​

Hello, Reader.

Memorial Day is this coming Monday, so in addition to enjoying a possible three-day weekend, I hope you'll take some time to remember those who died defending your freedoms. And to help you out in that department, I'm making Memorial Day the theme of this week's link list....

Free resources for you this week:

• ​The Gettysburg Address - my kids and I committed Lincoln's speech to memory years ago
• ​In Flanders Field Poem - a free printable copy of the beloved poem from the WWI era
• ​Liberty or Death Coloring Page - features Patrick Henry's famous quote
• ​Military Anthems - free printable copies of the hymns for every branch of service
• ​Ultimate Sacrifice Coloring Page - no greater love than one would lay down his life for a friend

What I'm reading this week:

​

I'm about two chapters away from finishing the recommendation of another subscriber -- a slim but very practical book called The Memorization Toolbox by Abigail Martin. Inside its covers are168 tried-&-true tips on committing large portions of God's Word to memory, shared by an author who has memorized entire books of the Bible that way. In fact, she claims if you memorize only one new verse a week, by the end of the year, you could have the entire book of Jonah memorized. Keep that rate upssss for five years, and you could memorize the books of Jonah, Colossians, Titus, Philemon, Jude, and III John. But with Martin's helpful suggestions for making Bible memory work easier, you--like I-- will likely surpass the one verse weekly goal many times over.

This week's reader request:

A subscriber wrote some time ago to ask if I had a list of verses to read when battling big emotions. I'd seen such a list in the distant past, but (like her) was unable to locate any such printable online. So I set about compiling one myself, which I finally got published earlier this week.

​

No new podcast this week:

... but here's one from the archives on a topic that I've been getting lots of questions on lately.

Loving Life at Home: Episode 42 ​TRAVELING WITH CHILDREN​ Summer is nearly upon us, and families across the globe are making travel plans, whether a quick day trip to a nearby city, a two-week vacation in a remote corner of the world, or something in between. Regardless where your upcoming travels take you, if any children will be tagging along, these tips will help make the trip easier and more enjoyable, educational, and economical for all. Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I may not have recorded a podcast this week (yet), but I managed to mark everything else off my to-do list in record time: I ✅ cleared off my closet desk (again), ✅ returned (almost) all the stuff that's been left at our house to its rightful owners, ✅ cleared my leather/woodburning supplies out of my daughter's car and put it all away, ✅ organized the baskets and bins in my pantry, ✅ painted a lid for my kitchen compost collector, ✅ transcribed James 1-5 for my Bible memory notebook, ✅ priced books for used curriculum sale, ✅ spent weekend at waterpark in Dallas (and went down all the biggest, scariest slides at least once), ✅ visited my Mom before heading for home, and ✅ moved the folding table out of garage (there's so much more room in there now!).

Personal goals for this week:

• switch out Easter for Memorial Day ornaments on our seasonal tree​
• repair broken door to storage room
• repair broken birdhouse
• sort through/ tidy/ purge supply boxes in the garage
• memorize Philippians 2:1-16
• pare down my email inbox by >75% (again)
• complete 2 new pages in my God Bless America journal​

If you enjoy this newsletter and would like to support my work, there are five ways for you to do that (pick one):

1. Forward a copy to a friend with an invitation to subscribe, OR
2. Follow me on Instagram and comment on a post, OR
3. ​Buy one of my books and leave a positive review, OR
4. ​Listen to my podcast, then leave a review on your favorite platform OR
5. Hit reply and say hello 👋

​
Thanks so much for all your help! I'll be back next week with more links, reviews, and resources. If you have any special requests, just hit reply and let me know. 😊