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!

Remaining Expectant in the Waiting,

Penney Douglas

Safe Haven Homeschooling

linktr.ee/penneydouglas

https://penneydouglas.com – My blog at Changed By Love

amazon.com/author/penneydouglas

amazon.com/author/safehavenhomeschooling

E-courses I’ve written to help beginning homeschool moms and those looking for a fresh start in their homeschooling:

https://changed-by-love.teachable.com/p/the-basics-of-homeschooling

https://changed-by-love.teachable.com/p/afraid-to-fail-at-homeschooling

Safe Haven Homeschooling

2714 Indigo Stone Ln

Katy, TX 77449-4741

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What You Need to Know Right Now – Johnny Enlow

Mar.1,2022

Help for Homeschool Moms

Feb.18,2022

Help for Homeschool Moms

I produce videos and books that I hope will help homeschool moms with their homeschooling and with their relationships in their families. I have a passion for encouraging homeschool moms to keep on homeschooling even when it gets hard. I really believe that homeschooling is the best way to cultivate strong family relationships and to foster deep and lasting learning. If we, the moms, learn right along with our children, the shared learning experience bonds us together, especially when we are learning from a good book being read aloud together. It’s the least painful, most enjoyable way to learn, in my opinion.

I have recorded several videos through Facebook Challenges that I did to help new homeschool moms just starting out to relax and feel more confident about their ability to homeschool. The things I teach can also help veteran homeschool moms to relax and enjoy their homeschool experience more. I will upload some of the teachings here on my blog.

Here are some videos that you might find helpful.

In this video I talk about identifying the learning styles of our children and why that’s important, how it can help in our homeschools.

https://www.facebook.com/penneymarie/videos/807923603201602

I was interviewed by Jessica Anderson about my book of prayers for homeschool moms called “Short, Powerful Prayers for Busy Homeschool Moms”. We talked about the reason I wrote the book and some different ways to use it. I read some sample prayers from the book. I think you’ll really find this book useful when you need a prayer to help you get back on track or need some help in praying for the needs of your children, yourself, or your marriage. You can grab this book in the midst of a crisis and find the perfect prayer to address the problem and pave the way for a spiritual solution. Jessica Interview of Penney_12-22-21 (1)