If  you are a Weight Loss Wednesday gal looking for our weekly check-in, scroll down. It is here….

If you are checking in to see who won the giveaway of Susie Larson’s book Growing Grateful Kids it is: Ann. Timestamp March 10th at 8:11 am. Email me at karen@proverbs31.org with your home address. Congrats!

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Today is my birthday.

I about an hour at 9:04 am, I will turn 46. My mom tells me I was born in the middle of a snow storm and they almost didn’t make it to the hospital.

I debated telling you that it was my birthday. It seems all self-centered and such. But when I hopped on Facebook this morning and saw that several friends (whom I know also read this blog) had already sent me well-wishes, I figured I’d better fess up.

Truthfully, I have a love/hate relationship with birthdays.

I love memories of them.

Especially recollections of taking cupcakes to my class at Delta Center Elementary School in Lansing, MI. Mom let me help in the kitchen then, mixing, baking, frosting and sprinkling those dozens of masterpieces. Then, I got to tote them all the way to school. (I was what they called a ‘walker’, meaning I lived less than a mile from school so no bus ride. I had to walk.)

As I have grown older, I have come to dread birthdays. Not because of the getting older part. You know, when everything heads south. My husband and I realize that, as my friend Debi asserts, we are all headed toward ugly. That part doesn’t bother me so much since we have committed to grow old and ugly together and have lots of fun doing it.

I dread them because I sometimes get my feelings hurt due to my expectations.

I think my kids will instinctively wake up and say, “Happy Birthday mom. You are the greatest! You sacrifice so much for us. I already got up and made your coffee for you.”

Instead, they say…”Mooooooooom……I am starving. Is breakfast ready yet?

I fancy my relatives will give me a quick call to wish me a happy birthday.

The phone doesn’t ring.

I can’t help but think of the friends I remembered to give a little something to on their big day.

I run into one of them in Walmart and she never even tells me Happy Birthday.

I…..I….I…..

Oh ladies…I so desire to be a low-maintenance friend, wife and mom. I don’t want to be self-centered. Especially on my birthday.

I want to rewind to the days when what made me so very giddy every March 10th were those sweet and colorful cupcakes taken to my classmates.

So…..I have decided….zero expectations from me today.

Instead, I want to give away cupcakes.

What that looks like is this:

Leave a comment today about your most memorable birthday. (or any other birthday-related message)

I will choose five winners who will get one of the following “cupcakes” from me.

• A For Every Body brand “Birthday Cake” scented candle for you (with cute sprinkles on top) to burn at your house each time someone turns a year older.
• A copy of the book on simple and creative celebrations entitled Homespun Memories for the Heart that I wrote with friends Kelly Hovermale and Trish Smith.
• A bag of Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Melt-Away Hearts with raspberry filling
• A $5.00 Starbucks card
• A box of Snapple Brand Wild About Berries Herb Tea with a heart-sheaped tea difusser

There—- I feel better already. Jesus is so right. It is more blessed to give than receive. (Acts 20:35)

Now, when you leave your comment, please tell me what ‘cupcake’ you’d enjoy winning (or simply indicate ‘any of them’) Winners announced Monday.

Oh, and in this day and age of Facebook….is there anyone out there who went to Delta Center elementary with me in the 1970’s? I’d get a hoot out of knowing!

Cupcake-coated Blessings,

Hi all! Oh….I am excited to introduce you to a friend of mine.

We have been speaking at Hearts at Home conferences together for years (and I get to see her at the national conference this coming weekend. YEAH!)

Have you ever felt a prompting?

I mean one of those random thoughts that seems to be whispered to your very being saying  “You should call so-and-so” or “Hey….how is your friend Julie, by the way? She’d be thrilled if you sent her a handwritten note and a simple bag of her favorite tea tucked inside.”

Many times, these promptings are God’s spirit beckoning us to act; to be his hands and feet. It just might bless the socks off of someone, and confirm for you once again these facts:

• God is real.
• He is still involved in the lives of people.
• He loves to orchestrate details in such a way that people get to see Him work.
• And they also learn to hear His still small voice, obey and as a result, watch another soul be blown away by Jesus’ love for them.

It just happened to me.

Without going into all of the sorted details, suffice it to say that I had a rough week. Not a tragic week. Not a week with bad news or unruly children or difficulty in my marriage.

Just a week of bummers and mishaps and lost time and people who had fires to put out and somehow thought I was the entire New York Fire Department with hoses ready to put out the fires THEY HAD CREATED for themselves since I had nothing better to do!!!!! (This was an unplanned editorial.)

