Encouraging Ladies of All Ages In Femininity And Biblical Womanhood

I mailed all the copies of Volume4 Number4 yesterday morning! Those of you in the States should be receiving them in the next day or two … if you have not received your copy within a week, please let me know! (By the way, if you are a follower of this blog and would like to receive a copy of the magazine, you can email me your address and I would be glad to send you one).

The theme for the next issue is one that has been on my heart for awhile. I put the information in the magazine but I will include it here as well so that all of you can be pondering it :)

The Theme For The Next Issue Is:

From Wives And Mothers -

I would like to fill this issue with testimonies, stories and advice from ladies who are married with children and can share some of their experiences with us younger women. I understand that many of you were not raised in the path that you are now walking (i.e. wives, mothers, keepers at home) and I would love to hear some wise advice, some “do?s and don?ts” (voice of experience!) and testimonies of how the Heavenly Father has led you and things that He has taught you.

As usual, I would love to receive testimonies from unmarried young ladies and non-thematic articles as well. Please ask the Father if He has something for you to share with the rest of us …

… and submit all articles by December 15th!

Please feel free to pass on this request to your mother, grandmother or anyone else who may be interested in sharing. As I mentioned, unmarried young ladies are welcome to write as well. I look forward to seeing what the Father gives you to share!

I also have a prayer request. As some of you may know, we print the magazine on a Toshiba FC22i, which is a large commercial copier. I purchased this machine through eBay several years ago for an excellent price. The drawback is that this copier did not have the fiery controller that facilitates connecting it to the computer and printing directly. Since 2008, I have taken the magazine to Staples and had them print me one copy of the magazine. I bring that copy home and start running copies on my machine. This is why the quality of the pictures is usually not very good! You should hear us groaning as we compare the copies to the original :)

Even though I don’t like the low quality prints, I have been very thankful for this copier that the Father provided – especially as it came with six toner cartridges that I would have had to buy for close to $100. However, I am concerned that my Toshiba is on its last legs! For the past two issues, I have had to juggle settings and turn everything “up” and “dark” just to get it to copy clearly … and the text still looks faded. My brother thinks this is an issue with the drum and if that is the case, it would be extremely expensive to fix.

So here is the prayer request! We need another printer! If we were to take the magazine to a copy/print shop to get all the copies printed, plus the cost of postage, we would be looking at a cost of about $1200 to publish one mailing – $4800 for a year. I do not have the money to do that! I am praying that the Father will provide another machine and I would love if you all could join me. There are a few specific requests involved …

• That it would print 11″x17″ paper, so that the magazine can stay the same size it is.
• That it would come with the technology so that it can be connected to the computer without a lot of extra expense.
• That it would be smaller than the one we have right now (my mother would be really thankful for this!).
• That we would have the necessary finances to purchase it and any accessories (toner, etc).
• That the Father would “place it in our laps” (not literally!) and we would know beyond any shadow of doubt that it is the one He is providing for us.

I look forward to seeing how the Father answers our prayers. If any of you are familiar with copiers/printers and have any advice or suggestions to share, I would be very grateful!

One other thing … I would like to congratulate Raechel K who won a copy of “The Beauty Of Modesty” last night! Thanks to everyone who joined the book giveaway … check back in a few weeks for our Featured Home Business Review and Giveaway … we will have more fun things to win :)

Hello Everyone!

The giveaway for Rosie’s Red Roses and Happy Hill Cards ended yesterday evening and my sister Abigail drew the winners today!

Congratulations to LeAnne D, who won the lovely blue zipped pouch from Rosie’s Red Roses …

… and Ellen C, who won the set of five beautiful cards from Happy Hill Cards!

I encourage all of you to check out these home businesses if you have not done so already, and to consider supporting these young ladies with your business if possible.

On another note, let me update you on a few topics …

Our family spent a wonderful week+ camping with our congregation for Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), which has put me a little behind in preparing Volume4 Number4, but it is in the works! I spent a good portion of today working on the layout and design and I want to let you know that I do still have some available space for articles and recipes. The focus of this issue is on children, although non-thematic articles are welcome too. Also, I could still use some more children photos. If you have something to share, please let me know asap!

We had a break in the stay-at-home-daughter interviews for awhile, but I hope to start posting these within the next several weeks. If you would like to participate, please drop me a note. I would love to hear from you!

Our next review and giveaway will begin on November 8th … it is a book this time, but as usual – it’s a surprise :)  You’ll have to check back after the 8th to see what it is. If there is a book that has been a blessing in your life and you would like to recommend it for review/giveaway, please let me know about it.

The next Featured Home Business review/giveaway will take place in December. If you have a home business and would like us to feature it here on the website, please email me for details.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, full of joy and blessings!

Do you have a hope chest?

Let me rephrase that …

Do you collect things for your future home?

Years ago, my father offered to build me a hope chest out of the cedar lumber that we had milled from our property. As of this writing, we have not been able to yet follow through with that plan. The cedar lumber has been moved from our barn in west Tennessee … to storage in a mini school bus in Georgia … to a rental house in south Tennessee (still in the school bus) … to a rental house in middle Tennessee (still in the school bus) … to our current home where they are now back in a barn! One of these days, we’ll build the finest hope chest you ever did see :)  Until then, I store my collection for my future home in a couple of plastic tubs in the tack room of our barn!

