Keeping Priorities in Order

A new school year is beginning soon. For us, it's in two weeks; for some of you, it may have already begun! With a change in schedule, priorities can get shifted around. Sometimes that's necessary. But I'm taking a hard look this semester at my priorities and where they stand.

• God should always be number one. Some days (many days, if I'm honest) my Bible goes unopened. Sure, we do Portals of Prayer almost every day, and pray together daily, but my personal Bible study time is definitely lacking. That's something that I am constantly working on, and it's something I can't slack on when school starts. Especially when life gets busier, I'm going to need to be in the Word even more, otherwise life will just fall apart.
• My husband should always be the second most important person in my life! I often find myself caught up in the busyness of the school year, trying to socialize in between classes, work, and homework-- and sometimes my husband gets neglected. This should not be! My husband is my closest family, my very best friend, and my partner for life--nourishing our marriage needs to be way at the top of my priority list.
• Next should be time for family and friends. This doesn't happen during the school year as much as I'd like, partly because my family lives far away and Joshua's is even busier than we are. But we try to see them as often as we practically can.
• After my relationships come my responsibilities. First and foremost is my calling as a homemaker: planning and preparing meals, keeping up with laundry, keeping our home clean and presentable.
• Next I need to focus on my jobs, the ways I financially contribute to our little family. Blogging is one of my jobs, too--it's an important part of what I do and who I am.
• Finally comes school, and with that, homework. Obviously, attending classes on a day-to-day basis is a non-negotiable, and I always turn in homework on time, but it's not the most important aspect of my life, or the one I should be spending the most time and attention on.
• Mixed in here is spending some time focusing on myself, but that cannot be my top priority. Obviously I need to take care of myself physically, and take some time to rest and relax daily (nourishing food, adequate sleep, and physical activity are absolute musts in every day!). But I need to spend the majority of my time focusing on others.

It's a lot to balance, and although your roles, relationships and responsibilities may look a little different, I'm sure you have a lot to balance in your life as well.

How are your priorities lining up? Who or what is at the top of your list?

Is it your husband? Your children? Your job? Your writing? Yourself?

If God isn't at the top, followed closely by your spouse, the rest of your priorities won't line up right. The Lord needs to be the main focus of your life, the center around which everything else revolves. It's His Word that will keep you grounded and able to fulfill all your other roles and responsibilities the best you can. Trust me, I need to remind myself of this very often!

If spouse and family aren't way toward the top of your priority list, simply speaking, you're failing in your primary callings. We all have a variety of vocations--roles to which God has called us. If you're married and/or a parent, those vocations are your first and most important! No matter what job you have (even if it's a pastor, a doctor, a lawyer, a police officer), whatever it is, it's not as important as your first calling, which is to your family.

I have to remember this on a very regular basis. It's so easy to get caught up in thinking "but when I'm working I'm doing it for my family!" Or in my case, "When I'm spending all my time cooking and cleaning and taking care of the house, I'm doing it for my husband!" Most times he'd rather I spend time with him, not spend time doing dishes or cleaning the bathroom. Obviously those things need to get done, but they're not nearly as important as investing in my relationship with my husband.

So yep,  I sometimes struggle with keeping my priorities in order. I think we all do to some extent.

I find that it helps when I schedule time for those things that are most important. I do well with a written, detailed schedule, and if I put "Bible study and prayer" for the first half-hour of each day, I'm very likely to do it. If I decide that Tuesday and Friday nights, nothing goes on the calendar because those two nights are set aside for time with my husband, we'll actually spend that time together. If I schedule a couple hours a day for homework, it will happen in those times and not get pushed to evenings when I should be spending time with my husband. Those are some things I'm going to do to keep my priorities in order this school year.

What are you going to do this year to keep your priorities lined up? Looking at yourself, what order are you priorities in right now?

thankfulness this morning

Just a couple minutes to write this morning-- but I am blessed, and therefore thankful, at all times!

Thankful for cooler weather this week
for time to be at home
for two sweet little girls I get to babysit
for the extra income that brings
for productive cleaning moods
for a phone chat with both my mom and my grandma
for exciting surprises regarding super-secret project ;)
for a new academic adviser
for two life-changing forms to complete: a graduation application and an application for graduate classes!
for prayer with my husband every morning and night
for a strong, healthy body
for coffee.
for a husband whose faith is an inspiration to me
for knitting
for chiropractors
for forgiveness when I mess up

for so many things, I am so thankful.

God is so very good.



What are you thankful for today?

Linking with The Fontenot Four and Black Tag Diaries

A Glimpse into the American Justice System

This post is first in a three-part miniseries based on my jury duty experience.
See part two here
and part three here. 

As many of you know, I just had the opportunity to serve as a juror... for two. full. weeks.

It was intense.

The case was involving two semi trucks that crashed just outside the town I live in, in August 2010.
It was a rear-end crash: an underride from the perspective of the back truck, and the man in the back truck died. You don't need to know the details; it's not fun.

The charges were two: one, that the driver in the front truck, Mr. Kozlov, had driven below the posted legal speed limit (on Interstate 80 in Nebraska, the lowest legal speed is 40 mph), specifically, that he had been driving 13.5 mph at the time of the collision and had therefore been responsible for the death of the other man (manslaughter, murder without the intention of doing so);
and two, that Mr. Kozlov had intentionally given misleading information in his statements to law enforcement officers regarding the speed he had been going (he maintained for three years that he had been driving 60-65 mph). This is known as false reporting.

