Recent Blog Posts
How to Break the Habit of Interrupting
Do you have a habit of interrupting people? Did I honestly think what I had was more important than what someone else was saying? Was interrupting just a bad habit? Then I realized how rude this was and felt convicted reading the book of James, which says to be slow...
When to Talk About Health Issues
When discussing our health, we tend to focus on ourselves and usually don't share the conversation with someone else. What should we do? How do we solve this issue? There are three key settings where we should prioritize discussing our health. Three Places to...
Steps to Align Your Marriage with God’s Divine Plan
I tried to control my husband by nagging and criticizing him. In return, I got anger, resentment, and a man who didn’t like being around me. If I believed God’s Word was true, it all had to be true. The Bible tells us to love and respect our husband’s role because God...
Why We Can’t Stop Nagging
Many women expect to change their husbands' bad habits after the honeymoon, but if you're married, you've already realized it seldom happens. Nagging usually leads to resentment rather than change. Change Starts with One Creating an environment of acceptance and...
Love Is Not A Know It All
Love in Action: Applying the Teachings of 1 Corinthians Looking at what love is not, I catch myself with little thoughts, words, and actions that I used to think were insignificant, but they have more impact than I realized. I noticed I’m not as loving as I’d like...
Dropping the D-Word
Avoid Divorce Ultimatums to Strengthen Your Marriage During the first few years of our marriage, I, like many of you, found myself using the word divorce in our arguments. It was a desperate measure, a last resort when it seemed like our differences were...
Me Time – Better Work Life Balance
There’s no time for ME! Do you feel like you’re out of time and there's no time for you? You can't do anything for yourself: get together with friends, work out, sit and read a book, listen to a podcast, or whatever you want to do. A Better Work-Life Balance Often,...
7 Practical Tips to Keep Romance Alive
How do we keep the romance alive in our marriages when we have kids or even after they're gone? Sharing tokens of our love and physical touch with simple sharing of affection keeps the romantic flames simmering. Think about what your husband would like and what would...
Finding the Right Time and Places for Adult Discussions
How do we find time to talk alone with our husbands when the kids are always around? I know it’s a problem. But staying connected to your husband only by text messaging isn’t healthy for your marriage. We need face-to-face conversations to maintain strong...
How To Share A Closet With Your Husband
We share a bed, meals, and money, but do we share our closet? “Honey, I know we bought this house together, and we sleep in the same bed, but you’ll have to go to another room to get your closets.” Make room in the closet for your husband’s clothes. This simple act of...
Building Wardrobes That Work
Fashion and Faith is a live online course where I’ll teach how we can accent our God-given beauty as we discover the essentials we need for a capsule wardrobe as a faithful fashionist! Plus, I’ll explain how our self-image will improve and how to save time and money....
Bedroom Boundaries
Creating A Space For Mom and Dad Appropriate boundaries for our bedrooms allow us to create spaces where we can snuggle, sleep, have sex, and talk without being interrupted. We’ve moved 26 times in 45 years, and I’ve done my best to make a bedroom sanctuary for the...
From Stress to Romance
How to Shift Your Mindset for Love Often, with our busy lives, shifting our mindset from the stress of our days to love is a challenge. We get stuck and don’t know how to get in the mood for romance. Since I’m a grandma, I’ve taken the mantle of a Titus 2 Woman from...
2 Secrets to Keeping Your Home Clean
Do you walk into a hotel room and say, “Aw…” while letting out a sigh of relief? There’s no clutter; it smells clean and feels like an excellent resting place. After one of my Housework Yuck Seminars, a gal asked how to keep homes clean daily. The SECRET -...
2024: What’s New and What’s Not
New! You now have easy access to my products, which you can use to help you apply the Bible in your everyday life. New! I’m stepping out in faith because I believe this is God’s timing for me to offer two live courses. Here are the details: January 2024 The...
