Natural Cleaning

image via google

Since it's almost prep day I thought it would be a good time to update you all on how I've been cleaning without chemicals! :o)

I have 3 items that are pretty much MUST haves. Distilled Vinegar, Peroxide  and Baking Soda. These are the only three items I use for all of my cleaning needs. Aside from washing dishes. For that I use a store bought dish soap. Although I'm thinking of switching to castile soap. 

My multi-purpose cleaner is distilled vinegar, water, and some lemon essential oil. Before I had the oil I would soak citrus peels in a jar of vinegar for 2 weeks, making sure to shake it everyday. Then at the end of 2 weeks I would have a lovely scented vinegar. Once the vinegary smell disappears all that's left is a clean scent. I love doing this and I actually have a jar with lemon peels in my cabinet now. :o)

For mopping I use vinegar and boiling water. I like to use the infused vinegar or add a few drops of essential oil into it. Lavender would be a great one to use. 

In the bathroom I use the baking soda and vinegar. For the toilet I put in some baking soda then pour in some vinegar. After it finishes fizzing I use my brush and scrub a little, then let it sit for a few minutes while I wipe down the rest of the toilet, and flush. For the tub, if it needs to be scrubbed I do baking soda and vinegar, if it just needs to be wiped down I just use my multipurpose cleaner. To get rid of mold and mildew I just spray some diluted peroxide on it and let it sit for a bit (up to an hour). Then I just wipe it away, or depending how bad it is I may need to scrub it a little. 

For those of you like me who like to use things like fabric refresher, I make my own too. In the past I used some fabric softener, water, and baking soda. But we don't use fabric softener anymore because of our youngest's eczema. So I just replaced it with some lavender essential oil! I love it. The scent doesn't last for very long but it leaves the house smelling fresh. 

For spot cleaning on carpets, rugs, or the couch I use peroxide. I just pour it on the spot and then wipe it up after a few minutes. 

For clogged drains, I pour some baking soda down it followed by vinegar and just repeat until it's completely unclogged. 


I think that's everything, but if I forgot one you're curious about just let me know. Shabbat Shalom :o)

Home Remedies

I don't normally talk about these kinds of things, but this was too good not to share! The other night I was up late (or early depending on how you look at it) with a sick 2 year old. She was coughing, struggling to breath, and just all around uncomfortable. I had given her some cough medicine earlier but it just wasn't helping her. So I prayed about it and then decided to google some natural remedies. I stumbled across some information about making a syrup out of thyme and honey. Being desperate, and tired, I figured it couldn't hurt. 

It worked like a charm! She was back to her normal self after just taking it once! I've been giving her a tablespoom full every few hours since and her cold is pretty much cleared up. She does have a bit of a cough still but she is no where near as bad as she was. My 4 year old was also starting to come down with something, so I gave her some and she is fine now. 

With all that, how could I not share it with ya'll?? So here you go, the super simple recipe with pictures. Oh, and for this batch I added some lime for an added kick. 

Boil 3 tablespoons of dried thyme leaves, for 20 minutes

Strain out the leaves. I just used a coffee filter
but if you have a tea strainer that should work. 

Add 1/2 cup of honey.

Add the juice of one lime, and stir. 

Then pour into a container and store in the fridge.

 Once cooled take 1 tablespoon every 3-4 hours for kids*, 2 tablespoons for kids 6 to 12, and 3 tablespoons for adults.**



* DO NOT give to a child under 1 year old!
** I am not a doctor and these are just my suggested dosages, please use your discretion when taking or giving to someone else.


...and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. -Ezekiel 47:12

Homemade Bagels!

This week I decided to make bagels to have for breakfast on Shabbat. I tried making them once before but I just used dough I had already made for bread. Those bagels turned out ok, but the ones I made on Friday from this recipe were DELICIOUS! 

My hubby has informed me that we will no longer be buying bagels. So I figure I wouldn't be too good of a friend if I didn't pass along this great recipe. :o)

If you decide to make them, I hope you enjoy them.

