Welcome to Daily Encouragement!
Hi, I’m Charlene Notgrass. I was born a long time before you, way back in 1953. I loved homeschooling — once I learned how to make homeschooling who our family was instead of something I carried around like a big, heavy burden every day. From the lessons God has taught me, I offer you daily encouragement.
Children in A Christmas Carol
In yesterday’s post, we remembered what Jesus taught about the value of children. Charles Dickens’ portrayal of children and childhood is among the effective ways he told the story of the fall and redemption of Ebeneezer Scrooge. Most of us…
Jesus Came as a Child and Taught Us the Value of Children
Jesus began His life on earth as a baby in His mother’s womb. As the angel told her: And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. Luke 1:31 In the…
Favorite Books: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Ray and I have been blessed with happy Christmas memories of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Leo G. Carroll and Reginald Owen in the 1938 motion picture, A Christmas Carol, courtesy of the New York Public Library. We read the…
A Time to Match
Christmas is a fun time for matching sweaters and matching PJs. I wonder what it is like for twins who wear matching outfits all the time. These little girls are the Sunbonnet Twins who illustrated The Sunbonnet Twins: A Story…
That’s My Boy!
The annual Granville Country Christmas celebration is scheduled for this coming Saturday in Granville, Tennessee. Ten years ago, Ray and I took our then three-year-old granddaughter to this annual celebration. A twelve-member choir, all dressed in red, performed a faith-filled…
Mamas Work the Day Shift and the Night Shift
Two people are usually left out of the tellings of the birth and early childhood of Jesus. These are the devout Jews Simeon and Anna. When Jesus was forty days old, Mary and Joseph took Him to Jerusalem to present…