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Don’t Forget the Tuna

April 28, 2015 by Laura 25 Comments

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This is probably the most exciting blog post you will ever read. Never mind all the insightful, scripture-filled, life-changing inspiration you might find online. I’m here to talk to you about tuna.

Don't Forget the Tuna and other deep thoughts

Yum

It’s an important topic and that’s all there is to it.

See, here’s the thing. You and I have busy schedules. Some of us love to spend time in the kitchen making nice meals for our families. Some of us don’t. Either way – we all want to be healthy and there are many days each week we need something quick to throw out on the table. For me, this need is most prevalent at lunchtime during our homeschool days. Shoot, right now it’s also very important at dinnertime when we’re running out the door to soccer games. You know what? I need simple meals three times a day, seven days a week. I just do. I’m sure you can relate.

I think this little convenience food can be overlooked as an easy meal option. So don’t forget the tuna. Remember the tuna.

Long live the tuna.

And now, the most frequently asked questions about this oft forgotten meat choice. Seriously, they are asked frequently. Like all the time. My email inbox is flooded with tuna talk. You have no idea.

How do you make your tuna salad?

I add Hain Safflower mayonnaise and homemade pickle relish. Usually I shake in a little salt. How much of each, you ask? Probably 2 Tablespoons of mayo and 2 teaspoons of relish per can of tuna.

How many cans do you go through in one meal?

Do you really want to know? This is the Coppinger family we’re talking about here. Our boys eat at least one can each. It’s alottatuna. (When I wrote that just now, I said it in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice. Try it: It’s alottatuna. See? Is it just me, or can you just totally hear him say that? I am so weird.)

Where do you get your tuna?

There has been some tuna controversy through the years. Doesn’t tuna have too much mercury? Is it hurting the dolphins? Salted or unsalted? In oil or in water?

I’ve researched it. We don’t eat it every day, but I do feel okay eating and serving it every couple of weeks. I order cases of Yellow Fin Tuna from Natural Value. My understanding is that this variety has the lowest amount of mercury.

How do you serve your tuna salad?

I usually have my boys mix up a big bowl (yay for kids who can do this kind of work so that I can sit around talking like Arnold Schwarzenegger). Then we have it with crackers and whatever fruits and veggies we have in the fridge. It’s also great served on a bed of lettuce and a tomato slice. I like scooping tuna into a big bowl of mixed greens, chopped cucumbers, and diced tomatoes.

Or, if we’re really feeling creative (brace yourself for this one), we’ll spread some tuna salad on a slice of bread. We call them sandwiches. Incredible invention.

Don’t forget this wonderful idea: Tuna Melts on Spinach

Tuna Melts on Spinach

And also the ever wonderful real-food Tuna Casserole that makes for a very easy and fast meal:

Are you a tuna lover? What’s your favorite way to eat tuna? Join in the tuna talk!

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Gratituesday: Survival and Sunshine

April 28, 2015 by Laura 6 Comments

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gratituesday[2]

April showers bring May flowers. This is good! Very good.

But silly me. April showers have also brought on dreary days with no sunshine, and I just don’t like that very much. This time of year becomes a little harder for me as the winter has seemed to go on forever, and the sun is still having a hard time shining consistently. I need sunshine!!!! {insert crazy Laura face here} {on second thought, don’t. no one wants to see that.}

So yay for rain, and in particular the rain that came so fast and hard that it rained out soccer games on Saturday so that I could stay home and get much needed work done!! Rain is good for so many reasons, and I’m grateful for it.

