Ooka Island Reading Adventure Review

My children and I recently reviewed a brand new reading program designed for pre-K to Grade 2 called Ooka Island.  It is a downloadable 3D literacy program. I really love the mission behind Ooka Island. This video will give you an idea of what that mission is.

As far as what we personally thought of the program, we had some mixed reviews around here. :) Although I'm not in love with the program, my children really enjoyed it and would play for 30-45 minutes at a time. I really did like the fact that my four year old could use the program with ease and my son says he LOVES it. 

I was happy that as I observed my four year old daughter playing that she was able to identify words that I didn't realize she knew! She and her brother were given many opportunities to practice letter sounds and words. Sometimes I felt like the program was too easy for my 6 year old, but other times, challenging enough. 

Here are are a couple catchy tunes from Ooka Island you'll probably want to check out.

In using the program, we had two technical difficulties. The first being, it was a very large file to download to our computer and our computer couldn't handle it. We had to download it to my husband's work laptop which meant the kids could only use the program at night or on the weekends. Also, during one session the game crashed and we were told to send a notice to the developer.

Personally, I wasn't particularly enthralled with some the graphics and sometimes I felt as if there was drag time between activities. At times I thought it could have moved on without as much explanation between activities or perhaps a certain activity wasn't really necessary. However, my opinions were different from my children's in these regards because they were still happy to use it for long periods of time.

All that being said, my overall opinion about this reading program is that it could probably use a few improvements, however, the thoroughness and appeal of the program seems to be sufficient. Different people have different styles and with that being said, I would still encourage you to check out their 14 Day Trial here. This program may be a great fit for your child!

This program is $12.95/mth for one child or $19.95/mth for up to four children. You can also get a discount if you sign up for either a 6 or 12 month agreement and school rates are also available. Ooka Island is currently having a launch special so you'll save 30% off a monthly subscription. If you have any questions, you can e-mail the company at info@ookaisland.com.

Here's what my other TOS crewmembers think about Ooka Island.

**Disclosure: We were given a trial subscription to this program in exchange for a candid review.  This post does not contain any affiliate links.

Sale on Healthy Homemaking and Real Food on a Real Budget!

Several months back I wrote reviews on Real Food on a Real Budget and Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time. These books are both must-reads and I plan to re-read them during the winter months because there are SO many helpful tips in them!

October 31 is the last day to get these e-books at 50% off with the coupon code MEALPLAN50. Click on a link below to purchase.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Memoria Press Phonics Curriculum Review

If you're looking for a thorough phonics program for your young student, Memoria Press has one called First Start Reading . The teacher's guide retails for $29.95 and the Student Set is $22.00.

Although this is for the Kindergarten level, I have been working through it with my daughter who recently turned four. She had already started to read very basic words, but I had yet to come up with a phonics program for her. I like that one of the aspects of this program teaches her to write the words that she is learning to read. I believe this builds literary confidence.

This curriculum focuses on three important skills:

1. Pencil grip and correct letter formation (although I personally choose to use a different handwriting style, I don't think it's going to interfere in the grand scheme of things by using this one for my preschooler.)
2. Mastering one sound for each consonant and vowel first
3. Mastering short vowel sounds, 3-letter words, and 45 common words. (taken from First Start Reading)

I'm very glad we were able to review this program because I think a solid phonics foundation is so important. I previously used a phonics program with my older son when he was in Kindergarten but was not interested in using that with my daughter because of all the worksheets involved!

This program uses one very basic worksheet per lesson with an accompaying coloring page. Additionally, this phonics program uses the vowel-consonant approach (which I prefer) combined with word families rather than the consonant vowel blending approach (you may be familiar with the ladder approach with this style.) (Here is an example of what I mean by this style.  My daughter initially learned the sound of "a" then "n" and combined those two sounds to read "an". From that she learned to read the words man, ran and fan.)

My daughter really enjoys using her new phonics workbook.

