Christian Homekeeping

I had received 2 free issues of Home School Enrichment magazine and I'm finding so much quality material that I'm actually highlighting a lot.  They have been such a blessing to me for encouragement in this offensive lifestyle of homeschooling but there are also things in there for the non-homeschooler.

One of the articles was, "Raising Kids to Stand Alone."  It is something that a lot of modern parents seem to forget to teach their children and is the cause of compromise, not only in parents and children, but in the church as well.  If we never learn to stand alone, we will cave into the norm or the crowd.  If we never teach our children, they will follow suit.  I like how the author of the article talks about rare people and gives us 4 categories:

1. Rare Person #1 - born-again believer in Jesus Christ.
2. Rare Person #2 - born-again believer in Jesus Christ who knows WHAT he believes.  Too few Christians today are able to explain to others what they believe in critical areas of life.
3. Rare Person #3 - born-again believer in Jesus Christ who knows what he believes AND is willing to stand up for it.
4. The Rarest of Them All - born-again believer in Jesus Christ who knows what he believes, is willing to stand up for what he believes, AND is willing to STAND ALONE if necessary!

The son of the creators of Doorposts (from what I understand) wrote this to his parents:


Thank you, Daddy and Mama, for purposing to teach us at home, for following through, and for pouring out your lives for us. You have been faithful to the calling God put before you.

Thank you for reading the Bible to us every day.

Thank you for reading us hundreds of books.

Thank you for choosing to build a family library instead of buying new cars, expensive home decor, or big boy toys.

Thank you for staying up late correcting our schoolwork.

Thank you for helping us with math problems (even when you couldn't remember how to do them either). Benjamin turned out an engineer, so I think you did okay.

Thank you for turning off the computer and making us play outside.

Thank you for feeding our interests and fanning the flames of "delight-directed study."  We learned LOTS about history and about God's creation without knowing it was part of "school."

Thank you for investing in our music lessons.

Thank you for allowing us to make messes (and for teaching us to clean them up).

Thank you for sorting through curriculum each year to find what worked best for us.

Thank you for writing our curriculum when you couldn't find what you needed. God has used your work to serve many other families.

Thank you for pointing us to other godly men and women for more advice and training when you'd given all you could give.

Thank you, Daddy, for doing cool stuff with us like falling trees and building fences, and for teaching me how computers work.

Thank you, Mama, for teaching each of us to write well. That must have been hard.

Thank you for not giving up.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. - Galatians 6:9 KJV

These days flattery wins friends, truth begets hatred. - Terence

Remember when in this post, I made the suggestion to ask your child to draw what they remember you doing most?  Well, I was a bit hesitant myself in asking my child because I was afraid of what she might draw lol.  I took the plunge too and then cried when I saw what her memories of me are:



That is My daughter and I in the kitchen, she is on the stool cooking and I'm holding her hand she said.  I'm not sure why I look like Tammy Faye LOL but I don't wear any makeup hahah.  =0

She said if something happened to me and I was gone, she would remember me teaching her how to cook and us smiling and having fun.  This is what I was hoping for, these are the memories I want her to have!  Sometimes we feel so inadequate in ourselves as mothers because of our many failures and flaws but it is good to know that God can make up the difference!

Women that love their children like this that they will even homeschool being a single mother, really inspire me!  I say kudos to these women and the love that is shown by their actions!

This is a poem I came across today from a single homeschooling mother and it was so touching:

Has anyone watched this documentary?  I saw the trailer and read this article and it makes sense.  Here are some quotes from the article:

Is God not capable of providing the English-speaking people a version of His Word that is correct in its entirety?  Are any of the many versions today inspired?  Is there no inspired version?  Do we just have to pick and choose?  If one Bible says homosexuality isn't so bad but the KJV condemns it, do we pick and choose which we like better?  Is it really ok if some verses are only different by a few words?  Did God inspire all the versions?

I'm here to tell you today that the 1611 King James Version of the Bible is the authoritative, inspired, Word of God!  How do you come to this conclusion?  Well, there are many factors involved but the main one is that God Himself bears witness with the KJV and there is power in its words that other versions have none of.  It is the only one in the English language that is correctly based of the original Hebrew and Greek and has NO errors of God's Words and meanings.  God truly inspired the translation of King James.

". . . ye have PERVERTED the words of the living God. . ."

