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let them out. it’s okay
This post is for all the mommas out there…the ones watching their babies grow up right in front of their very eyes… the ones who don’t know how to feel about the changes – welcomed or not – that keep whipping around the corner, aimed straight at our hearts. Yes, Momma, you – the one who feels like you have to be strong. all. the. time. The one watching her children stepping up to that new milestone – walking through that new door. A mixture of pride for the person they’ve become and the longing for the child they once were, makes simple tasks like breathing difficult sometimes. If you’re…
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Hi there!
Hi, there! I’m Angela O’Dell, Jesus follower, wife to my very best friend, mom to four wonderful children, and fellow homeschooler. I’m also an author and speaker at Master Books (author of the Math Lessons for a Living Education and the America’s Story history series), owner of Jelly Bean Jar Publications, and a passionate life coach who focuses primarily on child development and parenting. This blog is meant to be a place of encouragement. I do have a website/e-store and the math and history series are available through masterbooks.com, if you are looking for the place to buy my books, but I wanted to keep this blog as a place where mommas…
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Seeing Spelling as a Servant
Here is the information I promised in my recent podcast episode, Seeing Spelling as a Servant.
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You are so loved
Jesus loves you! You don’t have to do anything to gain His approval. You don’t have to have a cleaner house, better behaved kids, or a longer Facebook friends list. He thinks you are worth dying for. He wants to meet you right where you are. He knows that you need His help to serve Him and become everything you were meant to be. Don’t mind my crazy hair or my tired eyes – this is real life, honey!
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Stand firm. March on.
When you are a child of God, there is nothing that Satan, the enemy of your soul, can do to separate you from Him [Romans 8]. This doesn’t stop him from trying, though. One of the biggest and meanest ways he does this is to use fear tactics. He knows that if he can lie to us and make us doubt who we are and what God can do through us, he knows that he can get us to hand over our power – the power that God has given us as His child. If he can convince us that greater is he who is in the world than He…
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i fail, He doesn’t
1/12/17 As I am preparing workshops, I’ve been going back through notes and journal entries, older blog posts and saved websites. I came across this post from a couple of years ago, and I thought I’d bring it back to the front. I hope you are encouraged.
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growing…my thoughts about new years
I have to be honest, New Year’s resolutions flummox me. There have been years that I’ve joined the 99% of the world’s population in declaring that I will make kick-butt changes with my diet and exercise routines, and, like 75% of that 99%, I’ve completely given up by Valentine’s Day (the call of the chocolate is just too strong to ignore!), but for the most part, I’ve never really bought into the whole “a new year, a new me!” mind set. It’s certainly not because there aren’t aspects of my life and myself that I would love to change; it’s because as I look back on my life, the most profound…
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Part 7: doable resources for peace and sanity
Have you ever had to restart your smart phone, iPad, or computer? Sometimes there are too many apps running, too many windows open, too much power or memory being used – the gadget freezes up and stops responding. At this point, the only thing you can do is just hit the restart button. This is exactly what I have to do with my life. Restart. New mercy. New grace. New joy. New strength. New peace.
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investing
Do you know what it means to be your children’s ally? I’ve recently been praying for an eternal focus, and I was reminded that I recorded this podcast on that topic.
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Part 6: doable resources for peace and sanity
I tend to be a perfectionist. There, I said it. Perfectionism can take on different forms – in fact, I believe it can be as varied and unique as the persons who struggle with it. My perfectionism tends to rear its ugly head in a rather subtle form. In fact, it can be mistaken for positive qualities, such as efficiency and diligence. Only those closest to me would know that the motives behind it just might not be all that pure.
• author • speaker • teacher • coach • friend •
