Would You Like to Buy a Painting Made by Mrs. Q?

I am posting this here on Blessed Homemaking, because I have a painting I would really like to get rid of!  I painted this around 1998-1999 for someone who really liked snakes.  I no longer have contact with this person and have no need for this painting that is taking up space!   It is 24 x 30" on canvas board and ready to hang in a black metal frame.  I would like to get at least $200 for it for the time it took me.  It was my first real painting I did in acrylics.  Below are the pictures and if you are interested, it may be purchased at my Etsy shop here.

On a side note:  I would like to make some more paintings of lovely things (but somehow life with little ones keeps me so busy?)  Hopefully one day I will get to do this! 

Thanks for looking,

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A Wonderful Way to End the Day Together

Reading To The...

Every day is special with a houseful of little children.  I like to end our days in a special way.  After every child gets ready for bed, we sit down together and read a chapter from the Bible.  We are currently in John.  Then I read them a chapter from a special book about the things of the Lord.  Tonight we read Little Pillows & Morning Bells, which the children love, as it teaches them more about their blessed Saviour.  Sometimes we read Pearables Kingdom Stories, which uses creative stories to teach godly morals.  It makes me so thankful for this quiet time with them, and that there are good things to read to them to enrich their faith and encourage them, and give them something sweet to think about as they fall asleep.

I am a blessed mother of children ♥

Goodnight,

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Come Back to Real Life

Happy Days

Dear Mothers,

 Are you living in your real life?  Or living in life online?  Real life is your life at home, with your children, with your husband.  I look around when I go places, and it seems that people are expressionless, not really "there", or they're on their cell phones constantly and not paying attention to the people around them.  I think it is sad that we have become so very attached to technology that it seems to run our lives.  We can't imagine life without email, or the internet, or being able to call someone any time we want to.  Social media is just about expected of everyone, and you almost can't get news from friends or family without it!

We do have a computer and internet, but I am thankful we do not have all the gadgets that are so prevalent in our culture.  I have been busy ridding our home of clutter, and the more I do so, the more I am happy to have a simplified life.  A life filled with less stuff, and filled more with the people I love and time spent with them.

Another thought is that we can so easily and immediately communicate with others, that we often forget or neglect to communicate with the One whom we should be talking with most!  How many times have you put off reading your Bible because you had something else to read?  Or run desperately to the phone or computer to ask someone advice without even asking the Lord first?

Technology isn't in and of itself, evil.  But we need to be careful that we don't let it rule us.  We need to use it as a tool, not be overcome by it.  So will you join me and come back to real life?

Blessings,

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The Beautiful Wife by Sandy Ralya (a Review) & Giveaway

Following this review is a special giveaway announcement!

About the book:

The Beautiful Wife uses inspiring stories along with biblical principles to guide and encourage any wife looking for God's best in her marriage. The Beautiful Wife answers serious questions women have about their roles as wives. Discussing everything from romance and money to beauty, communication, and sex, Sandy challenges women to open up and share their journeys so that together they can see God's plan for their marriages. "It is my passion to help women discover God's heart for their marriage, just as the other women helped me," writes Sandy. "When women share with each other the details of their journeys with God as wives, it's a beautiful thing indeed." The Beautiful Wife has two companion resources - Prayer Journal and Mentor's Guide.

About Sandy Ralya:

Sandy Ralya is the founder and director of Beautiful Womanhood, a marriage mentoring ministry based near Grand Rapids, Mich. Her marriage testimony was the focus of a popular three-day interview on FamilyLife Today, TV's Walking by Faith, and Time Out for Women. Sandy is a sought-after speaker, presenting Beautiful Womanhood seminars to hundreds of women each year at MOPS groups, women's retreats, and church leadership conferences across the country and in Canada. Sandy and her husband Tom have been married since 1980, and have a growing number of grandchildren. www.beautifulwomanhood.com

This book is a nice tool that can help Christian wives become better wives.   It is called The Beautiful Wife, not to point to physical beauty, but to the inner beauty that truly matters.  There are many areas covered such as intimacy and managing money, respect and romance, but first and foremost, Sandy points wives to seek the Lord.  There is a lot of focus on prayer, which I think is very good.  So often we are missing out on our most important relationship--that of ours to God--because we forget to seek Him first.

