Virtue Training Bible Review & Giveaway

When I first heard that Mindy Dunn was creating a Virtue Training Bible, I was beyond thrilled! I immediately contacted her to let her know that I wanted to review it & host a giveaway. We ALL love giveaways, don't we?!

We already have the Child Training Bible & LOVE it! Some people may shy away from purchasing the CTB because they don't have kids. Don't let that stop you. We all have areas that we need to work on!

So just WHAT is a Virtue Training Bible? Well, I'm glad you asked!

With 48 different character traits, the Virtue Training Bible is a tool that will allow you to focus on just about any area that you need help with. Whether its being more compassionate, seeing things through with diligence, forgiving those that wrong you, or having more patience, the VTB can help you.

Most everyone who reads & believes the Bible, knows that it contains the answer to every problem imaginable within its pages. But do you know how to find the answers when you need them? If you are a Bible scholar, you might, but most people would have to search for those results.

The VTB makes it simple for you!

It includes a guide that is color coded so all you have to do is locate the colored tab that lines up with your trait & flip to that page. Then look for that verse that has been marked in the same color.

Simple huh?!

Now we don't have any excuse not to look up how to improve our weak areas!

You can order the VTB for only $9. It includes the color chart & 3 scripture charts.

GOOD NEWS! It is compatible with ANY Bible! That's right, if you only use a specific version, you don't have to worry about it coinciding with your beliefs. My family does not use anything other than KJV, which is hard to find sometimes.

The only other things that you need to go along with your VTB charts is a Bible (whichever one you want), colored tabs (I got mine at Staples here & here, although they have them packaged together in the store), and colored highlighters, pencils, or crayons ( I use Crayola Twist Up Colored Pencils, also available at Staples or Walmart, because I like the way it allows the words to show through & I can erase my mistakes).

Once you have all of your supplies, you are ready to start the fun! Locate the first verse on the first trait (Compassion), highlight it, and add your tab to the top of the right hand page (even if the verse is on the left). Continue tabbing & highlighting Compassion until you have done all of the verses. Then move on to Contentment. Try to keep the tabs lined up so that when it is closed, they look even. This may mean that you place & replace the tabs a few times to get it right. Make sure that you overlap the tabs just a little as you go on to the following traits or they won't all fit across the pages.

It will take some time to tab & locate all of the scriptures, but consider it preparation for the harvest! If you enter into this project with that in mind, you will be blessed!

Now, don't you want one too?!

Enter here for a chance to win your own!

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Tales of a Homeschool Nothing ~ I Like My Grass Blue

We're back! Last week we took a not so relaxing, VERY soggy camping trip. Even with all of the rain, we still had fun & it was certainly a much needed & intentional break.

>>>Insert funny story here>>> Logan decided he HAD to carry an egg back to the house after we fed the chickens one day. He started pretending to eat the egg. To begin with, he just put it close to his lips & pretended to bite, making an "omph" sound. He got closer & closer with the egg until he finally had it in his house. Of course I discourage this because the egg has NOT been washed - YUCK! He didn't seem to mind though. He continued "eating" the egg all the way back to the house until we heard a noise & realized that Logan had actually bitten the egg & now had a mouth full of yolk. BWAHAHAHA Needless to say, he was spitting it our pretty quickly.

Aside from the usual issues that we are still working on, school ran very smoothly.

We covered tattling, making excuses, & disobedience with our Child Training Bible. Austin read several of the verses for us.

Austin & I had a long heart to heart discussion about dealing with his anger better. He also confided in me about his fears of not having many friends. It broke my heart. I can empathize with him to certain extent. Even though I was never home schooled, I know (just like most people) what it was like to be friends with someone one minute & seemingly hate them the next. We all go through times where we doubt if our friends are really our friends.

Even through his tears, he said he still wanted to stay home next year. That decision should me just how much he is maturing. Something is obviously getting through to him even when I think its not.

I guess we really are taking this journey one day at a time.

Meteoroids are similar to "dirty snowballs". We learned the difference between a meteoroid (still in space), a meteor (burning up in our atmosphere), & a meteorite (fallen to Earth). The only difference between meteoroids & asteroids are the size. And there might have been another planet in between Mars & Jupiter. Did you know any of this? If I did, I sure didn't remember it.

We have been enjoying LIFE: Our Century in Pictures for Young People. Can I just say that I LOVE this book?! It covers SOOOO many things that we are studying & I love the fact that even Makenzie can look at a picture & remember what it is from!

