How to Increase the Joy in Your Home

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No one has ever found real, lasting happiness by being selfish!

"There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty.  (Proverbs 11:24)

"There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."  (Proverbs 13:7)


"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.   For with the same measure that ye meet, withal it shall be measured to you again."  (Luke 6:38)

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Let's obey the initial promptings of the Holy Spirit today and open up our hearts just a little more to our families.  As we sow happiness by the drop, joy will return to us by the handful!

 

OK, So I'm Biased...

 It's been a lot of fun taking pictures.  Lydia took most of them, except the first one, which I took.  Didn't she do a great job?

I may be a little biased, but I think my family has got to be the very best family in the world.

For my birthday, my husband decided to have the celebration in the church's fellowhip hall since there's very little room in the motor home.   So throughout the day, the children disappeared at various times to "go next door."  Sneaky little bunch, they are.

The girls especially worked hard throughout the day to decorate the place, and even had spent some of their own money for decorations.

They really went all out!

I had no idea what they were working on, but boy, was I surprised when I walked in the door and saw everything so nicely decorated!!

One of the girls got me a dozen roses!!

I didn't bother with cake and ice-cream, all I needed was a pan of half-baked brownies!!

They decided to actually put one candle on for each year, which turned into a blazing inferno when they were all lit.  I had to blow them out quickly (no time for a picture) since the top of the brownies were getting a rather thick coating of wax.  Yikes!

Then, after the celebration, we all went outside to watch the sunset.  And a beautiful sunset it was, indeed!

"The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich."  And I count my family the greatest treasure of all.

Thank you, guys, for making my day very special!

De-lurking Day!

to me!

It's happening again!  Tomorrow I'm having another birthday!  No, I won't tell you how old I am, but I prefer to say that I'm "pulling 40!"  And yes, I'm pulling it pretty hard.

It's time to de-lurk!  All you people that are lurking in the shadows, not real followers, but regular blog -checkers, show yourself!  It would even be great to hear from my regular followers!

Introduce yourself and let me know who you are!  I would LOVE to hear from you!

Parenting Resources - Adventure, Excitement, and...History??

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"Boy, you slammed that door again!" chided the crisp and proper lady.

"Ah fogaht," the boy replied uncomfortably.

"What?" the prim woman demanded sharply.

Booker shifted his weight uneasily and tried again.  "Ah fogaht, Missus Ruffner....Ma'am."

Looking him squarely in the eye, Mrs. Ruffner replied evenly, "Your excuses will not do, Booker."

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Your Story Hour has provided hours - I mean, HOURS - of listening entertainment for us as a family!  We first were introduced to Your Story Hour way back when they had tapes, and that's a long time ago!  Since we first heard the above episode of the childhood of Booker T. Washington, we've bought many tape sets, played them to death (poor things), and finally arrived in the present by downloading MP3s of these wonderful stories.

Some of our very favorites are Heritage of Our Country, which my 26 year old daughter claims as "that's the way I learned history," and the Patterns of Destiny series, a compilation of stories about great Americans.  There are also wonderful Bible Stories, which are amazingly accurate, as well as the Great StoriesSeries.  We've very enthusaistically bought (and listened to!) Heritage of Our Country, Patterns of Destiny, several of the Great Stories series, Young Abraham Lincoln, and the amazing story of Shackleton'sArctic Expedition.

Take a few moments to click over to YourStoryHour.org, where you can find CD albums, activity books, and MP3 downloads.  There are also Spanish products available as well.

For me, I had a HUGE lightbulb moment when it occurred to me, "Hey, maybe I can get on ITunes and find something for my IPad!"  So I went over there, and, lo and behold, there was Your Story Hour!  As we speak, I am downloading Great Stories album 10!  This is the description:

Your Story Hour is proud to present this new set of exciting, dramatized stories.  You'll enjoy hearing the adventure of  dynamic Theodore Roosevelt, pioneering scientist like Wilhelm Roentgen and Alexander Fleming and more.  Great listening and entertainment for the whole family.(Each CD is approximately one-hour in length.) 

The CD album sells for $22.50 from YourStoryHour.org, but I am able to download it from ITunes for only $6.95!!!  (Can you tell I'm excited??!!??)

I'm really trying my best to remain calm, especially since I'm sitting in a nice quiet library.  But do you know what that means??!  That means we'll be able to listen to these stories on the hour drive home!  WaHOO!  Oops, I'm sorry, Ms. Librarian.  Yes, I'll be more quiet now.

If you get to listen to any of the Heritage of Our Country series, you'll get to hear what happens to poor Booker.  No, I'm not going to tell you, you have to fnd our for yourself.  Mwa-ha-ha-ha!

