by Cherie Hill

In times of great uncertainty, when despair rages within us, we find ourselves living life bound by this world and our spirit struggles to be set free from the chains that bind us. Our prayers bombard the heavens and it seems as though the chains only become heavier as we plead for God’s help and mercy. But, what we find is that we are only bound because our faith has failed in the face of fear. If we are focused upon the things of “this world” and we aren’t continually surrendering every area of our lives to Almighty God… we are a sitting target. When we’re facing the burdens of this life and we’re overwhelmed with the impossibilities, we must look at our faith. When our eyes are fixed upon God and our faith is grounded in Him, we are free.

Whatever it is that holds you captive and keeps you bound is the thing that God will use to show you His glory. Each obstacle you face in life is your opportunity to step forward in your faith in God. It is your chance to pass a test; declaring that your faith in God will not be moved. In your brokenness and weakest moment, God is asking you to pay the price for the freedom He offers; freedom does not come without a price. We must die to self. Those emotions of doubt and despair, causing you to constantly feel trapped, are the enemy’s tools; there’s a barrier being built between you and God. The enemy’s desire is to get the best of you. He wants you living in fear; the defeated life. Read the rest of this entry »

by Cassandra Woods

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
-Tolstoy

Which of us would dare wake up, dress up, and go out without ever looking in a mirror? Not many of us, I’m sure. For a long time mirrors have played an important role in our society. They come in all shapes and sizes, from compacts to the full-length types. They can be found in bathrooms, bedrooms, halls, and more. In pockets and purses, and hanging on doors. Yes, they’re everywhere.

We use them to evaluate our appearance, to test the need for a tuck here or a dab there. We want to present a good image.

But who is taking care of the inside, the heart? I am convinced that we must practice regular self-evaluation, in order to live out God’s purpose for our lives. After all, we’re told, the pure in heart shall see God. Read the rest of this entry »

As a mother of preschoolers, I fell behind the curve when it comes to technology. While other women were sporting ipod touch, iphones, Blackberries, Blue Tooths, iPhones, and Palm Pilots dangling in their ears, all I could manage was a small spiral notebook from the dollar aisle in Walgreens. However, just to stay in the game I decided to refer to it as my Papyrus Pilot. My Bic ballpoint pen is my Cylinder Inkjet 5000.

These are some of the things that I have put in my Papyrus Pilot. First of all there’s a listing of overdue library notices (now in the thousands of dollars, carrying with them threat of foreclosure on our home); the birthdays of all our relatives that I missed while taking anti-nausea drugs for throwing up during pregnancies; the names of our children (I forgot their names while taking anti-nausea drugs;) what my husband wanted for his birthday 12 years ago that’s still on the list after the last child gets their braces….

Are you wondering what I was doing while you were updating? While other people were updating, I was scraping out the remainder of my mauve lipstick with the cap of my ink pen so I could make it last one more week.

While other people were updating, I was spending an hour walking around the block. That’s how long it took me to walk around the block with preschoolers. Read the rest of this entry »

Depending on your personal style clutter comes in many forms. I have never been much of a collector and I am ruthless when it comes to paper coming into the house. It has taken me many years to perfect the art of clearing the clutter. Don’t be discouraged keeping the clutter to a minimum takes work but it totally possible. For some, clutter can come in many forms and can (really) take over your space in your home or office. Here are my top 7 tips for getting rid of the clutter.

1. Discard immediately. Don’t let the “rubbish” stay too long. Check your mail, paperwork, or schoolwork right away and discard the rubbish, don’t let it pile up. Discard what you can immediately and make the shredding or recycling process easy with accessible receptacles.

2. It’s OK to let go. Accept that we can’t keep everything, especially those things that we JUST DON’T LIKE. If you get some lotion that doesn’t suit you, it’s okay to let it go. Re-gifting isn’t a bad thing!

3. Break it down. Big tasks can be overwhelming for anyone. Break it down into small more manageable tasks. Before you know the big tasks don’t seem so big anymore. Read the rest of this entry »

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NKJV

Do you want to hear something funny? I started writing this article, “Dealing with Discouragement”, several months ago  and every time I began working on it, I would get discouraged and want to quit. Oh the irony. Well, I thought it was funny but now I wonder if it was spiritual warfare.

