Parenting while joyful can sometimes be painful. How you respond to the the little people God has given you can shine light on your innermost thoughts. I have leaned that how I react and respond to my children when they are disobeying can directly reflect at times my idolatrous thinking. It has and will continue to be an opportunity for me to grow in sanctification and self control. I am thankful for books like Parenting with Loving Correction: Practical Help for Raising Young Children by Sam Crabtree that point me back towards the gospel and away from my own sinful nature. In doing this I am a more effective parent because I realize that God gave me the four children I have for their good and for mine as well as to glorify God. Below are just a few highlights from this book. I highly recommend it if you are in need of encouragement or new strategies to deal with disciplining your child. It is a short read and will be well worth your time and money! I received a copy of this … [Read more...]
Parenting with Loving Correction: Practical Help for Raising Young Children
The Fitnessista’s Home Workout Warrior Live Fit Guide Review
Back in early February I was reading Gina's blog and saw she was offering 1 month of her Home Workout Warrior program for $9. The program normally costs $97 for 12 weeks so it was an easy decision to purchase. It was a great way for me to try something I had been interested in without the larger financial investment. I am so glad I did! It can be nerve-wracking sometimes to purchase something without having a solid idea what you are buying. The Fit Guide comes with workouts, a meal plan, as well as suggested options for cardio. So if you have been on the fence about this program here is my review. The Workouts I really loved the way the workouts were organized. I never got bored and I felt challenged at just the right amount. Each week there were specific Upper Body, Core, Lower Body, Total Body, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), and Cardio workouts. I was able to complete most of the workouts in 30 minutes. This was great because I woke up in the morning … [Read more...]
What Happened When I Eliminated Eggs, Sugar, & Caffeine For 28 Days
This post could have easily been titled "I Gained 15 Pounds in 2018" because I did. Towards the end of 2018 between numerous bought of sickness that spread like wildfire throughout our home and the ridiculous amounts of baking I did over the holidays I discovered I had gained 15 pounds after ringing in the New Year. I was actually fairly surprised because I didn't really feel heavier. I honestly hadn't even been paying attention to how I looked in the mirror. When you have 4 kids time management becomes very important. I could probably win a gold medal at this point for how fast I can go to the bathroom, change a diaper, and get myself and all the kids dressed ;). In February I knew I wanted to overhaul how I was fueling my body and also commit to exercise more consistently each week. So here is what I started doing. WHAT I ELIMINATED FROM MY DIET I eliminated 3 main things from my diet that I knew weren't helping me. Eggs. Added Sugar. Caffeine. Eggs I had been … [Read more...]
3 Tips For Reading The Bible In 2019
I received a copy of this book from Crossway to review. All opinions are my own. The Bible is an epic story that tells us how God made the world and why we are here. He tells us that his son Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead and for this reason we can live with him in heaven forever. God is always good, all the time and his written Word is truthful and worthy of our complete confidence. Here are 3 tips that I hope will encourage you to start a Bible reading plan on of your own. I am also sharing this to keep myself accountable in 2019! And remember, it is never too late to start reading :). Don't Stress, Just Read Don't stress so much about what plan you are reading just make sure you are reading. It can be easy to get hung up on finding the perfect reading plan but really at the end of the day what is most important isn't what plan you used to read your Bible but that you actually read it. It might be easier to start in the Gospel's or maybe … [Read more...]
What I Learned from Reading the Bible
This year marks my third year reading through the Bible and I picked Reading God's Story: A Daily Chronological Bible which uses a six day a week reading plan to read through the entire Bible in 365 days. Two years ago I started in the Matthew and read to Revelation and then made my way to Genesis through Malachi. I didn't follow a reading plan but read at my own pace. And last year I read from Genesis to Revelation and used The Bible Project Reading Plan. Without further delay here is a brief synopsis of what I have learned from reading the Bible in 2018! Read The Bible To Know God I have discovered that reading the Bible is different each year. To date, this year has been the hardest for me to get into the Bible. I still kept up with my reading plan, and was even able to read ahead, but boy, this year has been tough. There were several times this year when I just wanted to cry because of how challenging it was for me to dig into the Bible. And I think I felt that way … [Read more...]
10 Helpful Tips for Foster Parents of Infants
Foster parenting has been a huge learning experience for our family. If you and your family are thinking about fostering infants or about to take your first placement I am sharing 10 tips that I hope will be useful and helpful. Hospital Pickup versus Home Drop Off If you have the option to pick up your placement from the hospital do it. The nurses will be able to provide you with lots of helpful information. Ask questions because they will be able to give you more background information on your child as well as feeding tips, routine, and medical concerns. For little ones coming from the hospital be sure to note what type of nipple was used on the bottle for feeds. This was something that we struggled with and finally ended up buying a package of disposable nipples that fit on the Dr. Brown bottles we had already purchased. WIC Make an appointment with WIC as soon as you know you are getting a placement. I had no idea just what a valuable resource this would be for our family. … [Read more...]
