The “Secret Garden” Issue of The Girlhood Home Companion Is Now Available to Order!
Our beautiful new edition of 
The Girlhood Home Companion is now available for order. Expected delivery August, 29th, 2011
Dear Daughters, Mothers and Grandmothers,
God’s story began in a garden more beautiful and wondrous than our finite minds can comprehend. Filled with the splendor of His creativity and the glory of His presence, Eden was a paradise where the God of the Universe walked intimately with Adam and Eve, the crowning jewels of His Creation. And yet, as He expressed His love in a myriad of ways, they chose not to trust Him. Only too late did they realize that nothing – not one created thing – could compare to a personal relationship with the Living God.
Even now, God desires to walk intimately with us. He longs to dwell with us in the secret recesses of our heart – a sanctuary reserved just for Him. There is nothing, and no one who can fill the God-void in our hearts.
There are over 700 references to the heart in the Bible, and one of the most familiar is Proverbs 4:23: “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life”(NASB). The word “watch” means to guard, to hedge about (as with thorns), to protect, look narrowly, save (self), wait (for). It is an awesome privilege to keep our hearts hedged in for the God of the Universe. Like the walled-garden in The Secret Garden, it is our responsibility to open the door and step through the gate to a secluded place where The Master Gardener may speak intimately of His love for us, and we, our love for Him – a hidden place where He can comfort and give direction through the trials and tribulations of this life.
Frances Hodgson Burnett once wisely said, “Two things cannot be in one place. Where you tend a rose, a thistle cannot grow.” A spiritual parallel can be made – the rose symbolizing our faith, the thistle symbolizing our doubts. Doubt cannot take root where faith is growing, and praise God, Hebrews 12:2 tells us, Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. We do not walk the garden path alone but have His continual presence to accompany us.
We all know that roses are lovelier than thistles. They’re fragrant and soft as velvet, and they come in a palette of exquisite colors. Why after beholding the beauty of a single rose would anyone choose to grow a garden of thistles? In the same way, how can anyone doubt the love of God after beholding the beauty of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed His precious blood on Calvary?
How true the lyrics of the old hymn, “O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s a light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.”
It is our hope that this issue of The Girlhood Home Companion will be a well-spring of nourishment for the secret garden blossoming in your heart. May you become keenly aware of the Lord’s presence as He walks beside you morning, evening, and noontide – in the cool of the day – every day.
Blessings,
Jill Novak
Order a single issue here.
Order The Secret Garden Bundle here.
Target ship date 8/29/2011 Pre-order today!
June Giveaway Winners!
Thank you for participating in the June giveaway! The winners are: Maddy, Michelle, and Christine ! We will be contacting you for your addresses!
They said:
“Our family is looking forward to a week on the Oregon coast. I have 4 kids, three of which are girls. Would love to share this with them.” – Maddy
“I am excited that I have found your website. I have a daughter who is 8 and another that is 13 months. I would love to have another resource for us that would help them become Godly women! The things I love about summer is how laid back it is. We love to work out in our yard as a family. The kids helped plant a garden and flowers. We love to stay up late, have a fire, and make s’mores!” – Michelle“After a long homeschooling year with my four kids, I am looking forward to all those projects around the house that I couldn’t get to during the school year (closets, deep cleaning, cleaning out cabinets/drawers, etc.) My house needs some serious work and I only have a few months left to do it! I would love to win one of your magazines!” – Christine
Congratulations ladies!
-Jill Novak
June Giveaway!
We’re giving away three “Between Friends” print issues of The Girlhood Home Companion. This issue encourages your daughter to treasure the mother~daughter relationship, older godly women the Lord brings her way, and how to wisely choose godly companions her own age.
“Between Friends” is one of the most beautiful issues we have ever produced including a lovely tribute to L. M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables. We hope it will be a delight and inspiration to you and your daughter.
To enter, leave a comment below telling us what you like best about the summer months. What do you look forward to doing this summer? Do you have any traditions or memories from your childhood, or things you like to do with your children every summer? What about a favorite summertime recipe. This can include canning recipes too.
