My life seems to grow more beautifully full every day. (At least, that’s the positive spin I give myself when I’m feeling more than a bit overwhelmed.) In all seriousness, I am so thankful for the many new opportunities in my life—the new courses I’m participating in, the launches I’m planning for, the book I’m…
“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed…
Bywpengine
A guest post by Rebecca Smith Since my last two guest posts here have been rather serious (here and here), I thought I’d lighten the mood this time. And bring you one of my favorite posts to read on the Internet. Lists. I believe they actually have a real name: LISTACLE. List + Article = Listacle….
Life isn’t always easy. Understatement of the year, I know. My point is that, even for the most optimistic among us, there are moments—perhaps even seasons—in life where it’s a struggle to find joy. It’s hard to remember what we have to be grateful for. Any hardship makes it hard to find happiness again. That’s…
A few weeks ago, nearly every Instagram post in my feed was asking me to turn on notifications, since Insta was shaking up their algorithm and (literally and figuratively) changing the natural order of things. And, for some people, that was a great solution to the “problem”. For me? Not so much. My intention for…
Bywpengine
A guest post by Jess Connolly I have never had a season before in my faith where I really struggled with, well… FAITH. I’ve had flashes of confusion or fear, but never full-on periods where I stopped believing in God or started questioning His goodness. Until this Lent. And this Lent, when by all appearances…
A few weeks ago, I stepped on the scale hopeful, and stepped off so frustrated. After three weeks of moderation, portion control, low-saturated fat, good monounsaturated fats, lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, no alcohol, and almost no dairy and no sugar, the darn thing had inched forward anyway. It’s been a lifelong struggle for me. I…
Well, my friends, it’s April 5th. We’ve made it a quarter of the way through 2016—and I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a little tired. Good tired. Accomplished tired. But tired, nonetheless. The last 96 days have been a flurry of activity—collaborations, conferences, workshops, planning, cooking, painting, travel, and more. And more than…
I grew up in what I would call a “perfect” household. Stable home, good family, solid upbringing… It was also a world that emphasized how much appearances matter. We were the kids who always wore tights with our neatly pressed dresses. We dusted every Saturday morning and kept very tidy bedrooms. Everything had a place…
