Deck the Halls Holiday Workshop at the Becoming Cottage
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
5M ago
Bring your Merry and we’ll make Memories as we turn our hearts towards home, decorate wreaths, create beautiful bows and leave inspired. Join us at the Becoming Cottage on Sunday, November 19, 2023. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, so come meet new friends or grab a sister, mom, daughter, neighbor, co-worker and join us as we ring in the holiday season with our annual Becoming Cottage “Deck the Halls” Holiday Workshop. While the time states it’s 3:00-5:00, you are free to linger around the table for much longer. To see the fun we had last year, head to Jen’s instagram @jenschmidt_bea ..read more
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I Have Apologies to Make: Infertility
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
1y ago
I’ve laid awake at night scrolling through decades of apologies I’ve needed to make — instances when I didn’t know the unintended pain I’d inflicted or when I didn’t understand someone’s silent suffering. With age, maturity, and hard-fought life lessons, there comes a new understanding of grief. It’s multi-faceted with layers of nuances we never imagined. I started writing at (in)courage (where I first posted this) when the youngest of our five children was in kindergarten. With a large family by choice, the pain of infertility was the farthest thing from my mind. In fact, my parents celebrat ..read more
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What Will I Feed Them?
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
2y ago
Holiday meals are upon us, so I’ve made my list and I’m checking it twice: Mashed Potatoes (the Make Ahead recipe),  Cider Baked Turkey (purchase the juice), Butterhorn Rolls (for Gratitude Rolls),  Pumpkin Bars, and I must remember to cut out the card stock for the Leaves of Thanks tradition. Yet everyday I feel as if I am rushing ten steps forward and twelve steps back. Between work, laundry, clutter, wedding plans (our second son is getting married this week), kids, my Becoming Ministries non-profit launch, and then always the “What’s for dinner question?” For years, I’ve be ..read more
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The Becoming Cottage: The Before
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
2y ago
In April we did a crazy thing. Yes, we did. An exciting, overwhelming, life giving, “How have I gotten myself in so far over my head,” kind of God thing. In February and March, we rode a chaotic roller coaster of whether or not this purchase would happen, but many months later, I can now officially declare, “Welcome to the Becoming Cottage.” I first posted this on Instagram on April 1, 2021, and yes, the fact it happened on April Fools Day is not lost on me. Some people have thought we were foolish for this purchase, but with that I’m reminded of my own words during our long God Watch season ..read more
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How Do We Sort Through the Tension?
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
3y ago
While I wrote this during the summer of 2020 for (in)courage, I think acknowledging this tension and pondering what it looks like within our own lives will always be of critical importance.  *********** My weekend encapsulated one of those magical moments that little girls dream about their whole lives – their wedding day. With months of uncertainty and questions about gatherings due to the COVID-19, the celebration was sweetened by the intense way my niece and her fiancé pushed through struggles and challenges, tears and fears. It was finally their day! With her faithful father by her s ..read more
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Low Carb Chocolate Avocado Mousse
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
3y ago
I’m so excited to partner with AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate to share my Low Carb Chocolate Avocado Mousse Recipe, a free family baking guide plus the opportunity to win some of my favorite baking chocolate. See details at the bottom of this post. This week marked a significant milestone in the Schmidt house hold. If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you know that after having anywhere between 8 – 12 people quarantined here for the last five, yes, let me repeat that, nearly five months, we are down to the elite three. (My hubby, myself and our baby. Our baby may be 5’9” now and 17 year ..read more
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What If I Don’t Want To Anymore?
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
4y ago
Amidst the shelter at home quarantine, I received a very interesting question via my Instagram. Even though it’s been months and we’re all in different parts of the country with varying plans for re-opening, many will ponder different aspects of her vulnerable question. “Jen, I know you are passionate about creating community and biblical hospitality, but what if after this quarantine, I struggle to find my place again? I’m finding I don’t like small talk and I don’t miss ‘lunch with the girls.’ I love my family and realize that being with my kids is my passion. I don’t really have interests ..read more
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Unleash our Dreams in the Face of the Impossible
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
4y ago
At a women’s conference I spoke at this weekend, the organizer told her attendees how the leadership team spends a lot of time getting recommendations for a potential speaker and then researching, praying, questioning and looking at the speaker’s theology before they invite someone to spend the weekend teaching at their conference. She was not kidding. They put me through the ringer. I joked at first that “no body’s got time for this” based on our first interaction, but honestly how grateful I was that she took this to heart. There are a lot of Christian authors and speakers putting out a ton ..read more
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If I Only Had One Week to Live?
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
4y ago
Stowed away in our attic, I dusted off my high school diary. Paging through memories of old, I am instantly transported to a time in my life when school, friends, boys, and parents triggered to-do lists and declarations, resolutions, and remorse. A time when affirmation was currency and attention was the payment. Years have passed since those musings, but hidden in the heart of this brand new, fifty-year-old woman, still lurks glimpses of that sixteen-year-old. Lose weight. Stop snacking late at night. Get more organized for class. (Yes, some of my resolutions have spanned the decades.) Talk ..read more
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Is a Simple Christmas Possible?
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
by Jen Schmidt
4y ago
Have you started singing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” yet? Admittedly, I’m a humming machine right now. The sights, sounds, and nostalgia of the holiday season have drawn me in, and my senses are celebrating from the simple pleasures. As I snuggle in my cozy blanket on the sofa, candles flicker on our kitchen table, twinkly white lights grace the doorframes, soft music plays in the background, and the aroma of sweet treats permeate the kitchen. (Frozen cookie dough for the win.) Our girls’ giggles echo from upstairs as they play with their friends, and the song’s stanza “kids ji ..read more
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