Jeremiah 23:36

Here are many of the factors proving this is the inspired Bible for the English language:

1. God is capable of giving us ONE translation that is Holy and Inspired.  The Spirit of Christ in you will enable you to understand the Bible God inspired for you.  
2. Every English version compared to the KJV shows their heresy as they are FULL of error.  They take out the virgin birth, deny the deity of Jesus and are inspired by Satan himself.  They deny the very doctrines that God established and therefore they can not be God's Word, they are counterfeits.
3. Every other version doesn't say we are washed in Christ's blood!  http://www.av1611.org/wash.html  
4. The NIV removes the blood that is our redemption The KJV reads, "In whom we have redemption THROUGH HIS BLOOD, even the forgiveness of sins:" The NIV reads, "In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
5. The NIV does not condemn homosexuality - it is the ultimate non-offensive version for homosexuals as they are only offenders and the word sodomite is taken out altogether.
6. The NIV doesn't condemn Satan to hell, only to the grave - ISAIAH 14:15: The King James Bible condemns Lucifer to hell: "Yet thou shalt be brought down to HELL . . ." The NIV does NOT condemn Lucifer to HELL! The NIV reads, "But you are brought down to the GRAVE. . ." We all go to the GRAVE! Why doesn't the NIV want Satan in hell?
7. We could go on for weeks of all the heresies and errors in all these other versions but the KJV is clearly the only inspired Word of God as it contains no error from the originals.

God had touched my heart in a recent ladies prayer meeting concerning my daughter.  I thought she needs to be in Girl Scouts and then found out that was a godless organization now thanks to James Dobson coming out against it.  Then I came across American Heritage Girls and thought this was it!  However, there were some things they did (dances, swimming, worldly "Christian" music) that I just didn't agree with.

So I started praying and asking God what I should put my daughter in and He asked me why I felt I needed to?  She interacts with other Christian families' children 5 times a week at church and then attends music lessons once a week in a house full of 6 kids that she plays with after the lessons - why does she need more "social" time!?  It was clear to me as I had hit roadblocks in enrolling my daughter in more "outings" that God wanted me to teach her to be content with church, prayer meeting and homeschool activities and not training her to be out of the house so much.  After all, I'm training up a homekeeper not a gadabout!

Look around you, so many women that claim to be homekeepers are everything but!  They are out of the house so much that they bring a reproach and blasphemy to the gospel by their idleness and going about from house to house being busybodies.  They aren't help meets to their husbands, they are quite the opposite as they tear down their home with their idleness.  Homemade dinner is the last thing on their mind - its all about convenience so she can hang out with yet another busybody or some even stay at home but are not keeping the home because they are full of idleness on the internet and social 'networking'.  Anything to get her out of her house and her husband and children visually suffer!

Why, would I want to train my daughter to be out of the house too?  She isn't going to be in social groups as a grown woman, she is going to be busy with her husband, children and home and church and prayer meeting is ENOUGH time outside the home.  If I spend more than 2 days outside my home during the weekdays, I don't get my responsibilities done.  So why would I seek ways, excuses and places to go to take myself away from the one place I'm called by God to be in?  I shouldn't and don't and neither will I teach my daughter thus.

My daughter loves being home as I remind her this is her calling as she becomes a woman and she must give her all to it.  If I don't live it before her I count myself as a waste.  However, if I live it before her, I'm a benefit and she will forever remember my testimony!

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. ~Pro 31:27-28

Listen, son; I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, "Goodbye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came Up the road, I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before you boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive - and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it you want?" I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding - this was my reward to your for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy - a little boy!"

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.
by W. Livingston Larned

Everyone gets 24 hours each day.  Some do SO much in those 24 hours and others waste and squander those 24 hours.  What do you do?  Are you redeeming the time and doing those things that are needful and top priority?  Or rather are you doing things that really have no value on your priority list but have choked out the needful things in your life?

What if we, as women, all stopped and evaluated our time?  What would we find?  Would we find hours spent online reading, playing games, facebooking/twittering and other things that consume our time?  Are those things that you value?  Name them and make a list of what you do online and ask yourself how those things benefit you and your family.  Are they helping you become a better person?  Are they replacing what really matters in your life?  Does God and the family have to go on the back-burner because you just have to read another Facebook update?  Just who is really your God; your idol; the one you worship the most?

I refuse to let the computer and the internet take place of God and my responsibilities.  When I don't spend time in God's word daily and prayer talking to Him and I haven't given myself to my family's needs - what is taking my time?  Every now and then I've learned to stop myself and re-evaluate my life and my priorities.  Normally, if I find I don't have time to make something homemade, all I have to do is look at what I'm doing with my time and see what I'm putting before giving a wonderful, healthy homemade meal to my family.  I have counted at times, reading blogs or other time wasters online more important than God and my family because I gave my time to them more.  That is not acceptable in my life!

If you were to ask your child or children to draw a picture of what they remember you doing most, what would it be?  Would it be you in the kitchen in an apron whipping up something special for your family?  Would it be you teaching your child or playing with them?  Or would it rather be you sitting down at your computer?  Why not ask your child to draw that picture of what they see you doing the most of?  It just may be a turning point for your life.

