It’s been a super busy and tiring week — but a wonderful week as we are having VBS at our church this week.

As it is now past midnight, I will share a printable I made for MomStrong book study that we did last week. We had to skip this week due to VBS.

Last week, we finished chapters 8 and 9 of Becoming MomStrong. I really liked chapter 8, so I made this printable for the ladies. You can click HERE to print it off.

This chapter talks about how we must be strong enough to live out the truth, which means we must not be afraid to let others see our weaknesses. We have to live our lives in the light of God’s Word.

Yes, we are weak many times as moms, and only when we realize our weakness do we become strong through Him.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  2 Corinthiahs 12:9a

Heidi St. John also talks about how God must prune us before He can use us. Many times that means that He takes us through times of suffering so that we can be transformed when we allow God’s truth to shine onto our suffering. On the printable, I included many verses from John 15 as that chapter talks about how we must abide in Him if we are to bring forth fruit and to have fullness of joy.

The wonderful truth is that even in the bad times, even in the difficulties, even in the suffering, we can be assured of the fact that God is good! We can trust Him!

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

So during those difficulties and struggles, remember to keep your eyes on Him! He promises that His mercies are new every morning. He has proved that He is faithful. He tells us to abide in Him and we will experience fullness of joy. We just have to not get distracted by the cares of this world. Keep looking up instead of around!

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

1. 1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
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In  many of my Thoughtful Thursday posts, I’ve shared how I’ve been doing a mom’s book study in our church this summer. I am loving meeting with these ladies weekly and the encouragement we can get from each other.

This summer, we have been reading the book, Becoming MomStrong:  How to Fight with All That’s in You for Your Family & Your Faith by Heidi St. John.

I feel like every other chapter is one that I love. The other chapters are good, but probably resonate better with someone who has different life experiences than I have had.

In a previous post, I made a printable that I gave the ladies from chapters 1-3.

I did not make a printable for chapters 4-5, but I did love this quote from chapter 5:

Your great accomplishment may not be something you do but someone you raise. — Heidi St. John

I loved chapter 6 as it was on trusting God during the hard times and the trials we face.

All of us face hard times. Trials will come. How we respond to those trials will teach our kids whether or not we truly trust God. In all of the chapters, Heidi St. John brings us back to the fact that we need to have a strong relationship with God if we are going to raise strong kids. So in the hard times, we need to run to God and to the promises in His Word. Here are some of the references Heidi shared in the book that can help us during the tough times. I typed out the verses and shared them in another printable for my ladies so that they have a little “cheat sheet.” During those hard times, they now can run to the sheet and claim those promises and pray those verses to their God. You can print out the sheet at the bottom of the post.

Here are some verses you can claim during trials:

Go to God during your trials:

• I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Ps. 91:2
• The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid. Ps. 27:1
• Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Ps. 20:7
•  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. Ps. 28:7

Claim these promises when you are struggling:

• Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39
• Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11
• Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
• He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Isaiah 40:29
• But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Cor. 15:57
• Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Jn 14:27
• This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23

I also loved this quote from chapter 6:

God is big enough, wise enough, and good enough to be trusted. Heidi St. John

You can go HERE to print out the worksheet.

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

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It’s been an incredible busy week! We arrived home from our trip to Illinois, Michigan, and Canada (Niagara Falls) in the middle of the night Friday night. Saturday was spent unpacking, doing laundry, and getting ready for church on Sunday. I had my first Mom’s book study meeting on Tuesday morning, and I had to teach the children’s group on Wednesday. Plus there was the restocking of food supplies, dog-sitting responsibilities, getting my 8th grade daughter started on a FLVS (Florida Virtual School) Spanish I class, and trying to get my high school daughter finished with a few of her classes from last year.

For our Wednesday night children’s program, we are using a curriculum that talks about some super heroes of the faith. This week, the lesson was on Joseph.

The curriculum is very simplistic, and the lesson was only centered on one part of Joseph’s life; but the overall theme was that having faith in God means staying positive even when bad things happen to you. One idea the lesson gave was to start off with an object lesson of a half-full glass of water and ask the children if they saw a half-full glass or a half-empty glass. The half-full glass is the positive way to look at the glass.