And I had three days of travel for my son’s baseball tryouts for a team near Detroit. And a P31 devotion due. And groceries to get. And a head bleeding when I whacked it on the trunk lock when getting the groceries out of the trunk since no boys we around to help me since they were with the new puppy who had made a deposit on my kitchen floor just before 12 women from my Becoming More Bible study were to arrive after I had returned from getting my hair cut after working out since I still have stinkin’ weight to lose and……

Oh, and did I mention this all took place while I was trying to finalize my notes for next week’s Hearts at Home National Conference? It is on marriage.

Oh yeah…nothin’ puts a big ole bull’s eye on your heart and emotions like trying to talk to ladies about having a marriage that pleases God.

Anyhow–I was in tears Wednesday. My 15-year-old son witnessed my meltdown. He asked why I was crying. What was wrong?

“Nothing..” I replied. And then I promptly proceeded to blubber about how I am such an incompetent mom, awful wife, stink at homeschooling, haven’t cooked a decent meal in days….blah, blah, blah.

He sure got an earful of “nothin’”

(I am preparing him well for his marriage communication reality,  don’t ‘cha think?)

Just then, the doorbell rang. I wiped my eyes and answered it. A strange man stood there holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

“Are you Karen?” he inquired.

“Yes sir” I said, trying to stealthily suck the still-dripping snot up my dainty nose.

I smiled, took the flowers from him, went in the house and removed the attached note card, so excited to see who had sent me flowers a full week before my birthday.

It was addressed to ‘Dorothy’.

I began to bawl again. Now, not only had I had a meltdown, then been perked up by the thought of someone sending me flowers, but now had my bubble burst when I noticed they were obviously for the neighbor down the street.

But wait! He had asked if I was Karen! Maybe they were for me after all! I opened the card and it read:

Dorothy, Enjoy your gift in the “Land of Oz” for this next week before you come to Illinois. Love, Glinda

Oh…now I got it.

They were from my precious friend and accountability partner Mary who lives three states away. Ladies… NO ONE I know listens to God like this gal.

Seriously.

My kids call her my freaky friend.  Something will happen at our home that desperately needs prayer. A half hour later the phone will ring. It will be Miss Mary asking, “What happened about a half hour ago? I can’t stop praying for you.”

Cue the Twilight Zone music, please.

Well, suddenly the whole Dorothy/Glinda lingo made sense. It is because my message for Hearts is called A Marriage Made in Oz.

Duh!

When I took the wrap off  of the flowers, I nearly fell over. I had just thrown out a bouquet of flowers in the exact same color scheme that I got from helping with our church’s Valentines Day banquet. They were the perfect finishing touch to my Easter decor on my dining room table. I was having my Bible Study gals over and so wanted to run out to the store and purchase a bouquet just like it again but knew we are on a “no spending freeze” due to the extra gas baseball is requiring this spring.. But this arrangement was what God had already planned.

Sweet, yet calorie-free kisses from heaven sent through the promptings of one of God’s girls.

When I called Mary to thank her and tell her of the perfect timing, perfect colors…etc, she just chuckled. She said the Holy Spirit had just given her an urge the night before, “Send Karen flowers. And she has to get them tomorrow.” When she went to pick them out, she was instantly drawn to the type and colors.

Mary, acting in obedience to God’s prompting, completely turned my day around and reassured me that God loves me and understands.

What is God prompting you to do today? For whom?

Do it without delay.

It is so fun seeing God show up!!!

Sweet Weekend Blessings,

As a family, we enjoy learning about great missionaries of the faith – whether from the pages of the New Testament and the travels of Paul, or from current day servants who try to spread the wonderful, life-saving news of Jesus in remote places.

Did you know that this month there is another missionary we can glean from as we hear of his longing to reach others for Christ?

I am talking about St. Patrick.

What do we really know of St. Patrick, in who’s honor patrons don green? To look around at the way modern day folk celebrate St. Patrick’s day, you’d think it all had to do with shamrocks, leprechauns, rainbows and the ever famous pot of gold at the end of them. Well, that and the traditional “wearing of the green” to prevent any pinching that might occur on March 17th each year. But there is actually some wonderful truth that we can celebrate at this holiday and can pass along to the children in our lives.

For as far as history can tell, the story goes like this: At about the age of 16, Patrick, a Scottish young man born into wealth sometime in the late fourth century, most likely around 385, was violently captured by Irish raiders and forced into a life of slavery. Patrick later escaped and was reunited with his family, but in a dream, felt called by God back to Ireland to spread Christianity to the people of that isle. So this godly young man set about to make this dream come true.

He prayed for God’s strength and then studied scripture to ready himself. Then He was prepared to return to the land of his captivity. He preached the Gospel and built churches throughout the country until his death on March 17, 461.

For the modern day Irish, St. Patrick’s Day is considered a time for spiritual renewal as they fondly remember the slave-turned-evangelist who spread Christianity to the Emerald Isle. For our family today, we feel we can use him as an example of what a young person, sold out for God can do in their generation.

