JOY is a Choice

Listened to an amazing sermon by Jeremy Lewis 

(our fabulous youth minister at Central Baptist Church) 

this morning over

  JOY. 

Loved being reminded that JOY is a choice AND also a command. 

James 1:2-3 says: 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 

because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

You can listen to the sermon here:http://www.centralbcs.org/media/watch-sermons/joy/ 

(I highly recommend it!)

and be sure to CHOOSE JOY today!

You can print out a copy of the image above HERE. 

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February Scripture Writing Plan 2016

When I started creating the scripture writing plans for each month
I had NO idea how much others would like them.
The response since the December one went semi-viral has been amazing!

So so so many sweet emails & FB messages sharing how much they are enjoying
the plans and how God is using it in their lives.
I LOVE hearing how God is using my tiny works for His good
and He has been so sweet to show me!

For those who did the January Scripture Writing Plan and enjoyed it,

here's the plan for the month of February!

All of the verses this month have to do with LOVE.
God has so much to say about LOVE that it was hard to just choose 29 days worth!

You can find a copy to print out for yourself in the folder HERE.

For those that have asked, there is also a blank form 

to write your verses on that can be found HERE. 

Thanks to a sweet reader you can also find the Spanish version HERE.

Another sweet reader is using the plans with her students and asked for a shortened version, with only one or two verses, for her younger students. That version can also be found at the link above! 

Praying for Your Husband & Praying for Your Wife CARDS

I truly believe that praying for your spouse 

is something all of us who are married SHOULD do all the time but.....

doing so in the midst of the insanity of life is HARD

and sometimes it's difficult to know specifically WHAT to pray. 

I think many people WANT to pray but 

just don't have the words. 

Because of my own desire to pray for my husband 

I created a set of scripture prayer cards to give me

both a visual reminder (I carry them in my purse)

and the specific words to pray as well as scriptures 

to pray over him each day. 

I love them so much I made some for some sweet friends 

and then added them to my ETSY store where they've been a big hit. 

One friend has her set for her husband in the shower (since her set is laminated) 

and prays for her husband every day while she showers. 

Such a smart use of time isn't it?

Another keeps her in her car so that she can pray anytime she stuck in line or traffic! 

Until now I only had a set for wives but FINALLY put together a set for husbands too

 and just posted the wife version (red, navy, green, or black) in my ETSY store. 

Just like the husband cards, each set is an instant download & 

contains 16 cards- one cover & 15 others that each contain a prayer and

 a scripture to pray for your spouse. 

They would make a fabulous Valentine's Day gift for your sweetie

or a gift for a sweet couple friend! 

As instant downloads you can purchase a set, print them out 

and keep them for yourself or give them as a gift! 

The great thing about a digital download

is that you can print as many copies as you'd like!

So you buy once, and can print multiple copies!

All the digital download sets have general names on them

 (wife or husband) but if you'd like one with a specific name,

 just message me through ETSY and I'll be happy to personalize 

a download for you and create a custom order. 

The cards are formatted for a full size sheet of paper 

but directions are included for printing 4 per page (which is how I print all of mine).  

All of the cards can be found HERE in my ETSY store.

COUPON CODE:

Until 2-14-16 ❤

use code HAPPY to get 15% off your order.

A Perfect Mess

On this last day of Christmas vacation as I clean out the pantry 

(seriously-who needs 4 boxes of pancake mix) 

and fridge (bye bye Christmas candy!) 

and Tupperware cabinet (it's not really Tupperware so why do I still call it that?) 

I can't help but think of this quote. 

I love the reminder that God doesn't want me to pretend 

to have it all together with Him when I don't 

(which is good because I so DO NOT). 

He is right there with me in the midst of my messy life!

And for that I am so very thankful! 

The quote is one of my favorites and is from a book titled A Perfect Mess 

by the fabulous Lisa Harper. 

You can find the book HERE. 

If you'd like to print out a copy of the quote you can find both a JPG in the folder HERE. 

This Year I Want to...

Happy 2016!

I'm not one to write resolutions but for the past 5 or 6 years I have written 

a list of things I'd like to do more of and focus on. 

The process of making the list makes me really think about those things 

I need and want to do more or less of. 

My favorites this year include:

• don't say maybe if I want to say no (so guilty of this!)
• choose a narrow path
• own my mistakes (gosh that is hard sometimes, huh?)
• be brave enough to start a conversation that matters (dude I struggle with this so)
• celebrate tiny victories
• look for and SEE those God places in my path
• choose people over phones

 I usually make a version to print out and this year I made two!

Having a printed version helps me to remember those things all year long. 

If you'd like a copy you can print out both versions HERE.  

What are some things you'd like to do this year?

January Scripture Writing Plan 2016

For those who did the December Scripture Writing Plan and enjoyed it,

here's the plan for the month of January!

As we start a new year this is a great way to spend

a few minutes each day focusing on what is truly important! 

There is something about writing out scripture that seems to 

make the word come alive for me- 

and I'm thankful it's been a blessing to so many of you as well!