Stop Chasing the Urgent
Are you chasing the urgent, running from one crisis to the next? Do you move from task to task without a plan or sit and wait for the next crisis? Many ladies have no plan to get their housework done and no idea what they will cook for dinner. Yet we want our family...
How Do I Reduce Holiday Stress
I didn’t like Christmas or the whole rush of the holidays. There was too much stress. The kids and I felt tired and cranky. I even wished we could skip the whole hoopla. We needed a different way to celebrate the season if we wanted less stress! Breathing Room Paul...
3 Steps to Declutter the Toys Before Christmas
Before the new toys descend upon your house this Christmas, let’s make room for them. Go through the kids’ room, hopefully with them, and sort through their toys in 15-minute segments of time. It will probably surprise you how much gets accomplished. Here’s an idea of...
How to Have Dates During the Holidays
The holidays bring much joy into our lives but can also be stressful when our schedules get too busy. Keeping our husbands a priority is challenging during this busy season. However, it's essential to keep our love and passions alive. Dates provide time to talk,...
Temptation to Quit
When God asks us to volunteer, lead, or take on some responsibility, we often feel excited and privileged. Exploring the ins and outs of the task He gave us is a new adventure. Then, we get the temptation to quit. In the middle of the task, it got complicated. The...
Conquer Fear and Anxiety
A few years after we got married, I asked my husband what he wanted from me as a wife. My precious guy thought for a while, then said, “Happy, healthy, and rested.” I’ve felt happy but tired. I’ve enjoyed happiness and rest in other seasons but suffered from various...
10 Ways to Deal with a Traumatic Event
“Are you guys alright?” the text said. “Hon, please call me.” said the voice message. I tried his number, no response. I looked at Facebook. What’s happening? The military base closed because of an active shooting incident. I rushed to the TV, turned on the local news...
How to Stop Feeling Tired and Worn Out
Do you feel tired and worn out? Has life or chronic pain sapped you of energy? One night, I felt worn out from the constant challenge of dealing with chronic pain. I heard the Lord speak to my heart as I prayed and asked for help. Come, sit in My presence. Open your...
4 Ways to Embrace Your Pain
Learning to embrace the pain has been a process. I want to share how I’ve transitioned from anger and disappointment to learning to live in joy and contentment. #1 – Pain Killers Accepting pain medicine as part of my life was my first step. The doctors have done all...
Meddling In-Laws
Do you have meddling in-laws or parents? On their wedding day, a man and a woman trade in their unmarried lifestyle to form a new couple. Together they determine their best qualities and develop an original entity as a married team. After we marry our men, the Bible...
Saying Always and Never
Do you get stuck saying always and never? Like it always goes wrong, or bad things always come in threes? Or maybe you say it's never going to work out, or they're never coming to the Lord. Life is hard, though we pray, we hope, we dream. Yet the situation doesn't...
7 Places to Meet New Friends
Do you have trouble making new friends or feel isolated after COVID or an illness? Getting out among people can be uncomfortable when we feel isolated. Maybe you moved or changed to churches or workplaces. Here are 7 tips we can use for making friends. If you need...
Self Care Is Not A Sin – Hair, Bras, and Doctors
What do hair, bras, and doctors have to do with self-care? These are three things we often leave off when considering taking care of ourselves. We tell ourselves we need the money or no one to impress, so we don't need a haircut. It's been like this for years. Do...
God Made Me Wrong
Are you content with how God made you? Or do you grumble and complain about how He molded your features and abilities? Many of us struggle with body issues wishing God made us differently, didn't give us physical limitations, and would stop the aging process....
8 Ways To Say No
We get too busy and say “yes” to too many things. What are you too busy doing? What reason pops out of your mouth most frequently when asked why you volunteer for so many different things? BEFORE YOU SAY NO Stop saying “Yes.” Make a list of your activities. Ask...
