Your time is precious. Any barrier, no matter how large or small, standing between you and your quiet time with God may completely derail your plans. Here are four practical ways to cut down barriers to quiet time that I've been implementing in my own life. 1. Put all of your stuff in one bag. Storing all of your stuff in one place is incredibly helpful. I have a shoulder bag that I use, or a backpack would work great, too. This makes it easy (and efficient) to grab everythin

Eek! Sharing my first book cover with you feels like an amazing dream coming true. Is this real life????? From the moment I started dreaming about writing Made for More, I was expectant for all that God would do in me and others through it. And, oh, has He shown up. The first day I sat down to write I had no plan. I didn’t have a blog. I didn’t have an e-mail list. I had nothing but a calling and a small group of family and friends cheering me on. It was a crazy time, and not

Last week, I vacuumed my house three times. THREE TIMES! All of the neat freaks may not think this is a big deal but I prefer a “well lived in” home. I lean more towards once a week vacuuming, unless we have popcorn, of course. I had my reasons for my sudden desire to vacuum. I vacuumed because I was alone in my house every single day from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. while all of my children under my roof were at school. I vacuumed because I didn’t want to sit down to write and ex

The Bible became a part of my life on the day I was born. As a pastor’s kid, I was at the church every single time the doors were open. I’ve also had my fair share of leftover communion. It’s a perk of the position! I attended a Christian university where I was required to take Bible classes. I even read through the entire Bible once. Checking those boxes for that reading plan made me feel like I’d really done something. I’ve attended (even led) Bible studies my entire adult

This past weekend I found myself in a scary and awkward situation. We were in Ohio for an adoption garage sale fundraiser that a dear friend had organized for our family. It was great to catch up with Ohio friends, and my best friend from first grade showed up to surprise me. It was fun! Somewhere along the line, I got the brilliant idea to try and shoot the promo video for my book Made for More on the second afternoon of the fundraiser. The sale was held at the home of the v

Trying to get kids out the door on time while wearing appropriate attire should be an Olympic event. Every morning I clutch my coffee mug in desperation as I battle every unforeseen challenge that comes my way. No matter how prepared I am, something will without a doubt go wrong. One kid will have wet tennis shoes (and, of course, they have PE that day) from running through the neighbor’s lawn sprinkler the night before. Another kid will ask where their homework is and you ha