We also were given a copy of the Classical Phonics book to review which retails for $14.95. I am using this book with my 1st grader as it is appropriate for Kindergarten and 1st grade reading levels. I have found it to be very thorough and wondeful for teaching various phonics rules. Basically, this book consists of phonetically-arranged word lists for students to practice which enhances their reading fluency.  "In a word list there are no context clues, so the learner must rely on his mastery of letter sounds. For instance, if your child can pronounce each word in this list correctly – pot, pat, pit, put, pet – he knows his short vowel sounds, and you can move on to long vowels! If not, he needs more practice...." (taken from Classical Phonics) 

I would suggest using Classical Phonics in addition to any phonics program you may be currently using. It is a wonderful tool to measure your child's mastery of phonics and it "covers nearly all English phonograms and sounds taught through second grade." (Classical Phonics)

These resources are wonderful and we will continue to use them throughout the year. If you'd like to read other reviews, please check out what my fellow TOS crewmembers have to say about it.

Memoria Press also offers Greek, Latin and French curriculum as well as complete curriculum packages.

If you have any questions, you may contact Memoria Press at 1.877.862.1097.

**Disclosure: I was given the First Start Reading curriculum from Memoria Press to keep in exchange for a candid review.

My guess is, it will pay off

I remember one time someone noticed Carter helping his daddy with a project and the person inquired as to whether or not it was really helpful to have Carter "assisting."

It was a legitimate question I suppose, but my reply was, "Well, I doubt it will help Adam get the job done any quicker. In fact, it will probably take longer. However, there is more to it than just finishing the project quickly. By having our children "assist" with projects, it's teaching them so many things. I love that my husband is so patient with the kids as they work alongside him. He is so great with them!

They learn togetherness, teamwork, how to be a good helper and not to mention all the "boy" things Carter will be learning as he helps his dad. He loves to load the chopped wood into his miniature version wheelbarrow while his daddy loads his full size one. Both boys love to push the button on the power drill while daddy holds it in place. Whatever the task, it's such a blessing to know that our boys want to be working right alongside dad. Recently, our oldest was so satisfied to know that he got to help Daddy hang the new cupboards in the kitchen.

And you know, I've seen them start to take iniative on their own now. One morning this week I found the table set, toast out for everyone, cups filled and the dishwasher being emptied. (Love those days!)

Letting our children work alongside us is also about the time spent with that child talking with them and instructing them and letting them know we value them immensely. It also makes for good times to talk about the Lord, His goodness and what He is doing in our lives.

I was reminded of these things yesterday when my oldest son was so excited to help me bake cookies. As we were working alongside each other, I had this feeling in my heart like I'd missed him--and I think it was because it'd been so long since he and I had done something like that together.

Life gets busy the more children you have and the more things you take on and I just hadn't had time for baking in a very long time. The other two kids happened to be napping so it was just Carter and me. After he helped me add all the ingredients I was ready to dollop the cookie dough out when he asked if he could do it. 

I hesitated for a minute because I knew I could do it faster and with less mess, but then decided, "Why not? He needs to learn anyways and it will free me up to do something else." He did a pretty good job and although there were a few stray pieces of oatmeal that didn't make it into the cookies, the clean up wasn't that much more had I done it myself.

I keep these things in mind when I notice the laundry isn't folded the way I would do it, or the table set preciously or whatever the task may be because it's about more than that. It's teaching our children valuable work skills and helping them to understand that no matter how small the task, it's to be done for the Lord. It also teaches them that they are important to us and the fact that they want to help is more important than something turning out perfectly or getting done quickly.

Someday our children will be grown up and either they won't want to help us at all or it will be first nature for them to be working alongside us--in which case, I'm sure their tasks will be completed much more beautifully than they were when they were little. Then again, beautiful may actually look like the laundry folded slightly off center because I know precious little hands did the folding.

So, take the time to invest in your child now. The pay off will be great.  Not just because the tasks will get done nicely, but because your child will enjoy the fellowship of working alongside you. (At least I'm praying this is the case!)

Here are a few pictures from days gone by of the kids helping me in the kitchen.

Precious.

Perhaps I write this post as a fool. After all, my kids are only 6, 4 and 2, but I certainly hope that since we love to be together now, we'll love to be together 20 years from now. God-willing, it will be so! 

Hosting a Book Exchange

Our church does monthly Nights Out for Mom and our first one of the year was a book exchange held at my friend Dana's house. It is such a great idea that I thought I'd share it with my readers in case any of you would like to host one as well.

Here's the invitation my friend Jackie made. She got the idea from this blog. Isn't it great? I love it!

With the invitation, she included this library card for the book owner to fill out. This way, the one borrowing the book has an idea of what it's about.
 

