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inspirational blogger
Thanks go to my friend De’Etta for passing the Inspirational Blogger Award to me. I’m humbled that anyone would find anything inspirational about my blog ~ it’s definitely not me but the Holy Spirit! The funny thing is, I’m usually inspired by something De’Etta has posted! LOL
Now I have the pleasure of passing along the Writer’s Reviews Blogger Awards to 5 blogs/bloggers of my choosing (click here to see “the official rules”). This is not an easy task! There are so many inspirational, courageous, charity, thoughtful and/or creative bloggers out there. It’s hard to believe these “awards” have only been in existence since July 4, 2007 ~ I think at least half of the blogs I read on a regular basis have been given these awards already!
1. Meredith at Life at 7000 Feet ~ a mountain girl with altitude : I came across Meredith’s blog by way of another blog. I immediately realized that Meredith and I have quite a bit in common. I emailed her, and we’ve been email pals ever since. She pops in on my blog occasionally, and I pop in on hers too. I have learned about her and her family by way of her blog. Meredith’s fun outlook on life and her willingness to be real on her blog, warts and all, consistently inspire me and cause me to re-examine my relationship with the Lord (not to mention the fact that I’m just plain jealous that she gets to live in Colorado!).
2. Tamara at Training Hearts ~ Tamara could easily be awarded both the Inspirational Blogger Award and the Courageous Blogger Award; I’ll let her choose which one she would like to display on her blog. Tamara’s sweet spirit, love for the Lord, love for her family, her heart for homeschooling and her desire to share her talents are so evident within her blog design and her posts. Tamara has faced great pain in her personal life; she’s not afraid to share what she has learned by way of her suffering, and she offers solace and hope to others who experience similar pain.
3. Alycia at Where My Treasures Are ~ Alycia’s blog is another one I found through a link on someone else’s blog. As a sister military wife, I understand well the lifestyle Alycia and her family are currently living. I remember vividly what it was like to have a husband who was away from home frequently while our children were little. Alycia is also a sister in Christ and a sister homeschooler. Alycia’s faith is unmistakable ~ and I think she handles homeschooling small children while hubby’s TDY better than I ever did!
4. Angela at The Potter’s Hand ~ Whenever I need a chuckle, I can count on Angela’s blog to provide it. The really great thing about Angela’s blog is that while she never fails to pick me up, she consistently points me back to the Lord. She writes about homeschooling, coffee, her relationships with others, decorating, coffee, being thrifty, studying God’s Word, and did I mention coffee? 
(BTW Angela, I’m with ya on not being too happy with Starbucks lately!)
5. Joy at Joy in the Journey ~ Joy currently lives in Indonesia with her husband and children. She and her family are missionaries there. Joy has an incredibly sweet spirit that shines through in all of her posts. She has an amazing heart for God, and she so desires to serve Him by ministering to His people. She relates well with those who read her blog, whether she knows them personally or not. I have been so blessed just from reading her posts and observing her desire to care for others and spread the Gospel.
I encourage you to read all of the above-mentioned blogs. There are so many more that I could list ~ and I’ve only touched on ONE of the Writer’s Reviews Blog Awards! If I listed all of the blogs that came to mind under each of the headings, I’d be sitting at my desk writing for at least the rest of the day.
Thanks again, De’Etta, for thinking of me. And thank you to Christy, creator of the Writer’s Reviews Blog Awards, for the chance to recognize bloggers who make the blogosphere a better place.
Fruitful Friday
I had a lovely time this week emailing with each of The Fruit of the Spirit nominees. Please visit these blogs, and leave them a comment to let them know you dropped by!
Scratchin’ the Surface ~ Bev
Laurel Wreath ~ Laurel
In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 ~ Amy (Amy has been moving all week, so she hasn’t been able to put the graphic on her site yet.)
Shortybears Place ~ Denise
Also, a quick note about The Fruit of the Spirit Blogs list ~ I’ve put it into a Blogrolling format, so if you would like to display the list on your blog it’s available. Just send me an email an let me know you’d like the blogrolling code.
Fruitful Friday
I’m so pleased to add these wonderful blogs to the list of The Fruit of the Spirit blogs. This week The Fruit of the Spirit graphic was added to 6 sites, including our first blog by young ladies (teenagers)! Please visit these blogs ~ you will be blessed. And don’t forget to leave a comment blessing the bloggers back!
Maidens of Worth (our first teen blog) ~ Anna and Miriam
Joy in the Journey ~ Joy
Blessed Mommy ~ Liz
A Chelsea Morning ~ Barb
A Path Made Straight ~ Elise
Reflecting Him ~ Jennifer
Fruitful Friday
I’m so pleased to add these wonderful blogs to the list of The Fruit of the Spirit blogs. This week The Fruit of the Spirit graphic was added to 6 sites, including our first blog by young ladies (teenagers)! Please visit these blogs ~ you will be blessed. And don’t forget to leave a comment blessing the bloggers back!
