Happy Thanksgiving

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I am feeling much better now.  Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers.  I don't know what I had but it has passed now.  I started yesterday making cloth napkins for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  I know I am a glutten for punishment but I didn't have enough cloth napkins and I got a brainy idea to use up some drape fabric samples that I was given long time ago.  I will show on Tuesday for TWT along with another link on knitting I promised some friends. We are going to have some typical Thanksgiving foods like .....turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, pumkin pie, and all kinds of other goodies.  It is a potluck family dinner (so we will see how it all comes together)  that I will hoasting at my house.  I think the head count is now 22 people for dinner.  I will be taking pics and post later this week. 

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I just want to give a list of a few things that I am very thankful for....

Thank you Lord for....

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~ My wonderful family and friends ( IRL and Bloggyland)

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~Our GOOD harvest with food and seed this year.

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~ God's hand in our water easement issues.  There might be some movement happening to start solving it.  Please keep praying for us.  I appreciate it SOOOOOO much ! (((HUGS)))

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~God's goodness , his love , and all that He is and does for us.

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Blessings and ((HUGS))

Ello peoples! Thsi is just a short little post. Just wanna let ya know I'm gonna be gone ever the weekend. I heading to Illinois with my scout troop for a bike trip (bicycling). So I'll catch ya'll on Sunday. Later.

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I have been tagged by dragonfly1010, thanks.

1. Your name? Hannah

2. What does it mean? Grace of God or Gracious God

3. Your birthday? Very soon (that’s all I’m going to say).

4. Height? 5’2”

5. Eye color? Mostly blue with a little bit of green and brown.

6. Do you like it? My eye color? Yes

7. Natural hair color? Dirty blond

8. Do you like it? Yes

9. Gender? Female

10. Religion? Christian (Baptist)

11. Have you ever changed religion? No

12. Would you consider it? NOWAY!!!!!!!

13. Race? American

14. Heritage? German and English

15. Do you like your heritage? I don’t really know anything about it.

16. Where do you live? The United States of America

I tag: PinkFlamingo, skatebtd and PurlePrincess.

Guess what; on Monday my dad, sister and I are going to a McCain Palin rally.  I’m SSSOOOOO excited.  Of course I will bring my camera if I remember, so, everyone try to remind me ok.  Please pray that everything will go well.  Oh, and also pray for my mom’s side of the family.  Her cousin’s dad die on Wednesday morning.  I’m not sure why he died, mom said that he had some health problems.  My grandparents are on their way to Kentucky for the funeral.  Anyway,  I haven’t been getting very many comments lately and it’s getting pretty depressing (hint, hint).  I’ll talk to you all later.

God bless
Love,
Hannah

Do you journal?  I love journalling!  My current journal would be my third or forth, because the others are either unfinished or lost!

For me, I’ve been continually inspired by several parties.

1. Millie Keith (from A Life of Faith).  When she wrote, she wrote a lot of her feelings down.
2. Hudson Taylors’ mother and sisters. I read a biography of him and it talks several times of how they would look back at journaled events that happened to them, and it’s helped me to take the time to write in my journal well.
3. Rachel Joy Scott.  She was a Christian martyr in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.  I read her biography, Rachel’s Tears by her parents, Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott.  Her journals were a declaration of her faith and predominantly, her prayers to God (from what I read from the excerpts).  She had amazing faith; I highly recommend the book.

I write about events and also record my prayers.  Sometimes I write down songs I like.  When I first started I would title each entry, and it would be written in a more formal way, but I write more causually now and try to actually put my thoughts on paper.  Sometimes I write to a person, like a birthday wish.   I write about books that I enjoy and have made me think.  Or I write down challenging thoughts I’ve been having.

For my devotions, I have another journal, in which I mostly write a verse everyday from the passage I was reading.  The only way I’ll remember a sermon is to write it down, so I take it to Church with me.  Sometimes I write prayers in there too.  Occasionally, I have something from my devotional booklet I want to write down.

I have a third sort of journal too: a reading journal.  In it I write thoughts, quotes, timelines, mud maps, ideas for notebook pages, lists, family trees, topics for future research, questions – anything from the books I’m reading!  I don’t really have a choice in this sort, but I like doing it now.

My journal is simply a normal bound, lined paper book, with a Jessica-decorated cover.  I’ve typed up songs that mean a lot to me, and made a banner that matches my blog banner (!), put a sticker on there, and glued it all onto yellow paper, glued onto the book.   Although I’d prefer it not laminated, it was getting too tatty otherwise, so I laminated it.

So, do you journal?  Do you like it?  Why or why not?  Are you 'forced' to journal, or is it something you chose to do?

Jess

"Do Hard Things.” That’s the title of a book by Alex and Brett Harris, twin brothers of Josh Harris of “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” fame.  

If you haven’t read the book, I think you’d find it worth your while. While the book is aimed at teens, it has some real lessons for everyone. I know I stepped away from it reflecting on its lessons for me.

The premise of the book is that society sets expectations for teens ridiculously low, that teens are capable of excellence in their spiritual and material lives, and that the revolution – or as the twins like to say, rebelution -- is already underway.

The book outlines ways for teens to identify their weaknesses and overcome them and ways they can maximize their strengths. It’s packed with real life examples. Above all, it’s a cheerleader in print – a “you can do it” book.

You won’t mistake “Do Hard Things” for C.S. Lewis or Chesterton or any of the deep thinkers of Christianity. It’s more along the lines of the ever popular motivational books that sell by the millions today – but with the twist of simple spiritual substance where many of those books lack it.

I think that if my children were still teens and I wanted them to read “Do Hard Things,” I’d want to make it a discussion book, one that all of us would read and talk about. On the other hand, teens in the throes of rebellion or lacking a good relationship with their parents would benefit from a read-alone approach.

The book would make a very good gift for public school students who long for something more challenging and meaningful in their lives.

Finally, if you read the book yourself, look for the lessons that can apply to our job as parents. Homeschooling can sometimes be one of the very big “hard things” we do in life, and you’ll find help in mustering the courage and tenacity to stick with it as well good examples of what it means to not give up when the going gets tough.

Tammy Drennan homeschooled her sons from 1985 through 2003. She now works as a writer and tutor and maintains several web sites and blogs, including www.educationconversation.wordpress.com and www.homeschoolstarter.com

I was in JoAnn’s this week picking up supplies for a couple of homeschool co-op classes I am teaching and found that my educator discount card was expired!  I sure was glad that I had my teacher ID card with me so they would issue me a new discount card.   

Did you know that you can print a free teacher ID card and ID cards for your kids online?  Here is the site where you will find them. All you need to do is fill out the form on their website and they produce the card and email it to you in pdf format. From there you can print it out or even have it laminated.  

There are A LOT of places that offer a discount for teachers, so be sure to ask wherever you purchase things for your school.  Some of the places I have discount cards are Barnes and Noble, Borders, and JoAnn’s. 

Happy Homeschooling,

Jamin