Some New Year Encouragement

Wow! The first week of the New Year is almost over!

It's been a busy one here. I would have to say it's gone fairly well, but it's had its challenges, too.

A new year always brings that feeling of excitement, new beginnings and clean slates with it--at least for me it does. But life isn't really like that, is it? You still have some of the same problems, same issues and, yes, the same people in the new year that you had in the old year, right?

I guess I've been feeling some negativity floating around this week and it has wearied me. And worried me.

Last night I decided to remind myself what God's Word says about *worry* and some of my very favorite verses jumped out at me. I actually have these verses matted and framed, but have failed to remember them lately. Isn't that typical of us? Well, I remembered them last night and they refreshed my spirit!

Just have to share them with you this morning:

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray.

Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers,

letting God know your concerns.

Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness,

everything coming together for good,

will come and settle you down.

It's wonderful what happens when

Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say

you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true,

noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—

the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly;

things to praise, not things to curse.

Philippians 4:6-8 (The Message)

How's that for encouragement?! I plan to put this verse into action today. I hope you will, too!

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

my blessed life

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