a day in the life {plus a freebie}

Hi friends!  I am over visiting Nicole at The Tape Diaries today, giving you a snapshot of a day of my life.  It started something like this....

7:00AM.  It is Monday morning.  It's been a bit of an abnormal night.  The boys were up a lot and I actually was up with some sort of stomach virus (and I know that's all you care to hear about that).  So, on a normal Monday morning I am out of bed and ready for the day before the boys get up at 7am.  Today, however, I took my sweet time waking up and allowed the boys to tell me when they were ready.  Today, that happened to be right around 7am.  That is my sweet Isaac talking to the monitor camera.

I was debating staying home from bible study due to the rocky night before, but at the last minute we decided to make the most of our morning, go, and hope for the best. ;-)

Hop on over to The Tape Diaries to catch the rest of my day.  And to say hello!

In the meantime... I have some blog talk for you.

First of all, if you are interested in doing an Ad Swap I am more than happy to have your button on my along my sidebar with the rest of my friends!  Click on the link here or at the top of the page for further instructions, but I would love to support one another!

Second of all, you may have seen a pic on Instagram and due to popular demand I'm offering this printable today!

I know not all of you live in West Michigan, but being that it is my hometown and my picture, that's what you get. ;-)  More states/printables may be coming in the future.  If there is something you'd like to see, I'm open to suggestions.



Third of all, I hope all of you have a great Monday and week!



...

cookies you must make

In case you missed the blog swap I did with Aly yesterday, I'm back today to present you with the amazingly delicious gluten-free cookie recipe I shared on her blog.

Seriously.  I'm posting this again because they were that good.  I've been gluten-free for over three years and good cookies (or anything breaded) can be difficult to find.

For real.  Just go ahead and grab a large bowl and follow along. ;-)    

To see how to re-create this recipe as a Mason Jar Cookie Recipe Mix, click here.  

{there's also a free printable!}

little things for big change

I am so excited to have Aly over here today from Blossom.  Aly has been a favorite writer of mine for some time, and I'm so grateful for the friendship that is forming!  I invited her over here today to share her heart and some of the awesome things she is doing to grow the kingdom.  In the meantime, I am over at her blog talking about a delicious DIY Christmas gift!  I hope you will make Aly feel at home here. :-)

you know those days where you just feel like you're playing catch-up from the minute your feet hit the floor? the baby woke up four times, screaming from those stubborn teeth. the three year old is whining about the toast, she wants more butter. your husband accidentally overslept and he needs you to iron his shirt and you forgot to switch the laundry so his pants aren't dry.

the thing is, i have these days frequently. like, more often than not. maybe it's our season of life with two young girls, but maybe it's just me? either way, i'm tired. and sometimes i'm really ungrateful and my heart can get ugly. i want to pay someone to clean my house, but we can't afford it. we have too much house and it costs too much money. i'm overworked and underpaid, and while i'm at it? out of shape and my ragged hair hasn't been trimmed in months.

sometimes my emotions can just spiral out of control until i'm reeling about something that had nothing to do with anything in the first place. if it's not one thing it's another. i can always find something to be ungrateful for.

but then something like hurricane sandy hits, and suddenly my perspective jolts back to reality. it ravages the east coast and destroys whatever's in its path. and disappears leaving us with the mess. the media covers it for a few days, absolutely non-stop, and then they pick up and pack up leaving everyone behind. just like that the rest of the world moves on with their lives, forgetting anything ever happened. we're junkies that way, tragedies are like fads for some reason. we move on to the next one as soon as it leaps across our screen.

hurricane sandy moved me. all those sleepless nights with the teething baby? they don't seem so hard. the laundry and the dishes and the ironing? at least my home is intact, warm. at least my people are healthy and safe.

did you read about the woman who lost both of her boys in the raging current as it ripped them from her arms? absolutely devastating. it takes my breath away to read it again. my children are sitting next to me as i write, playing and giggling. i have so much to be thankful for.

i read about the families who were displaced and still living in temporary shelters as winter sets in to the northeast. food, water, warmth. those are their most basic needs. things that i take for granted every single minute of my life, and these are regular old folks just like you and me. everything was taken from them and they were powerless to stop it.

my heart has been heavy for these victims. and here's the thing: sometimes i can't know about an injustice or a suffering and just move on with my life, doing nothing. God will impress certain tragedies more than others. sure, i'm just one girl. but you know what? i also have a little print shop. and maybe i can't drop everything and give up a month of my life on the ground in the midst of the suffering. but what i do have? a little stream of income that i can steward in a way that makes a tiny dent. because lots of little dents make a really big dent, don't you agree? it's not glamorous or mind-blowing, it's just simple math. if lots of us do a little bit, big things can happen and communities can rebuild and people can feel loved and cared for.

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one."

- Mother Teresa

so a few of my friends and i got together and said, "hey. let's donate some of our sales for november and december for hurricane sandy relief". and that's what we're doing. you can read more about each shop-owner here. so far i've been able to donate just over $100 to this cause, and i'll be donating 25% of all shop proceeds for the rest of december. 

[click to get to my shop]

** the last day to order for Christmas delivery is next friday, december 14, but i will be donating all of december sales. so come back with your Christmas money or etsy gift card and you can still help!

thanks for your time, friends. and thanks Lindsy for having me!

readiness

It's a story I've told many times to many people.  The story of a fallen and confused girl who was living for herself, boys, popularity, clothes, money, the world.  Until somewhere around age 17 when God grabbed hold of her, shook her world up, and never let go.

My testimony.

Not long ago, I studied Ephesians with she reads truth.  I had memorized the armor of God when I was young and felt my eyes start to glaze over a bit as I got to that paragraph.  This time, though, God gave me a new nugget of truth.  A fresh perspective to take it in and put it on my life.  I read, with new eyes, about the readiness of the gospel of peace. 

I let the words sink in and thought about how this should play out in my life.  As I meditated on it, I felt convicted that the gospel should be on the tip of my tongue.  My conversations seasoned with gospel salt.  My eyes to see every opportunity as one to make great of Jesus and make little of me.

I have always been comfortable sharing my story and life in general.  If you know me, you know that I don't have much fear about speaking in front of people.  Large groups, small groups, doesn't matter.  God has given me a confidence in my words.  I know this is rare, which also means that I have had plenty of opportunity to speak.  Plenty of opportunity to share my story.

Both in house church and my monday morning bible study, we are in a season of sharing our stories.  I am loving hearing of God's goodness in my friends' lives.  But many have a hesitation and nervousness about sharing.  Not that they are afraid of their friends' impression.  Just the speaking.  And I understand, I really do.  But I can't help but think that it has been played up to be something it isn't meant to be.

My sweet friend, who admittedly is terrified of public speaking, shared that she spontaneously opened up about her story in church to a new friend.  And it just flowed.  God's truth just came out as she shared about her life.  And she realized that it didn't need to be a thought-out, put-together speech.  Just life and truth.  She was ready with the gospel on the tip of her tongue.  And God can be made even greater in a messy, nervous story.

And then I, on the other hand, will gladly speak when asked.  Perhaps too much at times, if I'm being honest.  But I wonder if the gospel is on the tip of my tongue.  If, even when not asked, Jesus will salt my conversations.

This has been on my mind for months, and there are two things I am praying for through this.

That I would know my story, in all it's seasons, and be able to relate it back to God's goodness and God's glory. 

And that I would be ready to share His goodness each time I speak.

Am I so very aware of God's goodness in my life, that I would be able to proclaim it to anyone, anytime?  Are you?