In the meantime

Unify : "to make things into one: to bring people or things together to form a single unit or entity". (1) Is that not exactly what Christ has done to every single individual who has placed their trust in Him? Think about it: if it weren't for the bond of Christ that we have a believers, would we naturally hang out with that person sitting across the aisle from us in church?  Probably not. Chances are that a lot of us would not naturally interact with many of the people we call brothers and sisters in Christ because outside of Christ, we wouldn't have much in common. We have different interests, lifestyles, backgrounds, careers, and so on. However, because we are in Christ, we have the most important thing about us in common!   It doesn't matter if I am a stay-at-home mom and you are the CEO of the company you built from the ground up: if we are both sinners washed in His blood, standing righteous before Him, that  is the most important fact...

I am surprising myself with how much I've been enjoying reading lately! (I'm blaming Mark Twain and his hilarious account of one particular boy's adventures that all started with whitewashing a fence for my renewed interest in reading. If I hadn't picked up that book earlier this summer, my life would continue to be as unaffected by books as it used to be! Haha!) Anyway...just finished the popular parenting book,  Shepherding a Child's Heart , by Tedd Tripp. I remember hearing my parents mention this book way back when I was a child, but I obviously never had an interest in reading it until now! This book is an outstanding resource for all parents who desire to "train up a child in the way he should go"!  Following are some quotes that stood out to me:  "...the heart attitudes direct behavior. This is always true. All behavior is linked to attitudes of the heart. Therefore, discipline must address attitudes of the heart. This understand...

 My sister-in-law Rachel Shively, a mutual friend Chrystal Stauffer, and I are excited to announce that we just started a joint-blog, Hearts Refreshed. This project started rolling when I asked Rachel several months ago if she wanted to do a joint-post with me here on In the Meantime.  Well, that particular post didn't materialized.  Instead, we started working on a slightly bigger project: getting Hearts Refreshed ready to launch! Yes, it finally just went public today! We are super excited! All three of us come from different backgrounds and are in different stages of the early years of marriage and motherhood. We desire to be learning what it means to be a godly wife, mother, and member of the Body of Christ. And we desire to serve other women through the specific avenue of the written word.  And that is why we are starting  Hearts Refreshed. You may be asking why we settled on the name  Hearts Refreshed. I think the d...