"In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." ~Proverbs 14:23

It is hard to believe that the month of June is almost half over already!  Yesterday our sweet little Ben celebrated his first birthday!  He has brought such joy to the whole household - he makes us smile and laugh and is such a sweet-tempered little guy.  Hopefully Amanda will download our pictures soon so you can see him enjoying the cake Grandmama made for him.

These long days of summer are such a delight to me, even though we have had hot and dry days this year.  It gets into the 90's almost every day lately, but the evenings cool off.  Last night we all sat out on the front porch in the rocking chairs and the swing and listened to the frogs singing down at the pond, and the crickets chirping and the wonderful country quiet.  There was a gentle breeze and every now and then, a lightening bug would flash.  My Mom and Dad in-law talked about growing up in this southern county and how much simpler things were.  These moments are sweeter than the honeysuckle growing on our property!

We are waiting for our tomatoes to ripen and the zucchini to get a little bigger.  We have already gotten some peppers which my husband said were not  "too hot."  The lettuce is still good and has not yet become bitter, and the flowers in the butterfly and humingbird garden are starting to bloom!  I planted asparagus in two beds a few weeks ago and they are really coming up.  The potatoes' flowers are coming up as well.  We have mulched the blueberry plants and the fruit trees and I am trying to make sure they get enough water during this drought so they can establish strong root systems.  We planted these after we moved in almost 2 years ago, and hopefully they will bear fruit next year, the Lord willing. One thing I have noticed continually on my walks through the woods and fields on our little farm, is that the Lord has the most beautiful wildflowers growing, and the most succulent blackberries!  No human planted them, and no one tends to them, yet they thrive beautifully!  I am so thankful for God's provision!

One thing that I learned about yesterday I simply must share with you all.  It is extremely exciting to me.  If you work hard at home taking care of the household, the children, your husband and homeschool and maybe even keep a garden or sew or make crafts, then you know you work hard.  You don't have the cash in hand to show for all of your efforts, but you are satisfied that all of your work is more than worth it, since this is your calling, and you love it and you love your family, and you love your Lord God!  It is your life and the calling the Lord God has given you.  But one time I was talking with a friend and we were discussing how we wish that we had been trained to earn money from home like the Proverbs 31 woman so that we had extra to give away and to help others with and to maybe upgrade some things in the house.  I am college -educated with a bachelor of science in Nursing, but this does not really help me make money from home.  It would require me to work outside of the home, and be an employee.  But as my friend said, "I don't make any money, I just consume it.  I buy things - I spend the money - I don't earn any money."  Now this is a woman who has done very well living on a budget, practicing hospitality continually and homeschooling 6 children.  She has been her husband's helpmate, and an outstanding one, but she was bemoaning that she couldn't add to the family's income, because she didn't know how to.  This is many a woman's dillema since we were never taught a skill that would help us bring in a little money.  I am hoping to change this for my daughters by helping them develop skills they can use at home to bring in a little income.

But what about us?   Do you ever shop online?  Are there things that you must purchase for your family, and you use stores online to make the whole process easier? I sure do!  Well, here is an amazing, simple answer that is fairly new and that you most likely have never heard of.  It is called My Power Mall.  In short, you sign up for your own online mall for free.  There is no cost, no catch, EVER.  When you sign up for your mall, you then go to your mall whenever you want to buy something.  Now when I say mall, I am talking about hundreds of stores, including namebrand stores like landsend.com, vitacost.com, homedepot.com, Orvis, Gap, Old Navy, Gardener's Supply, Garden's Alive, Jackson and Perkins, Dell Computers, and on and on and on.  Have you ever shopped at any of these or any other stores that are well known and even some that aren't so well known like a speciallty store?  Probably it is in your own mall now.  When you make a purchase from your mall, you get a commission.  Every time you do your own shopping, you get paid for it.  Why?  Because this is advertising for the stores you buy from.  (They have to pay somebody.)  I guess this is sort of like a discount club, only there is no membership fee and you get a commission check instead.  Now, here is the clincher.  If you sign up to be a My Power Mall business instead of a My Power Mall personal member, then you will get a commission for every person you refer or sign up under your mall.  Basically, you tell others about this opportunity, they sign up under you and so on.  No one pays anything, you just purchase what you are going to purchase anyway from the stores you prefer or are used to buying from.  What a great concept.  This is a great opportunity for organizations to earn some income for charitable causes as well, and ministries that need funds.  Think about it!  For more information, go to this link, and talk to your husband and see what he says.  Read the info or watch the online video and check it all out.  The My Power Mall motto is "Harnessing the Power of Online Spending To Change Lives."  Go To:

                                                   http://www.mypowermall.com/Biz/Home/10985

I pray that all who venture to this blog today would be blessed by the Lord and encouraged to seek Him.  "For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." ~Romans 10:11.