Originally published November 2, 2016 Want a easy and delicious granola that can be eaten any time of the day? This is hearty and healthy and protein packed, to sustain you throughout your day. It is great with milk for breakfast, served with yogurt for a fruit salad bar, and mixed in with raisins and nuts for a crunchy trail mix. It is also my daily bedtime snack! We love it. It can be sweetened as you prefer, but I love xylitol made from birch trees (rather than from corn as many brands are) because it doesn’t spike your blood sugar and tastes so yummy. Ingredients: 8 cups rolled oats 1 1/2 ..read more

Republished from the archives. Originally published on May 11, 2016. I recently received this lovely plague (pictured above) with Proverbs 31:25 sketched on it, and it reminded me of this post I wrote a few years back and needed this reminder for myself once again. My hormones have been seemingly on strike these past weeks while my baby has been weaning, sleep lacking, my emotions creeping out of control, and my spirit has been tempted to wallow in self-pity, discouragement, and despair. Why is it so easy to loose my joy at the bad attitude of a child, or a seeming unproductive day where nothi ..read more

Lent is a glorious 40 day time period to prepare our hearts for Easter, the celebration of all that Christ accomplished on the cross. Traditionally, Lent is a time of fasting and rending our hearts. We spend a lot of time and money preparing for Christmas and Advent and often forget about this period of preparation for Easter, which ironically is at least an equally significant time in the church calendar. At Easter, we celebrate the ultimate accumulation of Christ’s life in his death and resurrection. But how often it usually sneaks up on us with little to no thought or preparation. Over the ..read more

For Favorite Books from 2019 (Part 1), visit here. Favorite Biography: Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon and Thomas Johnson, Unlikely Friends on the Road to Freedom by Matt Carter - This biography of Spurgeon was remarkably well written and had me enthralled from beginning to end. These are two incredible men of faith and their lives intertwined in a remarkable way. Love the beautiful fictional style that it was written in. Highly recommend! Favorite Non-Fiction: Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments by Emily Jensen & Laura Wifler - Emily and Laura have done a fabulous job p ..read more

Cultivating the habit of thankfulfulness is one of the most powerful tools you can build to fight against the discontented and self-focused culture that we live in, and in this month, as we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, what better time to start? I have found the more often I focus on the disappointments and areas that are lacking around me, the most susceptible my soul is to depression, discouragement, and believing the lies of the enemy that God doesn’t love me or care for me. Discontentment is a deadly enemy. God hates it. Throughout the Israelites wilderness years, we see the Isra ..read more

This is definitely one of the easiest and most delicious dinners we make on a regular basis at our home. It takes all of 10-15 minutes max to throw in the oven and it always turns out amazing, as long as you don’t overcook! :). Try it, you’ll be glad you did! I usually serve with a side veggie (roasted cabbage or sauteed green beans), and a fresh salad, and the kids are always begging for more. It also pairs well with a side of rice, if you want some more carbs in your meal. This recipe can also be made with chicken breasts cut into 1 inch strips, which will increase your preparation time. I p ..read more

Waves of the ocean are such a relaxing comfort to me. Every fall, we take a family vacation to the Oregon Coast and savor the beauty of this landscape. It is a place of family traditions, relaxation, memories, and peace. I see the waves topple over each other in a never ending cascade of water rotation, and I find comfort in its consistency, in its simple beauty, in the powerful hand of God that continues to uphold the universe by the word of His power. This year, I found myself reflecting on the previous year. As I look back on a full, hard, and yet good year, I am thankful. I am amazed at Go ..read more

I learned about Poetry Tea Time from Julie Bogart at Brave Writer several years back, and started adding it to our homeschool routine immediately. Reading poetry aloud while enjoying tea and treats? What better way to cultivate a love for something then to pair it with good food? And seriously, it’s our favorite time of the week! From decorating the table, to making a beverage, to baking a treat, everyone participates and loves it. We have used a wide variety of poetry books over the year, and that seems to be part of the enjoyment, rotating through a wealth of books from your library, and ke ..read more

Zucchini is coming out of the garden in truck loads and when it may not be a favorite among the children, you try to sneak it in in any way possible. Why not make some delicious muffins? These muffins can be made in a variety of ways, but my favorite is with blueberries as a nice complement to the zucchini and other flavors. You can also replace the blueberries with chocolate chips if you want to step up the dessert nature of it, or raisins, raspberries, nuts, etc. would also work. Zucchini makes them incredibly moist. Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I like to use half w ..read more

As our school year began this week, we are excited to adapt our family devotion time (which Daddy leads first thing each morning) to include a bit of our Morning Time features this year. Due to some time restrictions and added school assignments this year for our eldest daughter (entering 7th grade and doing a weekly co-op for the first time with added responsibilities on her plate), it seemed best to try to have our together learning time first thing in the morning alongside our regular family devotions (which for us, starts around 7:30am, before breakfast and chores). I wanted to share some ..read more