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        • Keepers At Home - "Beginning of Club Year" Helps
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        • KAH Skills >
          • Bible Memory >
            • Memorizing New Testament Books and Their Meanings
            • Proverbs 31:10-31
          • Cake Decorating
          • Card Making >
            • Stitched Cards
          • Computers
          • Character Studies >
            • Contentment and "I'm Bored" phrases
            • Willingness
          • Decoupage
          • Hospitality
          • Library Skills and Literature Pins
          • Sewing >
            • Beauty and the Pig - Goldie Doll
            • Edwardian-Style Aprons
            • Paper Piecing
      • Children >
        • Bible Study Bookmarks
        • The Church History ABCs (for kids!!!)
        • The Lord's Prayer - copywork
        • Some Thoughts...Family Bible Time
        • Running Away...with permission
      • Young Adults (Teens) >
        • Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss
        • Deeper Roots: Discovering Our Amazing God
  • Frugal Family Trips to Washington, D.C.
  • Home
    • Disclosure Policy
    • About Me
  • What's New! (Blog)
  • Low-Carb Lifestyle!
    • Trim Healthy Mama-inspired Grocery Lists
    • THM-style Beverages >
      • Mock Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos
    • Family Favorite Recipes (Not Low Carb) >
      • Snacks >
        • Delicious Homemade Gooey Granola Bars!
        • Healthy Peanut Buttery Treats
      • Soups and Stews >
        • Jamaican Seafood Chowder
        • Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
      • Salads >
        • Red Cabbage Coleslaw
      • Main Dishes >
        • Beef >
          • Beef Stroganoff
        • Chicken >
          • Chicken Fiesta
          • Chicken Nachos
          • Marinated Zucchini and Chicken Sandwiches
          • Chicken or Turkey Enchiladas
          • Hungarian Chicken Paprikash
          • Green Chili Chicken Lasagna
        • Lamb >
          • Slow-Roasted Lamb Shoulder
        • Seafood >
          • Chilled Quinoa and Salmon Salad (E)
          • Shrimp and Zucchini Tostadas
        • Pasta Recipes >
          • Baked Lemon Pasta
          • Paccheri (Pasta) with Cauliflower and Tomatoes
      • Desserts >
        • Cookies >
          • Free Christmas Cookie cookbook download!
          • Healthier Gingerbread Man Cookies
          • Healthier Holiday Cut-Out Cookes
          • Maple Leaf Cookies - YUMMM!
        • Donuts
        • Frozen Desserts >
          • Lemonade Ice Cream Pie
    • Recommended Ingredients and Foods >
      • Inspiration Mixes - Gluten/Dairy/Caseine/Wheat Free and delicious!
      • Organic Maple Syrup
  • Homeschooling
    • Homeschool Curriculum & Product Reviews >
      • Homeschool Curriculum Reviews >
        • Art >
          • ARTistic Pursuits
          • Simply Draw!
        • Grammar >
          • All About Homophones - (Marie Rippel)
          • Time 4 Learning
          • Daily Grams
        • Handwriting >
          • Cursive Handwriting - New American Cursive
        • History >
          • The Mystery of History >
            • MOH vol. 3 Audio MP3's
          • Tapestry of Grace History
          • U.S. History >
            • America, The Last Best Hope (William Bennett)
          • Winter Promise
        • Latin >
          • Latina Christiana, by Memoria Press
          • Visual Latin
        • Literature-based Unit Studies >
          • Beyond Five in a Row
          • Further Up and Further In by Diane Pendergraft
        • Logic and Reasoning >
          • Building Thinking Skills (Critical Thinking Skills Co.)
