I'm Moving

So, I've lately had a great deal of trouble sharing my posts on Google Plus, so I decided to let this blog go and move to a new blog.  I plan to cover all of my usual topics plus more encouragement and a transition back to a healthy lifestyle (pregnancy was a naughty food fest). I'd love it if you'd join me at blessedhouseholdgoods.blogspot.com.

Things To Pass The Time

I'm hoping everyone had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday.  I hope it was blessed with time to reflect and rejoice with near and dear family and friends.  Normally, my Resurrection Sunday would be spent with friends, eating too much and laughing even more.  The kids would be outside playing (if Easter fell in April) and we would just be enjoying the blessing of that time.  This Easter, I was 38 wks pregnant and just wanted to kick my feet up while my wonderful husband cooked.  That is exactly what happened too.  So I got to spend time with family, resting and being grateful for a very generous and loving husband.  I am also thankful for him because he is working all day and coming home to try to hastily put together a chicken coop so my six fluffy babies (not so baby or fluffy anymore) can move outside into their own space.  I confess that I love the idea of free range hens, but where I live, we have hawks and falcons.  The best they'll get is a fully enclosed run and a large coop to stay cool or warm in.  Still much better than those overstocked, fully enclosed, dark chicken houses or those tiny cage-like things egg layers are usually in.  No beak clipping here, just room to run and eat and peck, safe from predators.

What have we been up to?  We have been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.  Prepping for baby is the name of the game.  Since I birth my babies at home now, I feel more serious about cleaning my spaces than before.  One part of that is having a midwife in your space.  The other is the peace that comes with a clean home. I have also been cleaning my body, I suppose.  I have been drinking a green smoothie every day, which definitely helps keep things moving.

Quick shameless plug.  If you haven't tried it, you have to try the 30 Day Challenge over at www.simplegreensmoothies.com.  They give you recipes and a shopping list every week.  The smoothies are so delicious and it encourages you to get your kale or spinach in each day.

Ok, now that I've gotten that out of the way...

I have also been working on this

Crochet all the way.  I have put my knitting needles down in exchange for work that moves faster.  So, this blanket is going two skeins at a time until finished.  It is lovely and soft and made from Red Heart With Love yarn.  I used to be adamantly against synthetic stuff, but it washes easier and it feels amazing.  It makes for good sit down busy work while I binge on episodes of Project Runway.  At 38 weeks and 3 days, this madhouse is about to get a bit crazier, but I have my hands full of blessings and that's all that matters.

Enjoy your day.

When God Moves

First  I want to say with great joy, it is Spring officially!

Moving on...

This topic came to me, maybe a while ago but again recently.  I noticed that sometimes bad things happen.  I am not talking about tragedy.  I'm talking about days or weeks that feel like "bad luck" has set in.  I do not believe in luck because it is based on the understanding that the universe operates solely on its own, without the knowledge, wisdom or intervention of the divine.  Romans 1:20-32 covers this, warning us about the consequences of worshipping God's creations, rather than the Creator.  Still, you know the feeling.  That, "I just can't win" feeling.  Something breaks, we fix it and it breaks again.  You start to do better and then you do worse.  Your streak of sick days finally goes away and then something else comes up.  You feel like the devil is kicking you around and he won't quit.  But is it always the devil.

I have learned that our responses to these situations are critical.  The Bible tells us that God is a blesser.  He loves to give us the desires of our heart.  He wants to see us prosper because He gets the glory from true believers.  He gets all of the credit for doing the impossible in our lives.  So, miracles and blessing are for us, but for Him.  We readily accept when good things happen, they must be from heaven.  We reject the notion that bad things are happening because of God. The Bible says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17, NIV).  So, we know that God blesses.  But how about these times when nothing goes our way?  What if these were blessings too?

What do we know about fathers?  We know that they love their children and want the best for them.  We know that they are placed as guardians over the precious lives that God created.  They would not say yes to a request that would lead to harm or death.  They would never deny basic needs nor would they allow sinful actions to be the main lifestyle.  Would a father be considered good if he gave his daughter away to every boy that stopped by, knowing that they would then go somewhere and put their hands all over each other?  Would a father be considered good if he gave the keys to his car to his son with one hand and a case of beer with the other?  The answers to both of these is no.  We would judge both fathers very harshly.  Likewise, our Heavenly Father is not a "feel good" deity.  He is a wise and righteous judge who hates sin but offers us hope for change.  That means that He also doesn't love a bad attitude.  Just like we loathe a bad attitude in our children, He despises it in us even more.  He instructs us to give thanks in all things.  He tells us to rejoice in our suffering and reminds us that our trials work patience.  We could all use more patience.