What kind of legacy are we leaving behind to be remembered of?  What do you have to SHOW for your life?  What are your skills, talents and things you have accomplished in your life?  What will your children, husband and family and friends say about you when you die?  Will you be remembered as a mother devoted to her family or will you be remembered as a woman who all she ever did was sit around and do nothing?  What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

We can be so busy with the wrong things and I've not only seen it in my life but others.  Some are so busy that they tell me they don't have time to teach their children, they don't have time to make homemade products and they don't have time to keep their house clean.  I'm wondering - what in the world are they doing with their time!? How can I and many, many others homeschool for hours a day, make homemade meals, keep our house clean and still find time to learn new things when they can't do even one of those?  There is nothing "special" about me or others that do such, we all have the same hours in a day.  The answer is simply that they are busy with the wrong things.

I just put this on our Motivated Mentality blog, it is an old post but one that is worth repeating:


Father,

Help me take an honest look at what legacy I'm leaving behind.

Will anyone be different because of the way I've lived my life?

Will anyone be closer to you because of the way I've used my time?

Will someone have eternal life because I've introduced them to Jesus?

Will anyone have hope because of seeing Jesus in me?

Father, the older I get (and the more loved ones who leave this life)the more I realize how short my time is.

I don't want to waste this precious life You've given me.

I know I will stand before You someday and will be accountable for how I used the time You gave me.

I don't want to wait for someday. Show me now, while I still have time to readjust my priorities.

Is too much of my time spent on collecting things that won't even be a thought a hundred years from now?

Do I waste hours on needless worry, guilt and fear?

Am I listening too much to the temptations of this world or do I recognize them quickly and move on?

What portions of my day are spent on loving You, on serving others in Your love, or on myself?

Am I spiritually balanced?

Will you be pleased with the way I'm spending my life?

Am I keeping my focus on You?

Help my legacy be a life which points to a joyful life with You, so it will last long after everyone has forgotten who I am.

Author Unknown 

In Part 1: The Woman Rebel, I talked about the history of when women of society started wearing men's pants and the motive or intent that stirred it - overthrowing man's headship.  In Part 2: Flaunting of the Vice Against Nature, I included a letter from 1960 that showed the danger of women wearing men's garments and what it has done to society.  In this part, we will start including scriptures to show God's clear distinction of the sexes.

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. ~Deu. 22:5

Cross-dressing is an abomination in the eyes of God. You should be able to tell the difference between genders - male and female. Satan is the one that wants to blur the lines, merge the genders and have men look like women and women look like men, mocking God's creation and distinction of the sexes. Will you be a willing instrument in Satan's hands to mock God? Do you like being mistaken for a man? If not, then why are you trying to look like one? Wouldn't you want to be as far away from looking like a man as possible?

I really like John Wesley's excellent commentary on the above verse:

Now this is forbidden, both for decency sake, that men might not confound those sexes which God hath distinguished, that all appearance of evil might be avoided, such change of garments carrying a manifest sign of effeminacy in the man, of arrogance in the woman, of lightness and petulancy in both; and also to cut off all suspicions and occasions of evil, which this practice opens a wide door to.

Men and women that confound the sexes which God hath distinguished are the norm today. I can't tell you how many times I've mistaken a woman for a man because of her masculine garments. It is so disturbing as well to WONDER just what gender someone is because some make it so you can't even tell without close inspection and then sometimes not even then! That is disgusting, abominable and shouldn't even be heard of among Christians. We should be distinct in dress as God has designed us to be separate genders, we should be ladies and be feminine and putting on a pair of pants only makes the wearer more masculine in look and behavior.

Pants on a woman not only signify an overthrow of man's headship, transgress God's distinction of the sexes but they also cling to the body of a woman immodestly. God commanded us as Christian women to be modest in our apparel and quite frankly splitting up your legs for all to see your *ahem* isn't portraying modesty. Also, most women wear tight pants for what purpose? It sure isn't comfort! You know what its for - its to arouse men, to get men to look at you and thus you just added lasciviousness to your plate of sin all over your choice of garment.

I was reading a book from the 70's on the induction of pant-wearing for women into society. The secular author noted that with the pant garment on a woman came a loss in her femininity and a gain in masculinity. The garment of the pants itself caused a woman to change her behavior, mannerisms and even activities to be more masculine than as before. WOW! Before I made the switch to dresses, I remember how even my behaviors/mannerisms were different when I wore pants. When I had pants on, I would sit differently, walk differently and felt more "loose" as it was - a bit of rebellion in masculinity if you will. When I would put on my dress for church (in the South where I was raised, it was a shame for a woman to walk in God's house in pants), I immediately was more ladylike and feminine. I didn't sit the way I did in pants, walked with more poise and comeliness and it felt more appropriate for a woman and I was just a sinner back then! When I became a Christian, one of the most notable things that my sisters said was that I was so feminine now.  God saved me all over!!

