Thankful Thursday 35

*For circumstances that drive me to my knees, and deepen my relationship with The Lord

*For courage and strength when my courage and strength are gone

*For people willing to stand up for right, even when it is very, very hard

*For a nice dinner with my prince

*For answered prayer

*For my kiddos making it home from the game safely-even if it was at 2:30am

*For someone who paid attention to details, and cared enough to switch the schedule a little, so the young princess could get some much needed rest

*For a beautiful day

*For the chance to be a part of a very sweet couple's special day

*For friends

*For fun fellowship

*For two baptisms

*For a rededication

*For safety for my Mother and Father-in-Love as they traveled

*For a very exciting football game

*For not one, not two, not three, but FOUR touchdowns for the young prince - Whoo Hoo!!

*For Grammy and Poppy being here to see the young prince play football

*For the chance to see my girl play volleyball

*For a disappointment that turned out to be a delicious dinner

*For a much needed good night's rest

*For a good day at work

*For a chance to "get away" for a quick, romantic dinner for two, with my prince (okay, so it was a rushed dinner at Burger King, but we used our imaginations and enjoyed being kid free for a few minutes)

*For finally getting some things accomplished that I needed to get accomplished

*For a teacher who honored a frazzled mom's request

*For Grammy and Poppy being willing to run some very important errands that I did not have time to run

*For the peace of knowing true love from my family

*For verses that encourage me "right where I am" no matter what I am going through at that particular time

For all these things and MANY, MANY more I am thankful to the Lord!

Thankful Thursday 34

*For a good group of girls at our next-to-the-last Bible Study

*For a great student and a friend who set up my classroom computer

*For another good friend who also helped me with my computer

*For the first half-week of school being behind us

*For a fun night at the Football Jamboree

*For good fellowship with a friend I have missed spending time with

*For tackles, forced fumbles, and fumble recoveries for the young prince

*For a win for our boys

*For a weekend conference for the oldest princess and young prince to attend

*For a youth pastor and his wife who prayed and planned for an awesome weekend for our teens

*For a little one on one time with the youngest princess

*For the Kindle app, so we can read the next book in the Mandie series, without having to wait until we can get to the book store

*For a morning to sleep in, and a day to catch up on laundry.

*For a chance to finally meet a precious new baby

*For a great day in the house of the Lord

*For a sweet couple joining our church

*For testimonies from our teens about their weekend

*For having my children home again

*For a time of prayer for our community schools

*For a job for a friend

*For more new folks in our Earn While You Learn class, who will hear the Gospel

*For a great day at school

*For laughter with friends

*For the privilege of prayer

*For seeing God move when His people pray

*For a good talk with my big brother

*For a husband and children who pitch in and help out

*For life examples that enable us to teach our children important lessons

For all these things and many, many more, I am thankful to the Lord.

Thankful Thursday 33

*For a great Bible Study

*For the young prince getting his braces off

*For a successful shopping trip

*Safe travels for the volleyball team and their parents

*For fun fellowship with friends

*For a teeny, tiny inchworm friend that points to the wonders of God's creation

*For safe travels home

*For fun times with our Sunday School class

*For great food

*For the opportunity to help a friend who always helps me

*For great kids

*For a clean front porch (thanks to the young prince)

*For sorted socks (thanks to the oldest princess)

*For a fun dinner out with friends

*For an unexpected blessing

*For a full day's work, and getting a lot accomplished

*For friends

*For those who hang boards, paint walls, and remove staples as well as many other acts of service

*For answers to prayers

*For a fun night with friends for both of my girls

*For one on one time with my prince

*For one on one time with the young prince

*For proof that there are still good people in the world

*For a new watch battery

*For a wonderful new group of parents and students

*For a good first day back to school for my kids

*For a sweet gift from my  awesome husband

For all these things, and many, many more, I am thankful to the Lord!