So, is that losing streak demonically inspired or God working out our bad attitude?  How would we know?  First, we can discern nothing without the help of the Holy Spirit.  So we must pray and ask God to show us what is happening.  Then we must examine our responses to these situations.  If we are grumbling and complaining in these times, we are displeasing God.  If we are speaking as though we never have the victory, we are showing our ungrateful side.  If others stay away from us when bad things are happening, we probably have a bad attitude that negatively affects those around us.  We are a bad testimony to God's grace and mercy when we focus on our failures and set-backs and losses.  Christianity isn't that great, bad things always happen to them.  How does that look to someone who's religion is based on good being rewarded with good?

We serve a loving God and more so, we are loved by an incredibly loving Father.  He wants us to be blessed but our bad attitudes prevent that.  Our bad attitudes prevent us from rejoicing in the blessings we have and they also keep us from receiving more.  Our bad attitudes show God that nothing He does for us is enough, it only focuses on what He's not doing for us.  If this is the issue in your life, I encourage you to blossom into some new habits this Spring.  Ask God to grow a garden of gratefulness in your heart and purpose to keep praise on your lips.  These things usher in blessing and favor and above all - peace.

Snowy Days Bring Wisdom

In my part of Virginia, it snowed a bit over the last 2 weeks and ultimately, we stayed in the house more than normal.  That led to many hours of documentary viewing.  Too many.  But, I promised to tell you how things have changed around here, so here's one.

I became concerned with the plight of other people.  I know, I am supposed to be concerned with the plight of others because I'm Christian.  I understand that I can't make poverty go away.  I don't think God expects us to, anyhow.  Jesus said, "The poor you will have with you always,"  But the rest of that statement says you are obligated to help.  "And you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me." (Matthew 14:7, NIV) The poor will be with you always...but you must still reach out to them.  So, it is easy to think about the homeless vet, the hungry kids and even people I know personally who are dealing with displacement issues.  They are right around me.  But I never thought that my purchases were impacting so many lives around the world.  I love chocolate.  I don't mind grabbing a quick candy bar at the check-out.  Then I watched two documentaries about the child labor in Africa on the cocoa farms.  Very saddening.  Heartbreaking.  Then there's shoes and clothes and toys.  The toy factories in China, the clothing factories in Bangladesh and all of the other cheap labor employed the world around.  Our developed nations are taking advantage of greedy governments and cheap labor.  In the countries that manufacture most of our stuff, the governments don't enforce their own "laws" and it's easy for companies to make things inexpensively.  Don't get me started on Walmart.  I watched a documentary on that store just because I needed to remember why I don't like to shop there.  The reasons I don't shop at Walmart are for another post.

So, I made a decision.  I would only buy thrift store clothes.  My reasoning is this: I cannot afford to buy Fair Trade clothing when I need to replace something but I don't want to place my money into the hands of greedy, self-serving manufacturers.  So, the thrift store takes someone else's bad purchase and turns it around for good by supporting a charitable cause.  It's not a perfect system, but at least my money goes to someone else's good.  Another things I've decided is that I will now try to only buy American made fabrics for my sewing projects.  Everyone should be given a living wage.  Why should I only make changes that impact other nations when our nation suffers from a loss of jobs regularly?  Another thing is supporting missionaries and the spreading of the Gospel to other countries.  Many of the freedoms we experience in our country and many of our regulations are rooted in the Bible we now so easily reject.  These workers in poor countries get no time off, no days off.  If you can't come work, someone else will.  We are allowed, mandated even, at least 1 day off.  Whether you worked 3 on 2 off or 12 hr shifts, somewhere in there they must give you a day of rest and cannot penalize you for taking it.  6 days and a rest was God's idea, not man's.  How about a means of support when you have nothing or you've lost everything?  God's idea, not man's.  Many of those poor workers are women and if their husband died or they were displaced, they'd be out of luck.  The Bible tells us often to take care of the poor, the widow and the orphan.  The least I can do is try not contribute to the suffering of others.  I want my actions and choices to be a blessing to other, not a curse.  I will most likely highlight some companies I think are doing great and some that are not, as the blogging journey continues.

These are some of the changes that you can expect to see.  I've had a lot of things to consider and it has all given me so much to share.  I hope your day is blessed and your interest piqued by this post. Some documentaries to consider watching:

1. The Dark Side of Chocolate
2. Cocoa-nomics
3. Fashion Victims (Movie about Bangladesh sweat shops)
4. Living on One Dollar (made me think about woven Guatemalan items)
5. Santa's Workshop

That's just 5.  Plus I watched a health documentary called Bought and a finance video called Spent.  Being informed will not only bless your life, but enable you to bless others.  Enjoy.

