Growing for Christ

Changes….

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what to do with my blog. Growing for Christ began while I was an at home mom who was homeschooling. Now, I’m a full time social worker, full time Master’s student at Indiana Wesleyan University, and yes, homeschool mom.

I’m thinking of turning this once homeschool, homemaking, field trip, review blog into something a bit more, I don’t know, grown-up? For lack…

Nearing the finish line!

  I’m happy to say that I will be graduating in just a couple of weeks. The last day of my senior field practicum (400 hours in one semester!) is August 24th. This was preceded by my junior field practicum of 100 hours. My junior was completed at our county Developmental Disabilities agency and my senior was at the Ohio Masonic Community where I floated between the memory care facility and the…

It is that time….

I was going to make a nice picture to go along with this post but since the photo editing site I use doesn’t allow even free editing anymore I can’t. So I’ll just start this post – I’ve been remiss in posting because life has been so busy. My daughter’s have a performance each month since September including traveling to Greenville, S.C. for Project Dance. In November was my on campus intensive…

I apologize – missing images

Due to Photobucket changing how they do things and making people pay to share their own pictures you’ll notice most of my images are gone. I’m working on fixing this but it’s slow going since I have to transfer thousands and thousands (really) pictures from Photobucket to another photo hosting site and then re-link them all here. I have to do that on top of homeschooling, my children’s…

Litfuse Publicity: God’s Crime Scene for Kids by J. Warner Wallace and Susie Wallace

Join your children in learning how to determine the most reasonable cause for everything we see in creation with a real-life detective! In God’s Crime Scene for Kids, J. Warner Wallace shows kids ages 8 to 12 what skills are needed to solve Jason’s mystery. Jason uncovers a mystery in his grandmother’s attic. He and his friends, Hannah, Daniel and Jasmine, enlist the help of Detective Jeffries at…

Litfuse Publicity: 40 Days to a Joyful Motherhood by Sarah Humphrey

About the Book: Nourishment for a mother’s soul through 40 days of devotion and . . . doodling! Wouldn’t it be marvelous if mothering came with a concrete set of instructions—an easy recipe we could follow? Instead, motherhood challenges women to find their faith, their true selves, and their family through daily doses of trial and error. It is a brilliant and healing time of life that is full of…

Download Your Free How-To Guide for Bring Your Bible to School Day

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are preparing for Hurricane Matthew to hit. For students in hurricane-affected states who are facing school closures but still want to participate in Bring Your Bible to School Day, the alternate date is Thursday, October 20. This brings about a good point: Any day can be a day you organize your friends to bring your Bibles to school together! By…

See the Newsboys in Concert with Adventures in Odyssey

Want to be entered for a chance to win a free trip for four to hear the Newsboys, the award-winning Christian music band, in Dallas? Sign up to be a part of the movement to protect religious freedom for future generations: Bring Your Bible to School Day! Students from kindergarten to college will be bringing their Bibles to school and sharing God with their friends on October 6. By completing the…

Commit to Bring Your Bible to School October 6

Celebrate religious freedom with other students across the U.S. on October 6—Bring Your Bible to School Day! Students from kindergarten to college will be bringing their Bibles to school and sharing God with their friends in just a few short weeks. Sign up to be a part of the movement to protect religious freedom for future generations.…

To the friends and family of the new widow

My last post was to the young widow and there will probably be a part two but now I want to focus on the friends and family of the young widow, there will probably be a part two to this as well. These are some things to do and not to do – I stress not because you cannot bombard the young widow with questions, inane requests or questions. What you might consider helpful, to the young widow,…

To the new widow (especially the young one)

I received word last night that another husband passed away – he was young, it was sudden and unexpected. Another fellow blogger also lost her husband suddenly the other day. Then there was the friend of my husband. 3 widows in just a short span of time. It seems, like my husband, all were taken by a heart attack – their wives and children’s lives turned upside down in minutes. I want to write…

This post won’t contain pictures – it’s not because I don’t want it too but because I’m simply trying to keep up with our lives. June 13, 2016 marked 1 1/2 year of me being a widow – you can read some of my thoughts on that here, I wrote it before the mark. A friend of my husband’s passed away this week – he was 44 and he left behind three children and a wife. There are times the scabs get ripped…

FREE 14 Day Trial Is Now Available for the Odyssey Adventure Club!

Think of ways you can enjoy this summer for free: Hiking Visiting parks in your area Swimming Camping in your backyard Visit a public museum or library Now, add more fun and imagination to your summer through the Odyssey Adventure Club! The Odyssey Adventure Club will give you streaming access to more than 800 Adventures in Odyssey episodes plus a sneak peek of exclusive audio and video stories,…

Make Your Children World Explorers

Give your family summer vacation a makeover this year and turn it into a “staycation.” Have your kids forget their summer boredom, turn off their screens, and instead circle the globe with Focus on the Family’s “World Explorers” summer adventure kit! Throughout the next two months, travel our colorful, diverse world, visiting 27 different countries on six continents. Part of the fun will be…

Adventures in Odyssey Summer Challenge 2016

This summer, you can join Adventures in Odyssey’s Clubhouse Magazine and help children in the Middle East go to school and learn English. It’s Adventures in Odyssey’s Clubhouse Magazine Exercise to Educate summer challenge! The Problem Nearly 7,000 miles away from the United States, there’s a war going on in the country of Syria. Many families have been forced from their homes. Parents have had…

Book Review: The Pinecraft Pie Shop book 1: Made with Love by Tricia Goyer and Sherry Gore

About the Book: Lovina Miller should be thrilled. Pinecraft, Florida, has everything a young Amish woman could ask for: sun, sand, volleyball games, and evening singings in the park. But Pinecraft lacks the one thing Lovina desperately wants—a pie shop of her own. She longs for a place to gather with the community and serve the treat she loves. A young carpenter named Noah Yoder strolls into her…

BookLook Review: Diary of a Jackwagon by Tim Hawkins w/John Driver

About the Book: Popular Christian comedian Tim Hawkins shares his hilarious perspective on life in the 21st century. In this wide-ranging, long-awaited book, comedian Tim Hawkins holds forth on everything from family, culture, and music to church, parenting, and education. Readers will enjoy laughing their way through the book, always feeling good about the clean and sometimes inspiring material…