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Susan Alexander Yates

Susan Alexander Yates

Wisdom for Every Season

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You Don’t Need to “Play God”:  Reminders from the Christmas Story

You Don’t Need to “Play God”: Reminders from the Christmas Story

by Susan Alexander Yates

Do you ever feel like you know the Christmas story backwards and forwards, and while it’s wonderful, it’s so incredibly…
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How to Transform Your Thanksgiving This Year With Outrageous Gratitude

How to Transform Your Thanksgiving This Year With Outrageous Gratitude

by Susan Alexander Yates

Has your Thanksgiving become stale? What? Stale? With all that good food? It’s not primarily the event or even the…
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Confronting Evil: 2 Sin Traps to Avoid and 5 Truths About Our Enemy

Confronting Evil: 2 Sin Traps to Avoid and 5 Truths About Our Enemy

by Susan Alexander Yates

Why would anyone want to talk about Sin? Just mentioning the topic makes us feel uncomfortable. Or that we are…
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Do You Need Fresh Hope for This New Year? 4 Things Will Help

Do You Need Fresh Hope for This New Year? 4 Things Will Help

by Susan Alexander Yates

Most of us are exhausted from the challenges of the past years. Weary of each other, annoyed by petty habits…
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How God Opened My Eyes to a Different Take on Christmas Eve

How God Opened My Eyes to a Different Take on Christmas Eve

by Susan Alexander Yates

This is my special Christmas blog. My hope for you is that this year God will give you a new…
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How to Do Secret Valentines: A Fun ‘Family Builder’ Idea

How to Do Secret Valentines: A Fun ‘Family Builder’ Idea

by Susan Alexander Yates

Many of us have not been able to be with our family members during this pandemic season. Adult children haven’t seen each other, cousins often can’t be together. Saddened by being apart, we wonder, “What can we do to build the closeness that we long for?”

Here’s one easy idea!

Use Valentine’s Day to re-connect with one another.

Many of us have been a part of “Secret Valentines” (or “Secret Santa”), maybe at the office.

It’s always fun and creates a sense of camaraderie. Let’s use this idea in our families this year.

We have 21 grandchildren ranging in age from 9-23. Their families live in different cities. It’s a challenge to help them grow close to one another, particularly this year.

As parents more than anything we want our kids to love the Lord and each other. And this is true for our grandkids as well. But how can they love each other when they rarely see each other? As parents and grandparents, we can create opportunities for them to bond. 

To foster this, here’s one thing we are doing this year:  assigning each cousin a “Secret Valentine.”

How to Care for Your Pastor and His Family During the Holidays

How to Care for Your Pastor and His Family During the Holidays

by Susan Alexander Yates

You may not know this if you’ve never been on a church staff (or married to someone who is), but…
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How About Turning New Year’s Resolutions Upside Down?

How About Turning New Year’s Resolutions Upside Down?

by Susan Alexander Yates

I’ve never enjoyed making New Year’s resolutions. It just feels like making a list of things I’m going to fail…
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Ask Susan: A New Vision for Your Christmas

Ask Susan: A New Vision for Your Christmas

by Susan Alexander Yates

Do you feel in need of a new vision for Christmas this year? Sometimes I’ve felt that way in the…
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Affordable Gifts to Delight and Encourage Your Loved Ones

Affordable Gifts to Delight and Encourage Your Loved Ones

by Susan Alexander Yates

Are you looking for gift ideas this Christmas season?  I wanted to share some recommendations. Hoping this helps you find…
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Hello, I’m Susan.

Susan Alexander Yates

I’m a wife (of more than 50 years), mom to five children (including a set of twins), and grandmother to 21 (including a set of quadruplets!). My favorite time of the year is when all my kids and grandkids are together for a week of “cousins and family camp” in the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia.

