#TheLoft Thanksgiving Edition

November 17, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 1 Comment

The Loft is open, come on up!

This Week’s Topic: “Thanksgiving” (Food, traditions, an essay or video, or your own gratitude list. Maybe we will find some new ideas to incorporate into our celebration this year!)

Next Week’s Topic: Surprise! (Next week we have a little surprise planned! Be sure to stop by early~~smile, grin, beam!)

About #TheLoft

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are: Jen, Rebekah, Leah, Arabah

Now it’s time to link up!

Favorite Fall Recipes ~ #TheLoft

November 10, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 Leave a Comment

It’s our favorite time of week again! This week we’ll be sharing our favorite fall recipes with you, so come join us in the linkup.

Jen 🙂

The Loft is open, come on up!

Graphic by Kerry Messer

This Week’s Topic: “Fall Recipes” (Yum!)

Get a running start on Next Week’s Topic: “Thanksgiving” (Food, traditions, an essay or video, or just your own gratitude list. Maybe we’ll find some new ideas to incorporate into our celebration this year!)

About #TheLoft

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are: Jen, Rebekah, Leah, Arabah

Now it’s time to link up!

This Week’s Topic: “Fall Recipes”

Enter your link below:

Just a Closer Walk~ #TheLoft

November 3, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 18 Comments

My sisters in Christ, I’m very excited about this week’s topic for The Loft. I look forward to reading what each of you have to say about your walk with the Lord.

I know in my own life, I get easily distracted. I struggle with consistency and self-discipline so often.

And I used to believe that the sweetest times with the Lord were on the mountaintops, when I chose to abide closely in Him. I spent large chunks of time reading the Word and praying. But lately I’m learning there is a sweetness to be found in the valleys as well because what I’m hearing from Him in the valleys would have been impossible to hear on the mountaintops.

The last few difficult years have challenged my view of God like never before. His grace is much greater, His love much deeper than I ever could have imagined. He faithfully loves me even when I cannot love myself. Even when I loathe myself.

Perhaps it’s maturity at work in me or just life circumstances, but I find it easier to abide in Him, especially in the dark times, when I’m really honest with Him. I realize now that much of my “young” Christian life was spent trying to please a God who was already pleased with me. I held myself, and others, to high standards, and although I thought I understood grace, I think I was probably a little legalistic, maybe even self-righteous. I’m sure I still make that mistake sometimes even today, we all do at times. 🙂

And then came the valley of the shadow of death, or at least it felt like it, that filled these last couple of years. At times I didn’t even want to leave my bed. At times I begged the Lord to come quickly – everyday life felt like too much to bear. I questioned the Lord like never before. I wrestled with him like Jacob as one blow after another fell upon my life. I quit trying to act the part of perfect Christian and begged for understanding. I got real with Jesus.

It was (and still is in some sense) a most difficult struggle.

Yet my faith has been strengthened! Out of my honest conversations, out of my most desperate cries, came an understanding that I am perfectly loved, perfectly wanted, perfectly accepted. I knew a brand new Grace, and it blew my mind – still does!

Because when I was my ugliest self, He loved me still.

He loves me still.

He loves you, too, my sisters, even at your ugliest, your most unlovely, your most unworthy.

And when we come to Him honestly, then He can begin the real work of “creating a clean heart” within us. He gives us “grace-colored” glasses and teaches us that progress is what really matters, not perfection!

He teaches us confidence that only comes from fully understanding our Daughter-of-the-King status.

I’ve come out of that valley with a closer walk, not a perfect walk, but a closer one. Not because I do my devotions without fail, not because I am sweet to my family, not because I serve Him at church, not because of the words I type out here.

But because I know Him more deeply.

I trust Him more deeply.

You can trust Him, too, sisters. Whatever your valley may look like, He promises to carry you through.

…For He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?” Heb.13:5-6

Even this.

Even this.

Jen 🙂

Also sharing this with Tell His Story.

The Loft is open, come on up!

Graphic by Kerry Messer

About #TheLoft

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

This Week’s Topic: “Intimacy with Jesus” (What does that look like for you? How do you abide in the vine? What barriers do you face or victories you’ve discovered in maintaining intimacy with Jesus? Let’s encourage each other!)

Get a running start on Next Week’s Topic:”Fall Recipes” (Please do share your favorite fall recipes so we can enjoy too!)

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are: Jen, Rebekah, Leah, Arabah

Now it’s time to link up!

Click to Add Your Link Below:

Best Blogging Tips

November 3, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 4 Comments

Faithful readers, I promised you a post earlier this week and life just got in the way. However, I do have some great tips to pass along to those of you who are bloggers, so even though I’m very late with this post, I want to be sure it gets to you. Better late than never, right? 🙂

When I first began blogging, I really had no idea what a huge industry the blogosphere is. I never “followed” any blogs before that time. I had no idea bloggers could earn income from their posts. I hardly even knew what a blog was. So, why create a blog?