Thankful Thursday 32

*For a friend who invites the youngest princess over every Thursday, which is a huge help to me for study time

*For a great Bible Study night with both of my groups of girls

*For each and every person who prays for our Bible Study

*For the young prince having a great time at a friend's house

*For a spontaneous ice cream/slushie run

*For the trust of a friend

*For a friend I can call when in need of advice

*For precious times with my kids.  I do not take those moments for granted.

*For friends who ask me to pray for them, and return the favor when I need prayer

*For a fun day for the oldest princess

*For the ending of an emotionally tough day

*For a wonderful church service

*For a quiet day and time to catch up on some things I was behind on getting done

*For fun just chatting with a couple of friends

*For a chance to finally get the young prince's hair cut

*For a wonderful dinner

*For fun times working and laughing (mostly laughing) together in the kitchen

*For garden bounty shared by friends

*For a sweet bible study

*For people who have taken my name to the throne room of God in earnest prayer (I was overwhelmed with thankfulness one day just even thinking about how many people must have prayed for me during my lifetime, and I am truly thankful for every prayer said on my behalf!)

*For a friend brave enough to share her struggles and be gut wrenchingly honest even though it was really hard for her

*For time to get something important done before school starts back

*For an awesome award for my big brother - I'm a proud little sister

*For a change in an appointment that allowed me to be there for the young prince

*For laughing together, crying  together, and loving one another

For all these things, and many, many more, I am thankful to the Lord!

And the Winners Are...

Woo Hoo!  Thank you all for entering my giveaway!  It was my first ever giveaway, and I had a blast doing it!  I am very thankful to Mindy at The Child Training Bible for making it possible :-)!

I had a very scientific way of picking my winners.  I found a great little app about a week ago called Decide Now! (Shout out to my wonderful niece who totally enriched my life by bringing it to my attention!) It is like a Wheel of Fortune wheel, and you can fill in what goes in each space (SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!).  So I put the name of each of the people who commented, in a space on my wheel, and gave it a spin.  I actually pushed the button five times to get it going really fast.  I know, I know...but it was better than having my kids pick a number right?

And now...the moment we have all been waiting for (cue drumroll)...the winners are...

From the blog comments:  Joyful Mom!!!  Congratulations!

And...

From the Facebook comments: Kristin Gallatin!!! Congratulations!

I really wish you ALL could have won!  It is a great resource that I hope you all will all be able to purchase and use, or maybe through one of the other blog giveaways, even win.  My prayer is that God will bless you all, as you strive to be godly parents raising godly children.

Joyful Mom, I will set my comments on this blog so that I have to moderate the comments, and you can send me your mailing address.  I will pass it on to Mindy, and she will send you your free set of VTB cards :-)!

Kristin, you have to make a trip and come pick your set up.  No special delivery for you :-)!  Just kidding!  I know where to find you, and I will be sending our extra set to you.  Love ya!

And again, thank you all for participating!

A Giveaway!!!

Okay, it took a little longer than I had planned, due to a week at World Changers (blog on that coming soon), but I FINALLY get to share my exciting news with you all!

A while back, I had seen on Pinterest, and on FB pictures of something called the Child Training Bible.  I was, of course, very interested because fighting the media and training our children to grow up with a Biblical Worldview in today's world is extremely difficult!  And the Child Training Bible looked like just the tool to help.  We ended up ordering one and loved it! 

While working on my Child training Bible, I found out that the same wonderful people who took the time to put such a helpful resource on the market, were working on a new resource, with the same concept, called The Virtue Training Bible.  Believe me, I was VERY excited about this.  Our oldest two children are teens, and I felt that the Virtue Training Bible would fit our season of life even more appropriately than The Child Training Bible.

So, I watched their Facebook page and waited for the release.  It was put on the market at the beginning of July.  I found out that I could do a review of the new Virtue Training Bible on my blog! I was VERY EXCITED!!  Because not only would they send ME a set of FREE cards, but they would also allow me to GIVE away a FREE set of cards to one of YOU!!  And, before I could tell my husband that I was going to get a free set of cards for doing the review, he purchased a set, so I also have a set that I am personally going to give away!!  But first...

