Comforting Words

What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow.
~Martin Luther

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isaiah 40:29

Do the Next Thing
At an old English parsonage down by the sea,
There came in the twilight a message to me.
Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven
That, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.
And all through the hours the quiet words ring,
Like a low inspiration, do the next thing.

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care.
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,
Who placed it before thee with earnest command,
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing,
Leave all results, do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance, be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as He beckons, do the next thing.
~Author Unknown

I Mustn't Quit!

While flipping through one of my daughter's story books, Treasury of Christian Classics for Children, I ran across this poem, one that I really needed to read today!

You Mustn't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must--but never quit.

Life is strange, with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won if he'd stuck it out,
Stick to your task, though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with one more blow.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt--
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that YOU MUSTN'T QUIT.

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Anonymous, (commenter #21) who has won the drawing for the book The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady. I will e-mail you and you can then send me the information I will need to get this sent out to you.

This giveaway has been a lot of fun! Last I looked there were 600 and some different contests going on! Lots of prized being given away this weekend!

Pancake Mix

At Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Tammy tells about assebling her mom's corn bread recipe into mixes to keep on hand for busy times. I've done this with my pancake recipe (also handed down to me from my mother). This is our favorite basic buttermilk pancake. It makes enough to feed our family of 6, but we have young children and I can tell it won't be long before I'll need to double this recipe.

Mix the dry ingredients together:
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt

(If you are wanting to make up dry mixes to have on hand just put the above ingredients in small bags and seal.)

Mix and add to the above:
2 eggs
2 c. buttermilk (I add 1 Tbsp. of vinegar to milk)
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. oil (I like canola)

Beat with electric mixer until well mixed. Fry as you would any other pancake. This recipe can also be used for waffles.

We eat these with peanut butter and maple syrup. Anyone else enjoy peanut butter on their pancakes?

Bloggy Giveaway

There are hundreds of great giveaways going on around the blog world this week! Just click the button to the left to see all of the great prizes being offered!

I thought why not? I might as well join in the fun! I'm going to give away a fabulous book! The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. This is the First Owl Book Edition from 1982 and is in gentle used condition.

To enter just leave a comment (make sure there is a way for me to reach you in case you are the winner!). We will randomly pick a winner on Friday afternoon.

This drawing is open to anyone in the US or Canada!
Thanks for joining in the fun!

Trying Again

I tried once already to win a copy of Passionate Housewives Desperate for God.
I'm giving it another try by giving out the link once again. And you can enter to win, also! Just go to Ladies Against Feminism for the details.

A Book Recommendation

The illustrations in this book are just lovely! A great book to use in nature or art study. Amazon has the book A Seed is Sleepy or you could check your library like we did. Thanks to Abiding for the tip. I always pay attention when she offers children's book suggestions!

Free Lightbulb

I'm slowly switching to energy saving bulbs. Here's a chance to try one at no cost to you!
Lightning Direct is offering to send you a free bulb.

Thanks to Want Not for all the great deals she lets us know about!

Be Content in the Kitchen

Be Content with what you have !~~~That's my Kitchen Tip for Tuesday!

I've mentioned Tammy's Recipes before. Her site is filled with many down home, no nonsense recipes. On Tuesday, she offers kitchen tips and her readers can do the same.

Now, back to being content in the kitchen.....
This morning I was wanting to make Green Lemonade, a raw juice drink I've enjoyed several times. But I didn't have all of the exact ingredients and not enough of some others. Instead of wishing that I had what I needed, I decided to use what I had. I'm glad I did!

Here's what I used:
1 lime
1/2 heart of romaine
1 Gala apple
a few leaves of Swiss Chard (from the garden)

It turned out just fine and I'll just say that it tasted very NUTRIENT DENSE! :)

Simple Bean Dip

Layer the following in a casserole dish.
refried beans
guacamole with the juice of one lime added
cheese of choice
sour cream
Over the top of this sprinkle:
chopped tomatoes
sliced green onions
black olives
Add a dusting of cheese over the top of all the above.

Serve with tortilla chips as a side dish or as a light meal.

