Kathi Lipp's Blog, page 62

Whispers of Rest: Giveaway and Book Club with Bonnie Gray

Do you need to find whispers of rest and love from God?

Life gets overwhelming fast, doesn’t it? Our hearts and bodies and mind and souls are designed by God to rest at times. We all need to take a break at times. But more than just a day off, we need time to restore our souls and to rest in the presence of our God who loves us more than we can ever know. That is why I am excited to share with you my friend Bonnie Gray’s new book and book club – Whispers of Rest.

If your heart needs to find a place of rest and wonder at God’s love, join a Whispers of Rest book club this summer. Check out Bonnie’s invitation to you here. And visit whispersofrest.com to learn more about joining the book club and to get free bonuses!

Win a free copy of Whispers of Rest

Would you like to own your own copy of Bonnie’s new book? Comment below with how you hope to find rest in God this summer for your chance to win one of three copies of Bonnie’s new book.

Whispers of Rest: Giveaway and Book Club with Bonnie Gray

How to Hold a Clutter-Free Garage Sale

Many of us who struggle with clutter are reluctant to part with certain items because of the money we spent on them. The problem is, we won’t recoup even a fraction of what we paid for those items.

And that’s OK.

There is no better deterrent from bringing new items into your home than seeing that candle you bought for $24.95 re-sell for only $2.50. This is the Clutter Tax we all pay for excess stuff.  If you’re ready to face the music and rid yourself of the surplus items in your home, a garage sale is a great de-cluttering option.

Hold a clutter-free garage sale

Here’s a no-fail, step-by-step strategy to make it work.

Strategize. First, sit down with your family and talk about the possibility of a yard sale. Are they willing to participate? Do they have old clothes, toys, or books to donate to the sale? I’ve found it’s easier to get buy-in from the whole family if you have a common goal in mind. Perhaps you’re looking to save for a family vacation or a play set for the backyard. Get your kids excited about contributing to the family goal.


Plan. Next, put a “Garage Sale” date on the calendar. Make sure it’s at least a month out. This gives you and your family time to go through closets, drawers, basements, and garages and come up with the items you’ll sell. (What a great goal in decluttering!)


Organize. Start off with some empty boxes in an out-of-the-way place in your home (the garage, the laundry room.) Then as you come across items you no longer need, add them to the boxes.

Plan a day to work with your kids in their rooms. If they waffle about whether to sell an item, encourage them to put it in the garage sale box. If they want to retrieve it and play with it, great. If they never think about it again, then it’s probably safe to sell. I can’t guarantee there won’t be a change of heart on the day of the sale, but often the excitement of selling something makes letting it go much easier.

As you start to gather more and more items, sort them by type (kids’ clothes, kids’ shoes, toys, books, household gadgets, DVDs). Items will be easier to price and display if similar objects are grouped together.

I encourage you to start pricing items a few weeks before the sale. It’s easy to print price stickers on your computer’s printer. Younger kids will have a great time putting stickers on things.

If your kids part with some toys that have a lot of little parts, gather up everything in a resealable plastic bag to keep things together.

Start collecting paper bags for shoppers to use to take home their treasures.

Advertise. There are several ways to get the word out for successful clutter-free garage sales.

On the web. The best way to know where to advertise is to google “garage sales” or “yard sales” (whichever is the common terminology in your area) and the name of your city. You’ll see where most people look for the information and then announce your sale there. But don’t spend a lot of money doing this. Most of your traffic will likely be of the drive-by variety. Be sure to highlight the kinds of things you’re selling (tools, kids’ clothes, furniture, etc.) so you attract the right buyers.

On the street. Signs most likely are your best means of getting people to your sale. While it’s tempting to let your kids create the signs, you should manage this project. Cute is not your objective—readability is.

My favorite kind of sign is made of neon poster board (think hot pink or neon green) cut in the shape of an arrow. Clearly label your cross streets. Kids can definitely be part of the sign-hanging process the night before. Make sure you bring copious amounts of clear packing tape, scissors, string, and even some balloons to attach to each sign.

Your friends. Tell your friends about your sale and even the goal you have in mind. Your kids will have a lot more fun if they know some of the people who stop by. Be sure to let your Facebook friends know as well.

Newspaper. Running a cheap ad in your local newspaper or an online classified service will bring you more shoppers.

