Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?? {Beauty on a Budget}

Today, I am so excited to welcome Kassie and Mandy to the blog. I have known Mandy for a long time. We went to high school together. We served alongside each other in ministry at our church.  She did my make-up when I got married, and she's the only one with whom I really trust my hair. (Unfortunately for me, she moved like 5 hours away. I kid you not, I haven't gotten my hair done since. Almost a year ago. She's just that good. I miss her. Sigh.) Mandy just has such a warmth and meekness about her. Her sister Kassie has a contagious energy and a big heart.

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Our names are Mandy and Kassie. We have just started our YouTube channel Glittered Withgrace. 

We started this channel not only because we love make up and beauty stuff, but because we wanted to inspire and encourage women. 

Mandy is 31 and the mother of four, plus a sixteen-year-old Chinese exchange student makes five. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for 13 years. Mandy and her husband Brad are children's pastors. Mandy is also a licensed cosmetologist. 

Kassie is 24 and also has two teenage foreign exchange students. She has been married for two years. She and her husband are also a ministry family with their service in worship, kids ministry, and media. 

Together, we (Mandy and Kassie) also coach cheer. Needless to say, we are busy ladies. We also have strict budgets (thanks, Dave Ramsey). So we have to be resourceful with what we have, and we try to get the most bang for our buck. 

We hope to bring some positive videos that show women that make up doesn't make you beautiful, but it is fun. And since we are both in different seasons of life, we feel like we can reach most women. We hope to inspire, help, and encourage women with glitter and His grace!


Today's video is a shopping haul PLUS A GIVEAWAY. We decided to try and buy a full face of makeup for $40 because if you have not ever played with makeup (or haven't really updated your make-up since since college) and wanted to start, it doesn't have to cost a fortune.




To enter the giveaway:
1. Subscribe to Glittered Withgrace and Mandy's and Kassie's YouTube channels.
2. If you use Instagram, follow @MandyWinkle and @KassieMoon
3. Leave a comment under the video with what it is you look forward to the most in the Fall. 
(Note: comment must be made under the video on their YouTube channel to be entered, so do follow the link.)


Psst... Come back tomorrow, and we will show you two make-up looks using the make-up we got. For a bonus later this week, we also styled a plain black shirt and jeans two ways to help with outfit slumps. We hope you enjoy and subscribe to our channel for future videos.

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Thank you so much, Mandy and Kassie! I can't wait till tomorrow to hear your make-up tips for the fall looks. I seriously am in love with that cranberry color... and hoping to be brave enough to wear it. I can say I am definitely inspired to buy a little make-up. I am kind of still using some products from before I had Addy. Don't judge. :)

Okay. So don't forget to head over and subscribe to Glittered With Grace and comment on the video. 
How about we rally around some women who are just stepping out into a dream to encourage women everywhere with beauty tips?!



So, What are your favorite items in your make-up bag? Share your favorite items in the comments below.


Subscribe to Amanda Conquers to get encouragement slipped right into your email box about two times a week. Make sure you never miss a post. (Psst... it's easy to subscribe and to unsubscribe.) Click HERE.




If you missed any of the Beauty on a Budget posts, catch up with them here:
1. On Beauty (an intro to the series from AmandaConquers)
2. Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?
3. Fall for Your Face
4. Black Tee and Jeans Styled Four Ways
5. What God Says...

On Beauty

There is a war going on in me every day.

I sense it when I look in the mirror and see a woman with winding-mountain-road curves where a wiry girl used to stand. I look more tired, older somehow… and acne (it’s like I am going through puberty all over again… at 30! Who knew you don’t always get to outgrow pimples?!).

I sense it when I am running behind in the morning and make-up no longer seems worth it. I sense it when my wardrobe is seriously outdated, but the kids are growing like weeds and the budget is tight. I let that be my excuse to let another season pass without a single update.

I sense it when the house is a wreck, and I am tired.  Instead of nap, I will drudge through housework until I wonder what’s on Facebook, and then I will just stare mindlessly at that because I am just.so.tired.