Just think about this man. How many of us, after being captured and held as a slave and forced to work in a foreign land, when finally set free, would actually return to the very place where we were enslaved? It must have taken a great deal of maturity and immense faith in God’s protection to go back to that island.

And Patrick must have known that spiritual bondage is far, far worse than physical slavery.

In some ways, don’t we see modern day examples of just such a story? The drug addict who finds freedom from a life of addiction through faith in Christ, sensing a call to return to their old neighborhood and preach the freedom and everlasting life Jesus offers. The women who made a bad choice resulting in her and her unborn child both being the victims of abortion. Now she longs to counsel young girls to choose life for themselves and for their precious baby.

All of these people serve as wonderful examples of someone who found freedom and longed to lead others there as well.

So at this time of year, when you spy a leprechaun or see a shamrock, whisper a prayer that God continues to raise up men and women who have been set free to return to the land of their captivity and lead others to the same liberating, life-giving freedom.

And if you want to enter a little giveaway in honor of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, leave a comment today and you might win a bag of Irish cream and cocoa dusted whole almonds and some of my favorite whole bean Irish cream decaf coffee from Horrock’s Farm Market. (If the winner needs the coffee ground, I’ll grind it for you before I send it)

To enter, simply tell us any of the following:

• Your favorite St. Pat’s tradition or food
• Your favorite shade of green (lime, Kelly, grass, sage….)
• Or, if time is tight, simply say “I’m in!”

The winner will be announced Wednesday morning,

Top-of-the-morning-blessings,

I got the call just a few days ago.  A friend had experienced complications in her pregnancy resulting in complete bed-rest. Not too long after that, she was rushed to the hospital and her baby was born months premature. My friend also required some serious surgery as well. Now, mom is home with her hubby and other children and a strong, sweet baby girl is in the hospital fighting for her life.

Of course we are praying for this family; our entire church has them on our hearts. And, to put feet to our prayers many of us are wanting to help, especially with providing food for the family during this difficult time.

At such times, usually one gal will spear-head a calling campaign to set up a meal rotation. However, this is the first time that I have ever been part of a meal-scheduling Internet group. I was so impressed with it, I just had to pass the link on to you!

My friend Sharon sent me an email with the link to this clever site. Foodtidings.com is a site where you can log on to create a meal schedule for a hurting family. In their own words:

Food Tidings exists to simplify the process of organizing meals for friends or family members in a transitional time of life. For someone who has just had a baby, recovering from surgery or injury, grieving the passing of a loved one, confined to bed rest, and almost anything else, receiving dinners from loved ones can be very comforting and helpful.

Now, I know setting up a schedule of meals by email is nothing new. However, this site eliminates the need for resending emails, hitting “reply all” ( or hoping you hit “reply all”!) thinking of new people to add to the list, checking and rechecking to see if someone new has taken a day, etc…

It simplifies the set-up process by creating a webpage where those who want to provide a meal can go. They pick a date, list what they’ll make (so there aren’t three days in a row of lasagna and jello salad) and even see the family’s desired meal time, special dietary needs or allergies.

If there is someone you know who cold use a break from the kitchen for a while, visit Foodtidings.com this weekend to get started!

So simple and such a great way to be Jesus’ hands and feet to someone in need.

Well, we’re off to our boys’ regional Homeschool basketball tournaments.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Helping Women Simplify Life and Glorify God,

This is a hard post for me to write. I’d much prefer to be talking about organization or  celebrating with your kids or getting along with your hubby or perhaps offering some fun and funky giveaway.

However, there has been a buzz out there lately; a bad buzz.

It involves a group of people I am closely linked with. This group is often stereotyped in a particular way. Usually, I can laugh off parts of the stereotype since I really don’t fit the mold entirely. But what has transpired lately is no laughing matter.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.

I first heard about homeschooling way back in the mid 1980’s. One of our college professors was doing it.

I thought it was the strangest thing I’d ever heard of.

Fast forward to 1996 when our oldest was kindergarten age. By this time, we had met and interacted with many families who educated their kids at home and were impressed with how their offspring were turning out and with how many opportunities were out there for them: sports, band, choir, field trips, co-ops, even a homeschool academy for many classes and activities.

My husband also was working a job on the afternoon shift. We quickly discovered that if our kids were in a traditional public or private school setting, they’d say goodnight to their dad on Sunday evening and wouldn’t see his face again until he woke up just after noon on Saturday.

The decision for us was clear cut. Although I had been a substitute teacher in three public school districts and had just turned down a position at a Christian high school, we’d homeschool Kenzie for kindergarten. And we decided to reevaluate how our kids are educated each summer.

Now, many times those women who homeschool are portrayed in a particular light. They are thought to do all of the following:

1. Have a boatload of kids.
2. Wear denim jumpers and their long hair knotted up in a bun.
3. Grind their own wheat.
4. Bake their own bread.
5. Enjoy memorizing geography and spelling rules just for fun.

