Being productive is one of the drums I beat all the time, but there is a huge difference between being productive and being busy. We cannot be busy for the sake of activity, our busyness must have a purpose. Busyness: 1. the quality or condition of being busy. 2. lively but meaningl
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The QBQ!!! I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is a fast read with short chapters that stress the importance of personal accountability. Although the book is focused on personal accountability at work it bleeds into EVERY area of life! I think this a great book to use at your dinner ta
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Being a wife and mom is a full time job, so trying to build a business or even just trying to bring a few extra dollars into the home can be a major stress. If you are trying to figure out how in the world you are going to add one more thing to your schedule, but you know you need to do something
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The best way to learn how to be successful is to watch, listen and learn from those who have succeeded. If at all possible spending one on one time is best, but in most cases we need to read from and about them. Choose carefully who you spend time with, whether that be in person or through books. B
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Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens Here is an excellent resource for parenting teens. You can get it for under $3 (plus shipping) at Amazon. Shepherding a Child's Heart This one is great if you are trying to win the heart of a younger child.
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Last week our girls were at the Student World View Conference. The speakers were fantastic and the girls came home with so many nuggets of truth! After dealing with rebellion from our older two I do not take for granted that any of our children have a desire to grow spiritually, it is a beautiful th
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Before we had kids I was an expert on children! Yep...it's true! THEN God gave me some and I repent and confess I know very little! I think part of my ignorance was because I had two siblings growing up and I was at a baby sitter or at school for the majority of my childhood. Both my parents worked
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One of my FAVORITE books, although it is a hard read emotionally, The Hiding Place, is FREE this month at Christian Audio. This is a good audio to load, don't miss it! This is a MUST read (listen).
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One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are The girls and I are reading One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp, I don't even know the words to explain how this book has touched me to the core and has awaken such beauty and gratitude in EVERY situation. One of my daughters that is no
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One of my New Years Resolutions was to read all the way through the Bible this year, which I resolve to do every year but have never done it, usually because I get bogged down in Leviticus and Numbers and skip through that stuff. This year I am reading and listening at the same time online which has
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If only we had been taught this stuff when our family was younger. We were not even taught Biblical principles for the family after we were saved and in church EVERY Sunday and Wednesday! Yes, we did have the Bible, but good, solid teaching is also important! Say what you will about the evils of
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Fellowship is important! No matter how old you are, who you choose for friends makes a difference in your life. Who you choose to get advice from not only affects you, but it affects your marriage and your children. Ladies, if you choose friends that are critical and contentious, if they gossip
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I feel like I'm in this in-between-stage of life. The bulk of my parenting/child training is over, my youngest is almost 17, while my other children are 20 and over. I mostly listen now and give advice when it is asked for...or if I can't bite my tongue any longer. ;o) God's providence for us
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Part of my 2011 list of goals is to grow in wisdom. The best way to do this is to know God's word. This year I want to read through the Bible chronologically. I found this neat site that offers different translations and plans. 5 Bible Reading Plans in Over 50 Translations . . . Start Reading on
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There is no easy time to raise children ( or be married, or grow up, etc...). Every era has it's struggles; there in nothing new under the sun. I've been on a big Waltons (yes, the old TV series) kick lately. I have all the seasons lined up in our Netflix box; each disc has 3 episodes on it. I star
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"Do everything without complaining or arguing..." Philippians 2:14 Whining children grow up to be adults that complain about everyone and everything! For some reason (selfishness...pride...covetousness) they think they deserve more. Make your home a whine free zone...starting with Mom. Moms ma
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Our greatest resource, and possibly the most abused, is TIME! One of the lessons that were taught to me early on in my homeschooling days (almost 18 years ago!) was because of our freedom, and not being limited to someone else's agenda, that it was easy to get over committed and overwhelmed w
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I love your website! It really reflects how I would ideally like to raise my children. Though I am not nearly as adept when it comes to preparing my children with these life skills I feel hopeful that I can learn to incorporate these skills into our family's lives, even if it means having t
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This week has been a trying one for our family and those we love. There are many needs around us and we try to discern what is most needful. Here we are at week 3 of the new school year and we are already having to take the week off. We have family from out of state visiting this week, that alone b
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For those of you that live close by, we have a dear friend that is giving computer classes (He really knows his stuff!) . If you are interested, just e-mail me and I'll point you in the right dorection! How to Start a Website - The Basics of Building Your Own (Saturday, June 19th - 9:00am - 11
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The most neglected mission field is the home. With such a fast paced, BUSY culture the experience of a peaceful home is almost nonexistent. I had the privilege of hearing Devi Titus at the True Woman Conference a couple months ago. She was such a source of wisdom and encouragement. I bought
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Those of you that have been reading my blog for a while know that our daughter Olivia (19), is serving as a governess to a 13 year old girl whose mom died from cancer last summer (she was a friend of mine). Olivia lives about an hour away and comes home on the weekends. It's been a bitter sweet thin
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Guest post from our daughter Olivia: "I just don't have a green thumb! I wish I did but I just kill everything!" The lady said flippantly as I stood in line. "It's not really that hard," I replied, "just follow the directions." "I just can't cook! I wish I could, but I ruin every
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Am I raising my children to whine about some work load they have, or am I raising them to delight in being used up for Him? Am I teaching them that “to save your life you must lose it”? Am I reading about and pointing to the heroes of the faith for them to emulate? Am I te
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Check out our interview with Kevin Swanson, of Generations with Vision Radio, Preparing Your Children for 98% of Life. The interview was also aired on The Homeschool Channel. Listen to the interview HERE.