I sense it at the end of the day, after I’ve homeschooled, cleaned messes, driven kids to gymnastics, cooked dinner, and put the kids in bed.  I want alone time. And I don’t want to drink water and eat carrot sticks while I catch up on a tv show. I kind of want to bury my face in brownie pie.

But here’s the thing. The war isn’t me versus weight. Or me versus make-up time. Or me versus the small budget. The war is being waged on my worth.  Because if I can buy into how the enemy wants me to see myself, maybe I can also buy into the lie that God doesn't love me. And maybe I can raise my kids in the most subtlest of ways to think women and mothers don’t have much value because mommy doesn’t think she does.

Really, the hard part isn’t actually finding the time for a beauty routine, exercise, or eating well… it’s actually seeing yourself as worth the time.

It’s about loving yourself.

Where you are. How you are.

It’s what Jesus does for us. He doesn’t look at the long list of all the ways we fall short. He just loves. He sees value. Not just potential value. But value. As in now.

He loves you now.

Just me...learning to love me

Maybe this seems like a weird comparison. But it’s like the person who thinks the way to Jesus is through following the law. Eating right and having an exercise routine is immensely beneficial. But if all you do is try to wrestle yourself into some ideal image, you’ve missed the point. You can swear off carbs and butter, you can spend 2 hours at the gym every day and night, you can have washboard abs and tight buns. You can also think it’s all too hard and wallow in French fries and fudge sundaes and spend far too much time sitting in front of Facebook. Either way, you seriously miss it.

It isn’t a choice between letting yourself go or sculpting your body into size 4 skinny jeans.

No. It’s a choice to love you.

Really love you. As Christ loves you. Because it’s not about a weight. It’s not about a beauty routine. It’s not about an amazing wardrobe. It’s not about controlling yourself and working yourself until you fit into some conjured up idea of beautiful.

It is for freedom that Christ set us free.

Just like Jesus said that He didn’t come to do away with the law but to fulfill it, I do believe when you recognize just how valuable, beautiful, worth it in His eyes you are, it compels you to love on yourself, to do what is best for yourself.

You.

You who puts little lives before your own, you who lives poured out… and maybe some days you feel spilled out and overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising kids and the sheer not-knowing what is best for them. You who has stood beside your man and cheered him on even in the bleakest of seasons. You who walks bravely through the passing of time, enduring trials, taking scars, growing older and wiser.

You—beautiful warrior woman.

You are so valuable.

Would you, could you, start to choose yourself sometimes? Would you instill in your daughters and your sons the value of a woman by valuing yourself? Would you kindly stop comparing yourself to other women? Would you exercise and eat well and give yourself permission to take naps because we only get this one life and this one body and rest is important? Would you allow yourself to throw your hair to the wind, to celebrate and to eat cake sometimes because life needs to be enjoyed too?

I am looking at myself. Asking myself those questions. I don’t want to let myself go, get buried back here behind excuses, and exhaustion, and, well, child-raising. No, I do believe I need to hold onto to myself. Value myself. Me.

Okay. So maybe you want to start doing this with me? Maybe we can cheer each other on?

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So along these lines, I am have invited some professionals over to the blog for help with something very in particular.

Spending time on ourselves.

Each day this week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) the girls from Glittered With Grace will be showing us simple beauty tips designed with the busy, tight-budget momma in mind.

  

Now, I certainly don’t want the message to be that in order to be beautiful on the outside one must put on make-up and style your hair big. Oh no. This is for fun. Some simple tips to put into your arsenal should you decide you need to spend more time on yourself.

(Ahem. That would be me. Also, I am so clueless when it comes to make-up and hairstyles.)

Maybe it’s just me, but when I take the extra time to put on make-up and do the hair… I feel pretty. Valuable. And it’s not a superficial thing, this outward thing reflects an inward thing. Jesus loves me, and I am precious to Him.

