Author Archives: Durenda Wilson

About Durenda Wilson

Durenda Wilson is fairly new to the blogging world because she has been very busy the last 25 years raising 8 children and loving her handsome husband of 26 years. They have two married daughters and four grandbabies. Their oldest son is graduating from college this year and 5 kids are still at home, four of whom are boys! Durenda loves making good food for her family, but sometimes wishes dinner would make itself. She enjoys meaningful conversation over a good cup of coffee. She recently published a simple, mercifully short book sharing her perspective after 20 years of homeschooling with a "less is more" approach... "The Unhurried Homeschooler". She also shares her heart on her blog Simple Nourishing Home, FB, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Why Teen Years Can Be Challenging

Teen Years TBM

So exactly WHAT is it that can make living with teens some of the most challenging years of raising kids?

We have 2 daughters married and gone, 4 teen boys at home along with a 12 yr old girl and 9 year old boy.  This can make for some interesting dynamics that I write more about on my blog, Simple Nourishing Home.

This last week, I felt like I was losing my mind! I had no idea why. I spent some time over the weekend praying about it off and on. As the fog started to lift and things became clearer, I realized that our kids had slowly begun to run the household. And I don’t mean in a good way. It seemed as though every decision, every direction was met with resistance of some sort: they had a better plan or idea, a reason that my direction was unreasonable or not well thought out, they’d slump their shoulders a bit or roll their eyes at me (usually jokingly) or just not follow through on what I asked. They were sleeping in, not getting chores done on time and somehow I missed these changes. These were not blatant. They were subtle, but ultimately added up to a more chaotic household and a mom who felt like she was drowning.

Here’s the deal (and this is what my husband and I ended up telling the kids): God has created family order. Children (yes, even teens) are to respect and honor their parents. When that boundary is in place, there is peace. These are not MY ideas or rules. They are God’s. Even though our kids are not rebellious kids, they are human and have a tendency to begin to take over, especially teens. Our family dynamics involve a lot of boys. Boys tend to be conquerors by nature and want to exert their manliness. I have told our boys many times that I understand this natural urge of theirs to be leaders, but I will not be the person they will be leading. They will likely have their own wife and family someday. I AM NOT THAT PERSON. For now, they are learning to respect and honor a woman (me) because that quality is just as important in a husband as leadership. Although I try to treat them with respect because I know how important that is to boys/men, I have to hold my ground as their mom while they are growing up, while still helping them own more and more of their own decisions. The hard part is differentiating between the decisions WE need to be making as parents and the ones THEY need to be making.

College Prep Genius Logo

This can lead to mistakes. But mistakes can also be opportunities, chances to clarify what the boundaries should be.  This is where we make an important choice. We can recognize when things are not right and simply be REAL with our kids. Tell them where we think the mistake has been made. We can do this and still maintain our position as parents because that is important too. We need to provide an ongoing guiding role, while letting our teens slowly own more and more of their decisions.  And can I give you a little tip?  When THEY have made the mistake and are having a hard time admitting it, use more questions (as opposed to accusations) to gently help them see things more clearly.  This (usually) will encourage them to own it sooner.

girl-FI

It’s exhausting walking this line.   We want our teens to become their own person.  In fact, that process is often what causes the most conflict. We want them to learn to make decisions, to be leaders, to be initiators, to have ideas, to be thinkers.   Just not when it conflicts with our agenda!  And so we do the dance.  The dance of deciding when we need to let them have a say in things and when it’s time for them to honor our decisions even if they don’t believe them to be the best.  We give them the freedom to have their opinion, while still honoring our God-given role as parents.  One practical way that we do this?  We tell our teens that we are willing to consider their ideas/suggestions after they have verbally communicated their willingness to follow through with our original request.  Something like this: “Dad, I am totally willing to do the job the way that you are asking, but I was wondering if I could do it this way because…?”

And don’t think for one second that you can do this well, without God.  He is the One who does the deep, lasting work in our hearts and the hearts of our teens.  Our greatest battles will, without question, be won on our knees.

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How to LOVE Your Teen

How to LOVE Your Teen

If you have one or more teens in the house, you probably know that it can be hard to love them at times.  REALLY. HARD.  Those years are full of so many changes both for your teen AND you.  Things aren’t nearly as simple as they used to be.  Their hormones are changing at warp speed, they desperately need to become their own person, and they have no idea what that is supposed to look like.  And neither do we.