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On the post Manly and Respectful Boys Trisha asked: "I was wondering what makes you say that books make more of an impression than movies? I hope that’s true, but I’d love to hear what makes you think that." When you read a good book it will draw you into another world for hours and even days.
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We all want to give our children a good start in life and that includes the skills and character they will need for marriage and family life. A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Proverbs 31:10 The normative is that most women will get marrie
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When I think back on all of the years of Christmas shopping, years of spending WAY TOO MUCH and even going into debt to make sure the kids had a "good Christmas", I want to kick myself! Foolish? Yes! Do I regret it? Yes! I think of all of the things that I bought that were so temporal, many things
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I do not know anything about this school, but the message in this video clip is so on target! What will you have to show for your time? How is your "weighty character"? So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12
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I saw this story over the weekend about a man that actually stabbed himself to get out of going to work (see video clip here)! How incredibly sad that someone would go to such great pain to avoid work! It made me think of when I was a kid and would pretend to be sick to avoid going to sch
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I received this question from a reader: I have a question for you (and pardon me if I have overlooked something regarding this issue that you may have already put up on your website): are there any good children's books (for toddlers and the very young) that emphasize children helping mom
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I received this e-mail from a brokenhearted mom. Unfortunately, her problem is a common one. I always hesitate to advise in these situations because I'm only hearing one side. So let's look at her situation from her point of view. She writes: st1\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#ieooui)
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...let's get down to the nitty-gritty of parenting. Having your child work along side you is such a great time to know your child in a way you normally wouldn't. When you have to tackle a task together (outside the normal make you bed kind of stuff), where you depend on each other to do
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Here is a guest post from Olivia. Why is it so important that Christians have a good education; that they are aware of what is going on in the world around them and that they know how to be practical? Our culture would like to divide these two groups: Work
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Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. Ecclesiastes 9:10 We all have work to be doing, so let's do it will all our might!
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I try to read a chapter of Proverbs every morning. I'm thinking if I were to heed the truths in Proverbs more often I'd avoid a lot of heartache and frustration. :o) How easily I forget or reason out why to do what is contrary. In light of yesterday's post about Responsibility and not
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Character is built from the inside out. Remember the home has the strongest influence: school and church only supplement that. Your own behavior is the strongest influence your child has. The way to keep out evil is to fill the mind and the time with wholesome, interesting thou
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"It is neither wealth nor splendor, 0 but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness." ~Thomas Jefferson True tranquility can only come from God, it's called Peace. We all have a void in our lives that can only be filled with God. Peace comes from knowing that God is
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Michelle at She Looketh Well is throwing a Titus 2 Blog Party this week! The idea is to introduce ladies to other blogs designed to encourage and strengthen the Titus 2 woman. Be sure to go over and browse the list of blogs! She also asked us to write an introduction of our blog for the new
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In light of our recent topic of teaching responsibility to boys, I have to share with you a family that we know personally. They are doing a fantastic job of raising their children to be givers, not takers. I am especially impressed how their oldest son is taking on more and more responsibility
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I really enjoyed reading my friend Kelly's blog today. Her children are some the most well-behaved children you'll ever meet...oh and they are SO FUNNY! I loved looking at the picture of them making dumplings. It reminded me of the days when my kids were little, I always let them hav
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This month we will be discussing the character trait of responsibility. We, adults and children, need to be responsible for every deed, word, thought, attitude and motive. When it comes to teaching our children it is important to clearly define and exhibit what is expected of them, and
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I got this idea from my friend Kelly. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! I think we'll do this this evening, what a great way to bring in the new year. Kelly writes: One year, we made an acronym from our last name, "Crawford". Each letter stood for a character trait that we wanted to emu
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We are strong believers in the entrepreneur spirit! We are always looking for ways to make a profit from home, which is not always in the form of money. We want our children to know about all aspects of business. Hopefully our children will have built their own bu
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Yesterday we received our new puppy. Now isn't he adorable?! He will be Emma's responsibility to train. Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan: Power of the Pack Training a puppy is good training for future parenting. Those pups are a lot smarter t
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Whether it be items to make as gifts or items to sell there are all sorts of things that can be made right from home, thus making money and saving money. Today begins a new series called Make It, Give It, or Sell It! With the holiday season knocking at our door there may some things yo
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In God's sovereignty He has chosen not to give us a house full of children, although I am VERY THANKFUL for the ones He has given me. But now that they are about all grown up I miss having little ones. Because God is so gracious to us, He has placed us in a wonderful church and given
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Last night we watched a neat documentary about the Amish people, The Amish: A People of Preservation. No they are not perfect and yes, they are legalistic in many ways. Say what you will about them, but we can learn a lot from them about teaching our children and enjoying our families, not to menti
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We are excited to share our interview for Simple Times with all of you. This is a section in a statewide magazine here in Alabama. We are very humbled by Mrs. Geno's article about us. She also did the article that our girls were in last month HERE. Here is part of the article by Suzy Lowe
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Our family's choice:
“Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”
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