        • Math >
          • Math Mammoth
          • Math Tutor DVD.com
          • MathRider: Horselovers' Math Facts Software Game!
        • Music and Composers
        • Online Educational Courses >
          • Aleks Online Courses
        • Science >
          • Apologia Science >
            • Apologia Science's Notebooking Journals
            • Zoology 1 - Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
          • Science Weekly newsletters
        • Spelling >
          • Phonetic Zoo (by IEW)
        • Writing >
          • The Write Foundation: Level 2 - Paragraphs
          • WriteShop's StoryBuilders
      • Homeschool Product Reviews >
        • eBooks >
          • College Success Begins at Home (TOS eBook)
          • Dreams and Designs—Homemade Supplies to Complement Your Homeschool
          • Help, Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!
          • The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner
        • Online Educational Website Memberships >
          • KB Teacher
        • Science >
          • Polymer Crystals
    • Driver's Education for Homeschoolers
    • Foreign Language >
      • Latin >
        • Christmas Songs in Latin
        • Latina Christiana (Level 1) >
          • Latina Christiana Level 1 Lesson Links >
            • Charts and Helps
            • Year One Sayings
            • LC1 Intro and Lesson 1
      • Latina Christiana (Level II) >
        • Latina Christiana Level 2
        • LC2 Intro and Lesson 1
    • Forms and Charts >
      • "Week At A Glance" Planner
      • 2012-2013 Homeschool Attendance Form
      • 2012-2013 Homeschool Attendance Form
    • Free Audio Books to Download
    • Free Homeschool I.D. Cards!
    • Government and Civics
    • Handwriting
    • History: Classical / Chronological >
      • The Mystery of History, by Linda Lacour Hobar
      • The Middle Ages (MOH vol. 2)
      • Ancient History (MOH vol. 1) >
        • Ancient Rome >
          • Roman Architecture
          • Roman Houses
          • Roman Town (software game by Dig-It)
          • Roman Trade and Commerce
    • Language Arts
    • Science
  • Free Printables
    • Holidays >
      • Christmas
  • Book/DVD/Audio Reviews
    • Children's Movie/DVD Reviews
    • Other Product/Company Reviews
  • Home & Family
    • Frugal Living
    • Gardening and Herbs
    • Marriage - God's Way
    • Life at Home
    • Godly Kids & Teens >
      • Godly Womanhood
      • Sharing God With Your Children
      • Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home >
        • Keepers At Home - "Beginning of Club Year" Helps
        • Keepers At Home - "End of Club Year" Helps
        • KAH Skills >
          • Bible Memory >
            • Memorizing New Testament Books and Their Meanings
            • Proverbs 31:10-31
          • Cake Decorating
          • Card Making >
            • Stitched Cards
          • Computers
          • Character Studies >
            • Contentment and "I'm Bored" phrases
            • Willingness
          • Decoupage
          • Hospitality
          • Library Skills and Literature Pins
          • Sewing >
            • Beauty and the Pig - Goldie Doll
            • Edwardian-Style Aprons
            • Paper Piecing
      • Children >
        • Bible Study Bookmarks
        • The Church History ABCs (for kids!!!)
        • The Lord's Prayer - copywork
        • Some Thoughts...Family Bible Time
        • Running Away...with permission
      • Young Adults (Teens) >
        • Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss
        • Deeper Roots: Discovering Our Amazing God
  • Frugal Family Trips to Washington, D.C.

