Getting The House In Order for Spring

Spring is around the corner and in a blink of an eye it will all be here too quickly!

We are writing out the lists,
  examining the home repairs,
pulling out the paint,
tackling overdue projects,
sewing for future events,
looking through gardening catalogs
 and packing away some of the winter items.

Most importantly we are dreaming about warmer weather!

I don't like waiting for spring to do alot of the indoor projects because I would rather be outside enjoying the weather then and find it much harder to commit to doing things inside when I would rather be basking in the sun somewhere working in the yard.

We are thinking far ahead--what do we want this spring/summer to look like?

Who do we want over? How can we reconnect with old friends? It is nice to have online friends, but don't forget to cultivate the ever important real life relationships too. Look at opening your home as a ministry and even think about people you wouldn't normally invite over.

Don't worry about your home looking perfect. Mine never does. I have a home with eight children---I think that says it all! There are imperfections everywhere, but we do not invite people over to impress them, I used to think that everything had to be perfect--that just comes from pride. Most people just appreciate the act of love that you opened up your home and overlook those sorts of things. Don't get me wrong, I like a clean, orderly home because I think that is right, but really just want to be realistic about the whole thing.

I am praying about how God might use our home this year. I am not sure what He has in mind, but I am preparing and want to be ready.

How about you?

How are you preparing your home for spring?



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This post is linked at Raising Homemakers , Far Above Rubies and
Women Living Well

Building Healthy Family Culture

I am so excited to see this brand new resource to help us build up strong homes:

To Survive and Prosper: It’s Time to Think Strategically
About Your Children, Your Household, and Your Family Culture!

strat-e-gies: The art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.

If you are a Christian parent living in the twenty-first century, you need to think strategically about your family. Settling for the priorities and practices of the world is a proven formula for disaster. As parents, we must do more than settle. We must self-consciously choose. This requires strategic biblical thinking. It means self-consciously building your family culture. And whether the subject is entertainment choices, home décor, travel, music in the home, or dealing with antagonistic relatives, it means that wise, Scripturally-informed parents must think creatively as they aggressively engage impediments and obstacles to success.

A 20-Week Energy Boost of Strategic Thinking and Encouragement from Doug and Beall Phillips

Family Strategies: An Invitation from Doug and Beall from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

These are the weekly messages from Doug and Beall that are included:

1. How to Organize Your Home to Promote Family Unity
2. How to Cultivate a Love of Reading with Your Children
3. How to Make Mealtime Meaningful
4. How to Prepare for a Year of Home Education
5. How to Take Children Safely Through an Airport
6. How to Involve the Whole Family in Family Worship
7. How to Address the Plague of “Jive Talk” in Your Home
8. How to Encourage Masculinity in Sons
9. How to Encourage Femininity in Daughters
10. How to Handle a Social Worker Visit
11. How to Wage War on Sibling Rivalry
12. How to Use Household Decorations to Teach Character
13. How to Talk to Your Children about Miscarriage
14. How to Involve the Whole Family in Hospitality
15. How to Build an Entrepreneurial Spirit in Your Children
16. How to Watch a Movie As a Family
17. How to Cultivate a Love of Meaningful Poetry with Your Children, and Why Doing So Is Important
18. How to Prepare Your Children to Listen to a Symphony
19. How to Take a Road Trip with Your Family
20. How to Select the Best Locations for Family Vacations

As the parents of eight children and the founders of Vision Forum Ministries, Doug and Beall Phillips have spent the last decade collecting and implementing helpful strategies for building a strong, safe, and visionary family culture.

Now, beginning Tuesday, February 28, they will be sharing some of the most practical and proven strategies for building a vibrant family culture through their new 20-week, 30-minute episodes audio series called Family Strategies. 

Listen to the new Audio Samples here.

If you order by February 28 you will save $10, plus receive two bonus messages as a free gift.
This is a 20-message series sent directly to your inbox each week for less than $5 per message. But make sure you order by February 28, as that price will go up! With your order confirmation email, they will also send you coupons to download two important, family-affirming bonus messages for FREE:

Victories: Moments Small and Large Which Define Christian Parenting,
and How to Evaluate a Suitor.


For about the price of a fancy cup of coffee, you can get real, weekly encouragement  from Doug and Beall in which they share their favorite and best strategies for building family unity.

Click here to order Family Strategies.


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Dear Readers, it is an honor to share valuable resources on this blog to help you build stronger homes to the glory of God!  I thought I would also mention that Vision Forum also has godly resources for children:

V is for Von Trapp: A Musical Family Alphabet

and
Teach Them to Your Children: An Alphabet of Biblical Poems, Verses and Stories

Priced at $17.00 but is now on sale at only $8.50
and you can click here to browse more.

Golden Days with Family

Yesterday I had a wonderful day out with my two older daughters. We went out to the mall and bought all kinds of *girly* things. We laughed and talked and joked. We strolled up and down the mall what felt like a million times. We ate lunch and shared our hearts, connecting, bonding. Caring.

Then later we went out with family because my brother-in-law, Israel (he is one of the top realtors in Chicago and if you need one you should call him--he is also a very faithful Christian man who you can trust!), wanted to take us out to a movie and dinner along with the grandparents. At the movies we had the entire theater to ourselves--and we ended up doing a Chinese buffet. Israel played with our children at a separate table. We talked with Steve's parents at another.

It was a simple day, but a golden day. No worries, no work. Just fun and feeling young again. Not a care in the world. Loved being with my family and watching how they have grown. My older daughters are becoming young women. They are some of my closest friends and they know me very well.

Soon these days will be gone, one day they will marry and things will change. My little twins will be older boys and not have time to cuddle. I so cherish this time because I know that it will not last forever.

Mothers, grasp these moments,
for these moments will slip from your hands in a blink of an eye.
Live your life now and pour it into your loved ones
so when you are older
you will have

no regrets.

Have a beautiful day!



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Home and Hearth

What is home without the father?

Strong and wise to lead the way...

What is home without the mother?

Love and kindness fills the days...

What is home without the children?

Joyfull noises, laughs and giggles...

Sweet food on the stove, simmering, music in the air.

Roaring fire, books beckoning strewn about.

Long winter days, daughters sewing, boys a playin',

The family together is what counts.

No need to wait for the golden years---

take a close look around,

for the best years that you have waited for,

have anticipated and looked forward to,

without even noticing it,

has joyfully

arrived.




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