Please take a few minutes to watch this video and "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body". Hebrews 13:3
We are all family and they deserve no less.
International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church from Christian Freedom International on Vimeo.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Top Six Cleaning List
I have been thinking a lot lately about what things I should focus on as far as house cleaning goes. My daughter is getting to the age when we need to start thinking about preschool time being added to the daily routine but I always feel like I just don't have time for that. However, since I must make time, I have been thinking about what I can do to make sure I do enough but not so much that I leave no time for the other important pieces of my work.
As I prayed about it, I realized that while I may focus too much sometimes on keeping things clean (by clean, I mean in tip-top shape, not simply sanitary), I also can't just let things go, both because it drives me crazy but because it drives my husband crazy too. So I decided what I'm going to do is make a Top Six list of the things that must be cleaned to have a "clean house". That way if nothing else gets done, at least we can both be happy with the state that the house is in.
If you want to do this for yourself, I would encourage you to start by thinking about what things your husband always mentions about your home. For example, it could be something that he always notices when you clean it perhaps it is the floors or the bathrooms. Or it could be something that he doesn't like and makes comments about, for instance, all the toys on the living room floor or the stacks of laundry, waiting to be folded. It may take awhile to think of them but if you listen and watch what he says and does when he comes home, you will probably see pretty quickly what I'm talking about. If you are still unsure of what his pet peeves are, ask him what things he would like to have cleaned when he comes home after a day of work. Once you have his Top Three, your list is half way done.
The next part is much easier. List the Top Three things that you are always drawn to clean, or what frustrates you the most when it is messy or dirty. This is usually easier because these are the task we get upset because no one does or the ones we find ourselves compulsively doing several times a day.
I'll give you some examples of things I thought of as I was making my list. Not all of these things are on my list but they will give you a good idea of what I'm talking about.
For example, I can't stand walking into my daughters' room and seeing every book, toy and stuffed animal they have all over the floor. So I will call a time to pick up and we will whip their room in to shape together. Now my husband on the other hand would find this problem at the very bottom of his list since he does not have to wade through the muck to get in and out of their room. But to me, it's a big deal.
He is more concerned with the basics; a place to sit or dinner being ready when he arrives, things like that.
I have a friend who cleaned off the top of her frig and discovered this was one of her husband's pet peeves. You can read her post here.
Now you have every thing you need to make your own Top Six Cleaning List. So each afternoon, set aside 15-20 minutes and get those things done. The first time you do this, it may take longer to get things actually clean, but once you've done that, it should be a simple tidy of each area. You don't need to deep clean all the areas everyday, just keep them maintained. Save deep cleaning for the days you have assigned to that room or area.
Trust me, this will go a long way to keeping you sane and your hubby happy!
As I prayed about it, I realized that while I may focus too much sometimes on keeping things clean (by clean, I mean in tip-top shape, not simply sanitary), I also can't just let things go, both because it drives me crazy but because it drives my husband crazy too. So I decided what I'm going to do is make a Top Six list of the things that must be cleaned to have a "clean house". That way if nothing else gets done, at least we can both be happy with the state that the house is in.
If you want to do this for yourself, I would encourage you to start by thinking about what things your husband always mentions about your home. For example, it could be something that he always notices when you clean it perhaps it is the floors or the bathrooms. Or it could be something that he doesn't like and makes comments about, for instance, all the toys on the living room floor or the stacks of laundry, waiting to be folded. It may take awhile to think of them but if you listen and watch what he says and does when he comes home, you will probably see pretty quickly what I'm talking about. If you are still unsure of what his pet peeves are, ask him what things he would like to have cleaned when he comes home after a day of work. Once you have his Top Three, your list is half way done.
The next part is much easier. List the Top Three things that you are always drawn to clean, or what frustrates you the most when it is messy or dirty. This is usually easier because these are the task we get upset because no one does or the ones we find ourselves compulsively doing several times a day.
