Hey Safe Haven Family!

😊 I've been thinking about you and how much faith it takes for you to homeschool. I wrote a blog post here that will encourage you in your decision to homeschool and edify you in the faith and courage it takes for you to daily set up an atmosphere of learning and trust the learning process to produce the results you want in your children - that they will acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

Homeschooling Takes Great Faith - But I Have Faith that You Can Do It!




Homeschooling takes great faith and dedication.

Mom, you deserve a medal🥇, a trophy🏆, a big salary💰! 

But we know what the true rewards are. All moms are blessed to feel the love we have for our children that is like no other. It is an honor and a privilege to raise children, and when we homeschool we get to spend more time with them and watch them learn and grow. We get to help them become all that they were meant to be. 

But some of us are trying so hard to do everything right that we miss out on the light-hearted fun times that come with kids and imagination. Please make sure that you are not so concerned about grades and test scores, finishing workbooks, and keeping your house tidy that you don't notice the funny, witty, brilliant things that your children do every day.

Take advantage of the teachable moments. Enjoy the zany moments. 🤪 Catch your kids being creative and praise them for it. 🎨🖼🖊

Sometimes we have to stop taking everything so seriously. Give yourself some grace. Be realistic about what you can do in a day, and make sure the most important things get done. If you find yourself getting impatient (Heaven forbid!😂), take a break.

👩‍👦  My daughter has only been a mom for a little over a year, but she has already figured this out. (She learned it a lot sooner than I did. I was a Mommy Martyr.) She knows that she is a better mommy when she takes a day each week to go to the gym. She has her sister babysit, so Alessio gets time with his Aunt Kelsey, and Anna gets time to exercise and relax (if that's possible) without the constant concern and work of making sure Alessio is taken care of during that brief time. She is so excited and anxious to see Alessio when she gets back home, and the drudgery that comes with too much of the same thing is wiped away.
She talked about it here:

https://www.tiktok.com/@flamewithgame/video/7466323789509299502

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I've started writing on Substack, so if you're on Substack, I'd love it if you'd follow me there. I'm sharing homeschool stories and wisdom I've picked up along the way as I raised 10 kids and homeschooled them through many crises and cross-country moves and confusing life situations. Homeschooling has kept us together and made it possible for us to survive as a family. I encourage homeschool families to do whatever it takes to make it work, because homeschooling is a blessing to the children and to the family. 

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I just found out about something that can clean your blood! Life is in the blood. And when our blood is clean, our bodies can regenerate and reverse the effects of aging. The testimonies of people who are using it are amazing. They say you can Live Younger Now. Check out iHeRQles here. I just got mine yesterday, so I'll let you know the results I see.

Find out how to get rid of microplastics and zombie cells.

This video tells the history of Nu Xtrax which makes iHeRQles.

This is a really good video called The Toxic Truth about what is making our blood dirty and clogging our microvessels.

If you are interested in checking out these products, go to my website here:

https://www.nuxtrax.com/penneydouglas

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Last month, I shared our journey of loss and faith when we lost our home and had to stay with my parents. After a month, we obeyed God’s call and left Ohio for Arizona. Though uncertain, we trusted Him and packed up our van—eight children, ten duffle bags, eight pillows, and a big bag of books.

I rode in the back to protect our slightly rambunctious 4-year-old, who might have been pummeled by his siblings otherwise. The duffle bags blocked the windows, leaving me unable to see outside. I traveled across the entire country, from Ohio to Arizona, without seeing a thing!

That journey, though challenging, was one of faith and obedience. Each mile brought us closer to God’s plan, even when we couldn’t see where we were going—literally and spiritually.

Homeschooling requires the same faith. It’s about stepping out, trusting that God will provide, even when the path is unclear. Let me help you develop the confidence to homeschool fearlessly, knowing He will equip you every step of the way.

I want to invite you to walk with me and my son, Shawn, through your homeschool journey. We put together a course, and I would love to go through the course with you.

The Basics of Learning and Homeschooling coaching e-course

I will teach you about readiness, learning styles, stages of development, and other factors that make it easier for children to learn.

We want to make learning easier for children, not harder. With this understanding, you will feel more confident about your ability to evaluate your child's needs and the best way to meet them.

My son, a homeschool graduate, shares his knowledge and ideas about homeschooling and learning in the videos in this course. He has studied these concepts, because he cares about how children are taught as he endeavors to reach out to the younger generations with advice and encouragement, so they can live their best life.

Through this coaching program, you will have weekly access to me, and I will answer questions and follow up on the teaching from the modules. If you have personal questions, we can schedule a private call. You will see a more peaceful, content attitude in your child when you start practicing the methods I teach in this course. I will help you feel confident and know that you are doing a good job of homeschooling your child.

