Safe Haven News January 2024

Warm January Greetings Safe Haven Family!

I hope this newsletter finds you well. I hope it warms your heart to know that Someone is thinking of you. You are always on His mind. Never forget that.

If you are struggling this winter season, think about the verses in the Bible that talk about how He takes care of the sparrow and the lilies of the field. He will meet your every need. You are important to Him. Read Luke 12:22-34 to build your faith.

Back in 2005 our family experienced God’s miraculous provision over and over again.

I wrote about the first part in this blog post.

The day came when we knew that the bank had us in foreclosure. We prayed that God would keep us in our house. We had marched around our property praying and giving it to God. We tried to sell the house since we couldn’t keep up mortgage payments, but it wouldn’t sell. We didn’t know what God was doing! We didn’t try to make plans for a place to go because we thought that would show a lack of faith.

We just prayed that God would do something miraculous when they came to make us leave our house. Well, He did, but it wasn’t what we were expecting – at all.

On Feb. 22, 2005 we all gathered in the living room to pray. The little ones were still in bed asleep. The twins were only 1 year old. Morgan was 4. The knock came at the door. Gary answered the door and let the sheriff in. Two other men followed him in. They looked around the room in amazement at all of us calmly sitting in the living room – Shawn, Katie, Patrick, Anna and Kelsey and me. They asked what we were doing, and Gary told them we were praying. They kind of looked at each other and shook their heads. Gary said he would go wake the other children. One of the men followed him to the kids’ bedroom. The sheriff asked me if we had somewhere to go and I told him no. He asked if we had family in the area, and I said we did, but we couldn’t go to live with them. He seemed perplexed. So was I. Where was God? Where was that miracle we were looking for?

The guy who followed Gary into the bedroom came out and conversed with the sheriff. They went outside to talk. Then they came back in and called me and Gary to talk with them privately in our bedroom. The guy’s name was Tony. He was from MERS. They were the mortgage people. He told us that he had made some phone calls and told them what he found. They agreed to let us stay in the house one more week if we promised to pack up and be ready to leave the house in that time. We agreed. Then he asked the sheriff to leave so he could speak to us privately. He asked us if we had any food. We had just run out of food that morning. For the first time during the whole 4 years, we didn’t have cereal or milk or the makings for a meal. I told him that. 

He nodded and said, “I thought so.” He and the other guy (who we found out was a realtor that was going to handle selling the house for the mortgage company) put money together and gave us $500! And then Tony told us to give him a grocery list and he would go buy us groceries. And then he took an order from us and went to McDonald’s and doubled everything we ordered and brought it to us. He went to the grocery store and got us twice the stuff we had put on the grocery list, too. He said that in the future it could be him in this situation and he was showing mercy in hopes that he would be shown mercy if it ever happened to him. We were so grateful and shocked at everything he was doing. We sang some songs for him. He couldn’t believe us. He took Gary aside and remarked about how calm we all were and how well-mannered all of the children were. He asked how we did it. Gary told him we were just believing God to take care of us, and we prayed all the time, and we were trying to obey Him. Tony was blown away by the whole thing.

We spent that week packing halfheartedly. I still didn’t believe that God would let us lose our house. I thought He was going to rush in with some kind of miracle that would let us keep our house. I took some special things that I didn’t want to lose over to Mom’s house, but I didn’t tell her why. I didn’t want to upset her, and I didn’t want anybody to hurt my faith.

The next Saturday was Mar. 1, 2005. They came with movers and moving trucks and started loading up our stuff. There was still a lot to pack, so they had to do it for us. Tony told me I had to leave and take the kids, but Gary could stay and help pack. I got the kids loaded in the van, then sat there. I had no place to go. That’s when it hit me that we were really going to have to find somewhere else to live and that our house was no longer ours. But I still didn’t know where to go, so I just sat there. Finally, my friend Gina who had been helping me pack told me to come to her house. I followed her then went into her tiny house and sat, not knowing what to do. She called a few friends and asked if they knew of any place for rent, but nobody did. She made a decision and told me that we could stay at her house. I couldn’t believe it or see that it was possible. She said that she would pay for a hotel for us for 2 nights and she and her daughter would clear out 2 bedrooms for us and we could just stay there until we found something else.

Meanwhile, back at the house that was no longer ours, Tony was doing some more amazing things to help us. He told Gary to find a local storage facility to take our stuff to so that we could actually get to it instead of the movers taking it to some warehouse where we could never get to it and would never see it again. Gary found out where a storage place was, and Tony had the movers put our stuff in two storage units there. Then Tony paid the first month’s storage!

He talked to Gary about programs that would help us find a place to live and help him find a job, but we didn’t feel that we were supposed to go that route, so we politely turned down any of those offers.

I know now that I should have been standing on the Word and saying it and believing it instead of just hoping that it was true, but really doubting in my heart. I should have saturated myself in faith teaching and saying the Word over and over again, but I wasn’t convinced in my heart.

God had to take us through a lot to build true faith in my heart. In the process, He built up my kids’ faith so that they trust God for everything. My prayers for my children that they would believe in Him, know Him and love Him with all their hearts have been answered. It was a difficult journey, but the results have been very good.

