I Won!
Mood:  happy
Topic: General

I Won!

Thank you so much for your votes! I was pleasently surprised when I was nominated in two categories (congratulations to Frontier Dreams for winning in the "Best Crafts, Plans and Projects Blog" category) but I wasn't sure I would win anything. There were so many great blogs nominated. I was thrilled and honored to find out this evening that I had won in the "Best Homeschool Dad Blog" category. I had won two years ago and that was a great honor. This is a double honor. Thank you all so much for voting. Please had over to the HSBA blog and visit all of the great blogs that won. Just click here to get to the award winner list. Thank you all again.

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Announcement! Announcement! Announcement!
Topic: General

I'm going to be switching blog providers!

I don't know how many of you know this but a couple of weeks ago I lost my entire angelfire blog! It was gone. I could not access it at all and, according to the angelfire people, there was not even a record of it ever being in existence. I was devastated. I thought that three years of blog posts had been lost.

By the grace of God it reappeared. That experience, however, convinced me that I needed to switch blog providers. Angelfire runs on a blog platform that is outdated, and there is no way to back-up my blog. So, I am switching to a more modern provider - Blogger/Blogspot.

Everything is going to remain the same on the new blog. The name will still be "Families Again" and I will still be blogging about the same things. I'll still be blogging about my family and ministries, and I'll still be on the TOS Homeschool Crew so there will be a lot of homeschool and review posts. There's even an exciting new thing that's going to be happening at the beginning of the year. The only changes will be an updated blog design and the blog address.

Hopefully you won't have to do a thing but change the address in your favorites (assuming that some of you have me in your favorites). I'm even hoping to be able to transfer all of my Google Friend Connect friends and NetworkedBlog friends. My posts will still automatically show up on my Facebook page and Twitter page. It's not quite ready yet, but if you want to take a sneak peak, here is the address - http://familiesagain.blogspot.com/ .

The changeover should be happening in the next few weeks - definitely before Christmas. I will let you know - I'm thinking of doing a big countdown the "Grand Opening"! Until then, if there are some strange things that happen on this blog, you'll know what's going on. Thanks for understanding and for celebrating with me!

Tim

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Today I'm Thankful for Our Ministry
Topic: Blog Carnivals!

Most of you know that Sarah and I direct a ministry called Good News Mission. To tell you how we ended up living and running a ministry right across the street from the projects would be too long of a story to tell in one post. Maybe a series of posts someday, but not this one. However, I am truly grateful to God for the ministry He has given us and, more importantly, the people that he has us ministring too.

So many times, they minister to us far more than we to them. Take Miss Glenda, the 60 something year old Grandmother who faithfully comes up to the mission every Sunday. She's outlived two husbands but still has a fantastic attitude and loves the Lord. And boy does she work and help others! You can find her at 4am (yes that is 4am in the morning) outside sweeping the sidewalks in the projects. During the day you'll find her visiting the sick, elderly or lonely or helping the maintenance men clean apartments. Don't bother trying to visit after 6pm though. Her blinds will be down and she'll be in bed.

Or take Lauri. She has three daughters - one mentally and physically handicapped. I call her "Martha" because she is constantly up and about working. Even during the Mission, she doesn't sit down. She'll be listening to the lesson while cleaning up the food serving table or doing some other chore. I'll often have to say "Martha sit down!". She may be rough around the edges but we love her.

Or take Diane who is constantly thinking and praying for others. You'll often find her in tears over someone's illness. Or Theresa...or JoAnn...or Ann... they each have their special qualities and we love them all.

And that's just the ladies. We have some wonderful kids that attend the mission as well. Kids who you would never think were listening if it weren't for the special insights that they often give.

I could go on and on about the folks that minister to us just as much as we minister to them, but there wouldn't be any room. We are so thankful for them and for the ministry God has given us.

Thank you Lord for this special ministry that you have given us. Thank you for the dear people that are so special to us. Please bless them tonight even as I right this. Help them to know how much they mean to us and how much we love them. Amen

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Homemade Pizza Night!
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Family

It's homemade pizza night

 

in the Tinkel household!

The Pizza Dough - Made in the Bread Machine

The Ingredients

The Preparation

The Masterpiece

The Mess

The Unhappy Father Who Has to Clean Up

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TruthTats:The Christmas Story - A First Wild Card Blog Tour Product
Topic: Book Reviews

For the past couple of years, as a father, I've really been trying to guide my family to focus on the Lord during the holiday season. During Thanksgiving, we have been concentrating on the true reason for Thanksgiving and not the commercialized reason. During the Christmas holidays, we have been finding a way to celebrate advent together. When the opportunity came up to review TruthTats:The Christmas Story, I was anxious to try it out. What a unique way to celebrate advent. I can't wait until this Christmas season to really try it with my kids. Read all about it below.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

and the Advent idea:

TruthTats: The Christmas Story

B&H Publishing Group

***Special thanks to Susan Otis of Creative Resources, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***



Truth Tats: The Christmas Story
Celebrating the Season of Advent with Truth Tats

Designed just for the season, Christmas Truth Tats present a new way of telling the story of Christ’s birth. Truth Tats are temporarily on your skin, permanently on your heart.

This is a five week program leading up to Christmas day, each packet of Truth Tats includes a family devotional booklet that kicks off each memory scripture of the week. The twenty accompanying Scripture tattoos are a visual way to continually applying and memorize God’s word. Each week opens with a set of four identical Scripture tattoo designs so that each family member can have his or her own tattoo! Week two, there is a new Scripture for memorization and four new tattoo designs, again identical designs so each person is memorizing the same Scripture.

For over 1,000 years Christians worldwide have been celebrating Advent, a time of spiritual preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. The word “advent” comes from the Latin adventus meaning “coming toward”. So it is entirely appropriate that the four weeks prior to Christmas we will be preparing our hearts for His Advent.

Truth Tats are a unique way to celebrate the season as well as to “show and tell” God’s word to others. This is ideal for the classroom, family devotion time, and in personal Scripture memorization

Product Details:

List Price: $3.99
Unbound
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Language: English
ASIN: B005LDDJ1S

AND NOW...WEEK ONE OF ADVENT (Click on pictures to enlarge):

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