Hello, Reader.

Our homeschool co-op doesn't start back up for another week and a half, but I'm hearing from other parents whose kids are already back in the classroom. Summer break seems to keep getting shorter and shorter, doesn't it? ⏰🪰

Or maybe I've just reached that age where time flies, no matter what season of year it is! Either way, this week I'm sharing some fun resources for starting back to school. Even if you don't have school-aged children at home, I'd encourage you to pray for all the students and their teachers as classes resume. 🙏 🙏

Free resources for you this week:

• ​Back-to-School Prayer - to pray over students of all ages
• ​Prayer for Teachers - teachers need all the prayer they can get!
• ​First Day of School Signs - track your child's growth from one school year to the next
• ​Children's Annual Keepsake Record - track your child's maturing responses to key questions
• ​Back-to-School I Spy Game - how quickly can you find & count all the school supplies?
• ​Study to Show Yourself Approved Coloring Page - this coloring page features 2 Timothy 2:15

What I'm reading this week:

​25 Ways to Communicate Respect by Yours Truly I wrote this handbook for wives the year my husband and I celebrated our silver anniversary. It contains 25 suggestions for communicating respect to your husband in ways most men find meaningful. My husband wrote a companion book called 25 Ways to Show Love to Your Wife (which I'm hoping to coax him to turn into an audiobook next). I actually read this book twice in the past few weeks: once to record the audio, then a second time to edit the recording. It was a bit of a learning curve, but I'm happy to say it passed through a lengthy list of quality checks and is now available as an audiobook. Hooray!

This week's reader request:

A reader named Patty asked if I'd make a free printable guide for praying over soldiers. Here's what I sent her:

On the podcast this week:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 92 ​UNEXPECTED BENEFITS OF BIG FAMILIES​ As parents of twelve, my husband and I have reaped a lot of blessings from having a large family we could have never anticipated beforehand — and so have our kids. Which is exactly what I’m talking about on the podcast this week. I hope you'll listen in and be encouraged! Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

Even with extra time to work on things (sorry the newsletter's a day late), I only finished 75% of last week's to-do list. I've still not ❌ made that baby gift or ❌ organized the costume bins in our garage, and I only ✅ recorded one podcast episode (❌ not two as planned).

But I did ✅ take a few of my kids and grandkids to Dallas to ✅ see my mom and ✅ attend an evening of music at Arboretum.

And I also ✅ went in for my 6-month follow-up mammogram (all clear, praise the LORD!), ✅ sewed two ripped backpacks, ✅ wrote a movie review of Fantastic Four, ✅ quoted Romans 6 by memory to my friend, and ✅ ordered (and spent!) my free $50 Amazon gift card from Fetch Rewards.

Personal goals for this week:

• begin that baby gift (no more procrastinating!) 🍼
• finish crocheting a new navy purse 👛
• order extra art supplies for first day of school 🎨
• meet friend for early morning breakfast 🍳
• attend daughter's SIX volleyball games this weekend 🏐
• keep scorebook for one of those games 📖
• further pare down email inbox to < 25 messages 📥
• fly to California to spend time with in-laws ✈️
• start working on pitch for upcoming Family Shark Tank Challenge 🦈
• send Bible memory passage to kids and grandkids for the month of August ✝️

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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, please let me know. 😊