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.

The fight of faith cannot be fought on our own. We are no match for the spiritual forces that work night and day to keep us moving forward in God’s will. We need Jesus. We need Him because He sets us free. Death could not hold Him and He wants you to know that nothing in this life can hold you either…unless you surrender to the enemy instead of your God.

You might wonder how it is that you can be free in your situation; when the mountains of impossibilities surround you and the evidence that contradicts your faith is mounting…it is only God’s Promises for your life, it’s His Word that sets you free.

“If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], …you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32 (AMP)

Whatever it is you’re facing in life, God has something to say about it; He has some Truth for you. In the fight of faith you must constantly declare your faith in the face of fear, even when you don’t “feel” like it. Hold onto God, keep your eyes on Jesus and the price He paid for your freedom, cling to the Cross and don’t let go. Your freedom is in Him; choose to believe God when He says, “You are free!”

“So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free.” John 8:36 (AMP)

About the Author:
Cherie Hill is the author of Be Still: Let Jesus Calm Your Storms, and an Amazon.com Shorts Bestselling author in the Christian genre. She has a BA in Psychology, a Biblical Counseling Certificate through the AACC, and is continuing studies through the Moody Bible Institute. Cherie is the founder of ScriptureNow.com Ministry that brings the Word of God and prayer, into over 30 countries around the world everyday. (reaching over 100,000 people every year)
Cherie brings instructive and uplifting teaching of the Word of God across the world through the “SpiritWaves™” audio ministry on EzraWebRadio.com and GloryStar Satellite Radio, with a subscriber base of 11 million people.
Cherie’s podcast, “FaithSteps” ranks consistently in the top 100 Christian podcasts in the world on GodCast 1000.

“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.

So why not tape a Bible verse to your most frequented mirror? Then you can get twice the bang with only one look.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a
man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself,
goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
-James 1:23-24

Place an encouraging Bible verse in places that will remind you to read it throughout the day. Then ask yourself if you are exemplifying a Christlike attitude concerning your situation.

Originally published in More God’s Abundance, Starburst Publishers, 1999.

About the Author:
Cassandra Woods is an inspirational writer and life coach, who has seen God’s Word become real in her own life. She finds great joy in sharing God’s love with other women and encouraging them to develop an intimate relationship with God. She is the wife of an awesome husband and the mother of four wonderful children.

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.

While other people were chatting on their newest equipment, I was chasing Pooka out of a drainage ditch. Every time I would ever start a conversation with another human around my age, Pooka would head either for a wet ditch, a river, a train track or a tollway. Pooka makes Curious George seem satisfied.

While other people were updating, I was dating my spouse.

While other people were updating, I was laboring in childbirth.

While other people were updating, I was handing out hugs and kisses for all sorts of boo boos that preschool kids can get into.

While other people were updating, I was making dinner. I don’t have a palm pilot to plan the family’s menus.

My Papyrus Pilot does a good job recording the grocery list. I always use my Papyrus Pilot in meal planning. I need help because the three words that I fear most in the English language are, “What’s for dinner?” I have trouble deciding what’s for dinner. And it’s a question at least one of the kids hits me with before 9:00 Am. I can’t think pasta primavera before the Cheerios are scraped off the floor. And I know the clock will keep ticking toward 6:00 Pm and I’d better have something steaming, stewing or grilling.

Over the years I’ve decided a number of meal planning methods. My least favorite was to open the freezer and make whatever fell out and hit me on the head. It had spontaneity going for it, but the lump on my head grew monotonous. Besides, we couldn’t afford the monthly brain scans this home making method demanded.
Even with this failsafe method there are certain things I won’t make for dinner. Because when I was pregnant with six children, not all at once mind you, I calculated that I threw up a combined total of 2000 times. I am not kidding. One of the combinations of foods I will not eat together is potato chips and milk. Why? Because I refuse to eat something that at one time has come out of my nose.

I finally settled on deciding what was for dinner according to the days of the week. Monday is for M so we eat meatloaf or meatballs; Tuesday is for T so we eat tacos or turkey, Wednesday is for W which limits us to watermelon and watercress sandwiches. And how do I remember what day it is? I use my Papyrus Pilot, of course.

Want to instant message someone? It’s easier than ever with Papyrus Pilot. Forget the tiny keyboard. With Papyrus Pilot, just write the information on a piece of genuine, undigital paper, tear it off and hand it to them. It’s instant! It’s a message!

So buy a papyrus pilot, simplify your life and enjoy your spouse, your children, sunsets, fresh air and the important things in life that really do last.

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.

4. Take five (5). Five minutes can go a long way. Wipe the counter, check your email, sort laundry just give yourself five minutes. If you struggle with staying on track, I encourage egg times to stay on track!

5. Perfection is unattainable. We need to accept that we will never be perfect, and that is okay. Creating the perfect room, the perfect piece of art, the prefect letter will just never be possible. We set ourselves up for failure right off the bat by trying to be perfect and sometimes okay is good enough.

6. Find a worthy donation resource. Often people struggle with the idea of giving their things away. If you find a worthy resource for your donations, it might become easier to part with those unwanted items we keep shuffling around.

7. Examine your routine. Sometimes we can make the biggest change when we look at how we spend our time. Document out your activities to see where there is extra time and make a list of what needs to get done. It becomes easier to see how we spend our time once we know exactly what needs to be done.

To better control the clutter it may only take one change in your day. How you manage your time or the way you process your paper is just a habit changing action. The important thing is to examine what you are doing and be willing to make a change to see that clutter disappear!

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.