(Please forgive any grammatical errors, I didn't feel like proof-reading.  Pregnancy has made me lazy.)

A Change is Coming...

So, with my pregnancy and my crazy twists and turns, I had to come to a decision - I'm making some changes.  I had much to talk about and I have grown and changed so much that I feel the need to broaden my topic base,  I also need to be able to share so much more.  It's actually very exciting.  I'm growing so much more passionate about so many topics, I have to get it all out.  Over the next few weeks, I'll be changing the name and explaining all that I have to talk about.  I am still passionate about plant based foods and cutting clutter.  But due to my inability to consume adequate protein, I had to lay aside my vegan lifestyle.  I knew that I would never be able to provide my baby with enough protein.  Not because a vegan diet doesn't have enough protein, as many detractors would say, but because I am a lazy eater and vegan diets with low soy levels take work.  Plus, my taste buds were not going to cooperate with other protein sources.  I doubt I'll go back, but will make sustainable choices whenever possible.  I have become so passionate about the fair treatment of those that make our clothing products and footwear as well as fabric.  I have become sewing fanatic.  I still have my love for all things Biblical and sharing my faith.  Plus, I'm preparing to embark on my third homebirth - after 3 c-sections.  Obviously, I'm passionate about that as well.  I could go on and on.  So, if you've followed me and miss my posts, know that I haven't disappeared, I've just changed and grown and want my blog to reflect that.  I love having company on this wild ride called life.  Be patient with me, it is about to get interesting....

Lessons Through the Season

Hello again!

This time it hasn't been too long since I've written.  I'm getting better at this.  Composing my thoughts and my pics is definitely the hardest part.  I still use my phone for pics and loading them to the computer feels like more of a burden than it truly is.  I am grateful, however.

That reminds me daily of two important verses: Philippians 2:14 and 1 Timothy 6:6.
1st: "Do everything without grumbling or arguing," NIV or "Do everything without complaining and disputing." NKJV
That is Philippians 2:14.  If no one has ever mentioned, that is hard to do but complaining means that we are ungrateful. Stop for a moment and think. We complain because of the stop lights on the way to work but have you ever had to pass through a busy intersection when the lights weren't working and you didn't instinctively have the right of way? Those lights are there for order.  We ought to be thankful.  My wonderful children struggled through dinner tonight with much grumbling and I reminded them that God has never let them starve.  Even now, my oldest is baking cookies.  We eat because it is God's provision for us,  Sometimes we don't love what's cooked but the alternative in my house is you don't like this, you get nothing else and no dessert.  When we don't feel like doing dishes, we must remember that we have a sink full because we are being fed.  I am reminded of this as I pass the local Food Bank in the morning and the line wraps around the building.  Many of the most needy go without.  It's easy to assume that people just want a handout or are lazy.  Yes, some are.  I have overheard those conversations.  We also say that if they were real Christians, they would be blessed by God and not be in this situation.  Nope.  Jesus himself said that we will have the poor with us always (Matthew 26:11).  Many Christians you know live below the poverty line but are blessed to obey the Word and be good stewards.  That makes the difference.  But, just as in Bible days, the widow and the injured cannot help themselves and cannot qualify for many, if any benefits.  The underemployed couple with no children, or few children and the elderly suffer.  Imagine feeding yourself on $200 a month with the cost of groceries what they are.  Besides, we judge the homeless but it is doubtful that anyone would invite them to dinner.  Trust me, I struggle with that truth too.

That leads to 1 Timothy 6:6, "But Godliness with contentment is great gain."  Christmas is fast approaching and the "lists" are rolling out and the materialism is on the rise.  The ads entice us to want this and want that.  A gallup poll showed that the average American will spend $786 this Christmas.  First I was shocked.  Way out of my price range.  Then I remembered how easy that would be.  One iPad and one new game system and you're nearly there. Most of this consumerism is simply leading to more debt and a lower quality of family life for kids.  I don't claim to be perfect, but here are some points to remember when shopping for your kids:

1: They won't remember the toy in a few years, let alone who bought it.
2: They won't be happy with it long and will already be plotting their birthday gift a few days later.
3: Toys will never take the place of time spent together.
4: For babies and toddlers, the box will always be more interesting than the toy within, rightfully so.
5: For babies and toddlers, studies have shown that all of the flashing lights and sounds do not
    improve a child's ability to focus.  It may hurt it.

