time of the year every year. End-of-the-school-year wrapping up, Mother's Day planning, church yard sale, special church events, science fair, co-op, upcoming mini-vacation, finalizing yearbook pages for our homeschool group, special ladies' events at church, helping my mother because of her broken shoulder, helping my husband every way that I can because he wears too many "hats", trying to plan our garden, ...the "list" never stops, right? And sometimes I don't do so well when I'm feeling overwhelmed.  I really just want to curl up on the sofa with a pint of Graeter's Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip ice cream and watch hours of Psych.  No...

We had a really lovely Easter weekend.  We began our festivities on Good Friday with some yummy strawberry and cream scones and a Bible lesson on the Last Supper from Grapevine Studies.  Then we spent the day just enjoying each other as a family, doing some of our traditional Easter activities, and preparing an Easter dinner for our extended family that evening.   Saturday the rain held off long enough for us to have tons of fun at our church's Easter Eggstravaganza.  There the kiddos had a blast hunting candy-filled eggs, taking horse rides, and playing with the baby animals borrowed from a local farm.  We had a wonderful turnout from our community and everyone had a great time together!  That evening at home we let the kiddos dig into their Easter baskets--a little early, yes, but Sunday mornings always seem so busy that we wanted them to be able to take their time a little. Easter Sunday was truly blessed!  Our worship service at church was...

Wow.  Where has January gone?!?  This may have been the fastest, busiest start to a year that I've had yet.  I hope this isn't a sign that they just keep going faster the older I get. When my friend Nancy at There Is Grace first gave us this Thirty for 30 challenge I really didn't think it would be that hard.  Little did I realize how this month was going to throw me for a loop. I had visions of kicking off our new homeschool semester by getting up extra early, enjoying winter mornings in peace and quiet.  But my night owl tendencies kept showing up, my early-bird son got up before me nearly every morning (while I continued to hit snooze), and I experienced a strange period of extreme fatigue during this month.  Still not sure what that was about, maybe it was a winter weather-related thing.  Whatever it was though was really hard.  I dragged around for days. Then there was my decision to try the Read-the-Bible-in-90-Days plan.  Um....

This month I've been reading in the Old Testament, most recently in Leviticus.  What a complicated book!  So many rules and regulations!  And how often did the Israelites fall short of them.  Yet God in His infinite mercy and grace continued to give them opportunity and opportunity to return to Him, to turn away from their sins.  While they did experience chastisement, they also received forgiveness and so many second chances that I can't count them all.  All because God loves His children! This always makes me think of how far I fall short of God's standards each and every day.  When I fail to spend time with Him first thing.  When I'm grumpy and short with my family.  When I choose to gossip about someone. And yet when I come to Him, humbling myself and confessing those sins, He always welcomes me with open arms.  He doesn't say, "Well, I'll forgive you, but I won't forget about it."  Or, "Yes, I love you, but you'd better...

Today I am blogging over at There Is Grace (thank you for inviting me, Nancy!).  I hope you'll join me there! During this month of getting back to the basics of daily time in God's Word, I have also been reading a new book for mothers.  With the title  No More Perfect Moms , the tone for the whole book is set. It has really been speaking to me and it seems that the theme of "striving for perfection" has been jumping out at me in more ways than just this book.  Or perhaps my reading this book has just made me more aware.   Without  completely  ripping off my husband's message from church a couple of Sunday's ago, I want to share with you some thoughts that have really spoken to me.   ... {click here} to continue reading.

As I sit here trying to put some thoughts down for the Thirty for 30 challenge, I just feel somewhat depleted. It has been an incredibly challenging week as a mother and I have failed more than I've succeeded--at least that's how it feels. And, in all honesty, I have also failed some in this Bible reading challenge.  I have already been playing a bit of catch-up in my reading goal. But each day is a fresh start and I am determined to meet my goals! Determination : this is the character trait that my children are learning about this month in their classes at our church.  We've also been talking about it at home each morning before beginning our homeschool lessons.  It's a great word! Here's the definition for Determination that they're learning: "Deciding it's worth it to finish what you've started."  Pretty powerful stuff, huh?  How often do we need to remind ourselves of that? The verse that they learned this past week to go ...

