Encouragements Archives - Page 2 of 8

IKEA Bookshelf DIY hack by Tracy Joy Jones

I Dreamed of a Library (Part 2) — Assembling Bookshelves

In any DIY project, there comes a point where you are terrified to take the next step. And let me tell you, cutting carpet is terrifying. But if you want to build a built-in bookcase, there’s simply no way around it. You’re forced to fully commit to the project all the way to the finish line, and there is a strong possibility that you might end up with a total mess. Fortunately, Matt was the brave one willing to tackle the carpet. First, he removed the trim from the wall behind the bookshelves and used a hacksaw to cut the …

I Dreamed of a Library (Part 1) — Framing the Door

Six-and-a-half years ago, we were living with my parents, and desperate to find a home of our own. Our starter home had sold immediately, and the home we hoped to buy had gone to another family. It was a really challenging time for me personally. But after months of searching, we found the home we had been waiting to find. As I stood in the backyard, giddy with relief and joy and every emotion, our realtor begged me to play it cool. I knew I was going to fail completely, so I let him do the talking, kept my mouth …

Little Miracles

Between the cracks of the sidewalk leading to my home and the metal edging lining my front flower bed, a tangle of green emerges with the spring sunshine. It’s unsightly and irritating, but there is an easy solution for weeds. It’s been a long hard winter and after several late freezes, every sunny day is a neighborhood party. The home improvement stores fill to capacity with shoppers, the trays of flowers disappear like donuts in a kindergarten class. Everyone is desperate for new life and a fresh start after Covid and winter and lock-ins. But after a brief breath of …

Wrestling Towards

I have boxes and boxes of my old journals stored in my attic. I have no idea why I keep them, except that every once in a great while I’ll pull them out and read them. Usually, I have a good laugh at childhood drama and teenage angst. But the one thing I always notice in my journal entries, even from an early age, is that I always wrestled towards God. Something deep inside me always believed that no matter what is going on in my life, that God sees and knows more than I do, and that I would …

All Red and All Wrong

I knew something was wrong the moment we arrived at the Christmas party, but I didn’t know much else. I kind of knew the lady through a few common acquaintances, but it was her husband who had invited us to come. He was a client of ours, so Matt and I agreed. We dressed appropriately, and I felt cute in my red sweater. Elegant, not too flashy. Client wear. Matt always looks handsome, but he’d even donned a suit coat for the party. She’d told me not to bring anything, but I didn’t want to arrive empty-handed, so I picked …

Lego Lessons in Confidence

Ever felt like your faith was hanging on by a thread? I know I’ve both felt and spoken those exact words more than once—especially when everything looks dire. I imagine myself struggling to hang on to a fraying thread, clinging with all my might over a Grand Canyon of despair, and knowing that my faith might break at any second. In those moments, faith seems puny and fragile, especially with that mental picture in my mind. I recently saw this exact moment of anemic fragile faith illustrated in a search through the lego pile with my son. My fifteen-year-old boy …

Lessons from Lego

Ever stepped on a lego? Ever vacuumed a lego piece and then had to silence that barb of guilt that wonders if your child will miss it, and if you just vacuumed up the key to his entire lego universe? Have you ever looked at your family’s pile of legos and wanted to cry at home much money is represented in those oddly assorted, multi-colored blocks that now lie in rubble? Whatever your feelings toward lego, God has been speaking to me through my lego pile lately and I wanted to share a few randomly shaped nuggets with you. A …

Once Upon a Time on National Television

Ever had a moment that made you cringe every single time you relived it in your mind? Total humiliation? Awkwardness? High profile failure? Did it make you afraid of failing or did it make you try to protect yourself from ever letting it happen again? In honor of my new novella, “Unlucky in Love and Lyrics,” (releasing on March 17th – free to my newsletter subscribers). I’d like to share a little story of one of my moments which involved all three: total humiliation, awkwardness, and failure. Do you remember the song “Shout to the Lord”? Most likely you’ve heard …

One Step at a Time

Ever started something before you had any idea where it was going or how you were going to finish? Unfortunately, I do it all the time. In fact, I like to joke that I would never start most projects if I knew how hard the project would actually be and how long it would realistically take. But since I just keep leaping before I look, I’ve got to say, we’ve conquered a lot of projects that way. But this week, Matt and I tackled a project in one of the strangest ways possible, and as soon as I took a …

There and Back Again, Noah’s Tale

Text from Noah: I think I’m running a fever and my stomach hurts. Can you come get me? And that’s how it all started. The school nurse confirmed a stomach bug was going around and that it was a nasty one. I had the reaction all mom’s everywhere get when they hear that news, “Button down the hatches, and get the sanitizer.” Sure enough, Noah threw up within 30 minutes of coming home from school and continued for the next three days. Now, usually, I’m pretty relaxed about viruses. They’re gross and awful, but not the end of the world. …

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