After two weeks of hearing the testimonies of witness after witness, watching the lawyers for the defense and prosecution do everything they could to make the facts fit what they wanted the jurors to believe, we were presented with the evidence and told to make a decision.

It was a complicated process, but suffice it to say that we did not have enough trustworthy information to prove him guilty of manslaughter.
We did decide that he was guilty of false reporting.

I gained a great respect for what judges and lawyers do, and especially for what juries are expected to do. It's not an easy thing. What we kept coming back to was the fact that Mr. Kozlov was "innocent until proven guilty" "beyond all reasonable doubt." There was plenty of reason to doubt that he was guilty. We just didn't have enough trustworthy information to declare him guilty of manslaughter, specifically, of breaking the law and driving too slow. No one saw it. No one could satisfactorily prove it.

We declared him innocent.

I'll get to the spiritual implications of this in another post. And I have another story to tell, too.

But right now I'm reflecting on the incredibly difficult jobs that judges, lawyers, and jurors have. Judges have to correctly apply the law during court cases. They have to really know their stuff, remain neutral about a situation, and then decide consequences based on a jury's decision.

Lawyers have to do everything in their power to prove their side of things, whether they're the defense or prosecution. I will say that I don't like lawyers very much, as much as I know there are plenty of lawyers out there who are good and decent people. But it's part of a lawyer's job to be a jerk in the courtroom. You can't be kind if you're trying to force the truth out of people. Plus, lawyers never swear to tell the truth. They can say whatever they want to try to sway the jury to their point of view. It's not a job I'd want, for sure.

I definitely have the most respect for jurors. They aren't trained in law, but they're expected to correctly apply what they've been told about the law. They're given a ton of information and told to decide, based on the facts they have, whether a person is guilty or innocent. And they're not the ones being paid several hundred dollars an hour. We got paid $35 a day (and I'm not complaining; it's about as much as I would have made working part-time at the library for those two weeks). But in my opinion, we had the hardest job of anybody. We were told that as a group of twelve people, we had to come to a unanimous decision. It was an amazing group of people that I worked with, but we didn't all think the same way by any means. We weren't all 100% thrilled with the way things turned out. I'm quite pleased about the not-guilty verdict for the manslaughter, but I wasn't entirely convinced that the man also committed the false reporting. But a few people weren't entirely convinced that he hadn't driven below the speed limit, either. What we were able to do was say, "you know what, I'm convinced enough. It's not that I have no doubt whatsoever, but we have to make a decision based in reasonable doubt." And that's what we did.

One of the jurors made an interesting comment at one point. He said something like, "Whatever decision we make regarding this man, he will have to face a much bigger judgment one day. If it turns out that he's not innocent, he'll have that on his own conscience, and he will have to answer for himself someday, to a much more important Judge than we are."

I take comfort in that. We made the best decision we could with the knowledge we were given. And the rest? It's up to God.


Have you ever served on a jury? What was your experience like?

Stay tuned...I have more stories to share from my jury duty experience!

living IN this world, created for eternity

I started reading Ecclesiastes yesterday. It's not a common book read in Bible studies, but I figure, it's part of Scripture, so it must be worth reading!

My favorite passage so far is this one from chapter three (right after the "a time for everything" section):

"What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him." -Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

This is just a beautiful passage, and there's so much in it!
God has made us people with eternal souls--"has set eternity in the hearts of men." So we aren't fully content in this world governed by time, but at the same time our finite bodies "cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." We're not made for this world, obviously. But what does life in this world consist of? Eating, drinking, and working.
That could be a pretty meaningless existence--in fact, that's what the writer of Ecclesiastes ponders throughout the book. What's the purpose in life? What's the purpose to eating, drinking, and working? They're meaningless.

But this passage gives hope:
"That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in his toil--this is the gift of God."

Bingo.
We're not made for this world, but we were made to live in it for a time. And in order that our life here may not be without purpose, God created us for eternity--our lives in this world have an ultimate purpose, that is, to direct others toward eternity. We were all created as eternal beings, but not everyone knows that, and not everyone knows how much God wants them to live with him in paradise for eternity. So that's our purpose here, and we are constantly reminded of it because we can't be completely content living in this finite world.

And while we are living in this world, going about our lives--eating, drinking, and working--God gives us pleasure and satisfaction in that. He doesn't condemn us to a life of bore, a meaningless life. While we are at work pointing people to him, he blesses us and enables us to live a happy life, with the pleasures of food and drink, and the satisfaction that comes from work well done.

What a gift. What a life. What a God we have.

prayers please!

Hello, you dear people who read these words I write!

I have a bit of news... I've been called for jury duty and the trial is expected to last at least two weeks.  So my free time is going to be far less than usual, which means blogging won't happen like I want it to.  I'll try to write a little bit as often as I can, but don't expect any big, exciting posts in the next two weeks-- except that I WILL have a very exciting announcement for you soon!  The reason for that announcement is also the reason that I won't have time to blog much in the next two weeks.  (And NO, I'm not pregnant, before you wonder!)

I would ask that you keep me in your prayers for the next couple weeks, with these two major responsibilities-- in addition to being a wife and homemaker.  My husband is being incredibly supportive and encouraging, and I will be in prayer and in the Word a LOT, but I'll need all the prayers I can get!

Thank you so much for being loyal and wonderful!