We currently have 4 teens (along with 2 married daughters and 2 younger children).  I have often felt like I am walking through a maze with a blindfold on trying to figure out how to get them to adulthood with our relationship intact.  They will probably always love me, but I really want them to LIKE me by the time they become adults.   I have blown it more times than you can imagine, and somehow I still have a good relationship with all of them.

But it takes work.  It means being intentional.  It means loving them when they are the hardest to love.  Here are a few ideas on how to LOVE your teen:

Listen:  Be available to talk when they need to.  My experience is that they usually want to talk about the time you are ready to FALL into bed at the end of an exhausting day.  I have often resisted the urge to point them to the door, but honestly, I’ve never regretted taking the time to listen.  I don’t know that the glimpses into the secret places of their hearts would have happened at any other time.

Offer support:  It’s super easy to keep parenting them like they are in elementary school, telling them what to do instead of asking questions without judgment.  Even offer to DO something to help. This helps them know that you are on their side.  When they feel supported, they are encouraged to come to their own conclusions about things.  It’s crucial that they learn to work things out for themselves and in this type of conversation, you often have the opportunity to help direct them.  It’s also more likely that they will come to you for guidance more often.

Validate:  It’s really important that our teens know their feelings are valid.  The truth is that no one can tell someone else how to feel.  So when our kids are dealing with feelings of disappointment, frustration or anger, we need to give them validation by empathizing with them. I don’t mean that they can act any way they want to, don’t get me wrong.  That part does need to be kept within boundaries.  But it’s usually best to wait for their emotions to diminish before problem solving or discussing possible solutions to the deeper issues.

Encourage:  It’s doubtful that you could give your teen TOO much encouragement.  They are already dealing with loads of self-doubt.  Do you remember what it was like to be a teenager?  It’s crazy HARD!  What are some of the ways you would have liked to be encouraged? Try some of those out and see what happens.  I recently emailed letters of encouragement to each of our teens.  I took my time and was thoughtful in what I wrote to them.  They were thrilled!

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Don’t forget to ENJOY your teen.  It can seem like conflict is endless at times, so it’s that much more important that we have FUN with them whenever we can.

Lastly, don’t think for one minute that you can pull this off without God’s help.  I’ve never felt so needy as I have in parenting teens and I’ve never felt God’s presence so strongly.  I’ve seen Him answer VERY specific prayers for the hearts of our teens over and over again, and I’ve had the privilege of watching our teens grown into amazing, confident, God loving adults.

Growing great kids is NOT for the faint-hearted, so be brave and be encouraged!  It’s a worthwhile investment!

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Spring Home School Burnout

The weather is getting warmer, summer is almost here. It’s the last leg of the school year and I’m ready to throw in the towel and give up!  This is our 18th year of homeschooling and it happens every year:  the exciting days of fall, when I had high hopes of all that we would accomplish,  have been buried under hopelessness.   Reality is a harsh task master and it’s reminding me that we simply are NOT going to get it all done.

You would think that by now I would be immune to this annual event.  I’m not.  It has faded some, but still seems to rear its ugly head.  Are you feeling the same way?   Let’s  take a minute, really think about this, and consider some things:

First of all, do you remember WHY you started to home school in the first place? For us, it was because we felt like we could give our kids a love for learning by letting them school more naturally, according to their giftings and interests. We wanted to protect them from influences that did not instill the values in them that we held important. We wanted to spend more time together as a family. We wanted flexibility. We wanted to prepare our kids for real life by living real life with them. Most of all we wanted our children to come into ownership of their own walks with God.

Are any of these your reasons? Did you notice that NONE of them had any direct correlation to curriculum? And yet, at the end of the day, it’s SO hard not to measure our homeschooling in terms of pages finished and projects completed.

God works in a very different economy. It’s hard to remember that.  But He really does.  His greatest concern is for our hearts, and as moms, that should be our greatest concern for OUR children. Are you seeing growth in your children’s souls? Are they learning HOW to think, rather than WHAT to think? Do they still love learning? Are the relationships within your family, for the most part, peaceful and healthy?

