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How to Create an Advent Experience for Kids.
One of my most vivid memories of the holiday season growing up was running downstairs every morning to check the Advent calendar hung on the wall. It's a tradition my mom started with us early. Each morning, we'd open up a new flap of the cardboard calendar and read the verse or part of the Christmas story for the day. It was a rhythm that began on December 1 and ended on Christmas Day.
Resources for Creating a Richer Prayer Life.
Plenty of resources and books I've encountered over the years have helped me go deeper in my prayer life. Here are just a few.
Create Anyway: a Q + A with Author Ashlee Gadd
Today on the blog, I am so excited to feature a Q + A from author, Ashlee Gadd. Ashlee is a longtime friend and my favorite writer on the Internet! Ashlee’s new book “Create Anyway” comes out today. You can purchase it wherever books are sold!
Tips for Writers in the Digital Age.
As I thought about the writing process and where it has taken me over the last ten years, I created a short list of things I’d tell that younger version of me– the girl just starting and looking for a writer’s roadmap. I hope this list is helpful for you and maybe the encouragement you need today to keep showing up and working towards your dreams of becoming an author.
When God Picks Your Word for the Year.
It’s okay if you felt a word spring up in your heart at the start of this new year and yet the word makes no sense to you. Or you don’t like the word. Or, try as you might, no clear direction seems to be coming to you. It’s okay if you feel as if you entered into the new year with empty hands.
Your Work Is Worthy: 3 Ways to Dignify Your Creative Work.
There is a world of difference between the work of a writer who downplays their craft, and the writing of a writer who dignifies their work.
So today I want to talk about three ways to intentionally dignify your creative work.
How to Start Tracking Your Wins.
Repeat after me: small is the new big. All good things start off small.
Encouragement for Future Authors
As I thought about the writing process and where it has taken me over the last ten years, I created a short list of things I’d tell that younger version of me– the girl just starting out and looking for a writer’s roadmap. I hope this list is helpful for you and maybe the encouragement you need today to keep showing up and working towards your dreams of becoming an author.
A Reminder to Press In.
Maybe this will be the nudge for someone to keep pressing in or to start pressing in. Such good things happen when we press in. Miracles happen when we press in. I am convinced it never gets more comfortable- you are 100% going to face resistance. But resistance isn’t a bad thing. Resistance, a lot of times, actually means you’re closer to the breakthrough than you can imagine.
The Power of Secret Work
If you can work your tail off without the need for other people to validate you, you’ll learn to validate yourself. You’ll learn that secret work matters. You’ll learn that creation is a process and never a quick fix. It will become less about the image you put out there to others and so much more about the blood, sweat, and tears that go into a labor of love.
My Goals, Hopes + Rhythms for September.
I get questions all the time about establishing discipline, routines, and habits. I figured the best way to break down how I navigate achieving goals and making my rhythms a priority is to just show you.
Free Printable Teacher Questionnaire for Gifts!
Take the guesswork out of Teacher Appreciation Day, holiday gifts, and beyond. This free printable Teacher Questionnaire download, packed with questions about all about their favorite things, is designed to help you get to know your child’s teacher in a thoughtful and intentional way.
How I Use My Val Marie Prayer Journal
If you want to make prayer a bigger priority in 2023, I encourage you to try this journal out. This journal has helped me become steady, patient, and prevailing in prayer over the years.
A Divine Partnership
We live in a culture of constant feedback and praise. It’s very easy to start thinking highly of ourselves when people are commenting on our days, our disciplines, and our creations. We can start to think it’s all on us, that we are here to churn out content and feed the beast of social media.
A Perspective Shift for When You’re Feeling Underqualified.
If we’re not careful, our need for approval will steal the present moment from us. All the good things we’ve been given to live out and experience will be dimmed by the overwhelming feeling that we don’t belong at the table.
But, with little shifts, we can take back the story. We can become students again. Let me tell you, being a student in a world full of “experts” is so freeing. It’s not on you to get it all right. Your one job is to learn as much as you can and there’s guaranteed growth in that path.
You're going to take so many paths.
You’re going to take so many paths over the next few years and there’s nothing wrong with trying new things. Stay open. If something makes you curious, try it. Explore new options. You don’t have to know where every next step is going to take you. In fact, it would be nearly impossible to even try to predict that.
When God Gives You an Idea.
What do you do when God gives you an idea for a book? God-given ideas should be handled with care and a lot of times they need more time to come to fruition.
Tips & Tricks for Cultivating an Unplugged Lifestyle.
At the end of May 2021, I set out to complete a challenge: 1,000 unplugged hours in under 365 days. Taking on this challenge was one of the best things I could do for myself: mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. If you want to take the challenge yourself, you can find all the details here.
You’re not missing any pieces.
You’ll find the most astounding love will meet you when you realize YOU are complete. The right person will never complete you, they’ll only complement you because you are not missing any pieces.