One more thing... by the end of the day yesterday, I was amazed to re-read the words I wrote yesterday morning, before the first day of the trial.  God definitely led me to write something that I would need for my own encouragement--how cool is that?!?  Stop by and read yesterday's post if you haven't yet.  Have you ever had that experience of needing to teach yourself something more than teaching it to others?  That was definitely me yesterday!

Twenty-two lessons in twenty-two years

Today I'm turning twenty-two.  It's not a particularly exciting birthday, like eight years from now will be (gee, am I really going to be thirty in only eight years??).  However, I like even numbers, and I like symmetry, so 22 is a good number.

I've learned a lot in 2.2 decades.  Most of these lessons have been things I've come to understand fairly recently, but they're all a result of experiences throughout my life.  I thought it might be fun (and a bit of a challenge) to come up with twenty-two worthwhile things I've learned about life, relationships, and myself.  Can you relate with any of these?  It can't be just me!

1)  Don't make snap judgments about people.  Some people you might not like much at first but later you'll become friends, and some people who seem cool when you meet them really aren't.

2) Never hold a grudge.  It's not healthy for you and it doesn't affect the other person much anyway.

3) Learn to laugh at yourself.  You do goofy things, and you'll be happier if you can see the humor in those things.

4) Avoid assuming (although do try to assume the best about your spouse as much as possible).  We all know what happens when you ASSUME.  Yeah.

5) Learn to not take things so personally.  Not everything is about you!

6) Appreciate when people listen to you, and learn to listen to others.  They have a lot to teach you.

7) Learn to forgive yourself.  Guilt is not a burden you need to bear; Jesus destroyed it on the cross.

8) Try new things.  You might find you like some things you swore you never would (like country music!).

9) Dance at every wedding.  It's a win-win: you get to flirt with your husband, and show off your sweet swing-dancing skills.

10) Don't be afraid of what people think about you.  The opinions of most people don't matter, and you're defined by being a child of God, not by other people's opinions.

11) Embrace opportunities to make new friends.  Cultivate those relationships while you have the opportunity (before you move or they graduate from college).

12) It's okay to have several "best friends."

13) Get to know people of a variety of ages: your age, younger than you, and older--sometimes much older--than you.  Children bring so much joy to life, and you can learn a lot from older people.

14) Always lick the spoon.

15) Don't beat yourself up over mistakes.  Everyone makes from them.  Take note of the lesson you've learned and move on.

16) It's okay to cry and not know why.

17) You'll always need your mom.

18) Face your fears.  That's the easiest way to conquer them.

19) On second thought, just don't be afraid.  Fear is of the Enemy.  You are a child of God and the Holy Spirit lives in your heart; you have no reason to fear anything!

20) Judge sin, not people.  You don't want to turn into a Pharisee; you just want to be like Jesus.

21) Don't focus on the future; instead, have an eternal mindset.  What's going to matter after this life is over?

22) Leave the worrying about everything to God.  Worrying does no good, and only steals joy, contentment and happiness.  There is always something to be thankful for; focus on that instead of whatever is worrying you.

What are some of the most important/useful/funny life lessons you have learned?  Share in the comments!

Marriage--More than I Expected

I got married at the tender age of 19-not-quite-20.  I don't regret it one bit--my husband and I are growing up together, get to spend tons of time together, get to learn and experience life together, and will have several married years before we start having children.  Marrying my man when I did is the best decision I ever made.

But I'll be the first to admit that I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I got married!  Marriage has brought a lot of surprises--some pleasant, some not as much.

I didn't expect that marriage would force me to mature so quickly.  In the last almost-two years, I've had to learn to really be an adult.  I've had to learn how to be selfless (that's a work in progress).  I've had to learn how to handle finances, jobs, taxes, car repairs, medical issues, and more.  I have learned to release myself from childhood and from the mindset of being dependent on my parents.  Now, my husband and I take care of each other.  I knew, cognitively, that all those things would come with marriage, but I didn't realize how quickly I (and my husband) would grow up.

I didn't expect how hard marriage would be.  It's so worth it, but it's not always easy.

It's harder than I expected to come up with new date night ideas so we don't fall into the rut of "same ol', same ol'."  To keep the house clean, orderly, and comfortable, day in and day out.  To keep up with the never-ending jobs of laundry and dishes and scrubbing the toilet.  To plan healthy, yummy meals...three times a day, every day (although this job comes more easily to me than others).  I didn't expect it to take so much work to die to myself every day and intentionally love my husband the way he needs to be loved, not the way I want to be loved.  To bite my tongue instead of letting an angry word slip past my lips when my temper flares.  It's a lot more work than I expected.

But there are other things about marriage that are more than I expected.  Amazing, wonderful things!

This love that comes out of my heart, directed at this person with whom I share, literally everything,  is beyond anything I have ever experienced or could ever imagine.  I never knew it was possible to love someone so much... or, just as wondrous, to be loved by them so much.  Now I know why God uses the example of marriage to explain to us how much he loves us.  It's a love that surpasses description, and cannot be expressed in words.

Marriage is more full of joy than I expected.  You know the old adage about how two people can halve each other's sorrows and double each other's joys?  Well, in marriage, that is SO true.  Happy things are twice as happy.  Hard things are twice as easy to bear.  I mean, I get to spend the majority of my time with my best friend, who happens to be a really fun person to spend time with, who makes me laugh, who puts a lot of effort into making me happy, who directs me to my Jesus, and who loves me more than I will ever understand (as explained above).  How much better can life get?

