Hey, Mr. Postman!

As the weather is looking more like Spring, my mother's heart is thrilled! Each day as I pray for my children, I cover my mailman-son in prayer: safety, warmth or dryness from rain which will soon change to coolness in the heat, protection from dogs biting him, strength for his knees and ankles and also for those people to whom he delivers mail.

My mom's brother carried mail until he retired from the USPS and now my oldest son "carries" on the tradition. He is out in the worst weather...you know, the kind that is just door-to-vehicle but is so bitter cold. He walks his route. Daily. When I am all warm at home, my thoughts go to him and his duty he carries out no matter what his circumstances. He is also out in the most wonderful weather. He loves it! He has always loved the outdoors and working hard! But being aware of his situation has made me more aware of our mailman. Knowing all he goes through, it has helped me see the need to show kindness to our letter carrier. Since I am able to save so much money using coupons, I have things available to share as gifts with him. We have also included our trash collectors and UPS delivery person in the receivers of these gifts. I know that they are doing their job but how great to be able to offer a simple thank you gift to encourage them including the holiday seasons.

I am so thankful for those people who open their door and greet him with a smile and a cold water bottle in the summer. It touches my heart! I'm thankful for those who have offered for him to get warm within their homes even though he cannot accept. In his heart, it must warm him as though he had entered!

Secret Friends

It is fun to tear out small papers and write the name of each person in our family on them and place them in a bowl. The suspense in the eyes of my children makes me giggle. Each person in the family awaits their turn to dip their hand in the paper soup to choose their Secret Friend. Sometimes we have a specific theme and others times it is just to try to stuff as much love into each secret act as possible. We used to have "mailboxes" made from empty tissue boxes where we could "mail" our secret gifts and notes within Munroville. This also served to encourage others to write notes to each other and "mail" them even if they weren't their Secret Friend. But the current course of action is to somehow manage to get to the pillow on the bed of Chosen Person and deliver a card, note or small gift without being caught. While this is not as easy as it might seem, it has certainly added to the adventure of it all!

I "coupon" so I am able to gather a vast majority of the gifts we share amongst us for free so there isn't a major cost involved. It is wonderful for the family members who have Gift Giving as their love language. If they don't have that as their primary love language, they are learning to show love to others who might have that as their love language--possibly a future spouse or a child of their own. I have learned to speak them all in order to show love to each of my children in the way they receive love.

We are doing our "revealing" next weekend where we will take turns sharing the name of the person we chose and something we see special about them. Already I have heard children guessing aloud who they think might be the one who has them as their Secret Friend. It is sweet to watch the children share in this fun family game and build their relationships which will bring rewards for years to come.

Tackle the Hot Spots

I am working on the weekly simplify-my-life goals and I am about done with week one. Everyone else is working on week three.

Since Thomas has moved, my heart has had readjusting to do. We plan for this, we raise them for this, but it isn't easy! So, as I have slowly gone through my closet for in fact, I do see it daily, I have worked through both the closet and drawers to clean them out and organize the remaining contents. But I am asking God to do the same thing within my heart. I'm more aware of the need since my heart has ached so much. Otherwise, I might have continued seeing the same things daily and become accustomed to their presence. I know God has something else, some magnificent plans.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Bible Curriculum That Is Anti-Bible?

I am currently putting together a post about Homeschooling--For Free. However, there is controversy about a BIBLE "curriculum" that doesn't agree with the Bible. Imagine! I read a blog by Anne Elliott about this and wanted to share it here.

Have a great day!