Finding Joy in the Journey

I am happy to report I am mothering a high schooler differently this time. My youngest son is 5 years younger than my middle son and as Bryson is doing high school things now, I can see so clearly how I am at least trying to do things differently this time. I recently saw this with Bryson asking a girl to homecoming. When Carson did this, it was such a stressful time as I tried to help him with th...

Somehow the beginning of the school year seems to create choice drama in our family. Since my boys were little, I have almost always had drama around the start of the school year. I had my boys in a variety of different schools – Private kindergarten for Devon Public School for a few years for the first 2 Homeschooling for half a year for one Charter school for Carson and Bryson for years. Devon t...

I had to hop in and do a quick summer episode, after I had a cool experience at the firework show last night. 1. I miss doing this weekly podcast and am so excited to be back full time in the fall! But am actually really enjoying working on The Gift of Giving Life Podcast. It is more fun than I thought it would be. 2. I have been having some anxiety since things have been opening up and I have bee...

It is almost Finding Joy in the Journey’s Birthday! Believe it or Not, this is episode 52. One year ago, I did something I had wanted to do for a long time – I started creating a podcast. It was a fun project to do during the quiet laid-back time of Covid Quarantine. I had to pick a name, create a logo (with the help of my then 14-year-old), record episodes, learn to edit them…. I have loved so ma...

Are you conscious of the words you are using.? When you notice you are using negative words, stop and think – What DO I want? Then change your words right away. Here are some other simple examples of ways you can change your words. ~~~Crazy -VS- exciting. ~~~This person frustrates me. -VS- This person helps me to grow. ~~~Cooking stresses me out. -VS- Cooking is a way to show love to my family. ~~...

Do you like the carpool line? It is the hardest place for me to find peace. My yelling, grumpy side comes out. It isn't pretty. One day, driving the carpool kids to school, there was a giant traffic jam... I started getting grumpy, then decided to shift perspectives. Why did God create this traffic jam for me? I started to laugh out loud when I found the answer. He created this GIANT CARPOOL PARKI...

I have a gift of dreams. I have a lot of interesting dreams, but some are more than just dreams. Some have important messages. I usually know when I wake up if I have had one of those dreams and I quickly write them down and then pray and ask God what He wants me to learn from it. I share this dream with you because the message was so beautiful. HELPFUL LINKS Follow me on Instagram @powerupyourpra...

Is the Armor of God something you use intentionally every day? Do you actively cover yourself from Head to Toe using the Armor of God? I have been delving into the study of the Armor of God the past 2 years. I keep reading books, doing scripture studies, taking classes. I am always amazed there is so much to learn! Did you know that Jesus wore the Armor of God? And was amazed that there was not on...

Have you ever worked hard to create something and then someone messes it up? I can tell you that is the ideal time to Pray in the Moment. A few years ago I had a crazy day, which included a fire alarm going off in the middle of my yearly exam!!! The day only got worse when I went to pick up carpool. Prayer saved the day! Links mentioned in the show. Prayer Cheat Sheet Power Up Your Prayer Boo k HE...

One of the first things I did after I prayed with Rob and sent him off to rescue Devon from Mexico was to post a prayer request first to my prayer group and then to Facebook. I learned the power of Facebook requests for prayers when Devon broke his Jaw and Arm and needed surgery that night . I loved being able to call out for help and FEEL the prayers and support being offered. Then I had an oppos...

I am excited to share some of my notes from a webinar I attended by, Arabah Joy & Jen Evangelista of Sojo Academy God has a To Do List for me – reading the word of God equips me for these good works! Prayer Acronym – IOUS Incline my heart to God’s Word – Psalms 119:36 Open my eyes to see the wonder – Psalms 119:18 Unite my heart to God’s – Psalms 86:11 Satisfy me – nourish me – Psalms 90:14 Th...

Have you felt like your brain has been getting dumber and dumber the past year? In January, during episode 34, I talked about how I thought Covid ADD was a real thing . I shared how I hadn’t really been reading as much in 2020. That I usually LOVE to read, but my phone had taken over my brain and instead I would scroll on social media or read the news. In todays episode I delve into the 8 steps to...