In marriage, there is more laughter than I expected.  There is more encouragement.  I didn't realize how much of a team we would be.  We're each other's "buddies"--we always have the other's back, and we might sometimes get on each other's nerves, but just let someone else say something mean about us and watch out!  We're there for each other.  And let's just say... there are other aspects of marriage that have far surpassed my expectations, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Marriage is so much more work than I expected...and sometimes, it brings pain, because we can hurt the most the ones we love the most.
But those hard things are so worth it, because in marriage, the love, joy, and happiness are so much more than I expected.  I am in awe of this gift with which God has blessed us.

And I can't wait to see what other unexpected things life brings our marriage.  The future isn't scary, because God is already there, leading us on, and I know that my husband and I will be hand-in-hand every step of the way.

What in your life has been more than you expected?  Share in the comments!

Linking with: Exceptionalistic, A Proverbs 31 Wife, What Joy is Mine, The Alabaster Jar, The Modest Mom, Yes They're All Ours, The Better Mom, To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Messy Marriage, Graced Simplicity

Kombucha {Foodie Friday}

I've been making and drinking kombucha (somewhat sporadically) for about three months now.  I quit drinking it for about three weeks straight and toward the end of those three weeks I got the first stomach bug I've had since I was 15.  I don't know if the two are connected or not, but it's an interesting coincidence.

I've already written a post with some basic information on kombucha and the making of it, so check out that post if you want some more detailed info!

Recently I made my own SCOBY.  (What's a SCOBY?  Click here to read all about it!)  I had let my big one go bad (don't EVER do that, by the way, the smell is nasty), but I still had some already-made kombucha with "bits" of SCOBY in it in the fridge.  So I added about 1/3 cup of sugar to a cup or so of kombucha, put it in a warm place (on top of one of the heating vents in the floor), and let it hang out there for about a week.  Sure enough: at the end of the week I had my very own mother SCOBY floating on top, and I made it myself!

This was a pretty exciting breakthrough.  It's good to know that even if I don't make kombucha for a while, I just have to keep some of it back and I can always make a new SCOBY.

I thought of several other food items that started with "K" that I could have used, like kale (still meaning to buy some and make chips, like my mom does), kefir (haven't made that yet either...maybe someday), kiwi (yum, but how many recipes use kiwi?), kebobs (I didn't have time today to write a whole recipe post), kidney beans (I cook them myself, starting with dry ones, in a pot or slowcooker--so much cheaper and better for you than the canned), or key lime pie (the thought of which is making my mouth water, but again, no time for recipe-making/writing lately).

...that's what was going through my head when I was trying to come up with a post I could write in a hurry today.  Homework has been catching up with me lately.  Maybe next week will be better... Q!  What on earth will I come up with for a food that begins with Q?!?

You'll just have to come back and find out. :)

J is for... {Thankful Thursday}

I like the letter "J."  Not just because it's my first initial, but because it's the first letter of the names of the two people who love me most--

Jesus and Joshua.

One of them died and rose again so I could have life.
The other one promised his life to me.

Both love me more than I can comprehend, far more than I deserve, and more than I could repay...
but that's what makes it real love.

And because of the love from both of them, I have another gift for which I'm thankful--

Joy.

It is the love of God, and the love of my husband, which give me the greatest joy I think it's possible to experience (at least on this earth!).

I'm thankful for justification--the result of Jesus' sacrifice for me on the cross.  I have been justified before God.  Now it's "just as if I'd" never sinned--before God I am holy and sinless!

And I am thankful for the journey of life that I get to travel with my darling husband.  There's no one else I'd rather be beside for my whole life.  He is my best friend, my lover, and my greatest encouragement.

And I'm thankful that I'm Jaimie.  I'm happy to be me--just the way God made me. :)


What are you thankful for?  Anything that begins with "J"?

Linking today with The Fontenot Four and black tag diaries.

Embracing This Present Season of Life

I have this habit of looking forward toward the future, and keeping the past firmly in my sights as well.  This leaves too little time for focusing on the present.

Image credit: Stock photo via Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net

In keeping with my theme of {FOCUS} for this year, I've been thinking a lot about what it means to really embrace the present--the present day, and the present time in life.  Right now my season of life includes the vocations of wife, homemaker, and college student, among others.  One vocation I do not have right now is motherhood.

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to being a mama.  The excitement of preparing for the birth of a child, wondering if it will be a boy or girl, whose features our child will have, what their personality will be like.  The changes in our life that a child will bring--new jobs and responsibilities, a new person to love and care for.  Seeing this living miracle that God made, in my body, a personification of his love for us in a tiny baby.  Sure, there are things to be less excited about... the discomfort and pain of pregnancy and childbirth, learning how to nurture our marriage with the added challenge of having a baby.

But right now, none of these things is in our near future.  We still have a couple years left before we're both done with school, and therefore, we'll need to wait to become parents.

As much as I'm looking forward to the future, it won't do to focus only on that right now.  God has me in this place, in this season of life, for very good reason.  He has a purpose for my life right now.  He has work for me to do right where I am.  Therefore, instead of spending all my time planning for and thinking about having a baby sometime in the future, I'm going to look for ways to serve God right here, right now.

Practically speaking, what does it mean to embrace each season of life as it comes?