I'll give you some examples of things I thought of as I was making my list. Not all of these things are on my list but they will give you a good idea of what I'm talking about.
For example, I can't stand walking into my daughters' room and seeing every book, toy and stuffed animal they have all over the floor. So I will call a time to pick up and we will whip their room in to shape together. Now my husband on the other hand would find this problem at the very bottom of his list since he does not have to wade through the muck to get in and out of their room. But to me, it's a big deal.
He is more concerned with the basics; a place to sit or dinner being ready when he arrives, things like that.
I have a friend who cleaned off the top of her frig and discovered this was one of her husband's pet peeves. You can read her post here.
Now you have every thing you need to make your own Top Six Cleaning List. So each afternoon, set aside 15-20 minutes and get those things done. The first time you do this, it may take longer to get things actually clean, but once you've done that, it should be a simple tidy of each area. You don't need to deep clean all the areas everyday, just keep them maintained. Save deep cleaning for the days you have assigned to that room or area.
Trust me, this will go a long way to keeping you sane and your hubby happy!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Frugal Friday-Ah, the virtues of baking soda pt.2
So I told you last week I would explain why I was reading the baking soda box, and here is the fulfillment of that promise.
Confession: I have always had a hard time finding a natural deodorant that works. I have found a few with aluminum in them that work but no natural deodorant works for me even when reapplied half way through the day. So one day, I reasoned to myself that baking soda is a natural deodorizer so why not try it as a deodorant? It couldn't hurt. And to my surprise and joy, it worked! You only use maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of a tsp. for both underarms and no reapplication is necessary! I have been using it for about 3 weeks now and no troubles. If you decide to try it for yourself, let me know if it works for you!
Happy Friday to all of you!
Confession: I have always had a hard time finding a natural deodorant that works. I have found a few with aluminum in them that work but no natural deodorant works for me even when reapplied half way through the day. So one day, I reasoned to myself that baking soda is a natural deodorizer so why not try it as a deodorant? It couldn't hurt. And to my surprise and joy, it worked! You only use maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of a tsp. for both underarms and no reapplication is necessary! I have been using it for about 3 weeks now and no troubles. If you decide to try it for yourself, let me know if it works for you!
Happy Friday to all of you!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Frugal Friday-Ah, the virtues of baking soda pt.1
Yes...I know...it is in fact Saturday. But just because the tip is a day later than planned, doesn't mean it is not a good tip! :D
So I don't know how many of you have trouble with this but despite the fact that I clean my children's bath tub every week, I still have a nasty soap ring around it. I don't know what causes it, but it is yucky and I can't seem to get rid of it...until last week. I was reading the baking soda box (read here next Friday to see why I was reading the baking soda box) and I saw it said that you can use it to clean bathrooms. "Eureka!" I thought. I will use this to clean the soap scum. So I did and it worked! It took some elbow grease, not a big deal, but it came off in clumps. I'm so thrilled that now my children's bath tub sparkly, shiny clean! I even told a friend about it and she tried it with the same results! Hurray for baking soda and another great, frugal solution!
So I don't know how many of you have trouble with this but despite the fact that I clean my children's bath tub every week, I still have a nasty soap ring around it. I don't know what causes it, but it is yucky and I can't seem to get rid of it...until last week. I was reading the baking soda box (read here next Friday to see why I was reading the baking soda box) and I saw it said that you can use it to clean bathrooms. "Eureka!" I thought. I will use this to clean the soap scum. So I did and it worked! It took some elbow grease, not a big deal, but it came off in clumps. I'm so thrilled that now my children's bath tub sparkly, shiny clean! I even told a friend about it and she tried it with the same results! Hurray for baking soda and another great, frugal solution!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Frugal Friday: Cloth Diapers and Wipes
I have come to the conclusion that I blog better when I have a deadline. I'm sure I am not the only one who feels this way but I love blogging and I just don't find the time unless there is a goal in mind. So with this thought as motivation, I am starting a Frugal Friday post here. Each Friday I will post something that I have found to try to be more frugal and usually more natural too. Some of my posts maybe things I have tried, some will be things I would like to try. But I will have one each Friday, Lord willing!
