
Loving Our Families Well
Hello friends, and welcome to the weekly newsletter! I hope you and your family are doing well!
As wives, mamas, and/or homemakers, we usually have a lot of work to do. One of those things includes loving our families well.
I’ve realized that it is important to start each day with a smile on my face and to let each family member know just how much I love them in the morning. My children just light up when I do this!
Besides my words, I need to let my actions love my family well. I should make sure they have the food they need, and clothing, too. I should spend time working through our homeschool assignments at the kitchen table, and listen to them whenever they have a problem.

I also can love my family well by sharing the truth of God’s Word with them. I need to make sure that I point back to God in our discussions, and don’t act like a hypocrite.
My, that’s an awful lot to think of each day! But I know that I can do it with God’s help.
The Scriptures say that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God, who gives it to those who ask. Everyday I need to ask Him for guidance. His answer is usually found in learning about the fruits of the Spirit when it comes to interacting with my family. A patient, kind, and long suffering wife and mama is usually a good one.
I hope that my family will one day have good memories of me, and the love that I showed them. If we make a mistake, we can always ask for forgiveness and try again!
Thankful for Wintertime
Well, here we are, in the middle of winter. This year has been very strange where we live. We haven’t had many cold days, but when we have, it has been COLD. Most of January has been unseasonably warm and wet. We’ve even been under a tornado watch or two.
Given the weather patterns, it hasn’t really felt like winter. And yet I know that the Lord has given us this time to rest. It has been an interesting time to be sure.
At the same time, it has been such a blessing. We’ve been able to enjoy the outdoors so much without thinking about tending to gardens. Today is one of those days. We had a heavy downpour just while we were waking up, which was lovely. But by nine o’clock, the storm had cleared and the sun started to shine. It seemed like such a sweet blessing from the Lord.

I’ve come to realize that no matter what the weather may be like, we should be thankful for this season. It is a time to rest and rejuvenate ourselves. I usually come out of winter energized, and ready to tackle all of the springtime projects ahead.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how important it is to be thankful for each and every moment we are given. We are not promised tomorrow. We can be thankful for each day we experience, even in the wintertime.
A Psalm to Praise God
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.

The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.
Psalm 95:1-7 NKJV
Homestead Happenings
Hello friends, and welcome to our homestead!
We are still hanging out indoors most of the time. But outdoor projects are coming!
I’m happy to say that our wood stove area is almost completed. Tiling has taken longer than expected. It is quite the process. My husband discovered that it is easier to tile a couple of “runs” at a time, rather than a whole wall at once. That way he doesn’t need to be as concerned about the tiles sliding out of place.
He just needs to work a little bit more on the stove pipe, and then the back wall will be ready for tile. This is so exciting!
I hopefully will clean out my bookshelf area sometime within the next week. I love to order books, and it has become quite the catch all! Not only are my books in disarray, my children’s books are, too. Hopefully I will be able to carve out a few hours to tackle it soon.

We didn’t purchase quite enough hay to get us through the winter last summer, and we are now scrambling to find more. It is so difficult to come by, in square bales, at least. A feed store sells it not far from our home, but at an astronomical price. We’ve purchased it from there for the last month or so. We most likely will be in this boat until the spring.
Our goat kidding season should begin in about one month. The children are getting excited, and I am getting nervous. Last year we only bred one of our does, and the process was so smooth. This year all three are bred, and I am hoping that all will go well this time, too. I’m sure I will share more when the time begins to near.
Thank you so much for reading this home update today, friends!
Resources for Homemakers
Homemaking Things to do in February
A February Homemaking Newsletter
Hints for the Everyday Homemaker