I’m Not Enough
I hear the rabble accusers making lots of noise. They tromp thru my head, saying, "You don't match up. You aren't like them. You don't fit. "You're not good enough. Maybe you've heard the rabble when you thought you didn't measure up. My reasoning went like this, as...
When Time Management Isn’t Enough
Time management techniques will only work if your priorities are right. I felt stressed, worn out, and never had enough time to do what I thought God wanted. I read time management books to figure out how to get more done in my day, but most frustrated me. For...
Creating No Phone Zones
Have you thought of having no phone zones? You may need them if you or someone in your family tries to have two conversations simultaneously, one on the phone and one in person. Our phones are magnificent communication tools, yet they hinder our relationships with...
Is Phubbing Hurting Your Relationship
One brother set his phone face down in the middle of the table and then looked at the other with a challenge in his eye. Would he be willing to turn his phone off during the meal? An Austrian Advert Agency coined the term "phubbing" in 2012. This word, coined by an...
Why Do We Nag?
Why do we nag when we know it doesn't work? I believe it's because we don't know what to do instead. Nagging is when one person repeatedly pesters or harasses someone to do something or, put another way, asks for something more than once. Why Do We Nag? ...
How To Ask For What You Want
Try the Esther plan when you want to ask for something big from your husband. These simple instructions from Queen Esther of asking the king for a big request provide a good template for asking our husbands what we want. ~Esther chapters 4 and 5. Pray one to three...
How To Have A Good Argument
Fights, or disagreements, as my husband calls them, are healthy- all marriages have them. But most of us haven’t learned how to fight a good fight and bring harmony out of a disagreeable situation. Instead, an argument erupts, and hurtful words and insults fly If you...
How to Prevent Burnout
As a coach for women who are or want to be entrepreneurs, I get asked how to get the business done during our busy days. But, unfortunately, no one seems to feel like they have enough time. How to Prevent Burnout When You Work from Home Work in short burst of time....
Why Work From Home
Why would you want to work from home? Maybe you've dreamed of working from home now that the kids are in school or have left home. Or, with inflation rising, you've discovered that some extra income is necessary. Why I chose to start a business at 56 For over 30...
What Is A Mompreneur?
Can a woman be both a mother and an entrepreneur? They Can! A mompreneur is a woman who runs her businesses at home while maintaining their role as a parent, wife, or homemaker. Working from home, as we learned during COVID, combines the flexibility many moms and...
6 Expectations That Will Ruin Your Holidays
What I expected to happen at Christmas didn't happen. My expectations had ruined the holiday. There was no joy or peace as we gave thanks and celebrated Christ's birth. Instead, I ran out of time and energy, wanting to stay away from people. I got so stressed through...
The Candy Cane Story
A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy, white to symbolize the...
Why I Don’t Like Housework
I'm not particularly eager to do housework. The minute I get it done and move on to almost anything else, some part of the housework needs cleaning again. Then whoever says, "Thank you for making the house clean and pretty?" My wonderful husband says it occasionally,...
5 Ways To Stop Negative Thinking
Negative and positive thoughts cannot inhabit the same space. One or the other fills our minds until we decide to intervene. Both thought patterns lead us on a spiral path. We choose the upward spiral and look for the good in our situations. Or we take the downward...
He Thinks He’s Right
How do we get our husbands to listen when they think their right? We’ve tried talking to them, but they seem to block us out, and our concerns don’t get heard. Yelling didn’t work, getting mad didn’t work, and crying ended in frustration. It’s harder for them...
Stay in Your Lane
If we push and insist our way is the right way, we lose more than we gain. Our actions result in strained relationships or possibly anger and resentment. Is your way the only right way? If so, is it worth losing the closeness you feel with your husband? Few choices...
Fun, Friends, and the Future
As women, we often don't include ourselves in our schedules because we forget, think it's selfish, or get too busy serving others. Yet God tells us to love our neighbor the same way we love ourselves. It isn't selfish to take care of ourselves, stay connected with...
