DON'T LET BEAUTY PASS YOU BY

 The heavens declare the glory of God, and

the expanse proclaims the work of His hands.

Psalm 19:1 CSB

Several years ago my husband and started taking weekends at the lake -and by weekend I mean Friday afternoon through Saturday evening. During our time away, we rarely turn the TV on, and when we do it is for a short time to enjoy a show together. We mostly stay off of our phones, even leave our phones behind while we go on walks or enjoy outside.

We spend a lot of time outdoors -we go on walks, lay in the grass, sway in the hammock, watch the clouds float by, listen to the whistle of the birds, and talk. And every moment of it is wonderful.

This day in age, we have become people who continually need screens in front of us. We aren't comfortable unless a phone is in our hands. And we would never dare leave our home without a phone! We've also become people who always need something to do. We have to be entertained at every turn. We can watch movies and TV shows from our phone, we have endless thirty-second videos at the swipe of a finger, and find amusement from countless memes and stories. All in the palm of our hand at any moment of the day. We even watch TV while watching videos on our phones!

To continue reading, please join me at Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {8.31.26}

 

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

4160. The "ber" months beginning tomorrow. They are my favorite.

4161. Watching new leaves bloom on my house plants.

4162. The fact that I can actually keep house plants alive after many years of killing a plant just by looking at it.

4163. Creaky hardwood floors, there is something comforting to me about that sound.

4164. The ticking of my grandfather clock and cuckoo clock, more comforting sounds to me.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

29 THINGS I'VE LEARNED ABOUT MARRIAGE IN 29 YEARS

Today my husband and I celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary. 29 years. Wow! In some ways it feels like it has been forever, like he has literally been in my life forever. In other ways I cannot believe it has already been 29 years.

Has it been an easy 29 years? Absolutely not. Marriage is like a roller coaster, there are many ups and many downs. But there are a few things I have learned in 29 years of being a wife.

29 things I've learned about marriage in 29 years of marriage, in no particular order:

1. Make a commitment now that divorce is never an option. (This is not the case if abuse is happening. If you are in an abusive relationship, seek help from a pastor or trusted friend immediately.)

To read the full list, join me at Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {8.24.26}

 

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

4155. Celebrating 29 years of marriage with my husband this week.

4156. Marriage hasn't always been easy, but I am so very blessed with this man and I am so thankful.

4157. His laughter.

4158. His passion.

4159. His love.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

DON'T GIVE UP, USE YOUR LIFELINE

I have a game on my phone that I love to play. It's one of these games where you match certain items to level up. You get five lives to play. If you win the level, you move up. If you lose the level, you lose a life; after losing five lives, you have to wait to get more lives. One time I was playing on my last life, I only had a couple moves left and I was about to lose. I have been stuck on this level for a week and was tired of playing it. Knowing I couldn't beat the level, I was about to just give up. Then I noticed I had a lifeline. I could 'clear a row' which would get me much closer to winning. I decided to use my lifeline. I won-finally.

We live life the same way.

We begin to struggle with a situation and we don't see a way out. We are so close to just giving up. Why live for God when everything keeps going bad? Why keep trying to save the marriage when nothing helps? Why keep trying to discipline the kids when they keep disrespecting? Why keep trying at anything when nothing ever goes right?

To continue reading, please join me at Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {8.17.26}

 

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

4150. Celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

4151. Air conditioning. I've said it before but with this extreme heat, I'm saying it again, It's hot and the air conditioning is a blessing.

4152. My grandson who turns 4 this week.

4153. Wonderful moments with my husband.

4154. The laughter of my grandbabies.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

THE DEAD SEA SQUIRRELS {GIVEAWAY}

With so much junk on TV for kids these days, I always have my eyes open for wholesome entertainment. Recently we discovered The Dead Sea Squirrels and it's so much fun!

The Dead Sea Squirrels, from the co-creator of Veggie Tales and voice of Larry the Cucumber Mike Nawrocki, is a series about a pair of squirrels who have been petrified in sea salt and stuck in a Dead Sea cave for 2,000 years. Along comes 10 year-old Michael who smuggles the squirrels home from his dad's archeological dig. 

The squirrels wake up and are ready to dive into the 21st century. Turns out they love sharing the lessons they learned first-hand from Jesus' teachings in their own nutty way! Each episode not only entertains kids, but helps the find a connection to the Bible.

The music for Dead Sea Squirrels will have your kids singing along! With artists like Matthew West, Bart Millard, Elle Holcomb, Mac Powell, and more, you'll even be singing along.

For more on The Dead Sea Squirrels and to find out how to get the season 1 original soundtrack, click HERE.

Giveaway:
One reader will win 1 CD of the Dead Sea Squirrels season 1 original soundtrack & 1 copy of the latest book in the series, Cybersquirrels: The Dead Sea Squirrels, Book 13. To enter to win, leave your name and email in the comments. One winner will be chosen at random and emailed from jenifer@Jenifermetzger.org on August 17th. *Open to US residents only.

Disclosure:
Many thanks to Wander Creative for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

BACK TO SCHOOL PRAYER

All over the world students and faculty will be heading back to school in the coming days. This year my oldest grandchild begins school and I am so excited for him!

I'd like to invite you to join me in praying over children, teens, and young adults students, as well as all those who work in the school system in any capacity and homeschool families.

To join us for a back to school prayer, please head over to Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {8.10.26}

 

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

4145. Relaxing on Friday evening with my husband.

4146. Powerful church service Sunday. God was moving!

4147. The way my community stepped in a helped a family in need.

4148. Ice cream date with my husband.

4149. A legacy of love. My late grandparents' 69th wedding anniversary is this week and my parents' 50th anniversary is this week.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

My husband and I love to travel. Taking a family vacation every year has been something we have been intentional with since we were married nearly 29 years ago. Now that we are empty nesters, we also enjoy taking a trip just the two of us when we can. Three years ago we went on our first cruise and loved it. It was like seeing the world in a whole new way. When my husband retires we plan to take a train ride from coast to coast, and it's long been a dream of ours to travel to as many states as possible in an RV.

The world is so big and beautiful and we feel so blessed to live in the United States. This country is gorgeous, there is so much to see and love. The Frame family knows this too.

H. Eugene and Marsha Frame, along with their son, John Christopher, have traveled and seen this country and know the beauty it holds. They also know the One who created it. In their new devotional, From Sea to Shining Sea: 50 Daily Devotions from Traveling to Every State in America, they share their travels and a devotion from each state.

Each devotion shares something from the state, a teaching, reflection question, Scriptures to read, and a prayer. These short devotions are the perfect way to travel the country without ever leaving your home; they are also the perfect way grow closer to God.

I have been loving reading through this devotional and hearing facts of each state and how the Frames teach Biblical lessons through those facts. Whether you're a traveler or prefer to stay close to home, this devotional is for you.

To enter to win a copy of From Sea to Shining Sea, click HERE. To read more and find out where to get your copy, click HERE.

TEACHING OUR DAUGHTERS TO BE STRONG WOMEN

This world tells us to raise strong daughters, and we know that it is our job to raise strong daughters. We have our girls -whether our own daughters, nieces, granddaughters, little sisters, or any girl we have influence over- for a short time. In fact, we only have 6,570 days from birth to their 18th birthday. We only have 936 weeks from birth to their 18th birthday. We only have 18 summers. The days of our influence are short so we need to take this task of teaching our girls to be strong women serious and get busy.

To teach our girls to be strong women, we first need to understand what it means to be a strong woman.

The world will tell us that to teach our girls to be strong women, we need to teach them to be independent, never show weakness, take care of themselves, walk away from those who hurt them, work hard, play harder, and make self care a priority.

While some of the world's views are valid, some are a bit off.

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls to love themselves. Our girls need to understand that they were created in the very image of God Himself and they are beautiful and they have worth.

To continue reading,  please join me at Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {8.3.26}

 

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

4140. The way my grandson has mommy honk to Grammie every morning when they drive by on their way to school.

4141. Beautiful celebration of life service for our former pastor and dear friend.

4142. Seeing old friends.

4143. My daughters helping me out with the grandbabies (their niece and nephews) while I was working the celebration of life service.

4144. Early morning walks.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

YOU & YOUR CHURCH

Now as we have many parts in one body,

and all the parts do not have the same

function, in the same way we who are

many are one body in Christ and

individually members of one another.

Romans 12:4-5 CSB

My husband leads our First Impressions ministry at our church and a couple of years ago one of his door greeters told him, "Thank you for letting me serve!" That was a first. We often say thank you to those who serve, but we've never had the one serving say thank you. It blew us away. This man got up early on a Sunday to come to church and stood at the door for an hour welcoming people, yet he took the time to thank us for the opportunity to serve. Wow.

I've served in various ministries for 35 years. It's an incredible blessing. It's also a lot of work. Earlier this month our church had VBS. Four nights of late nights, high energy, and ministering to over 100 kids. It was incredible, but it was also exhausting. Every Sunday my husband and I spend 5-6 hours at church working in different capacities. We leave church wore out and fall into bed for what my husband calls a "fat nap." Yet, it is still a blessing. Serving isn't always easy. It definitely isn't always glamorous. But it is always a blessing.

To continue reading, please join me at Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {7.27.26}

 

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

4135. Camping out in the sunroom with my husband on a Friday night.

4136. A relaxing Saturday.

4137. My husband planning a surprise trip for the two of us.

4138. Powerful church service.

4139. Lunch with dear friends.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

RADIANT MOBILE

Stay awake and pray, so that you

won’t enter into temptation. The

spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 CSB

It's no secret that mobile devices are dangerous to all. But they are especially dangerous to our children. Every year children receive cell phones younger and younger and with those cell phones comes serious dangers. On average, children are exposed to p*rnography before 11 years of age! That is scary.

