Rain, rain go away.

"You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me."  Psalm 139:1-5

    On days like this when it seems to rain every other day all-day, you have to be creative in finding things to do to maintain peace and unity in the house.  Everyone needs a little sunshine and gets cranky when we are all under-foot.  It is so wet outside right now, that if I stepped out to my car I would be ankle deep in water.  I love to do yard work when the temperatures are mild, but that is absolutely out of the question today.  In fact, it will take several days for our front yard to dry out and several weeks for our back yard.  I am thankful that yesterday was beautiful and my husband and I actually sat in our swing and enjoyed the sunshine.  This morning, after breakfast I took the opportunity to help my daughter organize her dresser drawers and filter out things that no longer fit that we can give away while my husband was busy cleaning the kitchen (we share chores and take turns).  I cleaned the baths and floors yesterday, so after laundry is done we do not have much left unless we get obsessive about it.  My focus is to have less stress in my life, so I will save that for a day when everyone is gone and I am completely bored out of my mind.
     Fortunately, I moved my seedlings inside the other day.  I had them covered outside, but we had some nights that dipped down to 20 degrees and my corn sprouts died.  But I replanted them and everything is coming up nicely inside.  We are limited on space so they are on one end of my dining table in the west window.  I have built my raised bed, but I need to find some 2x4 scraps to level it and secure it into the ground and finish lining it and get a load of top soil brought in.  I plan on making row covers with pvc pipe this year in hopes of avoiding the bugs and reducing heat damage.  For now, I have done all that I can do with this rainy weather pattern that we are in this week. 
     Yesterday I tried to make my first homemade yogurt.  I have not tested it yet to see how it is.  It smells great, but I have not mustered up the nerve to taste it.  I have half of it straining in a coffee filter to make cream cheese.  I am in the market for a local fresh milk distributor, so I can make more dairy products at home like cheese and butter.  With a bit of elbow grease and time, you can make healthy homemade foods for your family that is not filled with unknown chemicals.  I do not get psychotic about it and I do not pay 4 prices for it, but I do my best to find our best options.  There is just something special about serving others something that you worked on with your own hands.  I would much rather buy something from a carpenter that saw a piece of furniture through from the planning, nailing, sanding, and to the final staining than someone on an assembly line that had no personal care about it.
     Last weekend, I made my laundry soap and fabric softener and yesterday, I cleaned up all of my new soap bars.  I put the scraps and shavings into jars with boiling water to melt for bath gel.  It smells sooo good, I can hardly wait to use them.  One is peppermint and one is creme brulee'.  There is nothing in the aroma area left to do.  I had my initial personal Bible reading this morning and I will read again later before bed, but I will grade papers tonight when it gets dark. So I need to find something productive to do...huhm.  I am not in the sewing nor crocheting mood.  I may scrapbook or just organize my bedroom.  My husband is working on his homework (online classes) and is on the computer.  I do not, I repeat, I do not want to waste my time watching TV, but I have a feeling that we may be popping popcorn and watching something before the day is out.  I do not know what to do.  I need to practice my flute when everyone does not have to have a quiet environment (the focus is on practice).  I think I will go in my room and put on some praise music and let the Lord lead me.  He helps me turn work into fun.  I do not mind scrubbing toilets as long as He is by my side.  Who knows...I may just sit in the floor and listen for His voice.  I think that sounds like the best idea.  While my husband is preoccupied and my daughter is playing with her toys in her floor, I may go relax in mine.
     I hope all of you that have yucky weather and cannot get outdoors can find something wholesome to do.  Please share your rainy-day activities with me.  I love board  games and card games, but my husband and child...do not enjoy them as much.  God bless and stay dry.
Marla B.

