First let me say that I didn’t come up with this list. I found it in a local advertisement for a hospital. But we do stay way too stressed out and this list holds some practical, simple ways to make your life less crazy. But in writing this post I have to say that NOT HAVING A BLOG would help me cope with stress! Just trying to format these posts makes me crazy sometimes! Somebody, somewhere, sometime must have prayed {Read More}
How to Declutter the Paper That Takes Over Your Life
4 March, 2014 by 5 Comments
I’ve been AWOL for a while, I know. I’ve written tons of posts on addiction, depression, prayer, etc…and while I’m working on the book writing my story about all of those same topics, I thought it might be fun to do some other things on my blog. My word for the year is “simplify,” and one of the constant battles in simplifying my life is paper. Random sheets of paper are brought into my house every day. If you {Read More}
My One Word: Simplify
19 January, 2013 by 4 Comments
I love how people pick one word as their word to live by for the year. Last year, my one word was simply “God.” I wanted to make God the center of everything in my life…to the extent that every decision I made each day was centered around my faith in him. Overall, I think the year went pretty well. Obviously, I didn’t consider God with every decision…like Chinese or Pizza for supper…but he was present and accounted for in every {Read More}
Thought #3: Stuff is just stuff
3 January, 2013 by 2 Comments
This lesson has been a hard lesson for me to learn. We moved into a new house in April of 2007. A big, clean, empty house. Our forever house. To fill with children and grandchildren…and of course the Vaughan Zoo. So how is it that a mere five years later you’d think we’d lived in this house through at least three generations? But the closets and drawers are full, and my hubby’s business is storage warehouses, so naturally we have {Read More}
“Change your thoughts and you change your world”~Norman Vincent Peale
31 December, 2012 by 22 Comments
One of the first non-fiction books I ever read was The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. I was in my first year of college at Clemson University, and I was hopelessly homesick. My mom put everything into my hands she could to help me through that first semester at Clemson, and that book was part of the package. It’s a shame wisdom comes with age, but I’m sure it’s all part of God’s plan. That’s one of those {Read More}
VACATION!!!
23 July, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Don’t you just love this verse? Current application for me: V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N We are immersing ourselves in white sugary beaches and tantalizing blue water. (View from our balcony) Rest for a while, he says. Vacations of my past were filled with the stress and anxiety of addiction, migraine headaches and seizures. Especially at the beach. The glaring sun and blistering heat set up perfect conditions. Those vacations were anything but restful—only stressful and guilt-ridden. My family suffered the consequences of my {Read More}
Make-a-change Monday~Simplify
16 July, 2012 by 4 Comments
I’m a “want-it-right-now” kinda girl. Patience is not one of my virtues. Obviously over the seven years I was sick, God was well aware of my lack of patience and was trying to teach me a thing or two. And I’ve learned my lesson. The hard way. Making changes that produce great results don’t come easy. No matter how many times I throw away all the junk in my pantry promising myself that I will feed me and my family {Read More}
Tip to a Happier You in 2012~I’ve been kidnapped!
15 July, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Well, here it is Saturday evening, and I haven’t posted my {tip to a happier you} for today yet. But I have a good excuse: I’ve been kidnapped and taken to Tree Hill, North Carolina! I’ve been shot in the chest, almost drowned, gotten arrested for beating up an abusive father, given birth early to twins that I wasn’t supposed to be able to get pregnant with only to have my husband forget and leave one of them in the car, been {Read More}
Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Learning What’s Urgent vs. What’s Important
5 May, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This morning I heard a poem on WLFJ that one of the morning hosts wrote, and once again found my self in tears driving down the road. The older I get, the sappier I get. But anyway, it really goes well to illustrate my {tip to a happier you} today: The Letting Go Test By Leslie Nease Nine months of growth inside of my womb And in what seemed like an instant, she was there in the room My heart {Read More}
Make-a-change Monday~Love One Another
27 February, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Since we made the change last week to start cleaning out the stuff we used to consider to be treasures, we will have time to lay up our treasures in Heaven. All my life I’ve been taught that earthly treasures mean nothing. “You can’t take it with you,” they said. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:25 ESV) I get it. {Read More}
Make-a-change Monday~The Fifteen-Minute Clutter Cleanup
20 February, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Are you a pack rat? I am desperately trying to simplify my life. Learning NOT to be a pack rat is one major change I’m making, and it is not easy. For years I’ve read books on decorating, organizing, saving, displaying, etc. and there have been times I’ve spent more effort on moving around the “stuff” in my life than probably anything else. It’s ridiculous. It’s STUFF! So today’s “make a change” is short and sweet, and I’m working hard on {Read More}
Make-a-change Monday~Post it!
6 February, 2012 by 7 Comments
New Year’s Day 2008~ This is it. This year is going to be the year. I’m going to read my Bible more and pray more. I want to be a better person. Closer to God. New Year’s Day 2009~ This is it. This year is going to be the year. I’m going to read my Bible more and pray more. I want to be a better person. Closer to God. New Year’s Day 2010~ This is it. This year is {Read More}
Are you on OVERLOAD?
16 January, 2012 by Leave a Comment
As usual, our pastor, Perry, was speaking directly to me this morning…in more ways than one. I am, as we all are, on overload. I was strangely thankful that I didn’t get to sit beside David this morning in our service because my side would be bruised from all of the elbowing. My toes, however, are flat from Perry stepping all over them. But as I listened to Perry preach this morning, I was amazed that every point he made {Read More}
Distractions
18 July, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Housework. Laundry. Dishes. “UUUGGGGHHHH” (as Charlie Brown would say). I go from one task to the next, room to room to room, putting up, washing, repairing, scrubbing, etc. When I have all of these tasks on my mind that I need to accomplish, I think by brain goes into “shutdown” mode. I will be in the kitchen doing dishes, when I suddenly remember my favorite jeans need to be washed for tomorrow. I go to my closet to get my {Read More}