We recently enjoyed this as a picnic lunch along with apple wedges.

Simple Yeast Rolls

About six years ago, our 4-H group made these simple yeast rolls as a project for the children. They are that easy! My kids love them, especially when they are smothered with butter and honey!

You will need:
5 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 stick butter (I have substituted oil when in a pinch)
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. (I use the crock to my crock pot.) Mix butter, milk, oil, and water in small bowl and heat to 115*-120*. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients, stir and keep adding flour until it pulls away from edges of bowl easily. Cover with towel and let sit at least one hour but not over 5 hours. Dump out on floured surface and roll to desired thickness. Cut with 2 inch cutter (or glass). Put on non-stick baking sheet or glass pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 350*. This recipe will yield 40 smalls rolls.

These look much more like biscuits than rolls. But they are easy and taste yummy. It's very nice to be able to leave the dough covered in the crock, and then be able to bake them right before you are ready to serve them. I especially enjoy doing this on a Sunday morning. Sometimes I even mix my ingredients Saturday evening (wet and dry separately) and then combine before church. As soon as I get home from church, I can roll them out and while they are baking finish up the rest or our lunch.

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

I have no idea if I agree with this book or would even enjoy reading it. But I'm always willing to give a book a try! :) Anyhow, here's a chance to get a free copy. Why not enter and give it a try?! Biblical Womanhood is giving away 10 copies as soon as they are released.

Free Stories

YouNeedaStory is a project put on by Robert Green. Every once in awhile I will play some of these while my children are playing with Legos, K-nex, drawing, etc.

You can sign up to receive these free stories weekly. I save them on my computer for a "rainy day".

Music Lesson Application to My Life

My son is working on learning to play the song Fur Elise by Beethoven. At lessons this week his piano teacher said something that caught my attention. They were working on part two to the song which is made up of quite a few sixteenth notes in the base cleft. She told Nathan that she wanted him to practice this until he had it down so well that he didn't need to even think about it. She said it really wasn't the part that we would be wanting to notice and for us to not notice it he needed to be able to play it very well.....so well, that no one will notice it. Make sense? Then she played it for Nathan and he frowned and said, "I don't really remember that part of the song at all." She smiled and played it hands together and then he realized what she was talking about.

I got to thinking about this later in the week. I want to be like that base line in the song. It's needed to make everything beautiful! Fur Elise wouldn't be the same at all without it! The fullness, depth, and variety just wouldn't be there. It would be an inferior work...not what the "Master" was wanting at all. I want to be able to live life in such a way that I'm not noticed. If I'm being noticed it's probably because I'm not doing something as well as I should be. I haven't "practiced" enough.

We all have our part in life....I'm still working on getting my notes down!

Milly and Tilly

If your library has this book, make sure you check it out! ~Milly and Tilly, The Story of a Town Mouse and a Country Mouse by Kate Summers and illustrated by Maggie Kneen

One of the benefits of having children is it gives you a very valid excuse to read lots of pictures books! I think I enjoy them more everyday! This one is a real treat. We've always enjoyed this story but this particular book has splendid illustrations. It speaks to me as a homemaker. The order and simplicity of the country mouse's day is refreshing! It inspires me to keep plugging away toward my dream of a "simple life".

So Big

First Day of Karate

Kiersten has waited for this day for a long time! Private karate lessons began this week! Watch out everyone! :)

A Good Door

Don't you just love this door. I pronounce it, "Good" ~ not that my opinion matters a whole lot but I took a picture for two reasons. 1. I just like it, plain and simple. 2. If we ever build a house, I wanted Tim to have a picture of one of my favorite doors. You never know!

This is the front door to the house that Rose Wilder built for her parents, Laura and Almanzo. The house is quite charming. And in 1928, she built it for $11,000, a hefty little sum in that day and in that part of Missouri!

I like this house but there is something extra special about the house that Laura and Almanzo built with their own hands. It only took them 17 years. See....maybe in 17 years we'll have our house, too! :)

Bread

We love homemade bread of any kind! My kid's love to bake and cook. This week the boys both made their own loaf of bread. Nathan's is 100% whole wheat and Micah's is 1/3 whole wheat with the other flour being unbleached white flour.