Merchandise. Before I was an author I worked as a sales rep in the gift industry, and now as a speaker, I have a book table wherever I go. One thing I’ve learned in both these roles is the power of merchandising—staging items for sale.

Clothes. You are going to sell a lot more clothes for much better prices if you have a garment rack to hang them on. Even a shower rod hung from your roof or garage door is a big help. The next best option is to fold clothes neatly on a table (this is a great option especially for kids’ clothes). Unless you have a stash of wire hangers you’re dying to get rid of, be sure to put up a sign that says “Hangers Not Included.”

Books, CDs, DVDs. Drag a bookshelf out of your house as a temporary display. If you have enough shelf space, place the front covers face out. To keep the shelves looking full, put one of your kids in charge of moving items from the bottom rows to the top as books begin to sell.

Put the wows up front. You want items up front that literally stop traffic. Furniture, tools, and electronics are your best bet for getting hubby to pull the car to the curb.

Group items. It’s helpful to have similarly priced items on one table. You can have a dollar table, a fifty-cent table, and so on.

Capitalize. When the kids were little I would help them set up a lemonade stand to serve those thirsty shoppers in the summer heat (and for my kids to make a little extra cash). This was great for the kids when they were young. They could still be a part of the action, but they didn’t have to negotiate with hagglers. Who is going to dicker over a fifty-cent lemonade?

The only problem was that running a lemonade stand is as much work as the actual garage sale. Finally, I wised up. For our next garage sale, I went to Costco early in the week and bought sodas and bottled waters. All we had to do was ice the drinks and replenish the supply throughout the day, both of which my kids could do without my help.

The kids were thrilled to see their bank grow, and many of the adults were just as excited to get a cheap soda in the middle of a July day.

Improvise. Garage sales aren’t rigid. You aren’t working for Sam Walton, so things don’t have to go a certain way. So if something isn’t working, improvise!


Tired of sorting through piles of trinkets that are really worth nothing? Give them away for free with a purchase. Or set out a free box for people to sort through. Better them than you, right?
Play music to encourage people to stay a while.
Put out a plate of cookies or some lemonade.


Have a plan for the end of the day. The objective is to get rid of everything–do not, under any circumstances, let it back into the house.

At the end of the day, figure out what you are going to do with the leftovers.

Last Call: In the last hour or two, let people know that you will be selling everything for a dollar. Your objective is not to make money, it’s to get rid of stuff. Bringing it back in defeats the purpose of having a clutter free garage sale.

Make Arrangements: At the end of the day, have a plan to make everything go away. Load up the van and take everything to the donation center. Don’t let it come back into the home!

Don’t be fooled. Having a garage sale is a lot of work. But if you are looking for a way to recoup some of your Clutter Tax, this is a great way to spend a day. Pad your bank account and clean out your house at the same time.

Now it’s your turn–tell us your best tips for clutter-free garage sales!

How to Hold a Clutter-Free Garage Sale

Episode #254: How to Stop Giving Other People Authority Over Our Lives

Build your own dreams or someone will hire you to build theirs. ~ Farrah Gray

Co-Author of Overwhelmed, Cheri Gregory, joins Kathi for a four week series to discuss what they have learned since writing Overwhelmed. This week, the authors discuss the one that that has stood out to them the most: “Women turn over their power to external sources too often.”

Often, we let what we think we should do for others dictate what we spend our time and energy on. But what if God isn’t surprised by what our circumstances are and has called us to more anyways? Kathi and Cheri discuss ways they’ve let others take over their time and emotions, and ways they’ve changed their own behavior to better handle situations that overwhelm their relationships, time and energy.

What are the steps you can take to take back control of your life?

Our Gift to You

Download our guide to creating a personal manifesto. This booklet will help you create your own manifesto so you can begin to live your own values.

Episode #254: How to Stop Giving Other People Authority Over Our Lives

Clutter-Free Work: Free to Work in a Clutter-Free Zone

But all things should be done decently and in order.”  1 Corinthians 14:40

Ever felt frustrated or overwhelmed in your work efforts due to clutter around you?

You tell yourself you will get to it . . . eventually.

You don’t have time to declutter because your workload is pressing in on you.

Frustration turns into condemnation, so now working is made more difficult by the mental energy you must utilize just to do work. Deadlines are missed. Papers cannot be found. And the demands of life around you make it seemingly impossible to focus.

