by Misty Phillip | Nov 22, 2017 | Featured
Hey Friends, I just wanted to wish you all an early Happy Thanksgiving! I snapped a few photos of my Thanksgiving tables and wanted to share them with you before all of the craziness ensures at our home tomorrow.
This year we are doing things a little differently. As many of you know earlier in the year Hurricane Harvey swept through our area with a vengeance and left many people displaced or without a livable home. So we decided to open up our home to Hurricane Harvey victims and families who would otherwise be alone on Thanksgiving!
We are excited to open our home to multiple families, and even some people from our church that we have never met. With a house full of people to serve I decided to take a shortcut and use paper plates.
If you notice on both tables I paired paper plates with chargers so that I can enjoy beautiful tablescapes and not worry about doing dishes. Which allows me to linger long and be present with family and friends. Simple easy short-cuts like this are great stress relievers without comprising the look and feel you desire. For more ideas like this be sure to grab your free e-book Enjoy the Holiday of Your Dreams!
I am headed to my kitchen to begin preparations for tomorrow. I hope you have a wonderful time of celebration with your friends and family! Be blessed.
– XOXO Misty
by Misty Phillip | Nov 17, 2017 | Featured
“Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgivings” – William Arthur Ward
I am busy preparing my home for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. If you are in need of inspiration and a few tips to help eliminate stress this holiday season, then I hope you have taken time to subscribe to the blog and get your free copy of my first e-book, Enjoy the Holiday of Your Dreams.
The holidays can either be a time of great joy or tremendous stress. Sometimes life is challenging, and often times things don’t go the way we plan that they will go. When we find ourselves in the midst of difficult, even painful circumstances, sometimes it seems impossible to find our way through the muck and mire of devastation.
When life throws us a curve ball, how can we be thankful?
We have a choice. Having a heart of gratitude in a tough time is a choice.
Every day we make choices, and those choices affect how we live our lives. We can choose to be….
Thankful
Joyful
Loving
Kind
Gracious
Merciful
or not.
The Holy Scriptures tell us that we should not deceive ourselves, we reap what we sow.
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. – Galatians 6:7
If we reap what we sow, then I want to sow good seeds! And that is exactly what this devotional book, A Pocketful of Seeds inspires us to do. Sow good seeds because when we sow, life happens.
When I picked up Debbie Johnson’s devotional book A Pocketful of Seeds, I was delightfully surprised. This is not your average devotional book, each one of the 365 daily devotions is an opportunity for you to sow seeds and spread love and kindness. Each short inspirational devotion is followed by a daily seed which is an inspiring quote or a scripture to spur you on to make the world a better place because every day we have a choice to make.
Every day you are given an action item, “a seed” to plant or sow. From Fairtrade coffee to immunizations, and foster care or adoption to forming a new habit or mentoring a teen. A Pocketful of Seeds is filled with wisdom and inspiration and this book has something for everyone!
As Christians, we are image bearers of Christ, and by sowing seeds in love, we can change the world one seed at a time!
Thanks to the Blog About Network I have one copy of A Pocketful of Seeds by Debbie Johnson to give away to my blog readers. Now through the end of November 2017 please comment and share this post with your friends to be eligible to win a copy. The winner will be announced on December 1, 2017.
by Misty Phillip | Nov 11, 2017 | Featured
Do you ever struggle to feel loved? I know I have, whether it is my own insecurity or guilt that plagues me as young women I struggled to feel loved by God. Maybe you know what I am talking about because this is something that you have struggled with yourself. Or perhaps you have thought of God as some ruler maker in the sky that is keeping a list of those who are naughty and nice like Santa Claus. However, this could not be any farther from the truth. God not only loves us, He is love.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. – 1 John 4:8 ESV
Do you truly deep down in your bones beyond a shadow of a doubt know that Jesus loves you? Sometimes it is difficult for us to comprehend the great love of God, and if this is something that you have ever wrestled with then the new Zondervan devotion by Lindsay A. Franklin entitled, Adored – 365 Devotions for Young Women is the perfect devotion for you.
The King of the Universe adores you! #Adored
The fact is, God doesn’t just love us. He adores us. And maybe we struggle to understand that because we look in the mirror and wonder why the great big God of the Universe would look at us and think, “Yes. She is my adored, beloved daughter.” But make no mistake: no matter what our insecurities try to tell us, God does delight in us, his beatiful creations. – from the introduction of Adored
I fell in love with this book from the moment I saw it from the deep rich blue dreamy cover to the beautifully designed devotional pages within. It is a hardbound book that can easily fit into your backpack or sit out on your nightstand. There are 365 days worth of devotions, and they are not dated so you can start whenever you like and work your way through. There is room at the bottom of each page to record a note, a response, or a prayer.