Can't the simple things of life be some of the best?! Actually, I think it usually works out that way!

Don't you just love this! I do!!!

Councilman pitches plan for goats to be pets in Seattle {King5}

SEATTLE - City Councilman Richard Conlin wants to give Seattleites the right to keep miniature goats as pets -- a proposal he bills as one small step for sustainability.

Conlin extols the virtues of pygmy goats, which can act as Earth-friendly lawnmowers and weed eaters, provide milk and cheese, and naturally fertilize yards.

read more

First making urban chickens lawful, now goats? That's a city on the right path. YEAH!

(Thanks to Path to Freedom for all of their wonderful news tidbits!)

Science with Crinkleroot

Jim Arnosky has many wonderful books that the children and I have enjoyed over the years. Crinkleroot's guides are a very clever way to teach children elementary science. It's enjoyable for everyone involved! Today we enjoyed his guide to Animal Habitats. The Butterfly and Moth guide is excellent, also! Just reading this book today made me want to take a walk in the woods.....maybe tomorrow.

Zinnias

Zinnias, stout and stiff,

Stand no nonsense: their colors
Stare, their leaves
Grow straight out, their petals
Jut like clipped cardboard,
Round, in neat flat rings.

Even cut and bunched,
Arranged to please us
In the house, in water, they
Will hardly wilt - I know
Someone like zinnias; I wish
I were like zinnias.
~Valerie Worth

Beans

The beans in this picture are Tiawan Yard Long Bean from Baker Creek Seed Co. And the blooms are from the Scarlet Runner Bean. The yardlong beans are delicious stir fried or steamed. My kids have also been known to enjoy them raw, munching along on them as they play.

Seabird

Are all of Holling Clancy Holling's books just wonderful? I read Seabird aloud to the children this week and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm amazed at what can be learned by just looking at the illustrations! The copy we read was borrowed from the library but I'll be putting this book on my "wish list"!

Remembering Florida

My Children





We loved all the wildlife and new-to-us nature!

Within your heart...

Keep one still, secret spot
Where dreams may go
And, sheltered so,
May thrive and grow.
~Louise Driscoll

Another great give away!

Biblical Womanhood
is having another drawing for some great free (to the winner) resources!!! Just send Crystal an e-mail and you'll be entered!

Zeke in Florida

For the most part, this picture sums up Zeke's vacation in Florida. He loved to walk along the beach. I'm not exagerating when I say he would walk for miles. He seemed to enjoy being alone. He didn't pay much attention to the rest of us. He never did spend much time in the water but he'd hang out on the water's edge just walking and walking and walking. Content, at peace and maybe full of awe? I wonder if he could feel the Creator near? I certainly would like to think so. Zeke is 20 months old but I've prayed for him for years already. And since his conception, I've prayed specifically that the Holy Spirit would speak to him. Maybe the beach was part of that answer to prayer.

How is your fountain of beauty?

The fountain of beauty is the heart, and every generous thought illustrates the walls of your chamber.
~ Francis Quarles

Tomato Basil Soup

Thankfully, I have an abundance of fresh tomatoes right out my back door. When they start piling up a bit too high, I make this soup that everyone in our family loves. It is so fresh and just screams of summer! And it is so easy it feels like you are cheating.

Heat a couple tbsp. of olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add about 8 medium chopped tomatoes (give or take). Throw in a cup of fresh basil (adjust for your taste). Cook tomatoes until somewhat soft (no big deal on this either). Puree in blender with 2 cups of cream, milk, chicken broth, or a combination of the above. I then strain the soup. And that's it! Couldn't be easier!

Yum!

For our supper, we enjoyed Garden Fresh Tomato and Basil Soup, Squash Anyone?, and whole grain crackers with Soft Goat Cheese from the Vermont Butter and Cheese Co.

Food can make me feel so blessed!

I looked for someplace to purchase this online but can't seems to find anyone that carries the goat cheeses. Amazon does carry some of their other products, though.