I had the kids help share with me all the bad things they remembered that happened in Joseph’s life. I had prepared sentence strips to go in my pocket chart of 5 bad things that happened in Joseph’s life. As the children told me the different circumstances they remembered, I added them to the chart. Then, I went back and shared how we know from Scripture that Joseph stayed positive in all of those circumstances. I added the sentences that showed how Joseph stayed positive or trusted in God next to the bad circumstances. The bad circumstances I had printed on blue cardstock, and Joseph’s responses I had printed on green cardstock so the kids could easily see how Joseph responded positively to what we would consider awful things that happened to him.

Here are the five life bad life circumstances of Joseph that we talked about in class:

1. Joseph’s  mother probably died when we was a young boy. This can be debated, but the Bible says that Joseph’s mother died in childbirth when Benjamin was born. Many scholars believe that Joseph was around 4-7 years of age. Now Joseph is left without a mother and 10 brothers who do not like him. Of course the children did not think about this circumstance as this wasn’t talked about much in the Bible.
2. His half-brothers hated him because he was Jacob’s favorite son.
3. He was sold into slavery. (This was mentioned by the children — or that he was thrown into a pit.)
4. He was lied about by Potiphar’s wife and put into jail. (The children also mentioned his being put in jail.)
5. He was forgotten about by the cupbearer and had to remain two more years in jail after interpreting the cupbearer’s dream.

Next I showed some ways that we can see that Joseph was positive or showed that He trusted in God:

1. #1-2 go together. Even though he was motherless and even though he was hated by  his brothers, he stayed obedient to his father and was spiritually in a place where God could give him special dreams to show Joseph how God was going to use him one day. He didn’t get bitter, complain, and put himself in a position where God would not be able to use him. I read Genesis 37:13-17 where it showed his obedience to his father.
   Next to #1, I put the strip: “He was obedient.“
2. Next to #2, I put the strip: “He listened to the Lord.“
3. After he was sold into slavery, we know he stayed positive and trusted in God because we see the passage Genesis 39:2-5 where Potiphar’s house was blessed because of Joseph. Potiphar knew that God was with Joseph. Next to #3, I put the strip, “He trusted in God.“
4. Joseph trusted in God and did what was right even when he knew he could be killed. The punishment for being with the captain of the army’s wife was death! We did not go into detail here, but we did talk about how he knew that by not doing what Potiphar’s wife wanted him to do, he knew that he would be punished; yet he chose to obey God. I read the end of Genesis 39:9 and Genesis 39:21 and 23. Next to #4’s sentence strip, I placed the strip, “He did what was right.“
5. When the Pharaoh was finally told about Joseph, Joseph did not take the glory for being able to interpret the dreams. He immediately gave glory to the true super-hero, his God. I read Genesis 41:16 where Joseph gives God all the credit and then verse 38 which shows how Pharaoh realized that the Spirit of God was in Joseph. Next to #5, I placed the strip of words, “He gave glory to God.”

Under all of the strips, I put the final strip, “He stayed positive.” Then I quickly shared three sentences where Joseph actually speaks that show his positivism and trust in God:

1. He names his first son Manasseh which means, “God has made my forget my toil (work or hardship).” Here he is acknowledging that life had been hard, but that God was good to him and he could trust God to do what was right.
2. He names his second son Ephraim which means, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Again, we see his positive outlook on life. Even though he had been afflicted in Egypt, God made him to be fruitful or blessed.
3. When Joseph’s brothers were afraid that Joseph would harm them after their father died, Joseph tells them,

But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Here, he acknowledges that sinful people do harmful and evil things, yet God is in control and can be trusted to do what is right. He saw God’s positive plan in his life because he trusted God’s sovereignty in his life completely.

I closed the lesson by discussing that life is not always easy. There will be hard times. People may die when we are not ready for them to die. Car accidents happen; people get sick. Sometimes parents fight and maybe even get divorced. This world is a sinful place, and bad things do happen. However, God has a plan for our life and we need to trust Him and know that He loves us.

We finished the lesson with Romans 8:28. Then we went and did the coffee mug craft that you have probably seen on Pinterest. I bought 15 mugs at thrift stores, washed them in the dishwasher, bought some Sharpie oil based  markers, and had the children decorate their own mug. Every time they drink out of it, they were to remember that their cup was half-full and to be positive, to trust God even in the bad circumstances of life.

