Are Your Children a Burden or a Blessing?

Earlier this year I had a short conversation with a seasoned mom who mentioned that her now grown children told her they felt like they were a burden to their mom while they were growing up.  She said she never meant to make them feel like that and admitted that she was very busy with normal life, a child with special needs, and getting a home business off the ground.  She said she probably had too much on her plate.

As I’ve pondered her words, I’ve prayed that I haven’t made my children feel like they are a burden in my life.  If I have made them feel that way I hope that when they are grown they will not remember, unless they also remember that I love them and I worked hard to make them feel like they belong to our family.

What can I do to make sure that my children don’t think they are a burden?

Note:  I started writing this post a few months ago and had plans to add scripture to help remind us that the children God has given us are a blessing from him.  If God gives a blessing, who am I to undermine him by making my children feel like they aren’t a blessing.  Since I've been busy and haven't I wanted to post these thoughts anyway.

My prayer for those of you who read this post is to ponder the idea of how you look at your own children or other family members.  Do you treat them like they are a burden or do you strive to enjoy them, no matter how busy you think you are?

March Break

This week we've had our break from school.  The kids have been enjoying the lovely weather and just having time to play and pursue their own interests.  I had a list of things I wanted to work on this week, too, but so far only 1 of the items has been cross off the list.  That item was cook bacon.  Two other items have been partially completed.

Since it can be discouraging to not get the things done I wanted to do I started making a list of all the things that I did do.  It helps a little to see the things I've done with my children on their week off of school and to know that I'm just being a mom and doing what God created me to do.  Taking the week off of school means I don't have to teach, but my children still need me and my wishes aren't necessarily something that gets to take first place.  Putting aside my selfish desires is hard.

Here's the list of just a few of the things I've done this week:
-went to the library
-went to the playground
-baked cookies with a few of my children
-helped paint shape and race cars (3 days)
-built Lego's with Quinn and Clark
-cleaned part of my desk
-took care of some of the mail pile (4 days)
-read stories to littles
-ate chocolate
-enjoyed dandelions
-stayed up late playing peek-a-boo with the twins, because baby laughter is so much fun
-walked to the end of the street and back (4 days)
-played outside x2
-listened to Clark and Quinn signing songs while they were coloring
-made hot chocolate
-got school plans ready for preschool and kindergarten next week
-worked a Sudoku or two every morning while drinking my coffee
-watched a movie with the kids


I'm not ready to start back to school on Monday, but I still have the weekend to hopefully finish getting school plans ready.

Peace in the Storm

The pittering sound on the window is peaceful.
The sleet continues all night.
Even Quinn must have thought it was peaceful,
for he slept a little over 5 hours.
He woke with his usual scream,
but quickly began unusual chattering in his bed.
The peaceful sounds lull me back toward the land of sleep.
I realize that I should get up with Quinn.
Then I notice the soft glow through the window.
Everything is white outside,
reflecting the little bits of light from houses
and the street light on the corner.
The Christmas lights on the house across the street
reflect off the accumulating sleet, making it look like Christmas.
It is a peaceful view.
The pittering sound continues,
giving knowledge to the treachery of the roads and sidewalks.
The sounds and view give understanding of the
freezing temperatures to be felt outside.
We will spend the day cozy at home,
enjoying the peacefulness and prettiness
of the ice storm.


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Five Days of Christmas Blog Hop    

A Homemaker's Prayer

I came across a poem called A Homemaker's Prayer.  I think it is a wonderful poem about the things that I do in my home.  You can read it on Joanie's blog at Simple Living Mama.

Quote about Patience

I was reading over at The Legacy of Home and this quote caught my attention and I wanted to share it with you.

"One of the greatest things I have learned as a homemaker and mother, is to have incredible patience with life.  One must never act on emotion - never in the moment.  Time is needed to pray, or to consider.  Having simple, quiet days at home, has made this all very clear to me.  Through a trusting patience in the Lord, we have a great contentment. Worries tend not to linger. They fade away as quickly as they came. "

                                                                                           -Mrs. White on Simple Days at Home

Thoughts on Tragedy

This morning Jeff and I attended the funeral of an eight year old who had an accident on her bicycle.  Our hearts are wrenched knowing that this daughter of a family we know is no longer here on earth.  We are rejoicing with her family that she had a personal relationship with Jesus and is now in heaven.  We are praying for God's peace, comfort and strength to surround this family as their faith is sure to be tested.