Clutter-Free Work

I get it. As a mom of five in a crazy busy life, sometimes I have felt like managing all the work around me, along with everyone else’s work (because moms are evidently supposed to manage everything), is overwhelming.

Our work environment matters.

Like a hamster, we keep running on our wheel thinking our work will be different, but the cluttered area surrounding us keeps us hampered and confined.

We could do so much more, but we continue to operate in the same manner, hoping we will still get the work done. Sounds kind of like that definition of insanity . . . doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Seems like a hopeless situation. But the very thing we tell ourselves we can’t make the time to do will actually give us the space to be able to work in a more effective manner.

We accomplish more when we have space and organization to work.

There is a misconception behind work clutter that needs to be debunked. It is not necessarily the amount of work that is the problem – it is how we work that does.

I have found that having more responsibilities requires me to be more organized. When every task has its place in space and time in my life, then I am not overwhelmed by tasks that seem to be too much.

Creating a clutter-free work zone is done physically, mentally and spiritually.

Physically

What is it that is in our space that we don’t regularly use for work? Is there a space in our home where we can do some of our work that frees us up to think? Perhaps taking a laptop and working on the back porch for some projects will rejuvenate our vision for work and not make you feel trapped in between 4 walls.
Maybe shelving units or a closet can also store work items (not thrown in the closet – too many skeletons in there) so we do not feel encumbered or stressed by a lot of “stuff” around us.

Mentally

Utilizing tools like Evernote to track “to do’s” that infringe on brain capacity takes the mental energy out of busy work lives.
We don’t have to allow our “to do” list to rule us. Make changes as needed.
Having a specific time for projects frees us up to do the work at hand, knowing we have time to do the other projects, too.

Spiritually

God is a God of order and having structure glorifies Him. When we are not hindered by our environment, we are better able to glorify God in our work and all we do.

Maybe it is the work itself that you dread. This article on The Hope in Work is motivation to keep pressing on in the work God has given us to do. Every task matters when it is offered as service to the King of kings.

Ultimately, we determine where and when we will work. Let the truth behind this power free you to set up your work space in the way that works best for you. Doing so will increase your productivity and help you to create a place in which God can use you mightily. Don’t have time to do it, you say? You don’t have time not to.

Look up from your work and around your work space and take five minutes each day to make your space more enjoyable to work in. What distracts you in your work space? How can you be creative with the space you have allocated?

Denise Pass is an author, speaker and CCM worship leader from Fredericksburg, VA, where she lives with her amazing husband and 5 children. Denise is passionate about writing devotions and music that foster unshakable hope and healing in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances. Her ministry umbrella, Seeing Deep in a Shallow World seeks to be a compass grounded in Scripture and a place where real problems meet real, transparent faith and needed answers in Scripture.

You can read more about Denise’s ministry, read and hear her talks, blog and original music over at www.denisepass.com or connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Clutter-Free Work: Free to Work in a Clutter-Free Zone

Get Out from Overwhelmed – Join Us for the Least Overwhelming Study Ever

It could be just one more thing to pack into an already overwhelming summer.

“A Bible study? Whose got time for that?”

Welcome to the least overwhelming Bible study you will ever do.

No travel required – you are part of this study from the comfort of your own home (or on the beach, or locked in a car for eight hours going to grandma’s…)

No child care – you can do this study while the kids are asleep (or while they are hanging off you on the couch…)

No extra study guide to purchase – you just need the book.

No snacks to bring – you can just have a stash of your own favorite snacks at home to bust out when the kids are actually in bed.

Sound good? Here are the details:

Women’s Bible Cafe has chosen Overwhelmed as their summer Bible study! We’ll start the study the week of June 19th and finish the week of August 21, 2017. r

My very favorite partner in crime, Cheri Gregory, and I will be working together to bring you fresh insights and great tools to get you to a place of peach this summer. I can’t wait.

What do you need to do? Just two steps:

Order Overwhelmed
Sign up to join the Women’s Bible Cafe

It’s that easy.

Really.

Didn’t I say “least Overwhelming Bible study ever?”

Get Out from Overwhelmed – Join Us for the Least Overwhelming Study Ever

Avoid the Stress of Hosting a Shindig: Yes, It’s Possible!

I shoo the dog from the cramped kitchen, greet new arrivals, and point to the bottle opener’s location — “The next drawer over. No, other side. There, in the front” — sticky sauce splatters the stovetop. Breathe.

