the best deal you could possibly get on shoes

Guess what! You won't believe it, but I beat every thrift store price I've ever seen at Kohl's a few days ago!

I was so thrilled to find these adorable striped flip-flops in the junior section:

The price?

Free.

:DDDD

I signed up for Kohl's rewards program a long time ago, and every few months they send me $10 to spend. The weird thing is that I don't earn the points or anything- they just randomly send me $10 for free! I love that! :) Most of the time, I end up spending a few dollars on top of the free money, but this time, they were $9.99 so I had a penny left over. :D

Free striped flip-flops for signing up for a reward program? Why yes, I'll gladly trade you my personal info for free shoes. hahaha! :P


Do you know of any other stores that give you free money like that? 
I want to sign up! :)

Flip-flops: yes or no?
Big fat yes here. :) I love those things. Though I do have to slip them off to drive every time I get in the car.

p.s. This is not sponsored by Kohl's in any way. I just like free stuff and I hope you get $10 for free too. :D

need to cut grapes in half? this is a game changer!

Oh my goodness- this is a homemaking hack that's brand new to me!

How did I miss this? Amazing! I owe this guy a big thank you! {and I will make chicken salad now!}

Post by Laura Mullins Goodhue.

mom hack: how we solved the toothpaste battle at our house

Here's how we solved the endless nighttime toothpaste battle among the children:

Four tubes of toothpaste = 1 per kid. And not one of those tubes belong to anyone. They have to share all of them. :)

It's been working!

In the past, either someone wouldn't share, someone wouldn't be patient, or the "kid" toothpaste was lost somewhere {where could it go? under the sink? in the dryer? stranger things have been found there!}. 

They say pick your battles, and so far I'd say buying toothpaste in bulk and using them all at the same time was a battle won. ;)

How do you do the toothpaste thing with multiple kids?

Any ideas on how to get kids to brush longer? 

I try to tell them to sing the ABC's 3x, and then they start singing out loud and spit toothpaste everywhere and laugh like it's the most hilarious thing ever. :P

what we've been up to for the last few days

A new, unwanted first happened this week: the first stomach bug in our family in over a year, and little Zane's first one ever.  :(

Apparently there's an evil bug going around that lasts for several days. :( Zaner mostly had stomach cramps instead of other symptoms, so I felt especially bad for him being so little and in such pain. It would come and go, and some days were randomly worse than others! Thankfully, he is finally getting better since yesterday.

So far it seems to be only affecting the littles- no one else in our family has gotten it. {praying that Lord-willing, we won't!}. 

It's so hard to see my babies get sick. I was thinking about it as I held him for all of those hours... what about all the children around the world who get sick and have no one to hold them and stroke their silky little heads? :(

I felt so thankful that my little Zane has a mama, and it made me ache and pray for all the little ones who were alone and felt like he did. 

And then I thought of all the mamas who have littles with chronic illnesses, and my heart hurt for them. Imagining having a baby in pain constantly, and not being able to do anything for them... oh, I need to pray for these mamas way more often. What an incredibly hard thing. And you know there are so many hurting families under this trial right now.

Even in sickness, and hours of holding babies on the sofa- there is so much to be thankful for- the blessing of health every day, the blessing of medicine and the medical help that's readily available, the blessing of a God who hears and calms our fears, for milk, pedialyte, and fresh water for the baby, for His gracious timing that we weren't all sick at the same time...

Maybe someday I will no longer be surprised by the fact that there is always so much to praise Him for. :) And hopefully by that day I will also remember that there is always someone to pray for at the same time...

Do you know of anyone we can pray for with a chronic illness today? Or any illness?

Choose Forgiveness | Post Abortion Healing

What is forgiveness? The Biblical word virtually means that to depart or discarding. it's as if we have a tendency to are holding on to associate offense from the past and still expecting some retribution. Either we have a tendency to feel there's some penance that we have a tendency to should kill order to form it right or there's one thing that somebody else 'owes' USA. Either way, the offense is unresolved and that we are bond to that. In fact, we have a tendency to don't seem to be solely bond to the offense itself and every one of its pain, we have a tendency to are bond to the emotions hooked up to the offense (anger, humiliation, fear) and any lies that are hooked up to the offense (I am such a loser, I'm thus inadequate, I'm thus stupid). Forgiveness releases USA from that bondage by selecting to receive the total resolution of the offense at the cross of Hebrew.

Jesus educated on forgiveness by telling a parable in Matthew 18:21-35. within the story, a king looked through his books and noticed  a awfully giant unpaid debt. He approached the person United Nations agency owed the cash and, finding that he failed to have the cash to pay, ordered him to debtor's jail till the debt was glad. the person begged for mercy and therefore the king determined to whole unharness him from the debt. He did not have to pay it later. He did not have to justify why it wasn't paid. He did not have to pay some of it. He did not have to perform any specific service reciprocally. He wasn't placed on a payment arrange. The king whole free him from the debt. this can be forgiveness. The individual failed to be forgiveness of the debt and he couldn't earn forgiveness of the debt.

Forgiveness has its supply within the one doing the forgiving and isn't enthusiastic about the one needing forgiveness. Forgiveness could be a grace offered that may solely be received. Scripture tells USA that once the impeccant Son of God visited the cross, He took all of our sin and "cancelled out the certificate of debt" that was against USA (can you say "Paid in Full!). Scripture additionally tells USA that He removes our sin "as so much because the east is from the west" which he can "remember our sins no additional." it's clear that once God forgives USA, he releases it... completely. Let's simply pause here a flash and let that sink in. we have a tendency to are free from each dangerous factor we've got ever thought or done. He does not hold any of it against USA. He doesn't expect any retribution. He doesn't expect USA to try and do any penance. He doesn't let our past sin disqualify USA from relationship or service to Him. we have a tendency to are forgiven, the debt is paid fully (feel liberal to have a personal praise session here!).

