January Contest Winners
Thank you for participating in the January giveaway. Your comments are a beautiful reflection of your hearts and homes. I pray that the Lord will grant all our desires for growing close to one another and Him in the coming year. The winners are: Malinda, Manda, Cindy C, Mom of Four, and Mrs. Team S. We will be contacting you for your addresses and the The Girlhood Home Companion Winter 2000 issue on audio CD will soon be on it’s way to your mail boxes!
Symphony in White
For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; Job 37:6 (KJV)
A lone leaf scuttles and skips across the snow.
Snowflakes fall and rise, dancing and swirling to winter’s crescendo.
The wind bursts forth in rhythmic explosions, picking up speed, gusting and blowing across the fields, following the Master’s commands.
Mesmerized, I sit by the window and listen to the ferocious howl of the “Symphony in White.”
Copyright 2011 by Jill Novak
Join Us for a January Cup of Tea “LIVE”
Here is the link to my conversation with Peggy Joyce Ruth author of Psalm 91: God’s Umbrella of Protection.
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Join us for a “Live” Tea Cozy conversation this Thursday afternoon, January 27th at
1:00 p.m. WST
2:00 p.m. CST
3:00 p.m. EST
We’ll be sharing a cup of tea with Peggy Joyce Ruth, author of Psalm 91: God’s Umbrella of Protection and learning how in her time of need, God made Peggy aware of His covenant Psalm for all believers.
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:
See you there!
Jill Novak
January Giveaway – Girlhood Winter Issue
Join us for a very special giveaway from The Girlhood Home Companion Back Issue Album. Five blessed winners will receive The Girlhood Home Companion, Winter 2000 issue on CD.
This lovely back issue is on the topic of forgiveness and includes seasonal articles, etiquette, projects, recipes, uplifting fiction, and old-fashioned paper dolls. It’s a delightful issue and we want to share it with you!
Rules are: Please leave a comment about what you are hoping or looking forward to in the New Year. Do you have some resolutions you are trying to meet? Do you have an expectation in the Lord, something only He can do? What is your prayer for this New Year?
Leave your comment below and we’ll pull winners January 28th.
Blessings,
Jill Novak
Order the January Tea Cozy Today!
Dear Mothers, Daughters and Grandmothers,
I was finishing up this month’s tea cozy when I heard the weather report. We were in for a whopper of a storm – a good ol’ fashioned “Midwest” snowstorm! The weather radio warned of 13 inches or more. For those of us who live in the Midwest, surviving snowy winters is not something we usually worry about. We seldom get ice storms, so it’s usually just a matter of clearing the snow away, which for my husband is akin to a boyhood adventure (as long as the snow blower keeps working). After bravely battling the elements, Robert loves to nod off in the comfy love seat next to the wood stove – a sweet reward for all his effort to keep the snow in its proper place.
On the whole, you don’t have to educate Midwesterners on how to prepare for cold weather. Part of getting our households in order is making sure that everyone’s boots, gloves, and coats are ready – our winter arsenal against the cold. Still, for homebodies like us, the beauty of snow far outweighs its inconveniences. Snow is peaceful and calming, giving us the opportunity to slow our pace and reflect on life. And because of the limitations it places on us, we actually joyfully anticipate being snowbound every now and then.
The definition of anticipate is “to look forward to, especially with pleasure; expect.” This month, my dear friend Shelley Noonan shares a beautiful analogy the Lord gave her concerning teatime and anticipating time with the Lord on a regular basis. Did you make it a goal to read the Bible more this year? How about setting goals to make positive changes in your daily routine? Did you anticipate making progress only to be disappointed with the results already?
Sometimes it’s easy to set goals for the New Year, but within the first few weeks, slip back into old thought patterns and habits. How can we make the lasting changes we desire, especially in the area of reading God’s word and spending time with Him? I think anticipation and preparation are some of the keys to meeting daily goals that will in turn become weekly, monthly, and yearly habits.
I pray you will begin to anticipate the open invitation the Lord has waiting for you each and every day from listening to this month’s talk by Shelley. This months tea flavors are chocolate and vanilla, and I am happy to share a very special story behind my mother’s Toffee Bar Cookie recipe, my extended family’s favorite.
And what could be more appropriate than this month’s flower than the snowdrop? The Snowdrop is from the Latin “nivalis,” meaning “snowy.” It is known as the “flower of hope” – a sign of life returning to the earth after the long winter months. I will be looking for our snowdrops to bloom somewhere around the middle of March, but until then, I look forward to sharing a special cup of tea with my daughters and you – around the fire, looking out at the snow.
