The Royal Baby?

ahhh....babies. I LOVE BABIES! Recently we had some disappointing news that the baby we were planning to give birth to in December was no longer developing and eventually my body got the message and our sweet little one is fulfilling the plan that God has for him/her in Heaven. SO with that said I've been a little sensitive to all this "Royal Baby" news. I mean goodness you'd think that baby was in line to be king someday! :) 
 Honestly though he is just a baby and while he may grow up to do some good things, possibly even great things for his country just how far can this child's influence really reach? Listening to all this news about the baby got  me to thinking about another Royal Baby.

This  Royal Baby while highly anticipated was not recognized. This Royal Baby was not born in the nicest hospital, in the most sterile and comfortable conditions available. No this royal baby did not get his picture taken or notice for leaving the hospital to go live in his palace. His name was not announced above the roof tops.

 This Royal Baby although he was born in an far away land, in a dirty stable, and only recognized by a few shepherds his impact goes far beyond the city gates of Bethlehem, beyond limits of Judeah, past Israel his influence reached every man, woman and child. The things he did and the life he lived altered the reality of mankind. No longer were we destined to suffer the punishment for sin we deserve HE suffered it for us. No longer did mankind have to rely on sacrifices and blood drawn to cover us, he was our sacrifice, his blood was drawn for us. Not only did he impact every life then but
To.
This.
 Day.
this ROYAL BABY has given us the gift of salvation. Was his name announced in every paper, magazine or gossip column? no but "There is no other name under heaven given among men where by we MUST BE SAVED."

The Royal Baby came to earth as a baby not because he wanted all the accolade and acknowledgement (although he deserves it and I long to sing  his praises) but he came to earth made himself human so that he can put aside his Royal robes and his rightful throne and die on the cross to save you. me. from OUR sins. Even though we didn't and don't deserve it his love for us goes far above what we deserve and his love for us saves us. In his power he defeated sin and came back to life and now is on his throne at the right hand of the Father. We might have missed it when he was born, we might have missed it when he lived his human life, we even missed it as he died on the cross in our place but lets not miss it now. Give praise, and glory, honor and worship to THE Royal Baby for the amazing and wonderful things he has done for us!

Philippians 2: 5-11

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Wait...Actively

“Wait” is a foreign word in today’s culture. I don’t think it is an American thing either. I have seen so many pictures of people in other countries (mainly teenagers, but I think that is because most moms are inside) on their cellphones… Have you seen that commercial where the person is traveling and they have their phone in front of them the whole time and the commercial seems to just accept that this is how we see the world. Don’t get me wrong…this post IS NOT about how mom’s shouldn’t be on the phone so much. Its more about how to wait…

wait.

for.

it.

I’m going to be real honest here I cannot stand in line without checking facebook on my phone. any lull in conversation I find myself glancing at my phone for some kind of distraction from having to wait without doing something. BUT as God would have it He decided this is something he would teach me a lesson about…wait.

He has brought to my attention this verse

Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord

Psalm 27:14

God asks us to wait and trust him. In our fast paced culture we find that hard. we want a solution to our problem right away we want to know what he plans to “do” as soon as we have sent the prayer heavenward. But God clearly tells us that sometimes he is going to ask us to wait. So does that mean I should just sit around on my hiney doing nothing cause I’m waiting for God to “do something”? No ! There is a such thing as ACTIVELY waiting. Waiting with action. You see obeying God’s command to wait and not doing anything would be disobeying so many other commands. such as:

Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation ~ Mark 16:15

Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.  ~ Matthew 9:38

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ~ Luke 10:27

So we are too, preach the gospel, pray for others to be sent to into the harvest fields, love our neighbors and love God. That’s a lot of work to do! Following these commandments we will be very busy as we “Wait on the Lord.”.

When you have something that is burdening your heart that you are praying for and you feel like God’s answer is to “wait..wait on me.” Do not be discouraged, pick yourself up and get active…actively wait.

 

 

 

DIY Fabric Softener

I LOVE being able to hang my clothes outside on a nice sunny day but I HATE it when they get all crunchy and stiff. This homemade fabric softener is amazing. I use it in my dryer or in a spray bottle and spray the clothes on the line and they dry nice and soft and fluffy. It can also be made to meet your families needs, dye free, gluten free, etc. I'm certain I got this recipe somewhere but I've been using it so long I don't remember where.

Equal parts:
Hair conditioner (this is where you can customize it. If you like dye free or gentle detergents pick a conditioner that meets that requirement. I've made this fabric softener for a friend that is gluten free so I made sure to use gluten free conditioner.)
Vinegar
VERY Hot water ( I don't boil it or anything I just use the hottest water that comes out of the tap.)

Put the conditioner in a mason jar till 1/3 full, add vinegar to another 1/3 of the jar and then fill the rest of the way with HOT water. Stir to combine. do not shake it will bubble and won't combine well.

