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Thanksgiving Week Video and a Favorite Praise Passage

November 21, 2016 by Tracey 8 Comments

It’s Thanksgiving week!

I shot a quick video just to wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving!

{If you’re reading this in an e-mail or via a feed reader, you may have to click over to my blog to be able to watch the video.}

If you’d like a passage to meditate on this week, here’s one of my favorites, a prayer of David’s, given in 1 Chronicles 29:11-14.

“Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.”

I’ll be back on Monday, November 28, with the fourth step in our series on Seven Steps to Becoming a Wise Woman.

Living Authentic: The Reality of the Day-to-Day

September 26, 2016 by Tracey 4 Comments

Authentic.

The word means real or genuine.

And that’s what I want to be here on the blog.

I write from a place of wanting to encourage others and sharing what I’ve found works for me and truths I see illuminated in the Bible and wise words from those who have walked before me.

But our home is very ordinary. Blessed by God because we have each other, and hopefully peopled by those who are striving to serve Him, but so far from perfect and un-messy.

In other words, if you think we all slip quietly into our seats around the dining room table promptly at 6pm every night and calmly chat through a leisurely meal, all sweet and laughing and connecting at a deep level, you’re a little off the mark. There are a few nights like that…except it’s more like 6:30ish…and maybe only two or three have the “sweet” part down…and I’m likely one who doesn’t.

We cherish the nights when we laugh over stories from the girls’ school days and discuss a Bible truth that applies to us all and no one is in a rush to leave the table. But we’re also realistic enough to know that not every meal will follow that pattern.

Nor does everyone wake up smiling every morning, eager to embrace the day. Our children aren’t always speaking those kind words of encouragement to each other or graciously surrendering the bathroom so their sister can have a turn to get ready.

Attitude??? Shows up at some point from someone (usually a female 😉 almost daily.

So why am I sharing this? Because I want you to know that we’re all a work in progress. There’s always a behind-the-scenes, and while we seek to honor God as a family, I have the same (more or less) number of rough days that you do.

My dad is one of my greatest heroes, and one of the main reasons is because he’s never been a hypocrite. That’s saying a lot, considering all the sermons he’s preached from the pulpit in over 40 years of ministry. But he’s always been at home exactly what he was in public.

I would love to have that same testimony, before my children and before others.

This doesn’t mean I need to share every detail of our failings on social media, and I certainly don’t seek to have more of those messy moments just so I can be relatable! But I always want to be real, because God knows our hearts, and part of humility is recognizing that I have plenty more growing to do.

I write posts with names like Living Grateful and Have a More Peaceful Summer with Your Kids not because I’ve mastered these ideals, but because I know that these years are for training our children and myself as we go through this maturing process. I set goals for our family not so that we can be “perfect” to outsiders, but so that we can make our relationships more pleasing to Christ.

So let’s be encouraged today to love other moms and other families right where they are, to encourage each other, and to come alongside to help as we can. Nobody is perfect, which means God’s still working on each of us. He gently comes alongside, teaching us lessons as we allow, so that we can grow more into His image as moms, dads, teenagers, and kids. Let’s extend mercy and grace to others, all the while accepting it for ourselves as we go through each day.

“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.” ~Psalm 103:17, 18

12 Modest Skirt Outfits for Fall

September 1, 2016 by Tracey 4 Comments

While the weather here in coastal South Carolina will continue to be warm (well, hot, actually) for the next couple of months, I am really starting to look forward to autumn. I enjoy fall foods – think anything pumpkin and big bowls of soup – and I like fall clothes, too!

I want to thank you in advance for indulging my once-a-season foray into fashion. I wear lots of skirts, so I enjoy gathering ideas for different looks each season. I may not even buy much in the way of new clothes, but it gives me fresh perspective so that I can rework clothes I already own.

As I’ve mentioned before, I like to browse Pinterest for outfit ideas – you can find a lot of the ones I like on my Pinterest Fashion Board. I recently found the blog Now THAT I Can Do, Mama (I like her tagline – “A Blog for Moms Fighting the Frumpy Monster.” 🙂 I adapted her Basic Fall Capsule Wardrobe for the Stay-at-Home Mom checklist to the type of clothes I like to wear, and used it as a starting point to see what I might want to add to my closet for fall.

One of the main things I want to find is cute, casual clothes that I can throw on quickly if I’m just driving the girls to school on cool mornings – but won’t mind being seen in if I have to stop by the grocery store. This outfit is a perfect example!