• 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: