Personal Development Archives -

Do You See What I See?

By Samantha Evans

"Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 Sometimes God speaks to my heart through the most unusual, perhaps even mundane activities of my day to day life. I love that He meets me where I’m at to reveal a spiritual truth where I least expect it. A few days ago, I decided to finally redo the front room in my home. It is one long room that functions as a formal living and dining room space. My dining table sat in one half of…

Personal Development, Spiritual Growth

Don’t Let Fear Keep You from the Mountain Top

By Samantha Evans

"The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10 When I first married my husband, I had no idea family ski vacations were so high up on his happiness list. I grew up in a beach town in Mexico, and I didn’t see snow until I moved to the U.S. as an adult. On top of that, I was not what people considered outdoorsy or sporty. We live in Texas, so I thought surely my husband would get over his ski obsession at some point, right? Not…

Parenting, Personal Development, Relationship Building

With a Little Help from My Friends

By Samantha Evans

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor." Ecc. 4:9 I struggle with discipline. I am not a morning person, a fitness enthusiast, or a nutrition guru. I don’t connect with God at the same time and place every day, I don’t cook dinner as often as I should, and I find it difficult to stick to any kind of routine long term. It’s easy to become discouraged when you find yourself constantly failing at things that other people seem to do with ease. When my kids were little, we went through a season…

Personal Development, Relationship Building

Celebrating Effort Regardless of the Outcome

By Samantha Evans

“Mom, we have to be the first ones to get to school tomorrow morning!” my daughter announced with excitement. Her Language Arts teacher was going to assign poems for the school’s annual declamation contest, first come, first serve. My daughter, who was in 6th grade at the time, wanted to recite Shakespeare’s “Is This a Dagger Which I See Before Me?”. She knew to have a shot at making it to the finals she had to choose one of the High School level poems, and she wanted to make sure she could get her first pick. This came as a…

Parenting, Personal Development, Relationship Building

Learning a New Language – Speak Life!

By Samantha Evans

"The tongue has the power of life and death." Proverbs 18:21 Just like with any skill that’s worth attaining, learning a new language takes a lot of practice. English is my second language and I attribute my ability to speak it fluently to three main things – desire, input and lots and lots of practice. I lived in the U.S. for a year when I was in 5th grade and that was very helpful. It definitely provided me with a good English foundation. However, once I moved back to Mexico I only had some English classes in middle school and…

Marriage, Parenting, Personal Development, Relationship Building, Spiritual Growth

Becoming Who God Created You to Be

By Samantha Evans

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 One of my favorite Christmas songs is “All is Well”, by Michael W. Smith, featuring Carrie Underwood’s amazing voice. I believe this song touches my soul not only because of its beautiful lyrics, vocals, and music, but because I get to experience the fruit of two people fulfilling the very purpose for which they were created. Their callings, talent, and abilities are a gift for the rest of us to enjoy. The same is true when…

Personal Development

Family Meetings – Tips and Benefits

By Samantha Evans

When I announced to my teens I wanted to start having family meetings, I could see the look of dread on their faces. I don’t blame them. The fact is the few family meetings we had in the past were always to address some kind of family issue, so the agenda involved a lecture, correction, and a consequence. For this family meeting, however, I wanted to focus on unity, appreciation, and goal setting. I made sure to let them know that this meeting was going to be different, and that there would be a reward if they showed up with…

Parenting, Personal Development, Relationship Building

My Journey to Contentment

By Samantha Evans

I wish I knew then what I know now… I was raised by a single mom, my grandma, and the help of extended family. We lived in a modest home in Mexico without any of the amenities I have become accustomed to. We didn’t have air-conditioning (in a town with humid summer weather ten months out of the year), or a dishwasher, and for the longest time we didn’t have a washer or dryer either. I actually remember washing my clothes by hand and hanging them on a clothesline to dry when I was in elementary school. Because finances were…

Personal Development, Spiritual Growth

Do Your Teens Have Mentors?

By Samantha Evans

As a mother of two teenagers, I see my kids and their friends and often think to myself, how can I share with them the important things I’ve learned that I wish I would have known when I was their age? How can I communicate to them the importance of the decisions they make now, and how these will impact their future? If I could only give them one piece of advice, what would it be? There are a lot of things I want to share with them, but one that stands out is the importance of finding mentors. The…

Parenting, Personal Development, Relationship Building

Accepting The Things We Cannot Change

By Samantha Evans

Accepting what I cannot change has been one of the most liberating and empowering things I’ve ever learned to do. It has also been one of the hardest. I am not going to suggest that anytime we face a difficult or disappointing situation we should just shrug our shoulders, accept it, and move on. Not at all. First, we must pray for “the wisdom to know the difference” between what we can change and what we can’t. If God is calling us to do something about it (i.e. ask for forgiveness, set a boundary, have a difficult conversation, forgive, stand…

Personal Development, Spiritual Growth