Last night I read a story to Felicity, just because she asked me to read her The Gingerbread Man.  It didn't matter that I was trying to make supper and supper was already late.  I sat down and snuggled her and read her the story and another one and cried.  Kent heard me crying and asked me if I was crying because I missed the seashore.  I was reading a book about the seashore.  I had to smile and laugh through my tears at his question.  Then all the kids got hugs and found out why I was sad.  Finally, after seven pm I served the kids cereal and put away the dinner I had been fixing.  Jeff arrived home after a dinner meeting and sent me to grab a burger for my dinner.

So today and everyday be sure to enjoy your family.  Make memories together doing things that you all like to do.  Take pictures because they will help preserve memories of the blessings God has given you for years to come.  Sing their favorite songs with them, even if you don't like them.  Play with them and give them hugs and kisses, even if they think they are too old for them.  And most importantly teach them about Jesus and show them love and help them learn about God, so that hopefully they too will have a personal relationship with the one who gives life.

Hospitality

Hospitality is something I struggle with.  Don't get me wrong, I love having people over, but the heart attitude of hospitality is what I struggle with sometimes.  I usually don't struggle with hospitality when I have planned to have guests over or even have unexpected guests that we know well.  It is often the "unexpected" guests who I don't know well that I struggle knowing how to be hospitable with.

Here is a "picture" of one of the most hospitable people I have known.  She was my neighbor when I was growing up.  Nona was the grandma of the home, she loved kids, and she had immigrated from Italy in the early 1900's.

When I went to their home and knocked on the door I was always greeted with "Come in, come in".  She didn't talk to me in the doorway or have me wait outside while she called her granddaughter to come and see who had come to visit.  She was always offering me a drink or something to eat.  If she was cooking she always wanted me to try a bite of it.  If I was there close to meal time she always invited me to join them for dinner.  She loved me as if I were her own.  She always told me I could "stay longer" when it was time for me to leave.  I don't think she ever had a cross thought about "that neighbor girl" coming over again.  She always made some kind of baked good for my family at a holiday, too.


I had a wise mother who didn't let me visit too often and wear out my welcome.  She also usually told me what time I needed to be home and it was always a reasonable time, before they would be serving dinner. (Thanks Mom.)


Here's what it looks like at my home.  When someone knocks on the door, I don't think to promptly invite them in.  I am often slow to answering the door as it seems they like to come visit while I am nursing.  So they ring the doorbell multiple times or knock several times before I can get there.  I don't like to have my kids answer the door every time, because they don't seem to know what to do when they answer the door even though I have tried to tell them and show them.  When I answer the door, we may stand in the doorway and visit before I invite them in or I may say it isn't a good time and turn them away politely after greeting them.  I rarely think to offer anyone a drink, they either suffer through their thirst, ask for a drink, or get their own.  If I am serving a snack to my kids I ask if they would like one too, but if it is close to dinner I often wait to work on it, because I don't want to be rude by telling them it is time for them to leave.  I am often eager for any guests to leave so we can get on to straightening up for Daddy before he comes home from work or so I can get dinner ready.  Sometimes when we have guest(s) I feel like I have to constantly be watching what is going on between them and my children, which is good, but it is something I struggle to do with a good attitude.  I seldom ask anyone to stay for dinner, but often wonder if I should be asking them.  If I should ask them I think we would have guests for dinner several times a week.  At the end of the day I am tired and not at my prime.  I'd like to see and talk with my husband when he gets home and that's sometimes hard to do with our children who love him and want his undivided attention right away.  When we have guest(s) it is even less likely.  I often have to ask our guest(s) to leave whether its in the morning, afternoon, or evening.  Sometimes I struggle to know whether I am being selfish with my family and time or if I am giving and have already given enough.  Sometimes having guest(s) makes me weary and mentally worn as well.  I want to be available to the children who may wish to visit.  I want to be able to show a Christ-like attitude to them, but I don't really have a clue, how.  I feel so rude when I have to tell them it is time for them to leave.

Hospitality is something I'm working on, but if anyone has any tips for hospitality or remembering how to be hospitable when someone unexpected arrives I'd love to hear your thoughts.


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Why Do Kids Seem to be Out to Get You?