Have a glorious weekend!

These opinions are entirely my own, and I am not receiving any payment for any of these endorsements.

A Beautiful, Wonderful Drive!

A few days ago when we drove from El Paso, TX to Carlsbad, NM (on the way to a meeting in Big Spring, TX) we saw some completely gorgeous mountains!  The weather was not too hot even though we were driving through desert but the scenery was beautiful.

My Beloved faithfully drives the big rig.  I'm so thankful that he's an excellent driver!  Some folks have asked me if I drive this thing, and I tell them emphatically "NO!"  Secretly, though, it would be nice to try my hand at it on a straightaway...maybe!  Perhaps if no one else is on board and we can stop all traffic.

As we drove, I prepared lunch.  That day we had tuna salad, which we normally have about once a week.  You won't find fancy bowls in our motorhome; there are no pretty dishes or quaint heirloom plates - just plastic, plastic, and more plastic.  When I took this picture, it was on a pretty bouncy road, so it is still a little blurry.

That day, two of us worked together to make a never-before tried tuna salad.  The results were, well, let's say, less-than-impressive, at least to me.  Some in my family, who shall remain nameless, really loved it, but my fellow chef and I thought it was, um...interesting!

We drove through more desert, but we also saw -, which was stunning in the radiant blue sky topped with wispy clouds.  Lydia was clicking away at it when I took the above photo with my IPad, and this is what she was taking pictures of:

We're so thankful to be able to travel in this ministry!  It's exciting to be able to see such wonderful sights!  And . . . thankfully there were no problems like blown tires or leaky radiators!!  

God is good!

Rolling on for Jesus,

Parenting Resources: Help for the Home School

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Call me a rebel if you like, but I've never been one to find out which way the current is flowing and go with it.  That's why it took me so long to read Charlotte Mason's first book in her series on home schooling.

You see, I always heard her name spoken in a strange sort of reverence, kind of the way someone would refer to "The Patron Saint of Home Schoolers" or something.  I just chalked it up to the thought that "I guess there's a few wierdos in the home schooling community."

So finally I found Charlotte Mason's book available for Kindle for$1.99 a piece!!  Being the stingy sort of homemaker, that strongly appealed to my thrify instincts, and I downloaded it.  I was in for quite a read!

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I found Miss Mason's understanding of the learning process to be exactly correct, and I especially think her writings onthe will and the conscience of the child to be right on.  It was actually very convicting, too, to realize just how much responsability lies with me - the parent.

Even if you don't do the Charlotte Mason style of home schooling (which I don't, but someday I may,) her books would be a tremendous help to your parenting.    Good old-fashioned common sense, which was on every street corner back in Mason's day, is rare now indeed, but her writings are full of wisdom!

Simply Charlotte Mason has a lot of really good resources for their style of home schooling, as well as Queen Homeschool, who published my book,

  The Umbrella Story. 

  Check them both out, but especially see if you can get a hold of the original Charlotte Mason book.  Click here for the Kindle version, only $1.99, or here for the paperback on Amazon.

Enjoy your weekend!

When You've Been Burned

Can you live again after being burned?

"...the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity..."   photo credit: www.libelium.com

All of us feel the flames of an unbridled tongue at one time or another.  Everything seems to be going fine, and then suddenly there are sparks, a flame, and before we know it, the fire is completely out of control.  Unable to halt its incendiary advances, we fall victim to its singeing cataclysm.

And it hurts.  Bad.

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue..."  photo credit: www.photobucket.com

With ashes all around and smoke still seeping, we look around to see if there's anything left of our former selves.  We've been burned beyond recognition, but is there anything left to salvage? 

No.  Nothing.  Life as we knew it is over, and we will never be the same again.

Time passes.  The kindly winds blow, and the gentle rains fall.  The dead earth feels nothing.  Still, the showers continue, and the sun plays its part, beaming softly on our scorched ground.

photo credit:  http://www.mccullagh.org

We don't know when it happens, but it does happen.  A tender shoot, a small blade, appears, pushing its way bravely through the ashes.  Defying all the odds, and even perhaps to our own surprise, it continues to surge upward, reaching for the gentle rain and the kindly sun.  The wind plays with our soft , light green sprigs and strengthens them, helping us to grow even more. 

There is life, even after such an awful death.

Will it be the same again?  No, never.  But slowly we heal, and we learn that we may not ever be the same, but because our Creator allowed this horrific burning, we can be better.  The whole area is clearer and nutrients are everywhere.  Yes, life can be better now.

As long as we keep reaching for the rain of the Word, the warm and inviting Son, and the gentle breeze of the Spirit, there will be life, even after we've been burned.