So, today we are talking diapers and wipes. There has been a lot of talk about how much it costs to use cloth diapers and whether the impact on the environment is any better when you use cloth over disposables. I can't answer all those questions since I am not an expert in statistics or anything like that. I can just tell you what I know from my experience.
Using this calculator, I figured out it cost me about $1.60 a load to wash my diapers once a week. (I wash them twice, once in cold and once in hot. The first time, with cold, I add soap, borax and bac-out. The second round I use just soap and hot water.) If you add that up, it costs about $6.4 a month to wash diapers. Then you have to add the cost of the diapers. Even if I had to buy them every two years (which is crazy...) it would cost me $5 a month. So all together, that's $11.40 to cloth diaper one child every month. When you figure the best price you can find consistently to buy disposables is about $22 on Amazon, cloth diapers sound pretty good. :D (There are situations make cloth diapering difficult or next to impossible, but again that is beyond the scope of my blog today.)
So for me, cloth diapers are the way to go. I wish I could have cloth diapered all three of my little ones but I figure better late than never!
I'm getting ready to start using cloth wipes too for my son. I'll be using the Anti-fungal Baby Wipes recipe from this website to make them. I'll have to let you know how the cost plays out. Right now, I use the Seventh Generation wipes from Amazon. They are only .02 when you use the subscribe and save option, which is pretty good, I think.
Anyway, that's my tip of the day. In the next few weeks, we will be talking about natural shampoos and conditioners, laundry soaps and fabric softeners and others. If you have suggestions, please let me know!
Have a great weekend!
So, today we are talking diapers and wipes. There has been a lot of talk about how much it costs to use cloth diapers and whether the impact on the environment is any better when you use cloth over disposables. I can't answer all those questions since I am not an expert in statistics or anything like that. I can just tell you what I know from my experience.
Using this calculator, I figured out it cost me about $1.60 a load to wash my diapers once a week. (I wash them twice, once in cold and once in hot. The first time, with cold, I add soap, borax and bac-out. The second round I use just soap and hot water.) If you add that up, it costs about $6.4 a month to wash diapers. Then you have to add the cost of the diapers. Even if I had to buy them every two years (which is crazy...) it would cost me $5 a month. So all together, that's $11.40 to cloth diaper one child every month. When you figure the best price you can find consistently to buy disposables is about $22 on Amazon, cloth diapers sound pretty good. :D (There are situations make cloth diapering difficult or next to impossible, but again that is beyond the scope of my blog today.)
So for me, cloth diapers are the way to go. I wish I could have cloth diapered all three of my little ones but I figure better late than never!
I'm getting ready to start using cloth wipes too for my son. I'll be using the Anti-fungal Baby Wipes recipe from this website to make them. I'll have to let you know how the cost plays out. Right now, I use the Seventh Generation wipes from Amazon. They are only .02 when you use the subscribe and save option, which is pretty good, I think.
Anyway, that's my tip of the day. In the next few weeks, we will be talking about natural shampoos and conditioners, laundry soaps and fabric softeners and others. If you have suggestions, please let me know!
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Orderliness
"Let all things be done decently and in order." I Corinthians 14:40
It is sometimes funny how God directs us. I was praying about what to do for school for my 3 year old this year and felt God guiding me to study Character Qualities. You can find the list we are using here.
I thought I would walk y'all through it as we go to give you a picture of what it might look like, that and it will help me keep me on track. :D
Day one we started with a working definition of what Orderliness is: Arranging myself and my surroundings to achieve the greatest efficiency. Then we started memorizing I Corinthians 14:40.