But there is more to devices than just p*rn. Children and teens are also exposed to drug use, violence, cyber bullying, gambling, and other harmful behaviors. And devices themselves can be so addicting. Parents should be the ones to decide how much time their children and teens have on devices and what their children and teens see and have access to-not platforms, not algorithms, not carriers, not the government, the parents. Radiant Mobile gives that power back to the parents.

Radiant Mobile is America's first Christian wireless carrier. With Radiant Mobile drug use, gaming with mature themes, p*rnography, racism, satanic content, violence, and more are all blocked at a cell tower level so these things cannot even come to your devices. In addiction, there are more topics that are options for you to block, such as gambling, dating sites, and more.

Radiant Mobile also offers you the ability to control screen time limits by selecting "quiet times" and has free Biblical content built into the system.

While Radiant Mobile is an incredible cell phone carrier for children and teens, it's also good for adults who are tired of being exposed to garbage at every turn, and especially helpful for adults who have or are struggling with something and want to avoid it on their device.

It takes only 10 minutes to switch to Radiant Mobile where you will get 10GB of premium 5G data, unlimited talk and text to anywhere in the United States, free talk and text to Canada and Mexico, free personal hot spot, you don't need to buy a new phone, and you can keep your phone number. And the rates are some of the best I've seen.

Radiant Mobile is the only carrier that protects your family at the network level before harmful content ever reaches your device. Join now and get your first month of service FREE! Just click HERE and use code JENIFERMETZGER.

Protect your children. Protect yourself. Protect your family.

Giveaway:
One blessed reader will win a $10 Amazon giftcard. This is open to US readers only. To enter to win, leave your name and email address in the comments. Winner will be chosen at random and emailed from jenifer@jenifermetzger.org on July 20th.

Disclosure:
Many thanks to Radiant Mobile for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

DON'T OFFER EMPTY EXCUSES

A couple of years ago I was pulled over for doing 30 mph in a 20 mph zone. The officer came to my window and asked the question, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" I replied, "I was speeding." He then said to me, "Give me one reason I shouldn't give you a ticket." I could have given him multiple excuses for my speeding and reasons I don't need a ticket. Instead, I simply said, "You should give me a ticket, I was breaking the law." His eyes got big, then softened. He simply said, "Ma'am, slow down," then he left. No ticket. No warning. Grace.

I've been thinking of that day and grace extended lately. You see, normally someone, I've done it too, gets pulled over by an officer and we immediately go into defensive mode. "I wasn't speeding!" "Let me see your radar!" "I'm going to fight this ticket!" "Officer, I am running so late!" "But it's an emergency, I have to get there!" The excuses just fly. Even when we are clearly wrong and know it. 

We often do this song and dance with our sin too.

To continue reading, please join me at Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WHAT LOVE MEANS

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths,

but only such as is good for building up, as fits the

occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV

Recently I heard a quote that has stuck with me.

"I love you" means my actions will always consider you in rooms you are not in.

Many people describe what love is and what it means to them. This quote shows us a powerful description of what true love means.

"I love you" means my actions will always consider you in rooms you are not in. If we say we love our spouse -and if they are our spouse we absolutely should- every word, action, and thought we say, do, and think will affect our spouse in one way or another. We should be careful to consider our spouse's feelings and well being before we say, do, or let thoughts run freely.

To continue reading, please join me at Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {6.29.26}

 

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

4130. Time with all six of our grandbabies over the weekend.

4131. Hearing the laughter of my husband and kids as they play cards.

4132. My husband buying a Super Nintendo for us to play old games together.

4133. Air conditioning, the forecast this week is brutal.

4134. Powerful church service yesterday.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {6.22.26}

 

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

4125. My husband, the best dad and Poppa to our family.

4126. Watching my three sons be dads to my grandbabies.

4127. My dad who has been an amazing dad.

4128. Watching bunnies bounce through our yard day after day.

4129. Beautiful weather and windows open today.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

THE STORY OF EVERYTHING {GIVEAWAY}

Do you like documentaries? Do you enjoy learning about the Bible and creation? I want to share a new documentary, The Story of Everything, that you will enjoy.

Inspired by Stephen C. Meyer’s bestselling book Return of the God Hypothesis, the new cinematic documentary invites us to explore one of humanity’s oldest questions: Does the evidence point to a universe shaped solely by blind chance, or is there evidence of purpose and design?

The Story of Everything reveals the hand of God behind our universe. From the precise laws that govern the stars to the intricate patterns found in every living cell, we see evidence of intentional design all throughout nature.

This documentary was interesting and I love seeing how science really does point to God. To check out The Story of Everything on Prime Video, click HERE.

Giveaway:
One reader will win a $10 Amazon gift card. To enter to win, leave your name and email address in the comments. One comment will be chosen at random and emailed from jenifer@jenifermetzger.org on June 24th. *Giveaway open to US residents only.

Disclosure:
Many thanks to Sypher Studios for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.