-I embrace the roles God has given me.  Right now, those are wife, homemaker, and college student.  The roles of wife and homemaker will be mine for the rest of my life.  Now is the time to work on those, gaining wisdom and experience, and nurturing my marriage as much as I can, so that it can stand strong through the changes and challenges that will inevitably come.  After all, even after our future children grow up and leave home, I'll still be a wife--that's my first calling, and the most important.

-I look for ways to serve.  I don't have to wait till my husband is officially a teacher and "in the ministry."  We can start doing ministry right now!  I have hopes and plans that I'm looking to implement this fall...I'll let you know when those plans are more concrete.  At home, I can serve my husband, by taking care of our home and striving to be the best helper to him that I can.  I can open my home to others, and share the love of Jesus by practicing hospitality.  What gifts have I been given?  I can share those and thus serve the Lord.

-I leave the future in God's hands.  It does no good to worry about the future.  I have very little control over the days to come--but God does.  He already knows what will happen in my future, because he is eternal--not bound by time.
God made a promise to his people Israel that applies to his people today, too:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you," declares the Lord... (Jeremiah 29:11-14a)

Jesus taught this to his disciples in Matthew (6:31-34):

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (Emphasis added)

Finally, we can be certain that nothing in the past, present or future will ever change the way God loves us, and he will let nothing separate us from him.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39, emphasis added)

What does this mean for us?  It means we can embrace our life, wherever we are in it, without fear and with joy, because God has our future in his hands.  He has a plan for us.  And his love for us is unchanging, and will stay the same forever, no matter what the future holds.

Linking with: A Proverbs 31 Wife, What Joy is Mine, The Alabaster Jar, Raising Arrows, The Better Mom, the Modest Mom

I may be crazy...

Bath products.
Makeup.
Cleaning chemicals.
Personal care products.

What do all these things have in common?
They're generally made from things that aren't very good for your body or your health.  They're expensive.  And I think I can do better.  With some help, of course.  I have already gotten started:

-For cleaning, I already use white vinegar, mixed with water in a spray bottle for general cleaning and sanitizing.  That's about it.
-I tried making homemade liquid soap--which I haven't used up yet, and I may or may not try this technique again.
-I've just started using the baking soda and apple-cider-vinegar hair cleaning method.  (More on that in a future post, but five days in, I love it!)

I've been reading ideas and recipes for all sorts of natural, homemade products to replace conventional ones.

The reason I'm interested in making homemade versions of products that most people spend a lot of money on, is mainly the simplicity of it.  There are more frugal alternatives to commonly-used products, more all-purpose products (like vinegar and baking soda), and homemade versions that I think work just as well or better than the "store-bought" versions.

(Please understand, I don't have a problem with people who use shampoo, Lysol, Windex, etc, etc.  I'm just excited in researching alternatives for myself and my family.)

I have found several bloggers who have embraced this kind of "homemade" lifestyle, and I wanted to compile some of my favorite ideas of theirs that I have found--for my future reference and your benefit.

From Shaye at The Elliot Homestead:
Castile soap and all its amazing uses--shower soap, hand soap, shampoo, general household cleaning, and more!
A variety of what Shaye calls "cleaning products for the poor," starting with my friends vinegar and baking soda.
And a list of all Shaye's homemade products, including baby items and lip balm.

From Thank Your Body (the writer has more of a "hippie" lifestyle/mindset than I will ever have, but she has some great ideas and recipes for a lot of things):
Homemade hand soap (different recipes than I used, including one that's yet another use for Castile soap).
Natural "bleach"--hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice!
Homemade deodorant--this one sounds nice, although probably not something I'll need to make for a long time--my body doesn't need deodorant much anyway, so it takes me ages to go through a regular stick.  I have got to invest in some coconut oil, for a ton of reasons!

I also want to invest in less refined foods--like raw honey and real maple syrup, all whole wheat flour (and ground oats, and other non-white-flour grains).  I want to start using healthier fats, like high-quality butter and coconut oil.  I have all these dreams, plans, and ideas... but I keep reminding myself, I'm doing pretty darn good for a young, year-and-a-half married, college student on a little bitty budget!

Bottom line, I want to use the gifts God has given us to the best of my abilities--to honor God with our bodies, which includes the way we eat and the chemicals we use in, on and around our bodies.  I want to make the best use of the resources we have, especially food.  I want God to be glorified in all aspects of our lives, and that means not making all this stuff into a god, but focusing (there's that word again!) on THE important thing in my life: not health, not money, not food--GOD.

One Word 2013

I've been hearing about this practice since last year--picking one word to define yourself and your life for the year ahead.  Ann Voskamp does it.  So do a lot of other bloggers: Julia at black tag diaries, L at All Glorious Within, "Beloved" at Treat Me to a Feast are just a few.

I thought it would take a lot of time and thinking to determine just one word for the theme for my whole year.  But pondering it briefly yesterday, I realized that there is a pattern to my prayer for myself and my life this year.

I want to focus more on my husband.
I want to focus more on homemaking and housework.
I want to focus on a specific, pretty big project for school.
Most importantly, I want to focus more on my heavenly Father and His Word.

So, my one word for 2013 is:

Focus

I really want to work on this, this new year.  Life goes by so quickly.  I've had people tell me that one's twenties are the most exciting part of life, with the most changes and new experiences, but they are also the years that go by the fastest.  Before I know it, I'll be graduated from college (just a year to go!), a mommy (Lord willing, and no we are not pregnant yet), moving, starting a new life as my husband begins teaching, and who knows what else.  I don't want to miss any of the blessings that God gives me each day.  I want to pay attention to the little things, and not take anything for granted.

