Freebie Today!! New Warfare by Duct Tape Website

There's a lot of excitement around here!  We started a new website called Warfare by Duct Tape so my sons can sell their ebooks on how to make duct tape weapons and armor.  Click HERE to see it. 

What is really great is that Mr. Jim Erskine of HomeschoolFreebieOfTheDay.com is hosting a FREEBIE today with an excerpt from our ebook, The Battle Book!!  Click HERE to get there. 

We are also selling The Battle Book at a discount during this freebie offer.  Normally $7.95, we are selling it for only $4.95. 













My son Mark has written The Armored Glove Book which we are also selling at a discount of $9.95, usually $11.95. 

Honestly, I am not pressuring you to buy anything.  I just wanted to let everyone know about the freebie to download and to tell everyone about our new website.   :)

God has truly been blessing our family and this is one of the fruits. 

I would love to hear what you think about our new website or any other thoughts, so feel free to leave a comment. 

Blessings,

 

I'll be at the 2010 GHEA Homeschool Conference

Our whole family will be at the GHEA Homeschool Conference this weekend.  We will have a booth in the vendor hall.  If you are there, stop by and see us at booth 105.  It would be so nice to meet you.  Julia is selling her jewelry and the boys will be selling some foam swords and an e-book they wrote about battling. 

Pray for us that we can do well and that my health will be good.  It will be a busy weekend as we are leaving in a few hours to set up. 

Thank you and hope to see you there!

A Short Break

I'll be taking a short break from blogging.  My daughter, Julia and I are exhibiting our jewelry in a local jewelry show and need time to prepare.  Thanks for understanding and hope to be back soon.

Blessings,

My Favorite Missionaries

Living Word Ministries International (LWMI) is an awesome ministry located in Thailand.  We have watched them in action for about 10 years.  This amazing mission is led by two simple people, Charlie and Cathy Milbrodt.  They have orphanages, a Bible school where they train up pastors and evangelists, an outreach to Christian leaders and church planting.  

They have planted and built 82 churches. 

Recently they started producing coffee as a grassroots project designed to better the lives of villagers and produce revenue for caring for orphans and at risk children.  Now neighboring villages are begging for them to teach them how to grow coffee and hear the gospel in the process as they send in the evangelism team with the coffee team.  To read more about their ministries, click HERE.

This mission is the REAL DEAL!  God has astoundingly blessed this ministry and the fruit is evident for all to see. 

If you are looking for a place to invest in the kingdom of God, I highly recommend you look into LWMI.  Every dollar is used wisely and bears much fruit. 

You can also purchase their wonderful coffee, which helps them financially and you get a great cup of coffee.  Click HERE for the Mai Tai Coffee site.

Blessings,
  

The View From Here

This is the view from the top of our hill.  You can see a long way. 

It seems like you could see forever. 

Seeing forever....

Do I have an eternal perspective?  Am I easily bogged down by today's problems? 

 "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.


For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:6-9, 16-18

Blessings,

New Look

Well, here it is!  All fixed up and ready for spring!

A special thank you to my sweet daughter Julia for her talented efforts on my lovely header.  She is so creative and always does such a beautiful job!  I am so blessed that she is my daughter!!

She also helped me with the many little details of getting the blog to coordinate so nicely.  I appreciate you, Julia!

Also some big news, we have decided to NOT SELL OUR HOUSE!!  Yay!!  After much prayer, we believe God wants us here for the present.  So we plan to take dominion of our land and use it in a more productive way.  We cleared two areas up the hill for large gardens.  The larger one is about 50' x 25'.

The second area is about 30' x 20'.  Two weeks ago, Bob rented a roto-tiller and started to break up the ground.  It was pretty hard and had some rocks.  He was able to get it broken up but will have to go over it again. 

Here you can see the boys clearing some of the weeds that we had to cut down to clear the area.  This part of our property is very steep.  Bob built steps so that we could get to the top without sliding down the hill. 

This is looking down on our house from the top area of garden. 

Hopefully, we will have a bountiful garden this year.  If not this year, then maybe next.  :)

Anyway, that's some of what is going on around here.    

 

This is the new garden under about 8 inches of snow.  It melted by Saturday afternoon but it sure was pretty while it was here!

Blessings,
 

Under Construction

Hang in there!  I've got my personal blog designer working on the header.  It is coming soon so this blog will look all put together.

Thanks for your patience.,

Arrayed Like One of These

" And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.

 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?

 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?

 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.

 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Luke 12:22-31

Lord, help me to seek your kingdom today, to not fret or worry about those things out of my control.  Help me to place all things in Your hands and to trust you implicitly this day.  Your Word is true and You will provide all we need. 

Thank You.

Do You Morph?

Do you morph?  Change?  Conform?

What I mean is, when you are with someone who is different than you, do you tend to take on their characteristics or mannerisms?

I admit, this happens to me sometimes.  Mostly in speaking with a similar accent.  When I hang around with my friends from the South, it is easy for me to talk more like that. 

Is morphing a bad thing or good thing? 

That depends on what you are changing into.  Some traits are admirable and worthy.  We would do well to emulate Godly people.  Good role models are important. 

Some things are neutral like accents or laughing style. 

But what about foolishness or sarcasm?  Making fun at the expense of others?  No, these things are bad and should not be copied. 

Be careful who you emulate, copy or resemble. 

"Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  Romans 12:2.

Let's seek to be more like Christ, daily, in all things. 

Seeking,

SNOW! And LOTS of it.

Yesterday, we had the most amazing experience.  Tons of snow.  Ok, for Georgia it's tons of snow.  All of you north of the Mason-Dixon line can stop snickering now.  :)

Here are the chicken coops and garden area.

We got even more by the time it stopped.  Needless to say, my children were very excited.  They spent quite a bit of time outside romping and taking pictures. 

Check back for more. I have to see if I can get the video to work.

Blessings,

Grace in Time of Need

For we have not an 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. 

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16

Seeking that grace,

Good Gifts

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?

Matthew 7:11

Believing the promise,

It's a Promise

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee:  he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:22

Believing the promise,

Refined Focus

This blog will serve as my place to share more personal thoughts, reflections and spiritual truths that I am learning.  The plan is to post resourceful, frugal, creative and crafty ideas on the "So Dutch" blog,  

The newest post is about free math worksheets.  So hop over there to read about this great freebie.


What do you do when you feel agitated and stressed?  How do you relieve that pressure that builds up from frustrating situations?  Feeling overwhelmed?  Fearful?

Pray!  Pray and take all those concerns to God.  He is waiting to hear you.  One by one lay them at His feet.   Repent, if need be.  Forgive, if necessary.  And then, above all, TRUST.  Trust your Heavenly Father to go before you, fight your battles, provide and lead. 

Then, rest.  Rest in His peace which passes understanding.  Know that He loves you and will take care of you. 

Focus on Him, not the storm around you.   He is willing and able to meet your needs. 

Praying and resting,
  

Announcing my NEW Website!

This is an announcement for my new website, So Dutch.  I have been wanting to do this for a while now and it finally is coming together.  Julia did the header for me.  Isn't it neat? 

I am 100% Dutch and am proud of the good qualities in my heritage.  Why don't you hop over there and check it out? 

It is still very new and I have lots more to add.  Click HERE to see the new site.  So check back again.  Thanks for looking!!  (Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!)

Blessings,

Children and Clean Homes

Check this out!  This is a quote from "The House That Cleans Itself".  According to a study done by the University of Michigan in 2001, "kids who are raised in clean homes are more likely to complete more school and have higher earning potential than those raised in dirty homes." 

Wow!  Does that motivate you?  It stands to reason that if things are orderly, more will get done and the family will be less distracted.  Very interesting....

Let's see...I've copied my floor plans and marked my zones.  I have the game plan.  Now the book says to take a "prayer walk" through my house.  Oh, how neat!  That's a new concept!  I like it!  It's on my list for tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Stay tuned,

The House That Cleans Itself Part 2

OK, so over lunch I start reading the book.  It's very good so far.  She begins by drawing a floor plan to determine the flow of the house and in which order you want to organize your house.  Bob drew out a plan last night so I am all set there. 

Now I need to copy it and start planning out the zones. 

The book was so easy to read I ended up reading the first 3 chapters over my salad lunch. The second chapter encourages you to find the Home Base Zone, the area that, if clean, gives you a sense that you can handle the rest of the job.  I will have to think on that one.  It doesn't jump out to me right now. 

The third chapter discusses how to get the whole family on board.  Yay!  A family oriented approach appeals to me!    I have to finish the book and then have a family meeting.  My children already are great cleaners so hopefully they will be inspired to be more organized, too.  Julia is very excited so no problem there.  Bob is generally neat so that shouldn't be any trouble, except maybe those dirty socks that somehow seem to miss the hamper.....

Well anyway, so good so far.  I'll keep you posted.

The House That Cleans Itself

I am starting to read the book "The House That Cleans Itself" by Mindy Starns Clark.  My house is usually in good order but there are times it gets out of hand.  Julia has already read the book and is very motivated to put it into practice.  We have a good cleaning chart but we are not consistent in implementing it, usually because I am not up to it. 

I hope to learn a lot.  I'll let you know how it goes! 

Have a great day!

Quick, Easy and Frugal Mittens

The weather has been very cold here lately.  It seems to have been cold EVERYWHERE!  The gloves and mittens have mysteriously disappeared, too!  We had some in the fall.  Enough for everyone.  Since my gloves got passed down to a child, I decided to make some more. 

I had this cashmere sweater that I had found at a thrift store in Michigan last winter.  I had already made some leggings from the sleeves so I cut out some mittens from the body of the sweater.   Using my sewing machine, I stitched these up in no time. 

You could use an old sweater.  If it is wool, it could be felted first.  Just make a pattern from your own hand.  Remember to add enough for a seam allowance and room for that seam allowance in the thumb, especially.  Otherwise it will be too tight.  Have fun!  Let me know if you make some.  It would be fun to see your creations, too!!

Have a great day!

The Father's Love Letter

Do you ever feel that no one loves you?  God the Father loves you very much.  Jesus came to show us the Father.  (John 16:25)   Here is an awesome letter written to explain how much God loves us.   It is all Scripture verses set in the style of a letter.  Soak up the truths of God's love.  Be encouraged and comforted.  Click HERE for the letter.

May you be richly blessed,