Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Five Important Ways to Impact Your Home…and Your World

From Keeper of the Home:  Five Important Ways to Impact Your Home…and Your World:

Written by Natalie Klejwa, Contributing Writer
While at a recent visit to the doctor, I forgot my Kindle, and had to resign myself to finding something worthwhile to read in a nearby stack of mags. Among the usual People, Woman's Day, Parenting, and Home and Garden, I came across one I hadn't seen before: Success.
I perused through the table of contents until something caught my eye. It was an article about the differences between Players and Pretenders, and I was struck by the Biblical truths presented in this secular article. Do you desire to be influence the people in your life? Here's how:

1. Players have a servant's mindset. Pretenders have a selfish mindset.

Isn't that interesting? Our culture recognizes that success comes from serving others. Yet it despises the woman who chooses to serve her husband and family. In other words, go ahead and serve your boss, your co-workers, your clients and your friends. But your family? Are you kidding? To serve THEM means you are relegated to doormat status.
Here's a great question the article posed:
How can you tell if you have a servant attitude?

Answer: By the way you react when you are treated like one.
Don't you love that? When was the last time you were treated like someone's servant? How did you feel? What did you say to yourself? What did you say out loud? I remember being a new wife. "What do you think I AM?? Your SERVANT?"
Well, if I want to be a woman of influence in the life of my husband...um...yes. Why would I care more about my boss than my husband? More about my co-workers and clients than my progeny?

2.  Players are mission conscious. Pretenders are position conscious.

Are you on a mission? Or are you just jockeying for position? This kind of thing goes on in churches all the time. If you want to influence the people around you, be passionate about something other than yourself. We all have issues with this. I love myself just as much as the next guy. So we need to keep our eyes focused on ardently pursuing the glory of King Jesus rather than on pampering our ever-loving selves.
Keep in mind that whatever gets us excited will rub off on those around us. If our children see us more excited about their ball game on Sunday morning than the corporate worship of our Creator, guess what they will grow up thinking about ball vs. God?

3. Players are job-happy. Pretenders are job hunters.

Do you love your job as wife, mother and homemaker? Or does your family hear you whining about your lot in life all the time? Is your attitude that of surrendered contentment? A peaceful and joyful demeanor that permeates your home? Or do you tend to think you'd be SO much happier if ONLY you had so-and-so's life. If ONLY you had a bigger home. A better yard. A nicer car. A generous budget. A different husband. Another past.
You are influencing everyone around you whether you are aware of it or not. What do they think about your critical role in society? Are your little girls just dying to grow up and have your life? Are your little boys looking forward to marrying the girl of their dreams? A girl just like their mother?

4. Players deliver the goods. Pretenders promise the goods.

This one is for us bloggers. We like to blog about truth. But are we living it? And who really knows? Our Creator knows. And deep down inside, we do too.

5. Players live to see others succeed. Pretenders are interested in their own success.

Hunkering down at home to wipe noses, tables, and bottoms isn't going to land any of us on the pages of, well...Success magazine. But it just may launch a few human beings into influential lives of their own. Lives that will impact the world for Jesus Christ. Lives that will impact other lives for all eternity.

So...Player or Pretender. Which one are you?

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Monday, July 30, 2012

take time to play

From MOB Society:  take time to play:

“Mommy, will you play cars with me?” 

Without even glancing his way, I quickly reply, “Not right now, Mommy is washing dishes. I’ll play later.”

I’ll be honest, there is always something I “should” be doing–laundry to fold, dishes to wash, beds to make. My never-ending list is like a scrolling billboard in my brain. I could fill up my days with the mundane tasks of homemaking and I still wouldn’t get everything crossed off my list. Sometimes, in between all of the doing and list crossing, I neglect my highest calling–mothering.
It is in those moments after I make an excuse, his eyes sadden and the look of disappointment appears.  I feel a tug at my heart and a whisper to my soul, “It can wait, daughter. It’s okay to play.” Sometimes I choose to ignore it, repeating my excuse to the Lord. Other times, I surrender my list, crawl in the floor and play without abandon.  The play time is always sweeter and the moments more memorable when I sacrifice my own plans and choose to play.
“What our children will remember most about their childhood when they grow older are two things: how much love was in the home, and how much time you spent with them.”— Richard Swenson
When my son recalls his childhood, I want him to remember that I took the time to play with him. I don’t want him to recount rejection and placing trivial things higher on my priority list than spending time with him. Investing time to build relationships requires that we unplug from distractions and enter into our children’s worlds. In the early years, this means joining them on the floor–pushing cars, playing games, building forts with the couch cushions. As they age and join sports or social activities, we have to be intentional and plan time to show them how much we value them.

