Saturday, June 20, 2015

bloom: A Journey to Joy (and Sanity) for Homeschool Moms

(Disclaimer: I was given a product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. This post contains my affiliate links, which means that if you choose to purchase through my links, I will make a small commission. Thank you!!!)

***This course is only on sale through tonight (Saturday, June 20, 2015) and will not be available again until sometime in 2016. Please make your purchase today!***

I want all my homeschool mama friends to know about this new online course called "bloom"! It's an 8-week video course that comes with a corresponding At Home Discovery Packet, which includes 88 pages of charts, exercises and writing prompts to get you thinking about how to have more joy in your life and subsequently, in your homeschool. The videos are pre-recorded, which makes it nice to be able to watch anytime, at your convenience. The sessions are about 20 minutes each, so nothing that requires sitting for hours and hours. You could listen/watch while you fold laundry or while you're sitting on the deck with a cup of coffee or even while cooking dinner for your family. 

Please forgive my tardiness in getting this information to you. I had agreed to review and promote "bloom" what seems like "way back" in April. It's crazy how things can change so drastically in a matter of just a few days or weeks. For many years now, I have held the belief that joy is a choice. I've even written in the past about my thoughts on encouraging more Christians to be happy. I believe Heaven to be the happiest place in existence, and we, as believers, are ambassadors of Heaven. So, while I believe happiness and joy go hand in hand, there are those times when life provides more opportunity to purposefully press through in choosing joy more than at other times. My experience these past 7 weeks has been a path of choosing joy. 

In the past couple of years, there has rarely been a time when I didn't blog on a weekly basis, and most of the time, I was posting several times each week. I had gotten into a nice groove. Until last month, when a friend's death, a severe sports injury in our family and some additional circumstances have left me needing more margin and rest. Life can throw some curve balls, and sometimes those curve balls require stepping back, praying more, re-evaluating, listening and waiting. So that's where I've been. That's really where I still am, and although I feel eager to move past it all, I know there is still a need to take a break and rest. 


This course goes right along with pursuing more of that joy that I've been talking about. I believe life can be filled with joy, even amidst the hard places and dark times. And Alicia does a wonderful job in the course to encourage us as homeschool mamas to evaluate what may be keeping that joy at bay in our daily lives and how to put pillars in place to keep it there. 

Here are the class titles to give you a better idea:

  •  Class 1: The Big Fat Lies (and the Truths That Set Us Free)
  •  Class 2: Firm Foundations: Building Rhythm Around Daily Pillars
  •  Class 3: Steps to Simple (and Rest-Filled) Days
  •  Class 4: Homeschooling Joy Stealers: Part 1: The Perfectionist Vice
  •  Class 5: Homeschooling Joy Stealers: Part 2: The Comparison Leech
  •  Class 6: Homeschooling Joy Stealers: Part 3: The Anger Monster
  •  Class 7: Needs and Opinions: How to Not Drown in the Tidal Wave
  •  Class 8: The Path to Perennial (not Annual) Joy
The awesome thing about the “bloom” course is that the learning is three-dimensional: First, you learn the information in the video classes; second, you process and apply the information through the at-home exercises; and third, you have the opportunity to discuss these issues in real time with other women going through the course via our general “bloom” Facebook group or one of our “bloom” Community Groups (hosted by other top homeschooling bloggers). In addition, the resources are always there, so you can always go back to a class and use the tools again and again to gain more wisdom as your life circumstances change.

Please let me know if you have any questions . . . you can contact me directly at scarlettroyce(at)gmail(dot)(com).

And don't forget that today is the very last day to purchase!


Blessings and love. xo



Friday, June 19, 2015

Rest in Peace




Photo credit: Yahoo News

Cynthia Hurd 
Susie Jackson
Ethel Lance
Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor
Hon. Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Tywanza Sanders
Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr.
Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Myra Thompson

(You can read more about their lives HERE.)


To my dear Brothers and Sisters of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina:

I am heartbroken and grieving over your horrific experience and the loss of the nine beautiful brothers and sisters who were killed on Wednesday. Neither my heart nor my mind can truly comprehend that such evil exists in the world and that your congregation was the target of such evil. I am so very sorry, and I stand with you. Please know I am praying for you with all my heart. 

I love you and am asking Jesus to help us heal and be one in Him. 

Your sister and friend,
Scarlett


Here is the precious son of one of the ladies who was killed. His heart and grace make me weep.



Jesus died a passionate death for us, so our love for Him should be as passionate. 
- Sister Jean German Ortiz
(Taken from the Emanuel AME Church website)

Blessings and love. xo