by kathilipp | Dec 16, 2014 | Christmas, Podcast |
Have you ever had one of those… days. What do you do when life feels out of control, when you can’t find peace, when your soul is restless… and it’s the holidays? We talked to Bonnie Gray, author of Finding Spiritual Whitespace about:
- How to embrace the part of you that is real and let go of the business and fluff that tend to overwhelm at this time of the year.
- Creating space in your heart for God in a busy season.
- Practical tips on how you can find spiritual whitespace for your entire family this Christmas.
- How to enjoy the small things this holiday season for a truly joyful, hopeful season.
Click here to read Bonnie’s list of favorite reads (so you can settle your heart with story per her advice) and then listen in as Bonnie Gray brings a breath of fresh air to the frazzle of the season.
Plus, start off 2015 with Bonnie’s online spiritual whitespace book club and start your year with some peace for your soul.
After you listen to the podcast, come back and answer the question below for a chance to win:
1) “The Lost Chapters” free mini-ebook with extra chapters from the book!
2) “Ten Soul Espressos: Top 10 verses on Rest” (a printable)
3) “You Are Loved” digital wallpaper
Descriptions for each item can be found here!
QUESTION – Is God calling you to create whitespace in your heart for Him in a busy season? What does it look like for you?
We are giving away 10 copies of items 1-3 to ten winners, so don’t forget to leave a comment!
Bonnie Gray is soulful author of Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest which garnered starred review praise from Publisher’s Weekly, noted as the Top 6 new notable religion authors. Bonnie serves up shots of faith for everyday life on her nationally-syndicated blog FaithBarista.com and she is a contributor to Crosswalk.com and DaySpring (in)courage. After graduating from UCLA, she served as a missionary, a ministry entrepreneur and as a high tech professional in Silicon Valley. Bonnie lives in Northern California with her husband, Eric, and their two sons.
by kathilipp | Dec 10, 2014 | Christmas, tips and ideas |
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The Holidays are here! How’s everybody doing? Hanging in there? Remembering to breathe and focus on the real reason we celebrate this season?
Need something to make your life a little easier right now?
Here are some of the quick tips and time-savers we’ve come up with to help make this Holiday a wonderful time for you and your family!
If you missed this week’s podcast on our Top 5 Holiday Hacks, take a few minutes and listen in now!
Looking for something to give someone for Christmas who is having a hard time making ends meet? Check out our ideas!
Podcast 128 was all about saving money for Christmas without sacrificing the things that matter and making things less stressful!
Are you looking for easy gifts to give that don’t require a lot of (if any) wrapping? Check out this post!
And if things in your life are just too crazy, maybe you should check out my book Get Yourself Organized! 21 Steps to Less Mess and Stress! (This is an Amazon affiliate link.)
Have a great week!
by kathilipp | Dec 9, 2014 | Christmas, Podcast |
How do you survive the holidays?
Kathi and Erin share their top 5 Holiday Hacks to make your holidays simple and fun.
- Easy gifts you can keep on hand.
- Simple ways to make baking and cooking… simple.
- Dial back and be intentional about making Christmas meaningful.
- Celebrate and enjoy your family this holiday season instead of feeling stressed.
Plus, click below to download our Holiday Hacks PDF and get a list of all of Kathi’s and Erin’s hacks, plus more hacks from our readers, plus to get the recipes and instructions for crafts mentioned in the podcast.
FREE DOWNLOAD
All of the holiday hacks from the podcast our included on the download. There is also a link at the bottom of the download that will take you to the Facebook post on Kathi’s feed with more of her reader’s ideas!
Click here to download.
Erin MacPherson lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Cameron, her sons Joey and Will and her daughter Kate. She is the author of “The Christian Mama’s Guide Series“, a staff writer for Dun & Bradstreet and a freelancer for publications like Thriving Family Magazine, MOPS MomSense, FamilyLife Magazine, Daily Guideposts and BEMag. She blogs about her life, her kids and her faith at ChristianMamasGuide.com.
by kathilipp | Dec 8, 2014 | Christmas |
Christmas gifts for the person who is having a hard time making ends meet…
Let’s face it. This is a rough economy. There are a lot of people without jobs or who are behind on their bills. Movie tickets are fun or a gift certificate for a manicure is nice, but sometimes, practical gifts are more appreciated and necessary. What good are movie tickets if you have no gas to get to the theater? That manicure might actually stay nice for a long time when there’s no food to prepare, but well, you get the point.
Consider giving gift cards for grocery stores or all-purpose stores like Wal-Mart. How about gasoline gift cards? Or restaurant gift cards for a special Holiday meal out of the house? This enables your gift recipient to choose just what they want, which might be simply what they need.
You meet a practical need by providing food or gas or even grocery money, but you are meeting that “you-are-awesome-here’s-a-really-cool-gift” target as well.
Consider a Safeway, Publix, Kroger or Ingles Gift Card
for groceries.
