About Me

Hi there!

I'm Debra Kerr Hofland, and I'm a Christian.  I started Titus Two Friends because I saw a need for Christian mentoring relationships between older and younger women.   

Wanted to share my experience with my daughters and with you:  things about marriage, kitchen ideas, helpful hints, timely tips, recipes, gardening, child-rearing and advice.  Lots of advice. 

I certainly don't know everything there is to know about being a wife and mother, and I've made a ton of mistakes along the way, too.    Thankfully Jesus paid that debt in full--and every day I "try" to live my life in thanksgiving for what He's done for me! 
   
MY PROMISE
To the best of my human, puny ability, I will always . . . 

     give you GOOD and GODLY advice.   
     be direct and honest, call it like I see it,  
     point you to THE BLESSINGS in your life that God showers upon you & your family, 
     and show or give examples how to apply GOD'S WORD to your life in real ways.  

* * * * * 

If you would like to learn more about what God expects from you as a wife and mother (that is HOW to love your husband & children, HOW to be kind and to be busy at home) and desire to be bolstered by wholesome advice or if you are looking for a mentoring relationship with a Christian older woman, stick around & read the various articles I've posted here and also over on my Facebook page (by the same name:  Titus Two Friends).   

A little about me:

FAITH:  I grew up knowing Jesus as my Lord and Savior (see my separate page with My Beliefs).  My folks get the credit for bringing me to Jesus; we attended church and Sunday School or Bible class every week throughout my years at home.   I can't imagine life without Jesus!

FAMILY:  My parents raised me and my five younger brothers on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin.  Ma and I worked side-by-side to preserve vegetables from our garden and fruits from the orchard; we kept the house clean and made meals for our busy, growing family.   Pa was a hard-worker and tough disciplinarian but would give you the shirt off his back.  I never wanted to disappoint either one of them!

HUB:   I've been married for 40 years now.   My husband wasn't a believer when we started dating, but I knew he was a "keeper" after our first date when I asked him, "Do you want to go with me to church tomorrow?" and he said "yes."   A few months later, I said "yes" too.  Nine months from our first date we were married.    He is the rock I lean on.   

HOME:   We've moved around a lot between Wisconsin (my stomping grounds), Montana (his stomping grounds), Washington, West Virginia and now Minnesnowta!   I guess we need to move to Wyoming at some point, so we can say we've lived in all the "W" states!  (Or maybe not.)    It's been a wonderful journey.

CHILDREN:   After being married five years and no babies, we prayerfully decided to build our family via adoption.   I was 27 when we adopted our first two foster sons (they were ages 11 and 10).   Two years later we added a brother (9) and a sister (6).   THEN we had three babies of our own!   Now we have five grandchildren and a great-grandson!

My life revolves around my Lord, my husband, my family and my desire to live my life in praise to God.

Some Personal stuff:

• Bible study fanatic (check out my TTF Bible Reading Buddies group on Facebook)
• Air Force veteran
• Homeschool mom
• Sunday School & VBS teacher; have recorded "teaching tips" podcasts for the ChristLight Sunday School teacher's resource materials for Northwestern Publishing (WELS).  (That's me talking at 13:10 through the end of the pod-cast!)
• Graduated from UW-Whitewater with a degree in Elementary Ed and a minor in Language Arts/English; taught professionally for three years & 15 years as a homeschooler + being a homeschool advocate & mentor & conference speaker & presenter.  
• I'm a certified master gardener, bird-watcher, and nature lover--I taught a Nature Study class at our weekly homeschool co-op, and I have a Nature Study Lessons Facebook page and blog, too.  Kind of on sabbatical from that, though.  Getting out in nature is good medicine!
• Crossword puzzles, sudokus (easy ones), word games like Boggle and Scrabble, pinochle & pinochle also help pass the time.  Hub and I were avid squaredancers while in WV (mainstream/plus) and look forward to doing so again sometime.   Good exercise!  
• Coached high school and middle school girls' volleyball teams, plus baseball and softball summer rec teams; the hub and I met while playing on the squadron volleyball team.  Lately you'll find me on my rose-gold girl-bike riding on the trail near our home.
• Titus Two Friends are on Pinterest and Instagram 
• Many of my delicious recipes can be found over at Food.com (my member name is Debber) but I'm switching over to TastyKitchen.com AND posting some here on my blog,too.

WHAT I BELIEVE

• I believe the Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God, written by human hands but dictated by God's own breath through the Holy Spirit.  
• I believe God created the world in six days of 24-hours each.   
• I believe Jesus Christ is the promised messiah, the fulfillment of all the prophecies found in the Bible, and that one day, He will return as a triumphant conqueror to take me and all who believe in Him to our eternal home in Heaven.
• God demands perfection; I am a sinner; my sins were paid by Christ's perfect life and death--and only because I believe in and follow Him will I be able to spend eternity with Him.