It’s the week of Christmas and all the talk is about gifts. 

My kids get so excited to share what they received, what they want and what they are “sure” they are getting next. 

It is so fun to watch their excitement.

Well, this year I know what I want and what I’m getting.

I actually gave it to myself last year.

It is the gift that keeps giving.

It is the best gift I’ve ever received.

I became my own best friend.

I’m going to get back to that.  But first, I want to share part of the definition of a friend according to Urbandictionary.com:

“A friend is someone you love and who loves you, someone you respect and who respects you, someone whom you trust and who trusts you. A friend is honest and makes you want to be honest, too. A friend is loyal.”

This last year, I learned to love and respect myself.  I can trust that what I say I will do; I will follow through.  I’m honest with myself and aware that I’m not perfect, nor am I supposed to be.

It goes on to say, “A friend i...

Want to know something really neat?!

You are 100% lovable.  Always have and always will be.

There is nothing that you need to do different or change to be loved more.

Really, this world needs more love.  I know it sounds cliché but it’s true.  If we all could just see each other’s innate worth and lovability, can you imagine what this world would be like? What if we were all just confident in who God made us and loved ourselves even?  Not in an arrogant way, because arrogance is not love, but in a self-confident way.  Self-confident love is knowing your worth but recognizing everyone around you has the same worth.

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:14

You should really love yourself in a self-confident way.  I recommend it.  It doesn’t matter if someone else doesn’t love you.  Loving yourself is about giving yourself the gift of feeling love every day.  This way you don’t have to seek love from other peo...

**If you would like to listen to this blog post, scroll to the bottom for the audio version.

The day after Mother’s Day, I get to wrap up this beautiful series I have been writing about for the last six weeks.  I wanted to use this blog post today to review, but also to give a few final thoughts that I pray will help you on this crazy, beautiful journey of motherhood.

 Let's dive in...

The first essential I discussed is by far the most important in my book.

Love yourself. 

You can’t truly love others unconditionally, if you don’t love who God made you first.

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:37

My best advice.  Be your own best friend. Talk to yourself like you would your daughter.  And for goodness sake, giv...

**If you would like to listen to this blog post, scroll to the bottom for the audio version.

Let’s recap the last four weeks in the series – Six Essentials Every Mom Needs to be the Best Mom for their Kids. 

1. Love Yourself
2. Mindset Matters
3. Ditch the Manuals
4. Take Care of your Temple

This week, let’s dive into letting go of other people’s opinions.

Letting this go; that’s a hard pill to swallow for a recovering people pleaser like me. 

Honestly, a lot of my time was spent unconsciously figuring out how I could get people to like me.  I would pretend and twist myself into a mold I thought they would want me to fit.  Ultimately, it was lying.  The problem with lying, you get caught and eventually realize you don’t even know the truth any more.

This really hit home when my oldest started school.  I noticed that she would come home very upset most days.  I learned that her “friends” were running away from her and telling her that they didn’t want to be her friend...

**If you would like to listen to this blog post, scroll to the bottom for the audio version.

It’s April! Woohoo! For most of you winter is done. For us in Minnesota, the end is near!

New season, new excitement, new energy!

Same goes for me ;) I’m so excited to share my next blog series with you. I’m going to outline it quickly here in this post, but I will be writing about each of these topics more in depth. Be sure you sign up for my weekly emails so you don’t miss it!

For the next six weeks, I will be talking about Six Essentials Every Mom needs to Be the Best Mom for their Kids. Guess what?! If you’re not a mom these essentials still apply to you!

Are you excited? You should be!  This will be a great opportunity to start making shifts in your life so you can THRIVE and be the mom you want to be!

So.... let's begin with Essential Number One:

LOVING YOURSELF

I want to share two common themes I hear from women around this topic. 

1. Some women don’t believe that
...