I can’t wait till tomorrow. These Glittered with Grace girls are so warm, endearing, and full of beauty wisdom (outside and inside too). I can't wait to introduce you to them. 

By Grace,

Amanda Conquers

If you missed any of the Beauty on a Budget posts, catch up with them here:
1. On Beauty (an intro to the series from AmandaConquers)
2. Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?
3. Fall for Your Face
4. Black Tee and Jeans Styled Four Ways
5. What God Says...

Pssst… If you want to make sure you don’t miss a single one of these posts, subscribe to this blog by email. It’s super easy to subscribe (and it’s super easy to unsubscribe). Just click this link and enter your email address. You’ll get a confirmation email to click on and then, boom, you’re done. We can be email pals :)

Here’s some resources in line with today’s post: I wrote this about seeing your beauty after child-bearing changes your body. Honestly, on the bad days, I read it to myself to encourage myself. Ha!

Sarah Mae wrote an e-book called Frumps to Pumps. It’s kind of like 5 minute daily devotionals to challenge, encourage, and equip you to spend a little more time on yourself.

On Growing Up in a Pentecostal Church

I grew up on an orange pew in a small Pentecostal church.

I grew up with tongues-speaking and large women running aisles whenever the Spirit fell. We called each other brother and sister. I looked forward to my weekly welcome from Brother Sid who always had a smile and a Werther’s Original to share.

My mom made sure we were at church every time the doors were open which happened to be twice on Sunday, Wednesday evening, and Tuesday mornings for prayer.

My pastor was a gentle man. He was a Missouri boy who loved down-home cooking and blue-grass music. Everyone knew biscuits and gravy was his favorite meal.  He frequently mentioned his favorite singer: his wife. I think I heard the story of how he met her at church and how he kept going to that church so he could date her no less than 198 times in my childhood. If I am honest, I don’t think I remember a single one of his sermons, but I do remember how he would tell me every chance he got: “Amanda, you know God loves you? There isn’t anyone that He loves more than you.”

My pastor’s wife was an adamant woman. She was adamant about my worth, she was adamant about purity, she was adamant about making a way for me. I remember her confessing to me that she had a sharp-tongue, and maybe it was true, but she also knew how to wield her words as a sharp sword against the enemy. I probably had a healthy dose of the holy fear of God and of my pastor’s wife. She played the piano and sang with a big voice that could fill a room all by itself. She battled her weight and lost it and gained it a few times, and maybe this sounds funny, but I can’t even tell you how much I appreciated that she gave the softest hugs… I probably couldn’t count how many times I buried my face right into her shoulder and cried. I might not have been her daughter, but I always felt important to her.

I remember being 10 and desperate to go to summer camp. My pastor’s wife might not have wanted to sleep in an un-insulated cabin on a cot, but she wanted to be there for “her kids.” So she volunteered to run the camp store.  I remember being shy, not knowing anyone, not quite fitting… but I could always escape to the camp store. She was a safe place. She went every year that our church sent kids up.

One night at that camp when I was 14 or so, I had a really bad asthma attack that led to a really bad panic attack. I started to go into shock. I was laid out on a bench, head in my pastor’s wife’s lap, terrified, tears streaming and the talk of calling for a helicopter to fly me to the hospital in the background. My pastor’s wife prayed down the heavens. Her voice was loud and full of authority. She fought for me till the airways opened. Honestly, if I was asthma, or even God for that matter, I don’t think I’d bother with contradicting her.

I remember having church in a tent for almost a year. I had wanted to sing so badly. The first night in that tent, she called me to the front before service started and told me and another girl she wanted us to stand next to her and sing. We did almost every week. Church shoes on a dirt floor, under canvas before metal folding chairs, we learned to lead worship. She always made a way for people. I remember going and visiting that church years later and enduring a sweet older lady doing a special song. I don’t know how else to put this other than to say it was terrible. My pastor’s wife smiled big and warm the whole time. She knew it was worship.