And how about you, Mom?  Do you think YOU need to change to become what your children need or do you believe that you are uniquely qualified for this job? That you were made, by God’s design, to be these children’s mother and, they, to be YOUR children? Do you think that you need to figure everything out or that there is a perfect plan already in place? Do you believe that the results must measure up to expectations or that the results are on HIS shoulders? That you are responsible for everything, or that you are part of a team?

God loves our kids more than we do. Our job is to trust Him and do the next thing. He truly is good and faithful. So let’s take some time to breathe a prayer of thanks, rest in Him and enjoy our kids!

signature_durenda

Heidi St John Homeschooling Guide to Daylight

Easter Dinner Menu Plan

For generations, food has been an important part of celebrations and traditions.   There is a comfort in eating certain foods on certain days, cooked the same way you always remember.   You probably have your favorite birthday cake or dessert, Christmas meal and cookies, and other special foods for special days.  I used to think that it wasn’t THAT big of a deal, especially when the kids were little. It sometimes felt like SO much work to make the effort.  And there ARE times to exchange the tradition for something less stressful if it keeps the heart of the celebration from being lost. I remember we traded our traditional home made Thanksgiving feast for one bought at Safeway because I had just had our fifth child.  I was really thankful for that store bought meal, but the next year, we appreciated the home made one even more!  And the older our kids get, the more they more they look forward to these traditions.

That being said, I want to share one of our favorite (and easiest) Easter and Christmas meals.  We love this one because things can be made ahead of time which comes in handy especially on these particular holidays.

So here is the menu:  Spiral sliced ham, Gen’s Potatoes, Grandma’s Crescent Rolls, Curried Fruit and steamed Green Beans.

A day or two before the holiday:

Grandma Gen’s Potatoes

Prepare a buttered 9×13 pan

10 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed (don’t add liquid to them)

Add and beat til fluffy:

1 pkg cream cheese

8 oz sour cream

1 package Ranch mix(this works the best) OR 1 t. garlic powder

salt to taste

Place mixture in 9×13 and add 1/2 c melted butter(you can use less, it just might not have quite the crisp on top) and sprinkle with paprika

At this point, you can cover (when it cools a bit) and place in the refrigerator for 1-2 days ahead of time!

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45  minutes, if refrigerated or 30 minutes if baking immediately.  Edges should be lightly browned.

Durenda Wilson Busy Mom

Grandma’s Crescent Rolls

Dissolve one package of dry yeast in one cup water

Melt one cube of butter

In mixing bowl beat three eggs.  Add 1/2 c sugar and 1 t. salt

Add yeast mixture

Add melted butter

Add 4 1/2 c. of all purpose flour (or half wheat/half white flour)

Store in air tight container until ready to roll out.  Roll out in 2 circles.  Cut each into 12 pie-shaped pieces.  Roll into crescents.

Place on greased cookie sheets.   If you want to go ahead and bake them, let rise 2 hours or until doubled.   Or at this point you can freeze them. Then you can just let them rise on the counter overnight and bake them in the morning. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

crescent rolls TBM wm

Day of:

The Spiral ham we buy from Costco ( a no brainer)-this goes in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours. (Don’t forget to put your potatoes in about 30-45 minutes after the ham goes in)

Curried Fruit–this goes amazingly well with the ham and potatoes.  Not something I would have put together, but my husband’s mom has made this meal for years and it’s always a big hit.

In a 9×13 pan (OR large saucepan on the stove if you are low on oven space) place:

1 can of peaches (half drained)

1 can of pears (half drained)

1 can pineapple (half drained)

Melt 1/3 c butter, 1/3 c brown sugar and stir in 1 t. curry powder and pour over the fruit.  Bake until heated through.

Green Beans I find the best and freshest from Costco as well.  You can use frozen, but they aren’t quite as tasty.  I usually steam them for about 4-5 minutes so they aren’t completely limp.  Then add a couple Tablespoons of butter and salt to taste.  Sometimes we throw some real bacon bit in for extra flavor.  The taste goes well with the ham.  Make this in the last few minutes before dinner.

We hope your family enjoys this meal as much as we do!  Happy Easter!  He has risen!  He has risen indeed!

 

 

Triple Threat For Raising Boys

If someone had told me years ago that we would end up with five boys, I don’t think I would have believed them!  Right now our boys are 19, 16, 15, 13 and 9 (we also have 3 girls).  They are all unique  with varying temperaments and personalities.

