Saving Money for Polishing the Pulpit or Travel!

Our family enjoys traveling, but let's be honest.....traveling with four kids isn't the cheapest!  We are not camper people, so that is not an option for us.  Wesley recently discovered travel hacking. He listened to some podcasts about it & did some online courses & signed us up for a Capital One Venture Card.  Now, let me saw first that I generally dislike credit cards (hello, Dave Ramsey!), BUT we pay it off each month...NO exceptions. If you are not someone who can do that, then this option is not for you.  

The way this card works is that you acquire points based on your spending that you can use for travel: lodging, airline tickets, & rental cars. When we signed up, they had sign on bonuses so that was really nice too!  Wesley signed both of us up for a card.  His card is saved in our online shopping (Amazon, etc) & is used for eating out or when he gets gas. Mine is used for groceries & whatever I purchase out of the house.  Within the FIRST month (our normal spending plus sign on bonus), we had enough points to wipe off the deposit for our cabin for PTP! It was kind of magical to click on the app.....click over to points & erase a huge charge like a cabin deposit! This is going to be a huge blessing to our family (free lodging for Polishing the Pulpit?!) & I hope it helps some of you too!  We got an email recently that if someone uses our referral link, we can earn "up to $500 in bonuses—plus, they’ll get unlimited 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, every day."  If this sounds like something that would work for you, please use my link to sign up!  

We would be happy to answer any additional questions. Just email or call us!

Also, if you don't know what Polishing the Pulpit is, you need to! Check out this episode about how it has blessed our family!

How Polishing the Pulpit Has Blessed Our Family

It's that time of year when we are preparing for Polishing the Pulpit! This will be our 9th year to attend & if you are around us for any amount of time, you'll know we love it. Here's an episode we recorded about why we love PTP so much.  

And if you're thinking PTP would be great, but you don't know how to afford the trip, check out this post about how we are paying for our cabin this year!

Legacy Family Camp East 2019

We are extremely excited & prayerful about this opportunity for families in the East/Southeast. We have been working for awhile with the Wells & Minors to get this type of event in our area, & we pray you’ll consider taking advantage of it. Registration opens tomorrow at 10am Eastern/9am Central time. We don’t know how quickly it will fill up, but we have had a lot of interest. Check out our Facebook & Instagram for more info. Let us know if you have any questions! The website for Legacy East will go live in the morning when registration opens, but you can see the Oklahoma schedule for an idea of what it will be like. We will have different topics & a few different free time activities, but you can get the general idea there. Come join us for this weekend of encouraging Christian families!

@legacyfamilycampeast

Legacy Family Camp East Speakers 2019

Sharing to get the word out about our first family camp in the "East." The Skelton & Wells families are VERY excited to share this opportunity with others! We pray you will be considering this event to encourage & strengthen your family. You can like the page Legacy Family Camp East on Facebook or Instagram (@legacyfamilycampeast) to follow for more updates on registration (coming soon!). Let us know if you have any questions! We have a limited number of spots available & we have had a lot of interest. This year's speakers are Steve Minor & Joe Wells.

Legacy Family Camp East

We have exciting news! The first annual Legacy Family Camp East will be October 31 - November 3 at Taylor Christian Camp in Holland, Kentucky. We pray you & your family will be making plans to attend! Registration date coming soon! Follow our Facebook page for updates!

Surviving with Sick Kids

If you have kids, then chances are you’ve had sick kids!  In the moment, it feels like it will never end. On this episode, we talk about how to survive when sickness runs through your home.

ENCOURAGING VERSES

• “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”
  ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭NASB‬‬
• “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
  ‭‭John‬ ‭14:27‬ ‭NASB‬‬
• But they that wait upon the Lᴏʀᴅ shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
  Isaiah 40:31
• Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
  Philippians 4:6-7 KJVS
• Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content
  Philippians 4:11
• Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
  ‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭

How to Study the Bible When You Have Young Children

I have to share this. I literally posted this post & then went to Facebook & saw on my memories that this was posted two years ago! 

Our lives look different after children: our marriages, our free time, and even our Bible study. Today, we wanted to share with you some tips on how to get in the Word! 