(And for the record, there is a very strong possibility I sang that terrible.)

In my adult years I can say that I am really glad God has been bringing down denominational walls in my heart. If you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came and died on the cross for our sins and rose again… you are my brother and my sister—Pentecostal or not, Baptist, Evangelical, Episcopalian, Catholic, or Seventh Day Adventist… Really, all other matters pale in comparison to the salvation we have been freely offered.

But still, I am proud of my Pentecostal upbringing. This woman, now the wife of a cop, knows spiritual warfare. I know how to pray down the heavens. I desired to speak in tongues before I knew how weird or controversial it was. I’m glad. I love my prayer language, and like Paul, I use it daily. I know what it is to have the joy of the Lord bubble up and out uncontainable, to be undignified and dance before my God… before I knew about things like “order in service.”

My church might be a good deal more "conservative" now, but I can’t even put into words how grateful I am for that small Pentecostal church and the pastors that served it.

I so appreciate you, Pastor and Sister (we’ll keep your last name between us, but you know who you are).

Thank you for giving and giving, for making a way and a place for me, for praying, for loving.

You are so dear to me and so very loved.

By Grace,

Amanda Conquers

I'd love to hear if you grew up in church? What was one outstanding memory from it?

Since I brought up some Christian topics that have historically brought controversy (and no doubt, still do), I would just like to make mention of Shawn Grove’s article. It gives an analogy about similarities and differences between Christians that I do believe encourages unity in spite of doctrinal difference.

Oh and here's another hint of what's coming next week: 

I am really excited for Monday's kick-off post. I do believe it is a message God is burning on my heart for me and women everywhere. Maybe grab your girlfriends?

Sharing in Community:

When You Just Have No Clue Where You Are Going

Photo Credit

One night I was driving home from work. I had worked late, waitressing well past closing at a restaurant in the city. I was 20 at the time, living with my parents. They lived in a small town with zero stop lights and a liquor store named “The Boondocks.” (The name of the store might be a good indication they were at least one half hour from a real grocery store and modern civilization).

This particular night was foggy.

The fog had rolled in thick. White clouds like swamp monsters clung to asphalt and farmland. Visibility: the end of my nose. The stars weren’t visible. The ground wasn’t visible. The fences surrounding the pastures weren’t even discernible.

I felt claustrophobic. Trapped. Just me and my thoughts and this hope that there wouldn’t be a stopped car in front of me or a stray cow in the road. Something about not being able to see made me feel desperate, irrational, like I wanted to put the pedal to the floor and get out of there as quickly as I could. I longed for a break in the fog. CLARITY! To know I was where I was. To see something familiar.

The only way I could see to drive was to open my car door and find the middle line. If the middle went from being one solid and one dashed set of lines to being two solid I knew there was either a stop sign, a cross street, or a sharp turn just ahead.

Yes. It was that bad. And I had to get home… unless I wanted to sleep in my car in eerie swamp-monster covered land. I didn’t.

My 30 minute drive became a 100 minute drive.

(I wonder if one realizes when they think of glorious California with its ocean sunsets and ski resorts and Napa wine country, the low lying areas of California have a slight weather problem from October to March: fog.

It’s okay though. I’ll take fog over 95 degrees and 100 percent humidity any day, Midwest. Amen.)

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Has your life ever felt like this?

Groping through the dark? Swimming in pea-soup fog, completely unsure of what God is doing and what you should be doing?

My life has felt like this since March—when we moved, my church moved (and merged with another church), and my husband starting working as a cop.

I have no idea what God wants me to do, where He wants me planted. And I don’t know what He wants to do in my family.

I’ve been antsy. Claustrophobic. I want the fog to clear and to just know. Wouldn’t it be great if God always spoke through writing in clouds and a booming voice, “Thus sayeth the Lord, thou shalt walk in this direction, go to this church, make this your ministry. Amen.”?!!

But He usually doesn’t.