It was purely out of obedience to the Lord, honestly. No, He did not speak in a loud clear voice saying, “Jen, I want you to create a blog.” However, He did use the Holy Spirit to convict me of neglecting one of the gifts He had given to me. I was too overwhelmed to imagine writing a book or for any other sort of publication right away since I had not “practiced” writing in such a long time. Thus, from what little I knew about blogs, creating one of my own seemed a simple, inexpensive, and the least terrifying way to walk forward in obedience.

To read more about my blogging journey thus far (a year and a half in!), check out the “For the Writers” tab on my sidebar or click here. I would suggest starting with My Monday Morning Confession as it was my first post ever! You might also read A Blogger’s Prayer to see what I have learned so far from this faith walk online.

I think I’ve been most surprised that rather than using the material the Lord gives me to encourage others (which is what I first expected), He so often uses the writing to encourage me! Although others might find the words here encouraging, as is my deepest desire, even if no one else read them, this journey would be well worth it solely for the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

As a “seasoned” blogger of a year and a half (ha!), I do have some more practical blogging tips to pass along to you:

Pinterest – once I learned the value of creating a somewhat “pinnable” image, I began to receive most of my traffic from pinterest. In fact, this past month, I received close to a thousand views daily from a single post (The Pumpkin Gospel) that is doing well on pinterest simply because of Halloween. I rarely reach that number even on a good day, normally. That’s the power of pinterest, my friends!

What I know about creating “pinnable” images:

The better the lighting, the more attractive they are to the eye, as far as Pinterest goes. Lighter images tend to work more effectively than darker ones. Also, collage-type images (several pictures together) are more eye-catching. A good description also helps the reader to click through to the actual blog post. I recently started using hash-tags, as well.

I’m no pro at creating pinnable images, but what little I can do has helped tremendously. Therefore, I try to always include a photo of some sort in each post for easy sharing on pinterest. Sometimes when I don’t have an image that goes along with the theme of the post, I just include something beautiful from nature. I keep my camera in my purse to capture scenery along the way; this allows me to avoid the issue of photo rights altogether, which is just easier for me. Lately, I’ve really enjoyed adding verses to beautiful photos using either picmonkey.com or ribbet.com (photo editing websites). Someday I would love to learn photoshop! 🙂

Pinterest works well for me because I liked it and used it even before I started blogging. Twitter, on the other hand, is another story altogether…

Key-words and phrases – recently I’ve been learning more about how search engines work and am working on including more key-word phrases, especially earlier on in my blog posts. This helps anyone who is searching for information on a specific topic to find your blog post. I have one post in particular that does well from searches, and that is How to Love When You Feel Unloved. I usually receive several hits daily from that post ever since I updated it with a pinnable image and some bolding on key words and phrases.

This is another area in which I have plenty of room to grow, as I’m still learning and probably always will be. 🙂

I just learned this past week NOT to include a picture before the words in your blog post. If you’ve followed Being Confident of This for very long, you know I’ve been guilty of this, so I have many past posts to make changes to. Apparently, google and other analytic programs scan the first words of a blog post, and when you include a picture first, they end up reading a bunch of html code rather than the topic of your post. I read about that here.

For more practical blogging tips, I suggest pinterest as a wealth of information. I have a board just for Blogging that contains even more information than I have shared here. Some of it I haven’t even had time to look at or use. Some of it is easy to incorporate once you know how. I’m sure some of the other hosts have similar boards, as well. 🙂

My Best Blogging Tip

My best blogging tip, however, has nothing to do with pinterest or even with the mechanics of blogging. My best tip is to avoid getting caught up in blogging perfectionism. As I mentioned above, I knew so very little about blogging when I first began. My only desire was to have a space to write that wasn’t too intimidating, in obedience to the Lord.

However, once I learned about linky parties and began reading other blogs, I began to realize I knew literally nothing. And after a month or so, the desire to be “successful” started to creep in. I became concerned about things that I never even knew to be concerned about before. Blogging became a lot less about glorifying Christ and more about glorifying my own meager abilities.

Don’t get me wrong, learning how to blog well or write well isn’t wrong in and of itself, but I think it can quickly become an “idol” in our lives if we allow it to.

So my best blogging tip is simply this – fix your eyes on Jesus.

If you have time and the inclination to learn some of the rest of it along the way, great. But don’t lose the vision He’s given you to the trappings of blogging perfectionism. Write in faith instead.

Trust Him to guide you to the “right” content, my sisters in Christ. Trust Him to bring you the “right” audience.