So today I challenge you: Choose to play.

Invest the time it takes to build intimacy in your relationship. Trade in one thing on your To Do List for a chance to make memories and deepen your relationship with your son.  It doesn’t have to be big–blow bubbles, run through the sprinkler, challenge them to a video game, read an extra book at bedtime…anything!  Let’s count the cost and invest in our children first. Trust me, the dishes will still be there waiting.


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Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Garden of Your Mind

The video is really cool, and I love the C.S. Lewis quote.

From Food Renegade:The Garden of Your Mind:

I saw a video on YouTube last week. I watched it once. Then again. Then again. I'm officially addicted to it. It's a digital re-mix of Mr. Rogers. You remember his PBS show, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood? Well, John D. Boswell of Symphony of Science took some of the most profound things that Mr. Rogers ever had to teach us and set it all to music, then arranged it in a beautiful video for PBS Digital Solutions.
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A bad attitude is like a flat tire…

From Money Saving Mom:

A bad attitude is like a flat tire…:
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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

How to Raise Prince Charming to Save Damsels in Distress

From MOB Society:

How to Raise Prince Charming to Save Damsels in Distress:
Recently, I went to a movie at the dollar theater with a couple of friends. Several people had told us it would be a good and entertaining two hours.
It was fun, entertaining, filled with innocent laughs and punch lines. Good, though? Not so much. We were taken by surprise by an unnecessarily sexual scene involving two girls.
As I walked out of the theater later that evening, my heart started to break. It was not just because I had been surprised by a raunchy scene (note to self: spend more time reading PluggedIn before the next movie). I was heartbroken because of the two young actresses who had given part of themselves away for a few seconds of attention.
I wondered how those two actresses–those two girls–had reached a point in their young lives where they would allow themselves to be so demeaned for a few measly minutes of screen time.
Perhaps it’s not so surprising, though. Turn on the TV and you will be bombarded by sexual overtones and undertones filling your screen and speakers. Check out at the supermarket and highly sexualized magzaine covers placed at eye level will compete for your eyes. Drive down a billboard-infested strip of highway but keep your eyes on the road!
I’m not even talking about pornography, but just all the subtle messages in the broader, “civilized” culture where we live, work, and play every day. How can we counteract the strong, demeaning, and damaging messages that saturate our culture and affect how young girls think about themselves and their place in the world.
The answer I think is–we get our young men involved.
#mobsociety
“Nathan,” you may be thinking, “I am a Mother Of Boys. I’m not here to read about girls. I’m trying to protect my boys from the perverted view of girls and sex out there! What does this have to do with me and my boys?”
Everything.
It is perfectly understandable that your first concern is to protect your boys from the sexualized influences of our culture. A good defense must be your first line of action. Controlling TV and computer, and avoiding other exposure is wise. However, you can’t just medicate a symptom and avoid the underlying illness.
When I was about five years old, my mom was driving me home from an afternoon activity. We passed a billboard emblazoned with a women wearing clothing that left very little to the imagination. In my little heart I knew something was wrong, so I asked my mom why I felt this way, why was I sad.
My mom did not react and make me feel bad because I had seen a lewd picture. She gently explained that the model on that billboard just had not had someone in her life to teach her how beautiful she was to God. She dressed that way because she had listened to the perverted message of culture, but not to the pure message of someone who loved her just as she was, and because of who she was. She felt sorry for the girl, just as I felt sorry for the girls in the film. Even at a young age, my mom’s words made sense to me.
The problem wasn’t just that the billboard was there. No mother will be able to hide every billboard, magazine cover, or commercial. The problem was also the message behind it that needed to be explained. Rather than making me feel guilty for seeing it, my mother talked to me about the truth behind the billboard.
And that’s where you, Mothers of Boys, come in. Of course you want to protect your boys from being exposed to sexualized images that pervert the real value and divine dignity of a woman. That’s important. But what is the best way to do that?
Here’s what I think. Even at a young age, boys can learn to value and appreciate women as special creations of God. Boys are capable of understanding that they should love, serve, and protect girls in their lives. It is easy, as a parent, to react against culture’s billboards about women and inadvertently create fear in your boy’s heart and mind about women. Instead, they need to hear the positive message that God has given them, even as young boys, the noble responsibility to guard and protect girls.
I think the biggest impact we can make on the world’s distorted and dangerous views of sexuality will come from training our young men to love women with true authentic love.
If you do that, perhaps the girl that your boy loves, honors, and protects will be able to reject the perverted view that culture promotes simply because she will have someone telling her that she is loved just as she is, and that she is special because God made her. Because of your boys’ respect, perhaps she will feel secure, with a sense of self worth and a confidence to reject the temptation to seek attention in inappropriate ways. Maybe your boy’s properly trained attitude and words will save a girl from the destructive path of culture. You can make a difference in a girl’s life by training your boy.
When you teach your boy to respect girls, you are showing them how to love them in the same way that God loves them. And that’s what makes it worth getting involved.