Sometimes God is the yellow line on the road. Go slowly. Lean in close and I will guide you… one step at a time.  I want you close so I can work on you, heal you.  And I want you close so we can be close. I am doing a work I don’t want you to see just yet. Would you trust me?

Would you trust Him?

I sought wisdom a few months back from a life coach. (Um, can I just highly recommend this if you are ever in a confusing season of your life? If you live in my area, I’d be happy to share mine! She’s amazing.) She gave me this bit of wisdom, probably more eloquently, but it was something like this: Stay where you are. Walk slowly. Lean in to Christ. It might take weeks, months, maybe even years, but I promise the fog will clear. Get to the places where you find healing, hold onto the things that give you life. And wait.

Wait.

It’s hard, right? I want to know, and now, thank you. I’d like to plan for tomorrow, God, so if you could just kindly clue me in?!

I keep thinking I know what God is doing so I jump ahead and then find myself realizing I just need to walk in step with Christ. I am learning how much I like to be in control and how little I have, in fact, surrendered to God. The thing is: I don’t need to guess what's ahead. I don’t even need to know what’s ahead.

I can trust God.

And really, if I learned one thing that night in the dense fog it’s that the only way to get through those places where you can’t see 3 feet in front of you, is to move slowly and look at where you are now--those yellow guiding lines. God will guide you. You might not see what’s in front of you, but I promise you He is right beside you.

Photo Credit

Have you ever been in a foggy place where you just had no clue what God was doing? How did it turn out?

By Grace,

Amanda Conquers

Pssst… Dude. We are doing a one-week series next week. I am excited for it. Hint: I am bringing in the professionals for something I really need help with (and maybe women everywhere.) More hints and details to come! 

Sharing with this beautiful community:

Just Catching Up {Alternately Titled: Me in My Comfy Pants}

I just want to sit down and talk like we are friends. No formal post, no over editing, just talking: friend to friend. Not even anything super heavy. Just catching up, you know?

Sometimes I think in my love for words, painting pictures, and editing, I can kind of get lost back here. I am always me, and I am always me when I write.  But sometimes, I think you need to ditch the Sunday clothes, and put on your metaphorical comfy pants and t-shirt and just hang. 

So here's me, in my comfy clothes. (Well, the writing. That's my daughter in the picture.)

Mustache Mantis.

And here’s the current happenings in my life in no particular order:

1. My husband is now a solo deputy. Training is done. Mike is less stressed. We have a schedule, and the same one till the end of the year. He doesn’t have to be at work quite so early, and he has to stay over less frequently. We have the chance to sit down and eat as a family. My husband even has time to help with baths or dishes now. Friends, it is a beautiful thing! It feels like we can breathe again. {Deep breathe, hold it, and exhale. Ahhhh!}

2. We are starting to get the hang of homeschooling. We have had some rough days, and sometimes it seems like we might be a little crazy for doing this. But I love it. I get to watch my daughter learn to read, light up with wonder when we do a project or experiment, and let all this learning flow into our lives. I so value this time and that I get to be so apart. I also value things like awanas and gymnastics where I get to drop her off and have a little time to myself or with just my son.

3. I went with a dear friend and her kids to this local and awesome fall place last week. Apple picking, AMAZING pies, pumpkin patch, hay maze, petting zoos. We went on a weekday and called it a field trip. Two things I am learning: One: Fuji apples eaten right off a tree... I don't think anything compares. I've eaten plenty of apples in my day, but mini Fuji's, right off a tree... beautiful. Do it, friends. Two: Homeschooling is hard work, but there are some serious perks to it... like visiting a really popular (read: crowded) attraction on a weekday. 

Apple-picking, Pumpkin-patching with friends.

4. My gramps passed away a month ago. It felt like I was grieving his death, my granny’s all over again, and the sun setting on a generation and rising on a new one. That combined with some different changes in my life, and I just couldn’t get many words to form, like I needed silence to grieve—silence to feel the emptiness, the things that are no more. (I think I only made a peep or two on facebook and nothing here for three weeks straight.) I don’t know what it is about stillness and silence, but healing seems to be there.