Having a hope chest is such a fun experience. I love to collect things when we go shopping, especially at thrift stores … and I’m always excited to find dishes that match the ones I already have. Even if you are too young to be thinking about getting married, being a homemaker is something we all should be preparing for, and having a hope chest is a very real, physical, tangible way to prepare.

Of course, the most important aspect of preparation is the inner man, the meek and quiet spirit that we should be striving for. We should also be gaining knowledge in how to run a household, whether that be childcare, budgeting, or anything in between! There are so many things to prepare for and learn and practice (we could probably fill an whole magazine issue on that topic – hey, that might be a good theme for a future issue!) … but I think that having a hope chest is one of the most special elements of the whole preparation experience! If you have not known the thrill of collecting things for your future home, well … in my opinion … you’re missing out!

So this brings me to why I am writing this post! I have plans to start a new column in the magazine and the tentative title is:

“A Peek Into My Hope Chest …”

In each issue, I would like to have an article from a young lady who is collecting items for her future home. This could include pictures, stories about the things you have collected, tips and ideas, things to remember, etc.

So now I ask again … do you have a hope chest? :)

If you would like to share about your hope chest in a future issue of SSM, please leave a comment or contact me via email.

Hello Friends!

I’m writing to let you all know that we are nearing the submission entry deadline for the next issue.

~~~

The Theme For The Next Issue Is …

Children! The scriptures say that children are a blessing. Most (if not all) of us have these special blessings in our lives, whether they are our own children, our siblings, our friends, etc. In this next issue, let?s focus on children … whether that be how to care for them, special experiences, funny perspectives, lessons learned, etc. I want to welcome articles, stories and artwork from children in this issue.

Let?s also keep in mind that our Savior said unless we become as children, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. How does this affect our lives as His followers?

I would also like to have a children photo theme for the cover photos … possibly even collages. If you have any that you think would apply, please feel free to share them.

The Recipe Theme Is … Warm Winter Recipes!

Hot spiced cider, molasses taffy and popcorn … does that conjure up visions of gathering around the fireplace on wintry cold evenings?! In the next issue, we would like recipes that describe winter … or rather, keep you warm and cozy during winter.

~~~

I have very few articles at this point, so I hope to hear from many of you soon. As the theme is about children, I would like to have a section where you all can submit stories and/or funny sayings that you have heard from children. I would also like to see some articles about caring for children and aspects of mothering that we can practice while unmarried. Some of my favorite articles to receive are those that share experiences that have come about through personal experience. As most of us have children in our lives, it shouldn’t be too hard to write about some of the experiences that we have had with them.

I just found a big mistake in the past issue (Vol4 No3) … I put the deadline for material as October 14th, when it should have been September 14th. Oooops! By October 14th, I hope to have the magazine pretty well designed! Anyway, if you could please share your submission(s) by September 14th (next Wednesday), that would be GREAT!! If you are working on something that will not be finished by then, please let me know so that I can keep it in mind.

Abundant Blessings ~ Hannah

Shalom Friends,

I took this issue of the magazines to the post office today, so they should all be on their way … except for the international ones. I do not have the finances to buy postage for those copies at this time, hopefully it will come in soon and I will mail them out. We try not to make a big deal about the finances and make this magazine available to anyone who would like to receive it. However, we do ask that each of you prayerfully consider what your responsibility may be in producing SSM. This is not a business for me or my family, we do not receive any of the money that is donated … all of it goes to cover the magazine expenses. It has always been exciting to see how the Father provides for each need in perfect timing. This is the first time that I have been delayed because of a financial issue.

And while we’re talking about the magazine, I honestly want to know … what does this magazine and ministry mean to you? Does it affect your life in a positive way or is it something that you could just as easily do without? Please understand, I am NOT fishing for compliments! I want to really know if this is touching lives or if I am wasting my time and your money. Publishing this magazine is a project that takes a lot of time and effort for myself and my family. Our hope is that we are serving the Father and blessing others. So I would like to hear from you … I’d like to know how this magazine affects you … I’d like to hear concerns … I’d like to hear thoughts on possible improvements … and if Shining Stars does impact you in a positive way, we would really be blessed to hear testimonies and if not, you can be honest about that too.

Two more things … I do have some back issues available. If you have not seen these copies or would like to share them with friends or people in your congregation, you are welcome to request some – just let me know which ones and how many you want! These are the ones that are available:

Volume Two – Number Three

Volume Three – Number Three

Volume Three – Number Four

Volume Four – Number One

Volume Four – Number Two

Also, our Featured Home Business this month is Sarah’s Knitting Corner and we are hosting a giveaway right now for two items. This giveaway is open to all Shining Stars subscribers, so check out the items here and leave a comment if you’d like a chance to win!

As always, may our Heavenly Father send abundant blessings to you and your family! ~ Hannah