Thursday, November 28, 2013

“Thou who hast given so much to me give me one thing more, a grateful heart: not thankful when it pleaseth me, as if Thy blessings had spare days, but such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.”

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

I need this reminder. Freely Give. In whatever I'm facing, in whatever I'm doing....

Freely Give....

-thanks for all things

-of my time

-my resources

-words of blessing

-my love

The only response from one who has been given so much and given it so freely should be to give all things back freely.

I say, it SHOULD be the response.

Unfortunately, it is NOT the natural response of a fallen human being.

My selfishness is astoundingly gross at times.

My capacity to absorb all that is freely given and to even want more (gag here _ _ _ _ _ ) is revolting.

I am so quick to forget all that I have been given.

Jesus-
Open my eyes and my heart to really see all that you have given to me so freely today. Create in me a heart that responds to you by freely giving all that I am and have back to you.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Midnight Music

mu·sic

an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
(source: dictionary.com)

It's the middle of the night.

Tired doesn't even do justice to the state of my physical and mental state of being.

But I hear something....soft, beautiful, harmonious.

It's growing louder and more beautiful as my mind begins to slowly focus.

It's music.

Beautiful, soothing music:

-the heavy, rythmic breathing of a good, hard-working man, tired from a long day of work. The breathing of a man who carries a boatload of responsibility on his shoulders. It's so steady. clear. sturdy. robust. strong.

-I must listen carefully, but...yes! I can hear it! Those quick, light puffs of air coming from my 3 month old daughter's body. The breathing is delicate and beautiful, just like my daughter.

-rising from the floor, just beside the bed, I hear the middle son breathing. His breath catches and he quivers a little as he recovers from his night time fear. He feels safe and secure being so close to his parents. He can breath easy again.

Yes. It is music.

Music that I love.

It's the music of life.

*thinking of my SIL, Katie Beiler and of Louisa Schmucker who have both recently lost the gift of midnight music in their lives.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Pinching the Pennies

So.

Sometimes I shock myself.

I never thought I’d try this.

You know, making my own cleaners and baby wipes.

But here I am:

A wife of one hard working man.

A mom of 5 healthy growing children.

Unfortunately the hard working husband’s salary isn’t growing proportionately with the offspring.

So.

Here I am, trying some new money saving tactics and actually kind of enjoying the challenge.

I have 2 criteria when it comes to making any homemade product:

1. It cannot be too time consuming

2. I do not want to sacrifice quality

Since these two products passed my little test with flying colors and saved me a hunk of cash, I deemed them worthy of sharing with you.

1. Baby Wipes

I’m not pulling any wool over your eyes. Right here on this picture are the items needed for a wonderful batch of sweet smelling, soft, moist baby wipes. You can whip up a batch of these wipes in 5 minutes. As far as quality, I actually prefer these OVER the wipes bought at the store. I got this recipe from my friend, Andrea. Visit her here for detailed instructions.

You can use any kind of baby wash in this recipe but I LOVE the scent that this Lavender and Chamomile added to my wipes.

Your baby will love you for making these wipes. I think I totally ‘wowed’ my little girl.

2. And now, allow me to present my newest ALL PURPOSE CLEANER

Again, simple ingredients and quick prep. Just mix equal amounts of warm vinegar with Dawn dishsoap. Shake it together in a spray bottle and WATCH OUT, soap scum and grease.(even your mean cleaning MIL will be impressed!) It is important to heat the vinegar for the dish soap to dissolve completely. Otherwise, the two ingredients will separate and you will need to shake your bottle each time before using it. But, sometimes when I’m cleaning I really feel the need to shake something VERY hard. Better to shake the cleaning bottle than the porcelain toilet bowl.