Here's the funny part. When "I" chose orderliness, I wasn't thinking my daughter was particularly disorderly and this would fix it. Nor did I think that I was in need of training in being orderly. And yet, as I teach my daughter, God is showing me just how disorderly I am and how far I have come from His established order. Don't get me wrong. I love to keep things clean but I have always struggled with clutter. Just ask my mom...or on second thought, don't. You don't have that kind of time. Anyway, the point being, that in teaching my daughter these character traits, I am learning things I need to be learning too. I'm so thankful God is big enough to organize all this for me. I am surely not that orderly! :D
Day two we read a few stories that deal with orderliness from Living Like Him (out of print) and worked some more on memorization.
As I am preparing Day three, I found this helpful advice at Lifestyle Homeschool:
We have to remember that if we are going to teach things like Character traits, we have to live them first. It is not enough to drill our children in the study of them during the day but not show them by our actions. Honestly, that is the most challenging part of homeschooling; you can't tell your children what should be done and ship them out the door. You have to live it, moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day.
So tomorrow in addition to showing my daughter what an orderly home and life look like (or trying at least), I think we will be studying Creation. I can't think of a better example of the importance of orderliness than God's perfect order in creating all things.
Good order is the foundation of all great things.
~Edmund Burke
It is sometimes funny how God directs us. I was praying about what to do for school for my 3 year old this year and felt God guiding me to study Character Qualities. You can find the list we are using here.
I thought I would walk y'all through it as we go to give you a picture of what it might look like, that and it will help me keep me on track. :D
Day one we started with a working definition of what Orderliness is: Arranging myself and my surroundings to achieve the greatest efficiency. Then we started memorizing I Corinthians 14:40.
Here's the funny part. When "I" chose orderliness, I wasn't thinking my daughter was particularly disorderly and this would fix it. Nor did I think that I was in need of training in being orderly. And yet, as I teach my daughter, God is showing me just how disorderly I am and how far I have come from His established order. Don't get me wrong. I love to keep things clean but I have always struggled with clutter. Just ask my mom...or on second thought, don't. You don't have that kind of time. Anyway, the point being, that in teaching my daughter these character traits, I am learning things I need to be learning too. I'm so thankful God is big enough to organize all this for me. I am surely not that orderly! :D
Day two we read a few stories that deal with orderliness from Living Like Him (out of print) and worked some more on memorization.
As I am preparing Day three, I found this helpful advice at Lifestyle Homeschool:
We must remember that Orderliness is a character trait - it is not a life’s purpose. Our life’s purpose is to be used by God; bringing our life out of chaos will make us more effective.
~If you think of it – do it
~Create appropriate times for your activities
~Set a timer to keep you on track
~Leave a room better than you found it – this means pick up after yourself and possibly others. See this as blessing others rather than the usual response of “It’s not my mess!”.
~Have a “home” for all your stuff (piles are not homes!)
~Stop a task a few minutes earlier, giving you time to pack away before the next activity.
We have to remember that if we are going to teach things like Character traits, we have to live them first. It is not enough to drill our children in the study of them during the day but not show them by our actions. Honestly, that is the most challenging part of homeschooling; you can't tell your children what should be done and ship them out the door. You have to live it, moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day.
So tomorrow in addition to showing my daughter what an orderly home and life look like (or trying at least), I think we will be studying Creation. I can't think of a better example of the importance of orderliness than God's perfect order in creating all things.
Good order is the foundation of all great things.
~Edmund Burke
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
News
I know, I know...I haven't been posting much. Truth is I have been spending most of my time learning how to do my job better and part of that is spending more and more time with my children and more time keeping my home in order. But now as my home is more organized, not perfect yet but definitely improving, I am excited to share all that I have learned with all of you here!
I will be posting things I have been learning here as well as guest posting on a new site created by my mother-in-law at Proverbs 31 Practical Helps. You can find my posts on the Clean Heart and Home page.
Anyway, I can't wait to get started. We will also be starting a weekly project for all of you to join in on so keep an eye out for that...coming soon!
Blessings to all of you!
I will be posting things I have been learning here as well as guest posting on a new site created by my mother-in-law at Proverbs 31 Practical Helps. You can find my posts on the Clean Heart and Home page.