Maidens of Worth (our first teen blog) ~ Anna and Miriam
Joy in the Journey ~ Joy
Blessed Mommy ~ Liz
A Chelsea Morning ~ Barb
A Path Made Straight ~ Elise
Reflecting Him ~ Jennifer
thankful thursday
This is the first time I’ve ever participated in a meme. I’ve been reading lots of other people’s blogs for quite a while now ~ there are a LOT of memes out there! I’ve decided to participate in Thankful Thursdays ~ I thought it would be a good meme to participate in and see how things go.
I am thankful that my younger son was able to go on a mission trip with a small group from our church.
I’m thankful for adults on that mission trip who care about the kids and are willing to take on the responsibility of standing in for mom and dad (Sawyer doesn’t know this, but I contacted one of the adults on the trip to have them keep an eye on the cold Sawyer’s developing ~ he has such terrible asthma that even a little cold can turn into bronchitis or pneumonia overnight).
I’m thankful that Sawyer’s cold is so far just that ~ a cold.
I’m thankful to be married to the most wonderful man I know.
It’s 95 degrees here with 90% humidity ~ so today I’m extremely thankful for air conditioning!
I’m thankful to have a week to spend with my older son while my younger son is on the mission trip ~ Patrick will have to go back to school very soon, so it’s nice to have some time with just him.
I’m thankful for sweet friendships with people who encourage me in the Lord.
Thanks to Laurel at Laurel Wreath for hosting Thankful Thursday this week while Iris at Sting My Heart is on a little blogging break.
thankful thursday
This is the first time I’ve ever participated in a meme. I’ve been reading lots of other people’s blogs for quite a while now ~ there are a LOT of memes out there! I’ve decided to participate in Thankful Thursdays ~ I thought it would be a good meme to participate in and see how things go.
- I am thankful that my younger son was able to go on a mission trip with a small group from our church.
- I’m thankful for adults on that mission trip who care about the kids and are willing to take on the responsibility of standing in for mom and dad (Sawyer doesn’t know this, but I contacted one of the adults on the trip to have them keep an eye on the cold Sawyer’s developing ~ he has such terrible asthma that even a little cold can turn into bronchitis or pneumonia overnight).
- I’m thankful that Sawyer’s cold is so far just that ~ a cold.
- I’m thankful to be married to the most wonderful man I know.
- It’s 95 degrees here with 90% humidity ~ so today I’m extremely thankful for air conditioning!
- I’m thankful to have a week to spend with my older son while my younger son is on the mission trip ~ Patrick will have to go back to school very soon, so it’s nice to have some time with just him.
- I’m thankful for sweet friendships with people who encourage me in the Lord.
Thanks to Laurel at Laurel Wreath for hosting Thankful Thursday this week while Iris at Sting My Heart is on a little blogging break.
homeschool decisions
I think I have finally come to some decisions regarding what curricula we will use this coming school year. Some of the decisions were already made for me, based on what our homeschool co-op will be using. The biggest and hardest decision this year has been what history curriculum to use.
We have been die-hard Sonlight Curriculum users. Over the past few years, Sonlight has changed their curriculum a lot ~ to the point where many of my Sonlight-using friends switched curricula. The biggest complaint I heard from those friends was that Sonlight was really pushing the envelope as far as what is acceptable and what is not in the areas of literature and personal philosophy. Their argument is very valid. And I agree ~ Sonlight has gotten a bit too liberal in what books are included with the Core curriculum. But, even though I agree with those ex-Sonlight users, we’ve been able to weed out those things that we didn’t particularly like so that we could stick with Sonlight. Both of my boys are avid readers, and Sonlight has always fit us very well. This year, however, I’m going to stray from the norm and NOT buy a Sonlight curriculum. I want to study ancient history with Sawyer this school year. Sonlight doesn’t offer high school level in-depth ancient history. This past school year we completed yet another round of early American history ~ Sawyer’s going to pull all of his hair out if we don’t study something other than American history this coming school year!
It looks like we’ll be going with Beautiful Feet Books high school ancient history course. It will be a huge change for us to not have the Sonlight teacher’s manual there with everything already planned out for us. But Beautiful Feet Books offers a study guide and detailed study notes, as well as lesson plans, tests and test keys in their senior high ancient history pack.