Fabulously Frugal

Anyone who knows me dearly, knows that I absolutely hate to pay full price for something, especially when it is over-priced to begin with.  I imagine that the Proverbs 31 woman had good business sense.  Although she lived in an era in which women were not highly esteemed, I can see her bargaining in her purchases.  Her husband was presumed to be well respected also and if she was taken advantage of, you could probably expect her to send him to square the deal.  I am not at all a feminist, but I imagine she was smart and frugal in her endeavors.
I always search the sale racks before I ever hit the main floor when shopping.  I went to a local ladies store last night hoping to find a great deal on something nice.  My husband and I were alone on a date night and we ate dinner in the same parking lot of one of my favorite dress shops that I rarely get to go to, soooo we whipped in for a few moments.  I was not sure what I was going to find, but I wanted something nice I could wear for work or church.  I asked my husband to come in for a second opinion (he usually waits in the car for this).  There were not many clearance racks so I was a little disappointed and most were loaded down with sweaters (I am not crazy about them, since I am "hot natured").  As I was double checking the last rack, I ran across a sleeveless dress with bling on the neckline.  I usually do not wear much bling on my clothes, but it went to the floor, so it had a bit of dressiness to it.  I was so surprised to see the price was $13.99 marked down from $45.00.  It was the last one in the store and it was "my" size!  I immediately said, "Praise the Lord"!  My husband and I both agreed that it was the best deal of the entire sale rack, especially since it covered my entire body.  I had just lost 3.5 lbs and was looking for a mini/cheap celebration.  I was tickled pink at what the Lord hid on that rack just for me.  I was perfectly content to walk out empty-handed if I did not find a great deal, because I do not like to blow my hard-earned money.  But I took this as a great blessing from a wonderful God that knows my heart.
I have been working so hard to be obedient lately.  This obedience encompasses everything in my life from eating only when I am "physically" hungry, to turning off the TV and Facebook and having quiet family time, to watching my mouth and attitude with my husband when I do not get my way (I realize that I may have struck a few nerves there with those).  There are numerous ways to practice our obedience to the Lord and these are just a few.  I find that when I die to my flesh, the Lord gives me more life back in other ways.  I get happys or jewels in return.  The book of Proverbs is full of little nuggets of wisdom for all of us to chew on.  When life gets rough and we feel as if we do not have any time to be alone with God (like when the alarm clock does not work or we forgot we needed to be somewhere earlier than usual) I can open my Bible to the Book of Proverbs or Psalms and find a few verses that I can meditate on all day.  Sometimes, I learn more out of repeating a short  few lines throughout the day, instead of reading several chapters.  I prefer to study deeply, but sometimes life pops in unannounced.  God has a way of making passages come alive when we seek His truth and revelation.
Now, I am not only frugal with clothes.  I shop yard sales and do a lot of do-it-myself projects.  I like to enjoy a good cup of coffee on a cold day,  but I do not like to pay $3-4.00 for it.  My goodness, I can make a meal for my entire family for $3-10.00!  My husband and I will make these special treats at home.  We get our instant decaf coffee with ice, cream, and sugar and make them at home.  I use to buy a certain brand of vanilla syrup for my coffee, but I have not in over a year.  The last time I saw it in the store it was well over $4.00 and I about had a fit.  The other day when I was wanting some, so I just "Googled" it and found a good recipe to make my own.  I whipped it up in about 3 minutes and now I have it in my fridge ready for my next cup of coffee.
Very simple vanilla syrup:
2 Cups of white sugar
2.5 Cups of water
3/4 Cups of brown sugar
3-4 Tablespoons of vanilla extract (like a lot of vanilla so I went for 4.5)
Boil water and sugar until dissolved then add vanilla.  Store in a bottle or jar.
I have not tried it yet, but if you prefer sugar-free, I think Splenda should work fine.  You would not have to boil it though.
We have a few salvage-type stores around our town and we love to go get great deals there.  One time I bought a toaster oven for $1.90.  It was new and has worked fine for over 2 years so far.  I think I have gotten my money's worth.  I think it is very important to be good stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with.  I enjoy giving things to my family and friends and the fact that it did not cause me to go into debt to do it makes it all the sweeter.  We do about 3/4 of our grocery shopping at our local salvage grocery store.  It has cut our grocery bill down about 2/3-3/4 what it use to cost.  We have to know the true prices of items and be picky about dented goods and we get our meats from other grocery store sale events.  Every store tends to have a mark-down section.  We go early in the morning and find meats less than half of what they were the day before.  Pop them in the freezer or cook it that night.  I know WalMart "ad matches", but I have not been too successful with that.  I need someone to go with me and walk me through it a time or two.  Coupons are a great way to save also.  Again, you have to know your prices and not buy things that you would not normally buy in order for it to be cost effective. 
I pray the Lord pours out His sweet blessings over you this week and helps you to see the best deals available to provide for your family.  God Bless you and yours!
Marla B.

What color is your thumb?