I want to be your  homeschool life coach .
Join me here! You can also watch this video of my husband interviewing me about the course.

✏In next month's newsletter, I'll share a powerful experience that showed me learning is always at work. Even when we're not actively teaching a skill like reading, our kids' brains are constantly processing, connecting, and building on prior knowledge. Learning doesn’t pause—it unfolds in the background, shaping understanding and mastery in ways we might not even notice.

Thanks for reading! 📜

As always, if you have any prayer requests 🙏, please hit reply and let me know. I've had a few reach out to me with requests, and it has been my absolute honor to pray for them every day. I write them in my book every day and pray for them.

🌻Love,

Penney Douglas, B. S. in Elem. Ed.

Safe Haven Homeschooling 




My books on Amazon




Curriculum I've created with a Charlotte Mason twist plus other conventional types of curriculum




E-course I created - The Basics of Learning and Homeschooling




Coaching Course I created - Also called The Basics of Learning and Homeschooling - I take you through the course and do a coaching call with you each month




My shop for homeschool merch, t-shirts, mugs, notebooks, phone covers, and much more!




linktr.ee/penneydouglas - All the places you can find me!




Changed By Love - My original Blog about Homeschooling, Family, Faith, and Alternative News




My YouTube Channel - Safe Haven Homeschooling Channel - Homeschool Encouragement for Newbies and Burnt-out veterans, Family projects, Relationship Building, and Interviews with Homeschool Experts

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Warm January Greetings Safe Haven Family!

I hope this newsletter finds you well. I hope it warms your heart to know that Someone is thinking of you. You are always on His mind. Never forget that.

If you are struggling this winter season, think about the verses in the Bible that talk about how He takes care of the sparrow and the lilies of the field. He will meet your every need. You are important to Him. Read Luke 12:22-34 to build your faith.

Back in 2005 our family experienced God’s miraculous provision over and over again.

I wrote about the first part in this blog post.

The day came when we knew that the bank had us in foreclosure. We prayed that God would keep us in our house. We had marched around our property praying and giving it to God. We tried to sell the house since we couldn’t keep up mortgage payments, but it wouldn’t sell. We didn’t know what God was doing! We didn’t try to make plans for a place to go because we thought that would show a lack of faith.

We just prayed that God would do something miraculous when they came to make us leave our house. Well, He did, but it wasn’t what we were expecting – at all.

On Feb. 22, 2005 we all gathered in the living room to pray. The little ones were still in bed asleep. The twins were only 1 year old. Morgan was 4. The knock came at the door. Gary answered the door and let the sheriff in. Two other men followed him in. They looked around the room in amazement at all of us calmly sitting in the living room – Shawn, Katie, Patrick, Anna and Kelsey and me. They asked what we were doing, and Gary told them we were praying. They kind of looked at each other and shook their heads. Gary said he would go wake the other children. One of the men followed him to the kids’ bedroom. The sheriff asked me if we had somewhere to go and I told him no. He asked if we had family in the area, and I said we did, but we couldn’t go to live with them. He seemed perplexed. So was I. Where was God? Where was that miracle we were looking for?

The guy who followed Gary into the bedroom came out and conversed with the sheriff. They went outside to talk. Then they came back in and called me and Gary to talk with them privately in our bedroom. The guy’s name was Tony. He was from MERS. They were the mortgage people. He told us that he had made some phone calls and told them what he found. They agreed to let us stay in the house one more week if we promised to pack up and be ready to leave the house in that time. We agreed. Then he asked the sheriff to leave so he could speak to us privately. He asked us if we had any food. We had just run out of food that morning. For the first time during the whole 4 years, we didn’t have cereal or milk or the makings for a meal. I told him that. 

He nodded and said, “I thought so.” He and the other guy (who we found out was a realtor that was going to handle selling the house for the mortgage company) put money together and gave us $500! And then Tony told us to give him a grocery list and he would go buy us groceries. And then he took an order from us and went to McDonald’s and doubled everything we ordered and brought it to us. He went to the grocery store and got us twice the stuff we had put on the grocery list, too. He said that in the future it could be him in this situation and he was showing mercy in hopes that he would be shown mercy if it ever happened to him. We were so grateful and shocked at everything he was doing. We sang some songs for him. He couldn’t believe us. He took Gary aside and remarked about how calm we all were and how well-mannered all of the children were. He asked how we did it. Gary told him we were just believing God to take care of us, and we prayed all the time, and we were trying to obey Him. Tony was blown away by the whole thing.