Shop Your Closet
After we've decluttered our closets of clothes that don't fit, haven't worn, and don't like, it's time to Shop Our Closets. We save time and money for other pursuits when we shop from our closets. What Does It Mean to Shop Our Closets? We take what we have left and...
How to Feel Good in Your Clothes
When we de-clutter our closets, we save money by knowing what we have and need to buy. De-cluttering saves time because we don’t need to hunt for what we want or try on multiple outfits looking for one that fits. Like How Your Dress Decide to be happy with how...
Emotions and Clothes
It's hard to get rid of clothes if we have emotions or special memories tied to them. Before we declutter our closets, let's ask God to help us release the emotions we connected to our clothes. If it's an item you treasure, create a memory box to keep a few special...
Listen to Understand
When my husband and I had a controversial topic to discuss, we sat down on the couch and used a sticky note pad as the designated "Floor." With this technique, we kept on topic, listened carefully, and got through the discussion without lots of unnecessary emotion. ...
Declutter Your Thoughts
Is your mind full of self-defeating thoughts, worry, anxiety, or fear? These thoughts cloud our thinking and stop us from achieving what God wants us to do. I've thought I'm not doing enough, which led me to "I'm not good enough." But we don't need to let our negative...
Declutter Stuff and Emotions
Clutter costs us time, space, and money. It also takes away our peace of mind, freedom from our past, and personal identity. Unhealthy emotional attachment is when we are obsessed over an item we can't let go of to move on. As a result, we end up stuck in the past....
Friendship Dating
6 Steps for Making Friends Have you wanted a new friend? Many ladies find it easy to make friends and consider everyone their friend. However, for others, making friends is more complicated. If you find forming a friendship hard, these tips will help you cross the...
Follow Your God Nudges
A Woman of Influence follows the nudges God speaks to her heart through the Holy Spirit –often sensed as a gentle prompting, a still small voice, or an impression that won't disappear. God says, "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. ~John...
Stop Procrastinating
Everyone procrastinates, but not everyone is a procrastinator. 20% of adults are chronic procrastinators." Procrastination doesn't discriminate based on gender, race, or age. Women of Influence, we don't want procrastination to become a habit. So, let's look at where...
Women of Influence Don’t Have Stinkin’ Thinkin’
Stinkin thinkin and God thoughts can't inhabit the same space. One or the other fills our minds. Whatever direction we allow our thoughts to take multiplies and fills our whole brain until we decide to intervene. Both thought patterns lead us on a path, and we get to...
How To Become A Woman of Influence
After reading Dale Carnegie's classic book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, I wondered what his principles would look like for Christian women. How do we become women of influence? When I prayed, God brought to mind Jesus's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew...
Pity Parties Are Easy
It'd be easy to have a full-blown Pity Party today, the kind where you eat chocolate−lots of cholate, read, cry, and moan "Woe's me!" We had a wonderful time at my High School Reunion that year, visiting with friends I hadn't seen in a long time and seeing the places...
Stop Lying To Yourself
Do you lie or tell yourself the truth? Early in the year, I made a list of the projects I wanted to complete. Even though I knew they'd take a lot of time, I thought I'd get them done. Unfortunately, I lied to myself for a while before listening to the truth God...
Myth – It Takes Two
Is it true that we can't change our marriages unless our husbands are willing to work on it too? Here 'my answer. Yes and No! Okay, I know that isn't very clear so let me explain. Imagine This Two people are on the dance floor, and one leaves to get a drink. The...
Making Friends
Have you wanted a new friend? Many ladies find it easy to make friends and consider everyone their friend. However, for others, making friends is more complicated. If you find forming a friendship hard, these tips will help you cross the bridge from acquaintance to...
Most Effective Tactics for a Happy Ever After
Most Effective Tactics for a Happy Ever After So how do you get from wherever you are in your marriage to Happily Ever After? Admire Him Our men want to know we still think they're fantastic guys. As their wives, we can complement our husbands in ways we don't want...
