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House Mix

Offbeat ideas on family, decor, and organizing for moms on a budget

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How to start a blog and make money

This a definitive post with EVERYTHING I know about blogging.

Exactly how we paid of $18,000 of credit card debt - With real numbers

How we paid $18,000 of credit card debt in a year

Ten years ago Marcello and I were renting an over-priced, dumpy apartment with rusty appliances ...

100+ ways to save money

This is the most comprehensive, complete guide to frugal living I have EVER done. It ...

How we afforded our dream home

I’m going to do something bloggers don’t do. I’m going to share ...

710 dollars a year for food - pantry stocking twice a year - whole foods plant based diet - vegetarian menu plan for the week

$1,650 a year for organic groceries!

Sasha has an amazing assortment of grains and flours here and even gives us a ...

How to do a spending freeze

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VIDEO: Super frugal home decor tour

I’m going to walk you through each room of my house and tell you ...

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Kids chore chart to earn money

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How to make homemade baby food in 45 minutes a week and save 50 percent

Make baby food in 45 minutes a week and save 50 percent

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Feeding a family on a tight budget

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Hi! I’m Kate.

Hi! I’m Kate — child of God, wife, mother to three, creative type, who thinks too much. I blog to inspire and help with all things decorating, organizing, budgeting, family and faith. I keep things real and am not afraid to show you my mess and shortcomings.

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{ DAY 14 } THOUGHT LIFE CHALLENGE: I’ve been hard on you this week! It’s intense work to weed the garden of our mind. It takes time to undo years of bad habits so we can start building a fresh foundation of healthy thinking. Don’t worry, we’re going to start focusing on truth next week, but I have one more topic that might be rough for some of us — lying. .
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You can call it a fib or a tale or white lie if you want to, but it doesn’t change it’s destruction on the brain. In fact, different parts of the brain light up when you lie then when you tell the truth.
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Habitual lying can lead to anxiety, depression, loss of relationships and addiction.
“Well, I’m not that bad,” you might be thinking, but even small lies chip away at your trustworthiness.
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I’m sick.
My phone died.
I forgot.
I have plans.
I didn’t spend any money.
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What happens when someone finds out you weren’t honest. I’m especially thinking of my kids when I write that. I want to earn their trust so I can be a safe place give advice, not be an example of how to lie to get what you want.
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Our Father never lies. Never. He can’t. What if He told us something in the Bible and then later said, “I was just joking about that part. You took it so seriously!” No, He honors every single meticulous detail of His Word.
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The other drama on the psyche with lying is trying to remember and keep up with them. You better believe that impacts your brain connections and habits.
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Being an honest person is freedom. Freedom in the way of never having to worry or wonder if so-in-so is going to tell so-in-so that you spilled gossip. It is freedom in knowing you haven’t lied at work when your boss calls you in her office. It is freedom from leading a double life — even if it’s only one day of hiding what you were doing from what you said you’d be doing! It’s exhausting just typing that out! It’s freedom to be an authentic, trustworthy disciple who can disciple others. .
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▪️SEE MY STORIES for today’s thought exercise.
▪️See link in bio @housemixblog to get your copy of Thought Life Challenge devotional and workbook. #thoughtlifechallenge
▪️Leave a comment here and tell me how you’re doing with the challenges!

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{ DAY 13 } THOUGHT LIFE CHALLENGE: Usually we’re our own worst enemies when it comes to our thought life, but we also have an enemy, Satan, who seeks to deceive us. (2 Cor. 11:3)We can choose whether or not to entertain his lies and false promises. When a sinful, mean, negative, hurtful or lustful thought enters your mind, it is not in that moment a sin. But when you choose to engage it, fantasize about it, roll around in it for awhile, it becomes sin and a hindrance to joy.
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If you can detach yourself from a line of thinking that is not godly, Satan loses power.
If you can throw away thoughts desiring sin, you can prevent the sin altogether! Sin happens in our mind first.
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We like our sin. We like our crutch of alcohol, drugs, partying, sex, pornography or whatever lies between. But here’s what I can tell you, the things that cause us to sin will cause us to fall. Those things that seem to satisfy in the moment, will lead you to destruction. Those things will not give us happiness. Ever. They just can’t, because sin gives birth to death and God is not in them.
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Are you constantly looking for that thing that will finally make you happy? The only source of true joy, true satisfaction that lasts is from God.
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Who has ever said their addiction to pornography ended fantastically? Who has ever said taking the edge off with drugs ended with extra energy and a fresh breath of life it increase family time and help others? Or that sleeping around has brought about relational satisfaction and a full heart of love? It doesn’t happen.
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That is why we do most of these things at night, in the dark. We don’t want light to be shed on them. Our sitcoms and movies can do their best to tell us we can do whatever we want with no consequence, that we can delete our God-given moral compass. But if you look within, it is still there, written on your heart.
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God says He will not Himself ever tempt us (James 1:13) and that He will not allow us to be tempted more than we can stand. Better still, He says He’ll provide a way out for us! (1 Cor. 10:13)
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▪️SEE MY STORIES for today’s thought exercise.
▪️See link in bio @housemixblog to get your copy of Thought Life Chall