At co-op we’ll be using Apologia Science Exploring Creation with Biology (including all of the fun labs, like dissection!), Bob Jones Spanish I, and Lightning Literature Early 19th Century British Literature. I toyed with the idea of getting Sonlight’s Survey of British Literature as our home history course, but I have a feeling that while I would love all of the books, Sawyer would be bored out of his mind.
Last year was our first year using a math curriculum other than Saxon Math. Sawyer used Teaching Textbook’s Algebra I and really enjoyed it. When we bought the curriculum at the beginning of this past school year Sawyer had high aspirations of completing Algebra I and Algebra II all in the same year, so we bought both of them. Sawyer only completed Algebra I last school year, which means we still have an unopened Algebra II package. However, after talking with several high school teachers I know, I’ve decided that Sawyer shouldn’t work on Algebra II this year; instead, he should do geometry, then come back to Algebra II next year. That means I’ll have to let the Algebra II package sit unused on the shelf another year. Oh well ~ at least next year we won’t have to purchase a math package! 
I’ve been homeschooling long enough that really all of this should be easy for me. It usually is. But for some reason this year I’ve had a hard time deciding what Sawyer and I should study. Now that I’ve done all of the research and actually made the decisions, I feel good about what we’ll be doing. I’m surprised by how much anxiety and indecision I experience leading up to these decisions, though. I haven’t been that unsure about our homeschool curriculum since Sawyer started kindergarten! (I already had a couple of years of homeschooling Patrick under my belt by the time Sawyer stared kindergarten.)
I think part of the reason it has been so difficult this year is that it’s the first time I’ve been completely on my own regarding homeschooling. Up until this year I had a homeschooling mentor who I really looked up to ~ she always helped me reason out what would be best for a particular school year based on that particular child and his strengths, weaknesses, abilities and needs. This year I haven’t had the benefit of consulting her (and that, in and of itself is a very long story ~ one that would be better suited for another day…).
I’m actually looking forward to getting back into the routine of the school year. Don’t get me wrong ~ I’m enjoying having time off from school with both boys home (at least they’ve been home parts of the summer). But the school year offers me a routine that rarely changes ~ I’m such a homebody that that kind of a routine is very comforting to me. And I enjoy seeing the other moms of our homeschool co-op ~ I’ve missed the comeraderie and fellowship we have every Tuesday.
For now, I guess I’d better take advantage of what’s left of the summer. Patrick has to be back at school August 4th; we’ll start homeschooling again August 21st with our first co-op meeting. Those dates are coming up quicker than I expected them to!
Fruitful Friday
This week The Fruit of the Spirit graphic has been accepted and displayed on an abundance of blogs. Please visit these lovely ladies’ blogs ~ you will be blessed. Let them know you visited by leaving them a comment ~ this will enable you to bless them back!
Mississippi Girl
My Home Sweet Home
Little Red Hearts from God
Your Word is Life to Me
Pearls of Wisdom
God is in Control…Not Me
Preschoolers and Peace
Showered with Grace
Through His Eyes
I am really enjoying all of The Fruit of the Spirit graphic nominations that are being sent in. I have discovered SO many new, interesting, beautiful and God honoring blogs! Keep sending those nominations ~ I know there are still a lot of other bloggers out there who would be encouraged by this graphic. Click here to email your nominations to me.
By the way, there’s no limit on how many blogs one person may nominate. If you frequently read 15 other blogs, and you believe every single one of them exemplifies the fruit of the Spirit in their writing, then by all means, please send me links to all 15 of them!
Fruitful Friday
I’m a little late in posting this ~ I apologize.
We had quite a few additions to The Fruit of the Spirit blogs this week. Be sure to visit them and leave a comment telling the blogger you visited!
A Pink Carnation In Bloom
Amy…Oh My!
Girlfriends in God
In the Grip of Grace
The Potter’s Hand
With Great Joy
Where My Treasures Are
I know there are a LOT more bloggers out there who would be so encouraged by being nominated to display this graphic. Please continue to send me your nominations ~ my email address is available towards the top of the left hand sidebar. I’m really looking forward to where God will take the graphic!
training hearts pledge
We are a Christian family desiring to raise our children with the primary focus of training their hearts.
I have no greater joy, than to hear my children walk in truth ~ 2John 1:4
Train up the child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it. ~ Proverbs 22:6Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! ~ Deuteronomy 5:29
In speaking with other parents about this subject, which is very near and dear to every parent’s heart, the main book I recommend regarding raising godly children is Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp. Actually, other than the Bible, it’s the only book I can fully recommend. There are other books that focus on a child’s heart ~ not just their behavior ~ but the one I have found to be the best and most Scripturally accurate is Shepherding a Child’s Heart. If you haven’t read it, please check your local library, or click here to purchase the book from Amazon.com.
If you would like to join me in making this pledge, click here to go to Training Hearts.