“What can I do to help?” she asks.

I feign casual confidence: “I’ve got it under control” — and change the subject to her family’s most recent adventure.

The truth is, I don’t know what needs to be done. Or how to articulate it. So I might as well do it myself.

Avoid the stress of hosting?

Does this happen to you? Last-minute details keep you from enjoying time with your guests. And when someone offers to help, you’re so busy doing that you can’t think if there’s anything someone else could do.

Summer’s around the corner and, with it, the opportunity to host year-end celebrations, picnics, and potlucks. But can you host a meal, and truly enjoy your friends, without all the stress?

Is There a Better Way?

It began unintentionally.

My head throbs. But I’m unwilling to cancel tonight’s social event.

I can always excuse myself early; there’s no reason others can’t have fun!

Knowing my middle-aged brain is more compromised than usual, I list all the menu items and tasks to perform on our kitchen whiteboard.

I work my way down the list, erasing items as I complete them. When guests arrive, I hear the familiar question: “What can I do to help?”

“I’ve got it under control …”

I stop, look at the whiteboard, and say, “Could you finish the deviled eggs?”

Ahhh … My headache begins to fade.

Other guests offer to help. I ask one to cut strawberries. Another wipes down the picnic table.

Peals of laughter and conversation fill the air as we prepare the meal together.

Reduce the Stress in Your Celebrations

We’ve since perfected this dinnertime ritual:

Line the countertop with the necessary serving dishes
On a sticky note in each dish, provide simple instructions (e.g., fruit salad — strawberries, blueberries, banana, grapes).
Hang a list of non-food instructions on the fridge (e.g., bring chairs from the garage)

Now you can enjoy your guests from the moment they arrive rather than ushering them into the living room with drinks.

Or tripping over them as you attempt to balance food prep and conversation.

You’ll create a welcoming atmosphere and your guests will feel at home — nothing says “you’re family” like being asked to set the table!

You may even avoid scrubbing sticky sauce from your stovetop.

Need more ideas for focusing on fun and fellowship instead of stressing out about shindigs? Stop by my blog to grab your free copy of Helpful Hospitality Hints: How to Host a Meal Without Losing Your Mind.

Kendra Burrows delights in encouraging others to see God’s grace in the everyday — when she isn’t chasing the animals (and boys!) out of her kitchen. She’s still learning hospitality requires we share it all, not do it all. Connect with her at www.kendraburrows.com.

 

Avoid the Stress of Hosting a Shindig: Yes, It’s Possible!

Maximize Your Quiet Times By Minimizing

Do you ever look at your 1,000-page Bible and think, “Where do I even start?”

We know we’re supposed to study God’s Word, but it’s easy to get bogged down with all the different Bible study methods.  Should you do a verse-by-verse study, a character study or study inductively? You could read an Old Testament passage, New Testament passage and a Psalm a day, or there’s always the option to read a chapter of Proverbs everyday.

So many choices leave a girl feeling exhausted before you even crack open the book.

How to maximize your quiet time

I’ve discovered a simple way to de-clutter quiet time: read a chapter a day and pray.

When you maximize your quiet time by minimizing, here’s what happens:

your focus improves since you’re digesting smaller chunks of scripture
you retain what you read
you slow your tempo enough to enjoy God’s word

I was a bit skeptical of the read-a-chapter-a-day-and-pray idea. Do less, learn more? That’s just crazy talk!

But friends, this is exactly what is happening. I added a commentary reading to my quiet time, and would encourage you to do the same, because it’s helped open my eyes to the depth of God’s word.

Listen, if you watch reality TV, flip to the Old Testament instead. I’m reading the book of 1 Samuel and there is intrigue, scandal, suspense, love stories and even a heroine in one account (check out 1 Samuel 25). The reading is so good I’ve had to force myself to stop reading in order to stick to focusing on one chapter a day!

How simplicity leads to depth

When we simplify like this, it clears away the clutter of too many options … and the guilt of avoiding quiet time.  We can commit to spending time with God daily because we have a doable plan. Simplicity actually leads to depth.

So, here’s what I want you to do:

– Pick one book of the Bible you’d like to read and commit to making it through that one book by reading one chapter a day.

– After you read, spend time talking to God in prayer and listening.