We spent that week packing halfheartedly. I still didn’t believe that God would let us lose our house. I thought He was going to rush in with some kind of miracle that would let us keep our house. I took some special things that I didn’t want to lose over to Mom’s house, but I didn’t tell her why. I didn’t want to upset her, and I didn’t want anybody to hurt my faith.

The next Saturday was Mar. 1, 2005. They came with movers and moving trucks and started loading up our stuff. There was still a lot to pack, so they had to do it for us. Tony told me I had to leave and take the kids, but Gary could stay and help pack. I got the kids loaded in the van, then sat there. I had no place to go. That’s when it hit me that we were really going to have to find somewhere else to live and that our house was no longer ours. But I still didn’t know where to go, so I just sat there. Finally, my friend Gina who had been helping me pack told me to come to her house. I followed her then went into her tiny house and sat, not knowing what to do. She called a few friends and asked if they knew of any place for rent, but nobody did. She made a decision and told me that we could stay at her house. I couldn’t believe it or see that it was possible. She said that she would pay for a hotel for us for 2 nights and she and her daughter would clear out 2 bedrooms for us and we could just stay there until we found something else.

Meanwhile, back at the house that was no longer ours, Tony was doing some more amazing things to help us. He told Gary to find a local storage facility to take our stuff to so that we could actually get to it instead of the movers taking it to some warehouse where we could never get to it and would never see it again. Gary found out where a storage place was, and Tony had the movers put our stuff in two storage units there. Then Tony paid the first month’s storage!

He talked to Gary about programs that would help us find a place to live and help him find a job, but we didn’t feel that we were supposed to go that route, so we politely turned down any of those offers.

I know now that I should have been standing on the Word and saying it and believing it instead of just hoping that it was true, but really doubting in my heart. I should have saturated myself in faith teaching and saying the Word over and over again, but I wasn’t convinced in my heart.

God had to take us through a lot to build true faith in my heart. In the process, He built up my kids’ faith so that they trust God for everything. My prayers for my children that they would believe in Him, know Him and love Him with all their hearts have been answered. It was a difficult journey, but the results have been very good.

Gary and I are still recovering from the shock. But there’s no denying that God took good care of us through the whole ordeal. We never went hungry, and we always had a roof over our heads. Even in Arizona, Colorado and Missouri, where we didn’t know a soul and we didn’t have any money.

I tell this story in the hopes that someone who is facing foreclosure or something similar will be encouraged to trust God and know that no matter what happens, God will take care of you. He takes us where we are and makes all things work together for our good even if we’re not to the point where we can use our faith like some people do.

Our story isn’t over. I believe with all of my heart that God has great things in store for us. I believe He will give us a house and land debt-free. I’m saying these things out loud now. I really believe them now.

I hope this story encourages you. You can trust God in any situation. He will take care of you. He took care of us along with our 8 young children.

If you want to read more about the many miracles God did for us after we left our house, you can find the rest of that story in my book Refined By Fire on Amazon.

Read to the end of the book and see how God surprised us with a large sum of money after a long time of financial struggle and hardship. We had been expecting God to do something big for us, and when He did, it shocked me!

The way that things are changing in the economy and the exposure that is happening, I believe that great things are on the way. The old is passing away, the new is coming. Be ready for some good changes to happen. And get ready to learn the truth about things that have been hidden from us for decades. We have been lied to, but the truth is coming out!

If you know someone who is struggling with thoughts of suicide make sure you tell them about this site that is set up to bring them healing in their minds and souls. CallUs4Help.Live has videos and audios and instructions for how to stop a panic attack, along with encouraging words by Theresa Griffith about how God sees you.
There is also a list of crisis hotlines they can call.

Here’s a good way to start the new year: The 31-Day Wisdom Challenge with Pedro Adao and amazing speakers every day in January. It’s free! I’ve participated in it every year and it really gets me into the Word, especially the book of Proverbs. I think it’s the best way to start a new year getting a big dose of wisdom from the book of Proverbs!

~~~~~Family Corner~~~~~

Our family is entering Birthday Season. My son Morgan’s birthday is today, Dec. 31st. Then my oldest son, Shawn, will have a birthday on Jan. 5. Then Emma’s birthday is Jan. 8th. Then the twins, Garrett and Fiona, have their birthday on Jan. 10th. We just leave the tree up until the middle of January so we can put their birthday presents under it.

Even though we are in a less-than-ideal situation having to live with family and the “kids” having to live in a basement, we are making the best of it. We got a teeny tiny Christmas tree and Morgan and Garrett got gifts for everyone since they have jobs and money. Gary got a job that will start in the middle of January. That will help. But we’re believing for something far greater in the near future – for all of us!