Shavua Tov!

Preparation Day

I can't believe it's been over a year since I've written a preparation day post! Wow. I guess that's just a reflection on how we've been living. We've gone back and forth over the Sabbath issue so many times. While we know the truth of the Sabbath it can often be hard to walk it out, especially alone. 

2012 has been a really difficult year for my family. Lot's of changes and upheavals have happened. But through it all Adonai has been nothing but faithful to us. We've purposed to end this year on a much better note and to head into 2013 with a renewed devotion to our Elohim. For me that means lot's of readjusting our diets (so that we are taking care of our temples), getting back into studying Hebrew, and reaffirming commitments that I've made to YHVH. For my family it means walking in the ways of Adonai, no matter how difficult it may be. 

Recently my husband and I watched Identity Crisis again (if you haven't seen this teaching I highly recommend it) and this time around something clicked for him. It was like the things that we've known for awhile took on new meaning for him. So now I've got a man on a mission, on my hands. :o)

How this will look in the coming months is unclear, but I trust that my Abba has a plan for my family. I do however know the first step that we must take is getting back to keeping the Sabbath! Shabbat was always a favorite of mine and I'm so excited to begin keeping it again. We will still be attending our church on Sundays, for the reasons found in this post. Only difference now is that my husband is able to be home for Shabbat and we're able to truly set aside this time for our Elohim. 

Well enough with all the heavy stuff, want to see my menu?!?

Dinner: Moroccan Chraimi Fish with roasted potatoes and corn 

Breakfast: Homemade Bagels, Cinnamon Rolls 

Lunch: Tuna Salad 

Plus: Challah, Pumpkin Challah, and Pumpkin cookies (if I get to them)

I am going to be busy, busy, busy but I'm super thankful my hubby has agreed to tackle most of the cleaning, so that I'm able to get everything done. 

May you have a blessed Erev Shabbat (Sabbath eve/preparation day), as you prepare to usher in the shalom of YHVH this Shabbat. 

Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.- Exodus 31:13

Shabbat Shalom!

On Submission and Idolarty

photo credit

Earlier today in my personal bible time I was reading in 1 Kings, when I came across a few different verses that later manifested themselves in my life. I'll list out the verses and then explain.

For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. -1 Kings 11:4-6

 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: -1 Kings 12:8

And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days. -1 Kings 15:11-14

Now these three passages are each talking about a different king, but we can learn from their mistakes and successes. When I read the first passage my heart was instantly pricked and I began to think what are the things that I am leading my husband after. The second passage got me to thinking about the counsel I receive from older godly women. The third passage got me to thinking about the things in my life I make idols of. 

These thoughts all sort of go together, but it wasn't until later in the day that I truly saw the connection. After I finished reading I prayed that the Lord would show me idols in my life and what things are competing affections. I have a definition that I wrote in the front of my bible about idolatry that I like to use. 

"Idolatry is expecting people, possessions, or positions to do for me what only God can"

I don't remember where I got this quote from, but it is something I use to kind of check myself. So after I prayed I looked at this quote and tucked it away in my mind as I continued through my day. 

I was backed up on dishes, so I went into the kitchen to start what I knew was going to be a bit of a task. I usually listen to a teaching or Revive Our Hearts while I wash dishes or work in the kitchen. But today I decided to listen to The Excellent Wife audio book, by Martha Peace. I went to take down my dish drainer and I realized that it had gotten a little yucky sitting up above my cabinets (I only use it when I have a lot of dishes to wash). I wanted to clean it one way that would of slightly inconvenienced my hubby, and doing it another way would of much more inconvenienced me. So I proceeded to ask him to change his plans so that I could do what I wanted. After all what I wanted to do was going to benefit us both. But he said no. "How on earth could he say no" I thought, so I explained to him exactly what he was asking me to do, and with a bit of a puzzled look on his face he simply replied "yea". 

