Prayers to Help Fill Family’s Hearts During Christmas

December can feel overwhelming for families. Gifts to buy and wrap, cards to send, cookies to bake, houses to clean, decorations to hang, and recitals to attend—just when one task is finished, another takes its place.

This season, consider moving something down the list and adding one simple but powerful practice: Christmas prayer. Taking time to pray—daily or even weekly—can help you stay focused on what truly matters. Prayer brings peace, eases stress, and shifts the focus away from perfection and toward joy.

The iMOM Christmas Prayers is designed to help you do just that. Each prayer centers on meaningful themes like joy, peace, and hope, paired with a Bible verse that connects those words to the life of Jesus. It’s a gentle reminder of the gifts we already have—today and every day.

These prayers are perfect for kids, too, and come in three beautifully designed options. If you’re looking for ways to pray together as a family, check out iMOM’s 10 Ways to Teach Your Child to Pray for simple, encouraging ideas.

Click HERE to see the complete list from iMOM!

Make Thanksgiving even better this year!

Today on The Morning Thing, Marcy and Xander explored some great ways to take Thanksgiving to the next level! These are tips that will make you and your family love the holiday even more.

Some of our favorites:

  • Start a New Tradition
  • Combine Travel with a Tourist Activity
  • Choose a Friends-giving or a self-giving act

To view the full list click HERE! You won’t regret it!

Do you want to simplify your life? Check out this blog!

Today, The Morning Thing shared some small ways to make life simpler. These tips are from The Positivity Blog. They remind us that life does NOT have to be so hard.

See the full list of 23 small ways to make life simpler HERE.

Here are some of our favorites:

1. Breathe.

When stressed, lost in a problem (or a mistake) or the past or future in your mind breathe with your belly for two minutes and just focus on the air going in and out.

These deep breaths will calm your body down and bring your mind back into the present moment again.

2. Do one thing at a time.

You’ll get better results and feel better and less stressed while doing those things.

3. Write it all down.

Use your mind for better things than remembering what to do. And the mind is often like a leaky bucket.

So write down all your great ideas, insights and thoughts before they go missing somewhere and add what you need to do to a to-do list.

4. Stop trying to do things perfectly. 

It will only get you stuck and drain your self-esteem.

Go for good enough instead and when you are there you are done. Get things all the way to done this way and then move on to the next thing.

5. Pack your bag before you go to bed.

Then you don’t have to get stressed out by that in morning and you are less likely to forget something.

6. Ask yourself simplifying questions every day.

Questions like:

  • What is the most important thing I can do right now?
  • What is one small step I can take to simplify this situation?

7. Keep everything in its place.

If everything has its own place then it is whole lot easier to keep your home reasonably ordered and decluttered from day to day.

This also helps you with your inner stillness as the outer environment affects how you feel on the inside.

8. Write shorter emails.

I tend to write emails containing only a few sentences, usually between one and five. If you focus on keeping it short and focused then you’ll probably discover that this is a good solution in most cases.

9. Ask instead of guessing.

Reading minds is hard. So, instead ask questions and communicate.

This will help you to minimize unnecessary conflicts, misunderstandings, negativity and waste of time and energy.

10. Check everything just once a day.

I check my email inboxes, blog statistics, my online earnings, Twitter and Facebook just once a day.

I combine all that checking into one small daily ritual at the end of my workday so I don’t slip and go checking it more during the day and waste my energy and attention.

WNZR talks with Amy Seward from the Knox County Emergency Management Agency!

We got to talk with Amy Seward, who is the Deputy Director of the KCEMA! In honor of it being National Preparedness Month, Amy wanted to tell us why and how we should be preparing for disasters. She also details her role, what they do, and how you can stay connected!

For more information on National Preparedness Month, click HERE!

Click HERE if you want to know more about the Knox County Emergency Management Agency!

Life Does Not Have an Easy Button!

However, it would make life a lot easier right?

Life hacks are basically clever tips or tricks that make everyday tasks easier and help you manage your time better. They’re all about making life run a little more smoothly.