(If you want to do the craft, have the children decorate their mugs using the oil-based Sharpie markers and then bake in the oven at 250 degrees for 2 hours. I left them in the oven overnight after turning the oven off.)

If you would like to print out the sentence strips I used, you can access them HERE.

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
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Last week, I shared some printables HERE that we have been using this week to keep our focus on thankfulness.

This week, I made 5 more printable leaves you can use. Our kids are enjoying cutting them out, coloring them and hanging them on our walls. It is fast and easy to do!

This week’s verses I went back and looked at my old Thanksgiving posts and Thanksgiving printables. From those posts, I found these 5 verses to use on the leaves I am sharing this week. I hope you enjoy using them!

You can print these printables out HERE.

Today, you can also see my annual DIY Christmas gift round-up post. I have done it for 4 years now, and have compiled over 100 Christmas gifts that can be made for kids! There are also 25 other Christmas gift guides for kids linked up to that post.

I also shared on Wednesday about Money Saving  Mom’s 15 Days to a Healthier You course that was just revamped and relaunched. For today only, you can get it for $10!

Tomorrow, there will be a big Christmas cash giveaway going up, so come back and enter it! It’s a busy time of the year, but we have much for which we can be thankful.

Here are the rules for this linky:

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
2. Link up to three posts that have not been linked up to this linky previously!
3. We would love it if you visited a couple other posts and left a comment or shared/pinned the post!
4. If you include your e-mail in the linky form below you will be added to a weekly reminder e-mail when the link party goes live. Your e-mail will not to added to any other lists or given out.
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I love November because of the emphasis on being thankful.

For most of Americans, our children grow up in a privileged society taking what they have for granted. My children do; in fact, I often take my life for granted and find it easy to complain. Yet God wants us to be content with what we have and to rejoice even in tribulation. Every year, I like to take the month of November to focus on being thankful.

Even though I had done my own Thanksgiving printables a few years ago, I scoured the internet looking for easy Thanksgiving devotionals for our kids to use this month.

Here are a few resources I found:

• I found these easy devotions that I am retyping in a different format and using for my children.
• WriteShop has a really cute gratitude journal that I was able to download after subscribing to their emails. A pop-up should appear on the right hand of the screen.
• faithgateway has these printable verse cards that include a verse and a prompt for discussion.

Even though I have devotions the kids are doing for Thanksgiving, I wanted something they could continue to see after they did it. So I made these little leaves; and for six days, we will do one leaf a day and put them on the walls around our desks. Next week, I will try to make 6 different leaves.

You can download these leaves and use them for your own house or school by clicking on the picture below!

Some of my favorite posts from last week’s party:

• Acceptable in Your Sight by Happy Gentle Homestead
• The Bible is NOT a Buffet by Sarah E Koontz
• When God Provides in the Good and the Bad by Sun, Sparkle, Shine

Here are the rules for this linky:

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
2. Link up to three posts that have not been linked up to this linky previously!
3. We would love it if you visited a couple other posts and left a comment or shared/pinned the post!
4. If you include your e-mail in the linky form below you will be added to a weekly reminder e-mail when the link party goes live. Your e-mail will not to added to any other lists or given out.
5. If you wish, please follow Creative K Kids by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on social media.

If you link up, we would love if you put this button somewhere on your blog (sidebar, post, or party page) or provide a text link so that others can also find these great posts.

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I decided to go look at my old “thoughtful”  posts from February to see what I had already posted on love.

I found a post where I made some printables with some verses on love, and another post where I shared many verses that talk about God’s love.

Then I found this old post from 3 years ago that I never posted. I don’t know why it was never posted, when I had written the whole post and even added pictures and printables, but I want to share it with you today. 

This originally should have been posted a couple of weeks after Valentine’s Day, and I had titled it, “Love Does not Need to End Just Because Valentine’s Day is Over.” I left this the way I wrote it 3 years ago, and added a few notes on the bottom.

Last week, I was rebuked in my soul.

Family is very important to my husband and me.  Growing up, neither one of us came from a family that was financially wealthy, but we were rich in our family’s love for each other.  “Blood is thicker than water” was instilled in us at a very early age.

Now I am grown with five children of my own, and I have told people, “I may not have a lot of money, but I have five children.  We may not be able to retire in style, but that’s why we have five kids–they can take care of us!”

