Friday, February 17, 2012

Who is God?

So many today love to say that God is Love!
The American people have misinterpreted that saying to mean that a God of love, must be a God of acceptance of all things! Now, that last prepositional phrase is most important. You see, God does accept you as you are, but not in order to keep you as you are. God accepts all people, but only as a living sacrifice to Him. This means that He accepts you sacrificially laying your life before Him and asking Him to mold you. God does not, I repeat does not, accept sin!
God loves you as a sinner! I'm so thankful that He does!
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8

However God is a HOLY God, and a righteous God! He will not accept sin! He does not call Christians to sin, He calls us to be HOLY!
"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;" -I Peter 1:15

God is a real God, He is a powerful righteous God, and He is a God who will judge this world!
If you don't believe me now, understand that one day you will believe, you will bow, and you will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord of all.
"I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." -Isaiah 45:23
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;" -Philippians 2:10

Where will you be when you bow? Will you be in heaven? Earth? Or...?
Will you accept God as He is? Will you offer yourself a sacrifice and submit to the call of holiness?

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Neither Death Nor Life

Through broken dreams
and untold pain,
I pursued you.
Through lost loves
and losses and gains,
I pursued you.
Through darkest nights,
and brightest days,
I pursued you.
Through thorny paths,
down many ways,
I pursued you.
There is no shelter
that can keep you from my love.
Near you I am,
though I seem far above.
I've given all
though far from me you drift.
But all I'd give again
to bestow this great gift.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:38-39

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Why My Husband and I are Made for Each Other!

When I was a little girl, I remember thinking that I could never get married, because if a man actually spent that much time with me he would discover how weird I actually am! And, of course, he would run for the hills! Of course, I didn't realize that if the Lord willed me to spend my life in matrimony that wouldn't be the case. And, in His infinite wisdom, the Lord sent to me a man that was much weirder than I am! Just to prove it, some evidence that we're a perfect match!
- We can talk for hours about white water rafting and chickens.
- He thinks it's funny when I correct his pronunciation of "documentary."
- I don't mind that he mispronounces "documentary."
- We both have a common, unnatural love for words like "vexed" and "superfluos."
- He accepts that I'm an Anglo-file and doesn't try to change that, in fact, he encourages it!
- When He's bored he does things like stands on his head!
- In our "We Recommend for You" category on Netflix there's always a some sort of Sci Fi.
Just some fun facts... :D

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Crock Pot Freezer Cooking

I've tried freezer cooking in the past, and I LOVE it! However, I'm a little bad at planning, and keeping track of what needed tomato sauce or cream of chicken soup. Then, I saw this pin on Pinterest for freezer crock pot cooking.
Totally recommending it! It was awesome. I guess to satisfy my level of laziness, you have to resort to crock pots AND freezer cooking! :D

Monday, February 13, 2012

Honey...It's for your face?

I love Honey! I love to eat it, that is...
However, you may have noticed, that I like to find other uses for normal household products! I really like using food on my skin. I do this because when something touches your skin it's absorbed into your system very quickly! I've heard countless times, never put something on your skin that you wouldn't eat. And, I don't make a practice of snacking on moisturizer, I don't know about you!
Well, recently I've been using honey for more than just my tea! I've been using it as my cleanser!
Honey is very moisturizing, but it also is an antibiotic. (You can use it like neosporan...no, I'm serious!) You see when honey mixes with oxygen or something like that it actually releases a hydrogen peroxide type thing. Anyway, to the point. I've never and I mean never found a cleanser that fully worked with my crazy combination skin. I have oily patches right next to dry patches. Take my nose for instance! I can point to like ten dry patches on my nose, but the other parts are oily. It just seems that no matter what I do, I break out or get dry patches. That is, until I started using honey as a cleanser about a week or two ago. I've noticed a marked improvement in my skin!
I don't know how well it would work for anyone, but it's working well for my combination skin, and if you have combination skin, I recommend giving it a try! :D
Happy washing!
Click here for more on HONEY!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Where His Will Leads...