Why is it that any normal day things are always the same? - Children bickering, diapers needing changing, babies wanting to get up in the morning, nursing on a fairly regular schedule, school, chores being completed in a timely manner, breakfast, etc.

Then on the day Mommy finishes her quiet time and decides to get a good start on the day just a little earlier, everyone acts out or up and everything that Mommy usually does is way behind.  -Children fighting and arguing, diapers needing changing more than once, babies wanting to get up earlier than usual, older kids who are supposed to be working on their chores are bothering the baby who was contentedly laying in his bed and when they leave he starts crying and thinks he should eat again, some children don't finish their chores by the designated time, cereal and milk are spilled all over the floor, etc.

Now the bell has rung to start school and I haven't had breakfast, I'm running on overload, not ready to start and haven't even started my morning responsibilities yet.  I did manage to make the bed and put the mail in the mailbox before all this started.

Maybe we can set time back and start over?  Then I won't try to get anything done just a little earlier and maybe the morning would be normal.  Or maybe this is going to be the new normal?  Maybe I should have skipped writing here, but I was using it as an outlet to decompress and hopefully reboot my brain at least.

2012's Top Visited Posts

I thought I'd share which posts had the most visitors last year.

1.  Being a Mom is Tiring   -Yes, being a mom is still tiring, but it is also very rewarding.

2.  Staying on Top of Food Costs -New Series

3.  Low Cost Recipe Ideas

4.  Intentionally Enjoying My Family - Projects

5.  The Hidden Art of Homemaking - Gardens and Gardening

6.  Sewing Just a Little

7.  Menu Planning

8.  If You Were to Visit on a School Day... -Written in 2011

9.  July Decluttering -Written in 2011

10.  Preparing Food After My Shopping Trip


Thank you to everyone who reads my blog and has commented and encouraged me over the last year.

I really do have things to write

but...

this week has been busy with:
-taking Kent and Katy to VBS and picking them up again a couple hours later.  They are having fun.
-trying to keep up with everything I usually do, but my schedule is so out of whack
-thinking I want to write about ___________.
-knowing I have some pictures on my camera to download and realizing by the time I download them it will be a little late to write a post about July 4th, etc.
-being tired
-trying to love on my kids
-enjoying listening to my kids play with the neighbor kids who stopped over at 5:55pm yesterday and Kaomi invited them for dinner, fortunately I heard her and had already made the necessary adjustments in case they did stay, I told them it was okay and they asked their mom and we all enjoyed pancakes, scrambled eggs and strawberries.
-trying to finish the little details that I want to finish in planning to start back to school.  We start on Monday.
-trying to keep up with laundry, which has been a challenge lately all by itself and adding fewer hours in my morning to get it done.  Laundry and I don't seem to mix in the afternoon very well.
-Jeff gave me a gift card to Mardel's a while ago.  I thought it was for $20, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that I only owed 10 cents when the total rang up $25.10, and I actually had a dime in my wallet.
-Jeff being really busy at work and going in earlier and working later (some days).
-Trying to stay on top of the dishes
-keeping up with kids chores, as they have to start them earlier since they are going to VBS
-realizing that maybe the reason we start school the week after VBS is because we spend the week of VBS making sure we are up and out of the house with breakfast and most chores done by 8:30ish, so we are beginning a new schedule this week after having had some flexibility in when we've done things over the past few weeks.
-etc.

-Ya'll could pray for me and the kids as we start school and try to find a new groove next week.  Pray for peace for us all and adaptability and positive attitudes and smiles.

Maybe I'll get some pictures downloaded and some posts pre-worked on this weekend, but don't count on it.  I'm busy Saturday starting at 7 am.

Being Involved in Church

This post has been co-authored by Jeff and Suanna.
   
 I grew up in a small town church where I knew everyone.  When you stay in the same place for the majority of your life you make relationships with people that are strong and you know each other well.  Then I got married and moved to Texas where the only people I knew were my husband's family and the church we chose to attend was very large.  It was a hard change and sometimes still is hard.

