Start Spending Daily Time in God's Word

Last year was a real eye opener for me when it came to my private and personal time with God.  Something I realized I needed in my life was discipline...especially in my spiritual walk.  What I mean by that is real structure, real goals, a plan if you will on how I needed to prioritize my day.  God was really implanting the idea and desire for spiritual discipline and I began to seek after what that looked like for me.  I have to be quite honest here and say that I am still a work in progress, I still have a far way to go but I have seen the fruit and good work God has done in my heart and life this past year or so when I got more serious about spiritual discipline.

Today I want to talk about reading God's word.  If there is one thing that I have heard over and over again from being in ministry with Justin is that people desire to know God more.  They want to feel connected to Him and have a thriving relationship with Jesus. Yet over and over when asked if they spend time reading scripture the answer is usually "no" or, "when I have time".  Let me pause and raise my hand here too.  There have been plenty of times in my life where I have found myself here.  Friends, if we desire a personal and intimate relationship with the creator of the universe....we need to spend time with Him and that means more than attending a service on Sunday (and I am a huge proponent of being involved in a local church).  We need to read His word.  Reading the Bible and knowing His truth is everything for your walk with Jesus.  It will awaken your soul to God working around you and even make that Sunday morning ritual become an actual act of Sabbath worship for Jesus.

So...where do you begin?  Where does someone who has mismanaged their time and mixed up their priorities start?  We don't just start something new on our own and hope it sticks.  That never works.  We can't just try harder - it takes faith.  Faith in action. When God presses something down on your heart - you move and He guides.  He convicts and you act. He changes and softens your heart and you bend toward Him.  The biggest lesson I have learned in all of this is that its not perfection but its progress.  God's calling us towards Him everyday but we will never hear it unless we listen to Him...and how we listen is by reading what He has already written for us to hear.

In my journey towards discipline I realized that God had already gone before me, was pressing on my heart and I needed to take action.  I didn't need to become a biblical scholar overnight but I just needed to start.  So here is my plea to you today...just start.  Begin. One of the best resources I have found in cultivating a daily discipline for seeking God is a book called Hello Mornings.  In her book Kat Lee lays out the simplest plan for living a life focused on Jesus.  She asks you to just start with 3 minutes a day.  Now before you balk at the idea and think how little faith that 3 minutes a day seems to sound, please ask yourself the tough question...Did you spend at least 3 minutes each and everyday last year reading scripture?  Every day.  Not skipping.  Not being too busy to stop.  Wouldn't you want to answer yes?  Yes! I was someone who stopped and met with God every single day last year.  Every single day for the last 2 years, 5, 10? I believe I would rather say I was someone who met with God every day for 3 minutes than someone who planned lofty goals, didn't reach them and quit.  We all have to start somewhere and I believe God knows that.  The beautiful thing though is that once you begin, once you start, you will start to notice God working around you.  You will remember things you read about God and that will affect how you respond during your day.  You will fall in love with spending time with your Savior.  Your relationship with God will flourish because He is growing your desire to spend time with Him daily.

God loves to start new things (2 Corinthians 5:17). I believe He wants to start something new in you today.  Pause, stop, be still before Him today and begin.  He has already gone before you (Proverbs 16:9). He has promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  His word promises to be alive and ready to lead and guide you wherever He needs you to go (Hebrews 4:12).  He is already there, join Him today (John 5:17, Philippians 4:19) .

Its hard to even stop and begin to write what this has meant for my life this past year.  It doesn't mean that its been an easy year...but its been fruitful and abundant.  I'm learning more about God than ever before, He is drawing me to his side and there is no place I would rather be.  I am praying for you today.  If you need anyone to help and talk to about your spiritual walk please contact me.  I would love to help encourage you along your way.

Coming up I want to share some practical resources for applying spiritual discipline into your life.  Things that have helped me or others.  So stay tuned for some helpful tools!

Go and begin!

Frugal Summer Activities with Your Kids

Summer is quickly disappearing...In some ways it makes me sad and in some ways it makes me expectant about what is on the horizon.  This for me, is always that time of the Summer when my son starts getting a little antsy and really needs activity and even a change of pace.  We all want our kids to be entertained but two problems can usually creep in - the costs can add up and you want to make sure that they aren't just mindlessly glued to a tablet or phone to keep them busy,  so I thought a lot about how to battle that this summer.  I have gotten a ton of questions about our little summer project so I thought I would write here on the blog a little bit about what we have been up to.  It may be a great way for you to spend the next several weeks with your kids before school kicks back into gear.  I have also added a few other inexpensive and enriching ideas throughout the post too!   

Ok...so what have we been up to?  If you follow me on Instagram then you know (and if you don't you should go follow me!).  I wanted to come up with a way this summer for him to stay excited about reading and writing without pulling my hair out.