How can you instill a positive attitude about girls and women in your boy’s heart and mind? How can you train your boy to be a potential lifesaver because of his respect for women?


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Lord, please bless the person preparing to download Hope for the Weary Mom right now. Would You send Your peace and prepare his/her heart to receive your hope? Give them strength to walk through their days, courage to look to You, and faith that remains unshakable. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

To download your free copy of Hope for the Weary Mom click here. Your PDF eBook should automatically download to your computer.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Fighting Sin with Scripture

From the MOB Society: Fighting Sin with Scripture:

About a year ago, my son came running into the room, screaming, “Quick Mom! I need a Bible! I feel sin in my heart and I need to fight it!” He had learned about the temptation of Jesus in church that week and the Holy Spirit was working in his little heart and mind – helping him to realize his sinfulness and the need to fight it. He hadn’t learned to read yet, but he knew that the Bible was what he needed to fight sin.


Psalm 23


Now, a year has passed and I had forgotten about this precious moment. My son had been getting into trouble at preschool for not listening to the teacher and distracting his friends. For several weeks, notes were coming home in his folder telling me that he was struggling to obey the rules. So, we talked about his behavior. We prayed. We practiced the right way to behave. And as the notes kept coming, my patience grew smaller. Instead of looking at the heart issue of what was going on, I began to focus on simply changing his behavior. So I took away his legos. And the Wii. And I began to speak harshly. My desire for him to be liked by his teacher and be the “good kid” in school overshadowed my desire to engage his heart with the gospel.


Would you like to guess what his lesson was about at church this week? The temptation of Jesus. Once again, he and I were both reminded of how Jesus was able to withstand the temptation of Satan without sinning. Jesus used the Scriptures! More than my son needed to hear this story again, I needed to hear this story again. So, today we got out the Bible and found verses for us to memorize that will hopefully help him to remember Jesus. He will go to preschool tomorrow. Maybe he will do a better job of following the rules. Maybe he won’t. But I can guarantee this: tomorrow, we will both work to hide God’s word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him. My son will try to not sin against his teacher and his classmates. And I will try not to sin against my son by focusing on behavior modification instead of his heart.


Q. What are some ways you’ve found to focus on your boy’s heart recently?


*******

Don’t forget to join Brooke McGlothlin (MOB Society) and Stacey Thacker (MOD Squad) in tonight’s Weary Mom Kitchen Table Talk on Spreecast! We’re starting a 9 PM EST and will talk about your prayer life, and your “one” thing.



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Lord, please bless the person preparing to download Hope for the Weary Mom right now. Would You send Your peace and prepare his/her heart to receive your hope? Give them strength to walk through their days, courage to look to You, and faith that remains unshakable. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.



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Monday, February 20, 2012

A “100 Things” Decluttering Challenge

From Money Saving Mom: A “100 Things” Decluttering Challenge:


Guest post from Deborah


My husband and I own a smaller home — around 1000 square feet with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. We don’t have children or hobbies that contribute to owning a great amount of stuff, but somehow the stuff seems to accumulate on its own!


The stuff seems to come into the home from several places:




  • I’m a librarian and my husband is a history professor — we receive many, many books that we won’t read.



  • My family is wonderful at giving items to each other for no reason — because we don’t want to throw them away!



  • As a professor, my husband often receives small gifts from students.