5 Reasons to Date Your Mate
So why do we need to date our mates? Simply put, dates let us lead healthy marriages filled with passion, romance, and time to talk with our guys Why Date Our Mates? The adventure and spark of excitement for married couples are kept alive with regular dates. They...
What Does He Want?
By making your own life more satisfying, you take pressure off your spouse to be your sole source of happiness. ~TEAL SCOTT A few years after we got married, I asked my husband what he wanted from me as a wife. My precious guy thought for a moment, then said, "Happy,...
Free or Almost Free Dates
Our dates were very different depending on where we lived. We floated on a lake in Texas. In Germany we climbed a hill to see a castle and walked in the woods. One of our favorites while we lived in Hawaii, was to get dessert as takeout and ete it on the beac For...
7 Reasons Why He May Not Be the Problem
When I asked a friend what the most significant takeaway was for her from the 12 Keys for Marriage success course, she said, “He’s not the problem.” People, including our husbands, respond to our words, comments and actions. But, if we’re cranky, irritable, critical,...
Who’s Priase Is He Hearing – Yours?
We see our men as the strong ones and seldom realize how much they appreciate positive attention. We don’t want our guys becoming attracted to the woman on the elevator who says, “My, you look strong,” or the girl at the office who flirts and compliments their work....
When Anger Is Out of Control
If Your Anger Gets Out of Control, Try This Fights, or disagreements, as my husband likes to call them, happen in our marriages. But most of us haven’t learned to fight well and bring harmony out of difficult situations. Instead, an argument erupts, then hurtful...
Dealing with Personality Clashes in Marriage
When he doesn’t do it your way, what do you do? Get angry, yell, threaten, or walk out of the room? I was right, and he was wrong. But he insisted he was right, and I was wrong. The argument got louder and louder until I walked out of the room in weariness. ...
6 Ways to Stop Complaining
I felt angry and unhappy when I woke up. Jealousy coursed through my blood. My husband got several new expensive items and planned a hike on the Appalachian Trail with our son. Poor me; I didn't have a fun vacation on the horizon, nor did I buy myself a pricey piece...
20 Tips for a Happy Marriage
." Do you want to save your marriage, rekindle romance, or keep your relationship healthy? I've got good news for you. You can change your marriage with just you and God. "But Joyce, "you say, "Doesn't a marriage take two people working on it?" Yes, you're...
Accept Him As He Is
When our sons got serious about a girl and thought about marriage, I asked them to consider three situations before they got married Would he still love the girl who was nine months pregnant and no longer the slim trim gal she is now? How about the woman with the flu...
When Brain Surgery Seems Like a Good Idea
My Physical Challenge - Arnold Chiari Malformation The car in front of us suddenly stopped, causing my husband to stomp on the brakes and my head to whip back. The traffic crawled through the congested construction zone but soon returned to sixty miles an hour....
How Expectations Can Ruin Relationships
Have you thought or said any of these lately?? Life should be fair Opportunities will fall in my lap Everyone should like me People should agree with me People know what I'm trying to say Things and stuff will make me happy I can change him ~Pastor Edward Crouch...
Can I Change My Marriage by Myself
Even though we might want to change our spouses, we can’t. Fact is, we don’t have the ability to make anyone willingly alter their behavior with our words or our willpower. The only person we can force to modify their actions is ourselves, which we often find...
14 Creative Ways to Say I Love You
I know you said “I love you” the day you got married, but don’t stop. Keep telling that special man in your life how much you love him. Choose from these creative ideas to make your husband feel special.
He Doesn’t Meet Your Needs
5 Tips for When He Doesn't Meet Your Needs Have you been disappointed or angry because your husband didn't meet your needs? I woke up angry and upset. Jealousy coursed through my veins. My husband bought several expensive items and planned to hike six days on...