• Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Monthly Peptalk
Val Marie Paper

Journals & Inspiration

Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • Valerie
    • Our Team
    • Journals
    • Giving
    • Mission
    • Books
      • The Finishing School
      • TFS Homework
      • Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday
  • Blog
  • Free Tools
    • Redeem Tidying (House Prayers)
    • Banish anxiety (Renew – Email Series)
    • Get the most from your journal (Webinar)
    • GET MOTIVATED!! (Worksheet Library)
    • Social Media Detox
  • Shop

Awareness

Click here for your worksheet on Awareness.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Seven – Jen Hatmaker
Hole in the Gospel – Richard Stearns
OperationWorld.org

Instagram

  • WHY GRATITUDE FALLS FLAT AND A QUICK TIP FOR IT TO ACTUALLY CHANGE OUR LIFE - I was reading Invitation to Silence and Solitude by Ruth Haley Barton this weekend and this quote got me. - "It wasn't the first time I had ever felt gratitude; but it was the first time I had ever given it that much space. Instead of rushing on to the next thing, I let thanksgiving fill every corner of my soul." - How beautiful is that? She mentioned how energizing it was and basically how it changed how she responded to the coming day. - If you've got our yearly prayer journal, you're plenty familiar with listing gratitudes but you may wonder why it doesn't seem to have this huge effect on our joy that we read about (or hear from other people who's read about it) in science journals. - THIS! THIS IS IT! - We can get in a habit of listing gratitudes in hopes it will manifest some joy as we rattle our list but we forget to let it settle into our souls. That might sound much more complicated or weird than it really is. Reading this reminded me of something else I read in The Happiness Dare by @dukeslee. She suggested taking 5 minutes to focus on gratitude. In that season, I remember trying this and feeling it's affect. - So today, I reinstated this little habit into my morning routine and I’m feeling it. - • If you have lost the joy of the Lord. - • If you feel discouraged. - • If your words are filled with complaints and "why me's?" - • If your thoughts are focused on what's missing from your life... - I'll challenge you for the next week to take 5 minutes each day, set a timer and intentionally think on the good things the Lord has done in your life. Let the thoughts flow. Don't cut them off. Let it marinate and weird tip? Smile as you do it. I can't tell you the peaceful joy I've felt doing this as I meditate on the good things. - P.S. Don't have our yearly prayer journal yet? We've got a crazy amount of people who will tell you it's changed their life and it just might change yours too! ; )
  • So I tried something that failed and I’m here to talk it out a bit. - Last week or so I switched my posts to noontime instead of mornings to: - A) Inspire y’all before the afternoons which are notorious for when we need a peptalk most. - B) To get me back to focusing on my quiet times instead of worrying about posts! - The change did not work. 😳 The number of people who saw the post was 20% the usual. I care about the numbers, but more than that, I want to produce content and use my time wisely reaching our audience the best. - So questions for ya: 1. Is this where you want to be reached? Is email or something else better? We’d really just love to know where to put our richest content! - 2. If Instagram is the spot, what time of day do you most likely pop on at? - Finding that sweet spot between serving really well and cheering on your spiritual walk without sacrificing my own spiritual walk has been such a struggle. Just being honest here. I’m normally swinging in one direction or the other and then try to correct and end of overcorrecting. So this is me taking a second to plan intentionally and find that sweet spot. - Can’t wait to see what shakes out. Your feedback is invaluable! - Tag a friend who loves VMP but may miss this post bc, well...algorithms. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ We’d love their feedback too! 😘😘
  • I'm laid up and missing another day of our annual "get all the yearly's out as fast as we can" and gonna miss tomorrow too. This week has not gone as planned but I've had a lot of time to think. - I'm not gonna lie. This week has just plain sucked. But God has used it to remind me that so many things I put on my plate are things that I genuinely think I'm needed for when I'm really not. - Sometimes we think our businesses won't survive without us for a few days. Sometimes we think our kids won't survive without us putting them to bed or brushing there hair. (Tyler has mastered the ponytail this week). - It's my pride that puts me at the center of everything in my world when I should be putting God at the center asking Him what my place is. - This topic keeps coming up but I bet someone needs this reminder today. IF YOU ARE FEELING OVERWHELMED, IS IT FROM GOD'S CALLING OR THE EXTRAS WE THROW IN? ARE WE AT THE CENTER OF THE PLAN? OR IS GOD? - I am not the center and that sound silly to admit because it should be obvious but this week, I needed the reminder. - • Thank you for the prayers! I've read every one! • Thank you to an amazing team. (They did this. ☝) • Thank you mom for tidying up our house yesterday. • Thank you Mimi for getting me Elderberry. • Thank you KK for taking me to the walk-in clinic. • Thank you Tyler for pulling double duty with the girls AND hauling soooo many boxes of journals to the new headquarters.