I’m just thankful that today the sun decided to shine. It is a breath of fresh air (literally) for me when I step outside. The flowers are blooming everywhere. There is a gentle breeze. THE SUN IS SHINING!!!! {insert Laura’s happy face here.} {except that she doesn’t have time to stop and take a picture of it because she’s breathing in the brightness and the fresh air.}

In other news related to Laura’s crazy face and the absolute need for sunshine – we’re down to just about 11 soccer games remaining in the season (no wonder I can’t get anything done around here), we got Asa’s graduation announcements almost all ready to send out, the bathroom we are remodeling is this close to being finished, and this is our last week of school. Asa is actually taking all college-level courses this year (love getting dual high school and college credits, but phew!) so he will complete his course work and finals the middle of next week. What a huge relief!

asa grad announcement

The plans for Asa’s graduation reception are well under way. Then we will be welcoming guests into our home who are coming from out of state to celebrate with us. There is much to be grateful for, and today, I’m thankful that the sun is shining on all there is to do so that we can not only survive the next few weeks of extremely full schedules – we can love every minute of the ride!

By the way, if you’ve emailed recently and I haven’t responded – just know that I’ll work at getting back to you the end of May when the rest of life settles down a little bit and I wake up from a nap.

Share with us! What are you grateful for this week? How is God working in your life? Isn’t it wonderful to see God’s hand in every bit of our lives?

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6 (Dozen) Ways I’m Going to Keep My Kids Busy This Summer

April 24, 2015 by Laura 3 Comments

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We usually begin our school year the first week of August and finish the final week of April. Do you know what this means? This means our family has only one week of school left for this year! Summer break, here we come!

schools out

Raise your hand if you feel like I do: Summer break is really for mothers and teachers. The kids think it’s for them. They have no idea. #lovehomeschooling #needabreather

Our older boys have big plans for several weeks this summer to go on a state-side mission trip and then to attend several weeks of church camp. We’ll go swimming as much as possible (hello, sunshine, I love you so much ~ xoxoxo). We have a family reunion around the 4th of July. We have friends visiting from out of state part of June/July. How is there any time free to do anything other than be on the run (and in the sun ~ xoxoxo)?

Oh trust me. There’s time. See, it’s my 10 year old and my 13 year old that have more downtime than the others. They spend time with friends and help out around the house, but I find it beneficial to…shall we say…put a little routine and creativity into their downtime. Otherwise my 13 year old who shall remain nameless would either:

  • find ways to torture his 10 year old brother which will thus torture me or
  • try to get away with sitting in a chair with his iPod playing games all the live long day.

The summer break rule is: No electronics until after 3pm and then there is a time limit (which varies depending on the day). What’s to keep the boys from getting on each other’s nerves? Oh just look at the ways…

6 Dozen Ways I Plan to Keep My Kids Busy This Summer

1. Summer Reading Challenge

We did this last summer and the boys loved it. Prizes for reading? What’s not to love? I’m working on another blog post to share all the (very inexpensive) details of this fun challenge. Stay tuned.

2. Service Challenge

With school work set aside, there are more opportunities to look outward. The boys will be serving at church camp with us later this summer, but while we’re home I plan to have them jot ideas and be on the look-out for ways they can help others. Will there be prizes for this like in our Reading Challenge? No. But sometimes “coming up with and executing as many ideas as we can” is incentive enough for my competitive boys. Hey, whatever helps them learn to see other people’s needs.

3. Host Friends

I love that the boys are old enough to make plans with friends and execute the plans without much help from me. They can come up with activities like Movie Nights, Cook Outs, Flag Football, Watermelon Feed, Blow Up a Bunch of Money in our Yard (otherwise known as come over after church on Wednesday night during 4th of July week and bring whatever fireworks you want to shoot off) – the ideas are endless. We love it when the boys invite their friends over. The more, the merrier. Just keep the door closed so the mosquitoes won’t come in.

4. Get Creative in the Kitchen

I have found that summer break is the perfect time to let my boys tinker around with fun recipe ideas. It’s not always food, either. Sometimes they make non-edibles like homemade modeling clay or flubber. Or they make funky popsicles. Or they do something weird with chocolate bars or cheese sticks. Whatever gets them creative and keeps them busy.