Sandy gives wives a wonderful acronym that I found so helpful, as I'm sure many wives will as well.  It is T.R.A.C.E.

Trust instead of control
Respect instead of demean
Appreciate instead of criticize
Confer confidence instead of doubt
Expose vulnerability instead of defensiveness 

I also appreciated that Sandy encourages us to professionalize the roles of wife and mother!

I received the Prayer Journal and Mentor's Guide that are available for this book.  The Prayer Journal coincides with every chapter in the book, and has additional Bible verses, prayer suggestions, and space for journaling your thoughts as you go through the book.  The Beautiful Wife can be used alone, but wives are encouraged to take the journey alongside other wives to have encouragement and accountability.  The Mentor's Guide assists very well with this.  It gives guidance in how to start a small group in your area to study this book.  There are instructions for the mentor and weekly laid out plans.

If you would like to learn more, you may view Sandy's testimony here.  If you are interested in learning more about becoming a mentor, this video about the Beautiful Womanhood ministry will be helpful to you.

Celebrate with Sandy by entering her Kindle Touch Giveaway and coming to her "Beautiful Womanhood" Facebook Party {3/8}!

One beautiful winner will receive:

• A Brand new Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi
• The Beautiful Wife By Sandy Ralya
• The Beautiful Wife Prayer Journal and Mentor's Guide

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 3/7/12. Winner will be announced at Sandy's "Beautiful Womanhood" Facebook Party on 3/8. Sandy will be hosting an evening of chat, laughter and encouragement - bring your friends! She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, prayer journals and a live chat with Sandy for your Bible study or small group!

So grab your copy of The Beautiful Wife and join Sandy and friends on the evening of March 8th for an evening of fun.

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on March 8th!

I received these books for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks for stopping by,

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An Early Spring Cleaning

Girl with a...
 
We are taking a school break and cleaning our house.  The whole thing!  We are going through everything, room by room, to see what we need and don't need.  The girls have been helping me, and they have been wonderful.  We are pretending we are moving, to see what we really need, and getting rid of the rest.  This is helping us to stay focused.  We think of things as if we will have to pack them up if we do not get rid of them!  The girls gathered 8 trash bags full in only a couple of hours.  How wonderful it is to get rid of things no longer needed!  It is like a giant weight has been lifted.

I am enjoying this "spring cleaning", but we still have more to do.  Most of our school books have arrived for next year, so the children have been enjoying looking through them when they have some down time.  We have to stay on task and clean up our home.  In our small space, it is easy to become over-encumbered with "stuff".  We are so much enjoying this time together going through things and purging, and organizing what is left.  I am blessed to have so many girls!  They like learning more about keeping the home.

Our sweet little 6 year old mixed up the ingredients for tortillas for lunch and rolled them out herself while we were busy working.  She did such a great job and is learning too.  Oh, the blessings of home and family!

Love,

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Just Say No

This is the telling title of an audio presentation I was able to listen to this month for The Gabby Moms.  Just Say No is Lorrie Flem's admonition to "say no" to the things that are not the most important in our lives.  As usual, Lorrie, of Eternal Encouragement magazine, assures us that she is not here to condemn, but to encourage us as she is in the exact same position as we are, just learning.  But I am grateful she is able to share the wisdom she has gleaned over the years.


Lorrie goes over 10 ways to just say no, or to determine if you should just say no to more obligations.  One of my favorites is her encouragement to look at what we are asked to do by others, and see if it has an eternal impact.  Another point she made is that we should never just say "yes" on the spot, but tell a person who is asking us to do something, "Maybe", "I'll pray about it", OR we could just say "No" right then and there.  Lorrie explains that if we do say No initially, but later tell someone we changed our minds and are now able to help, that is better than initially saying yes and then not being able to fulfill the commitment we made.

If you tend to over-commit yourself and feel guilty saying no (like I sometimes do), this is definitely an audio to listen to.  You can download it at the Eternal Encouragement website.


Be blessed,

I reviewed this product for free for The Gabby Moms program, but my opinions expressed here are completely my own, honest opinions. 

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