Most women today aren't aware they are in rebellion wearing men's pants because it is the "norm" now and so widely accepted.  Even Christians have erred in not knowing their Bible and understanding that although God does look on the inner man, he also counts the outer one important!  He taught us even about our hair distinctions between male and female in 1 Cor. 11 as it tells that even NATURE teaches us that a man with long hair is a shame!  It is a shame to look like a woman for a man or a woman to look like a man!  Hardly nothing is shameful to those in this perverted, ungodly, sin-filled society we live in today but there are those who will live holy unto the Lord and set the standard by God's Word!  I won't back down and put on a man's garment, I like looking like a woman!  I like being feminine and my husband sure 'nuff likes a feminine woman too!

To overthrow your master, your husband, and to usurp authority over men was the meaning of the age old phrase "Who wears the pants?"  Pants signified the headship of the man and now woman has those pants literally and has trampled on man's headship and she must deal with the consequences that this confusion has created in society!  I say: Give men the pants back!  Give them their jobs back and return home and we won't have the mess we have now!  Give them their identity back and men will return to being gentlemen and manly!  Quit acting, dressing, speaking and behaving like men!  Start looking like your gender for a change!  You won't be able to help the aurora that you portray when dressed like a woman in this society because it is so against the perverted norm that you will stand out.  What is wrong with a dress ladies!?  Why is it so repugnant to you to want to put one on?  What is really keeping you away from wearing them?  Are you afraid you will look like a lady?

Don't be deceived by those who trample on the grace of God by living a life of disobedience, who turn God's commands into advice and live any way they feel like.  Heed the Bible and God's order of headship and distinction of the sexes and return to the feminine woman God intended you to be.

This letter, written by a Catholic Cardinal, was so moving and true that I decided to dedicate an entire post to it in this series on women and pants.  A lot of what he said would happen once it became the norm for women to wear men's pants HAS happened!  What wisdom on the importance of distinction of the sexes.

The entire letter with translator's notes can be found here:
http://olrl.org/virtues/pants.shtml

Here are some amazing quotes from the letter that speak volumes of wisdom.  This Cardinal wrote this trying to stop the acceptance and/or tolerance of women wearing pants and warn on the dangers of allowing them to do so.

He tells how putting on man's pants changes the psychology of the woman:

"In truth, the motive impelling women to wear men's dress is always that of imitating, nay, of competing with, the man who is considered stronger, less tied down, more independent. This motivation shows clearly that male dress is the visible aid to bringing about a mental attitude of being "like a man."  Secondly, ever since men have been men, the clothing a person wears, demands, imposes and modifies that person's gestures, attitudes and behavior, such that from merely being worn outside, clothing comes to impose a particular frame of mind inside."

The next point he argues is one of the most disturbing as it is so prevalent now in our society:

"The essential basis of this attraction is a diversity between the two sexes which is made possible only by their complementing or completing one another. If then this "diversity" becomes less obvious because one of its major external signs is eliminated and because the normal psychological structure is weakened, what results is the alteration of a fundamental factor in the relationship.

And when the sense of shame is hindered from putting on the brakes, then relationships between man and women sink degradingly down to pure sensuality, devoid of all mutual respect or esteem."

Now that men can't look at a women as a lady but rather masculine in her clothing, and he can't see her femininity because her garment has even hindered her behavior as such - he has to just look at her like a sex object.  And thus, we have a society that instead of the normal attraction of difference is minimized, the spotlight is on the sexual which is only satisfying for a time.  If women want some R-E-S-P-E-C-T they need to earn it by acting like a woman!

He goes on to talk about how women wearing pants will even effect the children, just what kind of society will it produce (it has produced now):

"What will these women be able to give their children when they will so long have worn trousers that their self-esteem goes more by their competing with the men than by their functioning as women?"

"...wherever women wear men's dress, it is to be considered a factor in the long run tearing apart human order."

Truly, what he said in 1960 has happened - human order has been torn apart and no longer are women doing their roles.  No, they are acting like men in all aspects - dress, occupation, behavior, deportment, hair and rejection of motherhood.

Ladies, its not an issue of "free will" or rules and such, this is serious as you are dealing with changing God's distinction between male and female and overruling the teacher of nature God put inside of us.  As the translator put it:

"The enormous increase since 1960 in the practice and public flaunting of the vice against nature is surely to be attributed in part to this perversion of psychology."

