Tag Archives: faith and family values

Using Sermon Notes for Kids in Church…Busy Book of Sermon Notes for Young Ladies Review

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Our church recently had First Fruits Revival (hear the messages), which means we were in church several evenings in a row. It was a good chance for the crew to start using their new Sermon Notes books that we got them for Christmas. I posted about them on Facebook after the first night and got a lot of questions, so I thought I’d share some more detail here. It can be a challenge to get children to behave in “big church” as we call the congregational service–as opposed to “children’s church” … Continue Reading…

What to Do When Chores are Hard

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From the time our crew were old enough to be in a backpack carrier, there have been chores around here. By the time they could walk, they were helping drag empty buckets back to the feed shed, putting up fencing, and scrubbing water buckets. So we talk about doing chores a lot here, and you’ll find a lot of pictures of chores and chore time (or choring as we call it when we’re making up our own verbs) on our Facebook and Instagram accounts. And folks are often impressed by how much … Continue Reading…

Forest Sunrise and Taking Deep Breaths…the Daily Farm Adventures

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Sometimes walking the dogs at 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning lets you see some wonderful moments. Like the the way the sunrise lights through the foggy woods like a forest fire. And it lets you do a lot of thinking. Like about the school year starting soon and how awful the beginning was last year…and how you survived it. And it got better. And getting to the other side of it might have redeemed that heartache a little. Now we know we can do it. We’re ready to … Continue Reading…

Finding Peace as a Working Momma

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Being a Christian is hard. Being a momma is hard. Being a Christian working momma is hard. With so many competing priorities, needs, and desires deep in your heart it’s very easy to get out of balance and suddenly feel like you’re living in a house of cards, ready to tumble down at any moment. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I have shared in the struggle. Today I’m over at Christian Working Mama sharing my heart, some tears, and some of the joy that has come into … Continue Reading…

How About Some Words Around Here!

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Sometimes in the deep, dark parts of winter, when everything is dry and brown and dead, words can be hard to come by. Sometimes you want to share the excitement when things go right, but not the mess when things go wrong. And sometimes in this up and down and inside out journey you need to focus on someone else’s words, and not your own. But Spring comes in February here… And when there aren’t words, sometimes there are pictures worth 1,000 words. I spent a few months enjoying puppy kisses … Continue Reading…

Over the River and Through the Woods…the Daily Farm Adventures {76}

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This weekend was the weekend we had planned for our Master Club hike with our church junior group (4th-6th grade)…so naturally it rained. {smile} We didn’t let a little foggy, cold, misty, rain stop us! Nope, we loaded them up on the bus and headed out! We took them to the tree farm and walked around for a couple hours talking about growing trees, forest life cycles, wildlife habitat, environmental concerns in the Chesapeake Bay, and what is means to respect the land they visit for hiking or camping. We … Continue Reading…

Why We Dress Our Best for Church

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When you’ve been invited to someone’s wedding, do you roll out of bed that morning, throw on your favorite jeans and baseball tee and head to the ceremony because you should feel comfortable when you go and they know how you are? No. You try to determine what would be most appropriate to the ceremony the bride has planned and dress accordingly, out of respect for the service and the two people getting married. When you have to go to a funeral service, do you just do farm chores all … Continue Reading…

When There Are No Last Moments…Grieving and Growing

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All this chatter about Brittany Maynard makes me sad. Not just for her–although I have found myself praying for her so often since hearing her story–but for everyone in the conversation. So many hurting hearts. So many dealing with tough, tough choices. But what makes me so sad about this talk of “death with dignity” is that it assumes that cancer is taking your choices away and there is a way to wrestle control back from it and be in charge of “the end” yourself. I can see where you … Continue Reading…

Serving Muslim Customers at the Farm as Christians…the Daily Farm Adventures {71}

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We had our lamb harvest day on Saturday this year, so we’re wrapping up another sold-out lambing season here at The Lowe Farm. 90% of our customers are repeat customers, or a referral from a regular customer, and this is our 4th sold out year. Mr. Fix-It and I had a long talk the other day and we decided that being more transparent in our experiences might have a lot of value for our readers, and maybe some other small farmers out there. Based on some of the…um…unkind comments that we have … Continue Reading…

Kids Need More Than Book-Learning

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Ok, we’re not even a month into the school year and I’m already over the homework. Sheesh. I’m just the Momma, it’s not even my homework! And the more I read and think and pray, the more oppose to homework I am, except for two cases… The child is not being diligent and getting their classwork finished and has to bring it home to work on it. This would go hand-in-hand with a student with a specific learning challenge that needs extra work. (Um, we have one of those. Maybe two. … Continue Reading…

The Value of Serving TOGETHER

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If you follow us on Facebook, you might have seen some of our summer posts about Mr. Fix-It and I leading a VBS class together this past summer. Not just being someone else’s helper, but planning, teaching, and leading our own class. Together. It was a completely new experience for us, as individuals and as a couple. I’ll just come right out and admit that I was nervous. One, because it was new. And two, because Mr. Fix-It and I are very different personality-wise and this kind of activity really, … Continue Reading…

Back-To-School Means It Must Be Fall

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Be still my poor, pounding, Momma-heart…my munchkins are so grown now! Getting ready for school, getting them off to school, getting them home from school, and getting them use to school has taken up pretty much my every waking minute lately. Oh yeah, and then soccer, and lamb sorting (lamb harvest is just a few weeks away!), and now Mr. Fix-It and I are teaching 4th-6th graders at church on Wednesday nights. We’ve had friends over for football and friends over for lunch and friends over for shooting…sigh…life simply never … Continue Reading…

Are They Grown, Or Not?

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Mr. Fix-It and I have spent a lot of time talking about current events lately. Always dangerous! {smile} And about our munchkins growing up so fast and all the new things just over the horizon for our family…like public school and riding the bus and the Ladybug mentioning that she wants a TV in her own room. (Um…no.) Something that has long been on my mind because of my other job (the full-time, in an office, get a paycheck, one) and now is on his mind too, is the almost … Continue Reading…

Modesty is for Boys Too

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I talked last week about the modesty guidelines we use with our Ladybug for dressing like a girl after God’s heart and it was our most popular post for the whole month.  I know everyone loves to write about the heart issue when it comes to this topic and debate scripture, but if we step aside from that for a moment there’s a practical side too. When you want to do the right thing, what does that look like? I shared our daughter’s specific, concrete, take-this-list-shopping guidance to give you a jumping off point … Continue Reading…

A Tough Row to Hoe

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You know something I struggle with? Not getting my own way. {smile} But you know what’s REALLY hard? Compromising what I want for what I know is right–and things are STILL not easy. For some reason (Christian immaturity, probably!) I feel like when I submit to God in something, the clouds should break open and sunshine should pour through and everything should become rainbows and roses and suddenly I’m on easy street. I mean, I’m doing the Will of God–that means it should be easy, right? Ha! Not so much. … Continue Reading…