Fix your eyes on Jesus.

Jen 🙂

It’s a Blogger’s World ~ TheLoft

October 27, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 2 Comments

It’s that time of week again! Meet you in the link-up?
Jen 🙂

The Loft is open, come on up!

Graphic by Kerry Messer

This Week’s Topic: “Blogging” I hope you guys have a lot to say! Some ideas are: Tell us why you started blogging, your blogging goals, needs, how we can help you. Share your favorite blogging tips and tricks, the floor’s open!

Get a running start on Next Week’s Topic: “Intimacy with Jesus” (What does that look like for you? How do you abide in the vine? What barriers do you face or victories you’ve discovered in maintaining intimacy with Jesus? Let’s encourage each other!)

About #TheLoft

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are: Jen, Rebekah, Leah, Arabah

Now it’s time to link up!

Add Your Link Here:

Fall Potluck ~ #TheLoft

October 20, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 Leave a Comment

It’s my favorite time of week again! Even though I have not been able to link-up with a post of my own the past few weeks, I’ve really enjoyed the encouragement I’ve received from those of you who have linked up. For this week’s link-up, I’m sharing a post about Joy (look for it in the link-up). Join with us, whether you blog or not, for some encouraging words in this week’s “potluck-style edition” of #TheLoft.

Keep pressing on, sisters!
Jen 🙂

The Loft is open, come on up!

Graphic by Kerry Messer

Hi Lofters! Today is pot-luck and I do believe this is a favorite “topic.” 🙂 Link up any post you’d love to share with us and we’ll come visit. Oh I do love this little community! Can’t wait to visit with you this week.

About #TheLoft

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are:

Jen
Rebekah
Leah
Arabah

Now it’s time to link up!

This Week’s Topic: “Potluck” (It’s that time again! Link up a favorite post you’ve shared on your blog and surprise us!)

Next Week’s Topic: “Blogging” (The floor is open! Some ideas are: Tell us why you started blogging, your blogging goals, needs, how we can help you. Share your favorite blogging tips and tricks. Woo-hoo!)

Add Your Link Here:

Heroes and Heroines ~ #TheLoft

October 13, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 Leave a Comment

If you stopped by here last week looking for the The Loft link-up, I apologize. Somehow the post I had scheduled never made it live. 🙂 I haven’t had time to write my own post for this week, so I’ll share that with you all later, but for now, please join the rest of us as we discuss heroes in our lives.
Jen 🙂

The Loft is open, come on up!

Graphic by Kerry Messer

Hi Lofters! We have two winners from last week’s giveaway! Sheila, who left a comment on Leah’s blog; and Trina, who sent in her comment via email. Please email Arabah Joy at arabahjoy(at)gmail.(com) with your mailing address so she can get the books out to you. Thank you!

About #TheLoft

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 5 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are:

Jen
Rebekah
Leah
Kathy
Arabah

Now it’s time to link up!

This Week’s Topic: “Heroes” (Do you have a hero? Did you have one when you were growing up? Do you think it’s important to have others we look up to? Why or why not? We look forward to reading about your heroes!)

Next Week’s Topic: “Potluck” (It’s that time again! Link up a favorite post you’ve shared on your blog and surprise us!)

Add Your Link Here:

Small Town USA ~ #TheLoft

September 29, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 20 Comments

As an MK, deciding which place to call “home” can be quite confusing. So, in general, my home tends to be based around where my people are!

A little over two years ago, we moved to a small farming community here in Indiana so that my husband could pursue a full-time ministry position. Even though our new town lies only forty-five minutes away from our previous town, it has a very different feel!

Here, everyone knows everyone else and their cousins, too. 🙂 People are friendly and patriotic. Neighbors look out for one another and kids play in backyards around the block safely, for the most part. Many homes in this town, including ours, were built well before 1900 and have the architecture to prove it!

We have one stoplight in town (and one four-way flasher), next to which stands this giant Indian statue, a monument to the Miami Indians. You might recognize him from the opening credits of the show “Parks and Recreation.” In town, he’s just known as “the Indian” and serves as a great point of reference when giving visitors directions!

We’re very thankful for the small library here in town, which in spite of its size, hosts a summer reading club for the kiddos each year. Our town also sports a fairly new community gym, which has been helpful during the winter months when the only option for activity is to don layers and layers of snow gear. 🙂

Our town is surrounded by farmlands, but not the vast rolling expanses you might expect to see in some midwestern states. The farmland in Indiana is dotted by clumps of forest here and there, remnants of the pioneer days. I particularly love seeing these crosses whenever I travel to a neighboring town for groceries. The last time I went, the sun was just setting, full of final-minutes glory.