Each daily devotional is focused on God’s great love for us coupled with a short scripture memory verse and a daily devotional that address the ups and downs of everyday life but also explores profound spiritual truths. Adored addresses difficult topics that girls face like self-worth, bullying, social media, friendships, and dating. The overarching theme of this devotion is to show girls and young women how greatly loved and adored they are by the King of the Universe.
This is wonderful little devotional is out just in time for the holidays and would make the perfect gift or stock stuffer for any young woman in your life!
Thanks to the Blog About Network I have one copy to give away my blog readers! If you would like a chance to be entered to win a copy of this devotion please leave a comment below and share this post with your friends on social media. The winner will be announced on December 1, 2017.
by Misty Phillip | Nov 8, 2017 | Featured
Hi! Friends, Happy November! We have finally had our first cold snap here in Texas. The leaves are falling off the trees, pumpkin spice everything is available in the stores, and Halloween has come and gone. The holiday season is upon us as we look forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year!
This is my absolute favorite time of year! I love to celebrate Thanksgiving because I have so much to be grateful for in Christ! As Thanksgiving passes, we are ushered into the Christmas Season which is all about the Christ child, Jesus Christ, who came to earth to ransom us, save us from our sins and restore us to God.
After Christmas, we look forward to the New Year! A time to access the past year, a fresh start an opportunity for new beginnings. A look ahead to things in store for the next year.
If anyone you have been with me for awhile, you know that I love the Lord and strive to be the woman that God has called me to be and part of that calling for my life is to be a wife, mom, and homemaker. But I also love the holidays and all that it entails!!
[ctt template=”2″ link=”d4v4e” via=”yes” ]We are made for community, and we are encouraged by time spent with loved ones.[/ctt]
One of the reasons why I love this time of year is because I get to invite friends and family into my home and share my gift of hospitality, express myself in new and creative ways through trying new recipes and sprucing up my house with holiday decor in the changing of the seasons.
I am a foodie, love to decorate my home, and all things sparkly and floral. I am almost finished decorating for the holidays and will put together a holiday home tour video for you! If you like this sort of thing you may want to check out some of these posts from last year for some holiday inspiration.
Thanksgiving Preparations!
Holiday Candied Nuts
Dreaming of the Holidays
More Christmas Inspiration!
This year I have a created a free e-book to help inspire you and provide some of my best tips to help you enjoy the Holiday of Your Dreams free to all of my blog subscribers!!!
Sign up to receive your free copy click the link in the sidebar if you are on a computer or at the bottom of the page if you are on a mobile device to access the ebook Enjoy The Holiday of Your Dreams in Four Easy Steps.
I can’t wait to share all of the good things about the holidays with you from now until the end of the year! I will still share words of encouragement and will continue to do book reviews. I have some fantastic books to tell you about in the coming weeks that would make great Christmas gifts!
Christmas food. Homemade gingerbread cookies with ingredients for Christmas cooking and kitchen utensils on wooden table, top view
Do you have any holiday plans yet or a favorite holiday tradition? I would love to hear your holiday plans and any hints you have to make the holidays full of joy and free of stress!
by Misty Phillip | Nov 2, 2017 | Featured
Have you ever received a compliment, only to feel slighted by the but that follows? But can be an eraser word. Let me give you an example of what I mean.
I love this pasta dish you made, but why did you put mushrooms in it?
The compliment, “I love this pasta dish” is completely eradicated by the use of the word BUT and the statement that follows. But is a mighty word, and when you couple the word but with God, you have two of the most powerful words in the English language.
Our circumstances may look grim, but God can change our circumstances. I love what the psalmist decrees in Psalms 73:26 ESV,
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
The Psalmist knows he is weak and knows that circumstances can be overwhelming, but he gives us hope in that God is strong. There are several scriptures where the words “but God” are used, and there is resurrection power in the words “but God.”
Let’s look at a few examples from scripture.
“You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” Acts 3:15 NIV
and
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 ESV
I am so thankful that but is an eraser word when followed by the word God! There have been so many times in my life where my heart and flesh were weak, but God’s love and power changed the course of my life forever…….
Come visit me today over at Brenda Ottinger’s site Chasing Community to read the rest of this post. Chasing Community
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