WRITE THE WORD WEDNESDAY

My word for 2021 is rooted, I want to become deeply rooted in Jesus. To me, this means cultivating a more passionate and consistent prayer life, reading the Bible more, studying the Bible, striving to obey God, and exercising my faith in Him. One of tools I am using is a Write the Word journal from Cultivate What Matters.

I have been using Write the Word journals off and on for a couple of years now. In the past ten or so months I have been using my journals daily. Write the Word journals help me to do more than just read the Bible; they help me to slow down and linger. I read the given Scripture, then write in out in my own messy handwriting, think about it, and finally I pray over it. This practice has blessed me and transformed my quiet time.

With my 2021 word being rooted, I started 2021 using Write the Word Cultivate Faith: Grow Roots in the Word. I am loving this journal! To me, there is something so special and refreshing with starting the Bible from the beginning on January 1st. Going through the Woman to Woman Bible reading plan, that is what we are doing. Cultivate Faith takes it even further. It starts in Genesis and goes through the basics, getting back to the roots of faith. It helps me to not only read the Bible, but write it out. This practice helps me to really think about what I am reading and get it into my heart.

Today's Write the Word Scripture was Genesis 17:7. This verse was God confirming His promise to Abraham that He would be Abraham's God and his descendant's God. As I read and wrote this verse out, I thought of how God always keeps His promises. We can trust Him because He never lies and never backs down from His promises. I am so thankful for that!

Do you need a special Write the Word journal to write out Scripture? Of course not! Grab any journal or notebook! For me, I love having something that is "special." Write the Word journals are hardback covered with a soft vegan leather and super thick paper. They are strong and sturdy to hold up to whatever life throws my way. The thick pages save it from bleed through with pen, markers, highlighters, and even tears! And my favorite part, because they are so well made, they will last for many, many years to come, which means I am leaving a legacy for my kids and grandkids to one day read through.

Write the Word journals come in Cultivate Faith, Cultivate Contentment, Cultivate Forgiveness, Cultivate Hope, Cultivate Joy, Cultivate Renewal, and a blank journal for you to choose your own theme and Scriptures. To purchase a Write the Word journal, click HERE or the banner below.

Will you join me for Write the Word Wednesday? If you are using a Write the Word journal, which edition? If you are choosing your own verses to write out, what did you write today? Share in the comments and let's cheer each other on!

WEEKLY BLESSINGS

 

  

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

2870. Brunch and shopping with my husband.

2871. Dinner out with my kids.

2872. Playing word games with my husband.

2873. Exciting new projects on the horizon.

2874. Bedtime devotions.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

ONE WORD 2021

For the past 10 years, I have chosen One Word to focus on for the year. I have smaller goals and things I work toward, but one big word to really focus on and grow in. The first year, I didn't take it serious and don't even remember what my word was. The next year my word was intentional, then heart, pray, water, me, marriage, joy, progress, and last year was less. All such great words! I didn't perfect my words, but I definitely grew and learned in those areas.

For 2020, my word, less, really came true! Due to COVID19 and quarantines, we had less busyness, less noise, and less spending. I cut my social media use way down and I decluttered much of my home. Less was a great help! I didn't master less in everything. I wanted to consume less sugar, that didn't happen! I wanted to work on my attitude, have less of a bad attitude, that didn't always happen either. So while I didn't master less, I did work on it and feel great about how my year with less went.

On to my One Word for 2021....

As I thought ahead to what I wanted for 2021, it was simple: I want to be rooted in Jesus. With all of the struggles 2020 brought, it was my faith in Jesus that kept me. So for 2021, I want to deepen my roots in Jesus.

A tree's roots grow deep. When you see a tree, often the roots underground are just as big as the tree. Sometimes bigger. Those strong, deep roots are what hold the tree. They help the tree bend in the wind, yet stand strong. I want to grow my roots so when the wind (life's struggles) blow, I can can stand strong.

In order to dig my roots into Jesus, I have set some daily action plans. Some of my action plans I have been doing for quite some time and some are new.

In the morning
1. I start and end my time each morning with prayer.
2. Next, I read one chapter in the Bible,  following the Woman to Woman Bible reading plan.
3. Then, I use my Write the Word journal from Cultivate What Matters. I started this year with Cultivate Faith, Grow Roots in the Word.
4. Finally, I read a daily devotional. I started this year with Take Heart: 100 Devotions to Seeing God When Life's Not Okay.

It sounds like a lot, but depending on my prayer time, it only takes thirty minutes to an hour so it really isn't long at all!

At bedtime
1. I write down two or three things from my day that I can praise God about. This is a practice I started when my grandfather passed away a year ago to help me find the good even on bad days.
2. Then I read a daily devotion from God Sees Her: 365 Devotions for Women.

Additionally
1. I joined Chrystal Evans Hurst for a 28 day prayer journey. This is an online study to help grow my prayer life. I am so excited about this!
2. I got the Search the Word collection from the Daily Grace Co. Search the Word is an in-depth study on the Bible. This study is a six week study, however I want to take my time. If it takes me six months or even the whole year, that is totally fine.

These are the things I am doing to deepen my roots in Jesus. As the year progresses, I may add other resources and tools. I am so excited to work on my faith and roots this year.

So tell me friend, what is your word for 2021? If you don't pick just one word, what are your goals or resolutions?