And I would get responses such as, “That’s not the way it  is anymore.”  “Kids don’t take care of their parents these days.”  

And I would vehemently oppose that.  I would think, “But it doesn’t have to be that way!”  

Now, I know of course that sometimes parents need more help than children can give and that it is in the parent’s best interest to get them some help. I am just opposed to the idea that children don’t want to mess up their lives to take care of aging parents.  I feel that it is my responsibility to do as much as I can to take care of the parents who invested their lives and money into the raising of my husband and me.

So I blithely continued on my way.  And then last week, I got a wake-up call.  

I decided to call my grandma who is 91.  She lives eight hours away from me and her son does a great job making sure her physical needs are met.  But while I’m on the call, she tells me that I am her favorite grandchild.  (Shh–don’t tell my sisters and cousins!)

Now probably part of the reason for this is because I went to stay with her for a couple months right after my grandpa died unexpectedly.  My grandma was only 64, and she had 50 cows to care for on the farm, hay growing up around her, fences that had to be mended, and she just lost the love of her life.  Her life had revolved around him for over 40 years, and now he was suddenly gone.  So as an eleven year old girl, I helped carry pails of water out to the barn dressed up in her old sweater.  We would go down in the basement and stack her wood for the next winter.  I would hold the hammer as she fixed the fence out in the hay fields.  We would take turns pushing that old push lawnmower around her huge yarn.  And we would play card games and make grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.  I gave her a reason to keep living–she just couldn’t stop as she had to take care of me.  She took me to church as she knew that is what my parents would have wanted–and she made new friends.

A few years ago, I also took care of her for a few weeks after she had been sick.  I was the only one able to do it, but the caretakers came in my house, and she always felt a little bad about that seeing I had 3 very small children at the time.

But another reason is that I call her periodically.  However, it had been two months since I had called her–and that smote me to think that she thought so highly of me, yet I was too busy to call my own grandmother who now is stuck in her house most of the week.  And I say that I expect my children to take care of me some day?

How do I pass on that love for the elderly, that love for family, if I talk the talk but do not walk the walk?

Well, we had already decided that we were going to go visit some Senior Citizens who live in a retirement center right by our house for Valentine’s Day.  I feel that my kids “get, get, get,” and that for Valentine’s Day, we should show some love to others that are not just their friends.  So we prepared a plate of goodies for the three apartments we were going to–and I packed a box of goodies to mail to my grandma.

We were able to go visit these people on the Monday before Valentine’s Day, and it was such a special occasion!  The one couple used to live in Germany. They were 13 years old when the war started.  I can’t wait to hear their story one day.  The other couple is close to 90 years old as well.  They had a display of shells and sea stars under glass that the kids loved seeing, and the last lady had a teacup Maltese that my kids absolutely adored.

To tell the truth, we got more of a blessing out of it than they did!  Two couples have already sent us Thank You notes–talk about good manners that are lost today as well!  

And what did we learn from it?  That love does not have to end just because Valentine’s Day is over.  We have already told them that we want to visit them more in the summer when we can have later nights and we can go outside (their apartments are small for 7 additional people–5 of them being rambunctious children!)  

I do not know for sure that my kids will care for me when I am older and frail, but I hope that they at least will have a love for the elderly and those who need help — and that is my job to teach right now!

It does not have to be complicated.  It can be just a conversation, a card, a phone call, or a hug.  When we went, I just took a paper plate, punched some holes in around the edge, ran some ribbon through the holes, and tied a bow at the top.  I tied it up in some basket cellophane wrap that I had and attached a tag I made.  I did not want my children to have the excuse that you have to go out and buy something big to go show love.  Even those who do not have much can be a blessing to others.

We can still show love to others all year long!

If you would like to print out these little cards for yourself,  just click on them!

Update to this post:

My grandma is still alive at 94, but doesn’t remember me unless she sees me as she has dementia. She is now in a nursing home as she needs too much care for her 70 year old son to give her. 

I called her recently and said, “This is Tammy — your favorite granddaughter!”  She said, “Well, I don’t know about that, but thanks for calling!” She still has a sense of humor even with her dementia. I don’t call her like I should. This post was a reminder of what I need to do as a daughter and granddaughter. 