I got to write up my gramps’ biography with my dad. It was just priceless to get to go through his life and learn about him, the Great Depression, World War 2, the Korean War, his and my granny’s love story, their many cross-country moves… I might have known who he was, but I felt like I got a glimpse into why he was. I can’t even tell you how proud of my heritage I was when we showed up to the funeral and the Navy had sent a few of their officers to honor him.  My aunt was given an American flag and Taps rang out after guns were fired. I just wanted to shout, “You did it, Gramps! You lived and breathed. You fought and you overcame. You provided for your family. You left behind an inheritance richer than your savings account and property. And now you are at peace. I am proud to be your granddaughter and so very thankful.”

5. My son wanted to wear his Thomas the Train underpants five days ago. He’s been in underpants ever since. He’s had a few pee-pee accidents, but he’s got it. We are over the potty training hurdle.  It’s so funny though, I think I might need to invest in a magazine rack or something because the boy really likes going to the bathroom and taking his sweet time. This morning we had the certified teacher over to check in on us (with the charter school) and Jed decided that was the time to go… for 20 minutes, shouting his play-by-play from the bathroom the entire time. Your welcome CT teacher for all the TMI going on in our house this morning.

Besides bedtime, there are no more diapers in this house. (Shout it with me: YAY!) But for some reason that seems very strange… like I need another baby. {My husband doesn’t agree (yet).} :)

Overalls on my Jed. Swoon.

6. I am bursting at the seams with all kinds of posts I want to share, maybe even a series or two.

October and November might have more posts than normal, folks. (Did you notice this is the 3rd post this week?! That hasn't happened in months.) And I am excited about it. I sorta love this writing thing, this organizing of thoughts, this key-tapping word-dance between me and my Friend Jesus. 

I also love connecting with you all. I can’t even tell you how much richer my life is because of this beautiful blogging community. Thank you!

So, what's going on with you? Chat with me in your comfy pants in the comments? :)

By Grace,

Amanda Conquers

The Greatest Work

When I was 21, I moved to Los Angeles for an internship with a missions organization. It was an amazing time in my life, and it left me forever changed. I still remember showing up to skid row dressed in plaid golf pants, red sneakers, and a matching bow in my hair. One black woman dressed in rags walked towards me shouting to her friends, “Oh! Look at the cute little white girl!” All I heard was, “Little girl, who do you think you are coming down here in your matchy outfit thinking you gonna save me?!”  This small-town girl felt so out of place.

I gained a vision for evangelism that summer. I ditched my suburban worldview and traded it for a heart that bleeds for people. I have never been the girl that could talk to complete strangers about weather or gas prices. But I learned to sense the Holy Spirit and hear the words He did want me to say. I learned obedience and all about God's faithfulness.  I led worship for the first time in my whole life, me and my acoustic guitar with much fear and trembling. God you have to show up because if you don’t and it’s just me up here, it’s going to be all bad. I talked to addicts about the Jesus who was Hope, always Hope. Even though I didn’t know what it was like to sleep on the streets or to be high, I knew what it was like to be without Hope and how there was no pit so deep that God’s love was not deeper still. I connected with a 6 year old in Tijuana. I called her Liliana Chistosita, “Silly Lily en Ingles.” She was the oldest of 4 and while her mother worked, she looked after her siblings. She had a smile that was brighter than the desert sun and freckles on her nose.  I told her “JesuCristo te ama, Liliana. Recuerde por siempre.” Always remember Jesus loves you. I still pray for her.

A year later, I married my hunk of a husband, and we immediately stepped into children’s ministry. We made slime, gave away a whole lot of candy (your welcome, parents) and told church kids and neighborhood kids alike about the love of God. We lived on the poor side of town, on a street that had plenty of gang activity and drug deals… and a whole lot of children. My street was my mission field. A few months of living there and just about every kid on that street knew I had candy, random kid’s games and if they were bored or mom or dad were high or fighting they could hang out at my house.