The teacher for the lesson on Sunday texted me 30 minutes before class to say she had the flu. I had to quickly create a lesson about baptism. I am a co-author of a book about spirituality and birth - The Gift of Giving Life. This helped me as I quickly prepared a lesson. We had a great discussion comparing baptism and birth. I ended the lesson by sharing the experience when my 16 year old baptize...

Do you find it challenging to monitor your child's phone? The THOUSANDS of texts. The hundreds of emails. The websites they visit Not to mention the social media accounts. I will be honest when my older boys were younger, I would maybe check their phones every other week and it was so time consuming and mind numbing too! Then I discovered Bark . (You can see video here ) of this episode. This is a...

Have you ever wondered if your teenager was on drugs? One day a few years ago, my friend called and said she had to tell me something. She sounded hesitant but said she had prayed about it and knew she had to tell me. I reassured her and told her to tell me. If she was inspired to tell me something, I wanted to hear it! She explained she had an impression that my son was on drugs that night. She h...

In the Finding Joy in the Journey podcast episode 37 “the most powerful thought you can use to stay calm while parenting” I shared the thought “it’s age appropriate” I also shared a story about how Devon got stabbed by Santa before Christmas. I mentioned it by accident, and I quickly realized while recording, that the “age appropriate” thought didn’t help with that situation at all. I talked about...

What are Energetic Boundaries? A very simple definition. It is an energetic protective boundary between you and others. There are different layers, the main ones are: · physical · emotional · relational · spiritual It isn’t something you physically see or feel. Emotionally you feel the power of it, if you have them. Or you feel the negative effects of not having them. Do you need to Strengthen YOU...

What teams do you have in your life? Do you have too many? Not enough? Let’s talk about the power of teams, why do we need them, how do we create them? We are not meant to survive on this earth on our own. I think this is one of the hardest parts of COVID-19. We are isolated. Our normal support systems may have been decimated. Or even if we are back at school or church, people are wearing masks an...

Do you struggle with staying calm while parenting? I have had my share of challenges while raising my boys. I spent the first 14 years or so of parenting losing my temper, yelling, being frustrated and disappointed in my kids and in myself. I have done a lot of work with coaching and emotional clearing to help get me to a place where I MOSTLY stay calm while parenting. Even when crazy things come...

Do you have teenagers or young adult children? That creates so many opportunities to try and let go of control, while also recognizing there are certain things I do still have stewardship over and have to set certain boundaries. However achieving the balance in that is quite the learning experience for us all. Using faith in my mothering has been so helpful, even essential as my boys have grown. T...

What is Spinning? When thoughts and or emotions start swirling around in our head and body. You can have positive spins • Trigger – Roller Coaster • Feeling - Excitement • Thought - Remembering Fun trips there • Trigger - Memories of Park We focus on negative spins, because those are what can cause problems • Trigger - Roller Coaster • Feeling – Sick, nervous • Thoughts – Remembering throwing up o...

We went back to church in the last few weeks my 15 year old mentioned, “Wow, I am out of practice. Church feels so long.” And it is even shorter than it used to be, by well over an hour! I agreed. My attention definitely has suffered over the last year. How about yours? I share an example of how I am going to work on increasing my attention this week. I would love to hear what you are doing! HELPF...

Have you ever picked a word of the year? Did you for 2020? Do you remember what it was? Did it help you in any way? The first few years I picked out a word for the year, I enjoyed the experience, but the word was forgotten after a month or two and it really didn’t make a change in my year. The past few years I have been VERY mindful of including God in my choice of the word and it was a completely...

Presents – Buying Presents, Wrapping Presents, Shipping Presents, Organizing Presents, Making sure we have equalish presents…. In todays short episode, I delve into presents vs presence. HELPFUL LINKS Follow me on Instagram @powerupyourprayers Podcast Episodes – Show notes Grab a Copy of one of my Books Gain Free Access to My Favorite Tools

How about you, is time weird for you too? Should we just not count it? It almost feels like it doesn’t exist on whatever weird world I am living in. But I do have a 2020 calendar with a lot of erased things we had to cancel. But also a lot of things on my calendar in colored pens we did do! So even though it feels different, I will keep 2020. It was 12 months that did happen. In todays episode I g...