The definition for discourage (dis + courage) means to deprive of courage or confidence. To be disheartened; which also means to lose spirit or morale. What’s interesting is the word “deprived”. Deprive means the lack of what is needed. So discouragement is the “lack of”, “in need of” or “loss of” courage, spirit, morale and/or confidence.

In light of these definitions it gives us a whole new perspective to the word discouragement from a description of how a person is feeling to an explanation of what a person is missing, has lost, or in need of. Yes, one does experience the feelings and emotions of being discouraged but when we can understand what a person is missing or in need of, then finding the biblical solution becomes more attainable. It may not change us over night but it can certainly change our point of view from feeling hopeless to hopeful and that is encouraging.

So how does one make the transition from feeling discouraged to having courage? Also, is courage the answer or solution to discouragement?

Let’s take a look at one biblical example in Deuteronomy chapter 31 to help answer these questions. In this chapter Moses is speaking to the people of Israel and tells them that He can not cross over the Jordan with them and then hands over His leadership authority to his assistant Joshua as the Lord had said for Joshua to cross over before them. Now Moses understood that the people would be disheartened by this announcement so he then shares these words of encouragement. “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

It is understandable that Joshua might have felt discouraged and perhaps fearful at the learning of this news but Moses was confident and wanted Joshua to be confident but not in himself nor in Moses but his confidence was to be in the Lord. Notice again in verse 6 of Deuteronomy 31, “for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you.” Moses was re-assuring him that God, Who is greater than himself was with him.  The Lord God was going with them and if God was with them they had nothing to fear. It’s unfortunate that we as people naturally look to men for our strength or guidance rather than God. God was going with them and because He was with them who could be against them?

We also learn in the book of Joshua how God Himself spoke these same words of encouragement in order to build Joshua’s confidence in Him.  Moses had just died and God knew exactly what he needed to hear in order to lead the people by faith into the promise land as God had promised.

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:5-9 NKJV

So how did God and Moses build up Joshua? Simply put, they encouraged him. The definition for encourage is “to inspire with courage, spirit or hope”.  The word, “inspire” means to influence, move or guide by the divine or supernatural.  Encouragement divinely inspires us to have courage and that courage comes from knowing God is with us and goes before us.

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10-NKJV

Often times we need to be reminded of these precious promises and when we look at God’s Word we are comforted to know that He is with us wherever we go. God now speaks to us through His Word that is living and active and speaks to the soul and the spirit and as it says in Joshua 1:8 that if we meditate on it day and night then we will be prosperous and successful.

Finally, the definition for “courage” is a mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear or difficulty. Notice that courage is not only a moral strength but a mental strength which involves our thought life. The bible says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” – Proverbs 23:7 NKJV

Joshua was first encouraged by Moses and then God Himself to be strong and courageous. Is there a situation in your life right now where you may be feeling discouraged or inadequate?

Do not be afraid and be of good courage, just as Moses turned Joshua’s thoughts toward God by reminding him that God was with Him; those same thoughts ring true in our lives.  Understanding that God is with us and for us, enables us to persevere through and to withstand danger, fear or difficulty with great courage because we know that it is God who defends us and goes before us and no matter how difficult a situation may seem. nothing is too hard for Him. God is faithful; He loves us and cares for us deeply.

I hope you are greatly encouraged as I am to be strong and courageous not in our own strength but in the power of His might who dwells in our hearts by faith and is with us wherever we go.   May God bless you richly through His Son, Jesus Christ. Remember, If God is for us who can be against us?

About the Author:
Filoiann Wiedenhoff is a pastor’s wife, women’s biblical counselor, writer and columnist.  You can visit her website at www.filoiannwiedenhoff.com.

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.

Sometime we don’t even know why or how we are lead to do the things that we do. I realized that what was happening in my life was all part of Gods plan.

I had to stop trying to control what was happening and let Him take the wheel.

I have always had a controlling personality. I always like things to be orderly and when I can’t anticipate exactly what is going to happen I feel uneasy and out of sorts. Part of my lesson was learning that  I can not control my life. That is Gods job. I realized that the idea of “control” is totally unrealistic and absurd.

I love it when I can really see God working with my life. It’s an amazing thing. I still struggle with “thinking” that I need to control what is going on in my life and I still pray about that a lot.

What can you let go of today?

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)

In times of desperation, we turn to many places and things to “help” us, very few lead us into God’ will. Anything other than God’s will is less than His best and I think we’d all agree that we’re after God’s best in our lives. So, in times where we’re facing impossibilities, we’re going to have to turn to the One who does the impossible…we must turn to God. When we’re sure that we can’t handle the pressure at work, when we’re overwhelmed and can’t see a way that the bills will be paid, when we see no way of saving our marriage, when it seems there’s no way of losing the weight we need to lose, and when we’re certain there’s no way we can go on another day, it is God who makes “a way.”  God has promised that He will make “a way.” He will help you.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

The deserts of our lives are those times of emptiness and desperation; God says He’s making a way through it. The wasteland is the failed expectations of our lives, those areas of our lives that have dried out and continue to sap our soul; God says He’s making streams there. In the desert and wasteland of your life, God is there and He’s making a way through it all.

“I am the way and the truth and the life.”  John 14:6 (NIV)

When you ‘re looking at your life’s struggles and you clearly see “no way,” look to God… He is the way. We’re reminded in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (AMP) that “no temptation…has over-taken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man…but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (a means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.” God always has a way for us if we seek Him, wait for Him, and refuse to give up on Him. God has a plan for you, to help you, to give you a future and a hope…He has heard your prayers. (Isaiah 59:1) He will provide you with all you need to keep pressing on in faith, no matter how long it takes; you will have the victory you are seeking… “if it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3 NLT) Rest assured through the promises of God, His help is “on the way.”