Another idea is one of my favorite sites, featured on my blog before.
Grass fed beef. Yum. Practical, nutritious, delicious. You meet a practical need by providing some food, but you are meeting that “you-are-awesome-here’s-a-really-cool-gift” target as well. My favorite place to buy? Open Space Meats.
How about you? Do you have any enjoyable gifts that can also meet a need?
by kathilipp | Dec 2, 2014 | Christmas, Podcast, tips and ideas |
Do you feel your shoulders getting more and more tense as the days to Christmas tick down? Ready for a less stressful Christmas?
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Kimberlee Stokes, the author of Stress Free Holidays, walks you through her totally doable tips (hint: She got rid of her Christmas tree and makes popcorn for gifts!) to make this holiday season simple and joyful. Listen in as Kimberlee shares her ideas on how to:
- Make gifts without feeling stressed about crafting
- Save money for Christmas without sacrificing the things that matter.
- Choose which events truly matter (and which will only leave you feeling overwhelmed.
- Get rid of the clutter in your home and life to keep your stress levels down.
Listen in and get ideas to keep your holiday low-stress, plus get a free download of Kimberlee’s Candy Cane Bath Salts recipe.
FREE DOWNLOAD
Don’t miss out on this awesome Candy Cane Bath Salt recipe! Click here!
Kimberlee Stokes is the happily married mom of four teens and the owner and editor of the popular website ThePeacefulMom.com where she gives women encouragement, inspiration and practical tools to save money, get organized and enjoy life.
In her latest e-book Stress Free Holidays Kimberlee shares real ways to simplify, save money and stay sane this holiday season including a free holiday planner.
by kathilipp | Dec 1, 2014 | Christmas |
Are you looking for easy Christmas gifts for your friends and family?Our family is trying hard to be clutter-free in our Christmas giving this year. Here are a few things to consider if you’re trying to cut down on the clutter… (I’ve included the Amazon links to for ordering supplies…)
Try these ideas:
- Laundry Soap
My #1 post ever is How to Make HE Laundry Detergent (This list included Amazon links for the cheap ingredients). And my kids? They each love getting a batch. It’s cheap, easy to make, and gets your clothes really, really clean.
- Hummus Kit
If you or your gift receiver love hummus, how about a hummus kit (I’ve sent this to friends who absolutely LOVE it.)
Here is a great hummus recipe and here is what I’d include in the kit: 
(All included the Amazon links…)
Lemon Juicer
Dried Garbanzo Beans
Kevala Organic Tahini 16 oz
- Homemade Vanilla Kit
Here is my post on how to make homemade vanilla. (Including Amazon links, of course.)It’s too late to make it yourself to give to other people, but you could buy the ingredients, make up a huge batch and then attach a cute label that says, Use Me! (and then put the date six weeks from when you put the beans in the vodka.)
- EBooks and Ebook Readers
Ebooks take up no space and are great for travelers, late-night-in-bed-readers, and parents waiting for kids in minivans. I’ve had my Kindle for over five years and just now am replacing it with a Kindle Fire 7 because I want to be able to watch movies on it – if it lasts me another five years, that works out to be about $20 a year. That’s a pretty sweet deal to not have to lug multiple copies of books on a plane.
The Get Yourself Organized Project is a great gift idea! December 1st only, Harvest House Publishers is offering this book at a special “sale” price of $1.99 through their eBook distributors—this includes Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Apple, and the Sony Reader. Visit Harvest House today! http://harvesthousepublishers.com/ebook-deals
AFTER DECEMBER 1st, you can purchase it at its regular price on Amazon!
- An Audible Subscription
I love audio books – for long car trips, cleaning the kitchen, or walking the dog, I almost always have an audio book going. Audible is having a sale right now, and they also have subscriptions available.
- Add-On Parts
OK so this is “stuff” but I’ve found that adding on to something someone already has isn’t more “stuff” they have to manage usually. Like this dough hook for my Kitchenaide. It made it so that I didn’t have to replace my bread maker – now I just do my dough in the Kitchenaide and bake it in the oven. (BTW – my rolls this year for Thanksgiving were To. Die. For.)
- Help
Last year, my daughter gave my mom the gift of time. Being a broke college student, Kimber didn’t have a lot of money, but told my mom that she would come to her house and work for five hours doing whatever my mom needed. They worked on organizing the garage and did some baking. My mom was glad for the help, and Kimber had the satisfaction of knowing she was giving my mom what she wanted – help and company.
- I already mentioned ebooks and ereaders, I know, but here’s a book I want to introduce you to written by author Sherri Wilson Johnson. Her latest novel, To Laugh Once More, the second book in her Hope of the South series, is on sale for a limited time for $.99 on Kindle! This is a Victorian novel set in Georgia and deals with the struggles and trials of a young married couple. Lydia Scarbrough is trying to find her purpose in life and everywhere she turns, she meets obstacles. Check this book out!
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