Today we just wanted to share a few posts and articles from around the web that we have found encouraging.  So grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and enjoy!

-------

8 Scripture Verses For Struggling Moms  - This post has a great printable with verses to review when you feel tired, exasperated, or have a bad attitude - and it sounds like the series that this post is a part of would be great too!

The Magic Of Motherhood - This post is short and sweet, but it packs a punch.  A great reminder that some day we'll look back on all these normal days and it will be easy to see the magic in them - so why not take a minute to see it now too?

8 Ways To Have Peace In An Uncertain World - With everything going on in the news these days, it is hard to feel peaceful, so I really appreciated this post.

Qualifications For A Mama - I'm ending with a fun one, because this post made me laugh!  I'm glad I'm not the only one fighting the dog food battle or being forced to "share" my toothbrush.

-------

We hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

"You Pick Two" Recap and Resources

The "You Pick Two" meeting a couple weeks ago was so interesting - but I know that I am always bummed that I can't go to all the sessions!  If any of you would like the information from the sessions you weren't able to attend, I am listing the notes and resources below - as well as a quick instructions on how to do the craft.

------------

Nutritional Pitfalls And Power Moves

Robin provided us with some of the following resources where she got the information for her talk.  Also, she wanted to clarify one thing:

"Regarding eating more smaller meals in a day: Waiting too long between meals can allow the blood sugar to get too low. More frequent smaller meals can help keep your blood sugar stabilized, but in the long run make sure that you are not eating more than your daily recommendation of calories."

Healthy Cooking And Snacking

Nutrition Facts Label

Go, Slow, and Who Foods

Tips For Eating Right

Balance Food And Activity

------------

Estate Planning For Young Families

Here are the handouts for the estate planning talk.

Client Questionnaire

Estate Planning Documents

------------

Leading A Child To Christ

And this is the handout from the talk on leading our children to Christ.

Leading A Child To Christ Handout

------------

For the craft, the ladies brought us this cute pinboard craft.  To make these you will need:

A small corkboard (Reba and Gretchen told us they got the corkboards from Ikea.)

Enough fabric to cover the corkboard

Small brass thumbtacks

Hot glue gun

Super glue
Decorative buttons
Ribbon

1.  Cut your fabric to size and hot glue it around the corkboard, making sure the edges are tight.

2. Use the super glue to glue the buttons onto the brass tacks.  Allow to dry.

3.  Glue a small stretch of ribbon along the back, or in a loop at the top of your corkboard.

4.  Hang and enjoy!

------------

Stay warm and we'll see you all for our meeting tomorrow!

Simple DIY Fall Banner

We just had our "You Pick Two" meeting, and I thought I would share an idea that was inspired by the "You Pick Two" meeting we had last year!  I took a class from the craft girls (it was Denille and Gretchen in 2013).  They shared an easy way to do glitter crafts with your kids, and I used it to make a fall banner for our house this year.

1. To start I cut some leaf shapes out of fall-ish scrapbook paper.

2. I used the glitter technique the girls shared - I used double-sided tape, and I taped strips onto the leaves in the shape of letters.  We put the leaves into a plastic baggie with glitter, and I let my kiddos shake the bags.

The glitter sticks to the double sided tape, and it stays (mostly) in the baggie, so there is no mess!  Is that genius or what?  My kids love it!

3. After we glittered (did I just make up that word, or is it a real verb?) our leaves, I hung them up with some Baker's twine (which you can get at any craft store) and mini clothespins.

Our leaves say "Happy Fall", but I think a "Give Thanks" banner would be cute and appropriate with Thanksgiving right around the corner!

The Right Kind Of Damages

“Motherhood is a demanding job.  It is so demanding and intrusive, in fact, that it takes over your body.  It uses your body, oftentimes rather roughly. This can start to bother us.  you may have some extra weight to lose, and you might start to resent that.  You might have permanently damaged something during a pregnancy.  You may have big scars, stretch marks, and loose skin that bothers you.  You might not have time to exercise the way you used to.  All these things can be seen as an offense against us - against our bodies. . .

First of all, our bodies are tools, not treasures.  You should not spend your days trying to preserve your body in it’s eighteen-year-old form.  Let it be used.  By the time you die, you want to have a very dinged and dinted body.  Motherhood uses your body in the way that God designed it to be used.  Those are the right kind of damages. . .

So realize that your body is a testimony to the world of God’s design.  Carry the extra weight joyfully until you can lose it joyfully.  Carry the scars joyfully as you carry the fruit of them.  Do not resent the damages that your children left on your body.  Just like a guitar mellows and sounds better with age and scratches, so your body can more fully praise God having been used for His purposes.  So don’t resent it, enjoy it.”

-Rachel Jankovic, Loving The Little Years