About the Author:
Cherie Hill is the author of Be Still: Let Jesus Calm Your Storms, and an Amazon.com Shorts Bestselling author in the Christian genre. She has a BA in Psychology, a Biblical Counseling Certificate through the AACC, and is continuing studies through the Moody Bible Institute. Cherie is the founder of ScriptureNow.com Ministry that brings the Word of God and prayer, into over 30 countries around the world everyday. (reaching over 100,000 people every year)
Cherie brings instructive and uplifting teaching of the Word of God across the world through the “SpiritWaves™” audio ministry on EzraWebRadio.com and GloryStar Satellite Radio, with a subscriber base of 11 million people.
Cherie’s podcast, “FaithSteps” ranks consistently in the top 100 Christian podcasts in the world on GodCast 1000.

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.

My typical approach to bad news over the past several years is to joke it off and brush myself off. Get up, keep going, smile firmly intact (though gritted teeth and a tear just about to roll down the cheek is my reality). Then it lingers under the surface for way to long.

So I immediately asked Jesus to heal me in this. And here’s what I felt Him say, “I am proud of you. I created you to write and I think you are a good writer. I am sorry that you are disappointed by this. I know you’re sad. But keep going. I love you.”

Then I put on some praise music and worshiped, loudly, with the windows rolled down in my car.

This wasn’t an “I praise You even though you killed my dream, Jesus” kind of worship time. This was an “I’m really, really sad but I love You no matter what” kind of worship time.

Then I kicked it into high gear, working on the next steps that I knew I could do something about. But I know I’m not fully healed. I’d been holding out hope for these two books for a long, long time, and I am very, very sad. It will take a while for the balm of God’s perfect will for my life to assuage the feelings of being passed over, of not being good enough, of yet another dream going unfulfilled. But the healing will come. And my emotional skin will grow yet another layer of thickness to withstand what life throws at me. And I will move on. And I will keep writing. I don’t break that easily.

What uphill battle are you climbing your way through these days? Are your kids wearying you at every turn? Are you and your husband deeply at odds? Is this ominous economy keeping you up at night? Do you feel like God has called you to something and then left you out to dry?

Keep walking. Keep praying. Keep leaning on friends and Jesus. Keep doing what you feel compelled to do. You may not see the results in the near future…but it will, I promise, be all wrapped up and made all too clear the reasons why in the end. Just keep doing what you feel you need to do. And then just watch how His love gets you through.

© Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2009

About the Author:

Elisabeth lives with husband, Kevin, and children, Sara, 12, and Jack, 10-&-1/2, in Elburn, Illinois. She is the author of the devotionals, In Search of Calm: Renewal for a Mother’s Heart (Xulon, 2005), and Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom’s Weary Soul (Kregel, 2001); the monthly column, “Moments for Mom”; and for two years was the contributing editor of the “Mothering Matters” section of MOPS magazine, MomSense. After ten years of leading Women’s Ministry and four years on staff at Christ Community Church – Blackberry Creek Campus over Adult Ministry and Community & International Impact, she is now devoting her time to speaking and writing, working on her next two books. Her passion is to encourage women and the Church, and applying her gifts to eradicating global poverty, as well as local and global AIDS, one small step at a time, which she hopes to fulfill through her writing and speaking, and her connections with Open Door Clinic in the Fox Valley area and her church’s partnership in Bo, Sierra Leone. You can learn more about Elisabeth at www.elisabethcorcoran.com, on Facebook or on her blog at http://elisabethcorcoran.blogspot.com/.

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.

If you have a lot of pictures I know that the idea of getting them organized seems like a huge project (because it is).  If you want your photographs to last through the generations, it’s important to preserve those memories today.

So where to we begin?

If it’s one pile or one box, the point really is to just start. The first thing you need to do is start the sorting process. Determine how you want to sort your pictures, if it’s by date (you can sort in chronological order), by person/family member (you can sort by family name or specific person) or by era/decade (you can  sort by a specific generation or time in history).

It’s important to remember that when you have thousands of pictures, it will take a long time to sort them out. Schedule time each week or month to work on the project but remember to be consistent.

Deciding what to keep is probably the hardest part of sorting. Some good rules to consider are:

1. Only keep pictures of the people you know. If you don’t know who is in the picture why keep them. It’s always helpful to document on the back of the picture who is in the image.
2. If the image is blurry or deteriorated, it’s probably not a good idea to keep those picture either. They will only get worse over time or damage your other pictures.
3. Get rid of duplicates or multiple shots or angle of the same image, it’s just more of the same.

Lastly, try not to go out and purchase storage containers until AFTER you have completed the sorting process. You won’t know what kind of storage you will need until you know what you are going to keep.

Once you have a handle on the past pictures you can then maintain a good system of storage for the pictures to come. Anymore, most photographs are stored digitally which saves you the time of sorting as they sort themselves when you download them.

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!

Be sure to have a good work surface to give you enough room to work and not be cramped. Another important element is a proper chair so you can be comfortable while sitting (or standing), and finally ask yourself if you have enough lighting in the space so you aren’t straining your eyes.

Functionality: It’s important to always look at how you work when being creative. How you flow within the space will dictate what type of workspace and storage you will need to put into place and where. Do you prefer to stand or sit while working? Do you have a limited floor space and more wall space? Are you sharing the space with another purpose?