Another great food blog

I've been enjoy Eat Well food blog. There are lots and lots of raw food recipes and they always sound great! I'll be trying th Watermelon soup this week.

Watermelon Soup

5 cups watermelon, seeded and cubed
2 cups mango, peeled and diced
1/4 cup lime juice
3 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 Tbsp honey
1/8 tsp ground cardamom

1. Place 3-1/2 cups watermelon and 1 cup mango in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Dice up the remaining 1-1/2 cups watermelon and 1 cup mango into tiny pieces and add to the puree.
3. In a small, separate bowl, combine the lime juice, mint, ginger, honey, and cardamom. Add this to the previous mixture and stir well.
4. Chill and serve.

***I wanted to make sure everyone read Cristy's comment about this recipe. Here it is:
Hi! So glad to have you visit Eat Well!

I made the soup and have been enjoying it. The ginger is pretty strong, so use a little less if you aren't too keen on that flavor.

Also, be sure to mix it really well. I had to mix it in my blender to get it smooth enough. It was definitely worth it!

Don't miss out on this drawing!!!

Biblical Womanhood has an incredible drawing taking place this week! Who can pass up the possibility of FREE new books??? Crystal says:

For those of you who appreciate the high quality and character-building books which Vision Forum sells, I have some exciting news for you: I will be giving away an entire Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library this week on my blog, compliments of the wonderful folks at Vision Forum.

This 10-volume set (a $220 value - on sale for a limited time for $165!) was written in the 19th century by Robert Michael Ballantyne, who was a devout Christian of the Scottish Covenanter kind and perhaps the most influential writer of boys' literature of his generation.

Have fun!

Awwww.....Home

I love this place we call home! And it is so good to be back to our humble abode. Truly, to my children the first days at home are as exciting as all the happenings while we were away. We got in around midnight and so didn't do much Saturday night but fall into bed.

But Sunday morning we had a blast! :) It was raining but that didn't stop Nathan from checking all the animals, and grabbing some fresh produce from the garden. Then we noticed that Kiersten's butterfly had hatched from it's cocoon. Out came the field guides to see if our identification of the caterpillar had been correct. And it was! During this whole process everyone is talking at once, laughing and just plain excited.


A few minutes later Nathan comes in thrilled to death that he had caught a field mouse/rat in a live trap in our shed. He proceeds to bring it in to show all of us. Kiersten loves it and wants to keep it as a pet. The rat is currently enjoying cat food. Lest you are concerned, IT WILL NOT BE A PET!

Our gardens looked like a jungle! They had grown so much and the beds are filled to overflowing! The beauty of the beach is amazing and fills me with awe but my gardens are a place just as enchanting! How I love that little plot of ground. Truly, it is one of my favorites places in all of the world. The gifts God has given me in that little spot never cease to inspire me!

Who was it that wrote about the importance of going away so that your senses are sharpened when you return to the ordinary? Can't remember but it's true!

Off to the Beach

The title of the post makes it sound as though we'll be on the sand in minutes. We leave in the morning but it will take us two days before we get to our destination~a quiet spot, a "natural" part of Florida. That's what we are hoping for anyway and that's what we've been told.

After hours of trying to find any type of lodging that would take four children and their parents, I was beginning to wonder if we wouldn't have to camp in a tent. ( I wonder if they limit your children at a campsite, too?!) But I knew the Lord would have a perfect place for us. And I think we found it! It's a house right on the beach in an out of the way sort of place. We are really, really looking forward to relaxing and playing for a few days!

Then it will be off to my little brother's wedding where I hope to be able to get my whole family presentable looking all at one time! :) Tim will be a groomsman, Nathan an usher, Micah and Kiersten are the ring-bearer and flower girl and Tim and I will be singing "Yours Forever". I'm looking forward to seeing April and Justin's apartment, church, and friends and family. It will be an exciting time!

The week after we get back my parents will be having a reception for them here. They'll honeymoon for a week and then we'll get to see them again for a few days! There will be more family and friends coming in and so it will be time for even more fun! Isn't that how summer is? One fun happening after another until Fall comes and it's time to slow down and play in the leaves!