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15: 1 & 2

I have read this passage so many times in the past 20 years and have only had a generic understanding of it, until the last several years.  When I started trying to grow plants, flowers, veggies, and fruit trees, I really saw the underlying meaning.  If you have ever planted a seed or nurtured a seedling to fruition, you know that it requires tender loving care.  It can be growing beautifully one day and the next day the temperature can change while you are at work and you come home and find a shriveled and unrecognizable excuse for a plant.
I will not claim to be an expert on growing anything and I am a novice at best, but I have learned a few things.  Living in southern MS offers a few challenges that tempt me to drive my lawn mower over the whole mess and buy my veggie plants right before producing. 
This year, I am considering all of my options to ensure a healthy and productive crop.  I try to be as frugal and efficient as possible while getting the maximum results.  This spring I will be trying out row covers to keep our hot July/August days from frying and stressing out my crops.  Last summer was extremely hot and several of my plants could not tolerate it.  Also, I fought an enormous infestation of squash bugs.  I will need to make an investment this year to prevent a repeat event.  I also want to try "lasagna" or "mulch gardening".  This may be less torture on my back than shoveling and hoeing.
I also have one 3 year old and two new 1 year old plum trees to prune this season in hopes to have enough plums this year to make at least 1 jar of jelly.  Last year I lost a plum tree to disease right before blooming and my other tree was left solo and unpollinated for the season.  I do not even want to discuss the 4 blueberry bushes that I planted that turned brown and all of my berries wrinkled like raisins.  I bought two from a nursery and two from a local department store.  The two from the nursery showed symptoms first and then it spread to my other two.  I was told that blueberries were hard to kill, but apparently they were not referring to me. 
There is just something special about digging in the dirt, planting a tiny seed, watering it, and picking a full-grown vegetable that feeds your family.  I just don't get the same revelation at the grocery store picking fruit out of a bin.  It gives me a deeper glimpse into God's plans for us and how gloriously amazing He is.  I love my God and I am always looking for his awesomeness in everything around me.  I want to be a good steward of His blessings and give Him my best effort in this earthly life.  I look forward to the day when I can sit at His feet and see His beautiful gardens all around without bugs or rotten fruit.  Gardens that grow with only a breath and a word.  Until then, I must plan and toil to the best of my ability.
I have been reading magazines and watching gardening videos to better prepare me for this spring.  I will be more than happy to share the stages of my gardening with you in hopes of getting tips and reducing failures.  If you have any expertise on the subject, I am open for any and all help to be a successful gardener.  I pray this planting season will be rich in love and my thumb will turn to a nicer shade of green. 
God bless you and good night,
Marla B.

Bringing in the New Year

It seems like I just adjusted to writing the year 2011 and here we are with 2012 upon us.  I have had many ideas flow through my head about what I want out of this new year.  I want fewer hassles and troubles and more blessings and opportunities to help others.  Last year my husband fell and shattered his wrist while out doing routine yard work, Thanksgiving week feasts were replaced with a stomach virus, and bronchitis blew in during the Christmas holiday break.

This year I have a big list of things to get done:

• I want my family to have a significant spiritual growth.  I believe our relationship with the LORD is the most important one to invest our time and energy in, all others will follow suit.
• I am seeking physical health and wellness for my entire family.  We have much excess weight to shed and need more physical activity.  The older we get, the more exercise is needed to maintain fitness.  I use to feel strong and solid, but now I feel weak and fragile.  I do not desire a luxurious vain physique, but I do want to be a good steward of this body the LORD gave me.
• I want to be wise with my time and spend more of it productively and less of it looking at the TV or reading Facebook.  My in-laws are becoming more and more needy everyday and it is quite possible that we may become their care-takers this year.  This situation needs lots of prayers.  We do not have any answers, but we know the Lord has us all in His hands.
• I want to merge into online instructing and prepare myself to be home with my daughter next Fall.  She will be graduating this May and since she has Down syndrome, she will need to continue a learning routine at home.  I will have to construct a routine for her that will benefit the housework, hobby-farm, & her living-skills while allowing me to contribute to the income.
• I want to de-clutter my surroundings.  We down-sized in space, but still are bursting at the seams.  I want to have a bit more elbow room, but also organize and purge the unused items we have surrounding us.  After hurricane Katrina destroyed about 40% of our possessions, we became less attached to things.  We grew again in space over the years and last year we down-sized by half.  I still love crafting and re-purposing items, but I have to be very picky about what I hold on to or things can pile up quickly waiting for me to find the time to complete a new project. 

This year has just gotten started, but I have high hopes.  I plan to be very busy, but enjoy every minute of it.  I want to cherish all of my time with my family and friends.  None of us are promised tomorrow.  We need to always be focused on loving the LORD and His children. 
If you have any great organizational tips, please share them.  I am always open to new and creative ideas.  God Bless you and I pray your New Year is full of love and grace...In Jesus mighty name!