When considering how the space will function, it’s important to do a little homework and maybe draw out a floor plan to see how you can maximize the space you have all while minimizing the effort you will have to put in while maintaining it.

Practicality: Let’s face it, when being creative it’s logical to think that everything is usable and nothing is rubbish. Every scrap of paper, ever strip of ribbon can serve a purpose, right? It’s important to establish practical boundaries of what we can and can’t keep within the space.

If you are a paper crafter you might consider only saving scraps of paper that are bigger than 3×5. Anything smaller can be tossed without regret. Maybe the same rule would apply if you are a quilter. Once a space is organized and you have established practical boundaries you will find yourself having less to manage and more time to spend doing what you love!

My children are four and two years old and they are more challenging than most (not as in spoiled, but as in needing more time than the average kid). Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

My main advice would be to cut yourself some slack. Things will get easier and more manageable as your kids get older.

My practical advice is this:

1. Plan out menus each week.

I literally spend about two minutes on this. I have a small magnetic dry-erase board that I keep on my refrigerator. Each Sunday, I write out the days of the week and what we’ll have for supper that day. (Lunches almost always consist of sandwiches or something easy like that since it’s just me and the kids.)

This makes grocery shopping a breeze because I know just what ingredients I need. It also alleviates the nagging thoughts of “what are we going to eat tonight?” If possible, have one or both of your kids help you decide what to put. You’ll be surprised at how much they like having a say in what goes on that board!

2. Set a day for everything.

My days look something like this:

• Mondays – Housework and laundry (and business tasks as time allows)
• Tuesdays – Grocery shopping and business tasks (this used to be during naptime, but is now during preschool time)
• Wednesdays – Bible study and lunch with hubby (and business tasks as time allows)
• Thursdays – Business tasks as much as possible with playtime in between
• Friday – Take it Easy Day (and business tasks as time allows)
• Saturdays – Laundry
• Sunday – Church and a good, long nap

It seems a little boring on paper, but I can’t tell you how much this little schedule has saved my sanity. I know when I get up in the morning what I have ahead of me and it is broken into manageable segments. You’ll find that scheduling things amongst these “main” schedule items will get easier and easier as you get used to the schedule.

About the Author: Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. Jill is a co-author of the upcoming book So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom (Beacon Hill, Sept. 2009). Jill welcomes work-at-home questions at http://AskJill.cwahm.com.

Many of us will remember Candace Cameron Bure from ABC’s Full House, where we affectionately knew her as “DJ Tanner.” Today Candace is a role model to young women everywhere, with a testimony of growing up in Hollywood, while growing in faith with God.

This month, Candace gets candid with a reader who hopes to win her husband to Christ.

I am married to an unbeliever. He and I got together real young, had a kid, and for the most part are very compatible with each other . The only problem is that I’m a new Christian trying to strengthen my faith, and he’d rather not discuss the topic of God, as he has had it rough growing up, and tends to use that as an excuse.

My question is, where do I go from here? I want my son in a strong Christian environment. For the most part, my husband is okay with me teaching him about God, taking him to church and praying.  He just doesn’t cooperate.

As his wife, I don’t want to force anything on him at all. And I know I have to deal with the natural consequences of marrying a non believer, but my house WILL serve the Lord!

We watched Fireproof last night, and I got the message. Maybe I should just worry about myself, and my faith in God, and hope that he sees Christ through me.

But I’m scared we will grow apart even more. We have free will; God wants us to willingly love Him. I just don’t want to be overbearing. He has major anxiety, and I seriously feel like we’re living in two different worlds lately. I hate watching him suffer with anxiety and not being able to do anything about it.

Yes, you can ask questions like this. I’m happy to recommend some things I think will help.

Neither my husband nor I cared much about God when we got married. Although we both had a basic belief in God, I became a true Christian before my husband. I prayed for his salvation for 2 years until I saw the fruit of those answered prayers when he gave his life to the Lord.

I’m glad you are asking these questions because that means you’re willing to seek answers and make some changes to your family life.  Could you and your husband grow apart because of the lack of union in Christ? Yes, it’s possible, but God also give a promise to wives concerning their unbelieving husbands.

1 Peter 3:1-2 - Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

Do you see the promise? If your husband does not believe the Word (that is, the bible, or Jesus himself) he may be won over (brought to Christ) without words (not by you saying a bunch of things to him) but by the behavior of their wife (your conduct), when he (your husband) sees the purity and reverence of your life (your spirit in Christ when you honor and reverence your husband).

Start praying for your husband’s salvation today and every day until it comes. Hold on to God’s promise and don’t let up no matter how difficult it gets. It is not wrong for you to obey your husband and have him lead your home even if he is an unbeliever as long as he isn’t asking you to sin. And I’m not talking about legalistic sins like when he’d rather take you and your son to the park and play on Sunday morning instead of going to church.  Go ahead and do that… being happy for the special time you’ll have together as a family.

It’s a wonderful thing that your husband doesn’t give you a hard time when teaching your son about Jesus or going to church. Be thankful for that! Take the season you’re in now to grow in your relationship with God, getting to know Him and His word better. Your husband doesn’t have to be at the same pace you’re at for you to teach your son or grow yourself. Trust in God’s love for you and for your husband. God can and will use YOU as a tool to bring your husband to Christ if you obey and yield to His ways. It may take 2 years of praying  like it did with my husband or it may take 35 years like it did for my dad. In any case, it will be in God’s timing, not yours. The question is, are you willing to hang on to the promise?

