June Scripture Writing Plan 2016

Once again- thank you to those that have emailed me this month to
tell me how much you like these little scripture writing plans!

I try to respond to each email but please know if I don't that I
seriously LOVE hearing stories of how families,

and Sunday School groups, and churches, and friends 

are working through the plans together.

GOD is so cool how He uses our simple works for HIS good and glory!
I loved hearing stories of how the topic for this month was so needed for so many. 

This month I once again felt very strongly that I needed to do
 a set of verses on a specific topic and so I chose a topic
that so many, myself included, struggle with: 

FORGIVENESS

Quick NOTE: When doing the monthly plans (especially the topical ones)
I may occasionally repeat verses- since they are appropriate for more than one topic.
Please know that I work to keep repeats to a minimum
(I actually keep a big old spreadsheet to keep from having too many repeats) 
but occasionally it will happen!

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 reader asked for a version that was more manly (for her husband) 

so you can also find that version HERE. 

NEW 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 had the cards listed in my ETSY store but last year had to remove them 

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

parts of creating them for orders. 

 But at the end of last year I 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!

I just added three new sets to my ETSY Store- Praying the Armor of God for boys, Praying the Armor of God for girls, and Praying for Lost Loved Ones. 

The Armor of God sets are 8 to a set and can be printed 4 per page. Six of the cards have a scripture reference and image for one of the pieces of the armor of God and one card contains all of the verses together.

The Prayers for My Lost Loved Ones come 16 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 those you love who are not saved.

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

From now through June 1st, use the code
 HELLOSUMMER for 25% off your ETSY order! 

CREATOR not Critics Count

I spent much of yesterday ridiculously dwelling 

 on an hurtful/unkind-ish email

 (non-work related FYI) I was sent yesterday. 

{Why is it that we can get 1,000 kind comments but the one 

we tend to focus on is the single UNkind one? }

As I've read and prayed about it I've been reminded of what I KNOW to be true... 

that my audience, my true audience, is Him and NO ONE else. 

I am thankful for that truth and for sweet friends who remind me of that truth when I forget.

Galatians 1:10 says...

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? 

Or am I trying to please people? 

If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

GOOD News 5/17/16

I love happy stories.
You know, those happy, inspiring, tear producing stories that
remind you there IS good in the world!
I LOVE those so very much!  

I love them so much that I seek them out
daily to remind me of the good in people.

I share lots of those types of stories on Facebook 

but here are a few of my favorites from the past week!

When a nursing home and a child care center share a space?
BRILLIANT and precious!


This sweet promposal? Adorable!


This random act of kindness?
Amazing.
"God you want me to do what?"


When a bride has to cancel her wedding and says....
"I cannot be the princess of my wedding day, but I can give the kids a fairy tale."
Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!

This little girl has no hands. 

And yet, she just won a handwriting award!

Talk about grit and determination!

Wise Advice on a Monday Morning

I love Philippians 2 and love the traditional version of verses 3-4: 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 

Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 

not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

( I love it so much that Madison and I used to pray these verses every morning on the way to school)

But I read this morning verses 3 and 4 in 

The Message and just had to make a quick printable of it. 

The world seems so full of hate and ugliness and anger and meanness. 

Imagine the world if we all tried following this advice! 

Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. 

Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. 

Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. 

Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. 

Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

If you'd like your own copy you can find one in PDF or JPG HERE.  

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things....Today!

I've come across so many awesome things 

lately that I am LOVING and thought I would share with YOU! 

How cute is this UGH shirt from Em Dash Paper? 

(her cards are also ADORABLE!)

Because to be honest, although I am usually super positive, 

there are days when I feel all UGH! 

So the older I get, the drier my skin seems to get. 

This awesome spray lotion by St. Ives is AWESOME!

I use it when I get out of the shower and it's super hydrating and smells fabulous!

I've been doing Weight Watchers since the beginning of January 

(I love WW- when I follow the plan I can eat what I want and it works for me! Down 31.6 lbs so far!)

and Halo Top Ice Cream is one of my favorite low calorie treats! 

It's pricey but SO worth it!  

I haven't tried all of the flavors but the ones I have I absolutely LOVE! 

It contains Stevia which makes it taste super yummy  and has 24 grams of protein! 

The entire pint is 240 calories/8 grams of fat/16 grams of sugar.

To put that in perspective a pint of Blue Bell (which I love) is  

640 calories/32 grams of fat/68 grams of sugar. 

Giddy UP, Eunice by Sophie Hudson (aka BooMama) is AMAZING!

I'm on the launch team for her book so I got an advance copy.  

I started reading it right away and could not put it down!

You should absolutely pre-order a copy HERE.  

The book is equally funny and wise- so so so good!

One of my favorite quotes so far is...

"...life is infinitely richer when people are our priority. The end. We can sidestep it all we want to, and we can fill up our days with stuff that doesn't really matter...but there's no getting around how much women need each other. The heart of the gospel is relationship, and God has hard-wired each of us with a longing to be seen, to be loved, and to be known ".