  • Friends often give us things that they think we’ll enjoy… and then those items sit in a closet or a cabinet for months without being touched.


I know we are blessed to receive so many free items from different people — but quite often, these items just sit around the house, gathering dust. It never seems to be enough stuff to have a yard sale, and nothing is usually worth enough to sell through Craigslist.


So once a year, and sometimes twice if I feel the house is getting cluttered, I do a “100 Things” project on a weekend.


It’s quite simple: I must find 100 things to get rid of in some way.


It might be a book I know I’ll never read. It might be a pair of holey socks tucked deep in a drawer that simply needs to be re-purposed as a dust rag or thrown away. It might be a stack of papers waiting to be filed. It might be a bunch of clothes I box up and take to Goodwill, or a box of magazines that I give away on Freecycle.


The bottom line is that 100 things need to leave my home or be put to some other use.


The last time I did this was in December of 2011. I gave away a box of 30 magazines to someone on Freecycle. I boxed up 20 books and donated them to a local organization hosting a book sale in order to raise money. I bagged up some clothing that we hadn’t worn in ages and sent them to Goodwill. When I pulled out the Christmas decorations, I went through everything and found broken items to throw away and other items to be sent to the local Goodwill store. And I always have a box in the garage ready to fill with random items to donate.


We are not big stuff collectors — but I’m always amazed at the amount of stuff I can get rid of once a year when I really try. And I always feel that my home is a little less cluttered at the end of a “100 things” weekend!




Have you ever tried decluttering 100 things?



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Intentionally Celebrating Lent & Easter as a Family

From Passionate Homemaking: Intentionally Celebrating Lent & Easter as a Family:


I have been convicted lately considering how much thought and intentionality I love to put into preparing our hearts for the birth of Christ during the Advent season and then how little thought I take to preparing for the ultimate accumulation of Christ’s life in his death and resurrection that is the focus of our Easter celebrations. It usually just comes upon me with little to no thought or preparation. In light of this, I felt like this was the year to begin cultivating more intentionality in celebrating this glorious occasion which is the foundation for our faith. I am beginning early by preparing a list of activities that our family could complete during the lent season of preparation. There are 40 days of Lent, which starts on Wednesday, February 22, this year. I have decided to compile these activities on cards that could be completed throughout this 40 day period. These activities are primarily for young children but could be adapted as necessary. Pick and chose any of these ideas for your own use as desired. I hope to do 2-3 of them each week during Lent.


1. Make a Jesus Tree.

During the Advent season, we like to make a Jesse tree with symbols representing stories throughout the Old Testament that led up to the birth of Christ Jesus. For Easter/Lent celebration, why not make a Jesus Tree with images or symbols from the life and death of Christ. Find ideas to make your own Jesus tree here or buy a complete kit here.


2. Start a Garden.

Start a garden indoors to help your children understand the death and rebirth of Christ. Plant little lettuce seeds or whatever seeds you desire. Explain how the planting symbolizes the death of Jesus and how the sprouting seed symbolizes His rebirth. When Easter arrives, transplant your seedlings to your yard.


3. Make pretzels.

Pretzels were a common fasting food among early Christians, and they were traditionally made of flour, water and salt. The shape of the simple food signifies the arms crossed in prayer. Share your pretzels with a neighbor or family you are seeking to reach out to.


4. Make hot cross buns.

Hot cross buns are also a traditional Lenten bread. Make some with your children while explaining how they are important in the celebration of Lent. The buns may have originated in the 12th century, and the frosting is applied as a cross. Younger children can make simple, bread-shaped crosses to give to grandparents, friends and other family members.


5. Make Easter Story Cookies.


6. Make a Salt Dough Crown of Thorns.


7. Make a “Stained Glass” Cross.


8. Encourage a Heart for World Prayer.

Lent is a season of focused preparation and a great opportunity to focus on praying for the world around us. Traditionally, the first Friday in Lent is celebrated as a World Day of Prayer. Chose a continent to focus on during each week leading up to Easter.


9. Take a Nature Walk and collect items that remind you of the life of Jesus.

Two sticks could be used to form a cross, a stone could represent the stone across the tomb, a thorn could represent the crown on Jesus’ head, an acorn shell to represent the cup at the Last Supper, long branch to represent a whip, etc. You could also make this an scavenger hunt for these items especially for the little ones.


