From the Publisher: 
Because God’s timing is so rarely our own and we lose the wonder in the waiting of life, desperation strikes, plans backfire, and we begin to wonder why God does not fill the emptiness. Be encouraged to find strength and hope in Marlo Schalesky's new book, Waiting for Wonder. Journey into the heart of God where you will wrestle with personal questions, think deeply about God’s true character, and learn to appreciate His divine work as you discover your own path to the promised land. Recapture your hope, restore your soul, and renew your vision of a wondrous Savior when you learn to live on God’s time.

Learn the true purpose of waiting on God and living on His timeline and enter to win Marlo's giveaway.


One grand prize winner will receive:

• Two copies of Waiting for Wonder (one for you and one to give to a friend)
• A KEEP Collective watch set (with a band and watch)

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on December 23. The winner will be announced December 27 on Marlo's blog.

At the crucial age between 8 and 12, many kids begin to wonder if Christianity and the Bible are true. Help your kids become truth-seeking detectives with the help of J. Warner and Susie Wallace's Cold-Case Christianity for Kids. Detective Wallace gets kids excited about testing witnesses, examining the evidence, and investigating the case for Christianity. The book includes author illustrations and links to a website where kids can download activities, fill in case notes, and earn a certificate of merit.

Encourage your kids to investigate the case for Christianity by entering to win a faith examination kit and a copy of J. Warner and Susie's new book.


One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Cold-Case Christianity for Kids
• A Kindle Fire so your kids can visit the Cold-Case Christianity for Kids website and explore its many activities
• A shock-proof, kid-friendly, convertible Kindle Fire case (your kids' choice of color)

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on November 4. The winner will be announced November 7 on the Litfuse blog.

Is there room for creativity and children in a mother's life? Learn how to balance home, art, and family in Wendy Speake and Kelli Stuart's new book, Life Creative. In this Pinterest age of handcrafted children’s parties, Instagram photos of beautifully decorated homes, and blogs filled with poetry and prose, it is clear that we are in the midst of a brand new artistic renaissance. Life Creative paints the stories of moms, just like you, who are fitting their inspired lives into the everyday, ordinary places of motherhood.

Join Wendy, Kelli, and other moms in celebrating the beauty of being a creative mom by entering to win the Called to Be Creative Giveaway (details below) and by attending their author chat party on October 27!


One grand prize winner will receive:

• One copy of Life Creative
• The Gracelaced Personalizable Mom's Wreath
• A handmade leather journal
• A Starbucks gift card

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on 10/27. The winner will be announced at the Life Creative Facebook party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Wendy, Kelli, and other creative moms, as well as for a chance to win other prizes!

RSVP today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via social media and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 27th!

• Spending Time In Prayer
• Reading God’s Word
• Growing Through Mentoring
• Finding Community In The Church
• Serving Others
• Taking Time To Rest
• Giving Back To God
• Sharing Your Faith

Begin to build your family discipleship and become the key disciple-makers in your children's lives with Melissa Spoelstra's new book, Total Family Makeover. Disciples are made, not born. Whether your children are babes in arms or teenagers getting ready to leave the nest, making disciples at home starts with you! Give your family a makeover with this practical approach to helping your children learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Plan an evening of fun, pizza, devotionals, and games with your family! Melissa is giving away a Family Fun Night Prize Pack.


One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Total Family Makeover
• A copy of Deep Blue Family Devotional: Fall 2016 - Summer 2017
• A copy of CEB Deep Blue Kids Bible Bright Sky Hardcover
• A $50 Pizza Hut gift card
• Qwirkle Board Game

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on October 7. The winner will be announced October 10 on Melissa's blog.

I am SO excited to bring you this review today! From the moment I started to read this book, I became super passionate about sharing it will all my fellow Girl Moms. Being a mom to a daughter can be tough, especially if your childhood relationship with your own mother was strained. I know that I didn't have the kind of open, conversational relationship with my mom that as an adult I desire with my daughter. I know that was largely due to my own attitude and behavior, but fostering an open, conversational relationship with my daughter is high on my priority list.