Sure, you will respond, that's simple for Him to try and do... He's God, however I'm not a forgiving person. the reality is that if you have got received Hebrew by grace, you have got received His Spirit that could be a forgiving spirit. you will not are a forgiving person within the past... you will even have a history of holding grudges...but currently you're a forgiving person! For this reason, God will with boldness command USA to "forgive one another, even as God in Christ additionally has forgiven you." The forgiveness that we have a tendency to be others is strictly a similar because the forgiveness that we have a tendency to get from God. we are able to forgive during this manner as a result of Christ lives in USA. 

Forgiveness should begin with receiving. The verse quoted on top of from Ephesians four reveals that the forgiveness we have a tendency to be others includes a precedent within the forgiveness we've got received. If we elect to not receive God's complete forgiveness for our past, we have a tendency to maintain a way of shame and guilt that cripples our ability to grow in our relationship with Him. we have a tendency to feel guilt for what we've got done that we feel shame for United Nations agency we are (we can handle shame additional in chapter 9). the mixture of those feelings lead USA away from truth self and, since we will not appear to rid of ourselves of this guilt and shame, it motivates USA to hide them up, so leading USA to measure out of a false self. Not solely that however living with guilt and shame over our past sins causes USA to attempt to be acceptable to God. we have a tendency to are drawn to legalistic non secular systems that don't have any power to vary USA from the within out. Our attempt does not free USA however leads USA to additional sin through gratification. Living within the power of truth self needs USA to be utterly free of our own offenses (sins) and therefore the offenses of others (wounds).

If our need is to settle on life, forgiveness isn't associate option!

Bob Perdue, president of LifeNow Ministries could be a survivor of childhood statutory offence, sexual addiction, depression and a suicide try. he's author of ten Life decisions, a guide for those in recovery and has been guiding folks through the recovery method for over fifteen years.

 

Five Problems Hindering the "Faith in the Workplace" Movement | Post Abortion Healing

Faith within the geographical point may be a topic that has challenged Christians since Deliverer walked the world. within the last decade the church has practiced AN emergence of religion within the geographical point materials that are alleged to utterly remodel the marketplace. However, Christians' impact within the geographical point has not looked as if it would live up to the hoopla that surrounds it. Why? Let's take a glance at the 5 reasons that the "faith within the workplace" movement hasn't taken the marketplace by storm however.

1. God's Heart for the Marketplace.

The biggest drawback we've got is that individuals do not perceive God's heart for the marketplace. we would have bits and items, however overall we tend to lack a whole image of what God extremely needs to accomplish there. sadly i feel individuals see the geographical point as a warehouse filled with impious souls sitting on AN mechanical system, waiting to be reborn and brought into the church. We've become too targeted on changing and recruiting and not targeted enough on healing and reconciliation categorically. God needs to use the marketplace to bring hope, healing, and blessing to his lost kids - not merely give a playground for enthusiastic Christians to feature to their conversion tally.

2. The Church's War on Society.

Bound4Life is protestant abortion whereas AN absurd range of economic and human resources are spent within the room fighting same sex wedding. I totally perceive why this can be being done, and that i utterly trust what they're standing for. Scripture is incredibly clear regarding abortion and same sex wedding. What I ail is that the approach - declaring war on society is counter-productive to our ability to like it as Christ expects. This impacts marketplace ministry attributable to the connection between government and commerce. The church is antagonistic itself from society, United Nations agency reciprocally is rejecting something the church needs to supply.

You see, once we say the marketplace, we tend to are not excluding government. you cannot extremely separate government from commerce; the 2 are coupled at an especially intimate level. however one hand of the church seeks to bring the Gospel to the geographical point whereas the opposite hand is declaring war on that. that is a reasonably confusing message if you inquire from me.

3. Most Churches do not know the way to produce worth

Do you assume individuals read the church as a nice-to-have, or as a necessity? If you asked this question to a space filled with non-Christians in any given community, i am estimate an awesome range of them can tell you that church may be a nice-to-have feature. this can be as a result of the church does not extremely perceive the way to produce real worth for society, so it's not viewed as a necessity. This interprets to the marketplace as a result of the marketplace is unforgiving - if you do not produce real worth for somebody then you will not last terribly long. The marketplace does not respect the church as a result of most churches do not produce real worth for his or her community.

4. Christians are Too chintzy

We don't knowledge to relate to non-Christians alright. The manner we tend to say our religion sounds plain crazy. a fan once told American state they appreciated my religion, however the manner I delineated  it sounds an excessive amount of sort of a Harry Potter film. Ouch. Her purpose was that Christians do not take the time to grasp their audience (a key part of self-made marketing) and instead use language that's utterly unsuitable and crazy. you recognize United Nations agency else thinks this way? the blokes at Christian selling Sucks.

5. Entrepreneurs Role within the Church

Please pardon my assault on the church during this post. I really love the church. but I've detected she does not extremely grasp what to try to to together with her entrepreneurs and professionals. Churches struggle to grasp wherever entrepreneurs and professionals slot in. i have been in churches wherever the entrepreneurs were strictly simply alleged to be check-writers. It's terrible. If the church cannot comprehend wherever entrepreneurs match at intervals its own walls, however is it alleged to mobilize them on the far side its walls?

At the top of the day, non-believers got to grasp the love of God. they have somebody to like them, encourage them, and provides them hope. That love and hope comes from Deliverer. we'd like to be had with however we tend to communicate the love of God and perceive its role in our businesses and careers. Remember, no one goes to figure hoping to be evangelized. only if somebody feels wanted and inspired on a day after day do they start to open their hearts to preaching.