Recently we came across the NC Parks Passport and thought it was such a cool idea.  Essentially you receive a stamp in your passport every time you visit a state park by visiting the welcome center and for every 10 stamps you get prizes.  Bonus - this is also a great frugal and fun activity to do with your kids during the summer (or on weekends during the year).  We have discovered so many cool places and parks in our state that we would have never have seen otherwise. We have done everything from hiking up to amazing lookouts, simple nature walks, canoeing and visiting the beach for a day to see the dunes.  PS - there is also a National Parks Passport!

So that and our love for travel kind of sparked my idea for our summer project.



We took our love for travel and learning about other cultures and nations and made it into a daily learning activity.  First thing we needed to do was make a "passport" book.  This really could be anything, a spiral notebook would work fine.  I just had an old smashbook (is that still a thing?) that I had never used so we just used that.  I let him decorate the front however he wanted and we were set.




Here is the lowdown -

1. We pick a country we want to "travel" to each week.
2. Visit the Library on Monday and find every book we can about that country - also we find books about animals in that country because my son has a deep love for animals.
3. Spend time reading and researching through our books.



4. Create a page or pages in our "passport" book with facts and information we have learned.



Then depending on the week, we spend time doing different activities from below-

5. Try and eat one food from that country -either something we have made or bought.
6. We listen to traditional music from that country. (lots of the time that's during cooking or eating)
7. Do something crafty..for example we made paper giant hissing cockroaches when we studied Madagascar.
8. Draw a mural on our chalkboard door.
9. Decorate our house or his room with the countries flag colors or other fun holidays we learned about.
10. Watch a movie that reminds us of that country.  There are so many fun ways you can incorporate a movie into your summer.  It doesn't have to be something that just entertains them for a few hours.  Our son loves having a family movie night and for us to watch something he really enjoys.  I have seen people also project movies outside on a simple white sheet for a movie under the stars - so fun!  Also just a tip, sometimes its hard choosing a Christian or family friendly movie but Pure Flix has a great selection for the whole family...and you don't ever need to worry about if its appropriate for everyone or not.
11. Learn some different phrases in their language...we found some cool apps for that!
12. Learn about missionaries in that country and pray for them.
13. At the end of the "trip" we stamp our book with the date so we will remember when we visited :)



There really are endless ideas with this!  Mainly I just wanted it to be fun and I wanted him to keep his mind going this summer.

Honestly, I think I have learned just as much if not more this summer doing this with him.  I love how he gets excited to show other people his passport book and that its something he can hold onto for a while.  I read something earlier this summer about how few of these seasons we actually get with them. I pray I can cherish these moments and spend it with intention with him.  Full discloser - some days we derailed and we get nothing done! That's life and its never perfect.  But you give yourself grace on those days and keep going.

Let me know what you have been up to this summer!  Any other fun and frugal activities or ideas? Share with me!

Simple Easter Table

Wow, there has been a lot going on for us this last month! I'm happy to be sitting down to write up a little blog post for today.  Easter is coming tomorrow so I thought I would share a little snapshot of our kitchen and some simple decor ideas anyone can whip up last minute.  I love using things I already have, usually by browsing around the house I can find things to use and then add in a little handmade touch to make it feel new.  

I have always loved dying eggs for easter so I try and sit down to do it with Silas every year.  Also a bonus is how pretty the eggs are for decorating.  This year I didn't buy any extra dye...so we were left with orange, yellow and green.  They still turned out super pretty. 

My favorite part is that Silas has about 5 seconds of wait time for the eggs so they are very pastel....which I like.  So this took like 2 minutes haha.

I just looked around the house for white or light blue colored items to use together and went to the yard to trim some flowers and greenery for the table.  Its always pretty to group various items on the table for your centerpiece.  Mix it up!!

I love all of the light and airy pastel goodness.

Recently I have been reading through Exodus in leading up to Easter.  I have read Exodus several times in my life but for some reason this time I am overwhelmed with the beauty of it.  All I can see is Jesus all over the pages.  Its amazing how much the Bible points to the coming Savior.  

 I hope you can see Jesus all over your life.  He is all we need.  He has come, He has saved and He continues to provide all we need.  

Happy Easter!

Encouragement for Today

Just a really beautiful reminder today.  God is for you, He is with you and He is working inside and all around you.  I love this analogy of Jesus building a home inside of us - remodeling our lives into something more than we could ever imagine.  Jesus came to give us life...and life abundantly! (John 10:10).  I need this reminder today and everyday - 

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!...  1 John 3:1a

God's love is lavished on us that we are His children and He is our Father.  He spared no expense pouring out the most precious commodity ever known - the blood of Christ - to redeem us back to Him.  

Remember today what God has done for you...what He is doing right now for you and what He intends to do for you for all eternity.  Hold tight to His truth and promises!

