Movin...

To help me be a better steward of my time, I've decided to move the majority of my blogging over to our website. I will still post tutorials here for now, but the rest of my blogging will be HERE!

A Homeschool Freebie Site!

I recently found out about a freebie homeschool site. Each week day you can get something completely free! How cool is that?!

Next Tuesday Teaching Good Things will be featured and we will be offering a free download of one of our e-books to everyone, AND we will be offering an EXTRA BONUS! Be sure to stop by!

Ya gotta listen to this...

I know our topic is meeting the needs of the orphans this week, but to be able to do that successfully we need to have our home base covered, with strong marriages, functional homes and living to the glory of God. THEN we can reach out to the needs of orphans.

I listened to this is a great broadcast this morning and I just have to share it!!! It is worth taking 20 minutes to listen to.

During Kevin Swanson's broadcast he interviews Scott Brown. I just read his article on Motherhood this morning. Very encouraging!

The beauty and power of home life is hard to overestimate. Godly women are called to take responsibility for this realm. In doing so, they build homes with an investment in labor and love for beauty and stability that would make a home a center of the ministry of the church; a source of peace for all who enter there; a place of hospitality. The home is the fountain of society, and the spring from which flows the members of the church, the ranks of business and the citizens of the realm. So please understand how important home life really is even when so many do not value it. The Sarah Palin’s of this world are the wrong role models. They defeat what is beautiful and good and lead a host of followers to do the same.

Read the whole article here.

Crochet DVD Review

A few months ago I did a giveaway for my Learn How to Crochet DVD. I was THRILLED that a Marine's wife won (military families give more than the get). Anyway, she was kind enough to write up a review.

When I received my dvd, I grabbed my yarn and crochet hook and popped in the dvd. It felt as if Kathy was welcoming me into her home. She sat me down for my first lesson, and I actually got it. I loved being able to pause and rewind so I could really get the particular stitch. No, my stitches weren’t even, but I was able to actually create a wristband for Munchkin’s American Girl Doll. (She was quite impressed.) Yes, I started out small.

Kathy starts by explaining the different sizes and types of hooks and by giving information about different types of yarn. She then goes over crochet patterns. From there, she describes and shows the different hand positions used during crocheting. Then, it's time to start crocheting! With step by step instructions, you learn how to do different stitches. By the time you are done, you will have learned how to change colors of yarn and make a dishcloth, a granny square, and a scarf.

I was so impressed with the dvd that I had to purchase her cake decorating dvd as well. Munchkin plans on using that to help her learn how to decorate a cake for my birthday next month.

You can read the whole review over HERE.

A Month of FREE Movies

If you have never tried Netflix I have a one month free subscription to the first person that e-mails me at kathy @ TeachingGoodThings.com (remove the spaces).

A friend gave us a three month subscription for Christmas. We love it. It is way cheaper than rental places...NO LATE FEES, and the choices are are great. We've gotten some really good documentaries!

The normal trial subscription is 2 weeks, so getting movies free for a month is a good deal! You HAVE to be someone that has not used Netflix before.

Update:
Tracy Thomas won!

A Beautiful Slideshow

This is a BEAUTIFUL slide show about adoption, take a few minutes, enjoy and search your heart:

http://www.kristinjphotography.com/Slideshows/Day4_Slideshow/Ethiopia_Day4/

Fall Domestic Classes

We will hold two fall Domestic Classes and they will be on the same day to try to help with the cost of gas. Posted below are the details. Please be sure to register on time for planning purposes. You are welcome to do one class or both!

Making Bread by Hand

~Tiffany Lee

The Cedar House, Ashville, AL

November 7, 2008 9:00 am-12:00

Registration Deadline October 27, 2008

Bread machines are great, but it is also good to know how to do it by hand! Everyone will take home a loaf of fresh bread. Tiffany will show us different ways to use bread dough including cinnamon rolls, bread and calzones.

Tiffany will also show us how to use a Bosh machine in addition to making bread by hand. For lunch we will eat the things she makes and salads. Each family is asked to bring their favorite salad to share.

$5 per person or $15 per family

Supplies:

Apron

Bread pan

How to Make Live Greenery Arrangements

~Kathy Brodock

The Cedar House, Ashville, AL

November 7, 2008 1:00 am-3:00-4:00

Registration Deadline October 27, 2008

For this class we will learn how to make live arrangements using fresh evergreens. These can be used on mailboxes, table centerpieces, mantels, window boxes, door hangings, etc… These will last several weeks if you keep them watered.You could decorate for Thanksgiving and then make a few changes for Christmas.

$5 per person making an (1) arrangement ~ Family members are welcome to watch or work on an arrangement together.

Supplies:

Wire Snips

Ribbon (Outdoor ribbon if for an arrangement outdoors)

Optional: Fresh or plastic fruit/gourds, pine cones, if you have any magnolia leaves please bring them. Bring anything you may want to add to your greens.

I will provide the cages, oasis, picks, wires and greens. These cages are re-usable for years.

The Calling of Adoption

As I mentioned last time, we are all given callings in life to be used for God's glory and to serve others, and often those callings change with the seasons of life. Many callings are not what we would choose, but God brings them to us and He requires us to receive that calling with praise.

Adoption is one calling that every Christian should at least prayerfully consider. Don't automatically assume that it is not for you.

I LOVE this sermon by John Piper on the topic of adoption. All through the sermon he parallels God's adoption of us through Christ, and an earthly adoption of orphans. Even if God never opens the door of adoption for you this sermon will help you see God in a beautiful way; it will also encourage you to come along side others who are or have adopted.

Be sure you listen to the whole version, not the excerpts.

When people embrace the pain and joy of children rather than using abortion or birth control simply to keep children away, the worth of Christ shines more visibly.

~

The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans.

~John Piper

Thou Shall Not Covet Another's Calling

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,

each of us is to exercise them accordingly:

if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;

if service, in his serving;

or he who teaches, in his teaching;

or he who exhorts, in his exhortation;

he who gives, with liberality;

he who leads, with diligence;

he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans12:6-8

The Lord gives all of us our spiritual gifts to be used to bring Him glory by meeting the needs of others and building His kingdom. He also gives us commands about how to do our good works. I think it is easy, and probably common, to wish we had a different gift than we have because we see it so gloriously displayed in another person. Probably the most common one would be the gift of edification through music or singing. I'm sure many of us wish we could sing out like Sandy Patty, or play the piano like Dino, but the hard cold facts are God gave that gift to a chosen few.

My husband has the gift of service. He is always willing to do the dirty work in any situation and never complain or boast. He just sees the need and does it, never asking for recognition. His love for helping people makes me look like a sluggard. He truly has the heart of a servant. Again, God gave this spiritual gift to him.

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this:

to visit orphans and widows in their distress,

and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:27

Sometimes it is hard to know just what it is that God wants us to do in certain seasons in life. For me it is very easy to look at the large families around us and wish that we too had a house full of children. Six years ago we asked God to bless us with more children. After two surgeries and a miscarriage, that door has been closed.

We recently knocked on the door of "visiting the orphans", through adoption. This door continues to be closed to us, even though we'd love to rescue a child or two and bring them into our family. So many things I don't understand about God's ways, but I know He IS God!

I've come to realize that I have been coveting the spiritual gift (and blessings) of others, I have coveted God's calling on their lives. For whatever reasons God has for not bringing more children into our family, that is His plan. He knows we are open and willing.

But if anyone does not provide for his own,

and especially for those of his household,

he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

1 Timothy 5:8

We do have a calling of our own. We have widows in our own family that need help, perhaps that is where God wants us to pour our energy and finances into (Just so you know our widows live 1100 miles away from us) . We are suppose to care for those in our own family before we do others. If fact, Scripture says that those who do not care for the needs of their own family is worse than an unbeliever. Is God really pleased when we neglect the needs (I mean real needs) of our own family members, especially the widowed and elderly, and pour our gifts and resources into other areas?

Some people are in the position where they can do both. Most of us have different seasons of life where we are able to do more than other times. If we are open to obey God, He will bring us opportunities all through our lives to minister to the widows and orphans, it may be in ways that are not the norm, and it may be at times when we least expect it.

If it were up to me I'd have a house a full of children, by birth and adoption, but right now that is not God's plan for us. So I will strive to carry the rare jewel of contentment and serve in other ways, using the gifts God has given me. After all, if I am not doing what He has called ME to do, who will do it?

Whatever God's calling is we ALL need to:

Let love be without hypocrisy,

Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;

give preference to one another in honor;

not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Romans 12:9-14

This coming week I'll be focusing on the subject of adoption and ways to meet the needs of orphans. Even if you are not called to adoption there are ways to help meet their needs and share the Gospel with them.

Tracy's Review

Tracy posted a wonderful review of my Basic Cake Decorating DVD.

For several years, I've been planning for Courtney and I to take basic cake decorating classes from the local craft store. Time and circumstance never allowed for it, and so here we are, almost 20 years of cakes later, and we're still trying to squeeze in classes.

I love technology! I would have never thought about learning from a DVD (I can now, even while I'm still home and the littles are napping)!

When we first watched the DVD, we were amazed! There were many techniques that used to look very complicated. Mrs. Brodock slowly breaks them down step-by-step allowing viewers to see the process. The close-up shots of each step, really let you see how each is done. I found myself thinking more than once, "ahhh, I can do this!".

Hop on over to her blog and read the rest of the review.

Preparing For ???

In our quest to raise our children to meet their full potential, I think we tend to get confused about what we are supposed to be accomplishing. While listening to a sermon recently the pastor made this comment:

"We spend a lions-share of our time preparing our children for college,

but little time preparing them for marriage." V. Baucham

That is so true!

Read the rest HERE.

Be Available on Purpose

More on the topic of being available:

Members of a family need to be rested and equipped to be able to go out and meet the needs of others. If they are worn out and grumpy they will not be able to shine the light of Christ to others. Laundry needs to be done, food cooked, lessons finished, character training worked on, and relationships strengthened. Although those things need to be high on the priority list, they are things that are a constant work in progress. We never really finish them, so we cannot use them as a reason not to go out and serve. The point is not to neglect your family and home to do good works.

Read the rest HERE.

The Freedom of Being Available

As homeschool moms one of our biggest challenges is not to commit to everything we want to. There are so many great things to choose from, and then when you have more than one child with their own special interest and talents, it sure does make it hard not to fill up the calendar with practice meetings, games, recitals, plays, co-ops, etc…

Read the rest of this over on my Teaching Good Things blog.

A Lady in Waiting Autumn Retreat!

October 21-24, 2008

in beautiful New Castle, Virginia

A Lady in Waiting Autumn Retreat!

Four days of fellowship, encouragement, and godly mentoring, tucked away in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains.

• Hands-on Titus Two Workshops on Hospitality and Whole Foods Cooking.
• A night of Pride & Prejudice
• Teatime
• Encouraging speakers

Register now! Space is limited.

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL!

Register by September 15, 2008 and receive a special package of downloadable gifts, including magazine subscriptions and e-books!

REGISTER HERE

The registration fee covers 9 meals and 3 nights' lodging, in addition to bringing in great speakers and Titus Two mentors!

Recent Projects

Here are a few projects I've been working on:

I've been working on a few names this summer.

A quilted Auburn toddler bib and an infant bib. I also made an Alabama bib, but it's not pictured.

This is a flannel rag quilt, it has denim on the back side, which 'ragged' really well!

This is the back side. I used some old jeans and denim skirts.
It is perfect to throw down anywhere for a baby.

Last weekend we helped host a double baby shower for two moms that are adopting. One family is adopting their fifth Asian child. The other family is adopting for the second time.

I did not make this quilt, but it was ADORABLE! EXCELLENT JOB Bria!!!

Do you know what happens when you teach everyone you know how to quilt? It makes it really hard to give quilts as gifts. :o/


Showers are fun to give. This shower was a joint effort from a few ladies of our Bible study group. Our church also celebrates every birth and adoption with a shower, which is so different than how the world celebrates babies. I am thankful!

On this cake I put little babies of color, since one baby will be from Vietnam and the other one will be a black baby. One 'funny' person at the shower joked about the "cute Obama babies" on the cake...hee hee....I THINK NOT! ;o) These babies will be raised in Godly homes, with the fear of the Lord to 'change' the world by obeying God!

________________________

Today was our Guild meeting. We always have a time of show and tell. Here is Olivia with two of her finished projects.

Snowman wallhanging.

This quilt has embrodery on it, it is so pretty.

Destiny Of Holiness

From my reading this morning:

"Ye shall be holy; for I am holy."

1 Peter 1:16 (R.V.)

Continually restate to yourself what the purpose of your life is. The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness. Nowadays we have far too many affinities, we are dissipated with them; right, good, noble affinities which will yet have their fulfillment, but in the meantime God has to atrophy them. The one thing that matters is whether a man will accept the God Who will make him holy. At all costs a man must be rightly related to God.

Do I believe I need to be holy? Do I believe God can come into me and make me holy? If by your preaching you convince me that I am unholy, I resent your preaching. The preaching of the gospel awakens an intense resentment because it must reveal that I am unholy; but it also awakens an intense craving. God has one destined end for mankind, viz., holiness. His one aim is the production of saints. God is not an eternal blessing-machine for men; He did not come to save men out of pity: He came to save men because He had created them to be holy. The Atonement means that God can put me back into perfect union with Himself, without a shadow between, through the Death of Jesus Christ.

Never tolerate through sympathy with yourself or with others any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means unsullied walking with the feet, unsullied talking with the tongue, unsullied thinking with the mind - every detail of the life under the scrutiny of God. Holiness is not only what God gives me, but what I manifest that God has given me.

~Oswald Chambers