When is Pastor Appreciation Month?

October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Some church families make a big deal of pastor appreciation and some don’t mention it, so, despite being a churchgoer my entire life, I only became aware of it myself after marrying a pastor. In fact, on our first October 1 as a married couple my husband told me “Happy Pastor Appreciation Month!” and I laughed because I totally thought he was making the whole thing up!

It turns out, he wasn’t pulling my leg, and Pastor Appreciation Month is a real thing, recognized and celebrated by many Christian churches. It’s been a few years now, and the more time I spend living with my pastor, the more important it feels to spread a little extra love around to the pastors that make a difference in my life and the lives of my boys.

As of 12:01 a.m. the day after Valentine’s Day, the commercial Easter season has been upon us. The chocolate hearts turned into bunnies overnight, and the Peeps came out in force on grocery store shelves. Honestly though, after the last couple of years we’ve had, I kind of hope that in 2022 more of us are going to have a less commercial holiday, and really focus on spending Easter with Jesus.

Yep, I’m posting about Christmas. Not because I’m excited that the stores started in with the holiday ads already, but just because after you make that transition from plain old regular adult to parent, planning ahead becomes a much bigger deal. Christmas is coming, and as Christian mamas, we’ve got to be ready. I’m not telling you to write your shopping list now–that’s not the planning I mean. What you really need is a toolbox full of practical ways to keep Christ in Christmas this year while we celebrate with our children.

Keep reading, and I’ll help you out with that.

When is Teacher Appreciation Week?

Teacher Appreciation Week 2022 is Monday, May 2-Friday, May 6 (here in the US). Teacher Appreciation Week falls on the first full week in May every year.

In case you were wondering, Teacher Appreciation Day is celebrated on the Tuesday of the first full week in May (May 3, 2022), as part of Teacher Appreciation Week.

Toys. If you’re a parent, you probably have way too many of them in your home. At my house toys tend to take over the living areas if we let them. That’s why I like to be particular about which toys we choose for our boys. So, I’ve put together a list of the best toys for preschoolers to help you if you’re looking to buy toys for your own kids or other special children in your life!

Do you have a word of the year for 2020? Last year, for the first time, I chose a word of the year to help keep me focused on how I wanted to work on myself (with God’s help, of course).

I’ve never been one to make a lot of new year resolutions, because I haven’t known a lot of people to be successful with them beyond the first month or two, and I know myself well enough to know that I’m going down in February (if not before).

It’s fall, and I’ve been working on this list of experience gift ideas for awhile, already. I know it’s early, and I’m completely on board with keeping the holiday season confined to November and December, but the reality is that if you’re on a budget, you have to plan ahead or your bank account can’t take the hard holiday hits!

It’s pretty easy to have a good spiritual focus for Thanksgiving, but when it leads straight into the materialistic frenzy of Christmas prep, there’s potential for our messages to get mixed. Don’t get me wrong: I love Christmas decorations, the smell of a fresh Christmas tree, and the thrill of giving and receiving gifts. I think there’s room for that at Christmastime, but it’s important for us as Christian parents to help our kids keep focus firmly on Jesus and family togetherness–that’s why I’ve put together this list of experience gift ideas.

Good news, today! I’m excited to tell you that I have been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award!

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award given by bloggers to their peers in recognition for creative work that inspires positivity. I’m honored to receive this award, because, though Disciple Mama is still just a few months old, blogging has already become really important and special to me. I want my writing to

The holidays are here, and this time of year most of us have more than a few family traditions that we attempt to keep up. I love traditions (especially holiday traditions) and my husband and I have kept a fair share from our families of origin, plus we’ve thrown quite a few into the mix for our own little nuclear family.

But, there are probably some of you out there who aren’t into tradition, and I get it.

First of all, it can be exhausting…