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Sometimes, if I am honest, I look at all that back-then stuff. Sometimes, I feel useless, like “just a mom.” Is this what being a housewife is? I can’t shake the knowing that God wants me here, all here, not working on children’s ministry props, meeting with staff, or writing lessons. I know I am living in the neighborhood He wants me in, where people hurry to work and complain about the poor pulling cans out of the dumpster.

God can you still use me? Are you still speaking? Am I not listening? Am I so wrapped up in life that I have forgotten that you are the Hope of the world and I have been given the ministry of reconciliation?

I grabbed my Bible tonight. Today’s reading started off with a thought about making the most of every opportunity especially as moms with our kids. And then I read this: “Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” (Colossians 4:5-6)

Live wisely among those who are not believers…

And then it hits me.

My kids.

Kids are not believers by default. Parents cannot carry their kids to cross, they can only point the way. Growing up in a Christian home usually yields a great foundation for a relationship with Christ, but it does not equal salvation.

I am living with precious, very moldable, very impressionable children.

And, I am essentially living with “those who are not (yet) believers.”

I don’t want to argue at what point a person is saved or whether Jesus living in one’s heart is Biblical or at what age someone reaches accountability. It’s just not really the point. My kids might know Jesus. My daughter might have even professed her desire to have Jesus live in her heart. But she hasn’t outgrown my care. I still make decisions for her. At some point, my kids are going to grow up and they are going to have to decide for their own selves what they believe and how they are going to live.

Right now, the first place I need to pour out my salt and light is my home.

Perhaps, I am a bit dense and some of you are going to read this and say “Duh. Amanda.”  But my kids are my greatest mission field. They are my highest and greatest calling. And if there is one thing I learned from doing children’s ministry, it is this: children’s parents will make the biggest impact on their life, for better or worse.

Paul says to live wisely, to make the most, to extend grace.  Instead of attractive conversations, other translations say “seasoned with salt.” Paul is saying to let your words draw them in, enhance the flavor of the conversation, and make them thirsty for Christ.

And now I am looking at myself. The way I carry myself in my home, around my kids. Do I do that? Do I live thinking of the long term ramifications of my words and actions on their beliefs? Am I alert, ready, always making the most of every opportunity to share my faith with my kids? Does the way I parent reflect the way God’s been so gracious to me, or do I get lazy or let myself get frazzled and just do what makes for the fastest results? And my words… Do I draw them in, make them thirsty for Christ??

My kiddos in the pool with a lizard they caught.

 I think in some ways, there’s this part of me that confuses bringing glory to God with bringing glory to myself. I want these amazing stories, these grand pieces of God-obviousness to string up through my life. Look at what God did through me. I led this many souls to Christ.  The day-in-and-out grind of motherhood yields slow results… and not even guaranteed results. But it’s a grand work—that God would take your hands and place them to soft clay.  Molding and shaping, giving and giving more, living poured out. 

Your purpose, their soul.

Is there a grander work you could be a part of?

By Grace,
Amanda Conquers

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Psst.... And don't forget. This mom devotional is still available for $3.99 using the code: UMLAUNCH20 and a full of great reminders to live "all-in" with your kids. Affliate link used.

On the Tough Business of Motherhood {Plus, a Deal, a Giveaway, AND an Awesome Resource}

“Just a mom.”

I have thought this phrase, said this phrase. As if somehow the entire calling of motherhood is part-time or not enough…

Because, you know, having life form in your body, changing your body for nine months and then pushing that life into the world through much pain is no big deal. And I suppose all that time where your life revolved around feeding schedules and naptimes and all the sleep you lost was just a small matter. The way you worry about busy streets, strangers, and hazards everywhere you go, the way you feel like your heart might burst when two chubby arms squeeze your neck, the way you wipe noses and bottoms, the way you agonize over whether you are doing what’s best, the way you bathe and read bedtime stories, the way you mold and shape the lives that have been entrusted to you… eh, anybody could do it.