     Jeff and I realized that we needed to make ourselves get involved in our church, so we started going to the Young Married Class.  We really liked that there were various ages and stages of married couples who attended the class and we quickly made a few friends and signed up for a small group.  We also got actively involved in our class greeting on Sunday Mornings and working in different areas of ministry. After a couple years the church was growing and built a new building and the Young Married Life leaders felt that there was a need to change and try to get more people interested in attending our class.  So the Young Married Class split into two classes: Young Married Life and Married Life.  It was hard to make a new transition as we didn't feel that we really fit into the Young Married Life class because of the evening meeting time and the fact that we already had two or three kids, but we had friends who were now attending that class.  We attended the Married Life Class then.  This class was mostly made up of those who had been in the Young Married Class, but didn't fit into the new Young Married Life Class.  The Married Life class moved around a little and changed some and became a Sunday School class that anyone was welcome to, but much of the teaching was still geared toward married couples or those who had children.  During part of this time we volunteered in the children's Sunday School classes to be used in whatever class we were needed in on a week to week basis.

     So again we stayed involved.  We weren't to sure about what God wanted us to do, but we knew that being involved was a key part of what we needed in attending a large church.  One Spring Sunday in 2009, our Pastor announced that we would be doing a special group prayer thing and they wanted people to host one time prayer groups.  We signed up.  Several local people came to our home that evening for prayer group.  We didn't know a single one of them.  That was okay though.  After we talked with the people who joined us to pray and prayed we told them that we had been thinking about starting a small group and if they were interested in coming back again the next week we would pray again.  God wanted us to do that, because the next week all but one of them returned.  We met for several weeks to pray and then we asked them if they would be interested in doing a book study.  They were and we started studying The Power of Integrity: Building a Life Without Compromise by John MacArthur.  We've been meeting with most of those people since then.  We've also enjoyed getting to know new people who've joined our group for short times.  God has blessed us by allowing us to lead a small group of believers in our town that we join together with for prayer, Bible study, fellowship and encouragement.

After a while the Married Life, Young Married Life, and young singles classes merged into what is now called Fusion.  When this merge took place Jeff and I didn't feel like this was the right class for us, so we ended up not attending any class.  Sometimes we would help out a Sunday School class, but more often than not we found ourselves just sitting in the lobby during the 11:00 am service.  Before the Married life class ended, we would normally attend the 9:00 am service with Kent, Katy and Kaomi and then at a 11:00 take the kids to their classes and then go to the Married life class.  After the Fusion class started, the kids still wanted to go to Sunday School and we still wanted them to join us for church (we are very much old school in that respect-we believe that the kids should go to "big church"), so we couldn't just change to going to one service.  We thought about maybe trying to find another church, but that didn't really seem to feel like that was what God was wanting us to do.  This all might sound odd to some, but you must understand that Denton Bible Church has always intended their members to get involved in small groups during the week.  That is why there are only a few adult Sunday classes and only one church service per week.

In October 2010, Jeff and I started thinking and talking about starting a Fellowship and Prayer Sunday School Class that we would also have missionaries come to and share about God's work through their ministries.  We realized that we had enough commitments that we couldn't start the ball rolling in that direction until the beginning of the next year.  In January of 2011, we heard about a new class that had started called Adult Bible Fellowship.  We started attending this class and have enjoyed the teaching, the sharing of prayer needs, the small group breakouts during class, and hearing the missionaries who share what God is doing where He has chosen to have them serve.  Another thing we appreciate is the variety of ages and life stages (singles, newlyweds, empty nesters, etc.) that attend Adult Bible Fellowship.  We feel that it is important to build relationships with a variety of people as God can give us wisdom and guidance through those who have already been in our stage of life and our hope is that we would be a Godly encouragement to those who are where we have been, as well.  This class has met a large portion of our need to stay involved.  Though we don't participate in everything that our class plans we enjoy the fellowship and camaraderie that comes from building relationships with other Christians.  We would not have that blessing if we didn't get involved in our church.

We thank God that he has given our church a desire to teach the Bible and that there are smaller classes and life groups that we can be involved in that help us have a sense of belonging which can be hard to find in a very large church.  We thank God for the vision he has given to the various leaders in our church and that the Bible is the forefront of each ministry.  We also encourage each of you to get involved in your churches.  Being involved provides many opportunities to build relationships and friendships that help us navigate through our lives, provide us support when we are in need, and give us opportunities to get beyond ourselves and minister to others.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking - What is Hidden Art?

In Chapter 2 of The Hidden Art of Homemaking talks about the "art" that you may find in your everyday life.  I like the following statement "All art involves conscious discipline.".  In order to get much done I have to consciously make an effort to do the things I know I need to do first.  So the above statement makes complete sense to me.  I have also found that when I am making time to do certain things it seems like they take not much time at all.  This chapter also talks about priorities.  I like that it gives permission to not feel guilty when you accomplish a needed task to the neglect of another task when you need to, with the knowledge that you will still complete the neglected task.