One thing that I started doing when Gia was about two years old is to play a game called "Ask Me a Question, Any Question." (I made it up and she titled it.) Basically, before bed I would tell her "Ask me a question, any question and I'll tell you the honest answer." Well she took right off with it! I really should write down some of the questions she comes up with because they're really quite creative-- why is the sky blue? What do fish eat? Where do boogers come from? All kinds of silly things like that. But she's also asked some really good, serious questions. Things like, Where does God live? How do we know God made us? What was Jesus like when he was my age? All great questions that have been phenomenal diving boards into some really great conversations with my preschooler! But the underlying idea behind this silly game is that I want my girls to know that they can always come to me and ask me a question-- any question-- and I will tell them the honest answer. So even when she asked how babies get in a mommy's tummy, I didn't take the easy way out (a stork!). Instead I gave her a slightly more complicated but age-appropriate answer so that some day, when we're ready for THE BIG TALK, I won't have to tell her I lied to her when she was little. We're building a foundation of trust. At least that's the hope. (praying on my knees!)

Now, with Trish Donohue's book Between Us Girls: Walks and Talks for Moms and Daughters, I feel like I have a whole new tool in my toolbox of parenting girls. Between Us Girls is a book that contains twenty-six gospel-driven talks to guide mothers through a simple, sustainable way to disciple their daughters. Reading God's word together, asking one another questions, and being honest about their struggles, moms and daughters learn new habits and establish lifelong patterns for communicating about what matters most. This book is not very long at all, but the content is so incredibly rich. Here is a look at the twenty-six guided conversations this book dives into:


The table of contents breaks it down into 26 weeks, but really you could cover this material in so many different ways. You could set up "dates" every other week for a year, or have a standing "date" every week for 6 months. You could work your way through the book over a number of years, though I think that establishing a committed time to purposefully walk through each of these conversations might be best. (Life can seriously get in the way if we are not committed to being intentional!!!)

In each conversation, there are four parts:

• The Garden
• The Weeds
• The Hill 
• The Field

The Garden "describes God's vision for us. It reminds us of the Garden of Eden, a place unspoiled by sin-- the way God intended for it to be."
In The Weeds section we talk "about how sin messes everything up. That's what happened when Adam and Eve chose to turn away from God's design and follow their own. The daisies wilted and thorns and weeds grew up.
The Hill we will be passing is the hill of Calvary. It represents the Gospel: the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection.
We'll end our walks in The Field. This is where we take the truths we've learned and get to work. Seeds are planted and fruit grows-- we watch the Gospel change everything."

I hope you can tell just from reading those brief explanatory excerpts how deeply moving this book can be. Every section of each conversation has questions for both moms and girls. They are sometimes funny, sometimes serious. There are questions that allow moms to tell about some of their past experiences, hopes and dreams, and there are questions that help girls open up about their desires, fears and feelings. I feel like every mother of a daughter needs to have this book in their hands. I am just so passionate about spreading the word about this book-- and no, I am not being paid by the author to do so! I did receive this book for free as an advanced reading copy but I plan on buying several more to give as gifts!

As far as what age I think this book would work best for... there is not a "recommended age" given by the author in this book, but I think as a mom, you can gauge your child's readiness for these conversations. I feel that at five years old, Gia is just a bit young. I feel that by waiting maybe 2 or 3 more years, we will be able to have much better conversations. But I will say this-- I know we want to keep our girls "little" for a long time and not expose them to the world. This book is not about revealing dangers in the world or scary things that could happen. It is GOSPEL-CENTERED and TRUTH-INSTILLING. It is truly FOUNDATIONAL. I truly think that the younger, the better. So I *personally* would recommend this for any girl around age 7 or more. It depends on the maturity of your daughter, of course, but I think that would be a good age to at least begin to consider it. I'd love to hear your feedback on that, if you do purchase the book.

I hope that if you get this book, you truly love it as much as I do. There could be so many uses for it outside of just a mother-daughter relationship too. It could be used in a mentor relationship, and I'm even trying to think of a way that it could become a mother-daughter weekend retreat. The possibilities are endless. I hope you take it and run with it, and you and your daughters' lives are forever changed for the better. And I want to hear from you! Let me know what you think!

