From Frazzled to Fun

Have you ever wondered why you should persevere in prayer?

• To persuade God to overcome his reluctance?
• But what if we know it is God's will?

Dutch Sheets shared an insightful message on this a few days ago that has me extra excited about the power of prayer and why we must persevere.

Dutch shared that "just as invisible elements of our natural world can be measured, such as oxygen or carbon dioxide, there are unseen spiritual substances, as well, which are no less real and exist in varying degrees or measures."

This is important when we realize the truth that God has made a decision to work on earth through humans.

In the Bible we see stories that demonstrate times when something was God's idea, God's timing, and God's will. Yet it took persevering prayer to accomplish it.

"I realized that when perseverance in prayer was necessary, it wasn’t to persuade God or overcome His reluctance. It was to release more of His power," said Dutch.

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Calling all mama bears! 

Can we agree that we've never seen a time like this? We might think that our battle is with people or a political party or other things we can see, but let me remind us that  God's word says our battle is in the unseen:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12 NIV

Every struggle plaguing us is a battle between darkness and light, death and life.

Death, you say?

• the death of over a million innocent & defenseless lives every year through abortion
• the death of many through a virus
• the death of a government run by the people and for the people
• the death of the nuclear family as designed by God
• the death of children's God-given destinies as they are tricked into believing they are not what God created them to be
• the death of children's God-given destinies through sex...

Do you ever just feel like giving up?

You have hopes, but keep hitting roadblocks...

it's just too hard?

I had that day a few months back and God sent me a message at just the right time --

It came out through my printer!

Please allow me to share the story with you through this video.

It encouraged me, and I hope it will also encourage you.

Comment and let me know that you are choosing to NOT quit.

If you have a friend who is ready to quit, please share this post with her.

Blessings, my friend!

I think most agree at this point we find ourselves in that God is our only hope.

This past year we have seen everything else crumble around us. It's time to, in unity, lift up our eyes to the One who can help us.

Would you like to join me and thousands of others on a 40-day prayer journey?

WayMakers for years has been publishing a 40-day prayer guide leading up to Easter that includes prayers of biblical hope.

Every year I look forward to praying through it, knowing the powerful prayers will be mixed with people from all around the world. It's so exciting!

So, order your copy today and let's get started. 

For yourself:

Get the Seek God for the City 2021 eBook here. (Or you can also order a paper copy of the book there.)

For your kids:

With specially-written prayers from the same Bible verses, the Children’s Guide to Seek God for the City 2021 helps families pray together and empowers kids to learn how to pray for their community. Get the no-cost,...

Happy Valentines Day!

I made this printable 1 John 3:18 scripture -- download it, print it off, and post it in your home. If you have a 4x6 frame on hand, this will fit into it perfectly.

I pray will be a blessing to you and your family.

Helping moms move from frazzled to fun moms drives me every day.

I strive to inspire moms to turn their eyes up to the Lord, and take practical steps in their homes to make things more sane so they have more space to love Him and their family.

Download this gift, then share this post with a friend so the scripture can bless her family, too. 

Dottie was not even a week old and she was in the biggest fight of her life...a fight for life.

We were all praying, including Kathy, who showed up at prayer group with some of the cutest little shoes. They were for Dottie. 

"Every girl's gotta have red shoes," Kathy said. "Especially when your name is Dorothy."

Baby Dorothy, "Dottie", was born 21 months ago to our niece Caitlin and husband Brad. An ultrasound had shown that the heart might be irregular, but they had no idea until she was born that she had only half a heart, and a very rare and serious version of it.

 God's provision was unreal: the best surgeon in the world for this type of surgery served at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital Children's Heart Center, right there in Houston. Parents from all over the world bring their children to this surgeon because he is the only one that offers this surgery.

Dottie had to fight through two lengthy open heart surgeries within the first two months -- the...

Want some fun and thrifty DIY ideas for Valentines Day?

1. Make a custom heart-shaped puzzle - This 8-piece puzzle is super cost effective at only $1.50. Directions:

1. Print a favorite picture of you and your sweetie onto matte photo paper in a 5x7 size.
2. Snap the jigsaw pieces together and lay them on top of your photo, then trace around the puzzle's perimeter with a pencil. Cut out the resulting heart shape.
3. Turn the photo and all the puzzle pieces facedown. Position the bottommost puzzle piece along the corresponding part of the back of the photo. Trace closely around the puzzle piece with a pencil, then remove. Repeat with the remaining puzzle pieces.
4. Using small scissors, carefully cut out each jigsaw shape from your photo with scissors. Use an acid-free glue stick to mount each cutout, face up, to its matching puzzle piece, also face up. Decorate an envelope or small box to package them in.

2. Coffee filter heart wreath - This is simple, but has many...

“They say Aslan is on the move— perhaps has already landed.” Yes, I do believe He has.

In July, as I took long walks in the Eleven Mile Canyon while my husband fly fished, I spent hours in prayer. I rarely encountered people, so it worked really well to just go ahead and talk out loud to God.

Over and over again I heard out of my mouth “Roar, Lion of Judah” and I imagined that great lion Aslan, from the Chronicles of Narnia series, standing boldly up on the high cliffs.

When I came home and told a friend about all the “Roar, Lion of Judah” proclamations, she asked what that meant. I told her I was not exactly sure.

All of 2020 I had my phone screen saver set to a Lion and Lamb in the clouds picture, and I had been reflecting much on Jesus, the Lion of Judah.

I was captured years before by the lion Aslan, the central figure of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the other Chronicles of Narnia books.

He shows up in chapter twelve as...

Have you been New Year decluttering and have annoying piles left over?

You know

...the stuff you want to keep

...but you don't use on the regular 

...and you don't necessarily want them taking up room in your prime real estate areas?

Don't give in to the temptation to just stuff it back into an area in your house to get it out of sight out of desperation the next time you have guests over.

The Coach Mom Tribe mamas have been working this week on a great storage box system, set up so they can easily retrieve anything in storage that they need within a matter of minutes.

It has saved me so much time, frustration and money the past 25 years.

Here's the quick gist of it: 

Fill storage boxes with "to save" items that you don't use frequently, and number them.

Make a list of those numbers (on your phone or another location), and beside each number record the contents of the box and the location of the box.

As your...