If you could post to this giveaway on your blog we sure would appreciate it. Spread the word about The Girlhood Home Companion to your friends and acquaintances. It truly is one of the most precious publications out there for our daughters!
Have fun sharing. We hope you win!
This contest runs through Sunday the 15th, so enter right away. We hope to fit another giveaway in before the end of the month!
Do you blog or facebook? For every blog or facebook linking to our June Giveaway, we want to bless you with a free project by our friend Linda Stubbs from Prairie Flower Farm. This free gift includes an audio interview with Linda that is truly inspirational and something you will and to listen to with the ladies in your household. Just link to our giveaway http://remembrancepress.com/?p=1609 and email me at jillenovak@gmail.com and I will send you your free gift!
May Giveaway Winner!
Thank you for participating in the March giveaway! The winner is: Rosalee Massie! We will be contacting her for her address and the a copy of Gathered Thoughts is on it’s way to her mail box!
She said, “’Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning!’ Psalm 30:5”
Congratulations Rosalee!
-Jill and Eric Novak
May Giveaway
We’re giving away a copy of Gathered Thoughts – a 60 page book of quotes compiled by Elizabeth Novak.
To enter, leave a comment with your favorite quote or saying. This can be a Bible verse or a quote from a favorite author or book or a saying that’s been handed down in your family from one generation to another. Or it can be a quote of the day – something funny said around your house by your children, spouse or yourself.
Contest ends May 14th.
Have fun!
Jill
Order the April Tea Cozy Today!
Lisa Steigerwalt and I had a lovely conversation about the benefits of establishing a weekly tea time ritual in our homes. Lisa shared that everything done at the tea table is for beauty, practicality and order. Join us as we learn simple and practical ways to create a relaxed atmosphere where hearts can unite through the age-old tradition of taking tea.
Lisa Steigerwalt is a Home Economist and Certified Etiquette Consultant and lives in New England. She enjoys teaching women of all ages about how to experience a richer, more meaningful home life, especially at the table. In 2001, she took a course/accreditation with the Protocol School of Washington and became a Certified Children’s Etiquette Consultant. Since then, she has been speaking in many areas concerning the home. She has taught all kinds of groups table etiquette such as how to be a good hostess and how to set the family table.
March Giveaway Winner
Thank you for participating in the March giveaway! The winner is: Amanda Burkett! We will be contacting her for her address and the The Girlhood Home Companion Back Issue Album will be on it’s way to her mail box!
She said, “The miracle of perennials….how we know that they are there, but it’s still strikes us as magic as they poke their heads through the brown of the colder months. We like to walk our path and yard remembering and delighting in the newness, even of the familiar. And we plan and yearn for beauty as we decide what we plant each spring. And we remember the stories that surrounded the plantings and choosing odd years before–how some of our flowers were cuttings shared by those we loved who since past, and how in our garden are some of the same moments (and flowers) I spent as a child just waiting until the appointed hour to poke forth to share with my children.”
Congratulations Amanda!
-Jill and Eric Novak
Be Still My Soul
Beneath the snow, my garden lies waiting for the rebirth of spring. For months, there have been no visible signs of growth – no change, no movement, no life. Frigid and cold, the world outside my window appears locked in a state of suspended animation.
The sunflowers stoop low under heavy caps of crystallized snow. The bean trellises and toppled tomato cages take on magical forms as the flakes stack quietly, softening the rigid contours. The rest of the landscape is indiscernible. Boundaries between hedgerow and field have merged under an insulating blanket of white. From one storm to the next, the snow drifts deeper, accumulating, stretching far to the horizon.
Just as winter has gripped the landscape, I, too, have been gripped by life’s circumstances. In the call of duty, boundaries once clearly defined have become indistinct. My joy is gone, my cup half-empty. Hopelessness stretches far out before me. I fight the day-to-day sameness – despair over God ordained limitations. I cannot change my life’s circumstances any more than I can tell the southerly breeze to blow and melt the winter’s snow. But unlike my garden, I resist every effort to be still, to wait upon the Lord to provide what my thirsty soul longs for.