  • WAITING ON ANSWERS FROM GOD? HAVE YOU TRIED THIS? - No, not chocolate, although if you need a new kind to fall in love with, I highly recommend this one. - Nope, I'm talking FASTING. I've wondered why we don't talk about it more because it's so tied to the prayers of people in Scripture. And I think it's because the Bible says not to go around telling everyone when you're fasting but I don't think that means we don't discuss it as a discipline. How else will we learn about it if we can't talk about it? - Recently, I was wrestling a big decision and @nataliemetlewis said "well maybe you should fast...from your chocolates". Ummm...my chocolates? Each afternoon, I enjoy a Lime Lacroix and two lines of chocolate. - Fasting from chocolate for 5 days, the time I had to make the decision might be small for some but for me, it was a statement of faith to the Lord. I was channeling extra efforts into praying and seeking the Lord's wisdom on the matter. - Maybe you are new to fasting. We're going to talk more about it in the prayer course coming out in January. For now, I thought I'd share a little reminder that maybe your big question requires fasting? Maybe it requires stepping out in faith? Why faith? Because it takes faith to believe that not eating something can bend the ear of God. It sounds crazy doesn't it? And maybe a little legalistic too but the Bible is full of examples of people praying and fasting and God moving. We aren't rubbing a magic lamp. We're inviting God into a space that is normally otherwise occupied by...in my case? Chocolate. - ACTION STEP: Ask God if you should fast? And decide now to obey. Because you're gonna want to make excuses for why you shouldn't. One time in college I wrestled with whether I should date this boy. That same morning I read the Bible and there were THREE references made to fasting in the passage. THREE! I obeyed, fasted and God answered a clear no. Amen! Tell us, has a God used fasting to reveal himself to you in the past? #vmpprayer
  • THE UPSIDE OF SAYING NO TO REALLY GOOD THINGS - We talk a lot about how hard it is to say no to things, and believe me it is, but I noticed something really interesting last week as I chose to say no to something. - The thing I said yes to suddenly brought me more joy and I took more seriously. I was blown away by it. This thing I had deliberately said "yes" to was always before me but there was something that saying "no" to something else BECAUSE of the thing I said "yes" to that gave it more weight. - It's easy to take things for granted when we don't deliberately choose them but when they are lined up next to other things and we have to label them with a value, we get to see the reality of it and just how much value WE place on each thing. - So today I hope when your words "no" pierce the air or get typed in an email, you won't feel guilty or even a fear of missing out but that it will propel you forward to the thing that that no just allowed you to say yes to. - ACTION STEP: Share with us! What are you saying yes to? - I'll go first. I said no to a really amazing event and yes to a weekend just the girls and me and Vivi and I's tradition of going see The Nutcracker ballet. - P.S. We're starting to ship YEARLY JOURNALS TODAY!! If you have ordered one, it SHOULD go out this week. You'll get a tracking email to follow along. - P.S.S. I'll be doing an Insta/FB Live tomorrow around noon of all the questions I got last week that I couldn't answer. Lots on prayer, motherhood, business, book writing, etc. See stories or leave a comment here to send in your questions! - #valandthesimplelife
  • DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE PRAYING THE SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER AGAIN? - This topic came up in our FB group (VMP Society if you need some encouragement in your prayer life). Maybe you have felt the same. Just praying the same things over and over and not seeing God do ANYTHING. - Here's some questions to wrestle with: - • DO I BELIEVE WHAT I AM PRAYING? Do you believe God can do what you are asking Him to do? If not, do not expect God to work. James 1:6-7 says "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." - • AM I LIVING EXPECTANT FOR A RESPONSE? Is it possible God is working but all the distractions in the world are making it hard to see it? God roars sometimes but many times whispers. We have to look for it. I remember a season of praying for something and months later felt so frustrated and this truth hit me hard. I was asking and then basically walking away before He could respond. - • WHAT DOES MY REPETITION MEAN? Repetition in prayers isn't always bad. I still pray for my girls to sleep and have for the last 5 years. I pray for energy and rest and peace and joy all the time. And I won't stop. Each day I'm reminded how dependent on God for EVERYTHING. There's a beauty as we persist in prayer. BUT if we are repeating because we aren't deepening our faith, it will feel monotonous and dry. Dig into the Word. The more we know about God, the more we can expand our prayers! - I'm so passionate about this topic! Drop some questions in if you have about this. I'm going to start a live at noon to chat more about this!! - #vmpprayer
