This encouragement was written for Ozark Worship Night in Fayetteville, AR in December 2022. When we bring our cares to the Lord, there are some cares that He takes gently and holds close because they are important to Him. But there are other cares that He tosses aside to set us free from them. God…
Children are a wonder. Their hearts are already inclined to drink deeply of knowledge and beauty and their hands are ready to take on new challenges. So, developing their curiosity and creativity is less like building from the ground up and more like nourishing what is already inside them. In 2015, I made a long…
In 2017, I started delegating little chores to my young children. I wanted to cultivate a habit of responsibility and an eye for service, so I taught them to tidy up and prepare simple foods (more here). Every year, I have taken their responsibilities up a notch. Four years in, my elementary-age kids were doing…
In this life, you will be tempted. And sometimes you will give in to that temptation. When you do, do not lie about your sin. Your goal can too easily shift from doing right to hiding wrongs done. Honesty is a gift. It is a gift to your friends, a gift to your future spouse,…
As Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. Likewise there is an hour for every activity in our days: A time to clean the kitchen and a time to sit down and rest,A time to shop and a time to choose contentment,A…
This is the first in a set of three journal entry-starters. Find the introduction here. JOURNALING TO PLAN I. How can you nourish your soul this season? I used to plow through life, not noticing nature’s shifts. I prided myself on busyness, seldom slowing down to drink in simple joys. One January, when circumstances slowed…
In your journal, you can zoom out for a bird’s-eye view of your life to assess your trajectory. Examine yourself by working backwards and forwards through Ralph Waldo Emerson’s wise words, then pray and plan a response. Sow a thought and you reap an action; Sow an act and you reap a habit; Sow a…
Twice a year, I stop to ask God questions about my purpose and my progress. He reminds me of how he designed me and what he has called me to do. Then we examine my priorities and habits together, choosing what to keep, what to add and what to toss out entirely. In my journal,…
When I was a child, I drew a lot. I drew at the table and on the floor and on my bed and in the yard. I drew while I listened or while I talked or while I daydreamed. I treasure those memories and want the same for my children. Before 2018, my children enjoyed…
My name is Heather My name was, for a short pure spurt: springtime beholder of mystery faithful, wise, creative, truth-teller zealous leader joyful, beautiful blessing wet feet Moses, a pure child sensing his purpose “Heather” simply meant purple hills in a faraway land. Then, like a sled on a lame hill, I slid slowly down,…
Rosy kitchen, my coffee steamy, podcast ready, muffin ingredients gathered.In waltzes the tiptoe maiden, carrying a stool.I pause the show, move my mug and sigh.Giddy helper, spiller of flour, her ready hands slow like a waiting room.I battle: hand her a tablet or hand her the tablespoon. Distract her and move along or steward love with…
In 2016, I discovered Sarah Mackenzie’s Read Aloud Revival podcast and it changed the trajectory of my parenting. I binge listened as Sarah interviewed scholars, psychologists, authors, librarians and parents about the joys and riches of reading aloud to children. From nursery rhymes and picture books to middle grade novels and Shakespeare, I learned how…
There is a time for everything and an [hour] for every activity under the heavens: a time to clean the kitchen and a time to sit down and rest, a time to shop and a time to choose contentment, a time to lead the way and a time to be still, a time to read…
READ OR LISTEN (8:00 MINUTES) FALL 2017 The nurse pushes my wheelchair passed spacious rooms overlooking a hillside forestwhile my husband carries my boxes, full of a month’s worth of clothes, books and paints. I must be monitored for the four weeks leading up to our scheduled premature c section. “Thirty-two weeks is the…
I remember being six years old living on Texas acres watching lightning storms from the porch with my dad and crunching through leafy woods with my mom. I remember stuffing apron pockets with wild blackberries and walking home purple-fingered, jumbled between two big happy dogs. I remember perching high in my great-grandma’s fragrant magnolia tree,…
When our children were three and one year old, we began reading The Big Picture Story Bible together and saying thankful prayers at bedtime. This cherished habit of nightly family worship would never have been established if not for my husband’s (sometimes stubborn) dedication. I am kaput by bedtime and, no doubt, would not have carried…
In 2019, I was waiting for my children to dive into the world of pretend play. But, at ages 7, 5, 3 and 1, they weren’t doing much of it. A dinner conversation woke me up to the importance of developing their little imaginations. My friend who works for Pixar told us, “Creative adults don’t…
Since 2016, I have focused on developing a different habit in my children every six months. Over time, they have added up! We have steadily built the habits of reading aloud, getting outside, drawing, cleaning, cooking, worshipping, stretching, pretending and sitting in solitude. All of these habits will follow them into adulthood, but the one…
September is cider, October is pumpkins, November is leaf piles, December is the hearth. Autumn is oven mitts and thimbles and a full library book bin. It is wool blankets and potbelly mugs and cinnamon sticks. It is soulful and hardy and savored and looked forward to all year long. Do you feel that inner…
Housework always took longer when little hands helped. Before 2017, I usually flipped on a flick while I cooked dinner, then tucked them into bed before I cleaned the kitchen alone. But, with four children age six and under, I was a tired momma looking for rest. I considered, if I had this little army…
When my daughter asked me to teach her how to bake, I bristled and blushed. I didn’t want to. I didn’t know how. I was too busy to learn something new. And what if I was bad at it? What if my attempts disappointed her? I tried to appease her with Tollhouse cookie dough and…
Most people leave IQ tests with an air of superiority or a feeling of inadequacy. I am one whose confidence sank after a high school IQ test. Sure, I could draw and sing well, had a huge imagination and wrote poems. But according to that esteemed test, I was “below average.” Thankfully, research proves otherwise….
YOUR JOURNAL. Some people treat their journals like a secret, some open them up during conversations. Some neatly color code their entries, some scratch illegibly. Some note-take academically, some sketch or doodle between entries. My friend Michelle loves to copy verses verbatim. Ruth creates Bible word art. I quote or paraphrase scripture as I messily…
WHY JOURNAL. Your white page is a space to explore a concept and flesh out a thought. It’s a place to weigh decisions and evaluate everything beside God’s Word. There, you can store nuggets of truth that speak to your soul and revelations that stand like milestones in your life. It’s a safe haven to…
“Cease endlessly striving for what you want to do and learn to love what must be done.” -Goeth I did not become a nurturer on my first child’s birth day. In fact, it took three children for me to finally feel confident and interested in the job of thoroughly nurturing my family. See, I used…
I hear a distant chainsaw But I am in the woods Is it a beehive in the vines? I hear a far-off car alarm Or is it birdsong? I hear a creaking door Or are those tree frogs? I hear a hundred hurried tires Or is it water rushing? I hear a mower mowing Or…
I know, I know, this is the spot where I am supposed to explain why I renamed this blog “Bind up and Blossom.” But I haven’t made time to write that out yet. I’ll get to it. For now, here’s a little bio. Thanks. I am Heather Paige Hunt. I’m a joy-filled Bible-believing journaler bent…
Find Heather on Instagram at instagram.com/heatherpaigehunt. Contact Heather by emailing heatherpaigehunt@gmail.com.
Hi, I’m Heather. When I am not reading aloud to my children, wondering around outside, tending farm animals and flowers, doing laundry or helping at our local prayer room, I love to write! You can receive these (irregular) blog posts and journaling guides in your email box by Subscribing Here. Thank you.
You may relate. – In Suzanne U. Clark’s The Roar on the Other Side: A Guide for Student Poets, she instructs students to write two poems, one about a cacophonous (loud) place like a bowling alley and another about a euphonious (calm) place like a forest path. I opted to combine them into one poem about…