Yea? Yea, what? Yea, you expect me to go out of my way and create more work for myself???? Frustrated, I huffed and puffed away. As I began moving things around, feeling completely inconvenienced and unloved, I mumbled under my breath "who does he think he is?" and  other things I will not be sharing here. Then I heard the voice reading Martha Peace's book begin to talk about submission and being a glory to your husband. I glared over at the speakers and really wanted to tell that lady to shut up! But then the Lord lovingly brought to mind 1 kings 12:8 "But he forsook the counsel of the old men..." Here I am desiring to be a godly wife but then rejecting the counsel of a woman who has gone before me, and even worse I sought her out! I went and got this audio book and turned it on, yet now I'm telling her to mind her business.  Talk about a convicted heart. 

I stood there washing my dishes, with a softened heart and listened as the reader continued. Then next thing I know she's talking about idols that a woman can make in her life, that might not seem like idols. Oh, boy. I can't remember everything she said word for word, but she was saying how often times the idea of having a godly marriage, and family, can become an idol because we loose sight of what's most important, GOD. We focus more on what we want, and even risk sinning to attain it, when really our only focus should be on God. That cut through me like a hot knife through butter. 

Am I guilty of that? Of course not... until she said that you can tell by your reaction when things don't go how you think they should. If you're seeking after the Lord you"ll have peace because you are resting in Him. But if you're seeking after something other than the Lord you'll be frustrated when things aren't fitting into you're plan. That's me! I like things to go my way, and when they don't I say, "Lord are you sure?" But that's not the way to go. Now the dish drainer situation is a small thing but if I have the wrong attitude in the small things how much more so will have the wrong attitude in the big things? My reaction shows that my heart was not focused of serving my family but rather just on getting a job done because I was supposed to. When my husband didn't do what I wanted I began thinking "is this how Christ loved the church?" Which is the totally the wrong attitude. (I won't even get into how she was talking about taking the beam out of you're own eye...)

I went from being hardhearted and angry because I was inconvenienced, to the Lord taking me through all the scriptures He had shown me. If I am not careful in keeping my gaze on Him I will loose focus, and create an idol. I could then end up forcing my husband into going after my idol and not fully after the Lord. If I do not harken to warnings of godly women who have gone before me, and instead focus on the ideals of this current culture,  I can hinder my husband from being who God wants him to be. All because of my need to chase after the idol of a godly marriage and family instead of just focusing on the Lord and allowing Him to bring about godliness in my marriage and family. Ouch, ouch, and ouch again. 

Do you have idols in your heart? Maybe yours are different from mine but examine your heart and cast away any competing affections. 

Thou shalt have no other gods before me...Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God... -Exodus 20:3&5

I'm linking up at:

 

Unprofitable Servants

Servant Heart by Jun Jamosmos

Sometimes in our roles as wives and mothers (and even as daughters) we get stuck in this rut of serving and feeling like we aren't getting anything back. I know for me having two very little children I rarely get a thank you for the things that must be done. Like washing dishes, or changing diapers, cleaning up a spill, cleaning a nose, giving a bath, and I could go on and on. But that feeling of not being appreciated can only set us up for failure!


Who said we would get a thank you? Who told us that we even should? Our Lord, Jesus, told us something very different. 

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. -Luke 17:7-10

We are merely servants sent here to fulfill the roles God has called us to. Be it daughter, wife, mother, friend or anything else. We are called to serve those that are put in our path. And when we begin to feel like we aren't being appreciated by those that we serve that means we are looking at ourselves as more than the "unprofitable servants" that we are.  


I know some may say but you don't know my family, they don't deserve to be served. To that I say you are absolutely right! But we aren't serving them because they are worth it. We do it because God has placed them in our lives for us to love, be kind to, and take care of. 

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. -Galatians 5:13-14

P.S. Have you signed up to Soak in the Son with me this summer?