And how do you take special notice of the little things?

You focus.  Zoom in on the details.  Ignore the distractions that surround you.  Pay attention to what's important in that one moment.

That's how I want to live my life this year: savoring each moment as it comes, focusing on what is at hand, and not letting myself get distracted by what the world throws at me.  I don't want so much to look toward the future as I want to experience the present.

Pray for me?  That God would help me ignore the distractions and focus on the important?

And if you're doing One Word--tell me about it!  Link up your post about your One Word in the comments. I'll be praying for you, too.

I'm experimenting--with homemade liquid soap!

So, blogging friends, I'm embarking on a new homemaking, home-made adventure: making liquid soap!  I've been wanting to do this for a while, ever since I happened on this recipe.  My mom gave me a couple bars of nice Yardley's soap for my birthday, and I bought a $7, six-ounce bottle of glycerin at the drugstore the other today, and today I decided to go for it!  I also referred to this post , and I read somewhere else (forgot to bookmark that one) that including isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol added antibacterial qualities, so I mixed in that too.  Here's the final recipe that I used:

10 1/2 cups water
1 cup grated soap flakes
1 tablespoon glycerin
2 tablespoons rubbing alcohol

I sanitized my grater, measuring spoons, cutting board, whisk, and glass measuring cup with boiling water.  Set the 10+ cups of water to boil while I grated the soap.  (If I do this again, I'll use a food processor--it was tiring and I think I breathed in some soap dust.)  The soap melted almost instantly, and the mixture foamed a bit when I poured in the alcohol.  The fumes were a bit strong, but now the entire apartment smells nicely of lavender soap!  I'm going to let the mixture cool in the pot until it reaches the consistency I want.  If it turns out too runny or too "snotty" (that's a word a lot of commenters on both those posts used to describe their soap), I'm going to try whisking it or using a hand beater to incorporate air.  We'll see if that works.

If it's too thick (which I doubt will happen) I'll probably heat it up again and add some more water.

A lot of people were complaining that the soap didn't lather.  Plenty of others explained that lather doesn't equal cleaning.  I know it's soap, and I know it'll do the job whether it lathers or not!

Others were concerned about bacteria growing in the soap if purified water wasn't used to make it.  I'm not worried about that, for these reasons:  I boiled my water, for several minutes, before I added the soap, and boiled it some more after the soap flakes were mixed in.  I sanitized all my utensils, and I'm going to sanitize my storage containers before I put the finished soap in them.  Also, again-- it's soap.  It already contains ingredients that kill germs.  Plus, that's why I added the rubbing alcohol.  If the boiling didn't already kill off any bacteria, the alcohol will!

Finally, if this experiment turns out to be a complete flop, I'm not going to fuss.  The soap didn't cost me anything since it was a gift, and I wrapped the leftover bits in a piece of cotton fabric and tightly rubber-banded it shut, and I plan to use that in the shower.  And I still have most of a bottle of glycerin, which I can use as a skin moisturizer mixed with water.  So even if I decide that I can't use my homemade liquid soap, it's still not a loss--and maybe I'll try again with a different technique!

In the meantime, I'm baking bread (a combination of white and whole wheat flours), and I finally figured out how to get the loaves to rise properly and avoid having the dough stick to the towel covering it.  Cover the dough first with a well-greased piece of plastic wrap, and then put the wet towel over that.  Also, the second and third risings were on top of the warming-up oven, not in it, so that I wouldn't collapse the dough by taking it out of a very warm oven into a less-warm kitchen.

I'm so proud of myself.  And feeling so very domestic. :)

the reason for friendship. And my Best Friend.

I realized yesterday why God gives us friends.

It's so that he can love us through other people.  Friends are one of God's means of blessing us.

And, he gives us friends so that he can bless them through us.  It's a two-way street.

I mean, even Jesus surrounded himself with just twelve men--his closest friends--and even had three very best friends out of those twelve (Peter, James and John).  If God himself needed friends while he lived on this earth, then we certainly do.

It's so important to have someone in your life who you can trust completely.  Who can trust you.  Someone who will love you for exactly who you are, but still let you know when you're being an idiot.  Someone who helps you to grow, and become the person God is shaping you to be.

It's even more of a blessing when you have several someones like that.  I'm more thankful than words can express to say that I do.  Besides just my husband, who is my very best friend, there is more than one other person who I consider a true friend.

Not all of them are people I talk to all the time.  Some of them I haven't seen in months, or even in over a year.  But when we do get together, we pick up right where we left off.

Some of them are so much like me it's scary.  Some of them are very different from me.  But they are all in my life for good reason--even if God's the only one who knows what those reasons are.

I have to be careful to remember, though, that these human relationships aren't the most important relationship in my life.  There is Someone who wants to be my Best Friend, even better than my husband.  He wants me to come to talk to him about everything.  He knows me exactly as I am, all my best and worst qualities, and he loves me anyway.

His name is Jesus.

And if he isn't your Best Friend, too, I know he wants to be.  You can just ask him to come into your life.  He'll come.  He loves you more than you can imagine.  He's better than any human friend--because he's God.  He made you.  He saved you from all the evil in the world, and in your own life, and in yourself.  He died so that you could be forgiven of every bad thing you've ever done or will do.  He rose again so that he could, someday, bring you to live with him in heaven forever.

This friend gave his life so that he could spend eternity with you.

That's a real friend.

