My New Favorite

I just wanted to share my new favorite blog.  I LOVE homesteading blogs, and this one is just amazing!  Check it out!

Keepers at Home

If you ever have doubts whether or not being a keeper at home really is God's will for you, or you would just like some confirmation or a good reminder, please read the following article!  I can tell you for sure, I have never had such peace in life as I have now, since I have totally surrendered to the Lord and fully embraced this calling: submitting to and helping my husband...bearing, raising, and educating my children...and efficiently caring for my home.  There is so much peace when I am smack dab in the middle of God's will!

Defense of the Woman as Keeper at Home

Many blessings to all my dear sisters!

Protecting Our Youth

Today I walked into Target, and was disgusted at the teeny little miniscule bikinis that they are now marketing to teenagers.  Really???  I absolutely could not believe it!  The bottoms are as thin as they possibly can get, and so are the tops...plus now they are featuring "push up" tops!  Not enough was left to the imagination already, and now you can get a great view of cleavage too.  Basically, it is a pair of skimpy panties and a bra.  I am sorry, but no male should be looking at a female in this attire, unless he is married to her!

How in the world are we supposed to reduce teenage promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases, if our poor young men are exposed to this?  It's like trapping them.  Isn't that putting a stumbling block in front of them?  And how is it okay to be sending the message to girls that it's okay to dress like that?  I don't care if you're swimming....cover up!

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."  Mark 9:42

I know I'm on a rant, but this really irks me.  It's NOT okay.  Our world is so messed up.  People are totally blind and can't see the truth that is obvious to some of us.

Sexuality outside of marriage is WRONG--period.  A woman's body is for her husband only.  Teenage girls need to be saving their bodies for that one man.  This is God's way, and there is much blessing in following His ways!

Please, ladies, teach your daughters to be modest.  Teach them to totally save their bodies for their husbands.  And then, talk them through the "why" of it.  Don't just say "don't do that--it's wrong!"  Many daughters have rebelled who have only been given the rules, but not talked through "whys" behind them.  They need to make it their choice, so that when they're out from under our roofs, they will stand firm on their own!

I will get off my soapbox now....thanks for listening!

The Great Falling Away

Wow.  That's all I can say.  The Bible warns that at the end of the age, there will be a great falling away.  Apostasy is making its way into our churches at full force.  It really makes me so sad.  Read this article, and then read the comments.  The comments by people made me very, very sad.  It is tragic how the enemy has gotten ahold of people's minds.  It makes me so long for Jesus's return.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/us/05bell.html

The Return of Christ is Near

http://discerningthetimes.me/2011/03/20/return-of-christ-is-near-greg-laurie/

Cherish Every Moment

Cherish every moment...

Baby crying?  Cherish this moment to comfort your baby...it'll over way too fast and you'll miss it someday.

Too many dishes?  Cherish this moment to clean the food from the plate of your loved ones...too many people in the world don't have any food to put on plates.

Kids messing up the house?  Fighting? Disobeying?  Cherish these moments...some parents have lost children to diseases or accidents.  Praise God yours are alive and healthy.

Husband is keeping you awake with his snoring?  Praise God that he is breathing.

Piles of laundry every day?  Enjoy washing your clothes...some people in the world are naked and cold.

Irritated by your husband's personal flaws?  Cherish every second you have with that man...some women have been widowed and wish that they had appreciated every single moment when they had them.

Uncomfortably pregnant?  Cherish this moment!  You have been greatly blessed, and there are women out there who would give anything to be able to carry a child.  Treasure this time.

I'm challenging you to look at life in a different perspective!  Don't be someone who doesn't know what they've got until it's gone...know that what you've got could be gone in an instant, and cherish every second.  Love your husband and children like this is the last day on earth that you have to spend with them!

Cherish EVERY moment.

My Thoughts on Japan

My heart is breaking for the people in Japan right now.  I wish I could do more for them than wake up every day with a heavy heart and pray for them.  But I have to remind myself that praying is the most powerful help I can give.

There are a few lessons that I am taking from their crisis.  The first is that this is a powerful reminder that this is not our home.  Our earthly possessions could be gone in an instant.  We don't know.  It's important that our hearts and minds are focused on eternity and that our treasures are there.  How incredibly horrible it must be, to suddenly have everything you own washed away from you, to have life as you know it completely destroyed!  I can't even imagine.  I don't think I would handle it very well, especially with my children to care for! But even so, if that did happen, at least I would know that this is my temporary home anyway, and there is something better waiting for me someday.

I also have been reminded how very much I have to be thankful for.  We may not be able to run the heat much in our house--and I very much wish it was warmer in here!--but we HAVE a house and we are basically warm.  We have plenty to eat and drink and clothes to wear.  We have NOTHING to complain about!

Thirdly, we need to be prudent and be prepared for disasters, both physically and spiritually.  Are you ready to meet Jesus RIGHT NOW?  If a tsunami swept through your town right now and your life was done, could you stand before Jesus unashamed, knowing for certain that you had spent the life that you had going about HIS business and working hard at His calling for you?  Or have you been caught up in the temporal things? 

Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God."

