Safe Haven Newsletter for April

Mar.28,2022

Hello Safe Haven Family!

Coming to you from a lovely Airbnb in downtown Houston. God has blessed us with the sweetest place

while we wait for the next amazing adventure and His miraculous provision.

As Kristene DiMarco says in her song “Take Courage”:

“Take courage, my heart, stay steadfast my soul,
He’s in the waiting. Hold onto your hope. Watch your triumph unfold. He’s never failing.”

He’s here with us in the waiting. Waiting is so hard. It’s actually a form of suffering. My husband and I have spent most of our lives waiting. But we have faith that God is going to bring us into our Promised Land. We are waiting for a home of our own, for a ministry that reaches families and children, and the resources to make all of this happen. We have big dreams and big plans. The Lord told me a couple of years ago to think bigger. And later He told me to dream bigger.

Then an opportunity to invest came along, and we were told to write down our plans and dreams. So we have been doing that for the last several months. We had always prayed specifically for the things that we wanted for our family. But now our prayers and dreams expanded to how we could touch lots of other people. Now we are ready to launch. Whenever the investment pays off, we will step into a whole new world.

We pray for that for each one of you, too. In fact, I encourage you to start writing down your dreams and desires that you would love to do if money were no object. I believe that we are coming into a time where you will have more money and less drains on your money. Write down your ideal life. Make a list of the people and organizations you want to bless. Write out how you will help humanity and use your gifts and talents that you have put to the side because you were so busy working. Write out your most ridiculous, ludicrous dreams that you never thought were possible. The personal things and the things you want to do to help others.

“Faith for the impossible is not just a nice concept; it’s an essential tool for living in these times.” – Jodie Hughes

Courage and faith are so necessary in these times. Don’t let fear control you. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and trust Him with all your heart. No matter what is happening in the world or in your personal life, keep it in the forefront of your mind that this will not last forever. Things are going to get better.

I can’t prove it, but I believe that God is going to take us into a better time than we have ever experienced. His people will be blessed in ways that they’ve never imagined. I’ve heard prophecies, and I’ve seen signs that corruption in the high places of government, business, medicine, and education is being cleaned up. All we have to do is wait a little longer and keep trusting God to take care of us and our families in the interim.

In the meantime, we are enjoying our time here as a vacation. We went to the Museum of Natural Science. We really enjoyed it.

And our son Morgan is spoiling us with gourmet meals every day. Breakfast and dinner!

Waiting with anticipation and hope,

In His Grace and Truth,

Penney Douglas, B.S. in Ed

Safe Haven Homeschooling
https://penneydouglas.com
https://facebook.com/kingdomhsmom
amazon.com/author/penneydouglas
linktr.ee/penneydouglas

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Just Start Writing

Mar.28,2022

Just start writing!!!

Huge opal at the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Wow! I have been inspired to create lately! I knew an accountability session was coming up in a coaching group I’m in, so I thought I’d better look again at my goals and try to get some of them done. Do you ever do that? Thank goodness for accountability. I saw that I had said I would make a copywork journal for homeschool students. So I opened up Canva and started figuring out how to make a copywork journal. It started flowing, and I worked on it all day and had it finished by the end of the day. It’s here on Amazon.

Then today, I looked at my goals again and saw that I had said I would write a journal to go with one of the books I wrote, the book called “Short, Powerful Prayers for Busy Homeschool Moms”. I put some thought to how I wanted to do it and realized that it’s going to involve just adding lined pages to the prayer book in its original form. Gary can do that for me when we get back to a place where we can set up our desktops in our own home someday.

So then I looked at the next thing on my list and saw another journal – I’m really into making journals right now! I was kind of unclear on what kind of journal I wanted to design. I had seen some journal pages by a Facebook friend, and they inspired me. In fact, I had a great epiphany in the shower about how I wanted to design my next journal. But when I got back to my laptop, I couldn’t remember what it was!

So I just started thinking about any kind of journal I could make. Then I remembered that I had considered making a journal to go along with the book I wrote called, “5 Steps to Becoming a Great Homeschool Parent”. So I just started creating in Canva, and next thing I knew I was writing and writing about why homeschooling is so great, and how we should do it so that it’s a joy and not drudgery by making it a learning adventure for the whole family.

So I finished writing my 5 Steps Journal today. I’ll have Gary finish that up for me, too, and publish it on Amazon. I’m glad I just started writing!

Getting out of that house that had so much pressure hanging over our heads seems to have broken the dam that was holding back my creativity. Or maybe it’s this great Airbnb that we’re staying in. Or maybe just the change of scenery. Maybe it was the trip to the museum…

Whatever it is, I’m thankful for the burst of creativity.

Check out my Author Page at Amazon to find my other bursts of creativity.

Amazon.com/author/penneydouglas

And my curriculum page at:

Amazon.com/author/safehavenhomeschooling

Other places you can find me: linktr.ee/penneydouglas

Love,

Penney

Update on My Family’s Situation: God’s Favor is Here But Please Keep Praying

Mar.24,2022

Update on Our Family’s Situation

We are out of our house. We moved all of our stuff into storage on Sunday, March 13. We stayed in a hotel for a week. Now we are in a lovely Airbnb. We all love it!

We are near the Museum District in Houston, so today we went to The Museum of Natural Science. It was really nice. It was also Free Day, so it was very affordable. 🙂

We saw lots of mollusks. Some of them were HUGE! And I learned today that squid and octopus are mollusks. I really do learn something new every day. We also saw lots of gems. They were beautiful.