Affectionately,
Jill Novak and Daughters
Order the January Tea Cozy here: http://remembrancepressbookstore.com/collections/girlhood-tea-cozy-club/products/january-tea-cozy-club-and-audio-conversation
Girlhood Home Companion “Thanksgiving” Giveaway
We are giving away 5 issues our new December Tea Cozy Club print edition and conversation with Heather Wombacher on audio CD.
All you have to do is leave us a comment telling us what you are thankful for.
We can’t wait to read your entries.
Contest ends November 29th.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and God bless you, one and all!
Jill Novak and family
Complimentary Thanksgiving Menu Download
Dear Mothers,
Here is an excerpt from our Fall 2008 Girlhood Home Companion featuring our traditional Thanksgiving menu. I hope you enjoy making some of our favorites and the story behind our heavenly potato rolls. http://www.remembrancepress.com/PDF/thanksgivingmenuremembrancepress.pdf
Have a blessed Thanksgiving,
Jill Novak and family
NEW! The December Tea Cozy Print Edition with Audio CD!
Yes, it’s true! The Mother Daughter Tea Cozy Club is now a print publication,
including the homemaker of the month conversation on audio CD.
Feel like sharing a Christmas cup of tea? Not sure what kind to have? Try one of the five lovely seasonal flavored teas we recommend.
Now that you have your tea, how about making something special to go with it like a sugar dusted Candy Cane cookie or a Pink Peppermint Pie? Our simple tutorials show you how.
Need to brush up on your table manners? The December Tea Cozy can help with “Small Points on Table Etiquette.”
Keep Christ in CHRISTmas with the true meaning of the Holly and the Ivy, the Legend of the Candy Cane, and other seasonal poetry.
Then after you’ve made a pot of tea and that special treat, settle back and listen to The Tea Cozy Homemaker of the Month Conversation, Building a Gingerbread Cottage of Faith. Heather Wombacher shares the beautiful word picture the Lord gave her of how building our household of faith is similar to building a gingerbread cottage.
You and your daughter will love this beautiful PRINT publication and audio CD. Make a memory or two this Christmas with the Mother~Daughter December Tea Cozy Club.
To order:
Order Heather Wombacher’s companion Bible study and how-to book on CD also. Both products are available for purchase in our bookstore.
Subscription Information
Due to our ongoing responsibilities caring for my 90 year old father with Parkinson’s, we are currently no longer taking subscriptions for The Girlhood Home Companion. Production of new issues is still on hold, however, we still have all of our beautiful back issues available for purchase either in print form or on CD in our new Keepsake Albums. We also have the first 13 issues produced from 1998-2001 available in The Girlhood Home Companion Back Issue Album (370 pages).
There are also audio workshops on CD for mothers and daughters, plus The Tea Cozy Club and Horse Club monthly installments. All of these products are always available.
To order visit:
Make sure you sign up on the front page of our website for our newsletter so we can keep you informed of any new products or changes to our production schedule.
Blessings,
Jill Novak
On Gossamer Thread
By Jill Novak
It frosted last night. We’ve been on alert the last few days, waiting for the inevitable; still, it was a surprise when Elizabeth told me that she saw frost on the grass this morning. As if in doubt, she tiptoed outside and peeked over the edge of the drained swimming pool. A thin layer of ice had formed on top of the remaining water–a sure sign that the frost was real and not just a figment of her imagination.
I grow sentimental every time the cold returns, knowing that all I hold dear is about to pass away until next year. Goodbye to the cheerful chirping of the crickets, goodbye to the tender eggplant blossoms, and goodbye to the cucumber vines that wrap their delicate fingers around the nylon netting of my husband’s “Cucumber Haus.” The joy of growing a garden and the delights, therein, will have to wait for another season, for now the ground must rest.
I’m never really prepared for the drastic change in temperature. Surely I could have spent more mornings at the garden’s edge, sipping coffee and reading my Bible or drawing a nature specimen under the tree by the fence. But, it was such an ill-tempered summer – too hot– with barely a drop of rain. It certainly won’t go down as one of my favorites.
Anyway, it’s too late now. Just to prove it the tomatoes were drooped over this morning like old women – mere shadows of their former glory. The over-ripe fruit hung low on the vines, mottled and translucent from the penetrating cold.
I looked among the leaves for signs of the black and yellow garden spider. I remember other days, more temperate, when I saw her strung like a single jewel on gossamer thread, basking in the sun’s warm rays. But she, too, has shriveled away in the night. I think I’ll miss her most of all.
Copyright 2009 by Jill Novak