~~~~~~Homeschool Corner~~~~~

How to Get Your Kids to Do Their Work Without a Fight
It starts with relationship. We need to build relationship with each of our children. We need to spend time with each one getting to know them. We need to win their hearts, tie heartstrings, through the way we treat them, the things we do for them, the things we do with them, etc. We need to make sure they know how much we love them.

Then from there, we can lead them to the Lord. If they see us as kind, loving parents, they will be more likely to see God that way. As they grow in maturity and in their personal relationship with God, they will desire to please Him, and that will transfer over to pleasing their parents. We teach them what the Bible says about how children can please God. Children, obey your parents. Honor your father and mother. We teach them the commandments, and their behavior and attitudes start to line up with the Word of God.

This leads to our children wanting to obey, for this is right. So when we ask them to do their schoolwork, they are more willing to do it, out of obedience.

Now, we need to do our best to make the work as pleasant as possible and make sure that what we’re requiring of them is truly beneficial to them. We should not give them busywork. We should not load them down with more work than they are really capable of doing. We should think about how we would feel if we had the assignment that we are giving to our child. We should focus on real-life learning.

We should make sure the skills are taught when they are ready to learn them. We should make learning a lifestyle so that it is natural and not forced.

Homeschooling shouldn’t be difficult or tedious. Make learning an adventure. Get excited about the topics that your children are exploring. Find out what they’re interested in and provide materials and resources for them to go deep into the topic.

If they are studying and reporting on a topic that really interests and excites them, they are not going to fight you about doing it.
So build a strong relationship with your kids and make learning an adventure, and you will not have to fight your kids to get them to do their schoolwork.

This is from a blog post  and also posted here on Facebook.

For more content like this join my Facebook Challenge group called Homeschooling Can Be Fun Challenge.

And for a Facebook group that helps you make your homeschool more fun, join us here.

For a conference that was chockfull of great speakers about homeschooling high school, check out the Intentional Homeschool Planning Conference 2023.
It was an amazing conference with topics like choosing curriculum, preparing for college, time management for teens, building relationships with your teens, mental health, scheduling, entrepreneurship, and so much more.

And if you would like to fellowship with like-minded women who love to read and are seeking to be the best we can be, join us in the Christian Moms Book Club.

I pray that you have a Blessed New Year that is the Best Year of your life.

Penney Douglas, B. S. in Elem. Ed.
Safe Haven Homeschooling

Changed By Love Blog 

Basics of Learning and Homeschooling E-course

Curriculum for Charlotte Mason and other Homeschoolers

Merch for Homeschoolers and Families  – T-shirts, home and living, notebooks, baby clothes

My New Etsy Shop

My Books and Products

Safe Haven Homeschool Coaching Program

My Books on Amazon

What a difference a month has made! 

Since I last wrote, we have stayed in 4 more Airbnb’s! We stayed in one in Texas that was more suburban than the first one that was in downtown Houston. From there, I tried to find another place in Texas and even made reservations at three of them, but they all fell through. So we started looking elsewhere. Gary showed me a cabin in Tennessee, and I suddenly knew! We were supposed to go to the state that I really want to live in. That is, Tennessee or North Carolina. So I started checking out Airbnb’s in Tennessee, and I found a beautiful cabin that I just had to have! So a friend helped us, and we were able to rent this amazing, fabulous cabin that was like a dream. The view from the deck was breathtaking. I sat out there every day and did my tutoring and my praying and listening to the Lord. We were living in luxury.

After that, we went to one in North Carolina. We had to drive through the Smokies to get there. What a beautiful drive! I have been getting my love tank filled up with nature. We ended up on a mountain with some real mountain people, many of whom have lived there all their lives and their families have lived there for generations. We had to drive past several shacks and impoverished houses. It was quite a culture shock for our kids. But the house we stayed in was nice. Once again, I had a deck with a fabulous view to do my tutoring and praying, and listening. Our second Airbnb had 2 really nice gazebos. I spent every day out in a gazebo doing my daily tasks. I have become an outside girl! I didn’t realize how much I had missed nature. Now I just can’t get enough of it. As soon as I get up, I head outside. 

Now we’re in a beautiful mountain house and cabin. The kids have the house, and Gary and I have the cabin. And guess what – there’s a deck! This one is built further down the mountain from the house. So I’m getting some exercise walking down the stairs (and back up) to do my tutoring, praying, and listening on a beautiful deck in the middle of the forest!