What really matters or what are we trying to preserve by refraining from women wearing men's garments?

"What matters is to preserve modesty together with the eternal sense of femininity, that femininity which more than anything else all children will continue to associate with the face of their mother."

Do your children associate femininity with you?  When they think of you, their mother, does their mind fill with all the lovely ways you are a lady and feminine different from your husband?  Or do they not even understand the differences of femininity and masculinity because they've never even seen it in their own home!?

What kind of world was this pant-wearing woman going to bring?  Well, we are already there because its abnormal for women to wear dresses now - God help us!

"When we see a woman in trousers, we should think not so much of her as of all mankind, of what it will be when women will have masculinized themselves for good.  Nobody stands to gain by helping to bring about a future age of vagueness, ambiguity, imperfection and, in a word, monstrosities."

Nobody has gained from women wearing pants.  Now, that its acceptable and almost everyone is doing it - are you happy being so manly?  Are you happy about a world that doesn't even know what a family is or who marriage is for anymore?  Truly, those monstrosities warned of have arrived in America today and it all started with the woman.  The woman wanted to be free of man's headship and look at what her "freedom" has brought us to.

Part 3: Loss of Femininity & Gain of Masculinity

I haven't blogged on this in a while but a question was brought up by a reader and so I felt the leading to answer it.  This isn't a personal conviction, this is God's design for a woman - to be feminine and distinct from the man.  It isn't up for debate and its sure to cause a stir because somehow this culture is so backwards that a woman in a skirt is offensive and "legalistic."  Ask yourself the question: "What stirs in you when you see a woman in a skirt, just what spirit is it?"  Truly Satan wants to BLUR the lines and make the genders - gender-less.  He wants to blur God's distinct separation of man and woman and even go so far as to say gender doesn't even matter anymore.  Oh, how far this ungodly world has become in issues of dress and how accepting even some Christians are to Satan's destruction of the distinction of the sexes.

Here is the question:

I need some advice I am a fairly new Christian (about 4 years) and recently the Lord has convicted me about the way I dress. As a young Christian lady (i am 16) I feel I need to represent Christ in every aspect of my life and with that being said I feel that I should no longer wear pants but I have had people tell me that there is no reason to stop wearing pants and that God does not care what I wear so I was wondering if you had any biblical advice about this matter!?!?!?

I wanted to write up a post, mainly for myself but for others as well, on how I've saved money throughout this year and a half of transition and my future plans as well.

In the beginning it seemed so expensive buying organic products.  However, now I've learned its cheaper to make most of it myself.  Here is what I've cut out of my budget and made homemade that has saved me loads:

• Bread - there is nothing like fresh homemade bread!  There are no preservatives, no HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) or chemicals in our bread.  It is more satisfying than store-bought bread and we get fuller on one sandwich than we ever did with store-bought.
• Tortillas - wheat and corn; If you haven't had a homemade corn tortilla then you are missing out!  Just masa flour and water and the taste is unbelievable and they go like crazy around here.  Look at the costs of organic wheat/flour or corn tortillas - talk about ridiculous!
• Pancakes - organic, whole wheat pancakes that taste good and are cheap is what makes making homemade worthwhile.  You can easily make a month's worth and freeze them in baggies of 2 for a quick breakfast or snack.
• Oatmeal - how hard is it really to put 1/2 cup oats, 1c water with a sprinkle of salt and cinnamon in a bowl and heat?  Very easy breakfast and cheap!  I've found if I put a whole banana in my daughter's oatmeal, she doesn't even need sugar.  Add applesauce to it for a cinnamon/apple oatmeal and on and on....
• Pizza - we normally just do cheese pizzas and are satisfied with that but every now and then I may throw in some toppings but we love it plain too.  Each slice of my homemade pizza has about 5-6g of fiber and you just can't get that with most frozen or pizza shop pizzas!  It fills you up on just a slice or two so one pizza feeds my family of 3 with leftovers!   I also only need 1/4 of a 2 pound slab of mozzarella cheese to cover the pizza - so one block makes a month of pizza!
• Snacks - everything from cookies, muffins, scones, bagels, granola bars to all kinds of goodies are much cheaper to make homemade than buying the organic varieties!  
• Sauces - making homemade organic spaghetti and pizza sauces is much cheaper, not to mention it tastes better too.  Making it only 4 times a year (every 3 months) and freezing them is a time-saver too.  
• Condensed Soups - I hated recipes that called for those nasty cans of condensed soup, that is until I found out I could make my own! I know only make my own and its so much more delicious and healthier!
• Ketchup & BBQ sauce - it is so cheap to make your own ketchup and BBQ sauce and it doesn't have HFCS when its homemade!  It also freezes well and you can make a huge batch twice a year.
• Salsa - this has been my most recent addition and WOW is the taste better and the cost dramatically cheaper than organic store-bought salsa!  To think I could have been making it this whole time but glad that I found it freezes well, so now I can make it 4 times a year along with my sauces.
• Jam - making your own organic strawberry jam for the freezer is a money-saver!  If you make it twice when strawberries are in season, you will have enough for a year but you can also make it from frozen strawberries.  
• Hummus - we have enough beans and tahini to make hummus for a year or more!  Seeing how we were spending about $3-4 for a small tub and it wasn't even organic, we are going to save a lot of money making it homemade and its organic!

