Category Archives: Faith

How to Fight Fear with Gifts of the Spirit

Posted on January 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

Lone Walker
Today I was having a hard time dealing with my fear.  I was praying hard for one of the challenges our family has been facing these past few years.  My mind felt cloudy and overrun with evil little thought-monkeys.  So, after I put the kids down I sat quietly at the computer to contemplate.

My first thought was from reading “” that I must find something uplifting to read and jog me out of my funk.  So I headed over to see what Arabah Joy was up to.  She always has something to say that hits me just right.  And I saw her series on Fear.

At which point I remembered the line from the book, “,” which I just read that basically said if your life isn’t in immediate danger than it’s not fear.  It’s worry.

Bam.  OK.  That was good to know.  A little perspective.  Me and my babies were all safe and warm in our home.  Hubby’s life, while maybe miserable at the moment, certainly wasn’t in physical danger (at least not that I knew of.) Continue reading →

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Posted in Faith

Tagged battlefield of the mind, Depression, gift of fear

{Guest Author} Holiday Perspective

Posted on January 16, 2013 | 2 Comments
Guest post by Meghan, aka FaithGirl

Vyv in the Christmas Tree
Now that the holidays are over let me just say that I think I need to avoid all social media from the week before Thanksgiving until January 2nd. Because did I REALLY need to see posts of beautifully dressed children in immaculate kitchens making extraordinary looking Christmas cookies? OR did I need to read on facebook that “Santa found us in Cancun…so very BLESSED.” My holidays were far from this portrayal of yuletide bliss.

Here is how my holiday season came and went in a nutshell:

  1. Baby #2 was born two weeks early at the beginning of November. I was totally unprepared. Unprepared as in no bag packed, no arrangements made for my 2 year old. Unprepared as in went for a routine ultrasound and ended up in labor and delivery immediately following. Thankfully, baby #2 is healthy and thriving.
  2. The help that was lined up to come when baby #2 was actually due arrived but then decided to leave a week early. Yikes!
  3. Thanksgiving came – my husband grilled steaks for dinner.
  4. Christmas season started – the outdoor lights went up.
  5. We got a Christmas tree but only put lights on it. No ornaments touched the tree.
  6. No stockings were hung by the chimney with care. Seriously. No stockings up.
  7. No advent wreath, advent calendar, or elf on a shelf was a part of our Christmas season.
  8. No one sat on Santa’s lap this year.
  9. No Christmas cards when out – not even to announce our new baby. Nope. Not one Christmas card was sent.
  10. No Christmas presents were wrapped – not one.
  11. No Christmas cookies were baked – we ate oreos instead.
  12. We did not attend one Christmas church service this year.
  13. Most of our Christmas presents were sent out after New Years.
  14. Our outdoor Christmas lights are still up – just unplugged.
  15. We are probably going to be on an episode of Hoarders soon.

There have been people who have shamed me about my Christmas season Continue reading →

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Posted in Faith, Guest Post, Parenting

Tagged Christmas, Depression, newborn

{Compassion Bloggers} It’s About Giving

Posted on December 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

Compassion International is hosting a campaign called #itsaboutgiving that aims to raise awareness for their sponsorship programs which I have promoted in the past here and here.

By joining the ranks of “Compassion Bloggers” I’ve agreed to write a series of posts this month on what it means to give.

What does giving mean to you?

I love giving just the right gift at just the right time.  That moment when someone’s face truly lights up and I know I’ve done good.  It doesn’t always happen, though.  Even if I’ve spent months working on a homemade gift or searched every store to find exactly what I thought they wanted. Continue reading →

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Posted in Faith

Tagged #itsaboutgiving, Christmas, Compassion International

Dream to Give Big – My Christmas Wish List

Posted on November 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

Every year around this time I get so excited to receive all my Christmas Catalogs.  In addition to all the normal Toy catalogs that I get in the mail I also receive Seed catalogs and Charity newsletters.  It used to be the seed catalogs that got me the most excited …the promise of spring so far away.

Now, though, my favorite catalog to dream over is from Samaritan’s Purse and The Big Projects that I dream about the most these days are the construction projects.

For $35K I could fund an entire missionary hospital to be built in some poor and hurting part of the world. Or for $20K a school. Or $15K for a church.  $7500 could help rebuild a town by adding one more home for a family displaced by a natural disaster.

Can you imagine? Do you know what budgets for church buildings are here in the US? Construction costs are astronomical! But in a third world country where people are broken and hurting, desperate for food and justice, it only costs $15K for Hope, Shelter… Community.

These days Continue reading →

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Posted in Faith

Tagged Christmas, donation ideas, samaritan's purse

Time to Pack Your Shoe Boxes! Operation Christmas Child

Posted on November 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

Operation Christmas Child is a worldwide children’s project of Samaritan’s Purse that uses simple gift-filled shoe boxes containing school supplies, toys, necessity items and notes of encouragement to let hurting children know God loves them and they are not forgotten.

In 2012, Operation Christmas Child expects to reach a milestone – delivering shoe boxes to more than 100 million children since the project began in 1993. To achieve this, volunteers are leading a nationwide drive enlisting people to help give joy to needy children this Christmas through this simple project. Continue reading →

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Posted in Faith, Parenting

Tagged Operation Christmas Child