The husband of the couple that I mentioned that we went to see from Germany just passed away a couple of weeks ago. What a sweet couple they were!

Now we live in Florida and are in a church that is comprised of 60% of the congregation being over the age of 65. Before Christmas, another mom and I were taking 1-2 of our children weekly to go visit different elderly people in our church who needed encouragement. They are so kind and loving and full of wisdom. We need to start going on visits again.  We also go swimming in a couple of the pools that are owned by elderly widows in our church. They have become 2nd moms/grandmas to our family. 

 

Things come and go. Relationships and people are what matter. Take time to nurture the people in your life!

Here are some other Valentine’s Day posts you may be interested in viewing:

• 75+ Free Printable Valentines
• 8 DIY Non-Food Valentines
• Printable Valentine Cards with Crayon Hearts 
• Printable Frozen Valentine’s Day Cards
• Easy Valentine’s Day Cookies
• Valentine Rice Krispie Treats
• Valentine Seven Layer Bars
• Cheap DIY Valentine’s Day Crafts with What You Already Have
• 9 Minute to Win It Games for Valentine’s Day

Here are a couple of posts I enjoyed last week:

• The Good Shepherd from MississippiMom.com
• Why You Need a Mommy Daughter’s Day and 75 Ideas for What to Do from Kandy Apple Mama
• Dealing with Disappointment from Jennifer Lambert
• The ONE thing I did that transformed my relationship with my daughter from Sarah E Koontz
• 6 Ways To Change Our Words From Negative To Positive from This Blessed Mom

Here are the rules for this linky:

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
2. Link up to three posts that have not been linked up to this linky previously!
3. We would love it if you visited a couple other posts and left a comment or shared/pinned the post!
4. If you include your e-mail in the linky form below you will be added to a weekly reminder e-mail when the link party goes live. Your e-mail will not to added to any other lists or given out.
5. If you wish, please follow Creative K Kids by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on social media.

If you link up, we would love if you put this button somewhere on your blog (sidebar, post, or party page) or provide a text link so that others can also find these great posts.

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 Last week, I shared some thoughts on “What type of person should I be this year?” 

I shared answers and promises from God’s Word that will shore us up when we have doubts or questions about life and our abilities. Today, I wanted to finish the conversation about how we can have the best year ever when it comes to living for and serving God.

There are 5 steps we must take to have a great year in our service for God:

• Step 1: Presentation of our bodies as a living sacrifice

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

We get out what we put in. We need to put our whole self in without holding any part of our life back from God. This is a decision we must make daily. It’s a matter of our will.

When we consider what God has done for us in providing His Son as our means of salvation and then the daily blessings He gives us, this offering of our whole self for His service should be an automatic and expected response.

• Step 2: Separation from this world

And be not conformed to this world: Romans 12:2a

We must live in this world and be salt and light to those around us; but no longer are we “of” this world. I love how Hebrews 11:13 says that the patriachs of faith all:

. . .died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

We are pilgrims just a passing through, as the song This World is Not My Home says:

This world is not my home I’m just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its mold. J. B. Phillips

• Step 3: Transformation with Scripture

but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2b

We must think the way He thinks, and that is only possible if we read His book. This will reveal His mind to us and will change us to be more like Him.

• Step 4: Cooperation in service

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Romans 12:3-5

We finally can serve! But we must do the 3 steps above first! We cannot truly serve if we do not present our bodies as a living sacrifice, separate from the world, and have a transformed life from the inside out. 

Now we are ready to have a great year in service for our God. We  must do one final step:

• Step 5: Evaluation

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, Romans 12:6a

Each one of us must look at our own self honestly – what has God gifted me with that I can use for His service?
If we do each of these steps, we truly will have the best year of service for God.

Recent posts:

• Penguin Activities & Crafts for Kids
• Tasty Tuesdays: Easy Rainbow Ice Cream Cake
• CONQUER YOUR CLUTTER SUPER BUNDLE SALE (money back if you order through my link)

Here are a few posts I enjoyed last week:

• The Price We Pay for the Labels We Wear from Sarah E Koontz

• I HAVE A DREAM… OF CO-PARENTING SUCCESS from Kandy Apple Mama

• WHAT DO I CHOOSE AS A FOUNDATION? from A New Lens

Here are the rules for this linky:

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

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