On the Morning Thing Thursday, Eric shared a number of lifehacks that don’t require memorizing a Tik Tok, Reel or watching a 500 step video on YouTube. 😊

  • Use Binder Clips to Organize Cables

Clip them to the edge of your desk and thread cables through the metal arms to keep them tangle-free and within reach.

  • Put Wooden Spoon Over Boiling Pot

Placing a wooden spoon across a boiling pot prevents it from boiling over. The spoon breaks the surface tension and keeps the foam down

  • Dryer Sheets in Shoes or Luggage for Freshness

Slip a dryer sheet into your shoes, suitcase, or gym bag to keep them smelling fresh.

Click HERE for more life hacks!

How to Get Motivated to Do Spring Cleaning

It’s the time of year that a lot of people dread. Spring Cleaning.
On the Morning Thing Monday, Marcy shared tips on how to get motivated and stick with cleaning.
Some of tips include:
• Clean in the Morning
• Set a Schedule
• Avoid Distractions
• Reward Yourself
Click HERE for more tips.

The Morning Thing celebrates Stress Awareness Month. How are you relieving stress today?

April is Stress Awareness Month. This is a time for us to evaluate the stress in our lives and find ways to relieve the negative impact it can have on our life.

The Cleveland Clinic has 20 different ways to relieve stress. They report that lengthy exposure to stress may lead to mental health difficulties like anxiety and depression or increased physical health problems such as cardiovascular disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

Click HERE to see the complete list of 20 ways you can fight stress!

Here are some of our favorites:

  • Spend time in nature
  • Focus on sleep
  • Assert yourself – it’s OK to say NO
  • Reduce triggers of stress
  • Set realistic goals and expectations – It’s also OK, and healthy, to realize that you can’t be 100% successful at everything all at once.
  • Take a break from your phone
  • Cuddle with a pet
  • Get your laugh on
  • Listen to music! Listen to 90.9FM or online at http://www.wnzr.fm or download the WNZR app!

https://www.wnzr.fm/wnzr-app

The United Way of Knox County’s FREE Tax Assistance Program is back!

WNZR’s Marcy Rinehart talked with Katie Ellis, Executive Director and Walt Lewis, Resource Navigator for the United Way of Knox County.
Click HERE for the full conversation.

They shared the good news that the free tax assistance program is back for 2025. Katie shared how volunteers and donors make this program available for the residents of Knox County.
Walk shared the details of how to make an appointment and how to prepare for the appointment.
This program is designed for low to moderate income families – individuals with an income of $35,000 or less or married couples with a $95,000 income or less.
The program runs from February 3, 2025 – April 10, 2025.
Appointments are required. Call (740) 397-5721 to schedule your free tax appointment.
The United Way office is located at 305 East High Street in Mount Vernon.

Checking Off The Christmas To-Do List!

Been crazy busy this holiday season? Us too. Today on The Morning Thing, we shared some really helpful tips and lists from imom.com that can help you get ready for these last couple of days before Christmas!

First, we took a look at ‘Holiday Helper Ideas’. These were ways your kids can help you, or you yourself can help others out this Christmas. Some of our favorite ideas included:

  • Helping with gift wrapping
  • Making dinner and setting the table
  • Addressing Christmas cards, applying return address labels and stamps
  • Errand running
  • Baking

We also checked off Christmas activities on our family Christmas bucket list. Which activities are left on your list? We’ve got oooing and aahing at Christmas lights done, but ice skating…not so much.

Thanks for listening to The Morning Thing on 90.9fm, WNZR!

What’s for dinner? SOUP!

Today on The Morning Thing, we shared some yummy recipes from AllRecipes.com for you.
Ridiculously easy soups that are ready in 30 minutes or less! Let’s make dinner!

Click HERE to find 22 different recipes!

Here are the ones that Marcy talked about this morning:

Avocado Soup with Chicken and Lime

Pumpkin Chipotle Soup

Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup

Cream of Tomato Gorgonzola Soup

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