Anyway, I can't wait to get started. We will also be starting a weekly project for all of you to join in on so keep an eye out for that...coming soon!
Blessings to all of you!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Perspective on Children
My mom told me this story today and it has been spinning in my head ever since. I can't help but wonder how many others there are like this older gentleman who may wish they had it to do over again.
After walking in to an office one day with their two young children, my parents were stopped by an older man who told them what nice children they had. He said when he and his wife got married, they agreed not to have children so they could enjoy life; travel the world, have it all. And they did. They saw the world, all of it, soaking in every minute. Life was a constant adventure. They had all the nice things they wanted and enjoyed them too. Then suddenly his wife passed away. Now this poor old man was left alone in the world. He no longer had someone to travel with him. no one to enjoy his things with him and no one to whom he could leave them when he died.
He had chosen the path of pleasure and it left him empty-handed. He would have gladly traded it all for some one to love him his old age.
Grandchildren to sit on his knee and listen to his stories.
Someone to keep his memory alive long after he was gone.
This man probably is gone now, since this story is over 20 years old, but maybe his sad tale will helps us rethink what is really important and what our perspective of children should look like.
After walking in to an office one day with their two young children, my parents were stopped by an older man who told them what nice children they had. He said when he and his wife got married, they agreed not to have children so they could enjoy life; travel the world, have it all. And they did. They saw the world, all of it, soaking in every minute. Life was a constant adventure. They had all the nice things they wanted and enjoyed them too. Then suddenly his wife passed away. Now this poor old man was left alone in the world. He no longer had someone to travel with him. no one to enjoy his things with him and no one to whom he could leave them when he died.
He had chosen the path of pleasure and it left him empty-handed. He would have gladly traded it all for some one to love him his old age.
Grandchildren to sit on his knee and listen to his stories.
Someone to keep his memory alive long after he was gone.
This man probably is gone now, since this story is over 20 years old, but maybe his sad tale will helps us rethink what is really important and what our perspective of children should look like.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
31 Days to Clean...my way
So any one who has read my blog could probably tell you at least these two things about me:
~I am pursuing a clean house
~I have a hard time following a schedule
Here is my latest way to try to make this happen:
31 Days of Clean
I had planned to start this with every one on the 1st...needless to say, it is not the first. But I am starting and I will try to keep my progress updated as much as I can. But I can't guarantee that I'll be done in 31 days, or even 31 weeks.
Anyway, day one asks us to make a list of why we clean so, for the sake of making you all laugh, here is my list of reasons in no particular order:
Why I Clean My House-
~I hate tripping over clutter
~I like seeing out my windows
~I like using on a clean toilet, showering in a clean tub
~I don’t like my children eating two day old food off the floors
~I can relax and enjoy my free time so much more if I am sitting in a clean house
~I want to be able to welcome company anytime they want to come without having to kill myself before they get here
I'm still working on my list, but one thing I realized is I clean for almost entirely selfish reasons. So what about you? What are your reasons for cleaning? Care to share?
~I am pursuing a clean house
~I have a hard time following a schedule
Here is my latest way to try to make this happen:
31 Days of Clean
I had planned to start this with every one on the 1st...needless to say, it is not the first. But I am starting and I will try to keep my progress updated as much as I can. But I can't guarantee that I'll be done in 31 days, or even 31 weeks.
Anyway, day one asks us to make a list of why we clean so, for the sake of making you all laugh, here is my list of reasons in no particular order:
Why I Clean My House-
~I hate tripping over clutter
~I like seeing out my windows
~I like using on a clean toilet, showering in a clean tub
~I don’t like my children eating two day old food off the floors
~I can relax and enjoy my free time so much more if I am sitting in a clean house
~I want to be able to welcome company anytime they want to come without having to kill myself before they get here
I'm still working on my list, but one thing I realized is I clean for almost entirely selfish reasons. So what about you? What are your reasons for cleaning? Care to share?
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