10. Have a foot washing for your family.

Discuss how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and commanded them to love one another (John 13:34-35).


11. Read an Easter related book. (See recommendations below)


12. Paint your doorpost for Passover.

Allow your kids to paint red paint on the (paper covered) doorpost to a particular room or the front door of your home to represent the Passover. Read Exodus 12:1-42. Explain Christ’s death as the ultimate sacrifice for sin and discuss the significance of God giving up His firstborn son.


13. Help your child understand that Jesus was called “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7-8). Make a lamb craft project with your kids by gluing cotton balls to a paper plate, then add pink and black construction paper eyes, ears, muzzle, nose and hooves.


14. Discuss as a family something that you could give up and give to another or use the money saved on that regular purchase to give to a charity ministry.


15. Listen to Handel’s Messiah.


16. Make a “He Is Risen” or “Our Redeemer Lives” poster and hang in a prominent place in your home.


17. Bake something for a shut-in or needy family.


18. Make palm leaf crosses.


19. Act out the “parade” of Palm Sunday as a family.

Take turns being the donkey, Jesus, and the part of the crowd. “Hosanna” means “Save us, we beseech thee.”


20. Dye Easter eggs and discuss the new life that has been a symbol of spring since ancient times. Discuss the “new life” that we experience in Christ.


21. Make a sand craft.

Sand is a Lent symbol of how God led the Israelites in their journey in the desert and how Jesus faced temptations for 40 days in the dessert.


22. Collect purple things from around your home.

Discuss how purple is the color of Lent. Purple symbolizes the pain and suffering leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. It is also the color of royalty and symbolizes the kingship of Jesus in our lives. Wear something purple for the day.


23. Make a Jesus is Risen Tomb Craft. Discuss the significance of Christ’s resurrection.


24. Watch The Passion or Animated Passion as appropriate for your family.


Sources:



Christian Lent Activities for Children



Great Books/Resources for Easter:


The Animated Passion Film

The Passion Film

The Gospel of John film (this is our favorite adaption of the life of Jesus)

A Family Journey with Jesus Through Lent: Devotions and Activities for Each Day (We will be using this resource for family reading/devotion time this year)

The Very First Easter

The Tale of Three Trees

Benjamin’s Box (best used with the Resurrection Egg symbols)

The Legend of the Easter Egg

Resurrection Eggs – we have used these cute visual and select Scripture passages for meaningful discussion on Easter. Hide them and have kids find them and open one by one as you retell the story.

Felt Easter Banner – check our the Heart Felt Truths etsy shop for this fun homemade easter banner that provides you with meaningful visuals for Holy Week with felt icons and Scriptures passages for discussion. Very cute! Make your own instructions here.


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Thursday, February 16, 2012

How I Purged 91% of Our Stuff

From Money Saving Mom: How I Purged 91% of Our Stuff:


Guest post from Sara of Traveling PhoBlog WriPher:


If there were a competition for de-cluttering, I’d be the winner. I picture a Biggest Loser-style competition. Confetti would fall onto my smiling face immediately after they shouted “Sara Bell, you got rid of 91% of your personal belongings. You are the biggest de-clutter-er!”


No, really. I got rid of 91% of my personal belongings.


My husband and I love to travel, so we decided to move into a trailer and travel all over the U.S and Canada. At the time, we lived in a two-bedroom condo with a garage so we knew we’d have a lot to get rid of. We just had no idea just how much!


Here’s how we did it…


1. Get rid of multiples.


Do we really need two TVs when only one of us actually watches TV? No. Then do we really need two DVD players? No. Since our laptop plays DVDs and our Xbox is always hooked up to the TV, do we need a DVD player at all? No.


Do we really need a desktop computer when we are usually just on the laptop? No. Do we really need two bookshelves when neither is completely full and one is a little rickety? No. Do I really need five of the same-sized sauce pan when there are only four burners on my stove any ways? NO.


Once you’ve done that, congratulate yourself!


2. Get rid of the things you don’t/won’t use.


That vase was a gift but I think it’s ugly. I have hated every book I’ve attempted to read by that author, yet I still have three more of his/her books on my shelf. That dress hasn’t fit me since I was in high school. I don’t know whose that is, but I’m pretty sure it’s not even mine.


All of it has to go!