Outside of food-related savings, I also save in other items for the home:

• Laundry Detergent - I've been making my own laundry detergent since 2006, so for almost 6 years now! I only make it 4 times a year for just $10 a year!  I do however use a cheap detergent for my delicates but may try homemade delicate detergent that is made with Zote soap soon.
• Liquid Hand Soap - For $1 I get enough soap for 3 months - that is just $4 a year for hand soap in our house!  I've been making my own liquid hand soap for 4 years now and still love it!
• All-Purpose Cleaner - my all-purpose homemade cleaner is one of my best money-savers.  I remember those days years ago when I would buy all kinds of cleaners, but those days are gone!  I clean my bathrooms, kitchen, outdoor furniture and anything else that needs cleaning with this cleaner.
• Torn-up t-shirts - instead of throwing away hubby's old t-shirts, I simply cut out the arms and throw those in the trash and use the rest for dusting rags!  
• Plastic store bags - I save them and use them for our small trash cans throughout the house and change them weekly.
• Paper store bags - one of the stores we shop monthly has these and we re-use them for many things: bringing in produce from the garden, crafts, cover for spray painting to protect yard or deck, etc.
• Refilling Ink Cartridges - we save our empty printer cartridges and get them refilled twice a year.  This has saved us a lot of money as I print a lot for homeschool purposes.
• Reusing Glass Jars, Cans & Containers - I have so many glass jars in use right now that were given to me or those I saved myself.  Everything from sugar for coffee to seasonings are stored in these.  I also save cans for crafts or pencil holders and other containers for my hand soap or other uses.  

Future plans on saving money:

• Composting - this is something we want to start doing since we will need compost for our garden every spring.
• Re-using Ziploc bags - I want to purchase the bag-dryer I've seen others use and start washing out my bags and letting them dry since I use SO many every freezer-cooking cycle!
• More Gardening - next year I plan on being more organized with my garden and never having a square empty!  I plan on planting radishes, garlic, potatoes and more and having continous supplies of our most-used produce. 
• Herb Garden - I went to purchase some herbs but couldn't find any organic, so I plan on making my own herb garden next spring from seed.  Then, I will be able to make up my own spice blends!
• Sewing Clothes - by next year I plan on being able to make my daughter's clothing and then eventually some of mine!  I've been able to make her a skirt and curtains for my kitchen but come winter, I plan on getting back to it more intensely.

The chart above doesn't even include those abortions through birth control devices.

I've lost a lot of readers on the topic of children but then I have had numerous people almost cry on me in gratefulness for what I've said about birth control and children.  It has encouraged them to know they weren't the only ones and I'm here to tell you today that even God is on our side!

Ignore those that despise children because God never did and still doesn't.  God set them up as divine blessings.  One thing as a woman you should desire is for God to bless your womb.  See, I don't choose my examples and mirror my life after women today.  If I did, I would have never had my womb miraculously opened and the blessing of my dear sweet daughter.  I rather choose the women of the Bible, to which God Himself placed as fine examples of Godly women.  Women that cried over barren wombs and prayed for more children.  Women whose lives were given to their homes, husbands and children.  Women that had their mind on the right things, not things of this world and all its riches that will be burned up.

Children are the only thing that you will be given that you can take to Heaven with you.  The house, car and all your gadgets won't make it, but your children will if you train them right and live a life before them!  So knowing all this - which should a woman of God desire the most?

Let's review God's view on children and see if it fits your view:

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.  Psalm 127:3-5

Society wants to tell you that you will be happy with your quiver empty of them and to be full of self and kill God's blessings with abortifacients. People spend their whole lives searching for happiness and then there is the rest of us who live it each day with God's prescription for happiness, our children or those we have adopted as ours.

To the statement that I hear so often about not having children in these "hard" times, notice what God told the Israelites to do in one of their "hardest" times:

Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. Jeremiah 29:6

God told them to have children! I'm sure some were using man's wisdom at that time saying you shouldn't have children in these hard times, but God commanded them otherwise.

