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Showing posts from November, 2018

Harvesting my crop before I have frozen lemonade

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My plants have already been covered with frost clothes since the temperature has dipped at night. However, I had to pull it back and go ahead and pick some of my lemons before I have frozen lemons. This year's crop brought 14 lemons. I'll give mom a few, but I doubt either of us will do more than put them in a bowl as decoration. They are kind of sour for lemonade. I grow them just because I like to claim to grow stuff like lemons.  That's not as cool as growing pineapples, but part of my pineapple plants froze last winter, so the plants that are left aren't mature enough. 

The Marriage Mentor: A book truly written with the husband and wife in mind

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I've been working with Rhonda and Steve Stoppe on their new book, The Marriage Mentor . This is not your average marriage book! The Stoppes have written a book that can help couples in a real way. They believe that every couple should have (or be) mentors. It helps to talk to another couple who has already walked a particular stage of life and have godly examples of what marriage should be. While the Stoppes are serious about their topic, they present the material in a light-hearted and interesting way.  In this introduction to The Marriage Mentor (Harvest House Publishers), the Stoppes explain how the book is written with each spouse in mind: If you’re like most married couples, you are so busy you rarely read through an entire book. And let’s be honest: statistics prove that men aren’t the ones reading marriage help books. So rather than writing a book the wife has to continually nag her husband to sit down and read with her, we’ve broken the book into sect

Just throwing some gift ideas at you

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See anything for anyone on your shopping list?

Should is a dangerous word

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I'm Not Crazy—I'm Crazy Busy Seeking Balance by Debora M. Coty excerpted from Too Blessed to be Stressed for Moms (C) 2018 Shiloh Run Press, an imprint of Barbour Publishing I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Isaiah 41:10 NASB   Hey, did you hear about twenty-seven-year-old Amber Miller, who, in her thirty-eighth week of pregnancy, completed the 26.2-mile Chicago Marathon then checked into a hospital to plunk out a healthy baby girl? Now that’s what I call a mom on the fly! Well, you and I might not officially run marathons, but we both know our feet fly at a marathoner’s pace most days. So many things we  must  do; a few things we  want  to do; and countless things we  should  do. You know,  should  is a dangerous word. It’s a stress-filled, pressure-packed slave driver. It ruthlessly inflates the bulk of a mother’s to-do list, often crowding out healthy sanity-essentials with guilt-induced clutter. “I  should  go to that parents’ meeti

New Growth Press’ Spirit of Giving Youth Book Giveaway

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Last week, I shared about books from New Growth Press for the youngest members of the family. Maybe your kids have outgrown that stage and are now preteens or teens. Books are a great gift for those members of the family who need a break from all the electronics in the house. Actually, that may apply to everyone in the house! Books are a great gift for everyone in the family, by the way! Even if there aren’t kids in your own house, I’m sure you know some young people who would enjoy these books. Maybe you are a youth leader or teacher with young people on your Christmas list. This week, New Growth Press is giving away THREE gift boxes of books for tweens and teens. From November 26-December 2, you can enter to win one of three gift boxes of books (retail value of $114). Click here to enter or scroll down to form below. Each gift box includes the following titles for youth: ·          The complete Rwendigo Tales series by J. A. Myhre: o    A Chameleon, a B

Hippopotamus

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Hippopotamus Song In the beginning, God made the sea And the forest filled with trees He made the mountains up so high And on the top he placed the sky God’s fingerprints are everywhere Just to show how much He cares But in between He had loads of fun He made a hippo who weighs a ton. Chorus Hip-hip-hip-hippopotamus! Hip-hip-hooray! God made all of us. Hip-hip-hip-hippopotamus! Hip-hip-hooray! God made all of us. Creation sings of His praise, The sparrow and the tiny babe. We can sing and say, “well done.” But some things He just made for fun! Chorus In the end He had lots of fun. He made a kangaroo that jumps and runs. Kanga-kanga-kangaroo. Hip-hip-hurray God made me and you. Kanga-kanga-kangaroo. Hip-hip-hurray God made me and you. In the end He had lots of fun. He made a manatee just for fun. Mana-mana-manatee. Hip-hip-hurray God made you and me. Mana-mana-manatee. Hip-hip-hurray God made you and me.

I don't usually brand cows at craft shows

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This weekend, we're in Cypress and doing our first event sponsored by the FFA. For the silent auction, I did a cow sign. We also brought a couple of cows, pigs and chickens to be personalized. We did not expect one of our first sales on Saturday morning to be someone buying both cows. The woman who bought them had them personalized for her and her husband. They turned out well. I just don't usually do cow brands at craft shows.

All around our Cypress booth

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One of the things I dream about is booth set-up. Sometimes my dreams are about actual places we set up our booths and some are dreams about places we'll never actually do.  I dream and plot and plan when something is different one week from another. For example, this weekend we were not only on an end, but were open to an aisle on the back of our booth too. So, we had three open sides. We have certain set-ups when we are on the end vs. in between other booths to take advantage of both sides of our displays whenever possible. Instead of highlighting the sports balls when the customers came in, we wanted the farm animals showing because it was an FFA show.  I've had some people asking in my Facebook vendor groups about my booth set up and photos, but I haven't really taken any this year. I took several this weekend, but it's hard to put together how the whole thing was arranged. These panels are are largest displays and we usually have sports on both sides w

Whataburger for Thanksgiving?

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Just in case this post comes across as complaining, let me say up front that it is not. I think it's funny. We sat out this morning, Thanksgiving Day, to head to Cypress for a two-day craft show. We picked this particular event in part as a mini giveaway and part avoiding potential family drama. The plan was to stop at Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving lunch when we got to Conroe, then check into the hotel in time for Dad to watch the Cowboy game.  Do you know me and plans? We are in two different cars so that we have one to run around in without a trailer attached and to also have extra books in case we sell a lot, especially since it's a two-day event. First planned stop: Buc-ees in Madisonville. Let me just say that you haven't seen anything like Buc-ees on Thanksgiving. If you live outside of Texas and don't know what Buc-ees is, it is a very large gas station and convenience store that boasts "The #1 place for #1" aka the cleanes

Thanksgiving: It’s a heart condition

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Thanksgiving: It’s a heart condition By Darla Weaver Excerpt adapted from Gathering of Sisters by Darla Weaver. ©2018 Herald Press, used with permission. Toward the end of the month we turned our attention to Thanksgiving and the meal we were all sharing at Regina’s house after church services in the morning. Nathan would be home from Alaska, the harvest season was over for another year, and Thanksgiving was marked on the calendar. It was time to thank God for family, for freedom, for food and shelter and all the abundant blessings he showered upon us daily, hourly. Food, of course, is the main element of the Thanksgiving meal. In the weeks before Thanksgiving, our conversation centers there quite often, and on such enthralling topics as holiday turkey prices, and whether Butterball brand turkeys are better than any other brand. “I need to copy your recipe for cranberry salad,” one of us will say to Mom. And: “If a recipe asks for heavy cream, is that the same

Diving into the Unknown

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Lauren Gaskill offers insight to overcoming fear  and anxiety to live a life of courageous faith When Lauren Gaskill started feeling pain in her shoulders while she was in high school, she attributed it to her swim team workouts. In college, as her health issues continued to escalate, she began to feel lost in a sea of anxiety, depression and unexplained chronic pain that was ripping apart her faith. Every week she would hear sermons about a God who delivers his people from their problems, but words only left her more frustrated and confused. Gaskill admits she somehow missed the explanation that following Jesus doesn’t guarantee sunny skies and smooth sailing. In fact, the waters of life are often tumultuous, crashing over us. Sometimes we can feel we’re drowning in a sea of confusion, division, frustration, complacency, or disillusionment. We need more than a shallow faith to survive these deep waters. In her new book,  Into the Deep: Diving Into a Life of Courag

New Growth Press’ Spirit of Giving Children’s Book Giveaway

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Who doesn’t love giving and getting books for Christmas? (If you don’t, we may need to have a talk!) Books are a great gift, especially for children. Not only do we want to encourage the love of reading and give them stories they will enjoy, we want to provide teaching moments. Plus giving little ones new books is really a gift to the parents as well. They need a break from the same old bedtime stories. You don’t have to be a parent to buy for kids, you know! Maybe you have grandkids, nieces, nephews, neighbors, or want to bless some children from church. New Growth Press is jumping into the gift giving season by giving away THREE children’s book gift boxes (retail value of $125 each). All of their children’s books are beautifully illustrated, entertaining, teach a lesson, and most importantly, are biblically based! From November 19-25, you can enter to win one of three children’s gift boxes. Click here or scroll down to enter! Each gift box includes five of