– As you read, consider these questions:

What do I learn about God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit through this chapter?
What is the major theme or takeaway from this chapter?
How does this chapter contribute to the overall teaching of this book of the Bible?
What is God trying to teach me through this chapter?

You can do this!

Maximize by minimizing, and you’ll consistently spend time with God.

Kate Hollimon delights in helping women learn their God-given purpose while growing in Christ through the study of scripture. Kate is a speaker and blogger who designed the Live Your Purpose Workshop Live Your Purpose Workshop to help women discover their purpose to glorify God. Kate is married to her husband Matthew of seven years and together they have two kiddos, a boy and a girl, and are in the thick of sippy cups, potty training, temper tantrums and peanut butter and jellies.  You can connect with Kate at www.katehollimon.com.

Maximize Your Quiet Times By Minimizing

Episode #253: Keeping Your Kid’s Extracurricular Stuff Clutter Free

Sports. School. Clubs. Dance. And IT GOES ON! Our kids have a lot of activities and a lot of stuff comes with each of those activities.  Times that by two, three, four or seven kids and it can become an overwhelming juggling act of “where’s my red soccer sock?!” every single day.

Kathi and co-host, Erin MacPherson to the rescue! Erin has three kids and shares her children’s hectic schedule in multiple sports and how stressful it is trying to keep everything together when running from one child’s event to another.

Listen in as Kathi shares tested ideas that help keep kid’s uniforms and equipment organized and clutter free so they are ready when your kids have an event and you don’t waste time hunting for that sock for the tenth time this month!

Erin recommends:

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Side opening shoe boxes for storage. They are much easier for children to open and use.

Interbusiness Clear PC Smart Storage Foldable Shoe Box, Office Storage Box (Purple)

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A different colored water bottle for each child.

Hydro Flask Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle, Standard Mouth w/Loop Cap

Episode #253: Keeping Your Kid’s Extracurricular Stuff Clutter Free

Who is Setting Your Priorities?

Have you ever been frozen in indecision, wondering what to do next?

Me too. There are so many demand on us, it becomes harder and harder to stay true to our priorities. Sometimes it’s even hard to identify our priorities.

Maybe you ask yourself, what does God really want me to do? Especially when there are so many important needs out there.

If you can relate to that question, you’re not alone. There’s been a shift in society that’s silently affecting our ability to identify what’s most important. As I’ve traced this issue back a few years, the confusion seems to have started with email and accelerated with our cell phones.

Let me back up, and try to explain.

The growing competition on our priorities

Growing up, my family had a house phone. Just one. And it was connected to the wall with a cord. There was no call-waiting beep or answering machine. And of course, no email or texting. So if you wanted to reach me, you kept calling until you got through. Or maybe head to my house and actually knock on my door. Quite frustrating when “someone” spent hours talking to a friend!

Basically, the burden to communicate was on the person with the message to share.

Today the responsibility to communicate has shifted. No longer is it your burden to reach me; all you do is type-type-type a message, hit send and all the responsibility floats through cyberspace and lands firmly on me.

Multiply this by every which way people can reach me, and before I even wake up, I’m behind.

Starting out behind

This shift has silently affected all of us. A typical day starts with checking some sort of communication device to see who might have emailed, posted or texted. Then, before we begin to handle what’s most important to us, our day begins by responding to what’s most important to others.

Without a concerted effort to stop this pull, we are drawn into the day’s rushing current like a tiny raft on a whitewater river. And rather than being proactive, our days are spent in reactive mode.

Sound familiar? If so, you’ve probably also experienced the too-long to-do list that comes with it. After we’ve given the best of our time and energy to others, there’s little left to address God’s priorities for us. Consequently we put-off, delay and procrastinate our priorities.

After years of shortchanging myself and my family, and often dishonoring God, I realized I had things upside down! Things that mattered least replaced things that mattered most in my schedule. And work that would make the greatest impact on my life often fell to the bottom of my lists, then transferred to the next list until I either completed it with a fraction of my ability or abandoned it entirely.

Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to figure out our best work. It sounds so easy to say, “Identify your priorities, and do those first.” However, when we face multiple demands we can often feel helpless. And helplessness can lead us to escape, avoid or try and numb.

Pressing pause and reevaluating priorities

When those feelings start to overtake me and I don’t know what to do, rather than make a self-defeating choice, it’s time to press pause. Sometimes, the best thing to do is nothing … except seek direction and wisdom from the One who knows what our best is.

