It’s one thing to take a stand for something you don’t like or even hate, but wouldn’t you rather be known for things you love!? This is the difference: “Oh, Julie?! Yeah, she hates playing the middle man!” VERSUS “Oh, Julie?! She loves efficiency!” ******************************************* These are some of my favorite things that I love: […]
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The God Who Sees Me
I recently posted on Facebook that I would not clutter my friends’ newsfeeds with photos of my weight loss journey–at least not until I hit my goal weight. 😊 I got quite a few responses telling me they enjoyed seeing my before and after photos. A lot of people even said they wanted me to keep […]
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
My Dad once told me the story about the “Tortoise and the Hare!” Aesop’s message was “Slow and steady wins the race!” I don’t remember the particulars surrounding this “Dad-ism,” but I do know I’ve thought about it a lot in various situations. My son Andrew has autism, is moderately mentally handicapped and has fine […]
Senior Year: Let’s Finish Strong
Zachary and Matthew will be entering their senior year in a few weeks, and I have homeschooled them 11 of those years. I’ve made lots of mistakes and yet I still saw some real growth in them. Although, they surpassed me in height a couple years ago, most of the growth that did happen […]
Puzzles, Cakes and GPS
I am a big picture thinker! It’s easy for me to get bogged down in the details and to lose sight of what I’m doing if I don’t keep the end goal in mind. I despise doing something haphazardly just for the sake of doing it. PUZZLES When I do a puzzle, for example, I […]
Running
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step!” (Lao Tzu) I started running recently! For the longest time I wanted to run. I would have dreams of me running. I would notice runners when I was driving down the street. I talked about running. I read about running. I googled tips on running. […]
Pennies From Heaven
“Find a penny? Pick it up, and all day long you’ll have good luck!” We don’t believe in luck, but we do believe in the power of thankfulness! We recently discovered Gratitude Jars. Have you heard of them before? We found them as we were window shopping at Miscellany, a cute little shop in The […]
The Difference Between Hope and Expectations
While my boys were at youth group one night, I decided to go to a local Christian bookstore and wait for them. I love to read; I especially like non-fiction books! One book in particular caught my eye as I was wandering around. It was called “Plan A Women in a Plan B World.” Hope […]
Day 3–Cultivate the Art of Listening (31 Days of Proactive Parenting)
In James 1:19, it says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” God gave us two ears and one mouth–that should tell us something, huh? Man, I really need some help in this area. I get so insane […]
October 2 — Parenting Proactively: Trust
Before we had kids, I had in my mind how we would raise them. They would always say “please” and “thank you.” They would never get up from the table without asking to be excused. They would never throw temper tantrums in public, and there would be absolutely no complaining whatsoever. The children would always […]