I was an only child.  I pretty much got whatever I wanted and my fondest memories are still about time spent.  Trips we would take and the simple times we dined out together.  I still love New England hot dog buns because they remind me of eating with my mother at Friendly's and having a hot dog and clam chowder.  Oyster crackers are the best! Ask me to name one toy she bought me...sorry, no dice.  Food memories are the strongest for me.  Great catfish in Atlanta, crawfish etoufee, beignets and coffee in New Orleans (gator on a stick too), chimichangas at a place called The Ground Round that no longer exists in New York.  Now, we eat in mostly and I'm not perfect, I need to spend more time with my children, but I know that spending $800 on my family isn't going to change the need for time spent.  It will further damage my credit, though.

Speaking of gratefulness and contentment, I have not bought anymore yarn but have cast on a very simple nursing shawl.  It makes good use of the bamboo/cotton yarn I purchased on impulse from Ebay.

It's a bit further now.  I knit as much as I can when I can.  I pretty much take it with me anywhere.  I recently watched the Left Behind movie with Nicolas Cage and I couldn't stand it.  It was just so glamorized and I felt it detracted from the truth.  It almost seemed as though the Rapture was a bad thing and not one what we should strive to make.  But I've never finished the series of books because I had started reading them before they were all published and every time I started again, I felt I had to start at the beginning.  I just couldn't start at the beginning again.  I did find an audio series on Youtube, though.  It's great listening for knitting.  Check it out.  It was done for radio, so the storyline is basically the same but there is far more dialogue.  It is like those classic radio shows.  I am already into Assassins.  I am having the hardest time uploading them from Youtube, but you can check it out.  Just search Left Behind audiobook on Youtube and click the second series playlist.  That way, you can sit and listen and not have to get up to change the book. I am truly grateful for this because it has added a moment of peace and joy to my day.

I have much more to post, I have been busy.  However, this post is long enough.  Take some time monitor your complaining and remember that you are blessed whether you have much or little.  As long as you have God, you've got it all.

Why, Hello

My, it's been quite a long time.  I almost gave up. I spent almost four months exhausted (did I mention I'm pregnant?) and the rest of the time I had caught the knitting bug full-time and could not pull myself from the couch and my needles.  I apologize.  I follow other blogs like that as well.  One is a college student, I believe.  But I have been productive.  I completed one sock and got past the heel on another.  I knit a couple ear-warming headbands and started work on a shawl.  So, my minimizing of my stash seems to be coming along nicely.  Unfortunately, I keep finding balls of yarn...strange...

Anyhow, fall is such a lovely time of year.  Time to break out the cups of cocoa and copious amounts of hot tea. Time for thinking ahead to Christmas and trying to beat the Christmas knitting rush or knit like mad just to prepare for cold.  I admit that with all of the amazing character changes my walk with Christ has brought, being unselfish with my knitting has not been one of them.  I find that when I produce something for my children, they fail to care for it and it frustrates me.  So I knit for me, mainly.  Fall is also for photos like this:

This tree is such an amazing color.  I feel like it's on fire.  I had to capture this and of course, I'm still faithfully snapping my pics on my phone.  I would need to be consistent before I spent money on something else.  Something else Fall is for is for reading.  It's so chilly some days that snuggling on the couch with a blanket and a good book is unavoidable.  I recently finished this classic:

I loved it, but it made we want to read my Bible more, so I haven't picked up anything else.  I am now just diving into the world of powerful prayer and I have to thank Frank Peretti for the extra boost.  As for knitting, these are my nearly done socks:

Finishing is the hardest part for me.  Once the work is easy, I take it for granted and put it down.  I have to commit to a few rows a day and it will be done in no time.

Finally, Fall is for mellowing out.  Summer has wound down, the days have shortened and the weather has forced us back into our homes.  The school year is in full swing, the kids have their days scheduled and the household cleaning load has doubled.  These past few weeks have been about unwinding to some JJ Heller. She is such a lovely, Christian folk artist.  Her songs resonate and I find even the ones meant to help you through struggle to be uplifting.  I am thankful that I have Amazon Prime and that she has her songs on their prime music list.  I can play any of her albums, in any order I want without paying monthly.  Of course, I do have to pay annually, but it has other perks too, so I pay it faithfully.  I am always looking for new Christian music to listen to.  Music is such a big part of my life.  It was before Jesus met me on my path of self-destruction and turned me around, and it is now.  I try to avoid anything that doesn't glorify the things of God, so when I find something that soothes and uplifts, I run with it (not literally, I am no athlete).

Here's a song by JJ Heller that resonates with me. It is called "Control."  I'm sure long-time listeners will roll their eyes because it's not a new song, but I loved it when I heard it.  It's not the official video because I wanted you to enjoy the version that I listen to, which has less professional background sound.  I hope you enjoy and are as blessed by it as I am.