The Little Things ARE The Big Things

Have you ever felt like you were probably the only one that struggled with some of life's basics?  I did too.  It is easy to look at others' lives and feel like everyone else has it all together.  Their home looks company-ready all the time, they are happy all the time, they never have money problems,  and they have the prayer /devotional life of the Apostle Paul!  


But as a friend recently reminded me, if our lives actually looked like what we post on Facebook and Twitter, we wouldn't recognize ourselves!! {wink, wink}


And then I found several bloggers whose honesty about the goals they had for this summer blew a fresh breeze of grace into my life!!  They spoke of the little things that are actually the big things.

• choosing to be content in the house she never intended to settle into for this long.  
• conquering one new habit per month--getting up early, making her bed everyday, getting into a consistent morning routine 
• what goes through her mind when she yells at her kids!  
• how she shoved the "stuff" out of the way of the picture she took of her home because "no, my house is never that perfect, even on my best days"!  
• struggles with the mind games of discouragement and inadequacy

You are Not Alone

This truth helps us take a deep breath, doesn't it?  While your struggle probably isn't one on the above list, it is still real.  The list in your mind {or if you have bravely scribbled it on paper} can no longer be your 'list of inadequacies'!  It must change to your 'areas to improve'.  And then it must get shortened to things you can tackle in the next 12 months!  And then, like Sara Mae, work on conquering one new habit  or attitude per month.  How exciting it will be when you can look back and see tremendous progress as you add one new habit each month AND keep up the others!! 

God wants to take you to the next level

And to be ready for that, you have some training to do!  And He doesn't send us to a conference or summer camp to train us.  He wakes us up every morning to a life where we can practice living a real life where we need His grace and truth and strength.  And where the little things really do prepare us for the big things in the Kingdom of God.  


So whether you are single or married, work from home or drive to work, are raising kids or even grand kids, the message is the same for you.   

"The secret to your destiny is hidden in your daily routine. What you're doing daily is what you're becoming permanently.” Jessica Cornelius, Pastor's Wife at Bay Area Fellowship Church

So what ONE habit can you work on for the month of August?  
Join the conversation in the comments below and let us encourage each other with our "next level" training.

Need Inspiration?

For so many people, what they "do for a living" is NOT living out their dream.  In fact, for so many people, they have never told anyone about their dream.  It is too personal to risk being rejected.  But the dream is deep in their soul longing to have a place to grow into a reality.
But a dream can only grow if it is nurtured.  And many times the "fertilizer" of dreams is being inspired by someone pursuing their dream.  

Watch the BEST Inspirational video I have found

Today while doing some ministry research {yes, YouTube does provide sermon material}, I stumbled across this video of Susan Boyle's initial performance on "Britain's Got Talent" show back in 2009.  This gave me chills, tears and the giggles as I was inspired to never give up on the dreams in my heart!   I hope it will do the same for you!

Now What?

• Give your dream it's own time in your day or week   

"Writing happens at 5:00AM when nothing else can interrupt me" Jeff Goins  

So grab a pen and write out a daily schedule for yourself.  And commit to a set time that your dream gets practice. . . practice writing, or playing, or taking pictures, or getting the technique improved.  Whatever your dream, practice so that you are ready when the spotlight shines on you!  Most of all, practice because you love what you are doing, not because you are waiting for your dream to 'bring in the big bucks'!

• Tell others about your dream 

Yes, some will not support you, but so many others will jump with joy and help connect you to the best resources for developing your dream!  This happened for me and several of my friends when we discovered that we feel called to write.  I feared there would be a competitive attitude between us, but instead there was this exciting rally that happened spontaneously.  We shared what we were learning, what blogs we were following, courses or seminars that we had found, etc.  It took all the fear of failure out of the way.  We believe in each other and thus, we believe in the dream in our hearts!!

• Find others who can mentor you  

"For most of us, our very best mentors are people we will likely never meet."   Jill Briscoe

This happened for me with this woman.  I have never met her but I have listened to her speak, I read the magazine she produces, and regularly follow the ministry that she and the ladies at her church lead in Wisconsin .  God has used them to confirm the vision that He has given me for WCW every year for the past 7 years!!    

Now with the internet and blogs on every subject imaginable, it is easy to learn from others.  Find no more than 5 really good ones and learn everything you can from them!  If you have questions, go ahead and contact them.  So many are overwhelmed by your support and will gladly answer your questions or give you feedback.  

•  Don't be afraid to take risks

I watched this played out in the life of a good friend.  The bathroom remodeling business that she had worked at her entire career closed about a  year ago.  Instead of being devastated, Jessica took several weeks to seek God and her own heart about what she would do next.  And then she announced to us that she would pursue her dream of being a photographer!  Talk about a career change.  But you know what?  SHE IS GOOOOD!!!!  Every time I see her latest photo sneak peaks on her Facebook page, I am so totally inspired.  What the world would be missing if she was still working at that old job.  {check out Captured by JMarie here}

• Lean how to handle success instead of always being prepared for failure!