My favorite book on being the wife God created you to be is “Created to Be His Help Meet” by Debbie Pearl. You can find it at www.nogreaterjoy.org or a local Christian bookstore. At this point, you need to diligently pray for your husband, but don’t take the burden of his salvation upon your own shoulders. That’s God burden to bear. You are only accountable for your own actions, not your husband’s, although you should do everything you can to help your husband be the man God wants him to be.

Some examples? Don’t preach to him. If you’ve shared Christ as Savior with him, then let the words go and let your actions show. Your husband has anxiety? Listen to his troubles then sweetly let him know you’ll be praying about it for him. That’s all you need to say at that moment. Don’t be tempted to bust out the Bible and go into sermon about casting your anxieties upon God if He’s not open to hearing it at this point. But DO diligently pray to God and believe that He will meet the needs of your husband.

Proverbs speaks a lot about a wife, so listen up!

Proverbs 12:4
A worthy wife is a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones.

Proverbs 18:22
The man who finds a wife finds a treasure,and he receives favor from the Lord.

Proverbs 19:14
Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth,but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.

Proverbs 21:9
It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

Proverbs 27:15
A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.

Proverbs 31:10
[A Wife of Noble Character] Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.

You said it in your letter that you should just let Christ show through you and that’s exactly right. Let the sweet love of Jesus shine so brightly through you, that your husband will question what has gotten into his wife. Literally! The Holy Spirit. Let the spirit lead you as you show reverence and obedience to your husband.

About Candace:

Candace is best known for her role as DJ Tanner on ABC’s hit sitcom Full House. Over the years, Candace has been on a self-imposed hiatus in support of her husband, NHL hockey star Valeri Bure and their three beautiful children, ages 4, 6 & 8.

Candace currently speaks at various churches, colleges, and outreach events throughout the year sharing her testimony and Christian faith. She has a heart for evangelism and recently traveled on a missionary trip to Ghana, Africa. Her long history of charitable work includes the Starlight Foundation, Make-A-Wish, Compassion International, Children’s Hunger Fund and Sheridan House Family Ministries.

I’ve known for awhile that I have an enemy…that those of us who follow Christ and take this Christian walk seriously all have an actual enemy that’s as real as you and me. But he’s been prowling around like a lion…around my children. He’s been going after my children. And that is not alright with me.

My children are preteens and with that has come an entirely new shift in my mothering. What was once physically demanding with babies and toddlers and even young school-aged kids has morphed into one emotionally demanding mini-crisis after another. There are hurt feelings and attempted-boyfriends (I don’t think so) and grades that really do matter now and loneliness and lying from time to time. And, I’m sad to say, internet pornography.

Last week I did a fairly random check on my children’s computers and I found pornography on one of them. I literally fell to the ground and wept. Not my babies. Their innocence, in my eyes, gone. Stolen from them.

I walked around defeated for two days. My husband and I handled it, but I was still utterly defeated. Devastated. Felt like a failure of a mother.

I hadn’t prepared my children for this. They hadn’t even heard the word before that day. I didn’t punish them because I wasn’t angry with them. I was angry with myself.

And then I got some great reminders:

“There is nothing that satan can do that God cannot over do.” Not just undo. But completely restore and redeem.

“Those who are for and with us are greater than those who are for and with the enemy.” We are not alone in this fight. Whatever our current fight may be. We have a great cloud of witnesses on our side, cheering us on.

“There is more Jesus in your children than there is this mind clutter.” Yes, Lord. You are bigger than this.

So I took that anger that had been aimed at myself…those accusations of my failure…and I turned it around on the enemy of my family. I wasn’t going down without a fight. He wasn’t going to win this one. We did some practical things right away: we installed protection software, we’re limiting what websites they visit, how often they’re online. But we’re also getting to the heart of the matter, planning to take each of our kids through a great book on purity issues, and praying that the images in their minds will be erased, and having those hard, good conversations. Praying that good, somehow, will come from all of this. If for nothing else, it has already made us more intentional in our parenting.

So this month’s column is a warning. My kids are great kids being raised in a good, Christian home. They both have accepted Christ, they go to church each week and read their Bibles. We are raising them with biblical values and to love Jesus. Their computers are in a well-traveled room, both facing out for anyone to see. And they were not immune. Neither are your children. Your kids may be younger than mine…and if that’s the case, then good. Start now to talk to them about these issues in age-appropriate ways and to set up ways to protect them.

And remember, we have a very real enemy. He will go after your kids. But our God is bigger and more powerful than our foe, and we know who holds the final victory.

© Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2009

About the Author:

Elisabeth lives with husband, Kevin, and children, Sara, 12, and Jack, 10-&-1/2, in Elburn, Illinois. She is the author of the devotionals, In Search of Calm: Renewal for a Mother’s Heart (Xulon, 2005), and Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom’s Weary Soul (Kregel, 2001); the monthly column, “Moments for Mom”; and for two years was the contributing editor of the “Mothering Matters” section of MOPS magazine, MomSense. After ten years of leading Women’s Ministry and four years on staff at Christ Community Church – Blackberry Creek Campus over Adult Ministry and Community & International Impact, she is now devoting her time to speaking and writing, working on her next two books. Her passion is to encourage women and the Church, and applying her gifts to eradicating global poverty, as well as local and global AIDS, one small step at a time, which she hopes to fulfill through her writing and speaking, and her connections with Open Door Clinic in the Fox Valley area and her church’s partnership in Bo, Sierra Leone. You can learn more about Elisabeth at www.elisabethcorcoran.com, on Facebook or on her blog at http://elisabethcorcoran.blogspot.com/.