You can find a copy to print out for yourself in the folder HERE.

For those that have asked, there is also a blank form 

to write your verses on that can be found HERE. 

I'll be updating the plans for the new year 

so if you check back at the end of each month, 

I'll have the plan posted for the following month! 

UPDATE:

Thanks to a sweet reader named Carolyn, you can find the Spanish version HERE. 

Thank you Carolyn! 

Ring and Run Christmas Fun

Several years ago we did something super fun at Christmas- Ring and Run!

Ring and Run is based very loosely on the song The 12 Days of Christmas

and is kind of a Christmas random acts of Kindness!

I'm not sure who had more fun- us or the family we did it for! 

Here's how it works:

You choose a family to surprise and every day for the 12 days leading up to Christmas 

you leave a little treat on their doorstep along with part of a poem, 

ring their doorbell, and run away!

The year we did it we chose a sweet family with 3 little girls 
and I cannot tell you how much fun we had buying and delivering little treats for them! 

Although this tradition is supposed to be totally anonymous, 

we altered that rule just a bit and let the parents know what we were up to. 

{Sneaking around in someone's front yard might tend to cause the police to get called and 
so we wanted them to know that we were not prowlers or burglars 
and filled them in on what we were doing.}

It was so much fun sneaking up to their front door, leaving a treat, and speeding away!

If you just want a copy of the poem, you can find it HERE.

{Only the first page is listed below but the link is all of the poem!}

I made some fun tags that you can use to print out

to leave with y our gifts- and even included the gift for the night

at the top of each tag.  

You can print out your own tags HERE. 

{Don't try to just save the little images above, they'll be too little and blurry!}

Who can you bless with Christmas Ring and Run?  

Scripture Prayer Cards

I'm a HUGE  believer in the power of prayer. 

I think many people WANT to pray but 

sometimes we all struggle though with not that we should pray,

but WHAT specifically we should pray. 

So a few years ago I made some prayer cards. 

I made one set of things that I wanted to daily pray 

my daughter and another set of things

 I wanted to pray specifically for my husband. 

Each card includes a prayer and a scripture. 

I printed them out 4 per page, cut them out, 

laminated them and put them on a ring. 

I keep them in my purse and they are a great reminder 

to me to pray specifically for those I love the most.  

If I'm stuck in traffic or line somewhere I'll pull them out and quickly pray. 

I love having something specific to pray- rather than just a general prayer. 

I have given these cards to lots of friends as gifts 

and have so loved hearing how much they have loved and used them. 

One friend has her set for her husband in the shower 

(since her set is laminated) and 

prays for her husband every day while she showers. 

Such a smart use of time isn't it?

Another friend who I gave a set to for her son says 

them out loud to him while he eats breakfast each morning.  

He got so used to hearing them that he has memorized 

the prayers and one day she sent me a video 

of him saying some of the prayers himself! 

So precious and such a great reminder that little ears are ALWAYS listening.

I had the cards listed in my ETSY store but recently had to remove them 

because I just didn't have time for the printing, laminating, mailing 

parts of creating them for orders. 

But this weekend I've added them back- this time as instant downloads!

 As instant downloads you can purchase a set, print them out 

and keep them for yourself or give them as a gift! 

The great thing about a digital download

 is that you can print as many copies as you'd like!

So you buy once, and can print multiple copies!

All of the cards can be found HERE in my ETSY store.

The praying for your husband set comes in 3 different colors (navy, red, or green) and come 16 to a set. Each of the 16 cards has a prayer and a scripture reference and are great to keep in your purse and card as a reminder to pray often for you husband. They would be great to give at Christmas but also make a super sweet wedding or anniversary gift!

The praying for your daughter, son, children, or grand children come 14 to a set and can be printed 4 per page. Each of the 14 cards has a prayer and a scripture reference.and are great to keep in your purse and card as a reminder to pray often for you sweet children. They would be great to give at Christmas but also make a super sweet baby shower gift!

All the digital download sets have general names on them (son, daughter, children, grand children, husband) but if you'd like one with a specific name, just message me through ETSY and I'll be happy to personalize a download for you and create a custom order. 

From now through Dec. 15th, use the code
 MERRY15 for 15% off your ETSY order! 

12 Days of Finals Care Package

My daughter is a college sophomore 

(how is that even possible when she was just a teeny tiny baby girl what seems like a few days ago?) 

& one of my absolute favorite things to do is send her finals care packages. 

I seriously wish I could start a care package business. 

How fun would that be? 

This year instead of sending one big box of stuff like I usually do, 

I decided to space it out and send The 12 Days of Finals gifts. 

 I sent the wrapped gifts back with her after Thanksgiving 

and she will start opening them 12 days before the end of her finals. 

It works just like the 12 Days of Christmas song so 

day 1 includes 1 thing, day 2 includes two things, etc. 

I thought it would be more fun to have something to 

open each day rather than one giant box. 

For the gifts I alternated between gift cards, 

food treats, and fun brain breaks and little gifts.

