True Treasures - 10 Years of TEACH Magazine- a review

I am part of a new team called The Gabby Moms. This is a brand new group that is an offshoot of HomemakingWithTEACH.com. They are a new blogging company for Eternal Encouragement Magazine.

Our first assignment was to review the above item; True Treasures, 10 Years of Teach Magazine. This is a collection of articles written to encourage us! It is broken down into chapters that focus on marriage, homemaking, homeschooling, parenting..and being a mom. And I tell ya, I have needed encouragement in all those areas over the past month which has affectionaly become known as The January Freak Out. (Most homeschooler are familiar with this. You aren't doing enough..of the right things..and your child will be damaged for life. It happens every January.)

Anyway- this has been a huge blessing to me.

Although not exclusively Charlotte Mason teaching here, I do practice much of what she preached. I thought I would take several of the articles in this book and narrate them in Charlotte Mason fashion as well as add my personal 'life application'. Please do check out the original articles. The ones I list below were my favorites.

The Best Things by Cindy Wick

Cindy calls us to focus on..well..the best things. That we are to schedule and plan but to know that sometimes the best of things happen outside of the plan. Over scheduling our life doesn't allow, perhaps for God's intervening ... for His plan. We are to seek His guidance down the paths of righteousness. My favorite part of the article is where she talks about how children need to know how to fill their own buckets. When we fill them with activity and/or academics to the point of overflowing there is no room for anything else.

Hope for Hurting Parents by Audrey McKeever

Of course this title would appeal to me. This article is one giant encouragement for those hurting for any reason. It is for those that have felt the glances of other parents who believe you are not doing things right. It is for those whose children (perhaps adults now) have made bad choices. But it is full of hope and what my son would call "big holy hugs."

The Home: Your Family's Center for Ministry by Janya Pettersen

This article is my goal! I want to minister to others- not in a big way- but in small tangible ways that make a difference. I think the article drew me in with the list of potential people that you can minister to when it included a family with an autistic child who needed babysitting help. I love the idea that you don't need to be under an 'umbrella' organization to minister. You really just need to pray, make a plan, and prepare.

You can see some samples from the magazine by clicking HERE or on the picture below. This collection sells for $19.97. Through May 31, 2011, TEACH is offering $4 off of True Treasures (one per customer) by using the code GabbyMom

This collection is over a hundred pages of articles. While I liked many of them there were a few that I just turned the page as they either did not really apply or I just didn't care for them. I am trying to do my best to focus on what encourages me. But I do that on any magazine! I am very much in my walk of moving closer to Jesus. I am trying to focus less on the tasks and more on the relationships so the "task" articles just didn't hit me right sometimes and felt more pressure to 'do it right.' But the ones above, and others were very encouraging. I like to be honest in my reviews and honestly... no one likes everything about every product! (I tend to distrust blogs that do that.) So since this is my first post for Gabby Moms, I just wanted to be clear that you can expect honesty from me. I will always post where you can find the other reviews on this product and as it is opinion, the reason you like this product could be totally different from mine. As I said, there is definitely something for everyone in this True Treasure.

I received this product for honest review from TEACH Magazine as part of The Gabby Moms blogging program. All opinions are solely my own.