5. Board Games

Our family loves games and has shelves full of them. During the school year, it’s hard to find time to play. I cannot wait to pull out our favorites and make up for lost time.

game6

As you can see, the ideas within each of the ideas are limitless. And if boredom still creeps in, there are always windows to wash and gardens to hoe.

How are you planning to keep your kids busy and productive this summer?

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Low Sugar {Real Food} Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

April 23, 2015 by Laura 6 Comments

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Taking the Super Moist Chocolate Cake from 6 cups of sugar to just 1/2 cup of sugar worked great. I figured why not play with other cake and cookie recipes to make them lower in sugar? And all the people said, “Amen.”

Low Sugar Chocolate Cake

If you haven’t tried this Low Sugar Super Moist Chocolate Cake yet, I have to ask:
Why?
Go make this. For the love of chocolate, people.

Now here’s another low-sugar treat I experimented with. I took my oatmeal cookie from 1 1/2 cups of sugar down to just 1/2 cup. I thought they were great. My kids ate them fine, but were sure to let me know that they would have been much better had I included chocolate chips.

Well duh. Everything is better with chocolate chips. But we’re going for low sugar here. So the boys suggested that maybe next time I could add chocolate chips to half the batch (for them) and leave the other half plain (for me). Apparently I’m the only one who needs to cut back on sugar and the boys still need plenty of it? And I’m not sure where Matt fits into this equation. Does Dad get any cookies, boys?

I’m sure they’d be happy to let me share my plain half with him. They are very nice.

Give these a try – with or without chocolate chips. Hey, you could even add raisins. Or dried cranberries.

Low Sugar Oatmeal CookiesYum

1 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sucanat
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole oats
1 1/2-2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)

Stir together melted butter and sucanat. Add eggs, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Stir in oats and flour until you reach desired cookie dough consistency. (If you’re using store-bought whole wheat flour, you may need less than 2 cups. Freshly ground may require the full 2 cups.)

Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheet leaving about 2 inches in between. Bake in a 350° oven for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.

Low Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

These are great dipped in milk, and of course, I’ll be having a cup of coffee with my half of the cookies. Not that I’ll eat the entire half-batch at once. That would be a bit counter-productive, wouldn’t you say?

Are you a plain oatmeal cookie fan – or do you prefer them with raisins or chocolate chips?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

A Surrendered Heart: Why Did I Marry This Guy?

April 22, 2015 by Laura 53 Comments

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Welcome to A Surrendered Heart: A Wife’s Journey to Love the Jesus Way. I will be sharing my thoughts here each Thursday during this 6-week class, offering printable journal pages for you to pray through on your own time, and providing discussion questions for us to talk though together. How will this work? Simply click on the “Leave a Comment” button on each post to add your thoughts, experiences, and suggestions to the discussion. If you are a newsletter subscriber, please click through to this post on my website to add your comments to the discussion to be read by everyone. I look forward to hearing what you have to say! God be praised for the gift of marriage and for allowing us to grow in Him.

Surrendered Heart Lesson 1
Matt and I have been blessed to mentor quite a few young engaged or newlywed couples during the past few years. One of the joys of this is looking across our living room at a couple – seeing how excited they are to be marrying each other. They are beaming at each other – even as we talk through some difficult topics.

After 20 years of marriage, I rarely beam at Matt anymore. Why? Is it so hard to beam, have I forgotten how to beam, or do I feel silly beaming at the age of 41? Might it be that after 20 years I’ve learned more about his weaknesses and those sometimes overshadow his strengths – making me not even feel like beaming? I remember beaming. I remember being completely enamored. I remember.

So here I am, practically beamless. Matt doesn’t seem to miss it, or at least he doesn’t say anything about it. It’s funny (not funny) how the logistics of life, parenting, running businesses, and changing toilet paper rolls can take over a couple’s mind, keeping them from taking time to even stop and look at each other.