Discouragement comes in many forms; through trials, tribulations, burn-out, loss, grief, depression, weariness, illness, stress, finances, spiritual warfare, negative thoughts…the list can go on and on. With that said it also means it is universal and being universal you are not alone in your discouragement and you are not abnormal.

I have said this many times and I will say it again, “Trials and tribulations are part of life and life does happen.” In fact Jesus himself said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 NKJV

I love that God’s Word still applies to us today and because He has overcome the world we are more than conquerors through Him by faith. We can also find God’s comfort and His solutions through the scriptures, if we would take the time to look.  In this article we are going to take a deeper look at what discouragement is and find the biblical solution for this common but difficult situation. Read the rest of this entry »

This past week I was re-organizing some categories on my blog when I came across an older post I had written sometime early last year on how often do we try to fit into a situation that doesn’t fit us? This particular post stuck out to me, because at that time in life I was in a weird place. Things were very disorganized, we were trying to sell our house in a bad market. My husband was commuting insane hours everyday and the kids really needed both parents, not just a mom. At the time, I thought we would never see the change that we really wanted and/or felt we needed.

What to do? Pray.

For some reason during that period I was trying to fit into the life that I “thought” I was supposed to be living. I thought I was listening to God and that by praying everyday, things would change. I was always preoccupied and distracted and I found myself doing busy work, just to be busy. Nothing made sense. I felt as though I had lost control.

Going back and reading this particular allows me to reflect on where I was then and where I am today.  I now understand the lesson that God intended me to learn, and I realized that to truly finding my authentic self it really needs to start with God. Read the rest of this entry »

by Cherie Hill

With all the struggles we face in a day, it’s evident that we need a little help. “Help” has a lot of meanings. Help means to give assistance or support to, to make more pleasant or bearable, and to change for the better. Help is also defined as rescuing or saving. At some point in our lives, we need rescuing and saving; but too often, our situations are impossible through human resources alone, we need God. Only He can do the impossible. We need the Maker of the heavens and the earth to intervene in our situations to assist us, support us, to make things more pleasant and bearable, and change things for the better. We need to be saved by God.

“I look up to the mountains- does my help come from there? My help comes for the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth!”  Psalm 121:1-2 (NLT) Read the rest of this entry »

Today I’m thinking about rejection. Well, the combination of rejection and perseverance. Of walking uphill when all odds are against you. Of following the Quiet Voice upward despite what the crowds below are saying.

Yesterday I got word that my third and fourth books were passed on by yet another publisher. And not just yet another, but pretty much my last shot for both of them. It was a banner day. Although I did find a killer dress that somewhat made up for it. But I digress…

This is a death of a dream, but it is also a fork in the road. I had to decide in that moment just after rejection was dispensed — am I going to walk away from this thing that I love or am I going to keep going even though it appears as if I’m not worthy of being published again? Whoa. That’s a sting that stays with you. Read the rest of this entry »

I love to take pictures. I also love to collect old pictures. It’s nice to share those memories with my kids so they can then pass them along to their children.

Just the other day I was looking for an old picture so I started searching in my photo boxes. I have four standard size photo boxes (one for my past pictures, one for my husband’s past pictures, one for our family pictures and one for old family pictures). After searching for about an hour, I realized that I need to sort through my pictures. The boxes  are so full that the top can hardly stay on, and I have a small stack of pictures that need to be filed away, but there is no where to put them.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you want to get organized you have to start somewhere, the key is trying to find that starting point.

As part of my “Organized Spaces at Home” series, I have chosen the craft room as my focus for May. Even if you don’t have a specific craft room you might have a space in your house that stores all your craft supplies, kid’s projects or maybe some gift wrapping stuff. For some reason this space always seem to be last on the list to get organized.

When wanting to create an organized craft space it’s important to include three key elements into your space. Remember, there is a difference between organized and messy (especially in a craft room).

Ergonomically correct: When creating any space in your home you need to think about how much time you will be spending in the space and is it ergonomically correct? Taking comfort into consideration is vitally important to your health and well-being, especially in a craft room! Read the rest of this entry »