I'm here, and I'm writing.

This is good.  Two days in a row.  No link-ups, but you know, I think that's a good thing.  A dip in pageviews will be good for me--a reminder to not let that affect me.  A reminder of the real reason why I write: not to get my words out to as many people as possible, but just to get them out there for the people who really care about what I have to say.

(Hint: if you're reading this, that's you.)

Today has been a much better day than yesterday.  It's 8:00, I have two hours before I'll be home (to my hubby, yay!) and I'm not exhausted yet.  This is a good sign.  I had supper with my best friend and her two sweet house-mates tonight.  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggies.  SO good.  Best meatloaf I've had in a while.  (Thanks, K!)

Half a week in...I think I can handle this.  I know I can.  Philippians 4:13, for Pete's sake.  This week has been a wake-up call: I can't do life alone.  I really need Jesus.  Bible reading has got to become even more important, because I need the spiritual strength so much more.  I mean, I need it all the time, but you know what I mean.

Guess what.  I discovered something.  I like writing like this, unpolished, not really thought through ahead of time, just letting the words go out on the screen.  A journal for a lot of people, most of whom I don't know personally and probably never will (and that's okay).  There is, of course, a time and place for those posts that I spend more time thinking about, planning, wording carefully, writing to fit all the various link-ups I do in a day.  But I'm really loving this freedom, to just write about whatever, and not really care what anyone else thinks--or even if it gets read or not.  It was written.  That's what matters.

to keep on keepin' on

Today was the first day of school.
Technically, it's my senior year, but I have a year and a half to go and Joshua has two.  So we'll be "super-seniors," which isn't that big a deal...a lot of people follow the five-year plan.  Or four and a half, in my case.

We didn't get to bed nearly early enough last night, so that might contribute to my tiredness.  I'm exhausted.  It'll probably take a few days to get used to the school schedule again.  I don't have a massively busy schedule, but it's plenty.  Figuring in classes, work, homework, meal-making, cleaning, dishes, and time with friends and most importantly with Joshua...it's a little overwhelming.  But I know we'll get into a system, and I'll get used to it.  I always do. :)

So far I've only been to three of my eight classes.  Two of them are choir and handbells, which both are very familiar.  I have two new professors this semester, and I met both of them today.  I think this will be a good semester.  I'm looking forward to all my classes.  They will all be useful and interesting. :)

I want to keep blogging, and linking up, but I have a feeling that, at least for a while, blogging might have to take the back burner.  I know writing is really, really important, but did you see that list of everything I have to do every day?

Give me a couple weeks.  At the most, a month.  I'll keep writing as much as I can...but it might be a little less than usual in the next few weeks.  Bear with me.  Stick with me if you want to.  Keep your eyes open... I'll keep posting.  I'll be here.  I just might be a little scarce for a while. :)

Because this is important to me.  Writing.  Blogging.  Keeping up with this community.  I know I have an obligation to my readers, to keep on keepin' on.  I have even more of an obligation to myself.  This is important.

But I talk a lot about priorities...keeping first things first.  Blogging is an important thing, but it's not a first thing.  Not right now.  So it will happen--I hope fairly regularly--but I need to keep other things first: God.  My husband.  My friends.  School.  Work.

Thanks for sticking with me. :)

The Privilege of Being His Witness

Joshua and I read in Matthew for our devotions this morning.  Part of the passage was the Great Commission in Matthew 28:

"Then Jesus came to [the disciples] and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"  

Matthew 28:18-20

The account of Jesus' ascension in Acts 1 adds some more insight:

"[Jesus] said to [the disciples]: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power then the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'" 

Acts 1:7-8

We are called to be Christ's witnesses, making disciples "of all nations."  For some Christians, that means going to faraway countries to preach the Gospel.  For others, that means witnessing for Jesus in our neighborhoods, workplaces and towns.  Jesus told the disciples they would be witnesses in Jerusalem--the city they were in at the time--and in Judea--the country where they were.

Being Christ's witnesses doesn't necessarily mean going to Africa or China or Russia to be a missionary.
It means sharing our faith in our daily lives, everywhere we go.

No believer has an excuse for NOT being a witness.

And no believer has to despair that they don't have the time, money or resources to become a missionary to a foreign country.

We are witnesses in the places and vocations in which God has placed us.

For me, that means I am a witness at home (yes, to my husband, even though he is a believer!), at school, at work, in my little town, and to my friends, acquaintances and others who read what I put on the internet every day.

(Have you ever thought of that?  Your Facebook posts, tweets, and blog posts are all part of your Christian witness!  How are you sharing the love of Christ through your online presence?)

These passages in Matthew and Acts are always a wake-up call for me.   It's a conviction: I need to be aware of how I'm witnessing Christ, and be intentional about it!  And it's also an encouragement: I have been given the incredible privilege of representing the God of the universe, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to every person I see each day.

How incredible is that?

My encouragement, to myself and to you, today is this:
Look for ways God has given you to witness him.
Be intentional at least once today about speaking the Gospel and the name of Jesus to someone you normally wouldn't.
Remember--God will give you the words to say, because His Holy Spirit is in your heart.


Linking up with these lovely ladies:
The Houtz House Party; New Life Steward; A Wise Woman Builds Her Home; Deep Roots at Home; Women Living Well

Strength Renewed

It's getting toward the end of the summer.  Many students and families are starting a new school year.  Joshua and I have less than two weeks until school begins again for us.