When we started in March, we didn’t have any money. We couldn’t leave the house, even though the landlord was insisting and we ourselves wanted to get out of that house. We couldn’t afford to move anything or to put it in storage. A series of very fortunate events started happening so that now we have been able to afford to stay in some beautiful houses worth a small fortune! The Lord provided abundantly above all that we could ask or think. We didn’t have any idea that we were going to stay in one Airbnb after another. We couldn’t see how we could do that. We only knew that we would stay in a hotel for a week. After that, we had no plan, no idea. Possibly going to stay with family who didn’t really have room for us. But that didn’t work out. So the Lord said, “Look for an Airbnb.” And the rest is history! And probably an Airbnb record!

We’re still waiting for our time to settle in our own home. We feel like pilgrims wandering from place to place. But good things are being accomplished during this time. I met a couple of friends in person that I have been friends with online for quite a while. We are checking out the area that we think we want to settle in and finding out what we want and what we don’t want in a house. 

Our hearts are set on pilgrimage. We must be some kind of pioneers.

Psalm 84:5-7 says, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.”  

Or, as The Passion Translation puts it:

“How enriched are they who find their strength in the Lord; within their hearts are the highways of holiness!”

Psalm 84:5 TPT

“Even when their paths wind through the dark valley of tears…”

Psalm 84:6 TPT

“They grow stronger and stronger with every step forward, and the God of all gods will appear before them in Zion.”

Psalm 84:7 TPT

Doug Addison wrote a very good post about 3 Keys from Psalm 84 here

that gives us great encouragement and outlines a blueprint for how to walk through the dark days that we are in. 

I want to encourage you to keep your eyes on Jesus as you hear about food shortages, wars, rumors of wars, and economic meltdown. Keep trusting Jesus to take care of you and your family.

As the song goes, “I put my faith in Jesus, my anchor, to the ground. My hope and firm foundation. He’ll never let me down.”

Promises (feat. Joe L Barnes & Naomi Raine) | Maverick City Music | TRIBL

“Great is Your faithfulness to me. From the rising sun to the setting same, I will praise Your name.”

And I’ll end this newsletter with another song from Maverick City.

A “Million Little Miracles” is what we have seen, especially during the month of April. I wrote a caption on one of the pictures I posted on Facebook of me and Gary standing on the deck of the house in Tennessee that said, “Pinch us, we must be dreaming.” That’s how I feel. God has been doing miracle after miracle for us. We are so grateful.

You can find “Million Little Miracles” here:

Million Little Miracles | Elevation Worship & Maverick City

I pray that this little letter encourages you all.

~ Homeschool Corner ~

If you are a homeschooler, I hope that you can see that homeschooling does not have to be perfectly planned and executed. We are amazed to see the plan that God had for us, but we sure didn’t plan any of this. My husband always says we’re strapped into the seat of a roller coaster and we can’t control where it goes or how fast or what curves are coming up or anything else. Our faith is in Jesus as far as taking care of our family, but also in our homeschooling. I could be worried and fearful about the lack of consistent “schooling” I’m able to do right now, but I’m not. I know that the kids are learning important life skills through all of this, including trusting God for everything. And that’s really the most important life skill of all!

The kids are a little tired of having to move so often, but they are real troopers. Morgan has become our chef. He fixes delicious, nutritious dinners for us every night, and sometimes makes crepes for us in the morning. He is constantly searching out inexpensive recipes that stretch really far and taste good. He makes the grocery list and tries to keep the bill as low as possible. The girls pitch in and help him cook, and they are learning some new recipes too. Gary fixed pancakes for everybody the last couple of mornings. We’re so thankful to be in Airbnb’s instead of hotels.

It almost feels like we’re camping. We had a bonfire last night and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Fiona made smores for us. 

And we pray together, asking the Lord, “Where to next?” And we pray for God’s will to be done in our lives and in our nation.

We’ve seen parts of the country we’ve never seen before. It’s a great geography lesson for all of us!

So I’m not concerned about book learning that isn’t happening. We’ll do some more of that when we get settled. Right now it’s all about finding God’s will for our lives and learning how to live by faith.  

The theme for this season is Trust and Obey. With a lot of waiting, endurance, and perseverance thrown in for good measure.

What is your theme for this season?

If you need some new curriculum to change things up a little here at the end of the year, check out my Charlotte Mason-style journals here.

Oh yeah! Happy Mother’s Day! 

I have a great idea! Tell your husband and your kids that you NEED  Short, Powerful Prayers for Busy Homeschool Moms for Mother’s Day. You can get it and my other books here.

Have a blessed Mother’s Day and a blessed May!

Penney Douglas, B. S. in Ed.

Safe Haven Homeschooling

Linktr.ee/penneydouglas

Changed By Love blog – my homeschool and personal blog

Safe Haven Homeschooling Curriculum