Mother/Daughter Bible Studies

Mother/Daughter Bible studies seem to be the most inquired topic for which my blog is visited.  Here is a list of some books we have studied with our daughters over the years.

~ God's Priceless Woman by Wanda Sansari

    This was our first study with a group of moms and their daughters.  It was a wonderful look at Proverbs 31 with much discussion on how we inact the principles of the passage in our daily thoughts, attitudes and actions.  It was time intensive.  The girls and I went over the questions every Sunday afternoon and then did the second part at the study.

     One cautionary word is that it assumes everyone homeschools (which worked for our group)

~  A Young Woman's Walk With God by Elizabeth George
    Wonderful!!  A look at the Fruits of the Spirit.  My oldest daughter says that was here favorite study.  Discussion questions are at the end of the chapter.  This was an amazing study for us all.

~  Growing in Wisdom and Faith by Elizabeth George
    A study on the book of James.  This was a great study but I would not do it again with young ladies.  It may have been the particular make-up of our group, but I thought this study was a "downer."  Maybe others profitted from it but I was glad when it was over and we were not focusing so much on the trials of life. 

~  Experiencing God's Peace by Elizabeth George
    A study on the book of Philippians.  I insisted that we study a book with an emphasis on JOY after our study on James and the emphasis on trials.  Another profitable study!!

~  Beautiful Girlhood by Karen Andreola
    Abby and I are doing this book now.  We break out the Oreos (we never have oreos in the house) and delve into the sometimes sensitive mother and daughter issues.  We have only completed a few chapters and I hope it is our summer project.  My older 3 daughters read the book independantly.  It comes with a companion guide and I can see where it would make a lovely group study.  Be prepared to deal with your own heart too when you go through the chapters.

~ Beyond Beautiful Girlhood by Margaret Elizabeth Sangster, Revised by Shelly Noonan

   We did a once a month study with daughter #3 and #4 with a group.  Abby was really too young for this (10 years) but profitted in some ways.  Lydia (16 years) was better suited for the subject matter.  Excellent topics. 

~  The Three Weavers by Robert and Shelley Noonan

    A Father/Daughter study (had to throw this one in there)  This has been one of the most profitable studies we have done with our daughters.  The three oldest girls were ages 16, 15 and 13.  It worked having the 13-year-old in the study because she was joining in with her sisters.  We will wait with daughter #4 until she is about 15 year old.  Fathers and daughters discuss how they will handle situations when the young men begin entering their lives.  Delicate issues are dealt with in a very sensitive manner.  I cannot say enough good about this book. It helped us build foundations long before any need had arisen. 

Lasagna Beds

The first time I heard of lasagna garden beds I thought they had to do with what was planted in the garden: tomatoes, basil, peppers, oregano, etc...  But it actually refers to the way you "layer" the garden.

Here's how it starts......
Our friend Tony put the 10'x5' bed together for me.  This helped me visualize where the beds will go in the yard.  I later went to Lowes and bought the boards for a 5'x5' herb garden.  It's a start!!!

First layer:  Cardboard.  Put it right on top of the grass. I know! It goes against everything we've done in the past.  The cardboard smothers everything growing under it.

Next, layers of newpaper.  Don't use the glossy advertisements.

Then off to the back yard for our lovely decomposed, shredded leaves and compost from the bin that has been collecting since last August.   

 Then our final layer for the season- peat moss. 

My Lasagna Bed Advisors tell me I'm now ready to plant.  I'm sure the experts will cringe when they see my beds but it is what it is for this season.  Updates to be posted.

The Journey Toward a New House...... Or Whatever Possessed Us to Buy a 150-Year-Old Home!

We started out for Prayer Meeting that Wednesday night in February and the weather was clear.  By the time we reached our destination, the snow was steadily falling.  At the potluck dinner, one of the Elders asked me what it would take to get us to move to Poland, NY.  I promptly replied, "It would take a miracle."  And his response- "Well, that's what we pray for around here." 

So the church fellowship started praying. 

Poland is an older village filled with older homes with the dreams and hopes of being renovated.  I went to an Open House in April and knew this particular house was not for us.  But the realitor set up an appointement to view another house further down the street.  Tom went back with me a second time to look, but we were not willing to pay the price being asked.

11 years earlier we moved into a neighbor of 1900 Folk Victorian houses that were being renovated.  We loved working on our house, learning how to sheetrock, do electrical work, plumbing, etc... (oh....should I say my husband learned)  We also did a huge attic renovation to make a suite for our 3 teenage daughters.  But we soon became the only ones in the neighborhood working on improvements and the condition of the neighborhood began to decline. Friends who moved from the same neighborhood advised us to contact their realitor before we made any more improvements for the sake of resale.  This was great advice.

The realitor said not to do a thing and he would sell the house in a month.   We thought this was a bit pompous considering the stagnation of the housing market.  He also took a look at the house in Poland that we liked.  He found out the people were anxious to sell this property and we proceeded to put in a much lower bid.  They accepted.

What!!  We put our house on the market and the first people to look at it bought it- at our asking price.  It all happened in a period of 10 days.

Now, our family is not known for making quick changes.  We analyze and evaluate things "to death."  But this was God's work.  It was our little miracle.

 

So here we are enjoying our new little life and thanking God for making our change so very clear.

To Blog or Not to Blog

August of 2009....
Really!  That was the last time I blogged?
Blogging began as a way to keep family and friends updated on my family's life.  When my grandmother was alive, it gave me great pleasure to know she was regularly reading my posts.  Then blogging became a creative outlet.  Then bloggiing became a form of networking with fellow bloggers of like passions and interests.

Then it became a chore.  Then it became a obligation.   Then it became one more thing to fit into the schedule.

Why?  Change was on the horizon.  It wasn't something our family was planning.  It wasn't something for which we hoped.  It was part of a new journey for which God had been preparing the way.

A new church.  A new fellowship of believers.  A new town for ministry.  And this all led to a new home.

The past year and a half has been a joyous, scary, grace-filled time for our family.

It's time for me to remember those reasons I started blogging in the first place.

My New Favorite Song

A Little Humor

You Know How Some Things Just Make You Smile

The Estes family (see sidebar, "Prayers for Noah") are going on a dream vacation to Disney World through the Make A Wish Foundation! I just keep smiling as I think of their 15 passenger van pulling into the parking lot and all of those kids jumping out to enjoy their once in a lifetime vacation. May it help lighten their little hearts.