I'm ready for a new schedule, a change of pace, a different routine.  This summer has been wonderful, don't get me wrong--but I'm ready for some changes.

At the same time, I'm a little apprehensive.  With the new school year will come new challenges: juggling being a wife and homemaker with being a full-time student and working part-time and trying to spend some time with friends, too.  It's a bit overwhelming!  (If you're feeling like you have a lot on your plate--you are not alone!)

A verse from Isaiah came to mind this morning.  God said to Isaiah,

"I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." -Isaiah 41:9b-10

God has chosen me to serve him.  He is always with me; he gives me strength and help.  I have nothing to fear or worry about.  And neither do you, no matter what your life looks like right now!

In the previous chapter of Isaiah, God spoke more comforting words:

"Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.  But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  -Isaiah 41:28-31

Our strength does not come from ourselves.  Even youth (like me!) grow tired and weary.  But God never does.  Our God is everlasting--Creator of all that exists.  It is when we put our hope in him, not in our own "strength," that we become strong.  It is God who lifts us up.

I won't get through this coming school year on my own power.  It will be with the strength of God, by his grace and his will, that I will live each day to his glory.  I won't do that perfectly... but I can trust that God has forgiven me.  And he chose me to be his servant knowing that I'm imperfect, so I know he can and will use me for his will despite my imperfections.

I can't wait to see where his strength will take me this year... to what new heights I'll soar.  I wonder...where will God take you?

Linking up with these lovely ladies:
 Growing Home; Thankful Homemaker; Time-Warp Wife; Cornerstone Confessions; Lessons from Ivy

 

What a Young Wife has Learned

My husband and I have been married for a year and two months (and a little more).  It has already been an amazing journey, and I am humbled and awed at the thought that God has given me this incredible man with whom I get to spend my whole life.

I have found, in talking with other young married couples (wives especially) that we're all going through similar things and trying to learn a lot of the same things.  This makes perfect sense; we are, after all, at about the same point in life.

One year of marriage has taught me a lot, thanks be to God.  I have so much more to learn, and I know that, so I can't claim to be an expert of any kind.

But I would like to share today some of the most important things I've learned, which are all based on the Word of God.

1) My husband needs to be respected as well as loved, and that does not come naturally to me like loving does.  As a woman, I have very little difficulty loving people, especially my husband.  But when it comes to respecting him, that takes work.  Perhaps that's why Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

"...each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." Ephesians 5:33

2) I need to say more often to myself, "Hold your tongue, woman!"  Before I speak, I need to think: is it respectful?  Is it loving?  Is it necessary?  Is it timely?  Is it helpful?  Maybe this is just me, but I get into the most trouble by saying things out of turn, or saying something I shouldn't at all.  I could fix a lot by simply being more careful about what I say, and when.

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."         Proverbs 10:19 

3) I need to keep my priorities in order.  First God, then my husband, then myself.  It is necessary to put his needs before my own and be selfless.  Again, this doesn't come naturally, but doing this will have a very positive impact on my life and my marriage.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus..." Philippians 2:3-5

4) My husband and I should forgive each other--always.  This is the key.  This is how our marriage works.  We are both sinful people, saved by grace, yes, but still sinners.  Failing each other is inevitable--which is why forgiveness is such a gift of God, and so very important.

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

5) Remember--the ability to love does not come from me, or from my husband.  It is a gift of God. The amazing thing about marriage is that God doesn't expect us to do it on our own.  He gives us the strength, will and resources--like forgiveness--to love, respect and honor our spouse.  Love isn't something I produce on my own power.  It comes from Him.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:7-8

6) Marriage is an earthly example of the love Jesus Christ has for all who believe in him.  The bottom line is, my marriage isn't about me or my husband.  It's about God.  Marriage is a way God blesses his people incredibly.  It is one of the ways he explains to us the love he has for us.  It is an image of the relationship Jesus Christ has with the church--his Bride.  Marriage is another way that we, as God's children, can honor and glorify him.

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water thorough the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--for we are members of his body.  'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.'  This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church.  However, each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."  Ephesians 5:21-33

There is so much more I could say about what I have learned about marriage in the last fourteen months, and about what marriage has taught me about myself, about what love is, and about who God is.  But these things, I think, are the most important.


Linking up to these lovely ladies today, with thanks:

Upward Not Inward; New Life Steward; To Love, Honor and Vacuum; Women Living Well; Deep Roots at Home; A Wise Woman Builds Her Home 

 

How to be a Titus 2 Mentor

I'm guest posting over at New Life Steward for Mary Beth today!

(Remember, she posted here last week about cultivating your marriage after a baby?)

~~~~~~

As bloggers, our sphere of influence is much wider than just the people we meet in person every day.  Our words enter the homes and hearts of hundreds and even thousands of people each day.  Mary Beth asked me to answer the question, “How can older women bless younger women through their blogs?”

I’m one of those younger women.  I’m twenty-one and I have been married for just over a year.  I have learned a lot in the last year, but there is so much more I don’t know.

Those of you who have more life experience than I, and others like me, have so much to share with us!  We younger women desire your teaching, advice, and encouragement.  You are a blessing to us.

So, here are a few ways, applicable to blogging and in some cases to your real-life relationships, that Experienced Women Can Bless Those of Us Who are Younger...

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Head on over to New Life Steward to read the rest!

Linking up today:  Far Above Rubies; Growing Home; Cornerstone Confessions; Lessons from Ivy; Time-Warp Wife