If you are reading this, there’s a good chance that you have been blessed with one or more of these amazing little or young men!  I say amazing because I am constantly floored at how God has so obviously created them very different from women.  In general, we don’t think the same or have the same responses as they do.  They have an insatiable need to conquer, sometimes to the detriment of their own safety.   For example:  If a girl gets hurt doing an activity, usually she doesn’t do it again.  If a boy gets hurt he tends to repeat the activity.  The temptation is to think our boys are just dumb for doing this.  The truth is they are trying to figure out a way to do this thing BETTER (without getting hurt) re-doing it until they CONQUER it!  This is the stuff that makes history…new inventions, better ways of life, new worlds explored.  It’s a gift, moms!

Triple Threat For Raising Boys TBM

I’m not going to lie…that “gift” has put many gray hairs on my head and probably shortened my life by several years.  Numerous trips to ER, near heart attacks (for me), adrenaline rushes, and sleepless nights.  But the flip side is that I have come to appreciate and respect the God-given nature of men.  I’ve learned a lot about how to embrace it and encourage our sons in the way that they are created.

Here are three things that I have learned (and have to remind myself) of what boys need.  I used 3 “B’s” to make it easier:

BREVITY:  Keep your words to a minimum.  Boys aren’t generally good at taking in a lot of words and there are tons of studies out there to prove it.  Somehow,  we think if we say more, it becomes more meaningful, but the opposite is true:  they tune us out.  I remember last year, I was REALLY frustrated with all of our boys on the whole.  I spent at least an hour telling my husband all about it.   Afterward, he looked at me and very sweetly said that I use TOO many words!  The more words I use, the less the boys respect me.  Respect is crucial in keeping their hearts.  Keep the conversations and confrontations simple and clean!  Boys are pretty good at handling ‘blunt’.  They often prefer it.

Which brings me to the next point:

BOUNDARIES:  It is very important that our boys KNOW what the boundaries are.  When I say it’s important, it means that, in general, boys will test the boundaries REPEATEDLY (there’s that conquering nature again) to be SURE that they are still in tact.  There are days this feels like relentless torture as moms because, if we love our sons, we WILL hold that ground. (Proverbs 13:24, 23:13-15, 22:15, 29:17, 19:18)  Truth is, most boys learn the quickest through painful consequences.  Find out what their currency is and use it to motivate them (either by taking it away or rewarding with it) There ARE times I have realized that a boundary I am holding to isn’t a hill worth dying on after all.  God has used the persistence of our sons to teach me better priorities.  I have also learned when I am not enjoying our kids at least 80% of the time, it’s usually because I have failed to keep the boundaries clear and intact.

BLOW-OFF:  Boys are generally high energy and if that energy is not fairly well-directed, they will pretty much dismantle the house, board by board.  Using a routine that incorporates chores and physical activity (especially outside) is very helpful.  Boys are amazingly capable.  When they “conquer” new skills and we praise them for it, they are more responsive to us in general.  When our boys become too ranbunctious I make them jump on the trampoline for 10 minutes, run around the outside of the house ten times, do push ups or give them a chore like weeding, shoveling snow, sweeping the deck, chopping wood, etc.

Silas shelling peas TBM

 

It can be challenging raising sons, but the investment you make into your boys’ manhood will come back to you many fold.  As ours are approaching adulthood, I often find them being my greatest allies and defenders.  They seem proud to call me “mom” and I pray that will always be true.

“The choices, loves, and beliefs of a boy’s mother craft his character.  Mothers are a powerful presence in their sons lives.  This knowledge shouldn’t frighten us; it should motivate us.  Boys need more of their mothers in order to be greater men.  And any mother who follows her maternal instincts, examines her own motivations, and does the best she can, will be a good mother.  Boys don’t need perfection; they just need you there.”   -Meg Meeker

Homeschooling Made Simple

*this post includes affiliate links*

Even though we have eight children and are in our 18th year of homeschooling, the thought of writing a blog about it terrifies me.  You would think after this many years, I would be some sort of professional.  The truth is, I am easily overwhelmed by the scads of information and choices there are now.  Everything from method to curriculum.  If I were young again and just starting out or thinking about homeschooling,  I’m pretty sure you would find me in a corner somewhere in the fetal position, sucking my thumb!