I am so ashamed of myself.  I have no excuse. I haven't stopped to count the many gifts in my life since .... August .  Yep, that was five months ago. Rather than condemning myself though I'm giving myself some grace and starting again.  It's a New Year, right?  I love fresh starts! The gifts never stop. 0591.   snow flurries~we haven't seen a lot, but I love, love, love the ones we have seen 0592.   having my parents and sister living close by~even when we get on each other's nerves there is a bond there that cannot be compared 0593.   having a real date night with my husband, stuffing ourselves at the Olive Garden and laughing so hard together at a movie about parenting~can't be beat! 0594.  hanging up a brand new {Susan Branch} calendar for the brand new year~pure joy! 0595.   whispers in my ear from my son about the special gift he wants to buy his sister for her birthday~precious 0596.   new goals for the...

You know that saying by Aristotle, "Well begun is half done"?  That's how I'm feeling today.  It's January 3rd and I feel like this year is "well begun" ....although certainly not half done--nor do I want it to be.  I'd actually like to slow down time a little if I could.  Wouldn't that be nice?  It's not reality though and so I am learning to prioritize and use my time more wisely. I am on Day 2 of the Thirty for 30 challenge and I feel that is "well begun" also.  After prayer and consideration I have decided to go for it and tackle the plan to read my Bible in 90 days.  I've read my Bible through several times, but it's always taken me a year+ to do it before.  I've had the 90-day plan printed off for a while now and tucked into my daily planner though.  And since it's a new year I want to try my best to do it. Each time I've read through the Bible new things jump out to me.  It's like that with any...

I love fresh starts and new beginnings~that's why I enjoy New Year's Day so much!  A whole new year ..."clean with no mistakes in it!"  It's as if God has an extra large dose of new mercies for us on this special day. Through the LORD’s  mercies  we  are  not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They  are   new   every  morning ; Great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:21-24   (emphasis mine) I am excited about what God is going to do in our lives in 2013!  I have great expectations for this year! (click the button to get the code!) I am also excited to have some accountability for my daily Bible reading.  I told you the other day about the challenge my friend Nancy at There Is Grace has given and I can't wait to join in. The challenge is simply this: to read the Bible consistently, 30 minutes for 30 days in a row--January 2nd-31st.  This should help create a wo...

Don't miss anything at My Blessed Life!  Subscribe by email and "like" our Facebook page today! It's hard to believe that 2012 is nearly over and we begin a New Year next week!  I feel as though this year just started last month--I guess that's a sign of getting older, right? Not too long ago I blogged about how I am "cleaning off my plate" , "trimming the fat" from my schedule, so to speak.  That's definitely not something that happens overnight with a simple decision.  It's an on-going commitment and also a challenge. An important part of that commitment is continuing to make time daily to spend with my Lord and Savior.  It's a proven fact that starting my day in The Word makes a real difference.  Not being much of a morning person, I love to read at bedtime--and don't plan to stop doing that either--but disciplining myself to get up early and begin my day in The Word is worth the effort. I was excited that m...

I feel as though I'm am continually dropping all of the balls that I am juggling lately. I'm struggling to wake up in the mornings, battling some bad attitudes with my kiddos lately, falling behind on housework, not blogging as often as I would like, the list goes on.... There is just a lot on my plate right now.  And I have got to get a better grip on prioritizing and organization and time management.  Quickly. So if you're one that often reads blogs (like I used to) and thinks "that person really has it all together", don't . In blogland, we're mostly just sharing the positives in our lives (everyone already has enough negatives, right?).  But that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of challenges to be faced as well. Each day I am asking God to give me grace and creative ideas for facing my problems and challenges.  He is so incredibly faithful to do that--if I will just ask ! If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who g...

Many of us as Christians have often heard quoted the verse from John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to kill, to steal, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." (NKJV) When I've heard that verse in the past I've always thought of things like car wrecks, plane crashes, terminal illnesses ...in other words, BIG events that bring death and destruction and pain. However, a couple of months ago I was thinking about my family and some of the challenges that I was facing as a mom and this verse popped in my head (seems like there was something I heard that triggered it, but, for the life of me, I can't remember what it was now--only the verse stuck). All of a sudden it occurred to me that things that " kill, steal, and destroy " are most often the little things in our lives.  The little things happen so daily and we become immune and accustomed to them and don't even pay them much attention at all....