Do you struggle with issues that you can’t handle, that are simply bigger than yourself? Stop by (in)courage today and I hope my post will remind and encourage you to trust the power that lives within you: Christ Jesus.

The Power that Lives Within Us Today at (in)courage is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

A new year arrives and an old pattern repeats as we walk a worn path, yearly trodden: emerging from the Christmas season with spirits lifted and hope renewed, expectant… ready.

Ready for change. Ready to make a difference.

Please click the link and read the rest of this post today at (in)courage!

Compassion in a New Year Today at (in)courage is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
~Psalm 51:10

Hop on over to (in)courage to download January’s desktop calendar!

January’s Desktop Wallpaper Today at (in)courage is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Confession: sometimes I withhold blessings from others. Maybe I don’t pay a compliment that’s deserved because part of me is jealous. Maybe I don’t bestow an encouraging word to a child whose behavior angers me. Maybe I disagree with my husband and then don’t extend an olive branch out of pride.

Everyone loses, even if I’m the only one aware that it’s happened.

Read the rest of this post today at (in)courage, and while you’re there you can download December’s desktop wallpaper!

You actually have two wallpaper choices for the month because I made one for readers at The Post, too!

Do You Hoard Blessings? today at (in)courage is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Behavior driven by conformity is the exact opposite of conviction-driven behavior. Conformity says, “I’m acting this way because of external pressure. This is what you expect or demand of me, but I don’t necessarily believe in it or give it freely.”

Conviction-driven behavior springs from within: “I’m modeling my life on principles that I believe are true. I live this way because I’m convinced that it’s right.”

Explore with me the difference between behavior driven by conformity or conviction today at (in)courage (and don’t forget to download your October desktop wallpaper)!

***

All 31 Days of Real Life posts can be found here. Other 31 Dayers can be found here.

31 Days of Real Life: Conformity Versus Conviction Today at (in)courage is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

The (in)courage community is BUZZING! Twenty-three authors relaxed for four days in Hilton Head last week getting to know each other better and counting down the minutes until the big reveal at midnight on Thursday of (in)courage (in)RL, an (un)conference in your space, your real life.

Read this post to find out how to host or attend a meetup in your area.

{Did you see the thumbnail images at the end of the video? Those are from the (in)courage community photo project. It’s not too late to submit your camera phone images!}

By the end of this year I will have attended two blog conferences, two homeschool conferences, and the (in)courage authors’ retreat. That’s a lot of travel (four different states) and time away from home (about two weeks’ worth). I’m anticipating an (in)courage (in)RL experience that will mingle friends, family, homeschool buddies, bloggers, and more here where I live.

Read all about my vision for (in)RL today at (in)courage.

{Psssst! Who will you invite to (in)courage (in)RL?}

Who Will You Invite to (in)courage (in)RL? (and what’s it all about?) is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

1. Late night birthday cake, 2. Birthday cow, 3. Moo!!!!, 4. (messy) birthday lunch @Moes_HQ

1. Blackberry French Toast @SignesBakery, 2. Signe’s Heaven Bound Bakery in #HiltonHead, 3. My birthday boy talked me into breakfast & lunch dates today, 4. Gasoline on the asphalt looks like an eye, 5. My man & @Chilis. What more could I want? (except maybe to win the Words With Friends game we’re playing), 6. A song for Sunday, 7. Pillow Talk Barbie Collectibles. Whoa., 8. da Vinci & van Gogh inspired . . . Barbies?, 9. Tee game & Fried Apples can only be… @jamieworley @fruitnseason

1. @theinspiredroom @espheather @Nester #inHHI, 2. @incourage in real life #inhhi, 3. Dream God Sized Dreams (model @beautyandbedlam, bracelet @lisaleonard, 4. Heading to @RobertIrvineEat with @annvoskamp & @simplemom, 5. Shaken Iced Tea Lemonade, 6. With @nester @simplemom @theinspiredroom @heatheresp @beautyandbedlam at #hiltonhead Goodwill, 7. Baby @jessicanturner being admired by @annvoskamp @incourage #hiltonhead retreat #inHHI, 8. Instagramming with @incourage @nester, 9. This is @incourage in real life (@deidrariggs @inspiredbryant @thegypsymama)

What did your camera phone shoot this week?

Related posts:

• Make collages from your camera phone images
• Submit camera phone images to (in)courage’s print photography project
• A little sumpin sumpin to do with your camera phone pics

Camera Phone Friday: Live from Hilton Head Edition is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’s name is to be praised. ~Psalm 113:3

Download your September desktop wallpaper here!

September’s Desktop Wallpaper is Now Available at (in)courage is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I love writing for (in)courage and filling our home (and our friends’ homes) with DaySpring products. I really, really, really love the fact that (in)courage was “built” with a beach house theme, and that for the second year in a row the city of Hilton Head will open her arms and welcome the authors to put up our sandy, dirty feet in real beach houses, spending time together and cooking up ways to better serve and bless the (in)courage community.

“When we asked ourselves what kind of place we were building, we finally came to see it as a bit like a beach house. You can put your sandy, dirty feet on the coffee table, laugh late into the night with friends, and also hear God’s voice clearer than perhaps anywhere else. Life just feels more vibrant and real, as if you’ve stumbled upon a glimpse of heaven and it’s nothing like you ever imagined but everything you’d always hoped.” {Read the full (in)courage story here.}

Unbelievably, 24 of us will be there next week. With some I’ve been real-life friends for years and others I’ll meet face-to-face for the first time. It makes me giddy just thinking about it; what a sweet homecoming it will be.

I want to thank the sponsors of our trip in advance:

• Resort Rentals of Hilton Head Island is putting us up in style in two side-by-side beach houses. If you’re looking for a safe, relaxing getaway for you or your family, I encourage you to seriously consider Hilton Head. Last year was my first visit there and I was so impressed by the beauty and charm of the island.
• DaySpring continues to amaze me with their generosity and investment in the (in)courage authors and community. The (in)courage site may give a “face” to DaySpring, but I’ve seen the real face of DaySpring at conferences and in day-to-day email conversations with the people who work there. Believe me when I say that this company is the real deal.

[If you've been reading the website lately, you'll know that we're working on something big that will be revealed to the (in)courage community next week on September 9, while we're in Hilton Head. I'll blog the announcement here, too.]

Dreaming of Hilton Head is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Have you participated in the (in)courage community camera phone project? It will be displayed at The Relevant Conference and beyond!

See a sampling of images that have been submitted already today at (in)courage.

You can also find this month’s desktop wallpaper download links on the (in)courage site navigation bar or from links on this post.

Update on the Community Camera Phone Photo Project Today at (in)courage is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved