As you know, I publish a new Scripture-based coloring page every Sunday, so for my Christmas in July series, I thought I’d post a Christmas-themed design: click to print Glory to God in the Highest Coloring Page This one comes from the gospel of Luke: The shepherds were in the fields, watching their flocks by…
I’m using Mondays to clean out my mailbag. This week’s request: a Spanish prayer guide, with lots more Spanish-language resources thrown in for good measure! From time to time, we get requests from readers inquiring if a particular printable is available in their native language. Occasionally, they even offer to translate it for us. We…
Since today is “Cheer Up the Lonely Day”, I’m sharing a coloring page which fits that theme. Have you ever noticed there’s a special day for just about every activity under the sun? Fortunately, cheering up the lonely is an activity upon which God places great importance. We can tell by reading James 1:27: “Pure…
My husband came home from work last week and told me about a song he’d heard in the operating room that he knew I was going to love. The song was “Watching You” by Rodney Atkins, and he was 100% right: I do love it. If you’re not already familiar with it, you can hear…
I believe children should honor our fathers (and wives their husbands) not only on the third Sunday in June, but every day of their lives. Nevertheless, since today is a day we traditionally set aside for recognizing fathers, I’ve designed the following Man of Integrity coloring page especially for the occasion. click to print Man…
In honor of “National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month” (and expanding on the fruit-themed coloring page I shared last week), I’m sharing this Bearing Good Fruit coloring page today. It’s based on Matthew 7:17, which reads: “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:17) I hope your…
Since today is National Best Friends Day, I thought I’d share a few links and printables to mark the occasion. One of the biggest benefits to having a big family is having built-in friends. That’s not to say there’s never friction between siblings at our house, but we try to defuse it quickly when it…
Since June is “National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month,” I felt a fruit-themed coloring page might be in order this Sunday. I love summer fruits: Juicy watermelon. Sweet berries. Tart citrus. It makes me happy to see rows upon rows of ripe produce at our local farmer’s market. I know it makes God happy to…
The Bible verse in this week’s coloring page highlights a central theme of Scripture, that of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice: “Greater love hath no one than this, that one would lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) This verse, of course, references the fact Jesus gave His life to purchase our freedom from sin….
Did you know May is “Date Your Mate” month? Of course, if a wife doesn’t treat her husband respectfully, and if her husband doesn’t act lovingly toward her, then neither of them will feel like spending much time together, date night or no. Love and respect are essential to the happiness and success of any…
Yesterday, we graduated the sixth of our twelve children. Woo hoo! That means we’re halfway done with this homeschooling journey! To mark the occasion, I wanted to share this Plan for Success coloring page: click to print our PLAN FOR SUCCESS coloring page This is the message we want each of our children to take…
In honor of Mother’s Day, I wanted to share this special Blessed Mother coloring page from my new devotional journal for moms, Sweet Child of Mine: click to print “Blessed Mother” coloring page The title of this new journal came from a poem I wrote for the occasion: Sweet Child of Mine by Jennifer Flanders…
This week’s “Scripture Sunday” coloring page features James 1:2-3. “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing this, that the testing of your faith, produces patience.” That’s easily said. Harder to apply. But well worth the effort in the long run in terms of reduced stress, peace of mind —…
Question: Looking for a Prayer for my Unborn Son Hi, Jennifer. I would love a printable version of “Praying for your Unborn Child” for a boy. Could you make this possible? Thanks, Uretha Answer: Happy to Help! Certainly, Uretha. I wrote the original prayer with feminine pronouns for several reasons: First, my last baby was…
The past eight days have been joyous but busy ones for our family. For better or worse, the week began with a triathlon in San Marcos last Sunday. Then came my baby’s birthday. Mine was the following day. Then my husband’s the day after that. Then the 30th anniversary of the day we met. We…
Our family is in San Marcos this weekend for the Texas State Triathlon. Dad and six of the kids trained for the event. Mom and the little ones just came along for the ride and moral support. Here we all are in a glass-bottom boat in Aquarena Springs yesterday (checking out the swimming portion of…
Since today is National Siblings Day, I wanted to share a coloring page I designed especially for brothers and sisters. This one features 2 Thessalonians 3:13. “As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.” That’s a good reminder, not only for children, but for parents, too. Wouldn’t…
A couple of weeks ago, I published a prayer for my country on my other blog, Loving Life at Home. I included a free printable copy of the prayer, in case any of my readers wanted to join me in praying for America: Since we have readers from all over the world, my husband suggested…
For today’s Word on Wednesday post, we’re memorizing the words of our humble and homeless Savior, who — in contrast to the wild animals His Father attends to so lovingly — hadn’t even a place to lay his head. In reference to those wild animal homes, sometimes God provides those directly. Sometimes He uses people…
Happy Sunday!! The coloring page I’ve prepared for you this week encourages us to run after righteousness. It features a passage packed with promise: “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” (Proverbs 21:21, NIV) Aren’t those great benefits? click to print our Running after Righteousness coloring page I hope you’ll enjoy coloring…
In honor of Presidents Day, I’m sharing my new printable of all the past US Presidents – Updated. [Note: I updated the PDF in February 2021 to include our newest sitting president, Joe Biden.] As a bonus, I’m also reposting links to our other presidential printables. Click on the descriptions below to download free worksheets,…
This week, I’m sharing a printable coloring page that’s one of my favorite verses. The verse reads, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10) Sadly, I often fall short on applying this principle to things like preparing meals or putting away laundry. While I usually do my work…
This week’s coloring page gets right to the point: Rejoice Always. Notice that God doesn’t tell us to “feel happy.” God commands us to “rejoice.” “Happiness” is a noun, a thing, an emotion, whereas “rejoice” is a verb. An action. A choice. What’s more, it’s the right choice. It’s the response God expects from us:…
Happy Sunday! This week’s The Earth is the Lord’s coloring page features 1 Corinthians 10:26. The earth and everything in it. The earth and all its fullness. The totality of our surroundings. The earth and everything it contains. All that abundance–every last thing that the eye can see belongs to the Lord our God. I…
I love weddings, don’t you? It is such a beautiful thing to witness a bride and groom pledge their life and love to one another before God and so many witnesses. It is especially moving when you know the couple takes the vows they are making seriously enough to remain committed through thick and thin,…
Can you believe how quickly the last twelve months flew by? Happy New Year, everybody! I grew up in a family that always ate black-eyed peas “for good luck” on New Year’s Day. But as an adult, I’ve found more helpful ways to jumpstart a great year. Here are my top six — with some…
I love the fresh start of a New Year, don’t you? I always make all sorts of resolutions. Although I’ve never succeeded in keeping all of my resolutions perfectly, I make enough forward progress in most of them that I’m encouraged to keep setting big goals, year after year after year. Thanks to resolutions I…
The response has been so positive to the free printable coloring pages I shared over Christmas that I’ve decided to make it a regular feature in the New Year, starting with this Teach Us to Number Our Days coloring page. I plan to upload a new one each Sunday. Many will be adapted from pages…
As I mentioned last week, one of the things I enjoy most about Christmas is getting to listen to beloved old carols all month long (like “O Come, Let Us Adore Him!”. (If you’re a fan of traditional carols, too, you may want to test your knowledge with this Christmas Carol Quiz.) While I sometimes…
Can you believe it’s only five more days until Christmas? I know this post is late, but we’ve been on the road all day, driving home from Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We had a wonderful time there, which I’ll tell you more about later. But for now I wanted to publish another Christ-centered Christmas resource: The Word…
One of my favorite things about December is getting to listen to Christmas carols all month long. I hear them playing in every store I shop, every restaurant I eat at, every church I visit. I love that fact! Perhaps the most universally recognized carol of all time is Silent Night: Silent night, Holy night,…
It seems like more and more of the Christmas season is spent shopping these days — shopping for stuff that rarely satisfies. Have you noticed that? Beginning with Black Friday and continuing right up through eleventh-hour runs to the grocery store on Christmas Eve, we devote a large portion of our time in December to…
As much as we stress the importance of having daily quiet times, in an active household like ours, quiet moments are few and far between. Sometimes the best we can do is stop and be still. That’s because noise is a natural byproduct of having ten people under one roof. And when that number swells…
Every year, as our family takes time at Thanksgiving to enumerate all the many blessings with which God has blessed us, the things that top all our lists invariably revolve around relationships: Our relationship with Jesus. Our relationship to one another. Our marriage. Our children. Our family. Our friends. Our church. We are so thankful…
I’ve had such fun creating these devotional journals! With ten titles currently available and more in the works, there’s one to suit just about any personality. These creative books include journaling prompts, word studies, vintage artwork to color, and lots of scripture on each and every page. What readers are saying about our devotional journals:…
I love the look of freshly polished furniture, but am amazed at how briefly a good dusting job lasts. Either my mother polished the furniture a lot more frequently than I realized growing up, or the dust just didn’t accumulate back then like it does now, because I never remember it building up quite so…
Although we don’t have any pets of our own, we’ve been compassionately caring for animals in their hour of need for our whole married life. It was 1992 when the first black cat showed up on our doorstep during a thunderstorm. She was pregnant and pitiful, so we gave her a warm basket and a…
Our family has been doing some belated “spring cleaning” lately: moving furniture, steaming carpets, painting walls, touching up trim, etc. It’s kept us busy for several weeks already, and we’re not even halfway finished with our to-do list! It has required a lot of teamwork and a lot of heavy lifting. Some things, like desk…
I got up during the night a couple of weeks ago and accidentally stepped on something sharp. I jumped back in pain, but since we were in a hotel room at the time and I didn’t want to wake the rest of the family, I just felt around in the dark, trying (without success) to…
My twelve-year-old Isaac and I took a short trip this morning and had about 30 minutes in the car together to talk. We discussed all sorts of things, but during the course of that half-hour conversation, he mentioned he was considering a career in engineering, because he was interested in building a jet-powered propulsion suit…
We have lots of Lego fans at our house, and I’ve recently run across a couple of resources I know they’re going to love. So on the off chance your kids are as crazy about those little building blocks as mine are, I thought I’d share a round-up of all these fresh, fun ideas for…
Our family has always enjoyed a competitive round of Putt-Putt golf, although we normally save that activity for vacation. We love playing semi-challenging courses with lots of waterfalls and pirate ships and caves and bridges. Sometimes our littlest guys get to play free, but it means sporting a plastic club instead of a real one….
I had lunch with a friend last week whom I’d not seen for some time. I knew she was in the midst of some very significant trials, so as I hugged her neck in greeting, I told her our family has been been praying for her and asked how she was holding up. As she…
In honor of Constitution Day, I thought I’d share a free printable of Ben Franklin’s request for prayer at the Constitutional Convention back in 1787. Addressing the President, he wisely observed: I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God…
Our son Samuel decided at age 11 that he wanted to learn to play the violin. He tracked down a store that would rent him an instrument to own, found a teacher who would come to our house for lessons, then got up at 5:30 every morning in order to practice for an hour before…
My husband had the privilege of baptizing our youngest child last Sunday. It was a special time for all involved, a fact to which Doug alludes in the video: Abigail's Baptism Immediately before the baptism, the elders played a taped interview with Abigail in which they asked her about sin, about Jesus’ death on the…
My husband does not like to go to photography studios, so for the past two decades I’ve taken almost all our family portraits myself. I set my camera up on a tripod, frame the shot the way I want, and use a remote to release the shutter. In the days before remotes, I would run…
Last weekend, I helped throw a wedding shower for a long-time family friend. Isn’t she a beautiful bride? And she’s just as lovely inside as she is out. My husband is always thrilled when I host this sort of event in our home, because it means that the house gets an extra-thorough cleaning and that…
The year after we moved to Tyler, the Parks and Recreation Department built a new skate park. That was 17 years ago, back when we had a garage full of rollerblades and a house full of aspiring stuntmen (including my husband, who probably should have known better). He drove our sons to Noble E. Young…
In Hebrews 12:1, we read this admonition: “Therefore seeing we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily ensnare us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” One of our sons is getting married…
For years, my husband has talked about getting a drum set, but resisted the urge, because drums take up so much space. That decision suited me just fine, as the thought of having twelve kids in the same house as a set of drums didn’t appeal to me in the least! I imagined them beating…
In Psalm 72:6-7 we read a prayer of Solomon in which he asks God to bless the King and to make the King a blessing to others. He prays: “May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of…
Of the twelve babies I’ve mothered, a couple have sucked fingers and two or three have taken pacifiers, but the majority of them have refused to be satisfied by anything but Mama’s milk. Babies want the real deal. They long for milk. They crave it. They squawk when they don’t get it. Although fingers and…
Today’s Word on Wednesday is 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, which centers on a gardening theme. A while back, our son Benjamin built our family a raised vegetable garden. Most of our yard is shaded, so he found the sunniest spot available and placed it there. He planted and tended it himself the first season we had…
My sister is a school teacher, so she is always coming up with smart new ways to teach important lessons. Last time I was at her house, I noticed a clever saying on the wall over her desk. An example of when being slow is good: If you look closely, you can tell she just…
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been reading a lot of great books this summer. Our family goes to the pool several times a week, and my husband and I spend most of our time there reading poolside while the children swim. Unfortunately, Doug loves the sun, and I love the shade (primarily because he tans…
Our family loves going to the beach. We usually go off season, which means we avoid the crowds, but it also means the water is colder than in the height of summer. So we spend most of our time there playing in the sand instead of riding the waves. We bury one another in sand……
In honor of Father’s Day, I thought I’d share a poem I wrote for my husband many years ago when our children were younger. Enjoy! A Hero in the Making (by Jennifer Flanders) Our little one is watching– Can’t you see it in his eyes? How he brightens at the sight of you With happy,…
Last summer, my three little guys attended a one-week soccer camp near our house and have been begging to go back ever since. So I just signed them up to attend again this summer, only this time, their little sister is old enough to join them. And she’s just as excited about the prospect as…
A friend of mine recently lost her father to cancer. She was telling me afterwards that his funeral was packed with people she’d never even met. People to whom he’d shown quiet, generous kindness. People who had traveled great distances to attend, many, many of whom offered the same testimony: They had been struggling. Had…
My husband served in the Army Medical Reserves for many years. When full-time Army docs were deployed to Iraq, medical reservists were activated stateside to fill in for them while they were overseas. That explains why our-family-of-twelve-at-the-time spent four months squeezed into a 500 sq. ft. apartment in the bachelor barracks at Fort Bliss during…
As a mother with a marvelously efficient metabolism, I have always been amazed at the amount of food my sons can pack away without gaining so much as an ounce of fat. Several years ago, I brought a carton of 2½ dozen eggs home from the grocery store at 9:00 p.m., but couldn’t find an…
My youngest child turned five last month. Earlier this year, she learned how to pedal her bike without training wheels. (You can see her in action here.) Clearly, she’s not a baby anymore. So this week, we’ve been cleaning closets, clearing out crib mobiles and baby blankets and cotton onesies, getting ready for a garage…
Several months ago, my husband brought home some new cordless phones to replace our old set whose reception had grown rather glitchy. The new phones get crystal clear reception, which means now we can actually understand what people who call us are trying to say. The only problem is that this new set does not…
I called my husband at work last week to tell him something and prefaced my comments with, “I have some great news…” To which he immediately replied, “You’re pregnant!” Sadly, that wasn’t what I’d called to tell him — and at age 50, it’s seeming less and less likely that I will ever be making…
This week’s memory verse (2 Corinthians 5:17) reminds me of spring. Don’t you love springtime? All the dead leaves of winter have been swept away, the lawn scalped, the flowerbeds cleaned out, and every day new signs of life appear. New baby birds chirp in their nests, young squirrels scamper about the yard, bulbs that…
It’s time for another Word on Wednesday post. This week, our verse is Galatians 5:13 on serving one another: Yesterday was my birthday. I turned fifty. That’s 5-0. And one of my precious daughters made me a very special surprise for my birthday — a deck of fifty cards, each with something she loves about…
I took tennis for a semester in high school. Although I was never very good at it, I did learn a few things about how the game is (supposed to be) played. For instance, I learned that you can only serve one ball at a time. Not only would it be against the rules for…
Growing up, I was something of a tomboy — a tomboy who lived for adventure. As such, the thought of skydiving always appealed to me. I mentioned that fact to my father a couple of times when I was little, but he refused to grant me permission to try it until after I turned forty….
Today is April Fool’s Day! When you live in a house with as many children as I do, you can be sure at least some of them have some tricks up their sleeves that they’ve been saving for just such an occasion! Dollar bills on a string. Rubber bugs in the pantry. Short-sheeted beds. Meatloaf…
My mother worked outside the home during most of my growing-up years, and I remember that the first thing she liked to do when she came home every evening was to change out of her dress clothes into a house robe. She had several to choose from, but they were all soft and warm and…
While their older brother was home from medical school last week, my little ones grabbed their Scripture memory flashcards and went through the whole deck, so he could see how many Bible verses they’ve learned so far this year. And I can tell you, Samuel was pretty impressed with how easily they recalled what we’d…
We’ve been on Spring Break this week. We have two children in college, two in dental school, and one in medical school, and — for the first time ever — their various academic calendars synced, so that they were all off at the same time. They opted to spend the week camping. In the rain….
This week’s verse has both practical and spiritual applications: “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”…
Proverbs 18:22 tells us, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.” That verse is near and dear to my heart for two reasons: First, because I sincerely want it to be my husband’s testimony of me. It would make me so sad to think that my actions…
Today I’m sharing something to help your kids keep quiet in church: A free sermon notes printable for children. Our family spent most of January touring the East Coast. This extended road trip gave us the opportunity to attend three different out-of-town churches. Last Sunday morning, we worshipped with The Church at Brook Hills in…
We’re home at last from our East Coast vacation. We got to do and see a lot of wonderful things while we were away, but when our family recounted “high points/ low points” on the drive back to Texas, my four-year-old said without hesitation that her favorite part of this trip was “getting to play…
I love all the extra mail the month of December brings with it. It’s fun to open all the pretty Christmas cards and see the family photos, but I especially enjoy reading the newsy letters that are often included. If you’ve ever thought about sending such a letter to your own friends and family at…
Although a grateful heart is something we should cultivate continually, it is especially fitting — in the days leading up to Thanksgiving — to be mindful of the many ways God has blessed us. Quick: Can you name 5 things you’re thankful for, off the top of your head? Here’s a little chart to help…
Do you know what today is? It’s US Constitution Day! That’s because on September 17, 1787, our nation’s founding fathers met to sign the document they had drafted in the preceding weeks of the Constitutional Convention. Referencing the system of government outlined and established in this Constitution, Benjamin Franklin wrote that he was amazed “to…
We have a little three-year-old at our house who has been having trouble with her “K” sound. She was substituting a “T” sound instead, so we’d hear from her things like, “Mommy, tan I have a tandy tane?” So I decided a little concentrated work on that consonant was in order. Unfortunately, the “K-Cats” I…
We’ve had a lot going on at our house and on our website this month. So I thought a quick update was in order. We’ve added a potpourri of printables, including Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (scroll to the bottom of this post to print), some Subway Art for Valentine’s Day, and children’s chore charts (now translated…
The bright sunny days and the break from school that we’ve enjoyed over the past few weeks may have made us feel like summer had already arrived, but the season does not get its official start until today, June 21, the first day of summer! Nevertheless, we’re getting started early with a brand new 31…
Despite the fact that February is so short, I finished a record number of books last month, including The Flipside of Feminism and six others. This is partly due to the fact that we also did a fair amount of traveling (so we read while we were on the road) and partly due to the…
We’ve amassed quite a collection of Valentine’s Day printables over the years, so I thought I’d round up all the links here so you can view them in one place. That’s what this post is. I call it my Ultimate List of Valentine’s Day Resources. All the resources are free, so you can pick and…
October is drawing to a close. Don’t let it end without remembering Reformation Day. The following ideas make a great family history lesson or homeschool unit study. One of my favorite Reformation era quotes? Martin Luther’s “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.” That is…
Question: Where can I order a homeschool diploma? Hi, Jennifer. My homeschooled son will be graduating from high school in May. I’ve just about completed his transcript, but am wondering how to go about getting him a diploma. I remember seeing the ones you gave your kids at graduation, and I really liked them. Where…
Our daughter Bethany found this one-year Bible reading plan online, and we love it. Daily readings rotate through the epistles, history, gospels, poetry, prophesy, proverbs, and law, so readers get a nice variety throughout the week. No getting bogged down in Leviticus and Deuteronomy for a solid month! If you’d like a reminder, you can…
Since one of the best things you can do for your children is love your spouse, in this section you’ll find fresh ideas for nurturing your relationship to your spouse. Have a question about marriage that you don’t see addressed here? We encourage you to write us. We will do our best to answer, either…
Start Here So many books! So little time! That’s why I recommend beginning with the best book ever written: The Bible. That’s the book I start with nearly every day. It provides a solid foundation and framework for interpreting and weighing everything else I read. I’ve read all the way through the Bible multiple times…
