Gardening: Managing without a Garden....

Gardening
-plants a vineyard

It has been awhile since I have posted. This has mainly occurred because our family has had to attend a funeral for my husband's cousin last week. Sad occurance especially since he was not living a godly life before encountering the drowning accident. Although the event was sad, it was an opportunity to meet several members in the community where my husband grew up and be a light in the community.

We are back to a normal routine around here. Continuing with the Proverbs 31 series I would like to write about Gardening today. However, even though I will be writing about gardening, we are currently not gardening because we have moved away from our current garden patch and to raise a garden would be more time consuming and financially consuming than we are capable of managing at this time. I really love to garden and believe it should be an important part of every woman's life.....whether they are a Christian or not. In many cultures people cannot survive without raising a garden.

So how can a person live a simplistic life without a garden? For one, during the time of waiting for a garden patch it is important to cultivate your relationships. Secondly, you can seek to buy whole fresh foods whenever possible from a local market or store. I much prefer to cook and eat whole foods than foods which have been canned or processed. Without a garden it is difficult to "experiment" with new or unusual foods such as okra, various herbs and other oddities because our American diet does not usually consist of those types of items. However, by bringing those types of foods home, we are able to incorporate those foods into our diet. Typically, the cost for buying produce at the store far exceeds the cost of growing one's own food. However, if the location of your current home is not near a location where food can easily be grown or you are living in a location where the owners of the land do not want the property to be "disturbed" one must make do with what is available at the time. All in all, a garden can be grown on any property that is filled with soil......there is no need for such large lawns, it is only an American version of "perfection". The large green lawn vision heavily distorts people view of reality as far as knowing where food actually comes from.......it comes from the soil ;) And it takes a lot of work to grow it too.

Giving: Use caution in Giving

Continuing with the Proverb's 31 series I am going to write about Giving today.
Giving
-gives a protion of meat unto her maidens
-stretcheth out her hand to the poor and reacheth forth her hands to the needy

A few times during the year I go through our stuff and give some items to Good Will. I know that at times ungodly items end up infiltrated into our supply items. Mostly because outside family members have given the items to us. For example, I refuse to allow my son to have any vehicle representing a sports car because it will give him the appetite to purchase such an item later in his life. Also, we have had movies and video games that are unprofitable or damaging to our spiritual life and have either had to throw the movies and video games or sell them. Now considering giving......we must be cautious about what we give. In the recent past, I would give anything and everything that is ungodly to Goodwill/used goods store or sell the items. But we as Christians MUST be cautious about this. If we must remove this world of sin and the lusts of the flesh even in giving....we must make sure that we are giving godly items that are commonly needed in the community. If we come across and ungodly item in our supply, it is best to either purge it completely or transform it into something else if all remnant of the labeling and identification of the item can be removed.

As people who live in consumerist United States, as Christians we must use more caution in areas relating to support or giving of idols (1Co 10:19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?) I know we are all imperfect and not as cautious as we should be but here is a list of things to consider when giving:
1. Does the item you are giving have a label (Nike, Sports Team, Popular movie or book title etc.)
2. Does the item support an ungodly holiday (Christmas, Halloween, Valentines Day etc.)
3. Does the item promote in-fashion lifestyle (string camisoles, short shorts, woman's manly clothing)
4. Does the item support living an ungodly lifestyle (television viewing, woman's work suits, specialized sports clothing, inappropriate swimsuits)

So what items are good to give
1. Baby items...many woman married and single need the basic items for baby.
2. Sweaters, sweatshirts, coats, hats and warm clothing
3. Household items for cooking and cleaning and repair
4. Socks, underwear and modest underclothing
5. Men's work clothing.
6. Long woman's/girls dresses and skirts
7. Educational/How-To books that do not portray support of evolution, big bang theory, ungodly religions/holidays etc.
8. Godly Christian books by good Christian authors......often those that are not "popular" are the best.

All in all remember the following verse:
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
(Luk 6:38)

God will give us good Godly items if we give good Godly items to others ;)

Food: Homemade Noodles

Continuing with the Proverbs 31 Categories, I am going to write about the food category.

Food
-giveth meat unto her household

One of my favorite dishes to make is chicken noodle soup. On the days that I make Chicken Noodle, I often make my own homemade noodles. It is so simple, even a child can help with the process.

There can be several variations to this recipe as well as many different ways to complete the steps.

First of all the basic ingredients include the following:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Egg
1 Eggshell full of water = 1 tablespoon full of water

Mix the batter until firm but not too sticky or dry, adding water or flour as needed.

Let the dough set for about 5 minutes and then roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick.

Cut the noodles into thin strips 1/4 inch or less if possible. Let the noodles set for about 30 minutes to dry and then add to boiling water. It takes about 10 minutes or so for the noodles to cook.

You may add the noodles to any chicken noodle recipe that you enjoy.