It's pretty simple, but the way ithe exchange worked was, everyone that wanted to, brought a wrapped book with their library card tucked inside. We took turns choosing and unwrapping a book. After the one borrowing the book is done, you simply return it to the owner.

Oops...I forgot to fill this little card out (below) but it was the "check-out" card for the owner to put their name on and when it was borrowed. The card holder could easily be glued into the inside of your book. Plus, it's neat because if we keep doing this we can see who all has read the book.

I was excited about the book I got, Love and Respect, because my friend Anna had recommended the book to me already and I just hadn't gotten around to looking into it. But, now that I get to borrow it from the Book Exchange, I'm all set! I just might do a review on it in the next month or so too to let you know what I thought about it.

Of course the evening wouldn't be complete without food. We had yummy soup for the main course. Several of the girls brought something to contribute.

Notice the pumpkins with pages decoupaged on them? :)

Thanks, Dana for hosting. Had fun with all you girls and looking forward to the next one! It was a nice relaxing evening and I'm looking forward to the next one. Wanna come? :)

Wits and Wagers Family

If your family loves to play games, you might just want to check this new one out! My family and I had a chance to try out this revised trivia game from Northstar Games called Wits and Wagers Family. It is the family version of the original Wits and Wagers (which basically means it's been simplified a bit to be more family friendly.)

The idea behind this fun 3-10 player game is one person reads a question out loud to everyone and then each player writes down a guess to what they think the answer might be. (The answer is always a number so it's very easy for even little ones to play). The players then put their Meeples (little wooden pieces shaped like a person) on the answer that sounds best. Points are given if you are the closest to the correct answer without going over and whoever put their Meeples on that answer also gets points.

Our family really enjoyed this game. Our son said, "I LOVE this game! I can't wait until we can play it again" and my 4 year old daughter actually won the game so she was pretty pleased with it as well. :) And...a game like this is great for me since I am NOT good at trivia and usually feel pretty incompetent when it comes to playing games like Trivial Pursuit. I usually end up not participating much (mostly because I don't have much to contribute!) and just listen to all the brainiacs give their answers. A game like this is fun for everyone though! 

The only suggestion I would make is to put erasers on the end of the dry erase markers that come with the game. That would make it easier than having to grab a tissue or napkin each time to erase our guess. Other than that, this game is a winner in my book!

This game is geared towards ages 8+ (although my 4 and 6 year olds did fine!) and retails for $15.23 on Amazon.

If you want to see what my other TOS crew members think about this game, click here.

**Disclaimer: I was given Wits and Wagers Family to keep in exchange for a candid review.
** This post contains affiliate links.

Educating the WholeHearted Child

I am so thankful for the homeschooling resources the Lord has put across my path lately.

Recently, I had the privilege of reviewing Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson. It is published by Apologia Press and once again, they have put out an outstanding resource.

This book is geared towards homeschooling families and is an excellent resource. You will definitely get a wealth of information in this book.

To give you an idea of what it is about, here's an excerpt from page 115. "The WholeHearted Learning model is a discipleship-based, home-centered, whole-book approach to Christian home education that integrates real books, real life, and real relationships in a life-giving expression of God's biblical design for the family."

Clay says he and his wife "wrote this book to give homeschooling parents a lens to see their homes and lives in a whole new way--a wholehearted way." "If homeschooling is only an educational formula to follow, then we no longer have to live that part of our lives by faith or walk each day as a homeschooling parent in the power of the Holy Spirit....God is much more concerned that you learn how to nurture, disciple and educate your children by faith, in the power of his Holy Spirit, than He is about what curriculum or methodology you choose."

This book is such a tremendous resource! It is most helpful if you have children ages 4-14 will help you identify your child's particular learning style, will give you confidence to teach with practical, tried and true methods and will give you a renewed vigor to make your home and family vibrant with living educational methods.

The Clarksons teach that WholeHearted Learning is not an educational curriculum, but rather, a model. Thankfully, the curriculum we are using embraces this type of learning that the Clarksons recommend. It is so much more fun to teach and to learn when we use methods that go beyond the traditional worksheet/fact retention approach that most of us grew up with. It creates a thirst for learning, not just academically, but spiritually as well.

Educating the WholeHearted Child is in its third edition and even if you've read it before, it has had so much information added to it that it'd be worth reading again.