What can I do today to show appreciation to my Creator for creating me His image by being aware of the beauty He has created around me?   I can focus on making sure my priorities are in the right order and thank him for the creativity he has given me to think and decide what should be a priority.  I can ask Him for guidance that I would focus on God's will instead of my will.

What can you do today to show appreciation to God our creator?

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10 Things This Mommy Needs - Part Three

Part One
Part Two

8.  Water.  I DO NOT want another kidney stone, so I try to make sure I am drinking enough everyday.  It is hard to remember when you are always running around doing stuff with kids, schooling, and working around the house.  I have found that if I make a cup of herb tea and let it sit on the counter I will notice it later and pick it up to drink, helping me remember that I need to drink more.

9.  An occasional day or several hours "off".  Any regular working person has regularly scheduled days off from work.  I don't get that as a stay at home mom very often.  It's really hard to always have to be dealing with all the problems and struggles that occur all the time often.  A few minutes throughout the day doesn't help with the long time problems.  Not that I would know what to do if I ever actually had "time off".  I have a mentor who I meet with from time to time.  Sometimes it works out for me to have a few hours without kids.  Clark goes with me, but the only thing he needs is to be fed and smiled at.  Sometimes we meet at my house when all the kids are here, but it is nice to have someone to talk to and encourage me and challenge me.  Usually any other time I have "off" is when I am grocery shopping and all the kids stay home with Jeff, which is rare, too.  I have occasionally had someone watch the kids when I have an appointment, which is really nice because it can be awkward to take 5 kids into an appointment or have to leave the oldest ones in the waiting room by themselves because there isn't room for everyone where the appointments are.  Jeff's going to be having an extra day off of work each week for the next several weeks so that will be a little different for me, too.

10.  An automatic kitchen cleaner.  One that I don't need to tell what, when or how to do what ever needs doing.  I guess that's still up to me to do or delegate, but it's nice to dream.

Well since #10 wasn't really a reasonable need I'll give you another bonus need.

My bonus need is exercise.  Something I really need to do, but don't see it happening.  Does running up and down the stairs a few times a day count?  I hope so.  I also usually park at the end of the parking lot when I go to a store, then I walk as fast as I can (with or without kids) until I get to the door.

10 Things This Mommy Needs - Part Two

Last week I shared the first three things on my list.

This week I'd like to share 4 more things that I "need".  Now I realize these aren't actually true needs, but they help in my day to day goings on.

4.  Lots of snuggles and hugs.  I love it when one or more of my children snuggle up to me, especially when we are reading.  Katy gives the best impromptu hugs.  The other kids have the best hugs, too, but they almost never give impromptu ones.  Kaomi is a great snuggler, she stays still long enough that she just seems to melt against me.  I love it when Felicity wants to snuggle and rock, she's growing up and the times are fewer and shorter than they used to be.  Even though Kent is a constant wiggle worm, if I can get him to sit next to me and he decides to snuggle up against me he will actually be pretty still if I am reading something that interests him.  Clark is great for snuggling, especially when he falls asleep in my arms, sometimes I just don't want to put him down.  Jeff gives great, full hugs that encompass me and make me feel loved.

5.  Chocolate.  Yes, I like chocolate.  Dark chocolate is my favorite.  I also like peanut butter cups, mounds bars, hot chocolate and chocolate ice cream (not all together).  Maybe I eat too much of it, then other days I don't have any at all so it evens out, right?

6.  Making specific time to work on a project if I have something I want to do.  This is key to getting pretty much anything accomplished.  If I don't make time for it, it won't happen.  When I need or want to do something I write it on the white board in my kitchen.  Then I try to make it happen.  If it is important enough it happens sooner, rather than later.  If it's not very important it may take a while to complete or may get erased, to be added again at another point when I think it might be able to get accomplished.

7.   A hair cut.  Nothing fancy, just a couple inches.  It's been a really long time since it's been trimmed.  I think its been more like a year and three quarters or so.  Jeff trims it for me, but we both have to remember at the same time and have it be good for it to actually happen.

Join me next Wednesday for the last 3 things this mommy needs.