Given the chance, others will set our priorities for us. Yet God specifically has a calling for each of us that will only come from Him. To discern this, we need wisdom. Without God’s wisdom, we make decisions on facts and feelings. And the fact that I have 100 emails to answer and feel overwhelmed does not mean it’s wise to do so now.

To find wisdom, I need to silence the demands of many, to hear the commands of One.

God is faithful, and His Word promises we can receive wisdom. In fact, it’s a gift from God.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5)

As my life becomes more interconnected with others, my priorities are harder to identify. There will always be new demands rising to the tops of my to-do list, giving me reasons to delay tackling my own priorities.

There is hope. When we take our tiny raft out of the raging river, and sit on the banks with our Heavenly Father, He will give us wisdom for what to do next. Sometimes it’s answering an email, but it might be something else He has planned for today.

Glynnis Whitwer is a wife, mother of five young adults and executive director of communications for Proverbs 31 Ministries. Her latest book, Taming the To-Do List: How to Choose Your Best Work Every Day, is available through Proverbs 31 Ministries or wherever books are sold. Her next book releases July 4, 2017, and is called Doing Busy Better. Pre-order here. You can connect with Glynnis on her website: GlynnisWhitwer.com.

Who is Setting Your Priorities?

Cultivating Peace: Enjoy the Milestone Events and Don’t Let Stress Rob the Joy

My first child’s high school graduation brought up a whole new set of fears and stress in me. Have I done enough to prepare her for adulthood? Will she make wise choices as she steps out from under our roof and into a world full of options?  Will she be able to hold onto her faith in college—at a time when many young people discard theirs?

Her graduation felt like a defining moment in my parenting. I knew I’d done all I could to train her well, to prepare her for success. But now, facing what felt like a Parenting 101 Final Exam, the stakes were high. I didn’t want to fail. I certainly didn’t want my precious daughter to fail.

This tension bubbled up in the days leading to her graduation. Of course, she was dealing with her own emotions surrounding this milestone event and pulling away from me, busy preparing for adventures to come. I was grieving the upcoming loss of her daily presence, knowing before long she would move from our house and pursue her education.

The entire month before graduation was crammed with activity. Prom, sports banquets, end-of-the-year awards, ceremony rehearsals, all mixed into a swirling vortex of angst. So many events, so many decisions.

As graduation neared, our relationship, normally characterized by mutual love, respect, and lots of laughter, became contentious. This culminated in an angry verbal exchange as we walked through the campus parking lot on our way into her Baccalaureate ceremony. I can’t remember what precipitated the argument, but I remember how I felt. Off-balance. Overwhelmed. Defeated.

I had let stress and fear steal my joy.

Have you ever experienced relational stress leading up to a milestone event? Have you allowed that stress to ruin the event for you? For your child?

Heightened emotions come with any life-changing event, but we don’t have to let them rob us of the joy of the occasion, whether it’s a move, graduation, wedding, or some other major event. We can have fun and create precious memories without regret.

When approaching a big event in your child’s life, you don’t have to get caught up in the swirling emotional vortex. You can cultivate peace through journaling or talking with a trusted friend. Speak with a life coach, counselor, pastor or mentor. Talking through fears and concerns with a mom who’s walked the path before you might mean the difference between white-knuckling it through the milestone and really enjoying it.

One of the most important things we can do to maintain our equilibrium during these emotional times is to get alone with God and pour out our hearts to Him.

Jesus demonstrated the importance of getting alone with the Father before ministry. “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). As we prepare to minister to our children during their “big day” we can follow Jesus’ example.

Last year my son graduated and this year my youngest daughter will graduate. I’ve learned a lot going through this letting-go process. I’ve learned to be intentional about processing my emotions. I’ve learned to carve out time in the busyness to be alone in the healing presence of my Father.

Are you facing a milestone event?

If so, how will you cultivate peace and plan for fun as you prepare for the event?

 

Elizabeth M. Thompson is a writer and speaker who loves helping women develop meaningful spiritual lives. She and her husband have three children and will soon be empty-nesters. They live, bike, kayak, and hike along the American River near Sacramento, CA. Prayer is her passion. For a free download of “Jumpstart Your Stalled Prayer Life” go to her website: www.ElizabethMThompson.com.

Cultivating Peace: Enjoy the Milestone Events and Don’t Let Stress Rob the Joy