Dad has graced my doorstep more times than I can count, clothed in denim overalls with a box of tools at his side. I still remember the old red box he carried way back when I was too tiny to lift it, but plenty big enough to pass him each tool. The words ‘Andy the Handyman’ were hand written across the top, in permanent marker. Whether Dad wrote it himself, or it was the work of a pen-happy child, I’m not sure, but the label… Read More

Dearest sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to share my heart with you. I’ve been struggling. Struggling with how inept I am at nearly everything. Struggling with this “fog” I’ve been in for several months now. Struggling just to make a complete sentence that would prove that I’m still somewhat coherent. But like someone flailing around in quicksand, all my struggling only caused me to sink even faster and deeper. It’s when I stopped and was still, that I was able to cry out to our compassionate and merciful Father for help… Read More

Today I ate a 3 inch sub for lunch (which is a long way from the 12 inch subs I downed in former years), and for supper I ate a baked potato with the works—veggies on the side. That’s the way I’ve become accustomed to eating now: smaller portions, without skimping on the flavor.

But that’s not what I want to talk to you about this month, because God has laid something very different on my heart, which is the topic of taking every thought captive:

The… Read More

It was one of those days. I was weepy, hormonal, cranky, and generally out of sorts. I felt like I was going to scream because I’d been cooped up in the house with two kids, I had a work deadline breathing down my neck, AND I could feel a sinus infection coming on.

It had all started pretty well. That morning, seven year-old Jordan, two year-old Jackson, and I were cuddling on the bed and Jordan said, “Jackson is so cute I could die!”

Then it went downhill… Read More

Dear Sandy … There’s a family with a long-term health need near us right now that I’d like to help out with a meal or two, but I don’t know how many other people have been bringing them meals already, if any.  I’m also not a great cook. Can you give me any practical insights on showing love with food to those in need?

Hospitality isn’t just about fun and partying. A truly hospitable attitude touches the whole range of life experiences and emotions. And some of… Read More

It is a great time of year to give some attention to the front of our homes. Besides the obvious need to mow the grass, pull the weeds and wash some windows, what can we do to give our house the “wow factor” known as curb appeal?

A few quick changes can make even an average home stand out from the rest. Whether you are thinking of selling your home or simply want to welcome guests to your front door, here are three ways you can give your home the curb appeal… Read More

As a little girl who had lived all my short life in Washington state, I had no knowledge of how things were in the south. I didn’t realize, for example, that fishing is not an optional activity for Oklahomans. Apparently, even new, gangly-legged transplants are expected to pole-up and do their part.  So shortly after our move from my home state to his, my new step-father decided the seven-year old me needed an introduction. He loaded up the station wagon and took our family to his favorite… Read More

“Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps not record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
Love never fails.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, NIV

As I was perusing Bible verses to use for this column, this one leapt out at me as the most perfect verse to use on this Father’s Day. … Read More

Author of a dozen books, popular speaker, corporate educator and spokesperson, and mother of seven, Ellie Kay has walked her own financial talk and knows what it’s like to be strapped for cash and struggling. Within two and a half years, she went from being a new wife and stepmom to two children with $40,000 in consumer debt to being completely debt free-all on one military income! Within 15 years and while adding five more children to the family, Ellie and her husband were able… Read More

Loving my daughters has healed my spirit.

My mother died when I was 11 years old and my father was emotionally distant. I never heard him say he loved me. When he remarried I emotionally ‘left home’ and was an orphaned teenager for many years. I have no idea what it means to hear the affirmation from a father who is also a friend. It was the stiff upper lip environment of - boys don’t cry, keep dirty laundry to yourself, and ‘too much praise will make you… Read More

Light falls in the orchard, dappled among the gnarled limbs, and the apple blossoms fall too, a perfumed carpet for children’s bare toes. They’ve come, the children. Come to play under spring’s cloud of petals. They’ve come with teacups slid into great-grandma’s tapestry purse, a teddy bear stitched up for a long-ago birth, a blanket that once wrapped a newborn.

I string out laundry, wooden pegs between fingers.

The wind carries their voices with the blossom snow.

“You be Thelma and this is your tea set. The plastic… Read More

The temperatures are heating up and kids are filled with summer fever.  Summer time is a great season for reading good books.  Whether I am by the pool, visiting the beach, or staying inside my air conditioned home you can usually find me curled up with a book.

As a book reviewer you can imagine I read a lot of books, but I can honestly say 2009 has been the year of great books.  I wish I could give each one of the books listed… Read More

Let’s say we’re diagnosed with a severe illness—“Sickness X.”
Sickness X is a serious illness, to be sure, yet it can be cured by following a prescription that includes taking medicine and changing some specific habits. We trust our physician to know what he’s doing, so we get the prescription filled, begin taking the medicine, and follow the doctor’s orders so we’ll get better. Some medications are short term, some are long term, and others are for life. Some medicines have a bitter taste; others have no taste. … Read More

1. Make a budget (and stick to it). A budget overwhelms many people but it is really nothing more than devising a plan for every dollar you bring in. Having a budget helps you spend smarter and think more. It also helps to improve your buying power. The best way to make a budget is to start by sitting down with your spouse and deciding how much you spend on regular categories like groceries, gas, medical, etc. each month. Talk through these things and get them down… Read More

Magazine covers, billboards, and television screens—you can’t escape their screams–telling you how to look and dress, what size you should be. Living in a world filled with manipulated visuals of beauty is more than hard to swallow—it’s plastic, Photoshopped non-reality. The world’s view of beauty is downright unattainable and unreal—no wonder it’s extremely hard to see ourselves as beautiful.

“Do not confuse beauty with beautiful. Beautiful is a human judgment. Beauty is all. The difference is everything.” —Matthew Fox, actor on the Fox hit… Read More

Anytime Dad wanted to make his point he’d always call me Tammy Lynn. Middle names were given by mothers and fathers to make children sit up and pay attention, a sort of call to order when important things were being spoken.

Dad used to say with that, some day you’ll see that I’m right, tone of voice, “what you say is what you’ll get, so be sure to think before you speak, Tammy Lynn.”

I can vividly recall the days when I was thinking about what… Read More

Each month we choose one blogger from our list of over 4,000 women to be CWO’s blog of the month. This month’s pick is ‘Getting Down With Jesus’.  I sincerely believe Jennifer possesses a genuine heart for Christ and expresses this in all of her posts.  She’s been through some hardships but with that she remains faithful and clings to the Lord consistently.  She is a very, very precious woman of God who is married to a wonderful man, has two girls and lives on a farm.

Jennifer writes a… Read More

The Mamoth Marathon Salad reminds us that although some things take time to prepare there’s a great sense of accomplishment when we see the finished product.

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Phillippians 3:14 KJV)

In our city in the month of June is the annual Manitoba Marathon.  People of all ages attempt to run the 26.2 mile course.  The training for this is rigorous.  Like many marathons held all over the world, people train all… Read More