The Blog
of grace & gumption
I discovered the poem "Work while you work" (below) this weekend while I was hanging out at one of my favorite places - my church library. Though I found it in The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett, I discovered that it originally appeared in McGuffey's Eclectic...
It’s always been hard to keep jealousy at bay, but I think that now it’s harder than ever. Now that technology is at our fingertips, our friends’ purchases, milestones, and blessings are in our faces 24/7, and we’re more aware than ever before that what they have is...
This summer, I’ve been working with my older three kids (ages 2, 4, and 6) to memorize Psalm 23 together. Mainly this has consisted of reading it over and over again during lunch time and bribing them with Puffs to get them to repeat after me. Sometimes it goes well,...
What do you have to give to God? You may not have an overflow of minutes. You may not have an abundance of energy. You may not have eloquent words. But there is one thing that you can give Him in whatever situation you’re in: your heart. “My sacrifice, O God, is a...
Several years ago, when my family and I took a trip to Disney World, one of the events I most anticipated was a late-night dinner in Cinderella’s beautiful castle. Being a few months pregnant at the time and unable to enjoy most of the rides in the parks, I knew the...
When I was young, I went with my friend and her mother to the grocery store. We spent some time in the floral department where my friend’s mom picked out a small plant to buy. Then she searched through the decorative pots until she found one that was a perfect fit for...
[Read previous posts in this story: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3] I started a fire in the kitchen. That’s how my “engagement story” begins. It was a Thursday night, and Jason came over for dinner, surprising me with a bouquet of flowers for no reason at all. As he arranged...
Has God ever surprised you? Has He ever given you a front row seat to a miracle? Have His blessings ever left you in awe? One of my favorite chapters of the Bible is Psalm 8. Verses 3 and 4 read: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and...
It happened again over the weekend - another heartbreaking story of loss, this time of 19 firefighters who lost their lives battling the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona. I've mentioned before how my first tendencies are to block it out and pretend stories like this don't...
Have you ever wished you could change someone? Maybe you have a family member who is ruining his life with alcohol or drugs. Maybe you can’t have a conversation with your mother without facing a guilt trip or criticism. Maybe your boss is just impossible to handle....
Welcome to our blog's new home! We're so excited you're here, and we are so glad you finally get to see what we've been working on for the past several months. We do consider this new site our "home" because it's where we meet with you, encourage you, and learn all...
The other day, we had our volunteer rally to prepare for Vacation Bible School next week. Our Children's Minister, Rhonda Black, did an awesome job reminding all of the volunteers that the main point of VBS is to share Christ with the kids who attend. She shared a...