We gave our car to our son, Patrick. So now all we have is our 12 passenger van. It’s not the easiest thing to maneuver in these close quarters in the downtown Houston area. But we do have 6 kids with us, so we need the larger vehicle.

But we feel so blessed and highly favored.

We know that God has something really good for us just around the corner.

It has been a long time since we’ve been in this kind of situation. It’s not the most comfortable, I must admit. But God has always come through for us. If you don’t know our testimony of how God miraculously provided for us before and after we lost our house in 2005, you can read it in my book, “Refined By Fire: Our Family’s Journey”.

Things just happened to line up perfectly for us to have enough money to rent a moving truck and rent a storage unit that’s big enough to fit almost all of our furniture and boxes of personal possessions. And then enough to afford a hotel for a week and now 11 days or more in a beautiful, roomy Airbnb. Before that we had no money. We have not had a job in 2 years. We have been living very frugally, so to speak.

But God has been so good to us, and we know He won’t stop now.

So for now, we’re in the big city and actually enjoying it. It’s not what I had in mind for our next jump. I’m a country girl at heart trying to get back to the country. But God knows what He’s doing, and I believe He put us here for a reason. He’s doing things in our hearts and strengthening our faith every day in every way.

I am not anxious. Because He told me Himself not to be. Let me tell you about it.

At a time when we lived in Illinois, the owners were trying to make us move out of a rental house before we were able to. We knew that we might be moving out of state any day because of the job offers Gary was getting, so we needed to hang tight just a little bit longer. It’s not that easy to move a family of 12 around from place to place. And that would have wasted so much money and time for us. But we were lowly renters, so none of that mattered to them. They brought people in to see the house while we were still living there. They changed the trash pickup out of our name. And generally harassed us. So I was feeling extremely anxious about what was going to happen. I cried out to God for help. I asked Him to give me a word or a scripture or something. I started to hear in my mind (spirit) “Phil. 4:6”. Well, I had no idea what Phil. 4:6 said, but I thought I should check it out in case there was something in it for me. When I opened my Bible and read what was there, I was shocked. It really was what I needed to hear. Phil. 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

So I straightened up and went back to trusting God. And He delivered us out of that bad, stressful situation. He provided a job for Gary that paid a lot more, in Pennsylvania, and we moved into a much nicer home than the one in Illinois.

So here we go again. Favor, favor. Just like our twins represent. If you would like to read that story, it’s here.

This little adventure feels kind of familiar, but our attitude is better this time. We have more hope and faith that something good is coming. Those other times, we felt very insecure and unsure about what was going to happen next. But this time, we have an expectancy that God is going to do something really wonderful for us. We are able to enjoy this time in between, knowing that God is good and always takes care of His children. He has been faithful, so our hearts are full of faith.

I will keep you updated on the next phase of this faith journey that will hopefully lead us home – soon.

Safe Haven Newsletter for March – Please Pray for My Family

Mar.24,2022

Hello Friends,

How are you all doing? I have started tutoring with Varsity Tutors. That is keeping me busy. If you have a teaching degree and would like to do some tutoring, they have lots of available slots. They have obtained contracts with several big school districts, so that means lots of new students who have had some degree of learning loss from all of the covid upheaval that has happened in the schools. Or if you have a child that might benefit from an online tutor, I know that the application process was rather rigorous, so I believe that the tutors are high quality teachers. You might want to check out Varsity Tutors.

I’m enjoying the time with the school kids. I love homeschooling. But I love all kids, so I’m happy to be able to interact with some school kids, too. I’ve been doing more 5th grade Math than I’ve done in a long time! Good old fractions and decimals.

Well, I titled this newsletter “God is doing something… interesting” because we are experiencing an interesting situation. Let’s just say we need to find a new place to live right away.

We are trusting God to provide all of our needs according to His riches in glory. He always does. If you haven’t read my book “Refined By Fire”, get it on Amazon and read our testimony of how God led us on a “journey of fire” across the US in a too-small-for-our-family van with 8 kids, including 18 month old twins. We had many adventures and misadventures along the way. And after 4 months of wandering, we settled in Kansas City for 3 years. I ended the book with a big financial miracle that God did for us. If you want to know more, get the book here on Amazon.

God met our needs then, and we know that He will meet them now.

I know that the times we’re living in are hard for all of us. I pray that you are standing in faith and trusting God to work all things together for your good. Rom. 8:28

Oh, I also wanted to tell you that the Homeschool Mom Refresh went really well! The ladies who attended really enjoyed it, and their hearts were truly ministered to. I’m so thankful for the opportunity the Lord gave me and Jessica to minister in such a personal, intimate setting, even though it was online. I’m thankful for the work that He did in the hearts of the ladies who were there.

If you would like to experience the sessions for yourself, you still can, even though the live event is over. We turned it into an evergreen product, so you can get it and experience what we did, because the anointing lasts even after the event is over. You can find more information about it here.

As always, I would love to pray for you! Hit reply and send me your prayer requests.

No matter how things look, God is still in control. Things are not as they appear. Do your own research and find out what’s really happening. Here’s a hint: Russia is not the bad guy. Putin is taking care of his national security.

I hope you still love me, even if you don’t agree with what I just said!

If you want to see my research that led me to that opinion, hit reply and ask for more information on Putin.

I really care about each one of you and pray for you and your families.

We will all get through this together. And it’s going to get good. I believe that with all my heart.

I love you with all of my hearts!