Gary and I are still recovering from the shock. But there’s no denying that God took good care of us through the whole ordeal. We never went hungry, and we always had a roof over our heads. Even in Arizona, Colorado and Missouri, where we didn’t know a soul and we didn’t have any money.

I tell this story in the hopes that someone who is facing foreclosure or something similar will be encouraged to trust God and know that no matter what happens, God will take care of you. He takes us where we are and makes all things work together for our good even if we’re not to the point where we can use our faith like some people do.

Our story isn’t over. I believe with all of my heart that God has great things in store for us. I believe He will give us a house and land debt-free. I’m saying these things out loud now. I really believe them now.

I hope this story encourages you. You can trust God in any situation. He will take care of you. He took care of us along with our 8 young children.

If you want to read more about the many miracles God did for us after we left our house, you can find the rest of that story in my book Refined By Fire on Amazon.

Read to the end of the book and see how God surprised us with a large sum of money after a long time of financial struggle and hardship. We had been expecting God to do something big for us, and when He did, it shocked me!

The way that things are changing in the economy and the exposure that is happening, I believe that great things are on the way. The old is passing away, the new is coming. Be ready for some good changes to happen. And get ready to learn the truth about things that have been hidden from us for decades. We have been lied to, but the truth is coming out!

If you know someone who is struggling with thoughts of suicide make sure you tell them about this site that is set up to bring them healing in their minds and souls. CallUs4Help.Live has videos and audios and instructions for how to stop a panic attack, along with encouraging words by Theresa Griffith about how God sees you.
There is also a list of crisis hotlines they can call.

Here’s a good way to start the new year: The 31-Day Wisdom Challenge with Pedro Adao and amazing speakers every day in January. It’s free! I’ve participated in it every year and it really gets me into the Word, especially the book of Proverbs. I think it’s the best way to start a new year getting a big dose of wisdom from the book of Proverbs!

~~~~~Family Corner~~~~~

Our family is entering Birthday Season. My son Morgan’s birthday is today, Dec. 31st. Then my oldest son, Shawn, will have a birthday on Jan. 5. Then Emma’s birthday is Jan. 8th. Then the twins, Garrett and Fiona, have their birthday on Jan. 10th. We just leave the tree up until the middle of January so we can put their birthday presents under it.

Even though we are in a less-than-ideal situation having to live with family and the “kids” having to live in a basement, we are making the best of it. We got a teeny tiny Christmas tree and Morgan and Garrett got gifts for everyone since they have jobs and money. Gary got a job that will start in the middle of January. That will help. But we’re believing for something far greater in the near future – for all of us!

~~~~~~Homeschool Corner~~~~~

How to Get Your Kids to Do Their Work Without a Fight
It starts with relationship. We need to build relationship with each of our children. We need to spend time with each one getting to know them. We need to win their hearts, tie heartstrings, through the way we treat them, the things we do for them, the things we do with them, etc. We need to make sure they know how much we love them.

Then from there, we can lead them to the Lord. If they see us as kind, loving parents, they will be more likely to see God that way. As they grow in maturity and in their personal relationship with God, they will desire to please Him, and that will transfer over to pleasing their parents. We teach them what the Bible says about how children can please God. Children, obey your parents. Honor your father and mother. We teach them the commandments, and their behavior and attitudes start to line up with the Word of God.

This leads to our children wanting to obey, for this is right. So when we ask them to do their schoolwork, they are more willing to do it, out of obedience.

Now, we need to do our best to make the work as pleasant as possible and make sure that what we’re requiring of them is truly beneficial to them. We should not give them busywork. We should not load them down with more work than they are really capable of doing. We should think about how we would feel if we had the assignment that we are giving to our child. We should focus on real-life learning.

We should make sure the skills are taught when they are ready to learn them. We should make learning a lifestyle so that it is natural and not forced.

Homeschooling shouldn’t be difficult or tedious. Make learning an adventure. Get excited about the topics that your children are exploring. Find out what they’re interested in and provide materials and resources for them to go deep into the topic.

If they are studying and reporting on a topic that really interests and excites them, they are not going to fight you about doing it.
So build a strong relationship with your kids and make learning an adventure, and you will not have to fight your kids to get them to do their schoolwork.

This is from a blog post  and also posted here on Facebook.

For more content like this join my Facebook Challenge group called Homeschooling Can Be Fun Challenge.

And for a Facebook group that helps you make your homeschool more fun, join us here.

For a conference that was chockfull of great speakers about homeschooling high school, check out the Intentional Homeschool Planning Conference 2023.
It was an amazing conference with topics like choosing curriculum, preparing for college, time management for teens, building relationships with your teens, mental health, scheduling, entrepreneurship, and so much more.

And if you would like to fellowship with like-minded women who love to read and are seeking to be the best we can be, join us in the Christian Moms Book Club.

I pray that you have a Blessed New Year that is the Best Year of your life.

Penney Douglas, B. S. in Elem. Ed.
Safe Haven Homeschooling

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