We’ve all heard, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Growing up…we might have even truly believed that saying. But as we grow older, we discover that we would actually prefer the sticks and stones…broken bones heal. The fact of the matter is that words hurt, and sometimes they cut deep enough to leave permanent scars. Before we know it, the root of bitterness and anger take hold and we find ourselves wrestling with how to bring justice to our suffering.

At times, there are people in our lives that we just stop praying for; we’ve all done it at some time or other, maybe without really realizing it. We beg God to have mercy on us for the wrongs that we’ve done, but cry out for justice upon those who have committed wrongs towards us. We find ourselves shutting people out who might live life contrary to our beliefs; those who don’t quite meet up to our expectations. (I’m certain there is someone you can think of at this very moment whose attitudes and actions irritate or inconvenience you.) They can bug us so much that it becomes “painful.” If they’ve hurt us in some way, either intentionally or unintentionally, we tend to shut them out. We “sign off” from them and forget the heart of God who is relentlessly committed to sinners. Jesus died for the ungodly. That includes you and me…and those who hurt us or offend us. That means we sin against God when we cease praying for them.

“Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.”

(1 Samuel 12:23 AMP)

We can’t force someone to be kind, loving, and considerate towards us. But we can live by example. We can “instruct them” by the way we live our lives.

“Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” —St. Francis Assisi

We so easily absorb the world’s disposition toward prejudice, hatefulness, or reactionary rejection of others. We are confronted with the contrast between God’s love for the world and our own. But, we must daily come to God’s throne of grace and be freed from the attitudes that have dominated our personal and cultural preferences and embrace the Savior who died for us.

The point is this, when others offend or hurt us, we place them in a category…grouped with others, who have offended us…more than likely, they’re not at the top of our prayer list. They’re being held captive by us, so that our suffering is not in vain. But even Jesus called out to God in prayer as He hung on the Cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Can we not do the same? We must make the decision to continue to call out to God on behalf of those who sin and cause us pain. We cannot compromise our discipleship and threaten our faith by turning our backs, instead of turning our cheeks. We cannot forget the Kingdom of God attitude that says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44 NIV)

We must daily ask ourselves if there is anyone we have stopped praying for…we may need God to help us recognize who that might be. We can’t justify our actions to cease praying by spite and through self-righteousness. God never gives up caring—neither should we. God, our Heavenly Father calls us to mirror His heart and never give up praying…for the enemy.

About the Author:
Cherie Hill is the author of Be Still: Let Jesus Calm Your Storms, and an Amazon.com Shorts Bestselling author in the Christian genre. She has a BA in Psychology, a Biblical Counseling Certificate through the AACC, and is continuing studies through the Moody Bible Institute. Cherie is the founder of ScriptureNow.com Ministry that brings the Word of God and prayer, into over 30 countries around the world everyday. (reaching over 100,000 people every year)
Cherie brings instructive and uplifting teaching of the Word of God across the world through the “SpiritWaves™” audio ministry on EzraWebRadio.com and GloryStar Satellite Radio, with a subscriber base of 11 million people.
Cherie’s podcast, “FaithSteps” ranks consistently in the top 100 Christian podcasts in the world on GodCast 1000.

Empty me of the selfishness inside

Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride

And any foolish thing my heart holds to Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with You!

I find on days when I am so consumed with “stuff”, I need stop and empty myself of me.  I think most people who meet me (and learn what I do), believe that it’s not hard for me to be organized; after all, I am an organizer. The reality is that it’s just as hard for me to be organized as it is for you.

What is the stuff you ask? It’s the paper, the laundry, the clutter, the toys, the phone calls, the emails do I need to go on? Okay, it’s the errands, the cranky kids, getting up early after a bad night sleep and so on. We all have it right? The stuff that is. I remember the day I gave myself to the Lord. It was shortly after my father passed away and I was really lost. I felt so out of control and unable to grasp what I was feeling within myself and I needed something. A dear friend who was a Christian took me to church with her. I remember watching the sermon and literally seeing a halo of light over the pastors head. I kept thinking something was wrong with my eyes.  The Lord was calling me that day telling me that it was going to be okay. He was there for me and that day I gave myself to Him. I knew from that moment on I had a long road ahead of me. It was a road I was willing to travel and that no matter what, I would make my small steps each day to get there. Sometimes I feel the reason I was called to help others is because the Lord knows my challenges I had with finding my starting point. And that I can help others find theirs.

If it’s 15 minutes each day, just start. If it’s just before you go to bed (or first thing in the morning), just start!

If it’s 1 hour a week, just start. Don’t look at the whole problem or challenge, just find that piece you can do today, just start.

Start with a simple task. Pair up a simple task with something you do every day or week. If you have a cup of coffee in the morning, do your simple task while you are having your coffee. It doesn’t seem as overwhelming and can easily become part of your routine!

Start with sorting. If it’s paper or laundry sort through it. Discard the rubbish, file away any papers or do a load of laundry. The important thing is to get into the habit of working through the piles. It really comes down to habits. We get into bad habits that allow us to make excuses of why we don’t do what we know we should or need to do. No matter how big (or little) your challenges might be, the important thing is to just start!

Where are you going to start?

1. Take stock. If you have a few big ticket items to sell, it’s worth your time. If you do a quick walk through the house, you can probably find additional items to add to the sale. With five big ticket items you can really draw shoppers to your sale.

2. Advertising Pays! I never thought that advertising was worth the time or money but it can really pay off. By showcasing the 4-5 key items/ in your ad, you can draw the right kind of crowd early. Most hard core garage salers will be there right when you open to snatch up the goods.

