I have such a hard time letting go of things, especially good things. I don’t ever want to throw things out, I save all the photos (and regularly run out of storage). And I have an especially hard time saying no to or leaving anything that is done in service to God. I know so many others also struggle with this. But we CANNOT do it all. We SHOULD NOT do it all. That means when God calls us to something new, we will have to let others things go, even very good things. Last month, I stepped down from my role at Million Praying Moms. 12 years ago, Brooke McGlothlin and I founded this ministr ..read more

This is a sponsored post. While I received compensation for this post, all opinions are 100% my own. I’ve been a Hy-Vee customer for as long as I can remember. It was an exciting day for me when I was finally considered old enough to ride my bike to our local Hy-Vee to pick up a few groceries! Shopping at Hy-Vee for me always involves nostalgia, great customer service, and so many of my favorite products – the best combination for a grocery store, in my opinion!   Hy-Vee is so much more than groceries, though. A few years ago, we decided to take our family to have the Easter brunch at ..read more

2021: my year to GIVE… Give myself and others more grace Give more undivided attention to my loved ones Give more focus to projects Give thanks daily Give my time and gifts to serve in the community, schools, and church Give the resources we have to ministries and organizations we support Give myself the best chance to thrive Give glory to God in everything In the stress of 2020, I watched myself become more inwardly focused, selfish, critical, stingy, stress-paralyzed…a whole mess of things because I thought so much about ME. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking care of and ..read more

I will always remember January 20, 2021 as the first presidential inauguration where all three of these guys understood what was happening, paid attention, asked questions, made thoughtful observations, and even opened my eyes to some new things. When they were really young, it was hard for me to even know what was happening in politics and around the world because I was so tired and busy and just trying to keep them alive. It’s such a wonder to be where we are now, discussing government and history and character and ALL THE THINGS. I know we as parents are growing and learning right alon ..read more

I was provided this bible to review and promote as a LEV3L Blogger. All opinions are my own. It is no secret that I am a huge bible study nerd. I can spend hours reading through study bible notes, commentaries, and bible dictionaries. I guess it’s a combination of my love for God’s Word and my Learner strength (StrengthsFinder, anyone?!). When I have a chance to check out a new study bible AND give one away to one of you, I will jump at it! So here we are… This is the brand new CSB Life Essentials Interactive Study Bible from Lifeway and it takes bible study to a whole new level ..read more

This post contains affiliate links. When you shop through these links, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you! I have a confession to make: I am a struggling non-fiction reader. I start a LOT of non-fiction books because they sound fascinating or important to me, but I rarely finish one. Maybe this says something about me and my tendency to be distracted by something new and shiny, as well as my difficulty with finishing things. Maybe it says something about the state of non-fiction books and their tendency to get repetit ..read more

I’m in the process of slowly moving over all the recipes I had posted at my ancient Blogger site dedicated just to food, so this is the latest installment! Sloppy joes. Taverns. Loose meat sandwiches. We’ve always called them BBQs. Our whole family is SUPER picky about eating this type of sandwich. Ok, all of us will ONLY eat this version. Sorry, other versions. Many years back, I took my mom’s classic BBQs recipe and up ..read more

How’s this winter going for you, friends? Well, after some bitter cold temperatures, we found ourselves with a bunch of ice and snow, as well as an unexpected four-day weekend, mostly stuck inside. That led to a little too much unstructured time indoors and a grumpy mom. Does this sound familiar to you at all? In general, I actually LOVE snow days and other times the kids have a day off of school because we can do fun things like bake and watch movies. But I also have a job where I work from home and things to get done around the ho ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more