Currently we spend a lot of time at the soccer fields in our nearby sister town. We’re thankful for the opportunity to join sports teams since the offerings are few and far between locally.

We’re also incredibly thankful for the school that our children attend nearby. It’s an elementary attached to a combined junior high/high school, small enough for decent class sizes, but big enough to offer an academic challenge for our two older children, both smarty pants. Most of all, we appreciate the school’s dedication to patriotism and morals. Our principals are free to pray openly, as well as our students, a freedom that no longer exists in many American schools!

Although we’re still getting used to the small-town atmosphere, we are really beginning to enjoy it! I wasn’t sure the Lord really knew what He was doing when we first moved here. There were many difficult adjustments in store for us, but of course, His plans are always, always for our best.

And now, it’s really starting to feel like Home.

Jen 🙂

NOTE to the Lofters – what lies below is the previous Loft link-up. For the new link-up, please visit Leah Adams!

Welcome to The Loft, a weekly hangout and link up for Christian bloggers.

The Loft is open, come on up!

Graphic by Kerry Messer

About #TheLoft

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 5 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are:

Jen
Rebekah
Leah
Kathy
Arabah

Now it’s time to link up!

This Week’s Topic: “My Town” (We want to know about where you live! We are living all over the world, so tell us a few of the unique things about your town, city, or farmland. Share a photo, give us a video tour, or just share what makes where you live special. This will be fun!)

Next Week’s Topic: “Favorite Books” (Share your all time favorite books with us! Plus, we’ll be giving away a book or two so be sure to check in next week~ smile)

Add Your Link Here:

Also sharing with The Loft (version 2) at Leah’s place.

Because ~ We’ve Been Falsely Accused

September 26, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 16 Comments

Today I was falsely accused.

And it stung.

It’s happened before but this wound pierced especially deep because I knew. I knew I was innocent.

I knew the accusations had more to do with the other person’s heart condition than any imagined offense on my part. In fact, I knew I had been gracious, kind, and patient in spite of the circumstances.

To do right…and be falsely accused.

Have you been there before, my sisters?

I’m certain you have because even when no one else is accusing us, our Enemy is! That’s even one of his names, the accuser.

So often we find ourselves in need of a defender because we’ve been falsely accused, and we’re just hoping someone will stand in our defense.

Sometimes we look to friends or family members. Sometimes we look to brothers and sisters in Christ.

But only One can faithfully defend us.

I’m learning more and more to hear the Defender’s voice. I’m waiting more patiently for Him to fight on my behalf. I can trust Him to go to battle for me rather than feeling the need to defend myself because

He has chosen me.

He has redeemed me.

He has declared, “No more condemnation” over me.

He says the same about you, too, my sisters. You, His beloved ones.

So, today I’m clinging to this promise:

Yes, we’ve been falsely accused, but praise the Lord, we have a Defender!

His name is Jesus.

He speaks Truth over us.

The Enemy shudders at His name.

And nothing,

nothing can separate us from His love!

Jen 🙂

I’m joining in with my Five Minute Friday sisters again this week (albeit a little late). We gather together at Kate’s blog and write on a one-word prompt for five frenzied minutes – no planning, no over-thinking, no editing. It’s fun and frightening all at the same time. This week’s word is “because.” Come join us!

And if you enjoyed what is written above, you’ll certainly enjoy this perspective from Jennifer Dukes Lee.

Also sharing with Grace and Truth

Our Best Practical Tips (#TheLoft)

September 22, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 4 Comments

Hello, friends! I must apologize for the lack of personal content in this space lately. Our family schedule has been more crazy than normal, and I have been preparing for a speaking opportunity that is actually taking place tomorrow!! So, after tomorrow, I’ll have a little more time to devote to writing and to you all, my sisters in Christ.

In the meantime, please join us for the weekly installment of #TheLoft and take some encouragement and practical advice from the ladies in the link-up below. I’ll be sharing an older post to help all you mamas with picky eaters – I know it made our mealtimes much more peaceful during the toddler and preschool years!

Jen 🙂

The Loft is open, come on up!

Graphic by Kerry Messer

About #TheLoft

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 5 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are:

Leah
Kathy
Arabah
Jen
Rebekah

Now it’s time to link up!

This Week’s Topic: “Best Practical Tip” (What is the best advice you’ve ever received? Or given? What one thing do you want to make sure you pass on to your children, friends, or family? It can be about homemaking, marriage, relationship with Jesus, anything… 🙂

Next Week’s Topic: “My Town” (We want to know about where you live! We are living all over the world, so tell us a few of the unique things about your town, city, or farmland. Share a photo, give us a video tour, or just share what makes where you live special. This will be fun!)

Add Your Link Here: