• The 2020 Yearly Prayer Journal is now available!!
Val Marie Paper

Prayer Journals, Christian Motherhood and Inspiration

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Hospitality

Click here for your worksheet on Hospitality.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Bread & Wine – Shauna Neiquist
The Perfectly Imperfect Hostess – Darling Magazine

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  • 3 things this Monday morning: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1. I’ll be in stories sharing something fun you can be a part of this holiday season. 😍😍
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2. I’ll be live in our Facebook group this AM too sharing how to set your journal up for success in 2020. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3. If you get stuck in prayer, try this! I add a Scripture verse to each request in my personal section and START with the verse before I pray. It aligns my heart with God's truth and helps me get unstuck!
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Have you tried this before? Any favorite verses to pray? Drop them below! I’m sure others would love so inspiration. Or what helps you get unstuck? #vmpjournals
  • Literally, I have nothing left to add to this quote. Mulling and praying over this today!
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P.S. We're hosting a Answered Prayers Live on December 30 to share of all God has done this year. Want us to read your story or want to hop on live to tell it yourself? Leave a comment or DM! We're hoping to share the yeses as well as God's presence in the no's and unexpected answers.
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#vmpprayer
  • This might be my new favorite blog post I've written.
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If you're already getting grumpy mom triggers this holiday or remembering last year’s meltdowns 😬🤷🏻‍♀️, we're talking about 8 of the biggest areas of frustration around Christmas and covering for each:
1. The lies that subtly affect us
2. The truth to replace it with
3. Really practical tips to turn the tide
4. A snippet from Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday for motivation
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I'd love to hear what tip was most helpful or which area is hardest for you during the holiday season! The most common was 4 and as an introvert, I think that's mine too! 😬 
Tag those mommas you do life with. It’s always easier when we can fight for joy and peace together!
  • Edit: Don’t miss stories today! 
I told my husband the other night how I feel my role as business owner shifting. I have a team now that helps take so much of the day-to-day off my plate and feel like God's been developing a new passion in me to truly partner with the two charities we've been sending money to.
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I got to visit the local school and talk with the principal and founder about what they are doing and their greatest needs. (I'm going to share a really cool God story about this in stories!) Just a few days after that, I got to sit down with the president of RMI to talk about the projects in Haiti we've been a part of and what they desperately need too.
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I can't stop thinking about them and how much we are capable of doing when we're aware of the need and aware of how much we've been given. We're gonna have some opportunities shared soon for any families looking for a way to give back as a family this season! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
On this #GivingTuesday, I want to say thank you for every journal ordered and the impact you've made over an ocean AND in our own back yard.
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I didn't fully grasp hunger in the world until about a year or two ago. One day it just hit me how devastated I'd be if I couldn't keep my kids' belly's full. To hear their groans for hunger and not be able to just open a cabinet or the fridge and hand them food felt heartbreaking as a mom.
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I'm grateful for eye-opening moments that remind me growing VMP isn't for me to build bigger storehouses for myself but to be a part of the body of Christ and feed the poor and give to those in need.
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We absolutely could not have the impact we're able to have without you!!
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To celebrate today our Fresh Start journals are buy one, get one free so you can give one to a friend! :)
  • THIS IS THE DAY PEOPLE! If you are ordering more than 3 gifts, this is the day to do it! Shipping is a flat $5 on US orders. This is expedited shipping to ensure things don't get lost since we're kinda on a deadline. 🎄🎁
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If you didn't preorder your yearly journal or want to order several, this is hands down the best opportunity because shipping can sure rack up on the yearlys and whether you get one undated journal or 5 yearlys, shipping won’t go up and will be a flat $5 for all US orders! Link in profile and stories!!
  • AND ON SUNDAYS WE REST
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One day a week, we close the shop to rest. Yes, even smack dab in the middle of the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Why? Because each week, when we switch to close, it’s a statement of faith that we trust God to do what He wants to do with Val Marie Paper in 310ish days instead of demanding all 365. It’s also a chance to point others to this idea of rest that is so needed in our culture today instead of our shop.
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Closing an online shop is our personal conviction and nowhere stated in the Bible, but this verse rocked me a few years ago (again personally).
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"As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego the crops the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.” – Nehemiah 10:31
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When God commands rest, and honestly when it’s such a big part of my message too (see #vmpsabbath), I don’t want to be bringing the grains and tempting to pull you away from the very thing I’m preaching as necessary and good.
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We started this 2 1/2 years ago and can I just tell ya, God is not bound by the loss of 52 shopping days. He has done immeasurably more with less days and that right there points to GOD not us! Praise the Lord!!!
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So enjoy a day of rest today and we will be back tomorrow with our best deal of the whole year!
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#vmpsabbath
  • BUNDLE UP!!
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Head to the shop to see what bundles we have available for families, single gals, men, mom-to-be, bestie, small groups and new years. Swipe to check some out! Including two products from @nataliemetlewis that we’re carrying exclusively in the bundle!
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These deals are EVEN BETTER than if you buy 3 or more with a code so it's the best time to grab if you want everything in the bundle! If you’re planning on buying 10 or more journals 🤫 Monday is gonna be your best deal!
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Link in profile and stories!!
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Also since it’s #smallbizsaturday well be sharing some of our favorite small businesses in stories.
  • This past week has been hard. Can I say it? Just plain hard. I'm reminded all the more as we go into this season that I have two choices: be a victim to hard things or choose to enjoy this season.
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When I picture myself at the end of December, getting to hold on to that idea that hard things just kept happening and I had every right to be upset and grumpy, I just think WHYYYYY? Why did I choose to want to win the title of victim so bad? Why didn't I let it go and just choose joy with these cuties instead?
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So here I am, on the brink of a full and fun season and I'm so glad it's not December 31. I'm choosing joy. And if you see me grumpy these next 5 weeks, you have permission to tell me to choose joy. Just...like...be gentle. I mean, it's still hard to choose! 😜
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Who’s with me? 🙋🏻‍♀️
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Also Grumpy Mom Takes a CHRISTMAS Holiday is coming to the blog next week. Well be covering how to handle all the normal holiday frustrations.
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#wearethewoerners
  • A challenging exercise for us: Look at the list of requests written in your journal. Are most of the "lighten my load" variety or are more of the "make me stronger to handle it" variety?
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I don't know about you but this is CONVICTING!
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I've heard this quote a few times and again recently and decided to sit in the uncomfortableness of it instead of sweep it away because it was too much to bear (ironic actually in light of the prayer).
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In our 31-day devotional on prayer, Fresh Start, I talk about praying so much for something to go away and realizing that if I DO have to go through it, I haven't adequately prayed for how to walk through it.
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This quote brings me back to that mindset and challenges me to search my heart (Psalm 139:23-24) and my prayers too to see if there is any "offensive way in me".

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