The following quote is from Voddie Bauchman on the dangers of playing God:

Many people who prevent pregnancy today and plan on just “getting back around to it” some other time are in danger of, “tempting the Lord their God.” (Matt 4:7; cf. Deut. 6:16) Getting pregnant is not a guarantee. There are plenty of people out there who cry themselves to sleep at night because they’ve been trying for years and God has not opened the womb. People who put pregnancy off until a “more appropriate time” need to bear this in mind. You don’t know when (or if) you will get pregnant. As such, it is quite presumptuous to put it off until you decide you’re ready. Remember, God is the author of life, and every child is a blessing. Besides, who’s going to fix our ethical, spiritual, economic, and political crisis in the next generation if those of us who know the answer (the gospel) shut it down and stop launching arrows simply because they may require a little financial sacrifice in the short run?

Whose view do you hold?

You hear a lot of complaining about government-run public schools and what they teach and don't teach.  I want to pose the question: "What should government schools teach?"  To answer the question, being informed of its beginnings and current history will help.

You might be surprised to learn that parents educated their children in the beginning, yes they were homeschooled before this entitlement program, public school, came along.  Somehow, homeschooled children were able to establish this country and even be President of our country as our first President, George Washington and many others after that.  Then grammar schools began, schooling only boys and parents paid for their child to attend.  For those that were too poor to pay or orphans, the local church took care of them.  Several grammar schools and colleges were run by ministers in the beginning.  Then there were girls schools and then came John Dewey.

John Dewey was skilled in knowing the mind.  He knew that if you could get the mind of children and form it, you could have the nation.  He didn't view schools as just a place to learn education but rather a place to learn how to live.  He was a humanist and a signer of the Humanist Manifesto.   A man who knew if you could have the mind of a child when they are most alert in the day to form and mold them, you could mold public opinion.

Notice that a man often called the "Father of Public Education," Horace Mann was another skilled in the mind and helped shape our nation's education system.  Notice his goal in his quote below:

"We who are engaged in the sacred cause of education are entitled to look upon all parents as having given hostages to our cause."

"Here are all the elements for a religious faith that shall not be confined to sect, class, or race......
"Such a faith has always been the common faith of mankind. It remains for us to make it explicit and militant."

Thank you God for our country and our freedom! Here are some great quotes from the men who made this day, July 4th, one of true independence and the start of the greatest nation on earth. Notice that these men upheld the true living God, the God of the Bible:

John Adams:

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be."

"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God."

Thomas Jefferson:

"I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ."

John Hancock:

"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. ... Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us."

Samuel Adams:

"And as it is our duty to extend our wishes to the happiness of the great family of man, I conceive that we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world that the rod of tyrants may be broken to pieces, and the oppressed made free again; that wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among nations may be overruled by promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is Prince of Peace."

James Madison:

"Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ."

John Quincy Adams:

"The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made 'bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God' (Isaiah 52:10)."

These are only a FEW of the many, many quotes from those who were a part of the founding of our great nation!  This is the TRUE America - an America that was founded for the purpose of Christianity and freedom in Christ.  In God we trust - One nation under God - God Bless America!

How would you finish the above title?  Just what are you giving heed to in your life?  This is a question we should always ask as we constantly examine ourselves before the Lord.  Heeding is basically paying attention to, adhering to, or as one definition says it is holding your mind towards.  You can give heed to two things - God or satan.  Sometimes you can think you are heeding God but in reality you are heeding satan because you allowed your senses to become dull to right and wrong.  You stepped into the gray areas and remained there for so long that you no longer think the black areas are so black anymore.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; ~ 1 Timothy 4:1-2

I got a lot of feedback for my post on "Extreme Couponing".  I also understand that some honestly do not know how to feed their families without coupons on a frugal budget.  Besides the most important step - praying and seeking God in decisions with your home management - I wanted to share a few basic tips on how I've done this over years without coupons.  I have already went over a lot of the stuff in the 5 years I've done this blog, but for those who may be new and not reviewed my over-1000-posts LOL, hopefully this can help you and your family.