The Virtue Training Bible is a set of cards (you must purchase the Bible, and sticky tabs separately) that guide you and help you have certain Bible verses at your fingertips to use in teaching your children important Biblical virtues.  If your child has a problem with patience, you pull out the VTB and go to the color coded verses about patience.  Your child gets to see what God has to say about patience, and His promises to those who have this virtue in their life.  There are 42 virtues in all!

It does take time to put on on the tabs and color code all the verses.  One helpful tip I learmed from a friend who did their Child Training Bible before me, was to use colored pencils instead of highlighters like the kit suggests, because the highlighters will bleed through the page.

I like to sit and get mine done all at once (being a teacher and out for the summer gives me a little more freedom to do mine this way).  But I know of families who do one virtue a night, or a week, as their family devotions.  I know of people who have done the top in one sitting, the side in another, and the bottom in yet another.  However you do it, expect to put some time into it.  But it is DEFINITELY worth the time, because when you are done, it is an excellent resource that your family can use for years to come.

It is not only a great resource for parents.  I think adults, grandparents, and Christian school teachers could benefit from this wonderful resource as well.  It would also be a great gift for friends and family members who have children.

So, if you are interested in winning a FREE set of Virtue Training Bible cards, leave a comment.  I will announce the winner next Monday Aug. 5th, so you must comment by midnight Sunday Aug. 4th to be eligible to win!  And for my friends who aren't bloggers, I will give my purchased set away to one of my friends who comments on my FB link to this blog :-).  (Same time frame applies to FB commenters as blog commenters).  So comment away everyone!

Thankful Thursday 30 and 31

*For a safe flight in for my niece

*For clothes for our trip

*For a great lunch at my favorite restaraunt

*For fun memories, even if they were messy memories

*For creative help from my niece

*For silly movies and laughter

*For sunshine, water, floats, grills, and friends

*For rest

*For garbage, ants, and overflowing baptistries that let us know God has something great in the works, or Satan wouldn't be trying so hard to discourage us

*For a baptism, a salvation, and a family who joined our church, that proves God is bigger than garbage, ants, and overflowing baptistries

*For a precious lady who organized it so that every child got an encouraging message from home each and every day.

*For not having to worry about the youngest princess, knowing she was in the great care of my extraordinary niece who went way above and beyond to help us out

*For a safe trip for our group

*For silliness and laughter and inside jokes

*For no less than 5 people offering their pools for the youngest princess and my niece to use while we were gone

*For a sweet friend who brought the youngest princess projects to keep her mind off of the separation

*For technology that allows us to feel close, even when we are far apart

*For air mattresses

*For friends who let us borrow their air mattresses

*For a room full of great girls, and their very sweet/funny leader to bunk with for the week

*For shower trailers - not the greatest, but better than nothing at all

*For great food

*For new friends

*For the ability to help others

*For good preaching, and a lesson in humility

*For an awesome crew

* For teamwork

*For how God gave us each a unique set of talents, so that we have to depend on one another, and on Him to get things done

*For sunshine

*For quick healing

*For protection for others

*For encouragement

*For my niece bringing the youngest princess for a short visit

*For the people who came and heard the Gospel

*For a hardworking crew who got the job done

*For another hardworking crew who finished their job and then jumped right in and helped us with our job

*For a story that inspired the oldest princess to begin a really neat project

*For a safe trip home

*For a little rest

*For these sweet words whispered in my ear as I snuggled with the youngest princess, "Welcome home, Mommy!"

*For my own bed

*For my own shower

*For washing machines

*For family fun, glow sticks, water bottles, memories, and laughter

*For a day of rest

*For an unexpected note of encouragement from a very special young lady

*For a safe flight home for my niece

*For the chance to help out a friend

*For a fun day for the youngest princess and a friend

*For apples and peanut butter

*For God's hand of protection on a friend in a very scary situation

For all these things, and many, many more, I am thankful to the Lord.