Psalm 69:30         I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I had a great time with our families. First we went to my husband's parents house and had a wonderful lunch and also got to spend time with my son and his girlfriend afterward we went to my sister's house and had dinner so we were all well fed. I also hope that during this time we all remembered to be truly thankful for all of the wonderful things God has blessed us with in our lives. I am very thankful for my family, friends (in person and online), and for this wonderful life God has chosen to bless me with. There was a time when I thought my dream of living on a farm would never come true but now it has. Praise God!!

I will post as often as I can but during this holiday season I am very busy and might not be able to post as often as I would like but I will try to still make weekly updates.

"LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Psalm 16:5-8


It is almost Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving, it is a time to remember all of the things we have to be thankful for and to share with family and friends. It and Christmas are my favorite times of year. I am trying to show my daughter that Christmas is a time for family and isnt all about what presents you are getting. We do buy presents for each other but I also do things with her like make the presents for family and friends.

It is unseasonably warm right now. Usually by now it is pretty cold out. Supposed to be near 60 all week so that is making it hard to stay in the holiday spirit but with God's help I am staying there. I am enjoying this year more then I have any year in the past since I have been grown. I usually stress about where we are going to get the money for all the presents but this year I am fully relying on God to provide like he always does. He has always been faithful I just have not always been trusting. Praising God that I am trusting him this year. It has also been raining alot so the goat pen is a mess. I slip and slide all over the place and they are pushy little buggers when you are carrying feed so there has been more then one time that I have almost wiped out. Thankful that so far I have not. I am hoping to have some baby bunnies around the 1st of December. Not sure if the does are pregnant or not. It is so hard to tell with rabbits. The chickens are still laying eggs but that is about all I find them good for right now. Chickens are not my favorite animal but I do appreciate the meat and eggs they provide for us.

Hope everyone who reads this has a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. God bless you all!

~April

giveaway on wise woman builds her home

A wise woman builds her home is giving away a great prize package right now. Just click this link to be directed to it. Goodluck all!   http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2011/11/special-homemakers-norwex-giveaway.html

cleaners

Proverbs 31
⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

First thing I want to say is please excuse the mess on the floor, I should have swept before I took the pic.  *blushes*

One of the things I do to try and have a healthier lifestyle for my family and I is to make my own cleaners. Above is a picture of my laundry detergent. In my opinion is works as well as the brand name detergent I used to buy but costs less. I also make all of my own household cleaners. I have a spray bottle that I fill half full of vinegar and then fill the rest of the way with water. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant so I use it instead of the chemical cleaners. If I need some scouring action then I just add some baking soda. To clean the toilet bowl I sprinkle the inside of it with baking soda and then spray with vinegar. I then use the bowl brush to clean it up and it is sparkling clean. Below is the recipe I use for my laundry detergent.

1 bar of fels naptha
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
3 gallons plus 4 cups of water
sometimes I also add some lavender EO

1. Grate the fels naptha with a cheese grater and slowly add to 4 cups boiling water.
2. Add the washing soda and borax to 3 gallons hot water.
3. After all the fels naptha is dissolved into the boiling water add it to the borax and washing soda mixture. Stir well. Put lid on and let sit for 24 hours.

I use a 5 gallon bucket I got from tractor supply. When mine is ready the detergent is like a gel and I just stir it up real good before I use it each time. I use about a cup to a cup and a half per load depending on how dirty the clothes are. I have also used this to mop floors and clean the bathtub.

Another thing I do instead of using the fabric softener from the store is to add a half cup vinegar to the rinse water. The vinegar smell is gone by the time the clothes are dry.

Thank you for reading my post and hope all have a blessed and God filled day.

