by Maddie

What’s your favorite song? Do you have an all-time favorite, or are you like me, whose favorites shift as regularly as the seasons? I’m going between a few right now. Sean Curran’s 1000 Names is currently tied with Katie Nicole’s In Jesus Name . You should seriously consider listening to them because they’re AMAZING. They are my fear fighting songs right now, and I'm pretty sure I’d be a mess without them. If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know that fear is something

Spiritual warfare is no joke. Okay, so I knew it wasn’t a joke, but until yesterday, I’d forgotten just how potent it is. Since Friday, I’d been feeling… off . I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it knew my mood shift occurred after a lovely chat with my favorite professor. I was updating her on all of my business endeavors, sharing my excitement and joy. After that call, I felt deflated– and I didn’t know why. My weekend was spent trying to simultaneously ignore and fix my a

When you wake up in the morning, how long do you stay happy? Maybe I should ask it this way– how long before the stressors of the day start bombarding your mind? I last a good two minutes. Maybe three, if it's a good day. My anxiety is always bad in the mornings. Not a fun way to start the day, right? Although, I’ve realized that once I get working, I’m fine. It keeps my mind occupied and I feel all nice and productive. The issue is before , before I start working, that is. M

I was out late last night. I’m feeling it today. It’s probably not what you think. Let me clarify: By “out,” I mean at my grandpa’s birthday party. “Late,” is 8:30. And “feeling it” refers to introvert burnout. Have you heard of that? How introverts get drained by socialization? Probably. Let’s take it one step further then. Have you heard of HSP? I’m an HSP– highly sensitive person. If this is a new term for you, and if you get easily anxious like me, it might be worth some

I’m going to try to write faster. Or, type faster, if I’m being exact. Remember those typing classes we used to have in school? If you’re my age, you were probably practicing on a computer. If you’re my mom’s age, it was a typewriter. Do they still teach typing today? I remember playing those typing games, where you’d have to type the ‘q’ if you wanted to defeat the aliens or swim away from the big fish. It’s kind of odd that those games were always based on fear. Don’t be i

Do you ever just want to tell yourself to shut up? Me too. It’s been one of those days. Anxiety can be brutal. And to be honest with you, I don’t really feel like writing right now. What I want to do is curl up in a ball on my bed. I want to lie there, staring out into space, until I fix all of my fearful thoughts. All the things that are bothering me. Because I think that’ll do it– just sit down for a few minutes and my thoughts will untangle themselves from the giant knot

I have a Hebrew exam today. Forgive me if this post is a bit short. Or abnormal. Or if I randomly start typing Hebrew characters instead of English. I’m particularly concerned about this exam because our study guide alone has 538 words. God help me. During our review, even my professor was forgetting words. Again– God. Help. Me. And He will. It may not be in the way you’d think; I may not ace this exam. But God has already helped me with something more important than a grade:

There are so many things I could write about today; I’ve been feeling off . So many anxious thoughts have been racing through my head these past two days, that I could write about any one of them. Maybe it’s the sugar’s fault. Remember how I said I was going out to eat this weekend? Well I did and it was a nice time (featuring a semi-blurry photo my dad took... you're welcome). However, when I go out to eat, I eat. I have a tendency to overdo it. With complimentary over-bake

Yesterday was a big accomplishment and now I'm worried. If you didn’t notice when you opened up the blog, Handiworks is a bit different now. After a lot of time spend editing it, I have revamped Handiworks to now offer copywriting services (Here’s hoping that the Lord provides jobs soon!). And… drumroll please … I HAVE MY OWN DOMAIN! Yep, that’s right, I finally made the (financial) leap and am now Googleable. Handiworksbymaddie.com is officially mine, and I couldn’t be happ

Do you ever think you look great... until you take a picture of yourself? Me too. For the last nine months, I've been working with a fitness coach to slim down, so I take progress pics. Wow, is that a confidence boost (sarcasm there, in case you can't tell). I'm convinced that our phones' cameras are geared to make us lose confidence. Maybe that's why filters have become so popular. In the blink of an eye, I can go from looking in the mirror and thinking 'wow I feel great!' t

You know that whole surrender thing I was talking about yesterday ? Turns out it's not as easy as I made it out to be. Simple, yes, but not easy. It reminds me of some instructions Jesus would give: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). Clear and concise, right? Simple-- deny yourself, take up your cross, follow. Easy? No way. That's what I didn't mention in yesterday's post. Surrendering your life, and

I have no idea what I'm going to write about. That fills you with confidence, doesn't it? You see, typically, I have a plan. In fact, typically I can't stop planning. I write these posts in the morning, so the night before, I lie awake and brainstorm until the melatonin kicks in and sleep overtakes me. Its part of my personality, I think, to be a planner. That Type A perfectionist. But I'm not naïve enough to understand that my OCD also plays a role. Trust me, I don't lay aw

Hi friends! I wanted to talk about the power of thoughts. The Lord says "I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts" (Heb 8:10). Our hearts and minds are connected because what we think determines what we believe. Over the past few months, I've witnessed how potent our thoughts can be. I struggle with anxiety and OCD, and this covid season has really challenged me. Before covid, God gave me this intense desire for community, but then quarantine hit and s