I can't imagine that it's ever God's will for a sin to be committed. So, in a round-about sort of way, I feel that I could say that it's never His will for someone to be the victim of someone else. However, I know that He can send us down a path that will lead us to a person who has made the decision to follow evil instead of good. I don't believe that God wants us to be victimized or to suffer, but He chooses to allow us to endure the situations in which we are wronged by the sins of another, sins He doesn't will them to commit.
God does not fully keep us from pain and suffering because he is not a tyrant. He allows others around us freedom to choose, and with that freedom some choose to cause pain to others. (And, we do too.)
So, do you think that God's will can lead you into the alley where you'll meet the mugger? Or into the relationship that will end in unfaithfulness? Do you think that God's will can lead you into the path of another's sin?
I think of the apostles. Certainly they were serving the Lord and following His will. Yet, they were persecuted by those who chose to reject the Lord and almost all of them were martyred for it!
One of my favorite verses is:

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Sailor

The sailor wiped his spectacles yet one more time. It had been a difficult watch this evening the winter day was short and that left the tiny fishing boat in the dark more than the light. However, he was steadfast, and never parted from his post. He knew the dawn would be arriving soon, but it'd been hours since he'd seen the land. Perhaps he wouldn't see it again, yet, he never let his heart fail, his eyes were constantly searching. When the midst grew thick, his eyes searched, the horizon. When the dark seemed endless, his eyes searched the horizon. When sleep tugged at his eyelids and all he desired was to allow them to close and that he might enjoy rest at last, his eyes searched the horizon.
The sea was a relentless foe, constantly tossing him from his mark, constantly trying to deter his search, and yet, his eyes were fastened on the horizon!
The sailor's faithful heart held tightly to the hope of land. So much so that at times he believed he saw the familiar harbor and home. When the mirage faded, he still held his gaze to the horizon, searching and seeking. Seeking more than any sailor who had ever sailed the seas on such a darkened, soulless night!  He did all that he knew to do with no stars to guide him. He searched the horizon.
Finally, when his were more than weary, and his heart was laden with sorrow, he was rewarded. A glimmer on the horizon. A lighthouse.

""And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13

Monday, February 6, 2012

Eye Make Up Remover

I use a very cheap, all-natural eye-make up remover: Olive Oil!
I LOVE olive oil for more than just  cooking. It's great for your hair too. When I need a little shine, I'll rub just a little on my palms and lightly rub my hands down the "canopy" of my head!
I especially love olive oil for an eye make up remover because it works amazingly! I mean amazingly! Just a tiny drop on a cotton ball and one swipe over the eyelids and my eyes are free of make up!
I wouldn't recommend this if you have oily skin, naturally. But those who have normal/combination or dry skin this might be a nice, alternative to a store bought, chemical laden remover!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Favorite Hymns & Hymnists: Praise Him, Praise Him

It seems like all my very favorite hymns are written by the same lady, Fanny Crosby! (Read more about that here!)
I was thinking of the hymn: Praise Him, Praise Him!


Praise Him, praise Him—Jesus, our blessed Redeemer,
Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim.
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:
O ye saints that dwell on the mountain of Zion,
Praise Him, praise Him ever in joyful song.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

My New Cleaning Routine

If you know me, you know I'm a messy, cluttered pack rat! I could take you into my garage right now to the microscope my parents bought me when I was in Elementary school! And, I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "Like attracts like." That's right, there's two of us living in this household and we're raising to little messy minions as we go along our way!
I've struggled with this since I grew old enough to clean up after myself, yep since I was about eighteen months old!
I've tried different cleaning and organizing plans and methods to make my efforts more efficient, but until recently, I've come to no results.
My sister's house is always impeccable. Side-note: I blame her for my filthiness! She really should not have cleaned up after me all those years growing up...she's so selfish! Her methods involve deep cleaning one room each week. This is a great method, however, if your messy like me that room is disgusting again long before one week has rolled around!
I've realized that the only method that can work for me is to clean every room, every day! That's right I clean every room everyday!
Not every element of every room needs attention every time I enter it, but if I'm in the habit of cleaning each room every day...it works. I can honestly say that I've been keeping my house cleaner than I ever have!
I'll tell you what I do, and maybe, just maybe this method will work for a kindred soul out there in cyberspace!
It's closely based on the system I blogged about here! 

I think the most important concepts I've taken away is attacking clutter head on! Clutter is much like my 15 year old nephew if left alone too long will definitely take over the world!
Another is by maintaining the house everyday I keep it from needing the timely extensive cleaning!
I'm really excited about finding a method that works for me! It is even worked during Holidays!