Wait. I just thought of a time I beam. This might be more information than you wanted to know. Should I still say it? I’m going to say it. During soccer season when I’m sitting in a chair across the field from Matt, who is coaching one of our boys’ teams, and I am cheering for our team – and then I look over at Matt, who is so very good at coaching and also looks very good in athletic gear – it makes me all melty and I think to myself, “Man he’s hot.” Okay, there. I said it. I beam on the soccer field.

I bring up the beaming and the hot soccer coach (he’s mine. back off.) for this reason: It’s good for us to think back to the time before we were married.

What were we looking for in a husband? What attracted us to our man? Why did we marry this guy? The reasons were many, and at that time the strengths outweighed the weaknesses. The weaknesses are real – they are. But I’ve found it beneficial as of late to reflect on that guy that made me so crazy I couldn’t see straight. The guy that I couldn’t wait to walk down the aisle toward. That guy. 

Scripture to Consider

Anytime you find your heart focusing on the negative (about your husband or life in general), it might just be because you aren’t spending enough time in the Word. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more easily our hearts find a kingdom focus. I can’t encourage this enough: Be in the Word. Daily. Not with a check-list mentality but with a surrendered heart, open to hear what God needs to teach you.

Each week of this class, I will be offering us a scripture focus that I have found to be helpful with the topic at hand. But one or two scriptures isn’t enough. Take this scripture focus and run with it. Read. Pray. Meditate. Listen.

I chose Luke 6:45 for us to focus on together this week. Why? Because if your heart is focused on your husband’s weaknesses instead of his strengths (aka the reasons you married him and the ways he’s grown during the time you’ve been married) – the outpouring of your heart is going to be ugly. Focus on the good, and good will pour out of you toward your husband. Having trouble finding the good? God’s right there waiting to show you. Pray. Listen. Fill your heart with good.

Luke 645
Download the Overflow of the Heart Printable Here

This week, take time to consider why you married your man. Print the following sheet to add to your Surrendered Heart Journal and write down the reasons. Write what made you beam. Write the strengths he had/has that attracted you to him in the first place. It’s so good to look back and remember.

Why I Married Him

Download Why I Married Him Journal Page Here

I found that opening my heart while reading through different passages, including Luke 6:45, and then writing my Why I Married Him journal page gently turned my focus toward a prayer for strength in letting God fill my heart with His goodness and the truth about my husband’s strengths. Wouldn’t you know it, I have found more reasons to beam. God’s good like that.

Up For Discussion…Share with us:

  • What is one of the reasons you chose to marry your man?
  • What ways do you find it helpful to store up good in your heart regarding your husband?
  • What thoughts come to mind when you hear the words of Jesus, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks?”
  • What makes you beam? Go ahead. Tell us. ;)
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What I’m Learning About Natural Home Remedies

April 21, 2015 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I’m currently taking the Parent’s Guide to Natural Remedies online course. You guys. I can’t tell you how good this is. I really don’t have time right now to get wrapped up in this course (because hello graduation party, speaking engagement, end of the school year, everyday life, and many summer plans staring me right in the face). But every day or so, I pull up the course and click on another module to listen to – and I can’t stop listening. This information is incredibly helpful to me.

parent guide

I’ve been trying to take some notes as I go. This is a crack up because I can’t write and listen at the same time because I’m afraid I’m going to miss more good information. Thankfully, I can go back and listen to and read the info over and over in this course.

I love being empowered to try home remedies first – before heading straight to the doctor. As the creators of Natural Home Remedies say, we know our kids better than any doctor. BUT, I also love that these ladies share information about when we DO need to take our kids in for doctor’s help. That’s always one of my biggest question marks. How much to treat at home…when to take them in. This course answers that. I’m loving this.

Here are some of the notes I’ve been scratching down. (But I can’t share all the specifics because the information in the Online Course isn’t mine to give out freely.)