You can purchase it here:

Savior. Lamb of God. Lord. The Light. The Good Shepherd. Healer. These are just a few of the many names of Jesus. And oh, what a wonderful name it is! This beautifully illustrated, full-color book is packed with inspirational readings that all related to the various names of God. As I read through my Bible in my personal quiet time, I have a small notebook that I keep with me at all times. In it, I write down every name of God that I encounter in my scripture readings. How precious and wonderful is the name of God! This book has elevated my study of His names, as well as what each name means. The Wonder of His Name by Nancy Leigh DeMoss includes thirty-two devotional readings about the names of Jesus. I love Nancy’s reflections as they encourage me to go deeper in my relationship with Christ and challenge me to share the wonders of His name with those around me. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for just that! If you are interested in this book, you can purchase it on Amazon HERE. 

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. 

I'm breaking the blogging break with a little PSA- I have found a lotion for my babies that I absolutely love! It is Bare Baby Organics! This product is great for babies and kids with sensitive skin or who just need some extra moisture. My girls love the smooth, non-greasy feel. It also comes in a convenient pump top bottle (as opposed to many others which just squirt out and can be quite a mess in little hands!). I love this stuff and can't recommend it highly enough. Its good knowing that is it all organic ingredients and that its made in the USA! Here's some information about this product:

I wrote an article several years ago called When You're Doing Your Best Just to Enter the Sanctuary, and since Mother's Day is tomorrow, I thought I would share it again for any friends who may be wrestling with this. Its about mothers are mothers, but aren't mothering. Its about mothers who have held a baby either in their womb or in their arms, but won't hold their babies tomorrow. Mothers who long to bring forth new life but for whatever unknown reasons are not able. And its about feeling hurt not really so much by the church, but by wondering where is God in your story.

If you are lying in bed awake, dreading another Mother's Day without your babies that should have been or could have been or hopefully one day will be--there is good news. And the cliff notes version of the article below is this: Jesus will meet you where you are. He's invited you to come to him, you who are weary of crying, weak from wondering and longing. He will meet you where you are, and it doesn't have to be in the sanctuary of your church. But-- and please hear me on this-- don't negate or push away the gift of community that God has given to us in our church bodies. And don't let worry of tears or sadness keep you in bed tomorrow morning. We don't have to be brave or strong in the midst of a painful day. In fact, we're invited to be weak. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians about his "thorn in the flesh," something that humbled him:

8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. 10That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Two things stand out to me and comfort me here: weakness and power. MY weakness and CHRIST'S power. For my fellow language lovers, the Greek term here for "weakness" is astheneia, and it refers to an ailment that deprives someone of enjoying or accomplishing what they would like to do. Would you like to get out of bed in the morning? Would you like to go to church? I remember the days I didn't really want to get out of bed, but deep down I longed to rejoin the world again. My astheneia of grief was keeping me from my church community and friends... and God.

But here's the best part: Christ's power is perfected (meaning it will continue to unfold much like an old pirate's telescope, stage by stage, until it is able to function at full strength, or its max capacity effectiveness) in my astheneia (ability to accomplish what I would like to do). And looking back to the Greek, the word for Christ's POWER in this verse refers to the ability to perform (dynamis). More specifically, for the believer it is the power to achieve by applying the Lord's inherent abilities. So its not by our strength at all that we are able to do anything, but only through the power and strength of the Lord working in us and through us.

I've made peace with Mother's Day and remember fondly our little girl, Whitney, who first made me a Mommy. I remember the first Mother's Day without her, but I rest and rejoice in the truth that she is at home with her Father and that I will see her again some day. I don't believe the saying that "Time heals all wounds," but I do believe in the One who heals our wounds. "By His wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5 The sin that brought death and separates us from God was conquered on the cross when Christ died and rose again for all of us. So therein lies my hope. I pray you will find His strength in your weakness tomorrow when you are doing your best just to enter the sanctuary....


And just for fun... my first post after Gia was born- 3 days before Mother's Day.

I am revamping my Sheyenne Wilson Photography blog, but I really wanted to get some sneak peeks of this Fresh 48 session up to share. So I will transfer it back to the photo blog when it is finished, but for now, I hope you enjoy these sweet snaps of baby Loreana.  Mom was absolutely radiant less than 48 hours after birth and Dad and big brother were completely smitten with her. She is so precious!!