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"Encouraging Moments" e-Newsletter from Eternal Encouragement magazine!



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During the last few weeks,
I've felt rushed.

    Rushing to take the girls to their various music lessons and social get-togethers with their friends. 

     Trying some new techniques out with our family budgeting.

     Sharing reviews about some neat homeschooling products we've been using.

     Trying to figure out what Latin curriculum to use next year with my groups of homeschooled students who take classes at my home.

     Having a bunch of emails sitting in my email box that I've read, but need sorted and something "done with them."

     And I'm tired.   Not depressed, just tired.

     I think about spring coming, and that stirs my emotions  a bit.

     It takes me back to thoughts of my children's younger years, when having a little, plastic, slimy, slippery bottle of bubbles and an el-cheapo plastic bubble wand would be the highlight of their day.
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     Thinking about blowing bubbles takes me farther back to my own childhood, when I used to love to blow bubbles and see them drift to and fro with the gentle breeze.
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     It brings me back to a time in my life when I...

. . . wasn't rushed
. . . didn't feel stressed out
. . . and curling up with a good book
in a quiet room was almost a daily event.

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     ...but then I'm jolted back to reality with a daughter who needs help with laying out a pattern for some doll clothes...

...and I'm realizing that I haven't planned ahead for dinner tonight - and it's already 4:30...

...and I still have a bunch of unread email I need to go through...

...as well as 365 other things I need to do around the house.

     I decide to glance at the emails, to see if there is anything that I need to be aware of right away.  There isn't.  But there's a new weekly email newsletter from
TEACH Magazine that catches my eye:
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     I usually skim over newsletters like this.  They're usually just trying to sell a bunch of stuff, or promote their products.  I don't have time to read through a bunch of articles promoting someone's products.  I can hit the "delete" key pretty quickly with those types of "newsletters."

But this looks different than the rest.
Hmmm . . .


     I read about marriage and how the attitude we bring into our marriage every day helps determine how happy our marriage is.  I agree!

Maybe I can sit here just a few more minutes.


  ...and then I suddenly feel like this sweet newsletter has been written just for me - I know it must be! - to remind me to pray for my husband each and every day.  I do pray for him, but some days I forget.  And other days, I forget to ask him how I can best be praying for him.

     I realize that as I "click" to read the rest of the article, it includes a beautiful monthly prayer calendar for wives to use as a reminder of how they can be praying for their husbands.  Well, that gets printed off and placed on the wall right by the computer, so my prayers for my husband will be more frequent...and more effective.

It's almost time to prepare dinner . . .


     but I feel the Lord whispering to my soul...take a few more minutes...go back to the place of peace and rest that I have for you...and read a little bit more...

     so I do.  This time, I'm convicted.  Deeply.  Instead of escaping my stresses and responsibilities by taking a bubble bath or going outside to blow soap bubbles, I'm convicted by these words...

Take a Bible bath daily.

     I'm reminded in a gentle, yet firm way that the spiritual weapon which will continue to keep me from feeling discouraged is found in Ephesians 6:17 ~

Take the sword of the spirit,
which is the Word of God.


     I'm reminded once again that though I lovingly spend time with my girls having Bible devotionals with them almost every morning, and with our family having evening Bible fellowship together right before bed, I still need to be having that private, quiet, time of rest with my Lord, on my own, where I can go back to the carefree days of childhood and rest on my heavenly Daddy's lap and hear words of encouragement and promise from the Holy Scriptures.

     After dinner and tucking the girls into bed, I relax at the computer, more at ease than I was at 4:30, and read through the remainder of this issue of Encouraging Moments that was written just for me. 

     I realize that I can watch the author of TEACH Magazine share short video vignettes for women about tips for moms, marriage, homemaking, parenting, and being a godly woman.  They are so good that I watch all of them - in one evening!  And I can see that if I have a question that I'd like Lorrie to answer on her little Chick Flicks videos, I can submit a question to her, as well!
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I feel encouraged and strengthened!



     I haven't gone outside and blown bubbles with the girls.

     I haven't just arrived back home from a three-week vacation in New Zealand.

     I haven't taken a nap.


     All I've done is allow my spirit to be refreshed by words of wisdom and godliness. 

     I'm ready for a new day, tomorrow.  Willing to serve my family and my Lord.  And considering buying a subscription to TEACH/Eternal Encouragement Magazine, which I know is filled with many godly articles written just for women like me.  And not filled with a million splashy ads promoting everything else in the world except what I truly need for my soul. 

     Now I can look forward to reading bubbly yet convicting words every week in Encouraging Moments via email,

and I can find resources to guide me and my family at www.HomemakingWithTEACH.com .

_

I'm ready for my daily Bible bath.
Come read with me!

    I'm thankful to have learned about the Encouraging Moments weekly newsletters from my involvement with being a Gabby Mom:
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     If you'd like to find rest and encouragement from reading the weekly Encouraging Moments newsletter,
you may go to Homemaking With TEACH.  You'll find their email newsletter signup on the top right hand side of the page.

Prepare to be blessed and encouraged.
And then, go blow some bubbles with your kids!

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© 2011 by Julieanne Miller

I am reviewing Encouraging Moments as an official member of The Gabby moms blogging program for Eternal Encouragement magazine.  I did not receive compensation for this post, and all opinions are solely my own.
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Photos from Jeff Kubina, Zanastardust