~ Fever is Your Friend

I knew some of this already, but I didn’t know how much a fever kicks those healing white blood cells into gear. We should watch our kids’ energy level more than their temperature. Caution flags should go up with babies and when kids get dehydrated. Many more details are given in the course about what to watch for and how to treat.

~ There Are Many Reasons to Avoid Tylenol

Throw out the tylenol. Throw it out, throw it out, throw it out. I knew it wasn’t good, but I had no idea how bad it was. Wow. I’m so glad to know all this information from someone so studied and knowledgeable. Tylenol keeps the body from doing what it needs to do. It’s too easy to overdose, which really hurts the liver.

~ Everything we put on our skin is absorbed into the bloodstream.

It’s just like eating food. If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin. What a great way to help determine the safety of skin products and treatments. (Although I think an exception to this is essential oils. I don’t take them orally, but they are wonderful to put on the skin so they can absorb and get to work.)

~ A Urinary Tract Infection does not automatically mean you need an antibiotic.

There are natural ways to treat these at home first like unsweetened cranberry juice and chamomile tea, plus essential oils and more.

~ Be empowered to know the right questions to ask if/when you take your children to the pediatrician. 

Yes. Thank you. The information shared in these modules helps so much with this.

~ There are many, many options for helping treat ear infections that do not involve antibiotics.

But you might begin with these two ideas before trying anything else: chiropractic care and cutting out dairy. If your child continues to have trouble, then try the many homeopathic remedies mentioned or treatments from a natural doctor.

~ Homeopathy is treatment that works with the body to help the body do what it is already trying to do to heal itself.

I guess I never heard a definition before. I know our bodies were made to heal themselves, and that sometimes when we’re sick we need a little help. I love knowing that homeopathic treatments simply give the body a boost of what it needs so that healing can occur when our bodies are weak.

What I'm Learning About Natural Home Remedies

This Course is incredibly professional, completely thorough, and wonderfully helpful for parents. I am so grateful to have all this information available. The cost for A Parent Guide to Natural Home Remedies is regularly $99, and is well worth that price because of all it includes. I can’t imagine how much money we can all save by practicing all of these home remedies and avoiding doctor bills. Plus, having all this information at our fingertips?? Priceless.

What are your favorite home remedies to use? 

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Gratituesday: Spring Formal ~ Fabulous Friends

April 20, 2015 by Laura 10 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

gratituesday[2]

Today I am overcome with thankfulness when I think of the teenagers (and their families) God has put in our lives to be a blessing to our children. This is no small thing. That my teenage sons have so many in their church community and homeschool community to encourage them in their spiritual walk is a tremendous joy to me. This past weekend was once again a great reminder of how wonderful it is that my boys have such great friends and opportunities to grow.

On Saturday night, high school aged homeschoolers all over our part Nebraska were invited to attend the annual Spring Formal (similar to prom). Asa (a senior) and Justus (a freshman) got all fancied up and headed out for the evening.

asa justus spring formal 2015

Asa’s friend joined them. (Yes, she is gorgeous. Her heart is beautiful as well.)

asa brittany spring formal

They met up with a group several miles down the road, then all drove together to meet up at “The Barn” for the Formal. They had sooooo much fun. We keep hearing more and more details of the night. They loved it.

spring formal 2015
Most of the kids in this picture are a part of our homeschool basketball team.
I loved seeing these kids who are usually in uniforms on the basketball court all dressed up posing for a picture together.

I’m so thankful for opportunities like this for my boys. I’m thankful for their friends. And I’m thankful for how God is working in these kids’ lives to grown them up His way.

What about you? What are you thankful for this Gratituesday?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Bless Some Mama ~ How to Get a Huge Package of Free Diapers Whether You Need Them Or Not

April 17, 2015 by Laura 32 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

huggies 2

Those of you who have signed up for TopCashBack know how great their offers are for new sign-ups. This one may be the best yet. I especially love this one because it offers such a blessing to mamas. If you need diapers at your house – yay for you – you get FREE DIAPERS!!!! Or if you’re like me and have no need for diapers at your house, do this anyway. This will make a great (free!) gift. Love someone by putting a big box of diapers on their doorstep! Think and pray now – who can you bless with this? (I’d love to hear from you, by the way. Do you need this freebie for your own baby, or have you thought of someone you can bless with this?)