And many other such “homeschoolish” activities.

Now, I must tell you that, as I mentioned yesterday, I hate boxes. When others have tried to put me in the homeschool box, I haven’t quite fit.

• I look horrid in jumpers and my husband wouldn’t ever want me to wear one.
• I look much better in a shorter hairstyle and again, the hubster (as well as my fashion consultant Shari) doesn’t like long hair on me.
• I was only able to have three kids, although I wanted at least six.
• I am a flop at geography and spell check is my constant friend.
• However,  I do have a wheat grinder and love to make my own whole wheat bread!

Now, please don’t read into this that I have a problem with those women who do all of the above. I have several dear, precious friends that do!

However, there is another stereotype that often comes with the homeschool label.

It is the one I loathe.

It is the assumption that homeschoolers also parent in an over-authoritarian, strict and severe corporal punishment sort of way. In fact, when our oldest was just a toddler, I came in contact with a few families who did just that.

They had all read the same book that told them how to crank out perfectly obedient children. It involved corporal punishment; administered with a plumbing supply line commonly purchased at hardware stores.

I am not joking.

These parents were encouraged to do the following: “If you have to sit on him to spank him then do not hesitate. And hold him there until he is surrendered. Prove that you are bigger, tougher, more patiently enduring and are unmoved by his wailing. Defeat him totally. Accept no conditions for surrender. No compromise. You are to rule over him as a benevolent sovereign. Your word is final.”

One woman I personally knew said she spanked her pre-schooler when he disobeyed to the point that his bottom “looked like hamburger meat.”

Another whipped her 3 year old child’s legs repeatedly because she refused to sit next to me in their vehicle on  a garage sale outing one afternoon. (The child did not know me at all and was timid and scared) It happened numerous times over the course of about three hours until this sweet and shy girl had raised and painful welts all over her little legs.

I had no children at the time. I retrospect, I should have done something other than sit silently in disbelief at what my eyes and heart were witnessing. However, I was intimidated. I was also was often in awe of how “outwardly obedient” these small kids were. I had no idea it was because of how much they hurt when they got out of line.

Oh, it gets worse.

Last week I received an email from Virginia Knowles, a cyber friend and popular homeschool blogger. It told a tragic tale; yet another case where recently, a child had actually died as a result of following the advice of those who advocate this type of “discipline”.

On February 6, seven year old Lydia Schatz who was adopted from Liberia, was murdered.  Her 11 year old sister Zariah was also wounded and is in critical condition with kidney damage.  Who hurt these children and caused one of them to die? Their home schooling parents did. The “offense” of the murdered child was that she mispronounced a word during her  lessons that day.  She was beaten repeatedly with a plumbing supply line.  Another brother has been found badly bruised. And yes, her parents read and followed the advice in that same “child training” book!

And this child isn’t the first to perish. It has happened other times as well. You can read Virginia’s opinion and the news account here. (Please note: I have not had time to thoroughly check out the many links her post contains, so I don’t know for sure if I can agree with the content contained within them all. However, she does a fabulous job chronicling this tragic topic.)

Oh sisters, this breaks my heart!!!!!!

Please, I want you to know that not all homeschool parents severely beat their kids into submission with hoses meant for plumbing purposes or other household objects.

However, some sadly do.

And some non-homeschoolers do too.

And it is an awful, horrid disgrace.

Please join me in praying for those children who are trapped in such a home. May Jesus rescue them somehow very, very soon.

‘Fathers, do not irritate and provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to resentment], but rear them [tenderly] in the training and discipline and the counsel and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 3:4  Amplified Bible

Blessings,

I have a love/hate relationship with boxes.

Just ask my husband. He knows all too well of it.

I love boxes; the sturdy, cardboard kind. The “boys’-baseball-cleats-came-in-this-but-it-would-make-a-great-care-package-mailer” type of boxes.

I save them. I hoard them. Our storage room sports many of them. And I regularly use them.

However, I also hate boxes; different kinds of boxes.

The kind of boxes we put people in.

So many strict, confining boxes. They hem. They confine. And we use them to judge other people without even giving them a chance.

I have been pondering just such a box lately; a box that others have tried to put both me and many of my close friends in.

However, I do not fit neatly in the box.

In fact, I loathe the very thought of being cooped up inside its pressing four walls. When others have attempted to make me fit in that confining container, I have kicked the lid clear off.

This very box has been in the news lately and it has brought me to both anger and tears.

Tomorrow, I’ll explain.

But for now, I have to hunt down some of those boxes I love.

The sturdy, strong and solid cardboard kind.

I have lots of blog giveaway winners who are waiting for their prizes.

I’ll be back tomorrow…..

Boxing Blessings,