What kind of needs do you have as a mom or dad?

10 Things This Mommy Needs - Part One

As I'm being pulled in at least 7 different directions, sometimes I wonder how important everything is.  To be able to do everything that I'm expected to and want to do I need to be able to stay on top of what is going on and prioritize.  Sometimes it's hard to really accomplish whatever I need to do when I allow my own needs to take a back burner.  So I thought I'd begin to share a list of my own needs and solutions to trying to meet those needs.  I realize that someone else's needs may be completely different than mine and that is the joy of each person's life and how God has created us.

 I haven't listed my needs in any particular order, so here are the first three needs of this mommy.

1.  A consistent time to read my Bible and pray to start my day off right.  I know when I am consistently in God's Word I feel more complete throughout my day.  It's hard to fit my quiet time in when I have to start my day off running.  Since this is the way it seems to be lately, I've been reading a passage of scripture to the kids and a story to go along with it in the morning.  This doesn't really fill this need, but I feel that it is a step closer when I'm reading my Bible and praying, even with the kids.  It seems with various seasons in life that I find a consistent routine and then it changes.  Some days I try really hard to get my quiet time in, while the kids are going about doing their morning activities.  Sometimes, when I find a verse that I find encouraging or that I need to work on something I write the verse on my white board in the kitchen.  Then I can meditate on it often, sometimes for several days.

2.  Lunch everyday.  I mean a whole meal, not just a bite of something before running on to the next thing I need to do.  I do eat throughout the day, but lunch can be hard because the kids want to eat, then Clark wants to eat, then somebody needs me for something, then Felicity wants to get down, then its time for me to read to the kids, etc.  Then I am starving and don't know why I'm so hungry until I go to make supper and realize that I never really ate much for lunch.  Some days it works great, like when we are all having the same leftovers I only have to fix one thing.  Most days I fix sandwiches for the kids, but I'm not all that interested in eating PB & J most days for lunch.  I like my peanut butter at breakfast.

3.  Sleep.  I find I can function better if I am rested.  It's hard to get enough when you go to bed late and get up a couple of times to feed a baby.  Then everyone expects you to jump out of bed raring to go first thing in the morning.  I've been trying to go to bed earlier, but somehow Clark has noticed and doesn't want to let me do that.  Naps are a thing of the past.  If I wanted one, I either wouldn't be able to fall asleep or someone would wake me up.  Besides, after I take a nap I feel worse than before.  I have found that when I am on a decent sleep schedule it is much easier to get up early enough in the morning to consistently read my Bible before my day starts to fly.

Join me next week for Part 2.

The Christmas Tree is Put Away

On Saturday, while I was out visiting my mentor and grocery shopping Jeff took down the Christmas tree.  I noticed it as soon as I walked in the door.  I've been enjoying sitting in the living room and feeling how much cleaner it seems.  I'm not sure if "cleaner" is the the right word.  I really enjoyed having the Christmas tree up, but now I'm glad it is down.  The room is so much brighter, not that I thought it was dull before.  I guess I'm not doing a very good job of trying to say what I'm thinking so I'll stop now and let you find something more interesting to do.

Dayspring Card Review

The lost art of letter writing.  Some of my favorite letters that I have received have been the ones my Grandma wrote to me.  She knew how to write a good letter and she tried to share some of it with me.  I'm not a very good letter writer, but I really need to practice it more.  I know several people whom I should send letters to, but haven't in a long time.



I like to get mail.  Real mail, that is from a real person.  I enjoy receiving cards from friends and family that just say "hi", encourage me or share news.  I also enjoy receiving birthday and Christmas cards.  Receiving a card in the mail shows that someone really thought about me. 

This month I teamed up with (in)spired deals and (in)courage to bring you a review on some cards that Dayspring sent me to review and send to someone special.

As I read the encouraging words on the cards I thought of several people that I hoped they would encourage.  I chose to send some of them right away to my Pop-pop and Grandma, and two other friends.  I prayed that these cards would encourage the recipients.  I really should sit down and write cards more often.  I liked sitting down and focusing on who I was writing to and praying for them as I wrote.  The cards were well written with words of encouragement for various situations.  The pictures on the cards were also attractive.  I would recommend them to anyone looking for some cards of encouragement.


Dayspring sent me cards to review and a card organizer, but have not compensated me in any other way.  The opinions expressed here are my own.