3. Key Items. Anything will sell in a garage sale, but it’s always a good idea to have a few key items that bring in the masses. Things like sporting goods, baby items and kitchen appliances always attract a crowd.

4. Invite Friends. If you are concerned about the amount of stuff you have, invite friends to bring their stuff over. In addition to making the sale bigger and better, you can create a schedule with shifts to share the workload.

5. Picking Times. Be sure to see when the popular time is posted in your paper for a sale. Some areas do a Friday and Saturday sale, while other areas may find Saturday and Sundays work best.

6. Planning Ahead. It pays to do a little planning. Some specific things you should have are: plastic bags, small change, dollar bills, tables, canopies (if rain is in your future) or tarps. Either way, do a little pre-planning and it will save you the stress on the day before or day of the sale?

7. Label, label, label. There is nothing worse than items that aren’t priced. Even if you position your sale as a “best offer sale,” people may or may not like to negotiate and pass up good saleable items. It’s important to price everything out clearly and evenly.

8. Create a plan. When putting your items out on the driveway, be sure to keep like with like. All the kitchen items together and so on, this will make it easier for all your shoppers to browse for what they need.

9. FREE box. FREE attracts shoppers. You can put some random things into the free box and add to it all day long if you need to. Be sure to put that box close to the front of the sale so your shoppers see it as they drive by!

10. The Leftovers. Be sure to have a plan for the leftovers. At the end of the day either arrange for a pick up or a drop off so that you don’t have to repack all the clutter.

With a little pre-planning and de-cluttering you might find that a garage sale can free up some space inside your home and put a little more money in your pocket. What’s not to love about that?

Here are a few life lessons that work-at-home moms can glean from this lovely lady in Scripture:

1. Strive to Be a Women of Noble character
“A wife of noble character … is worth far more than rubies.” (v. 10)

It doesn’t necessarily sound like much to be of “noble character” (actually, it sounds rather snooty), but Merriam-Webster defines noble as meaning, “possessing outstanding qualities.” Can you think of someone in your life that fits that description, someone who has “outstanding qualities?” Chances are, this is a person that you love to spend time with and that’s definitely the type of woman I’d like to become.
2. How to Have a Happy Husband
“Her husband has full confidence in her” (v. 11)

While this may not give us an exact formula for a happy husband, it certainly is true that husbands are more relaxed when their household is calm. If we are looking out for our husbands best interests, putting them before ourselves, how could we help but develop our spouse’s “full confidence” in us?

3. Work Hard
“She … works with eager hands” (v. 13)

Being a work-at-home mom is not an easy task. Everything about it takes work. However, if you’re at home with your kids, following you dream, building a business, hopefully you wake up each morning (or at least most mornings) eager to get started and see what the new day brings.

4. Live a Disciplined Life
“She gets up while it is still dark” (v. 15)

Early morning hours, naptime “jam sessions” and late night work time are all generally part of a mom’s life. The more disciplined we are throughout the day, and especially during work times, the more we can accomplish. The Proverbs 31 woman recognized this and started her days before the sun rose.

5. Take Chances
“She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.” (v. 16)
“She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.” (v. 24)

What a creative woman.  She brings in some extra money to help pay the bills – no wonder her husband has “full confidence in her” even when she is taking a risk. Consider this: there was no online ordering system when Proverbs was written. This gal made the garments and sashes ahead of time, hoping they would sell. She bought land hoping to create a successful vineyard. She stepped out of her comfort zone because she saw a market for the products she would be creating.

6. Make Prudent Decisions
“She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.” (v. 18)

This woman took time to think through each decision she made – she bought the fields with vineyards in mind; she made the garments and sashes with customers mind; she made sure that her provisions were in place for her family and servants (v. 15). We would do well to learn from this – look honestly at whether our “trading is profitable” and we can make wise decisions.

7. Be Generous
“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.” (v. 20)

This woman knew that in God’s system priorities tend to be the opposite of what we find in society. She recognized that in order to truly be successful in God’s eyes she needed to tend to what matters to Him – His children. By reaching out and helping those less fortunate than herself, the woman of Proverbs showed her thankfulness for all that God had given her.

8. Get Organized
“She can laugh at the days to come.” (v. 25)

Why can she laugh at the days to come? Look back through the verses above (or better yet, read entire passage HERE) and you’ll see that she is not worried about the future for two reasons: 1) She trusts God and knows that He will care for her; 2) She knows that she has done all she can to prepare for whatever lies ahead.

9. Seek Wisdom
“She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” (v. 26)

How do we gain wisdom? The book of Proverbs is full of sayings about wisdom and how to attain it. It all boils down to this: “For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov. 2:6) Seek the Lord, ask Him for godly wisdom.

10. Strive to Please God
“A woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” (v. 30)

Above all else, what sets the Proverbs 31 woman apart is that she loves the Lord. Our goal in every area of our life – personal, family, business – should be to glorify God.

About the Author:
Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. Jill is a co-author of the upcoming book So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom (Beacon Hill, Sept. 2009). Jill welcomes work-at-home questions at http://AskJill.cwahm.com.

Your roadside stand customers offer to pay you, if you’ll keep your vegetables.
Your pesticide company sprays you instead.

You hire a lawyer, to defend yourself, from the class-action lawsuit the locust file against you.

You’re able to grow more mold in the desert, than veggies in your garden.

You hire the United States Secretary of Agriculture, as a consultant, to get a row of radishes to sprout.

Your heart tells you “yes!”; your knees tell you “no!”

Your weeds are your best friends, not your enemies. (You figure, at least with the weeds, something is growing.)

