Ever since I got sick last year, I have had the urge to read biblical fiction books. Maybe it's because it makes me feel closer to God or maybe it's because I love reading about Bible characters in a new light. Whatever the reason, I have started this year with a lovely gift for myself which is The Delilah Box. The Delilah Box is designed for those of us who wish to learn about the lesser known, lesser liked and sometimes more relatable women of the Bible.


Each month is centered around a different Bible girl character and includes items that relate to that theme. Inside each box, you'll receive 2-3 books, herbal tea, bath salts, Bible journaling items, a candle, a devotion guide or other items.

The welcome box itself doesn't have a theme, but I received 3 great books! Two of them were fiction and the other was non-fiction. Of course fiction books are my preference and I'm super excited to dig into them. I've already started Light on the Hill and so far it's great!

I also received candy, bath salts, lip gloss, a pen, tea, a mirror, biblical wallet cards, the welcome guide and the owner's own story on becoming a widow. Plus everything was inside a beautiful cotton drawstring bag that you can reuse.

Want to see an in depth look at my welcome box? Check out my unboxing video below!




If you want to sign up for The Delilah Box, use code DELILAH at checkout to receive a 10% discount. Each month, the box is $29 which includes shipping. Personally I am completely in love and I can't wait to see what books I get each month to read!

Last month we decided to use Wisdom Panel to test Max's DNA. When we got him, we bought him from a private seller that said he was pure German Shepherd. Being the curious person I am and since I have DNA tested every dog we have had, I knew it was time to test max.




Using the kit was super easy and in the video above I show you exactly how, step by step. After we used the kit, we sent it back in the prepaid box that came with it and just waited for the email that said his results were ready. Below is the video on Max's result reveal!




Make sure to check out the video to see his reveal! And if you're interested in using Wisdom Panel, check out their site.

As someone with a chronic illness, it's often hard for people to understand just how you feel. Since I wear a mask everyday now, I often get asked if I have the flu or if I'm contagious. Most people don't understand chronic illnesses unless they've experienced them firsthand.

If someone is suffering from a chronic illness, it means that they are constantly sick. Even if they don’t seem like it, even if they are not always in pain or feeling unwell, their condition is ever-present, and this in itself can make them feel down and even depressed. Support is essential for their overall wellbeing; feeling happy and thinking positive thoughts can reduce pain and symptoms as well as make the illness less arduous to deal with.

If you are a carer, friend, or relative of someone who has a chronic illness such as diabetes, cancer, arthritis, or the aftermath of a stroke, amongst many other conditions, here are some of the best ways you can support them.

Check-In

It is easy to fall out of touch with people, and for those suffering from a chronic illness, it can be even easier – if they are unable or unwilling to go out, they may not see their friends much at all. This can have a detrimental effect on their mental health, which in turn will affect their physical health, potentially making them sicker than they were before.

Simply by calling, texting, sending a quick email, or even connecting through social media and asking if they are okay, talking about your day, giving them news and information, or just to make sure they are all right and to let them know you are thinking about them can be enough to help. Do this regularly, and you will both benefit from it.

Listen

You might reach out to someone who you know is dealing with a chronic illness as mentioned above, and that’s wonderful – it can make a difference. What will help even more and what you can do at the same time, is to listen to them. They may not have anywhere they can go to get advice, and they may not have anyone who they can talk to, worry with, or even rant to. Let them talk and let the worries and frustration come out. It will be better for them than holding everything back in.

Don’t assume you know what will be best for them; this is something only they can work out for themselves. Listen to what they say, and then you can act on it. If they want to find a support group, you can help with this. If they are interested in investigating how a different medication could help and they want your advice about serrapeptase and diabetes, talk it through. If they just want to tell you how unwell they feel and how they are in pain and what problems it is causing them, let them. They need all of this, and you can help them achieve it.

Be Flexible

Sometimes someone with a chronic illness will feel well enough to join in with the plans you have made. Sometimes they won’t. Often, they won’t know until the day itself how their condition is going to affect them. This is where flexibility on your part will truly help and will be another means of support for someone with a chronic illness.

Make sure that when you make plans that they include this person, and that the plans can be changed or postponed if needed. This will ensure that the sufferer doesn’t feel guilty for ‘ruining’ what you had intended to do together that day, and you can both do something that you can all manage instead. For example, you might have decided that a trip to the beach was a good idea, but when you go to pick up your friend, they can’t face the outside world. In that case, binge on a Netflix boxset and order pizza instead. Accepting that things change and that you might not be able to do the things you used to do together without recrimination or pity might be hard, but it is important.

Flexibility can make a big difference to a good relationship with someone who has a chronic illness, and it’s a useful life skill to learn for other situations too.

Do Your Research

When a loved one or friend is diagnosed with a chronic illness, it can be a scary time. They may feel very alone, and you may feel unequipped to help them, and perhaps be just as lost and confused as they are.

In this case, it is vital that you research the illness so that you can be as supportive as possible. The more you know, the more you can help, and that will make the sufferer feel loved and looked after.

Start by looking online to find out about the disease but remember that the internet can be full of information that isn’t quite right. You will get the beginnings of an understanding, however, and that is a good start. After that it can be useful to join forums and groups, attend meetings, or speak to a medical professional to get more information. They will be happy to help you, and then you will know how to help your loved one or friend a lot better.

Be Encouraging

The last thing that someone suffering from chronic disease will need is people pitying them. In most cases, the disease is a quirk of fate, and something that has no reason behind it (although this is not always the case, of course), and therefore isn’t something that can be pitied – it is something that simply needs to be dealt with. If you pity your friend and let them know that you feel sorry for them this is only going to make both them and you feel worse.

Instead of pity, show encouragement. They may not be able to walk as far as they once did, but rather than feeling sorry that they can’t go as far, be pleased for whatever steps they were able to take. Always look at the positive side of every situation, and you will find that this encouraging outlook will make everyone much happier.

When Paul and I first got married, we got pregnant right away with our twins, Jacob and Isabelle. But unfortunately, they ended up in a miscarriage. Afterwards, I thought getting pregnant would be just as easy so we kept trying. But after months of not getting pregnant and taking pregnancy tests to hear doctors say I wasn't pregnant, I was shocked. Finally we did get pregnant with Mary but did you know there are ways I could have been hindering my own fertility because of chemicals?

What are EDCs?

How can EDCs impact fertility levels?

How do EDCs work?

How Can You Avoid EDCs?

A Little Knowledge Goes a Long Way

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
In our homeschool, we typically use a lot of physical books and workbooks. It makes it easier to be able to find everything on our bookshelf and to be able to do school pretty much anywhere. We also love to use visual programs that are on the computer too. I love finding curriculum that is video based because Mary learns the best when she can see something in action. I think my least favorite type of curriculum is the kind that requires a lot of printing. Since my printer has been out of ink for who knows how long, if I find a curriculum I really love that needs printing, I send it over to Office Depot. Then I take it home and make a binder out of it. This year I was given the chance to check out the SchoolhouseTeachers.com Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership which offers a full curriculum for every grade from Pre-K all the way through 12th. The Ultimate membership offers full access to all the content on the site too so parents can build their own curriculum based on the needs of their children. And this is perfect for multi-children families because you can build curriculum for everyone for the same price! ] For Mary, we already had a full curriculum for 6th grade from other programs, but we were able to use SchoolhouseTeachers.com to supplement her existing curriculum. For example, I was able to search for programs that offered video content and found some great ones I wanted to use for history. The ones I picked were Drive Thru History because the curriculum is solely video based and then there are interactive quizzes right on the computer. 
If you're not the best at making lesson plans, SchoolhouseTeachers.com also has you covered with that. Each program has a downloadable lesson plan PDF that shows what lessons to teach for each day. It also has a checklist of the components that need to be included for each day.  Also included in the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership is an awesome video library that lets you stream 450+ videos on various subjects. Some are just for fun and others can be used for learning things like math and science. 

Currently SchoolhouseTeachers.com has numerous subject areas that you can choose from for curriculum. For Mary, I picked a few curriculums that I thought she would really enjoy. They were Extraordinary Women of the Bible, Drive Thru History, Trek to the Holy Land and Beyond, Exploring Poetry with Notebooking & Opening the Door to Poetry
For the ones that needed printing, I just saved the PDF files and sent them over to Office Depot. Office Depot also can hole punch for you so when I picked everything up, it was ready to go right in a binder.
Overall I am super impressed with SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I really love how you can browse by subject and also by grade. I mainly browsed by 6th grade so I could make sure Mary was learning for her age group. They have a great selection of curriculum and even though we had most of ours for this year, we were still able to find some fun ones for extra practice and learning. 
If you want to see what the other crew members thought of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, check out the picture below!