3 Cross-Curricular Activities To Improve Your Homeschool Lessons

 Contributed post

If you want to keep your kids engaged with your homeschool lessons, you need to think outside the box. Sitting them at a desk all day long and getting them to do worksheets isn’t that exciting and they will respond much better to hands-on activities. You will also get more out of your day if you can encourage them to get involved in cross-curricular activities. These are activities that help with lots of different lessons and improve skills naturally, without necessarily feeling like a lesson. These are some of the best cross-curricular activities to incorporate into your homeschool day.  

Cooking 

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Cooking is an important skill for all children to learn and it’s also a brilliant cross-curricular activity to try. Alongside teaching them how to cook, you also get them to practice their math skills by weighing out ingredients. They improve their vocabulary by learning new ingredients or the names of new cooking techniques (you can get them to write these words out as an added bonus lesson too). You can even introduce a bit of science if you spend some time talking about exactly what is happening to the food as you heat it up or how the different nutrients will affect your body. Creativity is also very important in cooking, so encourage your kids to experiment with their food and create something new. 

Creative Writing 

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Creative writing is obviously a good way to improve reading and writing skills and also to encourage creative thinking skills. However, it can also be used to make any other subject a bit more exciting. For example, if your kids find history lessons boring, why not have them write a story about an event or a historical figure? You can get them to write stories about any subject and it will really bring things to life, while also working on their literacy skills. There are even companies like Studentreasures Publishing that will make a class book from their creative writing, which is a great keepsake for the family. Next time you’re struggling to keep your kids engaged with a boring topic, why not turn it into a creative writing exercise and see if that gets them interested? 

Sports

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Exercise is an important part of any child’s routine but did you know that it’s also an effective way of getting them excited about school? Most people underestimate the educational value of sports, but there are actually a lot of great opportunities for learning. For example, most sports involve quite a lot of math to work out the scores. You could use it as an opportunity for teaching science as well if you give them a lesson on the forces acting on a football as it flies through the air, for example, or the different muscles that are worked as they play. Getting outside and doing something active engages the brain and improves concentration, so you should definitely use sports as an opportunity for learning whenever you can. 

Introducing these cross-curricular activities to your homeschool day can make your lessons so much more engaging.

JANUARY POWERSHEETS

I absolutely love the beginning of the year! I know there is nothing magical about January 1st, yet, I love the day so much. The fresh start, the turning of a page, it makes me giddy!

Before we move on to January goals, let's recap December. Unfortunately, December found my family very sick with COVID19. So many things we planned and normally do were cancelled or postponed. We normally decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving night or the day after, this year we didn't decorate until a week before and instead of going all out, we only put a tree up. And I didn't even touch my Powersheets or planner until late in the month, I was just too sick.

December progress:

♦ Faith: I read the Bible each day and did my Write the Word journal most days. I did not, however, do my advent study or devotional book. So while I stayed in the Word, I didn't hit all of my goals.

♦ Marriage: My husband and I did not get any date time, since we were sick and quarantined. 

♦ Family: We had planned to do a family scavenger hunt as an outing with our kids (they are all adults), but with the virus, we had to cancel. We did have a nice Christmas Eve and Christmas morning together!

♦ Home: I had hoped to do some painting in the house, again that had to be canceled because we were too sick.

♦ Ministry: I did some blog work and worked on the Woman to Woman Bible reading plan for 2021. As for church, my husband and I stepped down from our church (he was the associate pastor and I was the children's pastor). We are currently waiting on God for direction.

♦ Health: My health was poor in December! Mercy that virus got me good! I did take vitamins and drink lots of water, but I did not take any walks.

On to January! Many of my main goals are the same. I will always work on my faith, marriage, family, home, ministry, and health. My actions steps, however, may change from month to month.

January goals:

♦ Faith: My faith journey is my biggest goal this year. I will share more of the why and how tomorrow on the blog, so be sure to come back! My daily action steps are my quiet time and Write the Word journal, I do these each morning.

♦ Marriage: My husband and I will go on one or two dinner (or Saturday lunch) dates. My husband purchased a Nintendo (an original early 1980s Nintendo with the very first ever Mario Brothers games!) and we love spending quiet evenings playing together. It is a fun way to connect and laugh.

♦ Family: We still want to do our family scavenger hunt, but due to our kids' work schedules, I still have to figure out when. My daughter and son in law move this month, as does my son (he is moving from our home to his first home that he will share with his soon to be wife later this year after the wedding!) so this month is going to be very busy for us moving two households. Now that we will have two of our kids no longer living at home, I am hoping to set a night of the week that everyone comes over so that we can still have family dinner together.

♦ Home: I still really want to paint! Depending on how my kids' moves go, this will happen this month or next.

♦ Ministry: I will continue to work on the blog, Woman to Woman, and make plans for a special project that I will share very soon! As for our church ministries, my husband and I are in prayer and seeking God's guidance for our next home church and ministries.

♦ Health: I really do not care about weight loss, however, I want to feel better. I want more energy and to sleep better. I know that drinking more water, eating more veggies, and being more consistent with my vitamins will help. My daily action steps are to drink a green smoothie each morning, take my vitamins every morning, and drink at least 60 ounces of water every day. I do these things, but haven't been super consistent. Consistency is what I want to work on.

♦ Piano: Last year I set a goal of getting back to playing piano. I had really hoped that with a little practice, what I learned as a teenager would come back. Wrong. I don't remember much at all. I am working on a plan for the piano but due to my kids' moves this month, I am going to hold off until next month.

There you have it! Those are my goals and action steps for this month. What are you working on this month?

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