1. Pray & Have Faith!  - you have not because you ask not really sums it all up doesn't it?  Since when is praying to God for wisdom and help in our budgets and meal planning not important?  Since women thought they could do a better job than God with their own abilities.  Realizing that you need the Lord in this area will open the door for the Almighty to show you wondrous things!  I've watched my flour bin keep lasting when it was supposed to be empty.  I just kept scooping and another scoop would come out and I knew it had to be God.  Then there was our maple syrup jar that miraculous filled itself back up about 1/4 of the way!  Don't tell me that God still doesn't things like this today because you came too late!!
2. Plan for the Month - planning for the month will bring success in your meal planning.  Not only are you prepared, but you save money overall and you go to the store less, which in turn, saves money because you aren't tempted to buy things you don't need!  If you don't have a plan, you have no idea what you are doing or need and you will spend more money and time!
3. Stock up on Staple Items - having 6-months to a year of a stockpile of items that you always need/use can be beneficial because you usually get a deal when you buy in bulk and you don't have to buy these items but once or twice a year and that opens up more money each month in your budget!  We stock up through Azure Organic Farm on things like: flours, rice, oats, beans, canned tomato products, lemon juice, mustard, spices/seasonings, etc.  You can also stockpile non-grocery items that you know you buy every month like: deodorant, hair products, toilet paper, teeth products, cleaning products, etc.  Once you have a good pantry going, you only need to purchase perishable items each month like meat, cheese, eggs, fruits and vegetables, etc.  I explain more about how I do this at the bottom of this post.
4. Keep a Price Book - I normally keep a price list from various stores and update it each month, that way I know where I can get items I buy cheapest.  I shop from 3 grocery stores and sometimes 4 but remember, this is only ONCE a month for my big grocery trip!  I shop from the butcher once every 3 months for my meats for freezer-cooking, so I'm not running around town every week (unless of course I want to for fun lol).  I do go weekly to get bananas and milk or food-craving items or items for fellowships.
5. Make Your Own - this is probably one of the biggest areas you will see savings in, just make your own!  Especially if you buy only organic, making your own will save you a lot of money, but even if you don't eat organic - most things are cheaper homemade, also healthier!  Getting away from processed/packaged food will also benefit you because homemade tastes better and you won't be so hungry because its usually more filling as well.  Years ago, I started making my own products, bit by bit and today I make my own: bread, tortillas, spaghetti and pizza sauces, salsa, hummus, pizza, ketchup, BBQ sauce, granola bars, desserts, and on and on.  I actually just added in salsa and hummus homemade this month - I used to make fresh salsa from my garden a few years ago but haven't since then and this month I'm making it in bulk and freezing it!
6. Choose Frugal Recipes - this is one area that most people don't think about.  Choosing recipes is just as important as all the other steps.  If you are using a recipe that calls for all these exotic, hard-to-find items, then how much are you spending to make that one meal?  I like simple, easy recipes that taste good.  I bypass most recipes that have hard-to-pronounce ingredients most of the time lol - although, sometimes I do venture out and try one but simplicity is something I go for.

We just got our most recent Azure Farm order and some from Amazon:


You will notice we have a LOT of tomato products lol - that is because I make my own spaghetti and pizza sauces for 3 months at a time and then this month, doing the salsa as well and the leftovers from the cans go in recipes that call for those items.  We are eating more beans now since we changed our diet to a more Mediterranean style (which we are loving by the way!), so I stocked up on the beans we are using.  I stocked up on Masa, which is the corn flour that is used to make corn tortillas and more as you can see.  The 2 cans of oil are organic olive oil from Spain and this is our first time trying it out after hearing good things about it.

I use food-grade, BPA-free plastic 5-gallon buckets to store our food with gamma-sealed lids that make it air-tight.  I've NEVER had a bug in my food in these buckets!  I'm not going to spend my money to have my food go bad and go to the bugs, so to speak lol.  We now have 11 buckets and can you believe we use them all? They are easy to store as well - they stack!

I also wanted to tell you guys about the great program that Amazon offers.  It is called "Subscribe & Save."  You find an item your family uses regularly, and you get 15% off by subscribing.  You can subscribe to receive that item every 1, 2, 3 or 6 months.  They only charge you when it ships and you can cancel your subscription to an item at any time.  We are using it more and more and finding it is very cheap for most things and I'm saving a lot since using their program!

Hope some of that helps you and your family, happy savings!

Tonight, after homeschooling most of the day and working on some projects for school that I needed to have ready (laminating, etc.)...I was pretty discouraged.  I was on the couch wore out and my daughter came up to me and saw that I didn't want to talk - then I told her why I was down, how I didn't get things done today - the dishes and the laundry.  She put her hand on my face and said the sweetest words: "Momma, you did get something done - you did something VERY important!"  I started crying because she was SO RIGHT!  It was so wonderful and we cuddled.  Homeschooling her, spending time with her and my husband is something VERY important!  Then my husband came over and told me how much he thinks of me and well - I just feel so overjoyed and who cares about the dishes and laundry that didn't get done today!?  The VERY important was taken care of......God and family.

A lot of times my daughter tells me how much she loves me and I tell her I love her and then she responds: "I know you love me Mommy because you spend time with me and homeschool me."

These are the things that make life wonderful...........having your own children and husband praise you and knowing you are doing VERY important things each day! ;-)