~April

cleaning the microwave

Got this from a friend:

1. This is what I do: Put a coffee cup half full of water in the microwave and heat on high for about 4 minutes. Leave the cup of steaming water inside for about 10-15 minutes. The steam will soften any caked on crud.
2. Clean the microwave with soapy water to make sure all food particles are removed. If there is anything stuck on and difficult to remove, spray with a foam cleanser and let it sit for five minutes and then wipe clean.
3. Fill a medium sized bowl with water and pour in one cup of vinegar. Add several slices of lemon or squeeze lemon juice (about 1/8 cup) into the bowl.
4. With the microwave on high, allow the water to come to a full boil, about 4 minutes. Let the water stand for about 15 minutes before opening the door.
5. Repeat this once a month or once a week as needed. With a little care, your microwave should stay clean and sweet as long as you own it.

It is Monday!

^{Phillipians 4:6} Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


Well, it is Monday morning again. Time to start getting up early again. I usually sleep in an hour on weekends. Which is nice. Not only is it Monday morning it is also pouring rain. So far not a good start to the day. I prefer sunny days.  :) I do praise God though for all the rain he has been giving us because we usually still are having trouble with our well going dry this time of year but this year we got our water flowing and keeping the well full since the end of September which is definitely a Praise God!!

Yesterday I rested and it felt so good, the Lord sure knew what he was doing when he said on the seventh day to rest from your work. Everyone needs to rest and rejuvenate. I did trim the goat's hooves with my daughter. I should have done that on Saturday so that I would not have to do it Sunday but I was running around town with my mom on Saturday. I am working on not doing any work on Sunday's but it is a slow process and believe it or not it is difficult.

I will end with a story that the Pastor told us in church on Sunday.

There was this young lady who was going on a flight and for some reason her flight was not going to be leaving for awhile so she went to one of the shop's and got a magazine and a package of cookies. She took her cookies and magazine to the vip lounge and sat down at a table to enjoy them. There was this gentlemen sitting at the table who also was reading a magazine. She reached down and got a cookie and noticed that this gentleman also reached down and got a cookie. The young lady was furious but decided not to say anything but she was fuming on the inside. Well, time went on and she ate a cookie and then he ate a cookie and they got down to the last cookie and she thought to herself, "I just know he is going to take the last cookie". And he reached down took the last cookie, broke it in half and gave it to the lady. Well, she was fuming inside still but still did not say anything. Later, she got onto her plane and sat down and opened her purse to get her glasses out so she could read her magazine and when she looked down into her purse there was her package of cookies that she bought. Little did she know that whole time she was furious at that man for eating her cookies she was actually eating his!
Have a blessed day everyone and remember to share your cookies!

                                                                   April

Sunday

^{Psalm 118:24} This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Today is Sunday. A day to rest and worship. I do have a few things I will need to get done but for the most part I will be relaxing and worshiping God. I need to go get ready for church so I am wishing everyone a blessed day! God bless all my readers!


April

Fall

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,” Colossians 1:9 NIV

I love fall. It and spring are my 2 favorite seasons. I like fall because it is when things start to slow down after a busy summer. The leaves begin to change and fall from the trees, the weather begins to cool off after a very hot summer, we do not use air conditioning so this cooling off time is very much appreciated by me, and best of all it is breeding season for my goats. I love having baby goats in the spring and the only way to get them is to breed my goats in the fall. :) Turning the clocks back is nice also. I like having it get light earlier. My husband does not share my joy at this because he says that since it is hunting season it means he gets even less sleep but that is alright we do not have to feel the same about everything.  Isnt God amazing though with the way he takes care of us? Just as I feel I can not take one more blistering hot summer day, fall comes upon us. Every year I say I am not gonna complain about the heat or the cold but every year I find it a struggle not to complain.

Another great thing about fall is the holiday season. First is Thanksgiving, a day to remind us to be thankful for all we have. What are you thankful for today? Are you having a bad day or a good one? Remember to thank God always even during hardship. It is so easy to remember to be thankful during the good times when everything is going well but it can be hard to remember to be thankful during the hard times. When my daughter is struggling through something I like to remind her that this to shall pass. Another wonderful holiday we celebrate that is actually in the winter is Christmas. This is a special time to celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The world has materialized this holiday. Seems like most people are concerned more with presents then with celebrating the birth of Christ. So, please take time this holiday season to reflect on the true meaning of the holidays and share it with the ones you love celebrating all that the Lord has blessed you with. God bless everyone who is reading this.

