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.
Dads and Moms and Sons
Broken windows, scratched car doors, missing shed roofs, lawns scattered with debris–stuff like that can wait. Last Friday morning, we surveyed our storm damage, left almost every bit of it lying where it was, and left town. Sometimes you just…
Jesus is Your Storm Shelter
Weather forecasters warned us yesterday that storms were likely. Ray and I hurried through our errands in town so we would be home before they got to us. We made it before the rain began. I was at my desk…
Beautiful of Form and Face
When Jacob travels back to the land of his grandfather Abraham to find a wife, he discovers Rachel who was “beautiful of form and face” (Genesis 29:17). I believe that every little girl (or big girl or little old lady)…
Mr. Irresistible
I told you recently about my “noble peach” mistake. It wasn’t my first public misspelling. My first was in high school. Our young and enthusiastic band director had a fresh idea for a fundraiser: a contest to see which high…
My Pink Grandma and My Not-Pink Grandma
My two grandmothers both grew up in rural Robertson County, Tennessee. Though their girlhoods had many things in common, their adulthoods seemed as different as night and day in my young mind. Mama Sue’s bedroom carpet was pink. Her bathroom tile was…
Rules to Live By
When Ray and I were first married, he was in graduate school in history. We became involved with the college students at our church. Through the well-meaning efforts of another graduate student, the college group began associating occasionally with a…