Category: devotional thoughts

Guest Post: Food, Clothes, and Contentment

Published on by Jennifer4 Comments

Today we have another guest post here on Treasuring Home!

Author: Anna Hall

{My comments are in italics. Everything else is from her.}

About Anna: Married to my brother-in-law Tim, who is a pastor. She is the mother of five girls: Emilee (9), Kara (7), Lydia and Alayna (5-twins) and Evalyn (8 months). During the years that I have known Anna, she has always been a sweet encourager who shows genuine love and concern for others. I asked Anna to tell us a little bit about herself.  She replied, “I enjoy reading, playing the piano and singing, and playing volleyball. I also love Mexican  food, chocolate, and having coffee with friends. Most of all I love sharing Jesus with my children and others.”

IMG_4566
Anna with Evalyn

Playdough under the table, overwhelming piles of laundry, crying babies, dirty dishes, and toys…toys everywhere—does this sound familiar to anyone?  A few years ago when our girls were smaller, life was a little out of my control. I could NOT keep up! Our twins could still be contained in exersaucers, but our second daughter (also still in diapers) was “exploring” everything. Our oldest was learning and trying to be a helper, but a preschooler can only lend a hand so much. Continue reading “Guest Post: Food, Clothes, and Contentment” →

A little explanation about where I’ve been

Published on by Jennifer3 Comments

As the title suggests, I haven’t been around much in the blogging world lately. A measly two posts this year so far, and both of them back in January. Close to six months of silence– yikes! IMG_6591 Several months ago, life became such that actual blogging was just not happening.

It turns out that my January 2nd post was more on-target than I imagined at the time. Sometimes God does things in our lives that we never expected or even dreamed of. Perhaps you know what it’s like to just be traveling down the road of life, and suddenly, sometimes out of nowhere, we find ourselves at a major bend in the road. Other times, we can see the bend way off in the distance, on the horizon, and we know change is coming. Either way, the major bend can be a lot to work through. Change can mean deep waters sometimes. It can even be heartbreaking, in a good way, or in a bad way. Continue reading “A little explanation about where I’ve been” →

Your Home and God’s Kingdom

Published on by Jennifer2 Comments

Be encouraged today, dear ones!edit5I know it’s easy to get discouraged. We hear bad news everywhere. Kids are departing from the faith. Hate and violence overwhelm our streets. Churches are shutting down. Families are splitting apart. Unrighteous lawmakers seem to prevail. Children are abused. Our world seems to be going crazy in many respects.

Fear and sadness grip our hearts as we hear of these things. But is this the whole story? Are there any battles being won for righteousness? Are there any advances being made for the kingdom of Christ in our world today?eeditOh, yes. Yes, there are! Continue reading “Your Home and God’s Kingdom” →

The Next Phase of the Journey

Published on by Jennifer4 Comments
Get ready, get set, go! Currently, our household is in a stage that feels like “geeettt reeeeeaaaaaadyyy”, mainly because two weeks ago we tore the dilapidated ceiling out of our school room (down to the joists) and have been trying to give the entire room a facelift. This is the only room that has basically gone untouched since we bought our old farmhouse twelve years ago. This room has finally gotten a turn for some improvements, at long last. I’m loving how it has turned out. Fixing up my nest is one of my favorite activities. I should be showing some pics of the changes on my Instagram soon.

This year, our “getting ready for school” phase has also involved a new activity; that of getting our firstborn packed up and out the door for his first semester of college. Meanwhile, I’m trying not to think about how many days it will be until mid-December.

Continue reading “The Next Phase of the Journey” →

When You Feel Discouraged

Published on by Jennifer4 Comments

Some days discouragement knocks on the door and then floods in, before we hardly realize it. Here are some thoughts for those times when we battle disappointment, disillusionment, or feelings of failure in spite of giving our all.

IMG_E0894The devil loves to come marching in and start feeding us lie upon lie when we are discouraged. Continue reading “When You Feel Discouraged” →

Life is Good (by Steve Hall)

Published on by Jennifer1 Comment

IMG_0264I love hearing my husband Steve preach and teach from God’s Word. Over the years I have grown by listening to his wisdom as he teaches, and also by watching him live so humbly as a servant of the Lord. This blog post he published today resonated with me so deeply that I wanted to share the link with you here. Continue reading “Life is Good (by Steve Hall)” →

On the way into Bethlehem

Published on by Jennifer3 Comments

We parked. The whole family piled out of the van, donned coats and hats, and began to wade through a sea of vehicles. Strains of Jewish music floated over the fence from across the road. Who knew that the local “Bethlehem Village,” hosted by several area churches, drew such a crowd? 

With two littles in the double stroller, we moved quickly before they could start deciding they didn’t like being in the stroller after all. A parking attendant called out, “There’s a place to cross the road about half way down.” Continue reading “On the way into Bethlehem” →

My Favorite Christmas Tradition

Published on by Jennifer3 Comments

Simple traditions are the ones I love best. They stand the test of time. No matter how hectic the holiday season becomes, they still endure.

We started one of those simple traditions about five or six years ago. All you need are four candles and voices joined together in song. I’m so excited to share with you Continue reading “My Favorite Christmas Tradition” →

If Mama Ain’t Thankful

Published on by Jennifer5 Comments

She stood there smiling at me, in the basement of the church where we both were visiting. It was a genuine smile, a relaxed smile, not a forced “I have to smile at you because I’m the evangelist’s wife” smile. She had three or four small children in tow, and they were climbing on everything in sight, as were mine. Continue reading “If Mama Ain’t Thankful” →