Many of the days include treats for her sweet roommates too!

Here are a list of some things you could include:

• Snacks (cookies, beef jerky, crackers, popcorn)
• Drinks
• Gift cards to Starbucks, Sonic, a fave restaurant, etc (most can be in any denomination so they are great for higher number days)
• Cash (always a big hit!) 
• Coloring books/crayons
• Water guns
• Nerf guns
• Gum
• Candy
• Fun/holiday socks
• Play dough 
• Magazines/books
• Makeup or nail polish
• Silly string
• Christmas ornaments
• Craft ideas/supplies
• School supplies
• Cookie making supplies

And here's what I included:

1. On the first day of finals my mommy gave to me 1 iHop gift card. 

2. On the second day of finals my mommy gave to me 2 magazines. 

3. On the third day of finals my mommy gave to me 3 bottles of nail polish. ($1 each at Walmart) 

4. On the fourth day of finals my mommy gave to me 4 coloring books. ($1 each at Walmart)

 5. On the fifth day of finals my mommy gave to me 5 five dollar bills. (of course you ould do $1 bills)

6. On the sixth day of finals my mommy gave to me 6 cans of play dough. (they came 8 to a pack so I pulled out 2) 

7. On the seventh day of finals my mommy gave to me 7 boxes of candy. (the movie kind- that's less than $1 a box) 

8. On the eighth day of finals my mommy gave to me 8 cozy socks. (1 pair per roommate bought at Michael's a few weeks ago in their dollar spot). 

 9. On the ninth day of finals my mommy gave to me 9 packs of popcorn. (10 in a box so I pulled out one) 

10. On the tenth day of finals my mommy gave to me $10 to Starbucks. 

11. On the eleventh day of finals my mommy gave to me 11 cute new pencils. 

12. On the twelfth day of finals my mommy gave to me $12 to Sonic.

I created some fun tags for each day's gifts. 

I put a card on the outside of each gift as a label and 

then another card inside explaining what the gift was. 

I made the tags gender neutral so they will work for boys or girls 

and printed them four to a page. 

My tags said.....

On the first day of finals my mommy gave to me... 

but I also created versions that say parents, daddy, and aunt 

as I shared the idea with some friends on FB and they asked for cards to print too. 

If you'd like to print them out you can find all of the label cards in the folder HERE.

It was fun to package them up and get them ready to give them to my sweet girl! 

I even found ribbon at Hobby Lobby that matched perfectly!
{And of course it was 1/2 off! I love Hobby Lobby!}

If you don't have a college aged student you could 

easily adapt this idea for a younger child or your sweetie pie- 

and do it for the 12 days leading up to Christmas! 

If you have any other ideas for items to include- 

feel free to leave them as a comment below and I'll add them!

The items I included for my sweet girl were...

• one IHOP gift card
• two magazines
• three bottles of nail polish
• four coloring books

December Scripture Writing Plan

For those who did the November Scripture Writing Plan and enjoyed it,

here's the plan for the month of December!

Writing scripture down each day is such a great way to really focus on God's word!
During this super crazy hectic time of year- this is one way to spend
a few minutes each day focusing on what is truly important! 

One of my sweet readers, Lori, translated this month's plan into Spanish- 

how sweet is that? 

You can find a copy of both to print for yourself in the folder 

HERE in English and HERE in Spanish! 

In case you missed it, November's plan can be found HERE. 

For those that have asked, there is also a blank form 

to write your verses on that can be found HERE. 

I'll be updating the plans for the new year 

so if you check back at the end of each month, 

I'll have the plan posted for the following month! 

Thankful for YOU Printables

I LOVE Thanksgiving for many reasons but mostly I think it's because

 it's the one time of the year people stop to tell 

those they love how truly thankful they are for them.  

I think we all think those things- 

we just don't stop very often to tell those around us 

so Thanksgiving is the perfect time to do so! 

Most years I post some sort of Thanksgiving printable

or tag so I thought I would put them all in one place this year! 

These I formatted these so they will print 6 per sheet.

You can find all of these in a folder HERE. to print out! 

Why not print some out and share them with folks you are thankful for today? 

Give Thanks

It's easy to be thankful when things in life are going well 

and life is happy and easy and good. 

It's a little (ok, maybe a lot) harder when things aren't going very well- 

when you are faced with a crisis, financial problems, relationship issues, 

and everything seems like to a big old giant mess. 

John 16:33 reminds us that we WILL have trouble in this world:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. 

In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

I've found that when going through those difficult times in my life, 

if I focus on being thankful for 

the little blessings that happen even (and especially) 

during tough times, my perspective completely changes. 

 As I notice and recognize the Lord’s provision during trials, 

I can genuinely and truthfully express gratitude. 

I often don’t know what the purpose is for each problem or trial I face, 

but I do know without a shadow of a doubt that 

God is good and trustworthy and faithful.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 is one of my favorite verses because 

it is such a beautiful reminder to thank God, no matter what!

You can print out your own copy of this verse in the folder HERE.