Before You Stare At Someone Unusual...
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Marya shares her experiences in having a disability that catches attention, both her own and her child's. She's so open it inspires us.
Finding a Safe Place After Crisis
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Holidays have a way of magnifying any crisis that we might be facing. Do you feel as though you're at the bottom of a pit you can't climb out of?
Faydra Koenig offers you a safe place where you can safely talk, get help and work through whatever crisis you are facing right now. No matter how bleak things may seem to you right now, you have the chance to stand up and reclaim your life. Learn to put aside the pain, shame and loneliness and find new hope and direction for your life.
Maybe you can't see it from where you are right now, but Faydra can help show you the way out. She'll share the same tools she used to overcome child abuse, infidelity and scandal.
Visit DoingLifeWithFaydra to help find your way out.
My Top Tips for a Stress Free Christmas
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It's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year....but maybe not so much as holiday stresses, family and money concerns tend to pile up during this time of year. This blogger offers some sanity saving tips to help you focus on what's truly important during this time of year.
It doesn’t have to be perfect! For so many years, I would get super stressed at Christmas thinking that everything had to be perfect. But I have learnt (the hard way!) that it doesn’t! People won’t remember the perfectly folded napkins, they won’t remember the perfectly wrapped colour co-ordinated presents, and you know what? They won’t even remember the perfectly cooked, immaculately decorated dessert that you spent hours on. What they will remember is the atmosphere, the laughter, the Christmas where you dropped the dessert when you were carrying it to the table. And they will remember the memories that are created by just being with family and friends.
Gingerbread Houses at the Historic Grove Arcade – Asheville, NC
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I love all things Christmas...winter, snow, trees and gingerbread houses. Unfortunately I live in Florida so I really enjoy it when other bloggers share their travel adventures. Join this blogger for a fun trip to Asheville, North Carolina to see some amazing gingerbread displays!
Have you ever made a gingerbread house?
Five Ways to Deal with Anxiety and Depression | The Architect and The Artist
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The holidays can be a difficult time of year for those of us who struggle with depression and anxiety. It's so important for us to stay grounded in God's Word, as well taking care of our emotional and physical health.
This blogger gives us some helpful reminders to navigate anxiety and reading suggestions to help us focus our thoughts.
Through the struggle there is hope. I have found that my life has become richer and more anchored in God simply because I have had to battle my moods. While it has never been easy, I have grown because of the hardship. My prayer for you is that if you struggle with either monster that you will lean into God to help you through.
Five Ways to Deal with Anxiety and Depression | The Architect and The Artist.
Can Protestants & Evangelicals Celebrate Advent?
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I remember little Advent boxes from Germany from when I was growing up and enjoyed opening up the little window, but I never really understood the spiritual significance of Advent until I become an adult.
Focusing on Advent can keep us from getting bogged down with holiday stress as we focus on the most important part of the season - the coming of Christ.
This blogger from a Protestant background explains the Advent Tradition and provides some helpful tips and resources to help readers observe this beautiful tradition.
Advent doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, for me, the more simple, the more meaningful it becomes. Advent doesn’t have to be Pinterest perfect. Light a candle each night at dinner and read a verse from one of the books below. Read one of the books below at bedtime. Pray each day in December and thank God for the gift of His son. There are many Advent traditions, but we aren’t bound by those traditions. Just making this time of year special, with a focus on Jesus, is just what we need sometimes!
A Word Fitly Spoken: When Your World Crumbles Apart
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We're all familiar with the old phrase "When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade." This blogger offers a new take on that thought with asiago cheese of all things! Sometimes our carefully made plans just fall apart but many times there is a way that we can take those bits and pieces to make something new.
When your world crumbles apart, don't despair or give in. Look at it as an opportunity to explore new options and discover new pathways. Don't retire; re-purpose.
Five Things about Nicolas
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Did you know that October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month? Today I decided to find one of my old posts to curate.
It wasn't easy for me at the beginning when I learned my new baby had Down Syndrome. But with time, I learned that it wasn't the end of the road, just a bend in the road.
Nicolas was also my inspiration to start my own blog just over a year ago. Here's a little bit about him!
12 years after his appearance into our family none of us are the same. We’re long past the initial fear and apprehension. There have been many joys and some heartache but would not have missed it for the world. Our family would never be the same without him.
Five Things about Nicolas - Natural Health for Special Needs Moms.
For further reading:
My hour with Oscar de la Renta
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You may know that the legendary fashion designer Oscar de la Renta passed away recently. I thought it would be interesting to feature this blogger who shares great pics and the unique experience of seeing some traveling exhibits that feature his work and artistry while they were visiting the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
I can only imagine what it must be like to wear a custom-designed dress that takes into account a woman’s form, function, and fantasy… but Laura Bush knows—and she shared her love and appreciation for her friend, Oscar de la Renta, in a video introducing the exhibit. I just re-watched it, and to see his smile and love of life is a good reminder for me to live every moment to its fullest! I hope you do the same!
Have You Found Your Support Sister?
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In this age of cyber friends, it's easy to forget that we need real life fellowship and support. Do you have a friend who will lift you up and be there through thick and thin? If not, this blogger encourages us to do the following...
Begin today asking God to bring that woman into your life that you can lift up in prayer and who would be willing to fall at the feet of Jesus for you. If you have that friend in your life right now, thank them. Let them know what a blessing they are and how they have impacted your life. Thank God for giving you a gift of support and sisterhood!