I'd encourage you to check this resource out. I think it will be a blessing to you whether you are new to homeschooling, a long-term homeschooler who needs a fresh vision, or just simply sensing you need to change the direction your homeschooling.

It has some great ideas and I love that at the heart of it is the goal to make sure we are leading our children to Christ.

Whether you homeschool or not, I hope this is your desire: "Like a shepherd who leads his sheep to life-giving water and pasture, your first responsiblity as a parent is to lead your children to the life-giving presence and reality of Christ in your heart and home. Your desire should be to implant a longing in their spirits for God that can be satisfied only with the water and bread of life in Christ." (pg. 45)
The topics covered in this book include chapters dealing with the home, learning, methods and living and includes a resource section as well. Feel free to take a look at the Table of Contents for more details. This great resource retails for $22.

Have you read this book before? If so, I'd love to know what you think about it. If you're not familiar with it and want to see other reviews,feel free to click here.

**Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book to keep in exchange for a candid review.

Jessica Johnston and MAUstudio.com Winners

Congratulations to the winners of my most recent giveaways!

The winner of the Custom Cards by Jessica Johnston is entry #35, Danielle!

And the winner of the MAUstudio.com is entry #5, Dana!

Thank you Custom Cards by Jessica Johnston and MAUstudio.com for your generous giveaways! Be sure to swing by their shops to check out their products. They have some great things to offer!

Thanks to all who entered!

e-mealz.com Review

Have you heard of e-mealz before, or perhaps Mealtime Makeover? I'm pretty sure I may have come across it before, but never really took the time to check it out. However, as part of the TOS "Crew" I was asked to check it out and give you a review.

After reading up on e-mealz.com I have to say, I really do love their mission behind why they do what they do. I honestly think it's a great idea, but I will also give you an accurate glimpse into how this program worked for me.
Honestly, it took me a little while to work this program into my schedule. But in the end, I'm a fan.

Even though I knew it was a good thing to try, I had to get motivated to actually put it into action. Although much of the work is done for you, you still gotta' get out there and get the ingredients that are called for. Although I am a big fan of meal planning, it is one of those things that is easy to get out of the habit of doing. I know it really is worth it once you get back into the swing of things.

Also, part of my hesitation was wondering how this would fit into the type of food we try to eat (minimally processed, whole grain, no processed lunch meats, etc.). The simplicity of the program is beautiful though. Simply choose a plan, print your list, get your ingredients and eat!

I will say, a program like this is awesome for people who are extremely busy and want someone to tell them what to fix and what ingredients you need to make those meals. The program costs $1.25 per week and you are given the grocery list for that week's plan as well as the recipes needed.  If you choose a Kroger meal plan for example, it will cost you about $75-$85 a week (I'd say that $1.25 per week cost for the program was worth it!). So, say you have 6 people in your family and you spend $85 a week, that works out to feeding each member of your family for only $14 a week with a homecooked meal!

In case you're wondering, e-mealz.com has several options to choose from, depending on your family size (family plan: 4-6 people or the regular plan: 1-2 people), dietery needs (gluten free, low fat, low carb, portion control and vegetarian), and select store choices. I would have preferred to have chosen a specific store, but it was not available for my region. However, I did have the option of choosing "any store" and they match the recipes with items that are generally on sale for that region.

Since I chose the "any store", there wasn't a price total for the meals listed. However, when I chose the special "Family Week" recipe it did give a price for the whole meal, which I think is awesome. I'm guessing they do this if you pick a particular store because they are choosing meals based on what is on sale that week at that store.

I honestly think a program like this would work great for some people. At first I wasn't sure if something like this would work for us only because I try to not buy processed foods (e.g. Texas Toast, etc.) and sometimes seeing it on the list is a big temptation for me to just buy it. (Not that there's a ton of processed foods on the lists and also, there were some things I never would have tried on my own, but were healthy and part of the meal plan so I gave them a whirl, and it was actually good!)

At the same time, it would take just a little more planning on my part to make my own healthier version of whatever was suggested that I didn't think I should buy.  The other hesitation for me is if I were to buy the healthier version at Whole Foods of salami, for example, I'm going to be paying a pretty penny for something that I normally wouldn't buy. Overall though, I just try to make the best choice on an ingredient by ingredient basis.