3. Get over it.


Yes this part is the hardest part, especially for me since I am a very sentimental person. I was crying during half of my de-cluttering process because I felt guilty for getting rid of things someone gave me.


I had movie ticket stubs dating back to 2002. I had sweaters I’d hated from the moment I’d unwrapped them, many with the tag still intact. I had colorful scribbles drawn by kids whose last names I couldn’t even remember. I had 24 notes from my little sister-in-law, even though they all say the exact same three sentences on them.


When I couldn’t bring myself to throw something away, I’d tell my husband. Some of the things he’d look at and say “See if your parents will store it.” Some he’d look at and say, “Just keep that.” Some he’d look at and say “You’re joking, right? Throw that away right now.”


If you can’t throw a lot of it away, have a friend or family member do that with you. They don’t have the strange emotional ties to the object that you do, so they’ll be able to logically see if it’s something you’ll regret throwing away or if it’s garbage.


4. Sell that junk!


We gave our friends and family members a lot of things — especially our furniture. We put many of pricier items up on Craigslist… and we had a big garage sale. Anything we couldn’t sell we either gave to Goodwill or threw away.


We didn’t bring anything back into our house once it was out in that driveway.



5. Don’t buy more.


Now I’ve trained myself not to buy things I don’t need. 91% of my belongings were things I didn’t really care about getting rid of. 91% of the things I’d spent money on were things I didn’t mind throwing away.


I don’t buy clutter anymore, so I have more money to experience life with. I don’t have a ton of clutter all over my tiny little trailer, so I don’t have much tidying up to do and I don’t really feel any stress in that area. I de-clutter again on the first of every month… but I have to tell you, I de-clutter less and less every month and I think you will too.


Sara Bell is a 20-something currently residing in Prescott, Arizona. When she isn’t bargain-shopping or cooking, she loves reading, writing, knitting, and photography. She and her husband recently moved into a trailer so they can travel the U.S. in it. You can read about their adventures on her blog, The Traveling PhoBlogWriPher.


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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Establishing A Family Service Night

From Passionate Homemaking: Establishing A Family Service Night:

One of my goals for this year was to establish a monthly service night where we could work together with our children to serve others around us. I passionately desire to be participating in the Great Comission in simple and practical ways. I desire that our children can have real life tangible activities to be the hands and feet of Christ to those around us and to the nations. But at the same time I knew it is easy to get consumed in ministry and leave our families behind. My goal this year was to establish a night in which we could serve others in a doable manner. I don’t want to add a huge project to my plate, but still practically encourage a heart for service to others in our hearts, both my husband and I, and our children. I am so thankful for the inspiration of Kristen at We Are that Family who recently compiled an excellent resource called 100+ Ways Your Family Can Make A Difference. This list has so many wonderful ideas for your family!


This year our family is setting aside the 4th Friday of every month to be our family service night. These are the ideas we will be doing throughout the year, Lord willing. For February we are doing our service project for Valentine’s Day (today)!


1. Make Valentine’s Gifts for the elderly at our local care center.

2. Send a care package to our military.

3. Collect shoes for Shoes for Kids (visit our local consignment stores, Goodwill, etc. to collect shoes).

4. Buy McDonald’s gift cards and distribute to the homeless on street corners.

5. Collect items for restoration bags for girls coming out of trafficking.

6. Donate school supplies to a classroom in need (contact local school for specific needs here in our community).

7. Prepare New Mommy Blessings bags for our local Pregnancy Resource Center (newborn baby supplies (diapers, rash cream, toy, gender neutral outfit, burp cloth), new mom care items (nipple cream, lotions, etc), wrapped in a cute baby blanket or receiving blanket)k

8. Decorate our local Elder care center with homemade art work.

9. Bake cookies for our local Fire Department.

10. Pick up trash at local park as a family field trip.

11. Fill Action Packs for the persecuted church (via Voice of the Martyrs).

12. Make a baby care kit for a baby in need.

13. Fill Operation Christmas Child boxes.

14. Adopt an foster child for Christmas through Angel Tree.


Want to join us in establishing a fun family service night at your home? I will be sharing our adventures with you all as the year continues!


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  • Jenuinely Pure -Organic products for the body, face, home and baby

  • Paula's Bread -Kitchen appliances and safe tools for all your homemade health adventures



  • Tell Your Time - How to Schedule Your Time to Live Your Life Fulfilled eBook





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