Read further at Have You Found Your Support Sister | The Brown Tribe
A Word Fitly Spoken: Following After Fear
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As we read the stories of the Old Testament prophets it's easy to see that despite seeing the power and presence of God firsthand that they struggled with doubts and fears such as we do. This blogger shares her own struggle with doubting God's provision and trying to trust in her own strength.
I tried to justify my actions by saying, "Well, it was probably God who allowed me to think of this brilliant idea, so this is how He's meeting my need." But the sense of uneasiness would not go away. When I told Jason my grandiose plan, he shook his head and said, "No, Dana, that's not the way." I pouted, but I still wasn't convinced that my plan was not part of God's will. . . until I remembered the lesson I had just taught on Obadiah. -
Read more at A Word Fitly Spoken: Following After Fear.
The Burdens We Bear
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As an adult child of a narcissistic mother, finding normalcy in my adult life has been a long journey. It's one that I'm beginning to suspect will not be finished this side of heaven.
It hasn't been easy finding writings on this subject from a Christian perspective and I was happy to find this blog and pass it on to the Faithful Bloggers Community.
There comes a point in all our lives where we become all accountable for what we’ve done in effort to cope with what’s been done to us; and to avoid it, only layers on more weight than we we’re designed to handle.
In fact, we weren’t designed to handle any weight beyond what God designed to be in our hands.
What Does Jesus Think Of Outcasts?
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We often read of Jesus coming along the outcasts of his time to minister to and heal them. How does it look for us in modern times? Who are the outcasts, the "least of these" and how can we show them the love of Christ?
This blogger reminds us that present day outcasts include:
Poor
Disabled
Mentally Ill
Anyone with different sexual preferences
Anyone with different religious beliefs
AIDS patients
Convicted felons
Anyone that has ever been in jail
Sex Offenders
Who can you go and touch today? What Does Jesus Think Of Outcasts?.
Risking Failure
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Most of us don't really like failure, and we might even avoid it at all costs. But in life, everyone faces failure at some point. For those who choose to take risks and live outside their comfort zone, failure tends to be a more common reality. And it's not always a bad thing.
This blogger talks about how we respond to failure and why failure is ultimately okay. Sometimes, it might be the best thing that happens to you. She highlights how God can do amazing things through our failures. And more importantly, how sometimes it's better to risk failure than to hold back.
At some point we have to decide that we would rather live life failing from time to time then to die with regrets of not trying those things God puts in front of us. I have lived on both sides of the coin and I can promise you the pain of failure is dull in comparison to the pain of not trying!
How the Influential Wife Defeats Goliath
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Busy wives and moms often struggle with making the time for healthy communication with their husbands. It can be hard, during the daily stresses of life to make the effort to communicate clearly.
This blogger reminds us that God has much to say in His Word about our influence and role as a wife. We must make a daily decision how we will use that influence.
The Lord has anointed us as the wife to be influential to our husband. A good wife is portrayed as a blessing, but a bad wife influences her husband for evil.
Life Outside the Shell: {Marriage Monday} How the Influential Wife Defeats Goliath.
Brokenness to Healing
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Life isn't perfect, and sometimes it leaves us hurt. Wounded from heated words tossed out during an argument, or broken after a relationship gone amok. Healing from the hurts can be a long journey, difficult to maneuver in the midst of pain.
Join this blogger as she writes her way through her journey of brokenness and healing through the month of September. Hurt can be transformed into healing, through the grace of an ever-loving God.
We are all broken. Not a single one of us escapes unscathed by the hurts of life. The goal is to transform the hurt into healing and to take the pain and give it a purpose, because a wound that won't heal only stinks and eats away at us.
via Hope and Healing {An Introduction} | The Architect and The Artist.
Homeschooling: When Expectation Meets Reality
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Are you trying to get back in the swing of homeschooling this fall? Often our high hopes and expectations clash with reality. This blogger writes about the spiritual lesson she learned when a homeschooling lesson turned difficult.
While it is important that my daughter learns how to write, there is a much more important lesson to learn. Just like me, she needs to learn how to cope with her anxiety, and ultimately, how to rest in God’s grace when faced with challenging assignments.
It is always best to follow God’s plan, rather than my lesson plan. I thought I was teaching writing on this day, but the lesson turned out to be about how grace and trust overcomes anxiety and fear.
Beauty in the Storm
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In life, storms will rage. During those times, it can be hard to see the Lord working, and it can test our faith. But if we strive to keep our eyes open, we can learn to see the beauty in the storm, as this blogger explains.
The wind is raging, storm clouds looming over the waves and in my mind.
I see where I don’t see and it frightens me.
Uniting Homeschoolers in Prayer: September 1-11, 2014
/The news headlines grow more troubling by the day. As Christians, we should not allow ourselves to be overcome by fear and worry. We have a heavenly Father whose "dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." (Daniel 7:14) But we must pray.
Jen at Word Traveling is inviting homeschoolers around the country to come together and pray for our families, our homeschools, our nation and the world. This event will run from September 1-11 (that's this Monday!) and will feature a different prayer directive every night.
Learn more at Homeschool Prayer Movement.
Break Free and Dance
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New situations can be scary, and our natural tendency is to shy away from the changes and embrace what we know. But in doing so, we miss out.
This writer pours out her heart in a letter to her precious kindergartener, encouraging her to step away from the known and dance freely. To overcome the shyness and embrace a new and scary world, drinking in the many opportunities.
As your momma who struggled with insecurities and wanting to stay in my shell I will fight for you. I will not let you stay hidden, refusing to take chances in this world. Yes, it will be scary but it will be so worth it.
Life Outside the Shell: {I hope you dance} A letter to my kindergartner.