If you're the type of person that likes to use your own recipes, you can certainly include those with the suggested meal plan for that week. That would work great if there's a particular meal that you don't care for.  I've also noticed that I can sometimes make the meals last for at least 2 meals (we have 5 people in our family with 3 being 6 and under) so that helps stretch the budget as well.

I will say, if you have never done meal planning before, or if you are struggling to get back into the swing of things, do yourself a favor and sign up for this. For an average of only $5/mth I think it will help teach you the basics of meal planning and help you get in the habit of planning to eat. I would give yourself about 6 months. After that, you can re-evaluate and see if it is meeting your needs or if you are ready to branch out on your own. Personally, I'm ready to sign up!

I do wish I had the option to choose a specific store for my region because if I knew what was on sale I could easily look up coupons that corresponded with those sales. If it's "any store" I don't necessarily know if it's on sale at the store I'm going to. This would be to maximize my savings. You might suggest I still use a coupon. However, I have found that it is generally cheaper to buy the store brand even if I use the name brand with a coupon. That is why I prefer to use my name brand coupons on name brand items that are on sale. That's the way to really save. (update: a reader recently signed up and chose the Kroger option even though she doesn't live in that region and she said the sales still pretty well match up. It probably just can't be guaranteed. I think I might try switching to the Kroger option and see how it goes. Thanks, Sue for the tip!)

As a side note, I would love it if they had a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods option to choose from. I think that would be great!


If you have any questions about how this program works, you can probably find your answers here.


Overall, I think this program is a brilliant idea! What a great gift for your child's teacher, a new bride or anyone else in your life that is busy. If you're interested, you can surprise them with a gift certificate. It's a great way to encourage someone in the right direction of "planning to eat."

If you want to sign up, click on the icon below.

If you'd like to see what other Crew Members are saying, go here.

**Disclosure: I was given a free 3 month subscription to e-mealz.com in exchange for a candid review. This post does contain affiliate links.

Soothing Star Winner

Congrats, Roseanne!

According to random.org, you are the winner of Bettina's Giveaway. You may choose either the Soothing Star Pillow OR the personalized letter magnets (up to 8 letters). Thanks to all who entered!

Don't forget to enter the other giveaways I have going on right now.

A Fall Bridal Shower PLUS Giveaways!

My sister is getting married this November and we are so excited for her and her fiance! Her family bridal shower was this weekend and I wanted to show you how it turned out, as well as give you some great resources should you need to plan a shower as well.

I based the theme of the shower around this awesome invitation from Custom Cards by Jessica Johnson. I thought it was a perfect fit for our October bridal shower!

Photo Credit

Jessica Johnson is very professional, did beautiful work and even included helpful printing tips. I would highly recommend her for your invitation needs.

Here are some of Jessica's other invitations in case you're looking for something other than  bridal invites.

This one would have been great for my daughter's 3rd birthday party!

I LOVE this invitation that Jessica has because if you have two children with birthdays that are close to each other, wouldn't this be the cutest invitation?

After finding the invitation, I began searching for other items to tie in the theme and found these stickers from MAUstudio.com. LOVE them.

I used the stickers for the shower favors. My friend and I filled cellophane bags with hot chocolate mix, chocolate chips and mini marshmallows and then secured the bags with a ribbon. We placed the sticker on the front to add a simple, yet thoughtful touch to personalize them.

For decorations, we used gourds, faux fall leaves, pictures of the couple and my husband helped me the morning of by making a mini pumpkin pie potpourri. (The pumpkin potpourri always brings back memories for me because back in 2002, before my husband and I were even dating, I saw the idea in Martha Stewart and he helped me make it back then on a fall afternoon. What a great guy!)

My parents' new sun room where the shower was held was a perfect setting!

(Pumpkin Potpourri in the middle)

To help the bride-to-be get started on her recipe collection, my mother-in-law thoughtfully picked up a recipe book and cards for the occasion. We included the recipe cards in the invitations for guests to fill out and I also included a recipe or two from her shower.

This shower was a brunch so the food was pretty simple. We kept it to a couple of casseroles, fruit and yogurt dip, baked oatmeal, mini cheesecakes and for a really special treat, coffee punch.

It was a fun event to plan! A big thank you to my mom, fellow bridesmaid, Steph, and sister-in-law Katie for helping with the shower. We hope you enjoyed your special day, Anne!

And in case you're interested, here is a link to the Baked Oatmeal as well as the recipe for the Coffee Punch (another church cookbook favorite. Thanks, Janine!)