The Lord is my helper

"Let brotherly love continue.
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.
Remember the prisoners as if chained with them--those who are mistreated--
since you yourselves are in the body also...
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.;
So we may boldly say:
'The LORD is my helper;
I will not fear.  What can man do to me?'"  Hebrews 13:1-3, 5-6 NKJV

During the Christmas season, I start thinking about those that do not have family to celebrate with.  My husband use to work on an ambulance and I am a nurse, so we have seen the lonely geriatric population that reside in nursing homes.  As a child he and his family use to dress up and all go to nursing homes and jails to sing while his parents played the piano.  When we first were married we went to a local nursing home and he sang (I ran the CD player).  Life has gotten busy lately and we have gotten away from activities that are independent from church.  This season has been filled with illness, so I will look for another holiday that we may be able to serve them.  There are so many that do not have family to take them home for the holidays throughout the year.  They just stay in the facility with the few left behind.  There are lots of ways that entire families can show love to those without families.  Children can make snacks, crafts, or simple holiday tokens can be purchased from the local dollar store.  Whenever cooking for a large population, remember that many are on special diets, such as sugar-free, low sodium, and dysphagia (difficulty chewing or swallowing).  While some may love cookies, others may need pudding. 
I love to entertain guests.  We presently do not have much room, but it is a joy for me to host someone a place to stay overnight, especially when the kids are out of school on break and everyone gets to interact.  Also, we have a large dog and 3 cats.  We have not finished our chicken coop, so we do not have our chickens yet.  I hope we can finish the run soon and open it up for our future tenants. 
We love our animal family and we try to include them in all of our celebrating.  It can get expensive to treat them medically, so we try to save money any way we can.  I made my dog some cookies last week and she loved them.  It was a simple recipe of wheat flour, bacon drippings, eggs, and salt.  You can make them in fun shapes with cookie cutters (bone-shaped), but I just rolled them in a ball and flattened them.   I found the recipe at http://www.homemadedogtreats.net/  I made a half recipe and I am glad that I did, because they started going bad in about a week.  So next time, I will freeze most of them and only get out about 3 days worth at a time.  Next time, I want to try the chicken liver treats.
We have treats in their stocking and a big bone that will not quite fit. 
This Christmas season, I hope you find a special way to include those extra people/pets in your celebrations.  The gift of a giving heart always returns multiplied.  There was one time that I was feeling kinda needy and lonely and the Lord told me that if I wanted something, to give away.  I was needing a hug and fellowship at that time in my life, so I did just what He said...I stepped out of my shy shell and I gave others hugs and fellowshipped with them.  I no longer felt alone and sad, the Lord filled me with love when I was willing to step out and not think about my needs, but look toward other people's needs.  The Lord is my helper.
Merry Christmas and God Bless,
Marla B.

Preserve me O God

"Preserve me O God, for in You I put my trust.
O my soul, you have said to the LORD,
'You are my Lord,
My goodness is nothing apart from You.'
As for the saints who are on the earth,
'They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.'
Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;
Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
Nor take up their names on my lips.
O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You maintain my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.
I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the LORD always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. 
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You alow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  Psalm 16

When I am battling something in my life, I look for scripture that declares promises of the Lord.  My immediate and extended family was hit during the Thanksgiving holiday week with a stomach virus that has gone around our town and we were unable to socialize with our extended families.  Now, there has been a coughing-crud going around and we have it.  My child and husband have it the worst.  I have been spared and am so thankful.  When they are sick, they need lots of attention.  If I were as sick, it would affect their recovery.  Unfortunately I have not rested either. 
Although I am a nurse and my family is accustomed to constant hand-washing and wiping our store buggies down as we enter our local stores, we are exposed to a wide variety of germs through school, work, and church.  I tend to have a good immunity, but my child and husband do not.  They are much more suceptable to invading pathogens than I am.  This is how I usually get sick myself...through them bringing it home.  Although, I use many homemade cleansers, I still like the use of Lysol and airing-out our home when we have been invaded by nasty germs.  Unfortunately it is wet and muggy this week and the airing-out will have to wait a few days when the rain and humidity moves out.
I cling to the Word and love to soak in His presence and at times like these.  I seek Him out more partly from my need and partly because I do not feel up to doing much else.  I love the book of Psalms.  It seems like there is always something that I am going through that can be related to a Psalm.  I love to declare the Truth in my heart and my home when I feel oppressed.  It renews my strength, faith, and courage to face the battle.  Do you have something that you feel is pushing down on you?  I urge you to find your battle-cry in the Word today.  My all-time favorite is Psalm 63.  I go back to this one often.  I am curious to which one speaks to your heart the most.
Since I am a bit tired, I have not done much except help my husband prep our bathroom for our new soaking tub.  When he has more energy, he will finish the installation.  But I am in need of some new toothpaste.  So I will share that homemade recipe with you.  I went to an old basic recipe that has probably been overlooked for many years with all of the new specialty toothpastes out there now.  This one is made from baking soda, sea salt, mint, and water.  Sounds simple huhn?  It took just a few days to get use to the consistency, but after using it for several months, I can not stand regular toothpaste.  I accidentally picked up the regular tube instead of my toothpaste and I thought I put soap in my mouth.  The bubbles were horrible after using basic toothpaste. 