We've recorded two podcast episodes where we talk about some Bible study tips & tools for parents.
Parents Getting Into the Word
Bible Study

I also talked about this topic in a 7 Minutes of Wisdom at Polishing the Pulpit.  Here are my notes from that session. I hope it will help you!
~~~

Personal Bible Study

*Your life looks different after kids!  That includes your marriage, your free time, your housework, & even your Bible study.  

Quick Tips:

*PRAY about it! Don't you think if you pray about this that God will bless your efforts?!

*BUDGET your time. Time is just like money. You have a certain amount of it & when it's gone, it's gone! Make a schedule!

*Get up early. It’s quiet, you likely have more time to actually study, & then you know it is done.

*Listen to the Bible or a podcast/lesson as you get ready in the morning. Use a Bible app that reads to you (I use YouVersion)

*Try Breakfast Bible Time with your kids or while they eat

*Make a Bible study basket. Keep everything all in one place.

*Put sticky notes in your Bible-write down whatever random thoughts come into your head while you study—Bible thoughts or stuff you think of that you need to do later (my phone is a huge distraction, so if I pull my phone out to set a reminder, I suddenly find myself checking every notification that came up)

*DEAR time with your kids. Drop Everything And Read—they are to “read” or look at Bible books & you do some Bible study.  Depending on the age of your children, it may not be more than 10-15 minutes.  You can start with five minutes if they are really small & then work your way up to a longer amount of time.  Try reading the books to them before or after to help hold their attention longer & add in some extra instruction for them.  **It’s also GOOD for your kids to SEE you study your Bible!

*Have a PLAN.  Know what you will be studying before you sit down. Make a weekly plan if necessary. Example: M-Digging Deep, T-Bible Marking, W-Bible class assignment/material, R-Chronological reading, F-Come Fill Your Cup, S-Bible class assignment/material

Tools/Ideas:

*Use online tools: The Bible Project — animated summaries of each book of the Bible. Visually helps you to remember what you are learning about each book.  DISCLAIMER-as far as I know, they are not made by members of the church & I have not watched every one.

Use Come Fill Your Cup for Bible studies & Bible marking—CFYC is starting a study of 1, 2, & 3 John- this Friday on Facebook/their website.  They also have an awesome Book by Book Study going on with a different book of the Bible each month as well as a 2019 Reading Plan.  This is the the outline for the 1-3 John study:

*Use the PTP thumb drive or online sermons to listen throughout the day (sometimes I do this during lunch or when I’m cleaning up after a meal). *The Light Network: www.thelightnetwork.tv (Christian podcasts-check the archives too!) *PTP365 www.365.polishingthepulpit.com

*IMMERSE yourself in the Word.  You can do this by using little bits of time you have throughout the day.  It may be listening to a chapter or two as you get ready in the morning, studying for a few minutes during breakfast or before the kids wake up, listening to a podcast during nap time/while doing housework (IRONING!), or after they are in bed.  Young moms do not have a lot of free time, so make the best of the time you have.

*Use a study guide/book.  When I have a newborn especially, I cannot sit & just read chapters (or even one) at a time. I can’t remember what I read & when I am really sleep deprived, I fall asleep!  Using a study guide or book helps keep me focused & not be overwhelmed by reading a bunch at one time.  Kaio Publications & the Colley House have some great ones.

*Find an accountability partner or study group.  This is why I LOVE the Digging Deep Bible study so much.  There is a live video podcast at the end of each month that you can participate in, short audio podcasts throughout the month, a Facebook group to post/answer questions you may have, & we have a group from our congregation meeting each month.  If you don’t have a study group in your area, make one!  See if you can get some teen girls or older ladies from your congregation to volunteer to watch the kids while the moms study.  This would be a great opportunity to invite non-Christians as well.

*Start a group text Bible study. Pick 5-6 of your sisters in Christ who are interested & have a group text.  Someone can send out a verse/passage/topic in the morning & then you can answer/see other’s thoughts on the topic as you go throughout the day.  It gives you something to consider & help you to meditate on the Word as you care for your family & home.