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{ DAY 12 } THOUGHT LIFE CHALLENGE: Kids live in the right now, not the past or future or even half an hour ago. In their world, yesterday was yesterday and 20 minutes is a long time away. Some of us, on the other hand, tend to repeatedly recount things and live in the past, while others continually fast forward ahead and live in the future. Neither one of these work — God tells us to live in the present — and kids seem to have that figured out.
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Living in the past leads to regret and guilt. You’re missing out on joy now if you keep talking about the “good old days.” But the Bible says this isn’t wise, there’s no such thing. (Eccl 7:10)
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Or maybe you’re living in the past, but through the lens of shame. You need to let that go. God allowed you to live through that once. He didn’t intend for you to relive it over and over. Ask Him to take that away and refuse to let your mind to relive it.
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Living in the future leads to anxiety and worry. It’s wise to plan ahead, but make those plans with open hands because your father knows best. You can’t know the future, so there’s no use in getting upset when it doesn’t go the way you planned.
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Always living in the future also gives way to imagined scenarios that bring us worry — scenarios that most likely won’t even happen! God gives us grace when we need it, right when we need it — not for imagined circumstances. Living in the present is the way to experience the full joy of God.
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▪️SEE MY STORIES for today’s thought exercise.
▪️See link in bio @housemixblog to get your copy of Thought Life Challenge devotional and workbook.
#thoughtlifechallenge
▪️Leave a comment here and tell me how you’re doing with the challenges!

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{ DAY 11 } THOUGHT LIFE CHALLENGE: Once in a moment of anger, I felt “What do you think you’re entitled to?” wash over me. It was shocking and profound. What are we entitled to? Nothing. The answer is nothing.
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Man has nothing more than the air in his nostrils. Everything, including that fleeting breath, is a gift from God. Everything is from Him — food, water, clothing, skills, the ability to comprehend, see, hear, even breathe.
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Read what God said to Moses when he questioned Him on speaking in front of Pharaoh:
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
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The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:10-12)
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If we fully appreciated everything God has done for us, I don’t think we would dare get angry about trials, least of all a cashier taking too long or someone driving too slow.
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This is the beautiful part: Once you start seeing all the gifts God has given you … once you start building a grateful heart … once you start to see Him in everything … His love pours out of you onto others. The closer you move toward the Lord, the more content you become and this entitlement stronghold gives way.
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▪️SEE MY STORIES for today’s thought exercise. And I’m sharing how today’s challenge slapped me across the face! 😮
▪️See link in bio @housemixblog to get your copy of Thought Life Challenge devotional and workbook.
#thoughtlifechallenge
▪️Leave a comment here and tell me how you’re doing with the challenges!

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{ DAY 10 } THOUGHT LIFE CHALLENGE: Don’t fall into the misconception that following Jesus earns you a pain-free life of comfort. That’s not what Jesus taught.
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In fact, the Bible says God disciplines those He loves. English has a different connotation than the word used in Greek. In Greek discipline means to train up. God is molding and refining us through our circumstances and suffering to be more like His Son. .
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When I first heard that comfort can be an idol my eyes were opened. I most definitely have a habit of making comfort an idol, even to the point of wondering when things aren’t going my way if it’s because of sin in my life. As if when I please God, He will make my life easy. That’s all kinds of twisted thinking and can lead to a works-based faith, among other dangerous misconceptions. .
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Sin does have natural consequences, but trials do not necessarily signify a sinful life.
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Job comes to mind. In the book of Job, we have the curtain pulled back and get a glimpse into the spiritual world. God allowed the accuser to strip everything away from Job (children, wealth, health, friends) even though he was a faithful man who God Himself called “blameless” and “upright.” He was not being punished. .
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It’s in the deeper, troublesome times that you have spiritual awakening. Is it such a bad place to be? When you’re at the end of yourself. When you’re past frustration, past yelling, past feral anger. When you’re so far down the road that you’re an eerie calm, waiting with open hands.
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▪️SEE MY STORIES for today’s thought exercise.
▪️See link in bio @housemixblog to get your copy of Thought Life Challenge devotional and workbook.
#thoughtlifechallenge
▪️Leave a comment here and tell me how you’re doing with the challenges!

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I’m so excited to share my best-selling Ultimate Clean House Planner with you! It’s a 12-page printable with my favorite DIY cleaner recipes, the best cleaning hacks, a deep clean calendar and home maintenance checklist.

GET IT HERE >>

Lightroom Preset

My Tropical Sunkiss preset makes it so you can edit photos right on your phone with a click of a button! This preset elevates phone shots to look professionally edited, with crisp, sharpened details. Even gives you a little suntan!

GET IT ($5) HERE >>

Thought Life Challenge

I’ve created a 30-day Thought Life Challenge, one exercise a day — first working to identify negativity and weed it out, and secondly to find joy through gratitude. Included: challenge calendar, daily devotional and verse, thought and gratitude journal

GET IT ON AMAZON OR ETSY ($2.99)>>

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