I thought it would be fun to "indulge" in a little historical food from the Nifty Fifties. Yep, Richard &Maurice MacDonald opened a Drive In restaurant where hamburgers sold for $.15. Unfortunately, we didn't get our burgers that cheap, but they were still appreciated. (note the little hand reaching anxiously for the bag)

Suburbia, "I Like Ike", the birth of a King, & Civil Rights were all discussed this week. We watched PBS videos about MLK Jr's March on Washington, Rosa Parks, & even bits & pieces of Forrest Gump (I chose to fast forward or mute some of it).

Austin is working on mixed numbers and fractions through Teaching Textbooks, writing a report about snakes, and continuing Daily Grams & Wordly Wise. Makenzie is adding & subtracting 2 digit numbers, working on blends and sight words, & reading.

We finally finished our post cards and mailed them out this week. We are participating in a post card exchange with others all over the United States. We have received many cards from several states all ready & have been enjoying them.

Justin took off a couple of days this week, so we took advantage of the opportunity & went in search of curriculum deals one day. Check out the picture, I got all of that for under $100. The down side to this was that I didn't get anything I actually went after. The plus side - I got ALL of next year's Tapestry of Grace for $40!!! I buy the DE version one unit at a time for $45 (total $180) where I can print it myself  as needed. The print version is more expensive at $80 a unit ($295 for all year). I saved $140!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!

Its that time of year again. That's right - MerleFest! YEAH!! Sun, fresh air, cool breezes, friendly people, & blue grass music all weekend!

Tales of a Homeschool Nothing ~ Second Chances

We had a slight glitch this morning during school.

I told my kids that if they did their work right until a certain time, then they could go to the cattle sale with their grandparents. They were both so excited with this because they love everything about farm life.

All was going well until I discovered something. It wasn't anything big, but it truly annoyed me. I asked who did it & of course, their response was "not me". (When I find "not me", he's in for it! That mysterious kid has plagued me for years!) After a few more minutes of questioning, I finally announced that they were both getting spankings because someone was lying to me.

Austin finally admitted to the deed in question.

Of course, I was aggravated & I had to punish him. When that was over, I left him in his room for a little while. When I went back in with my Child Training Bible to talk to him, I was amazed at the peace that washed over me. (I'm very sad to say that I usually have to blow my top before I can calm down & deal with what went wrong. Don't get me wrong, I still raised my voice, but it was different this time.)

We sat down & discussed what had happened & what made him choose to lie. I was able to show him what God says about lying. I was able to admit to him that I have done the same thing before. I was able to explain to him how the God we serve is a God of love, of wrath, of forgiveness, & of second chances. We read, we cried, we prayed, & we hugged.

I struggled with whether to allow him to still go with his grandparents, but in the end, mercy won out.

Because of his disobedience & my obedience, God was able to mend hearts & teach us both a lesson.

I am so thankful that God gives me more than just one chance!

How Do You Use your Training Manual

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Do you realize just how much promise is in this one verse? There are so many verses in the Bible that I LOVE. This is one of them. I love being reminded of God's promises, of the fact that He loves & cares for us, of knowing that there is more than the here & now.

After working on my training manual all summer (obviously I didn't work too hard or it wouldn't have taken me that long), I am finally done.

Some friends & I got together & decided to make our own Child Training Bible. We wanted to start  actively seeking God's face in what His Word said about certain behaviors. We all want good moral children, but do we know how to help them become that way? We can tell our kids all day long how they should act, but until we show them God's Word & He speaks to their hearts, they will continue to act in their old sinful nature. 

So to make that "job" a little easier, God impressed the idea of a "Child Training Bible" onto a lady by the name of Mindy's heart. There are 20 negative character traits addressed in the CTB that we all need to work on. Everything from anger to laziness, disobedience to wrong friendships, and then a section of Gospel as well. Thank you Mindy for minding the Lord! 

To make your CTB, all you need are a Bible of your choice (you KNOW that I am KJV, but any Bible will work), the character traits, lists of verses, colored sticky notes, & colored pens, pencils, or crayons (I personally like the Twistables Colored Pencils).

We haven't started using our CTB yet, but the kids have seen me working on it & are very interested in it. Makenzie has even asked me a few times when I was going to "train" them.

I can't wait to see how this helps our daily struggles.

Maybe you should start one too!