Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:7
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Tag: patience
Podcast Episode 17: 31 Days of Prayer for Estranged Family & Friends
Pip: Pollywog’s Place Blog is the kind of corner of the internet that hands you something genuinely useful and asks nothing dramatic in return.
Mara: Susie at Pollywog’s Place Blog has put together a thirty-one-day prayer devotional for anyone carrying the weight of an estranged relationship — and that’s the territory we’re covering today.
Pip: Let’s start with the devotional itself and what it’s actually asking of the person who picks it up.
Continue reading “Podcast Episode 17: 31 Days of Prayer for Estranged Family & Friends”
Podcast Episode 03: Biblical Worth, Home, And Cherished Women
Pip: Welcome to Pollywog’s Place Blog — where the questions are ancient and the stakes are genuinely personal.
Mara: Susie at Pollywog’s Place Blog has been writing about things that actually matter at home and in the heart — what it means to know your own worth, and what it looks like to tend a household with intention. Let’s start with identity and what scripture says you deserve.
Biblical Worth And Identity
Mara: The posts in this segment are asking a question that sounds simple but cuts deep: do you actually believe you are worth something, and does that belief shape who you let into your life?
Pip: The anchor text opens with Proverbs 3:15, and then the post speaks directly to daughters: “You deserve to be loved, but not just loved like the general idea of love, you deserve to be cherished.”
Mara: That distinction matters. The post is not talking about settling for affection that shows up occasionally — it is talking about being someone’s active priority, the person they protect and keep in their thoughts.
Pip: And the post is practical about it. Don’t chase, don’t lower your standards to accommodate someone else’s excuses, and don’t assume you can change a person — that kind of change, the post argues, comes from above, not from patience or pressure.
Mara: The companion piece, “Cherished,” works through exactly what that word means in practice. It defines cherishing as making another person your priority relationship — shown through daily small acts, touch, listening, encouragement, and showing respect in public as well as in private.
Pip: So the two posts are really one argument in two directions: know what you deserve, and then actually demonstrate it when you’re in a relationship.
Mara: That thread — worth informing behavior, not just self-esteem — carries right into how those values play out inside a home.
Home And Family Stewardship
Pip: If the first segment was about knowing your value, this one is about what you do with it once you’re building a life — specifically, what it means to take a home seriously as a responsibility, not just a location.
Mara: “Keeper of The Home” opens with Proverbs 24:3-4, then states the core claim plainly: “We are responsible for our homes and that our homes and families should be a priority for us. It means that we are each responsible for setting the tone of our homes.”
Pip: Setting the tone. That is a bigger job than it sounds — it covers what comes in, what goes out, whether people inside feel safe, and whether guests find rest there.
Mara: The post is also honest about the gap between the ideal and the reality. It names the experience of being a single mother working multiple part-time jobs and still holding the household’s emotional climate as the first priority. The practical sections — meal planning, cleaning routines, budgeting, time management — are offered as tools, not judgments.
Pip: It reads less like a lifestyle prescription and more like someone handing you the manual they wish they’d had at twenty-two.
Mara: The post closes by framing all of it as intentional work. A keeper of the home is not something you drift into — it is a decision made deliberately, then built on through routines, prayer, and the goal of passing those habits forward to the next generation.
Pip: Worth knowing. Cherished at home.
Mara: Both threads come back to the same idea — that what you believe about your value shapes everything downstream, from the relationships you accept to the household you build.
Pip: And apparently the work is never quite finished. Next time, more from Pollywog’s Place.
You can read these posts HERE:
Sowing Seeds of FAITH: A lesson in PATIENCE
Today during my Bible Study I read Philippians 1:6
‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.’
We must always remember that the ONE who started HIS work in us is committed to finishing it!
No matter what path we are on, it is a path that has been created by our FAITH and our choices. Sometimes we might feel stuck, or feel like things are not progressing fast enough. We have to remember to have PATIENCE because there are unseen forces at work… just like a newly planted seed doesn’t show growth right away. The roots usually start developing below the surface as they are needed to support and sustain the plant as it grows.
The same is happening in your life. Your support system is being created to help you reach your maximum potential. Remember that you have not been abandoned or forgotten… be comforted in knowing that GOD has a plan for you and HE has promised to see it through!
If you are feeling a little impatient, take a moment to look back on how far you have come. Remember that your journey is unique and important. Keep trusting in GOD’s plan and HIS timing!
I pray that this has blessed someone like it blessed me.
May GOD Bless You!
Continue reading “Sowing Seeds of FAITH: A lesson in PATIENCE”
A Look At May: Planning for a PATIENCE filled Month
I will say that last month went pretty well, and our home does feel a bit more KIND. This month, our theme will be PATIENCE. We will be looking at ways that we can be more intentional in showing PATIENCE to others through our actions.
Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” — Anonymous
I’m going to take a quick look at what we have planned for the month so you can get a little idea about how all of our systems work with each other.
Calendar
My morning routine means that I check our calendar every morning, and here is what I am looking at:
- There are few appointments that are noted, and I have reminders set in my Cozi app. One appointment is this week, so I remind my husband about it to make sure he remembers.
- There are a couple of birthdays, and I am noting the special meals in my planner.
- A few ‘special holidays’ that we would like to include.
- Days that the public school will be out for one of the older kids.
- I also try to look for a day that will be a good time to go to the flea market or produce market for seasonal produce.
Chores
I also like to review the chores at the beginning of the week, as we have them listed by daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
Daily chores are pretty automatic, but our monthly chores rotate by the day of the month… I try to keep things as easy as I can.
Some of our daily chores include:
- Getting ready for the day – make beds, brush teeth/hair, get dressed
- Animal/Garden chores – watering and feeding
- Breakfast – see our Breakfast Routine here
- Laundry – see our Laundry Routine here
- Planning the day – check calendar, to-do list, meal plan, etc.
- Morning Routine – see a sample day here
- School
- Lunch
- Quick Clean up
- Afternoon Chores – water animals, check eggs, etc.
- Dinner
- Clean up
If you click on the links, you can find more in-depth information about each task.
Some of my weekly chores are:
- Home Blessings
- Homeschool Planning – look for lessons ideas to go along with our monthly task and upcoming holidays
- Menu Planning – check that we have everything we need for upcoming meals
- Garden Planning – check what needs to be transplanted, seeded, started, and bought.
- Other Planning – Valentine’s Day, Super Bowl?, President’s Day, income taxes, and possible outings/vacation; check for upcoming birthdays and anniversaries
- Grocery Shopping & Errands
- Desk Work/Paper Work/Bill Pay/Budgeting
Some of the monthly chores this month are:
- cleaning light fixtures/cobwebs
- cleaning the tops of the fridges and freezers
- cleaning windows and doors -washing curtains and/or blinds
- cleaning out the top cabinets and wiping all the cabinet fronts
- deep cleaning the countertops, sinks, dishwasher, cutting boards, and dish drainer
- cleaning under the sink, and the kitchen drawers
- deep clean the stove and oven
- declutter the dish cabinet and island storage
- move and clean behind the large appliances
- take an inventory of what we have in the freezer and pantry – incoporate things into the menu
- clean/organize the linen cabinet
- deep clean the vacuum cleaner, and clean/change filters for the vacuum and ACs
- deep clean the high chairs
- deep clean bathrooms
Some of the yearly chores for this month are:
- Stock up on sunscreen and bug spray
- Clean the AC units, if not already completed
- Check the BBQ supplies and restock, as needed
- Make Plans for upcoming holidays
Sometimes the kiddos are tempted to skip over chores, but it catches up to them later on when things break down or run out. We are trying to teach them important skills that they will need later on in life, skills that will hopefully make them successful in all that they do.
Homeschool
Today, I check my Homeschool Manager app for anything that I might not have added to the main calendar. I normally look over the next week’s schedule on Thursdays, after we finish our school work.
- We have started back to school so we are adding in lessons a little each day.
- I add the appointments to the monthly lesson plan calendar as well, so I can plan accordingly. I realize that I may need to alter our start date and just use that as a Home Blessing day to get the house back in order, so I just swap a few things around really quick.
- I am adjusting some of the planned reading materials so that they will all line up a little better.
These quick changes will keep us from having a very frustrating week back to school… at least I pray it will.
This month, I will be focusing on adding Foreign/Alternative LForeign/Alternative Language anguage tasks to our homeschool routine, so I will look over those tasks to see what I can work in with our lessons.
Foreign/Alternative Language (May)
The kids have informed me that they would rather try to learn Spanish again, instead of Hebrew so we will make that change in the next week or two.
Some ways we are doing this are:
- Loving our neighbors:
- by learning another language it allows us to share GOD’s love with others who may not otherwise learn about HIM
- it can also help us to show respect to other cultures as we learn about them
- Global Mission:
- learning other languages can help spread the word of GOD to other parts of the world also… you never know when it might come in handy!
- ex: 1 Corinthians 14:10-11, Romans 10:17
- verse about Pentecost: Acts 2:4-11
- Memorization:
- have fun learning new Bible verses and songs in ASL!
- find a good ASL channel on YouTube to learn from.
Devotional
We have a new devotional for the month as well – I did make it for 31 days, so it could be used at any time of the year.
Growing in Patience
Bill Paying
I usually sit down to pay bills on Fridays.
- Pay the bills due, pay more if money allows
- Check accounts to see what payments have cleared, and highlight them on the worksheet
- Note any bills still left to pay
I usually do this first, so I know what I have left to spend. My bill pay worksheet makes things much simpler as I can see what I have paid, and what needs to be paid.
Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping
I normally do my menu planning on Wednesday or Thursday. I print out a couple of meal planning sheets and a grocery list so I can fill them in as I look over our Spring Meal Plan.
- I write in the birthdays and special holidays for the month, and then add those ingredients to the grocery list. Clicking on the link will give you a ready-made list of holidays for the month and links to recipes and menu ideas to make them special.
- I look over the planned meals and pencil them in.
- I note the days when we have appointments and swap those meals for easier meals, if needed.
- I check the grocery list that the kids have been filling out on the fridge, and add items to the main list.
- I also check my pantry restock list to see what I need to add to the list, if money allows.
- I make sure I have the ingredients to preserve the produce that I plan to pick up this month as well. I will add supplies to the grocery list, if needed. Some of these posts have not been published yet, but you should be able to find the printables in the library.
- I will either schedule a time to go shopping or place an order for groceries and set a delivery or pickup time that works for us. When I go to town, I usually plan to take care of several errands at once.
- At the beginning of the month, I will also place a Sam’s Club order for bulk supplies to be shipped, as well as any supplies we need from Amazon.
Special Holiday Meals: May Edition
Some of the pantry restock items I added to list are:
- Canned Fish
- Canned/Dried Meats
- Rice/Barley
- Sugar
- Vitamins
- Sunscreen/Bug Spray
Some of the produce I’d like to buy for preserving:
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Herbs
- Dried beans for canning
In April, we were also able to stock up on some veggies and cabbage for pickled veggies and sauerkraut. These aren’t canned but they do last a bit in the fridge and help make meals a little more interesting. We also pickled some eggs have we have an abundance of them right now and they make great protein filled snacks!
If money is short, we can skip the restock and the preserving items until next month. I don’t like to skip things too often, but we do have our pantry pretty well stocked, and as long as we replace what we use, we should be fine.
Garden & Animals
I usually try to get feed and garden supplies once a month to cut down on the number of trips I make to town. The feed store is in the opposite direction of our normal grocery store, and I need all the space in the back of the van for feed, so I can’t really combine these tasks, or I would.
I go out to the greenhouse and garden just about every day, so I keep a running list of things that I need. I will also check my monthly list of tasks that need to be done. I went over my lists this weekend, and I have:
- placed online orders for seeds and plants
I need to:
- get some more seeds started for the Summer
- fill in any gaps in the garden
- build rabbit pens and move the rabbits
- transplant some of the greenhouse starts to the garden beds
- deep clean the coops/pens
- get the shade structures in place
- get some chicken tractors repaired and put in the gardens
Some of the tasks are also listed with my yearly tasks to make sure that I don’t forget them 🙂
I also check with the kids to see what animal feed we have, check that against my master inventory list, note down what we need in my phone, and then I will make time to go get the feed. I try to combine a few tasks during the same trip.
When I go to get the feed I will:
- get feed and animal supplies
- pick up seeds or plants at the Farm Center
- check with the nursery to see what they might have available
- stop at the grocery store, if there is anything we need before the next grocery order
- fill up with gas on the way home
When I get home, I always have the kids unload the feed right away, mix anything that needs to be mixed, and put the surplus in the old freezer that we use for storage. Once the feed is taken care of, they will clean out the back of the van 🙂
I try to make sure to do this mid-week, as Fridays & Saturdays are a bit crowded at the Feed Store. It’s always a bit stressful when we get too low on feed as well, so by making sure we have a regular schedule, we can alleviate some of the stress and replace it with PEACE, as we know we have what we need. We can also use these tasks as ways to show LOVE to one another.
To-Do List
I also like to start a To-Do List because things always pop up that I can’t fix right away. I also find things when I am out in the garden that need to be taken care of, I will usually snap a photo and then add it to the list if it can’t be taken care of right away.
This is our list so far:
- Master Bathroom
Fix Master Bedroom Floorbuild new garden beds – we finished the first ones, but then bought more- add solar lights to chicken coops
- finish chicken tractor
hang cameras- put the StarLink on a pole
add trellises to garden beds- create a sensory garden and/or integrate sensory-themed activities into our existing garden – we have had to change the plans a bit.
Finish our new poultry areaBuild a new area for our bunny bunnies- Add shade pergolas to the garden
- Build rabbit cages for the new area
The list keeps growing and it will continue to grow longer the further we get into the year… hopefully, we can stay on top of it.
This is just a quick look at my weekly plans… I have all month long to work on some of them, and I will try to knock out as many as I can. I know that by handling the smaller things now, it will free up time I might need in the future for BIGGER and BETTER things. A little maintenance helps to keep things running nice and smooth… it also helps us to appreciate all that we have been BLESSED with.
I pray that you will find something useful in these links.
God Bless!