 Coffee Punch

3 c. coffee, strong and hot

3 c. sugar

1 qt milk

1 pt half and half

2 t vanilla extract

Dissolve sugar in hot coffee. Add milk, half and half and vanilla. Stir well. Freeze. Thaw to slush then serve. This is YUMMY!

And now you get a chance to win a little fun too! I have TWO giveaways for you today!

We'll do it like this: complete each of the entries listed below and the first winner will win the giveaway from Custom Cards by Jessica Johnson (any item in her etsy shop with a $12.50 value).

The second winner will win the giveaway from MAUstudio.com (winner will receive their choice of a set of 2 inch round stickers valued at $25!) Here's a peak at some of MAUstudio's other awesome products:

As you can tell, MAUstudio.com has some great products that would tie in beautifully with your wedding, baby or bridal shower.

Here's how to enter these giveaways. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each to increase your chances of winning:

1. Go to Custom Cards by Jessica Johnson and let me know which invite you would pick.
2. Go to MAUstudios and let me know which stickers you would choose.
3. Tweet about these giveaways (each giveaway counts as a separate entry--just let me know)
4. Follow Purposeful Homemaking
5. Blog about this giveaway before it ends (please leave your direct URL).

The giveaway ends Friday, October 14.

Disclosure: I was given product to keep from MAUstudio.com and Custom Cards by Jessica Johnson in exchange for a candid review. I LOVED both products--there's my candidness. :) Purposeful Homemaking will not be held responsible for prizes not uflfilled by the sponsors. I have represented my sponsors wtih the expectation that they will fulfill their prizes and in a timely manner. The sponsors are shipping their items to you directly. They will not be shipped from Purposeful Homemaking.

Thoughts on Motherhood

There is something breathtaking about looking at my little one as he sleeps in the crook of my arm with his cheek resting on my chest, his lips slightly askewed as sleep too quickly overtook him and his long dark eyelashes resting on the precious cheeks that I kiss as often as possible.

My heart is overwhelmed with love for him, but also has the echo deep within it that reminds me it won't be long and he'll be as big as big brother and I won't be holding him like this and rocking him anymore.

Do you know how many times I've rocked one of my babies to sleep and sat there wishing I could capture moments like those with my heart's shutter the way I capture pictures with my camera's shutter? If only I had a camera in my mind that could preserve those moments from the exact mother-angle so that I would never forget those precious memories.

How I wish I had the ability to do that because the film of my mind grows dim and although I think I will remember those times, I don't, fully. Can I really remember holding my other two like that as babies?

Although I can't take all the pictures of my children that I want to, I do take as many as I can, because as an author beautifully penned it:

I am "trying to thicken the walls of my memories

So I’ll still stand

though they run on."

How fast this time is slipping by. My oldest is 6 1/2 and I can't believe it. I can't even imagine what I'll think when he's 18 and going off to college. How I must treasure these moments--they are gifts of grace and glimpses into the eyes of my heavenly Father who gave me these good gifts.

Mothering is the most unique calling on earth. Truly, it is. Whether you bore your child through your flesh or your heart, mothering calls you to reach deep inside your soul to face the challenges you'd never even thought of before. How thankful I am that I have my Savior to walk with me along this path.

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the demands placed on one's self in the midst of sleepless nights, sick children or the never-ending diaper changes. But even more difficult than those tasks, is the challenge of changing hearts.

Dirty hearts take a lot more work than dirty diapers.

Isaiah 64:6 "We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind."

I am so thankful for the Word of God that changes not only my children's hearts, but mine as well.

Romans 5:17 "For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

When my child is disrespectful and I feel the anger rise, if I submit to the Spirit and lovingly point my child to Truth, the dross is burned off and I am changed. 

Oh, that I may be a grace giver even when sinned against.

My prayer is, that as my husband and I disciple the tremendous blessings given to us, what with their complaining hearts, bickering and disobedience and all, that the bearers of those attitudes would be transformed into bearers of the Light. And that as we disciple them, we would be filled with the light of Christ, in order that we may "live in such a way that [not one child] will be hindered from finding the Lord by the way we act...In everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God." II Corinthains 6:3-4.

May God's grace nestle down into the heart of each soul in our home in order that we may be changed more and more into the likeness of Him.