2/3 cup baking soda
4 tsp fine sea salt
1-2 tsp peppermint extract (you can use a few drops of mint essential oil)
Water until desired consistency (add 1 tspn at a time)

I reduced the salt by a tspn for my personal preference.  The extract will evaporate easier than the essential oil, so the flavor lasts longer with the oil.  I use a small disposable ziploc/glad-type container and keep a plastic spoon on it for application. 
Since I am a nurse, I do not like germs and contaminating anything...even if I am the only one using it.  Several months ago, our local salvage store had a great discount on hygiene products and we have plenty of toothpaste and deodorant left.  My husband says he will finish it all off before, he jumps completely on my bandwagon.  That is quite alright.  Fortunately, my daughter is not so picky.  I plan to use the deodorant containers with my homemade recipes after they are empty.  Recyling can be simple that way.  I look forward to hearing about your homemade and cost-saving creations. 
You can find this simple recipe at http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-toothpaste-recipe-easy-and-frugal/
God Bless you and yours,
Marla B.

"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy'".  I Peter 1:13-16 NKJV

You know as the years go by many things get easier and easier to change and improve upon with our walk with the Lord.  However, there are some things I still seem to struggle with.  I remind myself daily that I can live a holy life, I just have to get myself out of the way first.  I can remember a time when I would buy anything I wanted whenever I wanted and all I had to do was just "charge it".  It seemed so easy to ignore the fact that I would pay more for it with all of the interest attached.  Over the years, my husband & I have been very convicted about these issues.  Before we ever met, we both had experience using several store credit cards.  When we were married we still thought we needed to hang on to an emergency credit card, but that was still bondage to us.  Now, years later and much to the wiser, we do not use regular credit cards rather we maintain two cards that are backed by our own security deposit.  They report to the credit bureaus and we build our credit report based on plannned spending.  We stick to one major rule, if we do not have it we do not spend it;  It has been so liberating.  Also, believe it or not, there are still mom and pop stores out there that will let you buy with 90 days same as cash or 12 months same as cash.  The last several vehicles we purchased, we just buckled down and saved our money the old fashioned way and paid cash for them.
"The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender." Proverbs 22:7
This is another reason I am so motivated to do and make many things myself.  After this Christmas season, while many are opening up and stressing over credit card statements, we will not owe anyone anything for our gift-giving.  The Christmas season is for giving of the heart, not necessarily the pocket-book.  It does not bring joy to the Lord's heart to see us give when we are so burdened down to do so;  I think it actually grieves Him.  This season, if you do not already do it, try to give something that takes a portion of your loving heart and puts less stress on the bank.  When things are made with love, they are more revered anyway.  If they are not, then the recipient is too materialistic and in need of a bit of humility. 
Today I worked with my lip balm.  I had found a recipe for homemade lip balm, but because it was mostly coconut oil, I could not carry it on my person, because it would melt.  The more I read, I found that I needed some beeswax for better hardening.  I ordered some on Ebay, and I fixed my lip balm this morning. 

I cleaned out some of my used chapstick containers with a cotton swab.  Alcohol will clean off any old germs you do not want mixed in the balm.   I shaved off some fresh beeswax and added to my balm mixture.  Then, I heated the cup in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time and stirred in between cycles until the mixture melted thoroughly (about 2 minutes total).  Then I used my pipette to fill my containers and let them sit upright until hardened.  One tip that I've read about suggests using a little scrape of your favorite lipstick to give it a bit of color.  This is the only additive that is not all natural. 
Here are a few sites with their recipes for homemade lip balm:

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/?s=lip+balm&submit=Search

http://www.crunchybetty.com/3-simple-homemade-lip-balms-your-lipsve-never-been-yummier

http://www.my-natural-skin.com/lip-balm-recipes.html

I hope you try some homemade projects this Christmas season and share them with love.  God Bless.