Valentine's Day Gift Guide For Men

I am a big fan of giving gifts, its just something I enjoy doing. Let's be honest, its hard to shop for men sometimes. So today is just a fun little post with some ideas for gifts for the men in your life.  I had some help from Justin with this one.  These are either things he already has and loves, or things he has on his wish list.  We jokingly call this the "Justin starter kit". Also, I was informed I left out beard balm...so that's an idea too.

Ok, so there is some variety here...I have everything from wireless earbuds to a book on Theology.  Justin states that everyone should have a good theology book and the one we included is a good one to start with because of the easy way it reads.  Highlights - handmade leather wallet, stainless steel mugs (with lids for traveling) and the best men's belt ever.

List:

1. Leather Wallets

2. Wireless Earbuds

3. Stainless Mugs

4. Fossil Watch

5. Button Up

6. Coffee Sampler

7. Rhino Bookends

8. Mission Belt

9. A Theology For the Church

I'm so excited to mention True to Seam goods here...Sam who owns and makes every item by hand is a former student of ours.  We love his handiwork!  He has more than just wallets too- so go over and check out his online shop!!

Gifts don't always have to be things we buy either.  Sometimes the sweetest and most meaningful things are notes written to our loved ones or time spent together.  Cherish your loved ones and enjoy each moment you have.  That in itself is a beautiful gift from God.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter 10x10 Takeaways

Now that I am a few days out of wearing the same 10 things for the last 10 days I can say I really enjoyed it.  There are definitely some takeaways from simplifying what you can wear and limiting your options.  If you are someone who has an overstuffed closet or struggles with what to wear- doing an exercise like this would really help!  If you are ready to simplify your closet I have a post here about how I did that a few years ago.  Ok, here are a few things I learned over the last 10 days..

Having less options/choices makes the decision simpler.  Isn't that the case for all things in life?  Something Justin and I have talked about lately is the fact that we (as a culture) are just inundated with choices.  We have limitless options over cheese...cereal...shoes...socks...coffee mugs...the list goes on.  So.many.things.  All the things can quickly cloud our judgement or distract us from the task at hand.  Simple is a lot of times better.  I love this verse - "This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.."Jeremiah 6:16

 Why complicate the choice?  The old path is good and true.  Ya'll I just used my outfits to talk about the Bible. I'm calling that a win today.

I think sometimes we feel like we need all the choices to not feel restricted.  But in reality when we have less we find we have more.  More time to focus on what's important, more chances to be creative with what you have and more value placed in it.  All I can say is God is always at work..even in the everyday things.

Enjoy The Ordinary

ENJOY.  That is my word of the year this year.  Honestly I haven't always picked out a word, but this year I really felt the need to do so.  God has pressed upon my heart the need for enjoyment in daily life.  I shared a few weeks ago about our last year, one that I am thankful for but - I know I didn't always enjoy the time God blessed me with and allowed fear and anxiety to fill in some gaps.  Through scripture God is showing me that he has created us to find satisfaction and enjoyment in this life on earth now....and even in the ordinary, everyday things.

Ecclesiastes is not a book I have found myself ever really drawn to until this past month.  But I am learning how to cherish every word written.  Ecclesiastes is realistic...life is full of emptiness, futile things, suffering but also teaches us we are supposed to enjoy everyday life.  Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that God gives us time to find satisfaction in our work - whether you are a salaried person or mom at home with the kids...there is joy God intends for us to to experience from that.  

And how do we do this? How do we find real satisfaction in the ordinary? By understanding there is nothing better on this earth than knowing and loving Jesus.  I love the ending of Ecclesiastes - "the conclusion of the whole matter is this, fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man."  When we have a right perspective of God, we can find satisfaction in everyday life.  We can enjoy the mundane moments, we can be content without knowing what our future holds because we trust God, we can appreciate the beauty of his creation like the rain falling and be reminded of his grace.  We can enjoy our toast and eggs we eat every single morning and see them as a gift to be enjoyed because God has provided our daily needs.  Enjoyment in life is found in each fleeting breath.  

We have eternity set in our hearts, that's how we were created.  When we stop and reflect just what this means it really give us a better perspective on life.  We are created beings who have a Creator.  We are not gods and we don't have all of the answers.  We cannot master time nor do we know what the future will hold. There are many things beyond our ability.  So we humble ourselves daily and remember WHO IS.  And in turn we are thankful that we have received this gift of life.  We are thankful we can live it to the full and reflect God's glory to the world around us.  We can find joy in the ordinary things.  

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31  

Remodeled Tees Are Here!

I'm so excited to start a new chapter in The Remodeled Life today! We have tees available starting now! And baseball tees at that.  I love a 3/4" sleeve so much and love that I can now share a new one here with you. 

