Fresh Laundry

Gerville Hall/Istock

I have been using homemade detergent for close to a year now.  I love the way it cleans, the price, and the fact that it last forever.  What I don't love - the smell - or lack thereof.    I have tried to add essential oils to the detergent with no luck.  It smells nice for about two days and then...nothing.  I considered buying dryer sheets and adding a nice fresh laundry scent that way, but our dryer repair man said they damage the drum.  So I resigned myself to having fresh, clean, odorless clothing.  Until today!  I was changing a load and thought why can't I make my own dryer sheet, of sorts?  It wouldn't have fabric softeners in it so it shouldn't damage the drum. So I took an old cloth nursing pad (I'm sure any absorbent piece of cloth would do), put a couple drops of essential oil on it, and threw it into the dryer.  When the load was finished, I opened the door, and a beautiful bouquet of loveliness entered my nostrils!  Success!!  The nursing pad was still strongly scented so I threw it into a second load.  It worked just a great the second time.  Now if I can just remember to wear deodorant every day, I could smell good all the time!

"Can we?"

My husband came home from work the other day and told me a story about a lady he had met. She and her husband are starting a church inside their home and are on a real faith-testing journey. They believe that living within your means and "acting your wage" are critical and so they were wanting to downsize their home. They prayed to God, "Can we sell our house?" and He said "No, not yet." They waited for a little while and asked Him again, "Can we sell our house?" and this time He said "Okay." Their journey has been long, with lots of ups and downs, and they are still in the midst of running the race.



Maybe one day I will be able to share the entire story, but for right now I want to share with you what impacted me the most about this story: they asked God before acting. I have the tendency to act and then pray for God's wisdom and blessing. My biggest fear about asking first, is that I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hear God's answer. I have been reading Genesis lately and I have been shocked at how the characters (Adam and Eve, Cain, Abraham, etc.) all talked with God like He was sitting right there next to them. I long to have that type of relationship with God, but I am definitely not there yet!



I am a work in progress, but I know the promise has been made, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)

Much Is Asked ...

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded,

and from the one who has been intrusted with much,

much more will be asked." Luke 12:48

This afternoon as I was before the Lord, He used the verse to speak directly to me. The past several weeks have been a time of wrestling with the Lord. He is causing me to look within myself - at my sinful, fleshly, nature - and I don't like what I find. He is asking me to change. To give up things, to give up dreams and hopes, to allow more of His ways and thoughts to become planted and become a way of life, a way of daily living ... I feel as if I can't explain it clearly. But it truly has felt as if I were wrestling with the Lord, with myself.

But back to today. I have been given so much. A strong family, wonderful friends, a loving church, a heritage of Godliness, knowledge of HIM at a young age - and now ... He is going to ask of more from me. He is asking more of me. Demanding more from me - to give up more for His kingdom. His purposes. To die to myself in ways I haven't. To lay down my dreams and follow His.

This is both terrifying and freeing. No matter how often I say I want to do whatever God asks, the cost is there, and it is often so painful to my flesh. I must put to death my sinful desires and be willing to allow Him to change the desires of MY heart to become HIS desires for my life. It is not easy for me to put the desires for a larger house, secure finances, close friends, and many other dreams in His hands. My need to be in control bleeds through. But yet, my spirit wages war and is crying to "do it, surrender all, find true security in Him amidst your deepest fears".

It feels raw. It feels scary. My flesh isn't going down without a fight. But I want to be found in Him ... and as He asks more of me, that I can give it, only because He is of the highest value to me. I must press on. I must draw closer to Him.

Recent craft/sewing projects

Forgive me, there are no tutorials with this post, only pictures of the recent projects I have completed. Let me know if you want to know how to do any of these projects and I would be more than happy to send instructions (I didn't take pics during the crafting/sewing and that is why there are no tutorials).

Freezer Paper Stenciling (matching cupcake t-shirts for my nieces using two different colors of paint and a little bit of glitter):

T-shirt Skirt (I used a XXXL t-shirt that didn't have a logo on the front or the back)

Baby Gift

Great deal on Cheerios!

Dollar General has Cheerios (all varieties) on sale for $2 a box. There are two printable coupons from www.coupons.com for Cheerios: one coupon is for 75 cents off of a box of Multi-Grain Cheerios and the second coupon is for $1 off TWO boxes of any flavor of Cheerios. If you use the coupons then you can get three boxes of Cheerios for a total of $4.25 (before tax)!