The Hello Mornings Blog

This post is by Hannah Oxley.

I was nine years old when I discovered my happy place. I grew up in a small town that was exactly 93 minutes from the nearest Target (or Tar-gét, as we lovingly called it). It was June, and I remember standing on my tippy-toes while I reached my fingers toward the stack of freshly printed school supply lists in the tiered cardboard display. My heart beamed with pride as I clutched the crisp sheet of paper to my chest, and Mom led us to the “Back-to-School” section....

This post is by April Ward.

“Chica,” said the gorgeous doctor with a set of fresh French tips and runway hair, “I’m prescribing you ten days of antibiotics, something to get rid of the mucus, and painkillers, just in case. If this doesn’t treat your sinusitis, there’s no more I can do. You’ll have to go to the specialist.”

And with those words, I bounced out the door, handing the receptionist and the clinic guard a sandwich bag tied with red curling ribbon filled with chocolate chip cookies, t...

This post is by Jen Shultz.

Last spring I offered to help mow the lawn before a storm came in and by mow, I mean ride the lawnmower so my husband could try to push mow where necessary and weedeat before several days of rain. It was a race between me and the clouds. I could see the storm rolling in gradually darkening the plains while I whittled away at the acres needing cut. When I tell you that I was “making the last few swipes” in what would perhaps be described as a heavy downpour, I do s...

This post is by Jen Stanbro.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

This time of year, with all of its goal setting and new year resolutioning, can feel very different for different people. For some, it’s a time of hope and anticipation, a time of fresh motivation and determination. For others, it can feel like pressure, overwhelming, discouraging and depressing right out of the gate. The idea of growth, change, and self-improvement can be exc...

This post is by Patty Lewis.

I’m still considering my goals for this year.  Slowly, like a crock pot and not at all like a pressure cooker.  Maybe even more like a stove top Dutch oven simmering.  I need some time to process through a few things from last year and navigate all the other things we are dealing with daily.   So many things I never could have envisioned in the recent past have become our reality.

When thinking about having a vision and goal setting, I like to take my time and b...

This post is by Cindy Chen.

It is easy to come into the new year and attempt to be a whole new you. But few changes can take place when we don’t take into account who we are and where we are in this season.

It’s easy to be influenced to want to make big sweeping changes, to revamp our whole lives, whole homes, and whole diets. But it’s not easy to maintain these changes if we don’t first start where we are. 

If I decided to run a mile every day, before I was consistently walking a mile a d...

This post is by Tami Rodriguez.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? (Luke 14:28-30).  

With a new year in view it’s normal to set goals and make big plans. New Year’s Resolutions are fun! They’re exciting! You can do ANYTHING! Coming off a major...

This post is by Patty Lewis.

The days are full and busy.  No matter how much I try to plan to slow down, even when my word for 2024 was “slowly,” it just seems like our family is often operating at a speed that is not healthy.  So, when I think of the coming year and how I may be doing a personal inventory in January, I wonder what that is going to look like. 

I am learning that setting goals, achieving habits and following through takes more than a one time one day commitment to do it.  I mus...

This post is by Tami Rodriguez.

“God Time” has often been hard for me. I felt like I was doing it wrong. I am not someone who likes to spend an hour in prayer or do devotionals. I love to study and go really deep. 

I took a “worship personality” test awhile ago and my results came back as “intellectual” (which I didn’t know was a thing!). What it told me is I feel closest to God when I’m intellectually stimulated and my study of God is how I naturally love Him. This was life changing for me...

This post is by Patty Lewis.

I don’t really know all that this next year will hold, but I have already begun my planning for it!  I value planning time and have seen the fruit of developing tools to help me plan ahead for the upcoming year, rather than let it come at me unprepared.

 I’m not really the kind who likes to set specific long term goals that are difficult to accomplish, rather, I prefer to find ways to step back from the details, evaluate what I really want to prioritize and writ...

This post is by Shaina Weisgerber.

I have been a planner enthusiast for as long as I can remember. When I was little I loved to have a calendar on my wall and fill it out with all the events and to-do’s. As I grew up and got into high school we got our very own day planner. I geeked out every year when we received them. I put in all my choir concerts, youth activities, babysitting jobs and more. I love planning. Reviewing doesn’t come as natural to me though. I find it hard to look back and rev...

This post is by Jen Shultz.

December is a time for so many wonderful things. There is an abundance of good will, of togetherness, and the whole world is aglow with twinkling lights, and if we are lucky, a good snowfall to trick us into thinking we are living in a snowglobe. Some days, I think that it would be nice to live in a snapshot in time where only the happiest moment is captured. In a lot of ways, that is a nice thought. In a lot of other ways, it sounds terrible. 

For starters, I do...