If you are thinking about homeschooling or just starting out, I encourage you to KEEP THINGS SIMPLE.  Don’t overwhelm yourself with information, but pray diligently for God’s leading in schooling your kids.  He knows them better than you do, and He will be faithful to show you what’s best for them.  Ask God to BRING to you what HE wants for your family.  Don’t spend time comparing yourself to others.  Your family is unique and has it’s own “culture”.  The beauty of home schooling is that we can customize our learning to fit our family’s lifestyle.  That means we are NOT modeling the public school classroom.

Sam on trampoline square with logo

It is important to nurture your children’s love of learning and that means, especially when they are young, we follow their lead and interests as much as possible.  Especially with boys, there often seems to be a need to wait longer to start any formal schooling.  It’s a delicate line to walk of encouraging, but not pushing.   We have tried to do this so as to foster their love of learning.  What has happened at our house is, about age 12-14, instead of being burnt out on learning, they suddenly start to “own” their education.  They realize how much they are capable of learning, how many things they are interested in and begin to pursue accordingly, on their own.  We have also taught our children to be resourceful: to know how to find out what it is they want to know.  My thought has always been that if you nurture their love for learning and teach them to be resourceful, they will be able to do whatever they decide they want to do!

When our kids were little, I had a need to be able to tangibly see their progress, so I used some workbooks, but kept them to a minimum.  To learn reading, we started out with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  This book teaches to read phonetically and is broken up into short, easy lessons.  It is simple enough for your older, reading children to use in teaching the youngers, which is very helpful if you have several children.  When the kids were reading somewhat well and able to write their letters, I would start them in an age appropriate math and language book.  The plan was to do a couple pages in each book every morning, but with so many little ones, much of the time we were doing well to get 3 days a week done.

Cousins photoshoot-April 2011 063-square

My goal is to be as consistent as is humanly possible. But life happens and I am not consistent if we have too much on our plate.  We keep our school plan simple so that we have flexibility to let the kids follow some interests on their own. What that looks like for us through the elementary years is to try to make sure that we do the basics each day: math and language arts (including reading, writing, etc).  Science and history are something our kids, at this age, explore on their own.  I try to listen for the things they seem interested in and have good books around for them to read.  We can waste a lot of time at the library trying to find appropriate books, so a good book list resource is important. One of my favorite book lists is,  “Read for the Heart: Whole Books for WholeHearted Families” by Sarah Clarkson.  The books listed are not “twaddle”, but meaningful books, with good illustrations and listed by subject and age appropriateness.

I also love Five in a Row by Jane Lambert.  This is more of a unit study that you can use for several age levels at once.  You read the suggested books (which were carefully chosen by Jane) as a springboard.  Then she does a beautiful job of explaining different activities and conversations for several subjects based on that book.  You have the option of doing as little or as much as you want or need for that day. (They have a free complete unit available for download, so it’s really easy to try it out!)

When they get into jr. high, we start to be more intentional in adding science and/or history to the basic mix. Sometimes it works well to combine two subjects.  For instance, right now, two of our boys are choosing a time period that they study (with resources they find) and take notes on for 2 weeks.   Then they write a report about all that they learned and turn it in to me.  By doing this, they cover history, reading, writing (sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, taking good notes, grammar)  and meeting a deadline.

  Sandpoint august 11 011 square with logo and pinnable

This plan worked well for all of our children…except the last one.  He has had some learning issues and, in his case, it was important to get an earlier start.  Dyslexia, dysgraphia, etc. require early intervention, so if you are suspect that your child might have some learning issues, make sure you get a diagnosis sooner rather than later.

The truth is that our kids will remember more from our example than from what we say.  All the practicalities aside, what is our goal?  Don’t we want to raise children who love the Lord and carry out His purposes for them?  That means that school revolves around home, not home around school.  I believe the best way to do that is to live life with our kids. Be authentic, be intentional and most of all, be gospel centered, growing right alongside your children.

You can read more by Durenda on homeschooling by visiting her at Simple Nourishing Home

Heidi St John Homeschooling Guide to Daylight

The Buck Stops Here

MONEY. It can be a very touchy and often stressful subject.  Especially within our marriages. Without realizing it, we all walk down the aisle with a certain set of ideas about money. If we are in disagreement with our husbands on the management of our finances, it can effect so many facets of our relationship. The truth is that it can have the power to make or break our marriages, so we have important choices to make.

