joyce

I guess you could say that our family loves celebrating Christmas. The day right after Thanksgiving, the Christmas tree goes up and Christmas music is blaring throughout the house every single day. In the midst of shopping and wrapping gifts, my oldest daughter Kayla shared some beautiful thoughts with me. I was so touched by

One of the first traditions my husband and I began during Christmas is hosting breakfast for family and friends. Being that Christmas is my favorite holiday and breakfast is my favorite meal, it’s a win-win for yours truly :) Over the years, we have had different options for the carb portion of the meal such

I hope you have found encouragement from this series which highlighted the blessings that my family experienced in an unexpected season. In this conclusion, I wanted to share that for me, fear attempted to settle in when faced with the reality that we had lost the only income to support our family of five. Shame and

This month I have been recounting blessings that God has helped me to see when the season of layoff did not appear to be one we would be thankful for. When we were growing up, parents did not have conversations with children about the challenges they were facing. After all, a parent just wants to

Last week I began a series to highlight the blessings in the unexpected season my family recently experienced. I remember when sharing the news about my husband’s layoff with a dear friend, her response was to embrace me and pray with me. The words that stood out the most to me were: “Help Joyce to

Two months ago when my husband was laid off, a precious friend told me to keep my eyes open for the blessings in this unexpected season. My internal response was, “Blessings?” All I could seem to focus on was my list of worries. I mean, it’s a struggle to see anything to be grateful for

Balloons ✓ Cake ✓ Dinner ✓ My checklist had been completed for my daughter’s surprise sweet sixteen. I was a mama on a mission as I rushed into the house from our homeschool community. But I came to a screeching halt when my husband prompted me to join him in our room. He had just

Have you ever walked through something overwhelming and difficult? It seemed like an eternity as you were in that season. But you knew giving up wasn’t a solution. So you did your best to be steadfast in faith and rely on God’s strength. And when it seemed as if the challenge was finally over, you

It’s Pastor Appreciation Month! I love how this time has been carved out to express gratitude for those who serve faithfully in obedience to the Lord. Words can’t describe how incredibly grateful I am for all of my Pastors and their families. Each of them is loving and kind and I am thankful we are

As I was munching on pretzels yesterday, I began reminiscing about sitting in my neighbors’ home. They were an elderly couple who lived across the street from my family when I was a little girl. While my brother and I would play outdoors, they would invite us to their home and my parents encouraged us