April

Fear

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

What do you fear? Are you like me and are afraid of tornados and fire? Or is there something else you are afraid of? I find myself struggling alot with fear lately. When I am afraid I  find  myself going to 2 Timothy 1:7. I also like to meditate on Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  These are great verses to go to when you are afraid. Especially in these hard times with the way the world is going it is hard to not be afraid but fear not my sisters and brothers in Christ If God is with us then who will be against us?!

Idleness

 Passage Proverbs 31:27:
²⁷She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Sometimes I wonder how I am gonna get through my days with so much to do and then their are other days that I wonder how I am gonna find enough to do to stay busy. I believe that if I stay busy then I stay out of trouble. :)  So to help with this I make a list each night or either each morning of the things that need done the next day or that day depending on when I make the list. I also have a list of things that need to be done after my days work is over. I use the mornings to feed and milk the animals and to clean the trailer. Then after Doug gets up I start working on lunch. After Doug leaves for work in the afternoon I work on chores outside that need done. Then in the evenings I take that time to relax by sewing, crocheting, watching a little television or working on a gift I would like to give someone. I am not perfect and there are days that I just sit around and cant get motivated but most of the time this works for me. I love to stay busy and the Lord has given me the strength to work and the talents to make the things I do so I do not waste these gifts he has given me. In future posts I will share the different things I have made.  I hope everyone who might read this had a blessed and God filled day! God bless you all!

Introduction

Titus 2:3-5Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent
in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to
teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands
and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind,
and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Being a Godly woman, wife and mother in this world can be hard but it is important that we remember that what God expects of us is more important then what the world does. There is nothing wrong with looking, acting and feeling like a woman. God made me that way and I want to enjoy all that he has given me. I want to joyfully submit to my husband's authority and teach my children to grow up to be a Godly man and woman. I want to make my husband and children proud. Here are a few of the things I do to try to be the kind of woman God wants me to be.

Tending to my household: my husband is the ruler of my household but it is my job to make sure the home runs smoothly. It is my job to clean, cook and take care of the children even though our son is grown and moved out and my daughter is nearly grown. She still lives at home so it is my responsibility to teach her to be a Godly woman. One of the things we do is to have nightly devotions together. I am wanting to work more on ways to teach her and hopefully will be posting more on that later.

Cleaning: it is my job to make sure the trailer stays clean. I really need to start having my daughter help more. She is a bit spoiled and that really needs to change. I make my own laundry detergent and clean everything with vinegar and water. It saves us money and also is alot better on us health wise.

Cooking: meals are my responsibility also. I want to make everything homemade and not rely on premade or frozen meals. We raise our own animals for meat, milk and eggs and I also have a garden that I raise our vegetables in. My garden did not do so well this year but God willing it will be bountiful next year. I have a weakness for eating out and that is something I really want to work on. I want to stop going out to eat except on very special occasions. I think it is much healthier to make my own meals.

Finances: a Godly wife also should not spend more money then what they can afford. I see no problem with a wife getting an allowance and needing to use that for her special things she want to splurge on. *yes, that is a hint to my loving husband.*

Friends: it is important to me to have friends that share the same views as me. It is nice to have others to talk about who share my beliefs. The hardest thing for me right now is that I cannot find anyone that lives around me who shares the same beliefs I have about how a wife should be. It is also important to have friends who do not want to gossip. It seems that lots of women like to sit around and gossip even in the church.

Dress: I like to dress modestly. There are parts of me that only my husband should see. My husband likes for me to wear pants and shorts instead of skirts and dresses so I make sure that the shorts arent too short and I make sure that the shirts I wear with the pants do not reveal anything.

This is the end of my introduction, my posts from now on will be more about my day to day life and the feelings I have throughout my days. Thank you for reading and sharing with me. God bless you all!