Mother's Day Printables

Need a quick printable or bookmark for a sweet mama in your life? 

Here are a few I've made over the years! 

This would be sweet to print out and give in a little frame! 

And here's the same print as a bookmark! 

This quote would be sweet to print out and give to your sweet mama. 

I did it in both color and the chalkboard look. 

You can find all the printables above in a folder HERE. 

Why I Hate Mother's Day

Anyone that knows me knows I am a holiday girl. 

I LOVE all holidays!

I love the family gathering, I love the fun, I love the traditions. 

 I love them, all except one......Mother's Day.

To be honest, I hate Mother's Day.

Yes...I truly HATE it. 

Every year I dread May and all the sweet commercials about mothers. 

Every year I say something about hating Mother's Day 

and my sweet friends immediately start saying things about how I should love it 

because I am a mother and it's a day to honor me. 

And to some extent they are right- 

I am a mother and absolutely LOVE being Madison's mom. 

It truly is my favorite job on earth. 

I spent many years and countless nights on my knees 

praying to become a mother and I love dearly being Madison's mom 
and consider it a great honor. 

But here's the thing........

Mother's Day is a day to honor your mother. 

And my mother isn't here. 

The void left by that beautiful and amazing woman-

the strongest, kindest, most loving, most selfless woman I have ever known is huge.

I miss her every single solitary day with every single fiber of my being. 

I miss her laugh, her wise words, her sweet hugs,

her hugs, her insane creativity,
her ridiculously sweet tea, 
her amazing cooking, 
her laugh, her smell, her intelligence,

her crazy passion and love for those she loved. 

Sometimes I feel the pain of her absence so strongly, 

so deeply that I feel that it will overtake me. 
Sometimes I start to think of her and have to stop-
because it's just too painful. 

I so often think of all the stories I never got to hear her tell, 

the trips we never got to take, 

the conversations we never got to have, 

the memories we never got to make, 

the projects we never got to do, 

the meals we never got to make and share, 

the holidays we never got to share, 

all the lessons she never got to teach me, 

the laughs and tears we never got to share and I feel so cheated. 

I so often think of all the amazing things about her and 

all that was lost when she died. 

The world was truly a better place with her in it. 

MY world was a better place with her in it. 

And it SUCKS that the world no longer has her. 

That I no longer have my biggest cheerleader and most amazing 

role model, comforter, and protector. 

And to be honest sometimes it makes me angry. 

Although I am so blessed and so very thankful to know that she's in heaven- 

whole and healed and worshiping with Jesus,

and although I would not change that fact for ANYTHING, 

this is one of the days each year that 

I miss her so much my heart truly aches. 

I so often think that I was robbed of such an amazing mother
and I so HATE CANCER. IT SUCKS. 

I was not prepared or ready at the age of 32 to lose my mother- 

not that you EVER are.

I wasn't done growing up, I wasn't done needing her, 

I wasn't done being taught by her, 

I wasn't done loving her and being loved by her.

Every single time I watched Maddie dance I cried 

because my mom never got to see her dance and I know 

how much she would have absolutely loved it. 

She never got to truly know the girl that is 

my beautiful, amazing, precious, funny daughter.

Anytime Madison achieves a milestone- prom, graduation, first day of college, sorority initiation-

my heart hurts thinking of how much my mama would have loved being there-

cheering and crying and being proud with me. 

Although Madison has memories of my mother and pictures of her and 

we try hard to tell her stories and all the wonderful things about my mother, 

she does not truly know the wonderful woman that was her Nana. 

She's been alive more than double the years without her Nana

that she was with her Nana. 

And I hate, hate, hate that. 

So please forgive me if hate this holiday. 

I'm sorry but being reminded of the huge void left by amazing mother

 is not something I can celebrate. 

I'll spend much of the day in tears or fighting them wishing I had

 just another minute with my sweet mama. 

Just one more hug. 

One more time to hold her hand. 

One more time to hear her voice. 

Please forgive me for that and please understand 

and not try to convince me to feel otherwise. 

And if you are still lucky enough to have your sweet mama, 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
 treasure every moment you are blessed to have her. 

Because sadly one day, you too will hate Mother's Day. 

Fear/Anxiety Scripture Ring

I LOVE scripture rings and just about always have some in my purse or on my desk in case I 

(or someone around me) needs the comfort of some Biblical wisdom.  

In fact I gave a set away to a friend today who is having surgery soon 

and dropped another set in the mail for a friend who is going through a difficult time. 

(I even have a few sets in my ETSY store here & here  and here if you'd like to purchase some!)

Based on the feedback from the May Scripture Writing Plan, 

there are LOTS of us that struggle with fear and anxiety! 

So I decided to take one or two verses from each day and turn them 

into some printable scripture cards. 

There is a card for each day of the month 

and there are 8 per page for a total of 31 cards and 1 blank card. 

I just cut mine out, punched a hole in each one, 

and used a binder ring to hook them together. 

I also tied it with a ribbon because it makes it super easy to grab in a purse- 

and it looks cute! 

You can find the PDF of the verse cards HERE.