Gateways to Joy

Seeing His beauty in the ordinary liturgy of your service.   "In other words, you choose your life, that is to say, you choose all the conditions of your life, when you choose the thoughts upon which you allow your mind to dwell." ~ Anthony Bloom "We are transformed by the renewing of our minds...." that's what the Bible says. Today may you learn that the mental diet of your mind is really the most important diet for your whole life. Let your mind dwell on the joy-gifts that only a gracious God can give. Happy weekend! xo, Angela blog subscription  | twitter | facebook

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is " Just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear." ~ 1 Peter 3:16 Lord:  human master, ruler.  One who has due power ownership, control, or authority over others.  A term of respect for ones father, rulers and government officials, teachers, et al. Yep.  That's what he needs ladies: reverence.  A man needs his ego fed.  That's just how the Lord designed him. I try and I fall and I try and I fall. And I will keep trying (and falling). So what does it say, ladies, to our man when we treat him as lord?  We say to them that we: trust him we think he's capable he has favor with us we respect him and yes, we love him To put it in today's terminology we're basically telling him that we think "He's all that!" Now...how do we follow in Sarah's footsteps? WE SUBMIT Ouch!  I know for some...

Hi ladies! Today I have a challenge for you.  It is actually a challenge that I want you to do for the remainder of the month.  If you're like me, you're already striving for this... however, if you are like me, at times this very important challenge may fall by the way-side. Women.  I believe we set the atmosphere for our home.  What about you, do you believe that? I've taken notes... done sort of a test and what I've concluded is that often times my countenance will either uplift my family or bring them down. This challenge is not original either.  I got the idea to link up with Courtney over at Women Living Well.  I saw where she talked about humming while doing the dishes and I thought to myself, "I need to share with the ladies how I love washing dishes by candlelight while drinking San Pellegrino and listening to classical music"  Hey, I like it :-) Or how I love to be the only one up early morning with candles lit ...

I found these prayers while roaming to and fro through the blogesphere.  Instantly while reading them, I was reminded of the prayers from "The Power of A Praying Wife" that I use to faithfully pray for my husband. I hope if you don't pray for your husband on a regularly basis ladies or if you need more guided prayers, or if you just want to change up your prayers a bit, this list will be of some sort of assistance to you. I'll tell you one thing I'm learning ... it's hard for me to pray for someone and complain about them at the same time.  It also seems that it's hard to be mad at a person while praying for them.  Seems that God has this way of giving me eternal vision and perspective where the molehill takes on a different shape, no longer looking like the boulder or mountain that stood in my way. 25 Prayers for My Husband I pray… that he continues to grow spiritually through the disciplines of Bible study, prayer, and quiet times. (Proverbs 4:23...

Every so often I have to pull out my " mission statement " for my family.  I am one who can get so caught up and led away from the very thing I deem most important. How would I feel if I was known for being a stay-at-home mom only, the way I was known years ago? Have I fallen into the trap of this world's lie of me not being good enough if I am only a mother? What about you?  Have you fallen into the trap? Is your home life evidence that you have fallen into that belief?  Do you feel that you have to be more? Many of us say that we've taken on more to have more, more curriculum, more this and more that, but why after we've reached our goals do we continue on in spite of subtly being led from our calling, continue investing so much of our time into ...? Can't we make do with what God has given?  Can we really make do?  Can we really help and still be home in our hearts and minds? How often are we "stay-at-home" mom's putting off what w...

Image via Wikipedia Yeah, I must admit: the words in the blue box were lifted right off the pages of Ann Voskamp! I love using these resources with my children and not only that, but I've been wanting to share this stuff with you all for awhile, but would always forget. Here in our home the kids are quietly watching a documentary of 9/11 while I quietly write a small  eBook  welcoming all the ladies who will participate in the fall online Bible study .  Not only am I doing that, but I also have a design class coming up for 2:00— remember I told you all that I'm learning how to "professionally" code and design blogs?  All that ... and a tad bit more is what I'm working on over here. By the way, for all of the ladies who contacted me about helping them with their blogs, I will send an email to you between now and Saturday evening.  I got an awesome responds and I thank you so kindly for trusting me enough to have me work on your babies :-) Aren't our blo...