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Leadership is Hard
Leadership is one of the hardest roles a person can step into. No matter what you do, you won’t please everyone—and people will talk. Oh, will they talk. They’ll talk about things they think they know… and have absolutely no clue about. I once served on a leadership team where someone outside the group accused our leader of manipulating us—saying he pushed his own agenda and swayed our decisions. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. All he did was create a simple agenda of what we needed to cover—something he was trained to do professionally. He never told us what to think. In fact, most of our discussions…
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Success
What Does Success Really Look Like? What does it look like to be successful?Did they just wake up one day being good at everything, with a big new house and a pool table in the basement?Is it brand-new cars with every bell and whistle imaginable? What we usually see is the end result of someone’s hard work. And yes, sometimes that result does look like a new house, a new car, or luxurious vacations. But not all success looks like that. What if success means financial freedom?What if it’s a dependable, new-to-you car?What if it’s simply being happy or content with your life? I’ve learned that success doesn’t always mean…
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Take It From Me—Stress Is Not Your Friend Stress is not your friend, especially if you don’t deal with it the right way. It can take a toll on your body, mind, and spirit. It eats away at you slowly, and before you know it, you’re not acting like yourself—you’re overwhelmed, short-tempered, exhausted, and running on fumes. Unaddressed stress can sneak up on you and turn into something bigger—burnout, anxiety, and all kinds of physical stuff you don’t want. But the good news? You don’t have to let it win. So here are a few real-life, ChatGPT-approved, Randi-tested ways to deal with stress: Laugh—and Laugh Often Laughter truly is good…
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Have the Playdate
In our Wednesday night women’s group at church, someone fairly new asked if we had mom cliques—like a group of working moms who were ignored by the stay-at-home moms, and vice versa. We were astonished by this little factoid. Back then, I would host playdates and invite everyone with kids around the same age. One year, we had twenty-five kids here, along with five to seven moms. It wasn’t anything fancy. We just let the kids run wild—splashing in little pools, digging in the sand, and swinging. They always had a blast. They ended up muddy, dirty, and needing to be hosed down from head to toe—probably dunked in a…
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Parenthood Comes in Seasons
Parenthood comes in seasons. And I’ve learned that you don’t truly appreciate each one until it’s in the rearview mirror. This hit me especially hard after we had our youngest feral one. When my oldest three were little, people would say, “Enjoy it. You’ll miss them being little. You’ll miss the chaos. You’ll miss them needing you. Enjoy it now.” And they were right. I believed them—of course I did—but that doesn’t make it easier to actually enjoy the moment when you’re knee-deep in it. Even now, I have to remind myself that someday, I’ll miss this, too. The running in multiple directions at the same time. The messy house.…
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How We Navigate Back to School
How We Afford Back-to-School with Four Kids In our family, we have four quickly growing children—and feeding, clothing, and supplying them with what they need is expensive. So, here’s how we do it: 1. We Garage Sale We find the nicest clothes while garage saling—some even still have tags on them! We also use hand-me-downs as much as possible. We do buy our kids brand-new clothes too, but we always shop smart: coupons, discount codes, and clearance racks. We love outlet stores, but again—we’re not paying full price. 2. Backpacks Growing up, my mom got us new backpacks and school supplies every year. We were blessed. Just like my mama,…
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Summer Reading Recommendations
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Success
What Does Success Really Look Like? What does it look like to be successful? Did they just wake up one day being good at everything, with a big new house and a pool table in the basement? Is it brand-new cars with every bell and whistle imaginable? What we usually see is the end result of someone’s hard work. And yes, sometimes that result does look like a new house, a new car, or luxurious vacations. But not all success looks like that. What if success means financial freedom? What if it’s a dependable, new-to-you car? What if it’s simply being happy or content with your life? I’ve learned that…
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Lessons in the Wilderness: Trusting God in Difficult Seasons
Lessons from the Wilderness: Trusting God in Difficult Seasons Walking through the spiritual wilderness is never easy. You feel lost, alone, and uncertain. But those wilderness seasons—however painful—often carry the greatest spiritual growth. In this post, we’ll look at three powerful biblical examples of people who walked through wilderness experiences: the Israelites, Elijah, and Jesus. Each story teaches us something valuable about trusting God, relying on scripture in hard times, and remaining faithful when life feels dry and desolate. What Is the Wilderness in the Bible? In the Bible, the wilderness isn’t just a physical location—it’s a place of testing, waiting, growth, and preparation. Whether you’re going through grief, burnout,…