Let's fix our eyes on Jesus.  Not on the world, not on the celebrities, the new ipads, the televisions shows, new cars, bigger houses, shopping...etc etc...I'm not saying those things are all bad, but the problem is that we tend to get so caught up in them that life becomes all about those things, and we become fixated on this temporal world.  Jesus and eternity go to the back burner. Let's focus on Jesus!  Let's run the race that He has set before us.

As far as physical preparedness, I'm not sure how much the Japanese people are into preparing for disasters, but I've been pretty shocked that so many don't have food.  I'm sure a lot of those people are the ones whose houses were swept away, so they lost everything, but the ones whose houses are still there....don't they have food stored in their houses?  You'd think in an advanced country like that, they would have disaster preparedness plans.  I don't know.  But I do know that if an earthquake were to hit here, and my house was still standing, I would want it to be full of food!  I wouldn't want to be caught with an empty house, when the stores were empty and the food distribution became severely disrupted.  I believe it's prudent to be sure that you have a well stocked pantry for such times.  There are several verses in Proverbs about this!  I'm not going to take the time to post them all, but look them up! (I can post them later if you really want me to...just ask.)

This world really needs to wake up.  God is trying to get our attention!

"But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King.  When He is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure His wrath." Jeremiah 10:10

Right now while things are a little scary, with the Japan incident and the current radiation scare, some people are sure to wake up and listen.  But my concern is that the tendency is for people to go back to complacency, once things have settled down and the scares are over.  People in America forget, they go back to their lives, and materialistic living.  We all need to wake up and STAY awake!

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken in to. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.  I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time, and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of."  Matthew 24:42-50

Let's keep our eyes on Jesus, and let's pray for Japan, okay?  And let's praise Jesus and sing for joy, for He is Lord and He reigns!

"Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.  Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity."  Psalm 98:7-9

Frugal Meal Tip: Chicken

Whole chickens are the greatest!  I often wait for them to go on sale, then I buy several and freeze them.  Then when I cook one, I get at least two meals out of it--often three!

This time around, I bought a chicken on sale, and it was around $3, maybe $3.50.  The first night, I made roasted chicken and vegetables.

Tonight, with some of the leftover chicken, I made chicken a la king.  I served it over brown rice, with biscuits.  This meal was a really big hit!  It is so simple, but everyone really loved it, even Adam.


I still have the chicken carcass with more meat on it, so next I will make some stock and turn it all into a soup!


Okay, so to review...I paid around $3 for a chicken and got THREE meals out of it!  And they're good meals too.  Wow!

I am getting excited to plant my garden.  It is amazing how cheap veggies are if I grow them myself.  There was a sale recently at the store where I do my grocery shopping, and I got garden seeds for 50% off.  So, I paid less than $1 for each pack of seeds that grows many, many vegetables.  I'm going to be growing carrots, beets, green beans, lettuce, onions, garlic, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.  I'm very excited, but I'm still fairly new at this so I hope it all goes well!

I was extremely happy this morning when I discovered that our hens are FINALLY laying!  Yay!  I love fresh eggs and that is another way to save money on food.

I would love to hear all of your frugal meal ideas also!

Frugal Meal Tip: SOUP!

I'm sure most of you wise women know this already, but soup is such a great meal to make.  It is cheap, filling, versatile, and a great way to use up leftovers so nothing is wasted.  I make some kind of soup at least once a week, and I'm constantly creating new ones.

Today is yet another soup experiment and exercise in pinching food pennies as much as possible!  Here is what I did:  I purchased a 25 lb. bag of kidney beans (among others) at our local restaurant supply store.  I cooked one pound of the beans in the crockpot a couple of days ago,for most of the day, along with several seasonings.  Today, I put half of them in the freezer for another meal, and the other half went into the crockpot.  Then I browned a pound of ground beef, drained it, and added it to the crockpot.  Yesterday I had bought a 3 lb. pack of ground beef that had been reduced for quick sale.  The sell by date was today!  The other two lbs. were sealed separately and frozen for use another day.  Next, I added (sorry I don't really have measurements for everything, but this is how I cook!): 7 or so cups of water, a few teaspoons of beef boullion, about a tablespoon of dry minced onion, a few cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 cup of rice, a can of tomato sauce, a can of corn, some pepper, and italian seasonings.  I'm sure this probably needs more bouillion and some salt, but my husband is on a low salt diet, so I start like this and then the rest of us add salt to ours.  Hopefully, this will be good--I haven't tried it yet!  But it is a very cheap meal and that is a good thing!

God bless you, my sisters!

UPDATE:  This was delicious!  Yay!  My daughter said, "this tastes like it's from a recipe"--lol.  Also, I forgot to mention--I had gotten both the canned corn and the tomato sauce on sale for super cheap.  I scan all the ads every week, and then store hop and stock up on sale items.

ALSO, this made enough for dinner for one night, and then lunch the next day!

The Tile is Here!

For those of you who have been following our mostly free kitchen remodel, the final piece of the puzzle has arrived!  The only item that we've had to pay any money for was the countertops, and we've been waiting to be able to purchase--somehow--some nice white tile for this.  As many of you know, we don't really have an income...God shows up here and there and has kept us sustained in His own way for almost three years.  Well, a family member jumped in recently and provided funds for our countertops!  We are all very excited.  It will not be much longer now, and our kitchen will be complete.  It has been a long, long wait for me to have a "real" kitchen.  I'm excited to post pictures soon!

Praise be to Jehovah Jireh, my provider!