Really Listening to My Husband

 Something I have been feeling convicted about this week is the need to really listen to/pay attention to my husband. My husband isn't the type to talk much (He can at times but much of the time he isn't much of a talker) and I am so it is easy for me when we sit down to a meal or spend time together to let my tongue go flippity flop and tell him all about my day and what I think and meanwhile I learn very little about his day. I know some of the time he prefers that as he is tired and enjoys hearing about what we do and for him talking takes more energy than it does for me but still I want to work and quieting myself a little and try to listen to him a little more.

  Mostly my goal in this is to be less self absorbed and instead to be more absorbed in the life of my husband. Sometimes it won't really be listening but instead simply observing him and noticing what is important to him, what he likes and also look for ways that I can be of assistance.

  Are there any others out there that need to work on this too? Or do you have any hints for making these goals work out in real life? I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Are We Glorifying the Father

Would you look at John 17:1-5 with me? I think it has so many neat insights! It says:

"Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

What does it mean to glorify? It is to honor with praise, admiration or worship.

  God deserves all glory! Jesus knew to give Him that Glory (and God also glorified Jesus) we too need to strive with our whole lives to Glorify our God and Father and Jesus Christ.

  It is so easy in our lives to seek praise and admiration for ourselves - I know I struggle with that desire and I imagine some of you might as well. My goal is to walk more like Jesus and to glorify the Father rather than trying to bring glory to myself. I hope you are striving for that as well.
 

Organized Writing Supplies

 I have heard many times people make an excuse for never sending a letter and usually it had something to do with once they had written it then they couldn't find and envelope or the address or the stamp and so I never received the letter. That has never really been an issue in my life as my Mom kept all those essential things neatly on top of the fridge (that is her "office" area of sorts) and then I was given a handy stationary folder for my high school graduation and I have kept everything organized in that since I left home.

  Since that does seem to be an organization issue in some homes I thought I would share my very simple tips in hopes that it might help somebody.

Basically to be able to efficiently send off a letter (or a bill) it is a good idea to keep all the items you will need in the same location. Whether it is a neat spot on your desk, in a special folder that you keep in a certain place on a shelf (that has worked well for us) or on top of your fridge, make everything have a certain place where it belongs and always keep it there.

  You will need: Paper (stationary and cards are fun "paper"), Envelopes (We like to get fancy and make our own most the time and I actually have little totes to keep all our cards and envelopes in and they "live" nearby the stationary folder), Stamps, A Pen, Addresses and Address labels.

 For our address book we write addresses and phone numbers in pencil so that if they change we can just erase it and write in the update.

 It has been very helpful to us to have a consistent place to keep our letter writing supplies and so we don't have any excuses besides lack of time for not getting letters sent.

How do you keep organized in this area?

A book to encourage and help you

 

I have not read many books on the topic of marriage but there is one that I have read several times already and I think I will read again soon. That one is "Created to be his Helpmeet" by Debi Pearl. I have found this book very encouraging as well as being interesting and fun to read. I also very much appreciate that the principles that she writes about are based on what the Bible says.

  If you marriage is in trouble, or if like me you simply want to have an even better one, I recommend this book. I think you will be blessed.

 

Have you read "Created to be his Helpmeet"? What are your thoughts on it?

Homemade and Natural

 In our house growing up we made many things ourselves. Food was all made from scratch, my mom taught us to sew clothes, my dad made furniture and our house and many other things, we made quilts and the list could probably go on and on! However something that we never did make ourselves was soaps, toothpaste, deodorant and things of that nature we always just bought and used the normal stuff from the store. So that has been something that I have had fun experimenting with. It is a whole new world for me to explore. My sisters (and sister-in-law) have also had fun doing some of that so I enjoy sharing ideas with all of them as well as learning a ton on other blogs and from my blog readers.

 I thought I would tell about a few of my recent forays into making my own stuff. I have been experimenting with natural toothpastes for a few years now but recently I tried a new type after hearing about it from my sister Martha.  I basically followed this recipe from the Bulk Herb Store though I did add some Coconut Oil as I had read that was good to have in toothpaste and then I ended up needing more water too as most of my water boiled away - if I make it again I will use more water in the first place. I also added Black Walnut Hull Powder to some of it as it is supposed to whiten teeth and help get rid of cavities.

Toothpaste Process

  We are still in the testing stage with this toothpaste but I did find it pretty fun to make.

Another thing I made lately was a garlic salve to help with congestion. I found the recipe in "Be Your Own Doctor" by Rachel Weaver. (I love that book!). The salve was simple to make with just Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Garlic Cloves and a little bit of Lavender Oil. I just blended it very well together and store in the fridge. It can be used for all sorts of things. I like the smell (and so do the boys) but Megan thinks it stinks. It always make me feel hungry! :-)

 Something else homemade that I have been totally enjoying using lately is some peppermint soap that I actually won in a blog giveaway. Paula Parrish makes some very nice soap and I am loving the bar that I received! She shares some ideas, recipes and have a monthly giveaway on her blog.

  I did buy some Lye finally (I had looked for it locally and never could find it so I finally ordered it from Amazon) and so I hope to make soap this Spring (I would like to do it outside for safety's sake). I do want to make my own lye sometime but decided it would probably be best to make soap using a standard lye first so I can learn about the process.

  Have you ventured into making your own body care products? What do you like to make?

Following in Jesus Steps

 Well for quite some time on Sundays I have been talking about walking as Jesus did. Today we are going to talk about walking. I keep thinking this might be a stretch but what my goal was when reading through the gospels was to look at everything that Jesus did (that he did in a human body - not what He did simply because He was God) and see if I could live like him in that way. My goal in life is to learn to be like Jesus!

  When I was reading John chapter 7, I noticed the mention that was made of Jesus walking. It says in the first verse:

  "After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him."

 It just made me stop and think about the fact that He did an awful lot of walking. And then I said to myself - "Of course, what other options did He have?" And that is true He couldn't just get in a car, bus or airplane and walking was the normal mode of transportation. However He could have chosen to have a ministry that didn't move around the way He did - it could have possibly be done differently so that He didn't have to do so much walking.

  We don't know exactly how He could have done things differently but He didn't - He choose to walk, and walk a lot. I would never make this out to be a doctrine where I would say "We MUST spend time walking/exercising because Jesus did but I just found that verse interesting and for me it was fun to think of all the physical exercise and fresh air that He did get as He walked all over Israel.

  I think that perhaps it has made me want to walk a bit more too.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject! Do you like to walk? Do you have a physically active life?  Most of all I would love to hear about your journey in following Jesus!