I’ve been using my TopCashBack account for over a year and love that they give refunds on most of my online purchases. You can trust this site. I do. They’ve paid me every refund they’ve ever promised. They are legit.

If you have already signed up and used your account, this freebie won’t apply to you (although you can refer others). But if you’re new or haven’t used your account yet, take advantage of this, and then continue earning cash back on future purchases too.

Here’s how to get a FREE case of Huggies diapers:

  1. Click this link or on the orange “Get Cashback” button below. (This offer is good for new sign-ups only, and that is my referral link.)huggies 1
  2. Sign up for a TopCashBack account.
  3. You will be redirected to a purchase page for Huggies Snug and Dry Ultra diapers at Walmart.com.
  4. Add to your cart one box of the diapers offered on that page. You may purchase any size – but only purchase one box, otherwise your purchase price will not be refunded to you.
  5. Click on “Free Pick-up” so that you won’t have to pay shipping.
  6. Don’t put anything else in your cart!! Proceed to check out.

    This offer ends Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at 11:59 pm PT – or earlier if supplies run out.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Because great deals are such blessings to us all as we run our homes, I wanted to also share these:

    Also, Tropical Traditions is offering free shipping this weekend. Their Organic Coconut Flour is only $9.99 for 2.2 pounds right now. Plus, their Organic Palm Shortening is only $30.65. Take advantage of those sale prices with free shipping! Use the code 20154 at check-out for free shipping to apply.

    coconut_flour

    Okeedokee. Enjoy the freebies and great prices! Tell me how you’ll use the free diapers. It’s fun for me to hear.

    Have a great weekend. I’m off to do some cleaning, then spend the day Saturday watching my boys play soccer.

    This post contains referral links.

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5 Things You Probably Want to Know About My Week ~ Especially the Part About the Chicken

April 16, 2015 by Laura 8 Comments

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I have taken several pictures this week, knowing most certainly that you would want to see them and learn what’s been going on at our house. Haven’t you just been wondering if possibly I came across a new chicken recipe that was delicious? Yes, that’s exactly what you’ve been wondering. Let’s start with that picture then:

april 165

That, my dear ones, is called Chicken Lazone. A friend of mine posted the recipe to Facebook, and since I saw that it had both butter and cream in it (and sure, chicken too, but whatever), I knew it was a “must try.” We had it for lunch today. It was awesome (and easy too). Find the recipe here.

In other news not at all related to chicken – flowers are popping up all over our yard. On Wednesday, my husband sent me a picture of 2lips while he was working outside. What? That’s what he called them in the email he sent me. I thought it was cute.

april 166

I had already taken the following pictures of my very favorite purple wild flowers that spring up all over the yard.

april 163

april 167

They are so very pretty to me. Sometimes when I am singing worship songs, I pretend I’m dancing in a field full of these purple flowers. Alone. Just me and Jesus. No one else wants to see me dance. No one.

One day this week was especially sunshiny and lovely. I made myself my first iced coffee of the season, then sat outside shivering while I drank it. Apparently it was still not warm enough to drink iced coffee. Oh well. At least it tasted delicious.

april 162

Arm yourself for iced coffee this summer. Learn to make Coffee Ice Cubes. Learn to Cold Brew Coffee. I do both of these, then add just a little bit of cream to my glass. It is iced coffee perfection.