I am hoping to share some ideas that may be helpful.  Every family has dynamics that have to be considered.  It’s important to have good communication and be in agreement with your husband on money matters. That can take some time to process together, but it’s worth it!

picture of money with Heidi Logo

I am really no expert, but after 24 years of marriage and 8 children on a single income, there are a few basic principles we have learned that have served us well. In our family, my husband and I consider everyone’s needs together and I usually leave the final decisions to him.

For starters, pray, sit down with your husband and talk about how to budget within the limits of your income. In other words, DON’T SPEND MORE THAN YOU MAKE. When our finances whirled out of control at one point, we had to step back and re-think our habits. We needed to be intentional about our spending. We started by taking our monthly income, subtracting costs of living like house payment or rent, average power/gas bill, phone bill, and life/health/car insurance. Then with what was left we budgeted out areas of groceries(including TP, toothpaste, etc) gas for the cars, entertainment, clothing, car repairs, etc. We labeled envelopes and put cash in each one for each area. Sometimes I even wrote down everything I spent on the outside of the envelope and put the receipts inside so I would be very conscious of where the money was going.  If at all possible, try to keep anything that’s left over in a savings account. Even building a tiny bit at a time can make a difference over the long run.

Another money saver is making as many of your meals from scratch as you can. They don’t have to be gourmet, just simple meals. This can actually be great for your health as well. Dinners such as a small serving of meat, a couple vegetables and potatoes or some yummy bread are both nutritious and economical. I often mix chicken or turkey cooked and cut into bite site pieces or fried hamburger to a combination of cooked rice or potatoes and 2 or three seasonal veggies sauteed. When you put it all together as one dish, with some tasty herbs and spices, you can really stretch the meat aspect of the meal, which is usually the most costly. Home made soups are also very economical. Oatmeal, breakfast casseroles and pancakes from scratch are all cost effective breakfasts.

Sprouted Lentil Soup with Heidi Logo

Clothes shopping on a budget can be challenging, but fun at the same time! I want our kids to be well kept and somewhat fashionable, but it requires some thought and a little planning. Keep a running list handy of what the family needs are. I love to yard sale off and on from spring until fall. You can use newspaper ads or Craigslist to help you decide which ones you will go to first, depending if what the yard sales are advertising is actually what you are looking for. I frequent thrift shops and kid’s consignment shops.  Also shopping clearance racks and  “off” season can bring some amazingly low prices for clothes and shoes!  When the kids were all little, some of this was almost impossible, but I never turned hand-me-downs away and word got around. One time we were lacking several items for the kids and I prayed about it because I couldn’t really get out to shop for them. Soon after, I came home to several bags of clothes on my front porch with most of the things we needed in them! I still don’t know who they came from!

As we faced many different financial strains over the years, I have had to learn to make it a point to let my husband know that I am FOR him. I try to take the time to thank him daily for his hard work and for providing for us. Our husbands shoulder a heavy burden and honestly, we probably couldn’t thank them too often. And when things aren’t going well, I have to work extra hard to make what we have “enough” ( a combination of stewardship and contentment) but also to continue to verbalize what I’m thankful for. It’s so important let him know that we are on his side and willing to do what we can to be good stewards of what we’ve been given, no matter how little. I can’t tell you what a boost this will be to your man. It builds SO much trust, confidence and love into your marriage.

When it comes to our kids, we can often feel guilty quickly. Guilty that we aren’t giving them the “best”. The truth is that as we live out a life of good stewardship and learning to trust and depend on God with our finances, our children see faith being lived out. This is a far greater gift than money can buy. You are giving them a real, sovereign and powerful God. And that will benefit them in ALL areas of life.

Remember,  God works everything out for our good and His glory…wherever you are in your financial journey. He numbers the hairs on our heads and nothing is out of His control. Life is messy, but He watches over us.   Ask Him for wisdom along the way.  He promises in James that He WILL give it to you if you believe.   Moms, you CAN trust Him.

“I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret  of  being content–whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.”  Philippians 4:12

Read more about “Living on Less”  on my blog Simple Nourishing Home

Heidi St John Guide to Daylight