Check out this Give Away at Raising Arrows!

Getting ready for the 4th of July celebration!

Amy at Raising Arrows is having a wonderful give away today. She is giving away a one year membership to Connections Network. This is a blogging community designed to encourage you and energize your blog. I DEFINITELY can use this! I made a decision this week that I am going to be dedicated to getting this blog up and running, and checking out alternate ways to make income from home. This prize would be a blessing to me, I'm sure.







I have been self-employed for the last 16 years. One of our daughters learns much differently than other children. I was always having to re-teach her a home, what they were covering in her class. It got to the point, that I could no longer do her homework over the phone. When the opportunity came for me to take a layoff and cash in my retirement (all $2,500 of it, you know this was a while ago!) I did it. My husband was a third shift police officer at the time, and I really needed the flexibility of being self-employed to care for my family.







So anyway, back to today. About three years ago, I made $36K working for myself and being available over the years to parent my children, be supportive of my husband, and manage our residential properties. About two years ago, one of my clients cut my hours. Over time, I have reached a point, where I can only depend on about half the amount I used to make regularly. I have been thinking of new clients to target, but my husband retired in October. He would like for me to retire, too. But I like working. So working from home would be nice for both of us, and I hope he will feel it is an acceptable compromise.







So after our annual party Monday in honor of Independence Day, I am going to rework my schedule so I can make time daily for promoting my new work at home ideas. Wish me luck, and pray that I will benefit from this great give way from Raising Arrows!







Tomorrow we will return to life on the farm! Love, Honey

Open Heart Open Home Week 1

If anyone is still here, I have been away a while. I got away from posting daily during the spring Bible in 90 Days reading session with Mom's Toolbox. A new session starts soon if you'd like to sign up. I was a mentor, and also a reader. Those activities took up more time than I planned. When that group ended, I immediately went into another B90 Days reading session with Raising Olives and family. More about Bible in 90 Days in another post. So here I am, back again.







Today at The Common Room, the Headmistress started reading a book entitled Open Heart Open Home by Karen Mains. I believe I already own this book, but since I couldn't find it, I had to order another copy. I find myself purchasing duplicates a lot lately! One day I will have a large library room so all my books can live together and I can find them. But that day will have to wait.





When Pappy and I bought the farm house and land we live on today, we looked forward to being able to entertain and share our home with others. Each year we have a Large 4th of July celebration. Our family and friends, our daughters' friends, and lots of police officers are in attendance each year. People are in and out all day. Some just come in time for the fireworks show at dark. Pappy spends way too much on fireworks each year. But it is his favorite holiday of the year, so I turn my eyes and try not to notice.





On other holidays we always have extra people around our table. Some times it is people who don't have family here. Other times it may be "friends of friends". But they are always welcome at our table and we can always add another seat. A friend of mine once said that if I had left overs each night, I cooked too much. I said "no, if I didn't have any leftovers, I'd think I didn't cook enough! I always want enough to feed any "angels" who show up at my table.





One time when my youngest was in high school, she asked me if she could bring home "a girl and her baby" that she met at work. She said the girl was living in her car with a baby. I said, yes, bring them home. Imagine my surprise when the "girl" turned out to be a 30+ year old woman and her new infant son. They stayed with us about a week. That is an interesting story for another day. But my daughter wanted to share what we had, and I didn't want to discourage her from that. I was proud that she noticed their need.





This week we covered the first two chapters of the book. These chapters were titled "Company's Comin" and "On Entertaining". One of the stories shared in this book talks about the young preacher's wife always taking care of others in her home, and learning how to let them serve her as well, by preparing a meal, sharing in the cleaning, etc. I remember as a young bride away from home with my army husband in a place far from the South where I grew up. Other soldiers would come home with my husband each weekend and hang out at our home. My husband was one of the few married guys in his group, and we lived off post. The soldiers would bring steaks, or other food items, and say "Ms. Cindy, do you mind if we have ..." Of course I didn't. And they would clean up, and do a better job at that than I did. My husband told me not to be uncomfortable when this happened, because the guys were used to doing this at the barracks, and wanted to be able to come back to our home, and come often. And so they did. Watch for the next installation of "Open Heart Open Home! Come back soon! Honey