Guest Post by Gina of GinaMPoirier.com In an ideal world, I wake up after 8 ½ hours of sleep each morning before anyone else is stirring, stroll out to my kitchen and patiently brew a pot of coffee. I sit out on my back deck with my Bible in my lap or go for a walk, enjoying the picture-perfect day. I praise God for the wonders of creation, feel joyful in his presence and faithfully present my requests to him in prayer. Then I welcome the rest of my family to the day, lead my kids through a peaceful morning routine and pretty much knock the socks off the rest of my day, like any Christian supermom should. It’s a nice picture, isn’t it? Take a moment and indulge in this fantasy with me. Now let’s get real. Does the following sound familiar? I roll out of bed learn more...
You Have the Ability to Create a Life You LOVE — Here’s How
Did you know you have a super power? It's true. It's the ability to decide for yourself what your life is going to look like. Think about that for a minute: You. Get to decide. What YOUR life. Looks like. It's true. So a few months ago, knowing summer was right around the corner, I sat down to figure out for myself: What did I want my life to look like this summer? What would be a good schedule for me and for my family? Would I try to get a babysitter a couple days a week so I could write as much as possible, or would I babysit other people's kids instead? When would I work? When would I clean? When would I read the Bible? Would I stay up late or wake up early? What activities would I do with my kids, and when would I do them? What would my summer look like? How would I learn more...
6 Easy Ways to Nurture Your Children’s Faith This Summer
I'm homeschooling my kids this summer. I don't homeschool year round (they go to a very lovely Christian school during the school year), but just in the summer so they don't forget everything they learned the year before. Apparently kids can lose up to a month's worth of learning if they don't practice their skills regularly over the summer, and that's definitely something I want to avoid. I want them to practice and have that competitive edge. So I've been spending the last few months doing a bit of planning and research: What skills do my children most need to practice? What skills do I most want them to learn? What really good resources can I find to keep it fun and educational for them, but still super easy for me? And as I sat down to determine what summer learn more...
How to Get Your Husband to Help More with the Kids
Guest Post by Gina of GinaMPoirier.com Sometimes I feel like the best lessons learned in marriage come out of the most heated arguments. A couple of years ago, when my youngest was a toddler, I went out to do some Christmas shopping. My husband stayed home with the kids. It was nice to have a productive afternoon by myself…until I discovered when I came home that it was an hour past my baby’s naptime. She was still toddling around, wide-awake. I was livid. Three kids in, and my husband wasn’t aware that a small child needs an afternoon snooze? The whole rest of the day would be thrown off! We had a bit of a bump over our (lack of) communication. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first or last time I’ve been resentful because I expected my husband to do something that he learn more...
Constantly Comparing Yourself to Others? Here’s How to Stop
Do you ever look around, see other women being awesome, and feel like you're not good enough or that you don't measure up? Maybe it's the fit mom -- the one constantly posting her work-out videos and hot gym selfies on Instagram. She has kids climbing all over her, but that doesn't stop her! She's a beast in the best way, while your body's basically a lumpy, dumpy mess. Maybe it's the class mom at your kids' school. She volunteers for everything, her cupcakes are always Pinterest-perfect works of art, and she always looks like the cover of a magazine. Meanwhile, your shirt passed the sniff test this morning. Barely. Or maybe it's the friend who constantly posts pictures of her nice house and fancy vacations all over Facebook. You know you shouldn't be jealous, but it's hard not learn more...
Surprise! HUGE Giveaway Happening Now!
Are you a Christian woman who wants a strong faith and a close family? Are you ready to get equipped to be the AMAZING Christian, wife and mother God has called you to be? If so, the 2018 Equipping Godly Women summer giveaway is for you! With over $500 worth of awesome Christian living products you're sure to love (all for FREE), this is one giveaway you won't want to miss! Plus, not only will there be one grand prize winner who takes home EVERYTHING you see on this page, but every single person who signs up via email below will receive something special from me: free access to our online email community AND an extra special surprise gift for email subscribers only that's just perfect for summer. Curious what it is? Go ahead and enter the giveaway to find learn more...
Want to Raise World Changers? Do These Five Things.
School shootings. Political unrest. Racism. Greed. Selfishness. Seems like every time you turn on the news, all you see is a world desperately in need of the hope of Jesus. As Christians, we have a call to love and serve others. To point the world to Jesus and to make the world a better place. And honestly, I think most of us do want to -- we just don't always know how. Or we get so overwhelmed by the size of the problem that we think we have nothing to offer. That what little we can offer can't possibly help. So we don't even try. Or we don't try very hard. Well, today, I have good news for you: God didn't ask you to save the whole world. That's Jesus's job. Your job is simply to be a good steward of the resources and opportunities you are given. In learn more...
Announcing: The 2018 Flourish Online Bible Conference!
When you think of growing in faith, what words come to mind? Words like important, routine and should? Or words like fun, interesting, exciting, or creative...? Now, don't get me wrong. Growing in faith IS incredibly important. It is something we should do. BUT there's no reason why we can't have a lot of fun with it too! The truth is, if you are only reading your Bible out of habit or obligation, it's way too easy to let it become stale and stagnant. It gets boring... routine... blah... And that's not what any of us wants! Would you like to add a bit of fun, excitement and creativity into your Bible reading time? If so, the 2018 FREE Flourish Bible Journaling Conference is just the thing for you (And it's free!) Read on to learn more... * This learn more...
10 Simple Bible Verses Kids Can Memorize
Guest Post by Gina of GinaMPoirier.com The high-pitched wailing of my five-year-old daughter pierced my ears one morning. (I was resting and trying to fend off a nasty chest cold, but of course, mamas don’t get sick days when the kids are at home.) She burst through my bedroom door with tears flowing freely, pleading her case before me about how her brother was treating her unjustly. I did not have the energy or the will to be judge and jury at that moment of which Legos go where. But it was either suffer through that or suffer through screaming, so I trudged down to the playroom. God must have been feeling for me at that moment. While it was tempting to yell at the offending parties and just shut down the whole operation, I opened my Bible and read a scripture learn more...
One Simple Trick to Instantly Improve Your Marriage Communication
Communication has never been a strength in my marriage. Sure, we're working on it. And it's getting a LOT better. But it isn't something that comes naturally, by any means. Especially for me. And while I'm sure there are some husbands out there who would LOVE for their wives to stop talking so much 😉, I can assure you that when one or both spouses actually do stop talking, it's not nearly as much fun as it sounds. Not talking leads to distance, miscommunication, misunderstanding and plenty of hurt feelings. Because when one of you doesn't share how you're truly feeling, the other is left to guess, assume or fill in the blanks themselves. And you don't always fill in the blanks correctly... In Four Marriage Communication Skills that Prevent Fights, Gina shares four learn more...