Right now in between packing and cleaning and planning, I'm anxiously waiting for the UPS truck to arrive with my new camera that my best friend ordered for me (for those of you who don't know my best friend is Tim, my husband!). I've even dreamed about it! :) So....hopefully, I'll get some really good pics of our trip that I can share when I get home.

Goodbye for now...............

Bambi and Thumper

This is a pic of our friend's two day old baby deer that they rescued and our six week old bunny. Our friend decided to keep Thumper as company for Bambi. They've been good buddies from the start!

Bite-Size Life Lessons

Our children's librarian was restocking books and as she picked this one up she mentioned that it was new and was a very sweet little book. And IT IS! We've really enjoyed it. It's one of the library books that we'll read more than once.

My mother-in-love is here visiting and she always spends lots of time reading to our children. As soon as she finished reading this book she said she really wanted a copy of it. I "took a trip" to Amazon and she will have a copy at her house by the time she gets home. This is quite the world we live in, isn't it?! Let's not move so fast that we forget our manners! :)

(Click on the pic to "see" the book at Amazon.)

Tammy's Recipes

I really enjoy Tammy's Recipes! Her meals are always so down-to-earth and very easy! This afternoon I just printed off her recipe for Italian Beef and Bean Sauce over Pasta and whipped it up for supper. (I didn't read that it had to simmer for 45 minutes. Oops! We were all good and hungry by the time it was done but it was well worth the wait.) We all enjoyed it very much. Tim said I needed to add it to my favorites so that's what I'll be doing!

Another reason I end up using her recipes is because I usually have all the ingredients already in my house. They are practical and therefore frugal, too.

So.....use this resource that Tammy has provided for us~an online cookbook that can save you time and money.

Love is the....

Morning and Evening Star.... It is the air and light of every heart, builder of every home, kindler of every fire on every hearth. It fills the world with melody.
~Robert G. Ingersoll

Two Potato Hash

Yummy, easy, whole foods, and oh, the smell!!!

While at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO you can watch them cook dishes like this in probably 5 foot cast iron skillets. The aroma makes your mouth water!!! At $5.95 a serving, I'd say making this at home would qualify you as being frugal! :) Since four of us will enjoy this today we'll be saving a hefty little sum!

Here's what I did:
Heat up a generous amount of olive oil in whatever skillet you like to use. Add one chopped up onion, one sliced sweet potato and two white potatoes (I used red-skinned potatoes just because that's what I have.) Season with natural sea salt (That's all I use. I'm sure any salt would work. Maybe even a seasoning salt?!) and black pepper.

Enjoy!

Raised Beds

Those of you who know me, know I love to play in the dirt! I'm in love with my raised beds. We keep adding one each year. Someday our whole south hillside will be covered in beds. I'm amazed at the amount of food that comes out of these little garden spots!

My camera is dying and so I don't have very many of my gardens this year. The top two pics here are of this year. As you can see, we need mulch in a desperate way! My dear brother will be bringing me some soon. Then everything will look beautiful again.

These are all spring gardens in May. By summertime they are so big and full there is no way weeds can grow.

If you are wanting to garden, I encourage you to try a raised bed. I'm certain we could feed the world this way!

Wild Green

This is poke weed, a pot herb, that grows all over the place in our area. We eat it just like cooked spinach. Free food that is packed full of nutrition!

So much fun!

My Mother's Day Present from my Mom

Oh, it's just wonderful! My mom gave me the book Golden Thoughts of Mother, Home and Heaven compiled by Gene Fedele. I'm already on page 41 and loving it. It's a book I'm certain I will read over and over. We'll do copywork from it and I'm sure I'll share encouragement from it with other mothers.

Here's a couple quotes to let you in on what I've enjoyed so far.

"O mothers! You are the guardians of infancy, the instructors, of childhood, the companions of youth, and the partners of manhood. As are our mothers, so are our homes, our churches, our world." ~ Bishop John Newman

"Were it not for the tenderness, contentment and communion of the home, the whole fabric of society in any generation would disintegrate." ~ Gene Fedele, Editor (Don't you think we see this in our culture today?!)