What I do for using it in the dryer is take a microfiber wash cloth from the dollar store and soak it in the fabric softener solution and let it hang till its completely dry. I throw that cloth in the dryer with all my loads... I can tell when its losing its effectiveness and I resoak and dry it. I actually usually have two clothes that I can alternate so I don't have to sift through the dry clothes to find the washcloth for the next load I just throw the other one in there with it. For hang dry clothes just put the solution in a spray bottle and spray on your clothes after they are hanging on the line.

That's it! Hope you enjoy!!!

Loving..."these beasts that stalk the night"...

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:7-8)
 
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.(1 Peter 4:8)
 
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13)

My 4 year old is a very intense little boy and sometimes his emotions take over his ability to control his limbs and out of his selfishness he hits his brother...maybe he was in front of the TV or maybe he took a toy. Whatever the reason we are trying to help him understand how to better control his emotions.  That his brother is going to be his brother forever. His very best friend always.

 

I was thinking about this control we are trying to train him to have and how as we get older we claim to "have control" over our emotions because we don't always lash out with our fists to those that hurt us.  Do we really have CONTROL over our emotions?  Most people don't hit with fists (this would be unacceptable much like it is for our son.) but we have learned to "hit" with words, with bitterness, with neglect. Out of our selfishness we mistreat those that have mistreated us. Is this truly "controlling our emotions"? or are we just lashing out in a more acceptable manner. This is such a difficult lesson to learn. To control your emotions and treat others as brothers and sisters. We are teaching our little boy to "control his emotions," a lesson I am still learning to this day. Control doesn't just mean " I'm going to ignore that person that hurt me," it means loving that person anyway. So hard.

 

THANKFULLY we aren't expected to do it on our own. Have you ever considered that we don't deserve the love of Jesus? How many times have we said, or thought, or done something that hurts our Father in heaven? But he loves us anyway. NOT only does he love us but he loves us SO MUCH that not only does he want to save you from yourself he also wants to help you "control" your emotions. He gives you the power you need to love and to forgive. After all some of these people are your brothers (or sisters) and will be a part of your family forever and your very best friends...so whether you like it or not you have to love them. This poem sums it up. It was written by a childhood friend, Phillip Hennosy

 

These other people we live with, these beast that stalk the night.
Are we to love them? Though they give us pain, embarrassment and their spite?
The ones closest to us, who scratch and claw us right where we confide in them it hurts the most.
Then they cry "it was nothing silly fool" and begin to boast.
Are we to love them as commanded by God?
Even though they seem to

apathetically beat us down to sod.
Yes I think yes indeed... For like us aren't they also in need?
Have they not been scratched and clawed in their own?
To be a beast and hunt is all they’ve ever known.
Their wounds and scars hidden by their game.
Perhaps it is the only way they know to deal with the pain.
And weren't we not also once beasts ourselves all the same?
Rescued from the pain, the blood and the ashes.

Brought up, transformed, Dressed in beautiful linens and golden sashes.
Protected by our father who no creature can strike.
We are to tangle with these monsters and help bring them to the same light.
Now with our pain quickly to subside and our wounds swift to heal.
This is our duty now to help them. This is what is real.
We should see these predators not as our foe.
But as fellow beings, and God’s love are we to show.

~ Phillip Hennosy

Ignoring and being ignored.

Have you ever called a friend or family member only to have them not pick up? You know that phone conversation you've been looking forward to ALL DAY but they are too busy to pick up for you? You KNOW they are busy and that they will probably call you back but still there is a little pang at the sound of the voicemail. However there is a big heartache when days even weeks go by before they ever call back. You might start questioning yourself, are they ignoring me? Are they mad? Did they forget about me?

MAYBE the scenario can be turned around...have you ever gotten days even weeks before calling back a good friend that you love but don't make time for? We are ALL busy, we understand that sometimes life can get in the way. BUT oh, the joy when that phone call finally gets made, the conversation, the encouragement and love felt for and from each other, even affirmation and advice are often given during these conversations. Either way ignoring someone or being ignored isn't a good feeling.

Growing up we have been told that prayer and reading the Bible is our way of talking to our heavenly father. There is no better relationship than the one you can have with your dad whenever it is fostered and developed. Do you respond to  his call? Do you return his "voicemail" when something nudges you to pick up your Bible and listen to what he has to say or do you ignore him? for days? sometimes weeks?

The only difference between the previous scenario and what we are sometimes guilty of when we are not consistent with reading our Bibles and prayer is that we don't have to doubt his love for us. God our heavenly father ALWAYS wants a relationship with you and no matter how long we go ignoring him he will love you unconditionally and will always "pick up" when you call. He longs to give you comfort, joy, advice, peace and love...will you choose to call on him today and be consistent with developing a good communication system?

I will take the challenge. will you?

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you

Great and unsearchable things which

you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3