How long, oh, Lord, how long? How long will I have to endure this season Thou hast ordained for me?
To everything there is a season, but this season is particularly long. Will spring ever come? Will hope ever spring eternal?
Spring and autumn pass quickly, summer lingers, but winter is longer and harder to endure.
But then I am reminded of a passage of scripture from the book of James, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Let endurance have its perfect result.
There are two Greek words for the word endurance. The first is prosdechomai, pros-dekh’-om-ahee which means to await (with confidence or patience): accept, allow, look (wait). The other is hupomone hoop-om-on-ay’ which means cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: – enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
In order to find joy, I have to let endurance have its perfect result. I have to be still. And finally when I allow my soul to be laid bare and stripped of its defenses – its busyness, its escapes, its pleasures, finally when I cease to strive, the words of comfort come in the truth of the familiar hymn, given by a loving heavenly Father who knows, who cares about the minutest details of our lives.
Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Even when it appears there are no solutions, in the stillness He speaks. And through the hymn writer, He reminds me to bear patiently my cross of grief and pain. Wanting so desperately to escape my circumstances, I fail to acknowledge all the grace-filled moments that exist within them.
Some spiritual seasons are longer than others.There must be a time of inactivity to experience growth. There must be time of near death, for life to teem again. I embrace the lessons my garden gifts me even in the dead of winter.
I choose to lie hidden in my Maker, awaiting rebirth – my heart dead to its own will, slumbering through a long cold winter of the soul. Grace is here, waiting to be received.
Take comfort my soul; the Lord is on thy side.
Copyright 2011 by Jill Novak
March Giveaway
We’re going all out! Maybe it’s a little bit of “March Madness,” but we’re giving away a Girlhood Home Companion Back Issue Album (a $49.00 value).
All you need to do for this giveaway is leave a comment telling us what your favorite spring traditions are – past or present – or both! Do you have special memories from when you were a child? Or are there traditions you have established with your own children? This can be food or activity related.
Have fun posting.
Contest runs March 3rd through the 11th, 12:00 p.m.
Jill
Just a Slice of Homemade Pie~Experiencing God’s Faithfulness in Hard Times
Here is the link for our March Tea Cozy “Live.”
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Links for donating to the Uganda Pastor’s are below:
Join Us for a March Cup of Tea “LIVE”
From selling homemade apple pie to establishing a thriving quilting business with her daughter Emily, Brenda Ford has a heart for serving the Lord. You will be encouraged as she shares the many ways the Lord has faithfully met her family’s needs by creatively using her homemaking skills and resources for His glory. Join us for a very special Tea Cozy Conversation “Live” this Thursday afternoon.
Thanks again for having me on. I trust the Lord will use it however He sees fit. Here are the links for the pastor’s conference video and also how to give online to the pastors, plus the poem about traveling on your knees.Love,
Brenda Ford
give online:
https://www.gracebiblecs.org/give-online
I did not go by boat or plane, I traveled on my knees.
I saw so many people there in deepest depths of sin,
But Jesus told me I should go, that there were souls to win.
But I said, “Jesus, I cannot go and work with such as these.”
He answered quickly, “Yes you can by traveling on your knees.”
He said, “You pray; I’ll meet the need, you call and I will hear;
Be concerned about lost souls, of those both far and near.”
And so I tried it, knelt in prayer, gave up some hours of ease;
I felt the Lord right by my side while traveling on my knees.
As I prayed on and saw souls saved and twisted bodies healed,
And saw God’s workers strength renewed while laboring on the field.
I said, “Yes, Lord, I have a job, my desire thy will to please,
I can go and heed Thy call by traveling on my knees.”
12:00 p.m. PST
1:00 p.m. WST
2:00 p.m. CST
3:00 p.m. EST
You can call in or listen on your computer!
To join the call register ahead of time with Talk Shoe:
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/main.jsp?pushNav=1&cmd=home
Next week at the scheduled time dial:
(724) 444-7444
Enter: Call ID: 46016
If prompted for a pin, enter your phone number.
You can also listen on your computer at this link:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/46016
See you there!
Jill Novak