These are great quality shirts printed from bonfire and are available for a limited time!  "Remodeled" is an idea I have kind of adopted over the last several years of having this blog and I always cannot help but be drawn to  2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  Its such an amazing truth to know and hold fast to and more than just a blog name for me.  So for me, these shirts are meaningful and purposeful.  They hold tight to a truth we know when we put our faith in Christ.

(jeans, shoes, watch, sunglasses)

Ordering a shirt is simple just visit my link here - Remodeled Tee and choose a color and size!  Shirts are available until Feb 8th!  After orders are in, the shirts will be printed and sent...about 7-14 days after the final ordering date of Feb 8th. 

Color choices are below-- Heather Gray, Indigo, Vintage Royal, Black & Pink

Yay! Its a fun day, here's to new adventures! 

Ideas for Observing Advent

We've been out of town and other things happening so I'm a little behind on my christmas blog posts, but better late than never.  Today I wanted to share how we are observing Advent in our home this year.  Each year since we have had Silas I have tried to come up with a way to teach him about Christmas and make our home more about the Joy of Christ than anything else (even though I still enjoy all sorts of fun parts of the season).  We've done calendars in years past which have been great and this year we decided to add in doing advent candles as well.  Its just a way for us to sit down as a family, remember the meaning of the coming of Christ, talk about what it means for us together and set time apart to focus on God.  

So, this is really a non-traditional way of doing advent candles.   I just used things I already had - I didn't really have the exact colors and its also not in a wreath form but it still works.  I don't know if its so much about making sure colors and shapes are right as its more about setting aside time in your hearts and having time to worship together.  

I put together 4 of these candles just using jars, a little faux snow, candles and an ornament.  I also have a larger candle set aside for the Christ candle that we will light on Christmas Eve.  

This year I just really wanted to not get too caught up in the meaningless things that this season can bring.  I had so much fun decorating our house (I'll share more this week)  but I chose to only use the things that had meaning and that we enjoyed.  I didn't put things out just because I have them (we have way too many christmas boxes in the attic).  Our tree only has ornaments on it that has a memory, Silas decorated with all of his homemade treasures and we had fun - (not stress) doing it.  Things just seem simplified but still really festive and meaningful and we are loving it.  

In addition to the candles I also utilized our newly painted chalkboard door to make a calendar to help us countdown.  This year we chose 25 names of God to represent each day until Christmas.  I love this so much.  Its such a great reminder and has been a constant place of encouragement.

Below I listed the names in case it was hard to read off of the photo so if you wanted to do something similar you could!

I hope that your season of advent is full of joy and purpose as we remember the awesome promise that God made through his Son.   ~God and sinner reconciled~

Pumpkin Painting Party

Sometimes life feels like it moves at lightening speed.  You start getting really great at keeping up your blog and then all of a sudden weeks have gone by.  Its crazy how full our life can feel at times but I'm so thankful for each little moment, its all definitely a gift.  I have the pleasure each week of leading a small group of high school girls with a sweet friend.  We have just loved getting to know them, studying God's word and encouraging one another in our walk with Christ.  To help us have time to relax together and chat about life a little and get to know each other better we like to do something different and fun each month.  This month we decided on a pumpkin painting party.

Seriously, our students are the best. They are so welcoming and encouraging to one another which in turn is such an encouragement to me.  We are so grateful for these people in our life and I'm glad I get to do things like paint pumpkins with people I love.   

The first part of a pumpkin painting party is of course, picking out your pumpkin.  I love walking thru a pumpkin patch and seeing how each pumpkin is unique and different and then so beautiful all assembled together as one.  One pumpkin is great but a multitude of pumpkins makes a beautiful statement.  What a great reminder of the body of Christ.  We are each uniquely and wonderfully made but we are also made to do life together - to be united as one in the name of Christ.  And how beautiful and powerful it is when we are.

The next part of a pumpkin painting party is posing with your pumpkins and taking lots of photos together.  This is an essential step, do not leave this one out or your pumpkin painting experience will be ruined.

It was such a beautiful fall day so we opted to paint outside.  I grabbed a couple of tarps for the tables and some painting supplies.  I picked up a few paint sample sizes from Lowes which we found we liked the best for actual full painting coverage.  I also had some chalkboard paint - because you can never have enough chalkboard stuff and then some craft paints.  I also had various paint brush sizes, a few cups of water for cleaning your brush and some paper plates for paint usage.

It was really cool to see how everyone chose to paint their pumpkin, we have a talented bunch.  We also had a mini lesson on perfection built right in.  It was a struggle to want your pumpkin to be executed to absolute perfection but in the end we had to learn to embrace the imperfections and enjoy the process.

Pumpkin lessons are the best.

Hope you guys are enjoying the fall, enjoying the process and embracing imperfections while you are doing life together as one.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.  Romans 15:5-7