  • CAN I BE HIGHLIGHT REAL FOR A MINUTE (AND NOT HOW YOU’D EXPECT)? - • I immediately felt the need to tell you about Vana who had a fever hours before she headed down the aisle and threw her basket down and had to be picked up by the usher and brought to me. - • I felt the need to tell you that I haven't slept much the last 4 days because we've all four had different sicknesses so this is not what I look like now. - • I felt the need to tell you this dress, though I said I wouldn't wear it in my stories because it was too much was actually picked by the bride. (Just so you don't think I'm a diva). - It's a funny thing. In a world where it feels like others throw their highlights in our face, we become terrified to share the good. WHAT AN UNFORTUNATE RESULT – TO FEEL THAT TO BE AUTHENTIC, IT MEANS FINDING THE HARDEST PARTS OF SOMETHING SO THAT EVERYONE KNOWS THEY ARE THERE. - You'll find out soon in #grumpymomtakesaholiday that I talk a lot about fighting for joy and in this moment, I need to fight harder. Because of the above. And though I'm ALL for authenticity and vulnerability (literally the two compliments y'all give VMP the most) I want us to be ok sharing our highlights and I want for myself to be inspired seeing someone else's good day instead of discouraged because I assume it must mean they don't have bad days at all. - So my new caption is this. The Woerner's were blessed by this past Saturday. Tyler got to officiate his brother (and new sister-in-law's wedding!), our two girls got to walk down the aisle (atleast part of it) and danced their heart out, I got to help coordinate and support the most beautiful bride and we got to show our unending support for the newest Mr. and Mrs. Woerner. - ACTION STEP: Share something good that's going on in your world, and forget the instinct that it must be wrapped it a bunch of caveats to be ok to share. I won't assume all of life is easy. I'll just know you might need to fight for joy today too! ;) - #grumpymomhack
  • IF YOU FEEL STRETCHED TOO THIN - I'm talking beyond outside what you believe is your capacity and officially brittle and bone weary. Here's a push to check in with the big guy and see if he's giving you any permission to drop something. I think more times than not, what weighs us down are things we took on that God never called us to take on. - The Message version of ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6:4-5‬ says ‬‬“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” - We are each responsible for our own life, not anyone else's to do list. I say this a different way I’m Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday: “God doesn’t give out extra credit if we finish our mission and start working on someone else’s.” Ahhh. There’s some freedom in that truth that just makes my shoulders feel lighter already! - MIDDAY ACTION: Check out our podcast episode with @workingchristianmom from August during your lunch break, a walk or on your way to pick up the kids! We talked a ton about working from a place of rest and behind the scenes of that time we went to Spring at the Silos two weeks before my book deadline. 😬 - P.S. Check out our stories for a fun opportunity to be a part of the VMP for a day! 😁
  • WHERE’S YOUR HAPPY PLACE? - The other day I was driving around with the girls, “Under the Sea” blaring and we passed my gym. - My first thought? I wish I was there! That is not a gym brag believe me. 😜 Three times a week I used to go the gym before the sun rose, thank God profusely for this time as I drove there and then head to the coffeeshop after I worked out. In our previous season, it really was a happy place for me to exercise my body, blare worship music as I stretched, watched the sunrise, drink my grande unsweetened Magnolia Berry Creme tea and tap away ideas and to dos on my computer. - I sat there reminiscing and bemoaning my current vibes but was immediately snapped back to reality and remember that this COULD be a happy place too!! That might sound overly simple but instead of being sad that I was not in one "happy place", I was able to turn our loud car into my happy place. - We have to protect our minds when those thoughts come in because they will. The world will tell us that our happy place must require coffee or a margarita, heels or a massage table. And until you get it? You should spend the time pining for it until you can make it happen. - The result? Painstaking moments of waiting. Missing out on what's in front of us. - MIDDAY ACTION: Share in the comments below. Where is your happy place? Not the one you can't reach right now but the happy place you are in right now. - Lord, give us eyes to see exactly where we you have called us to this very moment as the happiest of places! Amen! - P.S. Grumpy Mom Take a Holiday is coming April 9! They’re in the hands of endorsers now! 🙏🏼 - #valdoesmotherhood #grumpmomhack

Follow Me!

More Info
  • How to Use Your Journal
  • As Seen On
  • For Shop Owners
  • FAQs
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
DID YOU KNOW?

Since 2015, every purchase you’ve made has contributed to over $75,000 we’ve been fortunate to donate to charities! This year we will be feeding hot meals for the school year for kids in Haiti!

Grab our freebies!
  • Rest: A 5-Day Series on Sabbath
  • Renew: A 14-Day Challenge
  • House prayers worksheet
  • How to finally change your habits
  • Sample of The Finishing School

Lafayette, Louisiana | Copyright Val Marie Paper 2017

Simple Share Buttons