What else? Well, my Amazon Subscribe and Save order came in on Monday. It was a fun one: two cases of Izze Sodas. A case of organic corn starch. A box of Larabars to take to soccer games. A big box of Bearitos Organic Tortilla Chips. We love Amazon Subscribe and Save deals paired with online coupons. (I just updated our Amazon Deals page with the latest and greatest.)

april 161
Tuesday we made homemade pizza for lunch. Well…it was mostly homemade. I’d ordered the crusts from Bountiful Baskets to give myself a little bit of healthy convenience. It was worth it. The boys did most of the work putting the pizzas together. We added fruit to the meal and had a delicious lunch.

april 164

Yes, I just buy pepperoni from the store. Not the greatest, for sure. I do usually buy turkey pepperoni – which is really only a little bit better. Is it possible that if you don’t read the list of ingredients before eating something then it won’t hurt you? If only.

Many soccer games and practices, too many loads of laundry, hours of school work, and many other blessings filled the week too. And how about you? What are some of the highlights of your week? Have any flowers blooming in your yard? Tried any great new recipes?

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Join Me In This Free 6-Week Class! A Surrendered Heart: A Wife’s Journey to Love the Jesus Way

April 15, 2015 by Laura 107 Comments

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The world tells us what love is, which is clearly working out very well for no one. Good people tell us what love is, which might work okay for a time. The church tells us how to love, which works well when we listen. The Bible tells us how to love, which only works when we surrender self.

After 41 years of life and 20 years of marriage, this is what I’ve just discovered: I don’t really know what it means to truly love others. Much of the way I’ve loved people has been self-seeking. I want them to like me. I want to keep the peace. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

I. I. I. There is no I in love. Not if I want to love the Jesus way.

The past several months, I’ve been searching scripture and listening as God teaches me that loving others has nothing to do with what I think and everything to do with who God is. These love lessons can be applied in friendship and in parenting, but most importantly, they should be applied in marriage.

I invite you to join me in this journey. This class will not be provided to you by a teacher who has mastered the art of loving her husband perfectly (right, Matt?). Nope, it’s just me. Hi! {waving} I’m just your crazy butter-loving friend – learning to listen, learning to seek Jesus, learning to surrender my heart so I can love the Jesus way.

A Surrendered Heart Invitation

Women can be…shall we say ~ emotional? (God help us. No really.) This class is brought to you by a girl who appears strong to many but is a mess quite frequently. Emotional much, Laura? Mercy.

How do you sign up to be a part of this class? I’ll make it easy. Simply show up right here every Thursday for the next 6 weeks. Come as you are. You don’t even have to brush your hair. Shoot, I don’t even have to brush my hair. {high fives all around}

God loves our messy, seeking selves. He loves our desire to love and to be loved. He rejoices over our surrendered heart.

Join me!! Who’s in?

A bit of housekeeping:

  • If you want to be sure to avoid missing a class, sign up here to receive our free daily newsletter.
  • If you prefer reading straight from the blog, and you miss stopping by on a Thursday, you are fresh out of luck. Just kidding. Simply find the following button over on our side bar, click, and catch up on all you missed.

A Surrendered Heart - Join Our Class! sidebar

We’ll be journaling our way through this class, taking time to reflect, and examining scripture. There will be printables. There will be a test (not really). Click on the link below to download the cover page for your journal.

Download A Surrendered Heart Journal Cover Here.

You’ll get new printables each class to add to your journal. I recommend spending 33¢ on a folder like this:

surrendered heart folder 1

Then glue your cover on the front like this:

surrendered heart folder 2

Then each week you’ll get printables to add to your folder like this:

surrendered heart folder 3

I’m keeping this journal right by my Bible to work through as I can – and as I need to refocus my heart to love my husband the Jesus way.

Alrighty? Have any questions? Invite your friends, invite your neighbors, invite people you’ve never met. This class is free, no strings attached. I’m excited to explore A Surrendered Heart with you!

Leave a comment here letting us know you’ll be joining our class! We’ll officially begin with Class #1 on April 23. In the meantime, prepare your journal and be praying for God to help you surrender your heart to love the Jesus way.

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