You don’t have fourteen trillion zucchinis to pass out in late August

Your sweat is how you water your garden, causing flooding to kill your plants.

You buy veggies at the store and then lay them around in your garden, to impress others

Your woodchucks know your first name and you attend Junior Woodchuck’s high school graduation.

You attempt to rototill your driveway.

Your neighbor’s compost heap wins first place in the county fair, instead of your garden.

You drive your spade deep into the ground for the first time and lights flicker in the neighborhood.

You planted on New Year’s Day, because the seeds were on sale.

Your rabbits actually prefer the plastic vegetable display on your kitchen table.

Your slice of cheese, in the bottom of the frig, is the only thing green growing on your property.

Your zucchinis are bought by the United Starts Defense Department, for artillery training.

The only Burpee in your garden is from indigestion.

About the Author:
By Cheryl Moeller, read more of her humor and check out her books on
www.momlaughs.blogspot.com

1. What is your passion?

Answer this question with the first thing that comes to mind: If money were no object and you could do anything, what would you do? You might have answered “be a writer”, “speak at conferences”, “bring my product idea to life” or any number of things. Whatever your answer, this most likely is your passion. I challenge you to take the time to ponder this and see if there is a way to bring your dream to fruition.

2. What types of things did you like to do as a child?

Many times the toys and games we loved as children give us a glimpse into who we have become as adults. If you loved climbing trees, you may now be an “outdoorsy” type of person. Think about how this might be incorporated into your business. For instance, you might enjoy setting up outdoor birthday parties for children or selling herbs from your backyard garden.

3. What type of products would you be interested in representing?

If you’re looking in the direction of direct sales, whether that be your own product or an established home-based business option, you need to think through what types of products you’d be comfortable presenting to your customers. Take the time to do some research and find a product that truly excites you. Your customers will see your sincerity and that can sell a product just as easily as a fancy presentation.

4. What skills and experience do you bring to the table?

If you’ve left the corporate world in favor of working at home, you’ve undoubtedly brought with you a set of skills. There may be a way to market those skills in a new way and turn them into a profitable business. For instance, if you were an executive assistant you may be able to type 80 words or more per minute. You could set up shop as a Virtual Assistant and help other business owners in processing orders, transcribing documents and much more.

5. Are you thinking outside of the box?

Most of us have a fear of the unknown. We many times assume that if we haven’t done something before, it is simply out of reach. This carries over to the business world as well. We take our products or services and market them in the same way that we see other business owners using. However, it can be much more effective to find new and innovative ways to market. One home-based business owner I know sells stuffable toy kits. Instead of using the usual home parties and birthday party events, she works almost exclusively with children’s hospitals doing fundraisers. She makes a great living and helps not only the hospitals, but the children as well. She is a great example of unique marketing and overcoming the mundane marketing methods that so many business owners resign themselves to.

Your home-based business should be unique to you. It should make you want to get up each morning excited about the possibilities of the day ahead. Take the time to thoroughly think through the questions above and you’ll be on your way to making a great, well thought out decision that has your name written all over it!

About the Author:
Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. Jill is a co-author of the upcoming book So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom (Beacon Hill, Sept. 2009). Jill welcomes work-at-home questions at http://AskJill.cwahm.com.

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Now, when there’s only one child left at home, I don’t seem to have any energy. I drag myself out of bed each morning. I wander from room to room, trying to remember what I was trying to accomplish. What’s happened to my world?

When I Google the word depression, two different types of sites pop up, some refer to “The” Great Depression and the others, symptoms and cures for “a” depression. One of the dictionary’s entries for an economic depression refers to dullness and inactivity, which I think describes both types appropriately.

Webster also states an economical depression is a period during which business, employment, and stock-market values decline severely or remain at a very low level of activity. Hmmm. Has the government just not announced how bad it is yet?

I watch the evening news regularly. Partly out of habit, part out of desire to know what is going on in the big world, which will, in turn, affect my small world. Regardless, the repetitive reporting of high unemployment, falling stock prices, and repeated government intervention into private business matters is no longer just feeding an economical depression—it’s contributing to some serious emotional depression as well.

I am, after all, familiar with the emotional kind.

My family has some great genes. We inherit longevity, great skin, and overall good health, but our eyesight is poor and most of the women with my genes suffer from some form of depression. It is a fact of life. And it’s not an easy one.

An emotional depression is defined as a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by an objective reason. Huh? If I weren’t so dull minded and depressed, I might be able to understand that.

Feeling depressed is like what I would imagine it would feel like to try running in waist-high mud while it’s foggy. My body is constantly tired, and I can’t seem to acquire clarity of thought.

I know I’m not alone. Just as the current economy reminds us we are all connected by our wallets, my sisters’ struggles with their emotional health remind me we are connected by our genes.

Whether facing “The” or “a” depression, it doesn’t really matter. The solution to the problem is the same. David’s song in Psalms 13:1 reminds us he felt lost and alone, too:

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?”

A few chapters later in Psalm 34:4 his tone changes:

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

He delivered me from all my fears.”

Depressions, whether economical or emotional, will come and go. They aren’t a life sentence, just a season of life. Just like the other four seasons, we just have to get through them. Hang on. We’ll make it through this season, too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sandy McKeown is a contributing author to Laundry Tales to Lighten Your Load, One Year Life Verse Devotional, and Chicken Soup for the Chocolate Lover’s Soul. She is a regular columnist for Christian Work At Home Moms and speaks frequently to audiences, helping them discover today’s difficulties aren’t a life sentence, just a season of life. Sandy can be reached through her website at www.sandymckeown.com.