If your dream came true next week, what would you need to do to prepare for that success?  If it meant that you would travel some (more than you do now), or that you had deadlines to meet, or that you would have to have promotional materials with your image on it, what would you do now?  Don't let success catch you by surprise!  Start living now so that you have a long success rather than a 1-shot-wonder!!

 "The secret to your destiny is hidden in your daily routine. What you're doing daily is what you're becoming permanently.”  Jessica Cornelius

What is Your Dream?  Join the conversation and share your dream here.   

Family Devotions

The Bible isn't just for church

A good friend at work told me a story one day that shocked me.  She said that in her experience (growing up in the Midwest), "only 'crazy Bible people' took their Bibles to church"!  So when her husband grabbed his Bible to go to church on their first Sunday as a married couple, she was embarrassed.   But when she began her first Bible study and learned what was in her dust-covered Bible, she quickly decided she wanted to be 'a crazy Bible gal'!

I have read the Bible often for most of my Christian life.  I have become more passionate about the Bible the more I read it and learn about who God is and what He has done!  
So, as a parent, I wanted to instill this passion for God's Word into my children as early as possible.  My prayer is that they will love the Bible and be eager to read it daily.  But as you know, that can be challenging to implement.  How do we nurture this into kids that are used to everything being in digital format with the goal to entertain rather than teach and nurture?  

Doing is more important than how

My husband & I have decided that the phrases “nailing jello to the wall” accurately described the chaos that used occur the minute we started family devotions before bedtime (we have 4 kids between ages of 2 & 9)!!  But a dear friend once told me that "it is so important that you have family devotions, it doesn't matter what it looks like or how long it lasts!  God can do something life-changing in 5 minutes if we simply give him those 5 minutes."  

Soooo. . . we started doing them at the dinner table while they had more energy/attention, were eating & could interrupt less b/c their mouths were full but their ears were captive!! {wink, wink} It has been working GREAT! We have been using a family devotions book that has cool stories to illustrate the Scripture for the day.  We are trying to memorize Bible verses but with a new verse each night, that isn’t working.  But I strongly believe that memorizing Scripture is important! What is a parent to do?

I prayed.  And God answered!  I found a  FREE kid's Bible study curriculum on a homeschool site I really like. {no, I don't home school right now but she has awesome stuff}  So this summer I started using the week-long Bible study she calls 'character study' (obedience, self-control, honesty, arguing, etc).  There is a memory verse for each study with 4 days of illustrations & discussion questions on that topic.  

The two things God spoke to me was the importance of them finding the Scriptures in their own Bibles.  And then letting them take turns reading aloud. {this momma cried when my kindergartener was learning to read by reading in her Bible}  Now, instead of my kids rolling their eyes when we announce it is Bible study time, they get excited! AND  I am seeing the power of God's Word in the practical ways that we do life together!!  

How often?

Life is busy for all of us.  So if we don't make Bible reading and prayer a priority, it just won't happen.   But everyday feels like a set-up for failure.  If you aren't doing family devotions at all right now, then how about starting with one day/week!  If you designate which day that will be, you are more likely to do it.   After working on this for several years now, we have found that 4 days a week seems to work best for our evening devotions.    And  the goal for our new morning Bible Study is Monday - Thursdays before we rush out the door to school and work!!  But we are on a learning curve of balancing time & attention in the mornings.  

So what about you?  How do you do family devotionals?  Do you do them daily?  Morning?  Before bed?  Have you spent time memorizing God’s word together with your kids?  What is your advice for me?  Join the conversation in the comment section below.

Winding Down Summer

Reflecting on the WCW Summer Challenge

Today is Day 80 of our 90 day challenge!  It is amazing what God can do with 90 days.  I have to be honest and say that summer is both a good and bad time to do a challenge.  

• For some of us, we were simply trying to get up earlier than usual so that we could spend time with God before the day started.  
• For others, we were engaging in a systematic Bible study for the first time.  
• And there were a few of us who took on the Bible in 90 Days challenge.  

We started well and most of us are still working at finishing well.  However, if you dropped out, don't be too hard on yourself.  Participating in a challenge like this should be seen as training (for a marathon) rather than a casual walk.  And it is all about growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ, NOT about beating the odds.  

Hello Mornings Challenge: Fall Session Info

The team at Hello Mornings are amazing.  And since I don't want you to miss out on all their inspiration, I believe that I should let you experience them for yourselves.  (yes, that means there will not be WCW sponsored groups this fall).  

Some of you are asking "What is HelloMornings?"

The HelloMornings Challenge was birthed to encourage Christian women toward the life-giving habit of waking up early.

Inspired by the (free) ebook, Maximize Your Mornings, thousands of women from all over the world have joined the challenge. Through our tri-annual online community groups, these women are inspired to action as they receive encouragement and accountability.

Our hope is that over time HelloMornings participants will:

1. experience quality time with God
2. intentionally plan their days
3. and exercise regularly

—all before the day gets going! God. Plan. Move.

If you are ready to register or need more information, click here to register.  


More blog posts are coming very soon (my sabbatical has ended)! 
Until then, go find a cool place and enjoy the last few weeks of summer!  


Angela Smith
WCW Director