I'm linking up with Time-Warp Wife, Far Above Rubies & Women Living Well

A Happy Home

Source

I was reading a blog the other day and the author mentioned a booklet by J.R. Miller called Secrets of Happy Home Life. Since I'm always aiming to have a happy home life I decided to check it out. I thought it was pretty good, but I don't remember everything that was in it. What I ended up with are two very real and applicable gems. 


The first was this quote:

"Suppose you went into an artist’s studio and saw a picture at which he had been working for months, yet unfinished; would you, not being an artist, take up his brush and begin to put touches here and there on the canvas? Each life of husband or wife, child, brother or sister, in your home is a picture which God is painting, and which is yet unfinished. Beware that you mar not His work! So let us be patient with one another at home. We all have our faults, we all make mistakes – but we can help each other more by loving patience, than by scathing criticism"

How often do we, as wives and mothers, grow impatient with our families short comings? I know I can't be the only one gets tired of reminding people of things. Like reminding my husband to pick up his socks, or reminding my daughter to flush the toilet. While these things are so small in the grand scheme of things, how we react to them is MAJOR. As scripture says "death and life are in the power of the tongue". {Proversb 18:21}


Our words carry so much weight and they can bring our families down or build them up. Just as we are told in Proverbs 14:1 "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands."


Are the words you use daily building up your house? Are your words professing Godliness? I know this is something I struggle with and so I'm purposing to do better.  


The next quote that actually helps with the first, even though this isn't the order that the booklet followed.

"If we are feeling uncomfortable from any cause, we have no right, according to the law of love, to diffuse our irritations through the household. If we are in any unhappy mood, in which we cannot suppress the ill-humor, we have no right to vent it in the circle of our loved ones, and would far better go to our own room, or out into the fresh air, alone, somewhere, and stay until we have gotten back our sweet spirit again, so that we can scatter roses, not thorns, among our loved ones."

When I'm having a bad day my whole family feels it. But my hubby is good about trying to pick up the energy when I'm lagging. But on the days we're both not doing so great, it's rough. I end up feeling like I'm in an uphill battle. 


But there is hope we don't have to be weary and frustrated. We don't have to scatter thorns. The reason why we feel frustrated is because we try to live a Godly life in our flesh. But we can't. We will fail every time. The only way to truly live a Godly life is to die to self and allow Christ to live through us. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." {Galatians 2:20} 


So when you're feeling wearied in well doing, think on Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." And go get alone with God. If you're in a season similar to mine that probably means you'll have to go into the bathroom, but hey God shows up where ever we are right?


Get alone with God and ask Him to fill you, to use you, to just take over it all! tell Him you can't do it, you know it's the truth, and so does He! So just tell Him and let Him work through you. Don't try to do it on your own. Lift your spirit by singing some hymns or psalms of praise and get your strength form the Creator of the universe! Then and only then can we build up our homes, and be sure that we are not speaking words of death, but rather words of life. With God's strength we can be sure to scatter roses. 


"My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." -Psalm 73:26


I'm linking up with The Time Warp Wife an Women Living Well

Just the Beginning

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" -Philippians 1:6

Sometimes its hard for me to be focused on the present. I always want to get to the end result. But I realized that in thinking that way I miss, not only the laying down of the foundation, but also the beauty of the moment. In my rush to arrive I tend to miss the journey. My husband is so good about living in the moment and often times he has to anchor me to what's happening now. He has to remind me that the Lord has "begun a good work" in me and that He will see it through.

Lately I've been super focused on being being the perfect homemaker. I've been reading books, and other blogs, gathering all these different tips that I try to put into practice. I must admit I've improved quite a bit. I even got some BEAUTIFUL African violets because of all my hard work {thanks love}. But then I started to get a little discouraged. Because despite all my hard work I'm still not where I wanted to be. I'm not meeting my standard of perfection. But I'm still learning and growing in the Lord and I know that through prayer and dedication I will get there. Not just because it's what I want, but because being a help meet is what I was made for and YHVH always finishes what He starts.



Love and Blessings

I'm linking up!