"Mothers, you are the divinely-appointed teachers and guides of your children, and any attempt to free yourselves from your duty is in direct opposition to the will of God." ~ Anonymous

"When boys know that their society is valued highly at home, and that all its pleasures are marred by their absence, they will willingly stay if they can have something to occupy their time." ~ Anonymous (This sentence followed a couple pages covering the importance of the friendships between mother and child, the listening ear that should always be there from babyhood on up.)

On almost every page there is something that just pops out at me! I highly recommend this book from what I've read so far!

A Copperhead

Leslie asked about the snake pictured in the post below. My boys tell me it is a copperhead. They were home with their Papa and "ran across" this snake. After taking some pictures they beheaded him (and I feel much safer)! They called me on my cell phone just to let me in on the excitement.

This is the third snake we've seen in our yard this year.

The salad in the post below is a Greek couscous salad over a bed of baby greens. I just loosely followed the recipe on the back of the couscous box. Cold salads are great because you can hardly go wrong. Just add whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand.

Soon I'll post a black bean salad recipe that we are loving! The fresh cilantro from our garden is making it all the better! Our tacos that we had at lunch today were much more exciting with fresh cilantro. Thankfully, I planted lots of it!

All in a day

Life is full of variety! Here's some pics to prove it, all of them from our home or yard.

Fun Art Education

The art education taking place in our home is informal, to say the least. But over the years we have enjoyed learning about several different artists.

This week we've thoroughly enjoyed reading Camille and the Sunflowers A Story About Vincent van Gogh by Laurence Anholt. We also read Picasso and the Girl With a Ponytail A story about Pablo by the same author. These are just simple picture book stories that are based on facts about famous artists. I would say they are geared toward elementary students but I really enjoy reading them, therefore, I believe they could be for all ages!

Who have I placed my trust in?

Through various circumstances in my life recently, I've had to remind myself that my trust must always be in the Lord and only the Lord. I've had to remember what is important in the Lord's eyes. My day to day work is important to my Saviour. He cares about every little detail of my life. He's a wonderful Lord.

Last night, at our Wednesday evening Bible study, the Lord gave me just what I needed~truth from His Word. Here are just a few verses that helped me to rest in my Lord.

Jeremiah 17:5, "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trust in man......" Verse 7 goes on to say, "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord."
Isaiah 31:1 "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help....." Oh, how often I turn to "Egypt" for help. When will I learn to run to the Lord for all my needs? Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." I'm so thankful that my God is a God of mercy and grace. I definitely am a child in need!

My dad always taught me that when there is a "therefore" or a "wherefore" we need to look back and see why it is there for! "Let us THEREFORE come boldly" is preceded by "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

These verses encourage my heart! It's so amazing to to think that Jesus, the Son of God, is touched with the feeling of my infirmities. He cares about my relationship with my husband, my children, my family and friends, my neighbors, and my acquaintances. He cares about the humble work I do here in my home: the laundry, the meals, the cleaning, etc. He cares and is touched when I am touched. Nothing escapes his tender watchful eye that is fixed on ME. He even knows WHY I feel as I do! Imagine that!

A Proud Little Farmer

Tonight we are going to eat of the fruit of my son's labor! Awww...and he is proud. I love gardening and it is now a double joy to enjoy this hobby with my children!

Micah's first harvest happened to be Icicle Radishes which I must say are absolutely delicious. But to be fair I should mention that anything grown from your own hands seems to be just a tad sweeter!

We'll be eating the beautiful white gems over a bowl of mixed baby greens. I'm sure the children will all enjoy their salad just a bit more than they normally would.

We don't formally do gardening for any of our school work but we certainly could count it! Just think of all the subjects it could cover!

So, there you go....allowing your children to garden won't just pay off financially, and physically, it will also pay of educationally (and I even believe Spiritually, I love visiting with Jesus as I garden! I think of all the teaching in which Jesus referred to nature.).

Don't forget to check out other frugal tips at Biblical Womanhood on Fridays!