​

Hello Reader,

How's your summer going? Are your kids complaining of boredom yet? Or is it getting too hot to stay outside all day" Would you like something besides a screen to keep your children occupied inside?

Then this week's link list is for you. It's full of all sorts of ideas for encouraging creativity, expanding horizons, and fostering independent learning all summer long!

Free resources for you this week:

• ​Tech-Free Fun - here are 10 broad categories of things your kids can do during free time
• ​Cultivating Creativity - a free printable list of ideas to try with your younger children
• ​Summertime Conversation Starters - get your kids talking with these fun discussion prompts
• ​Super Simple Scherenschnitte - all you need for this easy craft is paper and pointy scissors
• ​Summer Bucket Lists - pick one of these free printables for an even wider variety of ideas
• ​Christian Coloring Pages - meditate on God's Word while doing something artistic

What I'm reading this week:

​

Although the majority of my kids launched a long time ago, I sometimes hear from parents wanting advice on preparing their teens and young adults for life beyond graduation. So I've been reading Chap Bettis's book, Launch, to see if it might be a good read for parents facing such transitions for the first time. And sure enough, it is. Subtitled Biblical Help for Moving Your Teen or Young Adult into the Real World, this short read is meant for the parents doing the launching, not for the kids being launched. If you're not yet to that point yet in your own parenting journey, you may be interested in another of Bettis's books called The Disciple-Making Parent (the audiobook for which you can now download FREE at the Disciple-Making Parent website). ​

What we're eating this week:

We've been tanking up on one of my long-time favorites lately: Savor-It-Slowly Guacamole. I use chopped fresh cilantro anytime I have it on hand (otherwise, dried works fine).

And, although this recipe doesn't call for fresh jalapeños, I often dice and add those in, as well, for a little extra oomph now that my kids are older and no longer protest my doing so.

This week's reader request:

A reader wrote recently to request a guide for praying for unbelieving friends and family members: “Most of the time I just don’t know how to pray for an unbeliever and my prayers fall flat, like I’m repeating the same few things over and over. I would love to have a scriptural base for my prayers for my unbelieving friends.”

Well, I thought that was a great idea. So I created this Prayer for the Lost. I hope you will find it helpful, as well.

​

On the podcast this week:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 52 ​Q&A: HOW CAN I HELP MY HUSBAND MAKE BETTER FOOD CHOICES?​ I received a message from a listener this week who was concerned about her husband’s health. His diet needs work, he does’t get enough sleep or enough exercise, and lately he’s been experiencing recurrent chest pain. “How can I motivate him to improve his diet?” ​ Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I finished five of my stated goals and made decent progress on two more: I ✅ went to Dallas to meet my newest grandbaby (she's a beauty!), and ✅ traveled to Oklahoma to visit my aunt, ✅ sent a new scripture memory challenge to my kids and grandkids (Psalm 23), ✅ pared my inbox down to 23 messages that still need answering, ✅ framed a wedding gift I recently crocheted, ✅ cleaned out my fridge (but still ❌ haven't tackled the pantry or freezers), ✅ organized two kitchen drawers (but ❌ not my cabinets), and ✅ painted four hostas, three yuccas, two birdhouses, and a Japanese maple (no leaves yet) on my backyard mural.

Personal goals for this week:

I'm breaking previous goals down into bite-sized pieces to increase my odds for finishing them all:

• finish two soldering projects
• do some painting with my girls
• spend the weekend in Round Rock with family
• organize two cabinets in kitchen
• organize two shelves in pantry
• pare down email to 10 messages or fewer
• finish painting maple tree and add a birdbath to my backyard mural