Monday, August 29, 2011

Only a Mom of a Boy…

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I knew that parenting would require me to answer some tough questions, but Zachary asked me a tough one the other day and I wasn’t sure how to answer him.

The question?

Do droids wear underwear?

Anyone have some insight on this one?

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

To Win Her Heart ~ Book Review & Giveaway

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Levi Grant has high hopes of starting his live over when moving to Spencer, Texas. He takes over a blacksmith shop, ready to earn an honest living and walk away from the time that he spent in prison for a crime he didn’t mean to commit.

But secrets have a way of catching up to a person, no matter what his intentions are.

Eden Spencer is puzzled by the new blacksmith in town. His size alone is intimidating and at first she doubts his intelligence. As he begins to visit the library she owns, they discuss different books and her affection for him grows and deepens. His faith in God is sincere, but when his past becomes common knowledge, will Levi be able to win and keep the heart of the town librarian?

My Thoughts

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. One of the things that I was most impressed with was the effort that she put into the development of Levi Grant. The character has a speech impediment and has difficulty with saying certain letter sounds. Throughout the entire book, the way that Karen Witemeyer directs and rephrases his speech is absolutely amazing {and no small feat}.

It’s because of Levi’s speech impediment that he learned to love literature {to expand his vocabulary} and then comes to develop a relationship with Eden. That same impediment was the root of his past crime ~ both a blessing and a curse at the same time. The true wonder is the redemption of his past and the integrity that he develops as a result of all that happened.

Find Out More

~ Visit Karen Witemeyer’s website

~ Follow Karen on Facebook

~ Buy To Win Her Heart from Amazon

The Giveaway

Would you like to win a copy of To Win Her Heart? I have one copy to mail to one of my readers! Leave a comment on this post ~ be sure there is a way for me to contact you. The giveaway will be open until Tuesday, August 30th, 2011.

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This book was provided for review by Bethany House. All opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Four Naughty Words

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At the dinner table tonight, Zachary leaned over to me and said, “We aren’t supposed to say the one ‘D’ word or the two ‘S’ words. OR the ‘H’ word.”

I looked over at Rick and inwardly braced myself for what was going to come out of his mouth next. I calmly asked him what words those would be ~ a bit afraid that I might have to intervene.

In case you were wondering, the four no-no words are ‘dumb’, ‘stupid’, ‘shutup’, and ‘hate’.

Phew.

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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Hello, My Name is Jolanthe…

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Hello, my name is Jolanthe and I blog here. Remember me? The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity around our house with school starting back up {homeschool that is}, company coming and going…and coming and going…and tomorrow coming again.

Breathe.

I have pictures to prove it, but that would mean I have to get them onto my computer {and find my camera in the house}.

With school starting back up, that has taken up a lot of my time and I admit I’m focusing a bit more on my homeschool blog at the moment. :)

It’s all good.

One of these days, amid the girls having sleepovers and the cooler weather coming through I’ll sit down and spend a little more time to say ‘hi’. I have some great books and giveaways to share with you all, but am focusing on first things first.

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Friday, August 12, 2011

My Least Favorite Chore…

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Laundry is one of my LEAST favorite chores. Yes, I love to have everything folded up and baskets empty, but I highly dislike part of the process. I don’t mind washing/drying, but I truly detest the folding part of it.

Just ask my hubby, who will search endlessly through crumpled up baskets of clothing to find something…only wrinkled.

Even worse than the folding though is ironing. Today I had to pull out my {still shrink wrapped} ironing board. Purchased brand-spankin’ new when we moved in February.

Can ya tell how often I iron?

On the bright side, at least I do laundry more often then I iron.

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

No More Chickens…

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Last night a raccoon managed to get into our chicken coop and wreak havoc on all of our chickens. Every last one of them is dead.

And it just makes me cry.

I know they are just chickens, but we all had much fun with them. They followed us around the yard and came running when we called. Loved to be held and petted.

The girls are going to be devastated when they get home this morning. Can you just pray for their little hearts. McKenna will be crushed.

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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Serving with JOY ~ Ministry of Motherhood

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“If we are doing the Lord’s work, we can know our efforts are not in vain. Whether we are building a tent for the neighborhood children, cooking a tasty meal for a sick neighbor, or serving our own sick child with a tray of appealing goodies, we are teaching our children what it means to serve with hardworking hands.”

~ Sally Clarkson, Ministry of Motherhood, p. 200

 

I think of all things, my biggest frustration with service lies in one simple word ~ selfishness. It is so terribly simple to fall back into the mindset of ‘no one appreciates all that I am doing for them’. How often do I forget that I am called to serve not only those in my community, but especially those that are in my immediate surroundings.

Cheerfully.

Instead, there is much mumbling under my breath about the ingratitude of certain children, a husband who at times seems to not notice something I did especially for him, etc, etc, ad naseum. Service at its finest, I tell ya. An excellent model for my children, no?

And I wonder where they get the stinky attitude from when they are asked to serve others with a smile. Ouch.

I have most definitely been convicted this week and motivated to remember that all that I am doing is as to Christ. In serving my family with joy, I am honoring God and instilling a deeper {and correct} view of service in my children.

“As we launch our children into life from the sanctuary of our homes, the intangible gifts of God will go with them and help equip them for His service. In this, the ministry of motherhood will find its completion.”

~ Sally Clarkson, Ministry of Motherhood, p. 209-210

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I have enjoyed the last 12 weeks IMMENSELY and so appreciate the emails, Blog Frog comments and more that you all have shared as we read through Ministry of Motherhood together. I hope and pray that it has been a time that you have learned so much more about what God has for you in your role as a mother.

If you’ve been reading along over the last few weeks/months, would you leave a comment today and let me know what one thing impacted you the MOST in reading Ministry of Motherhood? I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts!!

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