Read more…

Recent Posts

  • Good News: Growing as a Christian is Not About Trying Harder
  • Why Thank-You Notes Matter
  • He’s More Than a Baby in a Manger: Jesus, Our Living God
  • You Don’t Need to “Play God”: Reminders from the Christmas Story
  • How to Transform Your Thanksgiving This Year With Outrageous Gratitude

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Barbara & Susan’s Guide to the Empty Nest: Discovering New Purpose, Passion & Your Next Great Adventure

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  • How Do You Do It? (Questions for a Mom of Quads)
  • Teenagers Rule at Family Camp: Messy, Crazy, and Oh…
  • Is Resentment or Bitterness Building in Your…

In the bleak midwinter everything is . . . bleak. In the bleak midwinter everything is . . . bleak. But underneath the gloom God is preparing a beautiful garden which will burst forth at just the right time (swipe right!). God is working while we are waiting.
One Word: Everlasting Arms One Verse: “The e One Word:  Everlasting Arms
 
One Verse:

“The eternal God is your dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he thrust out the enemy before you
and said, ‘Destroy.“ (Deuteronomy 33:27)

One Thought:

God I love it that you gave your children simple pictures to understand complicated truths. Thank you for your everlasting arms that are under me, under _____ right at this moment. Place this picture in the front of my mind as I live this day.
Did you know that we can't succeed at spiritual gr Did you know that we can't succeed at spiritual growth on our own? We can't just grit our teeth and make ourselves more like Christ? ⁣
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This was a surprising lesson for me as a new believer!⁣
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Read about it in my devotional on @club31women this week. Link in bio, or go to club31women.com/devotional/
One Word: Broken One Verse: And he took bread, One Word: Broken
 
One Verse:

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

One Thought:

There is so much brokenness in our world. I am broken. So is _____. One thing all humans have in common is our brokenness. Jesus, you are intimately familiar with brokenness. Your body was broken for me, for _____. You understand the pain of brokenness but it is in your brokenness that we can begin to experience wholeness.
Recently I’ve been thinking about a new personal Recently I’ve been thinking about a new personal discipline I want to adopt in this new year. I want to do one thing every day for someone else. It’s a practical application for loving our neighbors as ourselves. It also enables us to get our focus off our selves and onto someone else and this brings us joy. It might be a text or email or postcard or call or cookies left on someone’s front door. This joy of giving fills our cup. It’s also a great thing to involve your whole family in. It helps our kids learn to be other-centered rather than self-centered. Two special friends just sent me these flowers and they have brought me great great joy. Thank you for choosing to bless me. I have learned from your generosity.
One Word: Mystery One Verse: “To them God ch One Word: Mystery 
 
One Verse:

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27
 
One Thought:

You are a God of mystery. It’s a glorious mystery. I can’t explain you even though sometimes I want to. Your mystery is part of what makes you so much greater than man. Thank you that you, with all of your glorious mystery, have chosen to dwell in me.
It’s so much fun to give away some of our old tr It’s so much fun to give away some of our old treasures! I just gave my old Girl Scout badge sash to my young friend Helen, who is a Girl Scout. It brought both of us so much joy and reminded me of how special it is to give things away. I  highly recommend it.

#girlscout #girlscouts
I received this pic and note from one of my nieces I received this pic and note from one of my nieces last week:⁣
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'Your post on thank you notes this morning validated all of my efforts this week!! Look what's sitting on my kitchen counter. Only one more child to go!  Thank you for the good reminder of why we do this!'⁣
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Have your kids gotten their notes done?⁣
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I know it's work to get our children to write thank-you notes, but it's so important! Check out my blog this week for the reasons behind this and some ideas to help make it happen.⁣
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Link in bio or go to susanalexanderyates.com.
One Word: Shows ⁣ ⁣ One Verse:⁣ ⁣ “But G One Word: Shows ⁣
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One Verse:⁣
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“But God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8⁣
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 One Thought:⁣
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If you, God Almighty, would send your Son to die for me in my own wickedness, then how much more will you show me how to make the decision I need to make.⁣
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#oneword #onewordcards #christianwomen #christianfaith #bedeeplyrooted #womenintheword #shereadstruth #womenoftheword #belovedlife #womenoffaith #gritandvirtue #choosejoy #lampandlight #biblestudy #shepaintstruth #bibleverse #bibleverses #bibleverseoftheday #scriptureoftheday #scriptureart #bibleverseart #dailyverse #dailydevo #dailydevotion #dailydevotional #dailydevotionals #verseoftheday #biblequotes #illustratedfaith #scripture

Copyright © 2023 · Susan Alexander Yates · All Rights Reserved
Calligraphy by Jessica Blanchard · Paintings by Christen Yates
Blog and Ask Susan Photo by Natalie Puls Photography · Books Photo by Cambria Elizabeth

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