Um…

Mom. You are kind of a big deal. And being a mom is your highest and your greatest calling.

I know it’s tough. The way you long for just five minutes of quiet, the way you feel under-appreciated and like you just fall so short of what you think a mom should be. The way you endure stares from strangers when your kid decides to throw the temper tantrum of the century in the middle of the store. The way being a mom requires more sacrifices than you might have realized. The way you long for something that you feel good at…

Because I know, some days you probably go to bed feeling like you have no clue what is best for your child and like you completely stink at mothering.

Motherhood shows you how much you need Jesus like nothing else can.

These are the hard years. The in-the-trenches years. The years where you do the most molding and the most shaping. The years where your time and attention do the most and mean the most.

I don’t know about you, but “I don’t want to look back on my life in twenty years and

realize that I wasted the precious time I had with [my kids] by living in a state of perpetual distraction. I don’t want to be ruled by all of my 'supposed to’s'; I want to walk in Truth, with a purpose.”

Yes. Please.

My friend Kayse just released her ebook Undivided Mom today. That quote is from her book and one very good reason to read it.

Can I tell you about it?

Undivided Mom is a 14-day devotional for moms. Each day is either based on a passage of scripture or a real-life story. The Bible passages are relevant and the stories, well, I felt like they could have been written from my own motherhood experiences.

Kayse writes like she’s your friend, cheering you on, in the trenches of motherhood with you. The ebook is packed full of easy-to-digest truths and easy-to-put-into-practice wisdom.

I loved reading it so much, I sorta just read the whole thing in one sitting because I didn’t want to stop reading. And then I went back and read it again so I could highlight all the truth and wisdom (and not because it was given to me to review. But because I needed to hear so much of the stuff that was in there).

It’s easy to divide our attention and not do the thing God has put before us because some days (most days), it’s downright hard to be a mom. This book will remind you of the high calling of motherhood and challenge you to live an undivided life. To be an all-in mom.

I want to be that kind of mom. An Undivided Mom.

So, here’s the deal:

I get to offer my readers a coupon code for 20% off!! That makes Undivided Mom only $3.99 (Psst... that's less than thirty cents a day for each devotional.) Offer is only good until October 13, 2013. 
Coupon Code: UMLAUNCH20

Maybe get it now?

I do want to let you know, I am an affliate. That means if you click the links from this website to make your purchase, I receive a percentage for the referral. But can I be clear? That's not why I am mentioning this book. I believe in it. And I believe it's needed (I needed it anyways). But, you know, I totally wouldn't mind a little coffee money. :) So, if you read here and want to buy this book, please use the links provided here. That's all you have to do to give me credit for the sale. Just follow her instructions to make the purchase from her site. I'll still get the credit ;)

Also! I need to let you know, Kayse has an awesome give away going on for the book launch. Starbucks Card. Purse. Travel Bag. Coin purse. Cute. (And did I mention the Starbucks card?) Book or not, maybe put your name in the drawing?

Also! (another also!) There is a twitter party going down tonight. Want to come hang with me? Be brave with me? (Twitter parties totally scare me, but I do believe this one will be fun... and there's prizes.)

What's your current parenting struggle, Momma? Maybe be brave and share in the comments? I'd love to pray with you.
And since I'm asking you, I'll be brave and say I am struggling with navigating my daughter through change. Perhaps I will write on this more later, but she seems to have as much difficulty with change as I do. She's been having nightmares and been extra emotional :( I could use God's wisdom.



By Grace,
Amanda Conquers


By the way, I also need to let you know, I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my thoughts. The thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Also, (there are a lot of "also's" in this post!) I miss you guys! I am hoping to be back at least once more this week with a "what's been going on round here" type post... and maybe one more. AND I have an exciting series in the works full of FUN girlie stuff for us women. More info to come!