Blessings.

Time Management: Early Rising

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
(Psa 139:9-10)

Continuing with the Proverbs 31 series, I would like to write about time management today.

Time Management
-riseth while it is yet night
-her candle goeth not out by night
-looketh well to the ways of her household
-eateth not the bread of idleness

To begin, I will speak about sleep! Yes Sleep! As a mother, worries and anxieties can creep in from all directions. These worries may keep us up at night and cause us to fret about things that are not worth our worries. However, we are not to dwell on those worries but give them over to the Lord and he will guide us. Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked (Pro 24:19)


Right now my husband is scheduled to work at a job that requires him to work until 11:00 or so at night. This means late nights for the whole family as well..... However, this does not mean that we are to loosen our biblical standards and change our sleeping schedules to fit around his work needs. Rather it is best to "face" the morning with the Lord, because the morning is the time when we are best able to meet in solace and silence without the business of everyday life.

In this verse it is said that we can sing of thy power in the morning ;) But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. (Psa 59:16)

We learn that our best guidance and defense from our enemies comes in the morning. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. (Psa 143:8-9)

We get knowledge of the learned by waking early in the morning. The learned, who quite possibly are spent on late-nights studying in a college dorm, are amazed by the unlearned who wake early in the morning and praise the Lord for his goodness ;) The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
(Isa 50:4-5)

Christ commonly woke early in the morning apart from others to find a solitary place to pray. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
(Mar 1:35)


If you have not done so already, make early rising a part of your schedule. I would eventually like to wake at 4:30 in the morning and go to bed without disruption at 9:00 or so....but for now my wake time is at 7:00 and it works well for me.

Crafting/Household Supply: Crocheting Dishcloths

Today's theme in the Proverbs 31 series is about crafting and household supply.



Crafting/Household supply -works willingly with her hands -layeth her hands to the spindle/distaff -she maketh fine linen


In the past, women used to make everything they needed for their home. They would create much needed items such as dishcloths, table cloths, pillow cases, pillows, curtains, baskets for various uses and other common household items. Recently I gave a gift to my cousin who will be getting married. I did not use a pattern but simply crocheted 14 rows of double crochet/single crochet into the size of a regular dishcloth.

If you have never crocheted before you may learn how to crochet here.

More guidelines about crochet can be found here.

A great project for those who are learning how to crochet is making a few dishcloths. You may find free patterns here.

If you are lucky you may find the yarn needed and crochet hooks at a local used goods store. A bundle of yarn may only be 0.50 $ and a crochet hook may only be 0.50 $ as well. With this in mind it is possible to make nearly 10 dishcloths for less than a couple dollars. A fun project and a great way to save money when buying commonly battered and replaceable household items.

Happy Crocheting :)

Selling: Introduction to Etsy

Continuing on with the Proverbs 31 series today's theme is about selling. Although I am not in favor of a woman working outside of the home under the authority of a man or woman besides her husband, I am in favor of allowing her to pursue small amounts of income via. a small business or other pursuit that does not take away great amounts of time from her being a wife and mother in her household as these are of greater importance than pursuing financial matters.


Selling
-she sells fine linen
-delivers girdles unto the merchants (item that alters the body appearance under clothing)

At the current time, I am not selling or making small amounts of income in any way as we are currently settled at my husband's grandparent's home for another three weeks. However, I do have plans of building a small etsy business or other online business as soon as we have our own space and are more settled. Etsy is a great place to sell items for homestead crafters and artists because the item is listed for practically nothing and compensation and billing only comes after items are sold. You may sell anything from homemade soap to homemade jam and aprons to a ball of yarn made from your own homegrown wool.......Setting up a small store is free!

Here are the getting started rules:

Get started!

Sign up for free. To start selling on Etsy, you’ll first need to register for an Etsy account. To become a seller, you’ll need a credit card for verification purposes.

List your items. It costs 20 cents to list an item for four months. When your item sells, you’ll pay a 3.5% transaction fee. Read all about Etsy's fees for more information. Etsy makes it easy to pay your bill each month with a single click.

Have fun selling wonderful items!

Shopping: Knitting and Crocheting Supply

Category for the day:

Shopping
-seeks wool and flax
-is like the merchants ships and brings her food from afar
-considers a field and buys it
-percieveth that her merchandise is good

I love to knit and crochet. Occasionally I find it difficult to find good deals on supplies for knitting and crocheting because supplies can actually be more expensive than buying a sweater off the racks at Good-Will and other such stores. A couple years ago I found a knitting machine at our local Good-Will store for four dollars!! I believe I found the machine for such a great deal because I had recently given some supply to Good-Will and by giving, I received back what I had given ;) It is definitely a blessing to give.

Thus far I have made a pair of "long-john" pants for myself to wear under my skirts in the winter, a sweater for baby a dishrag here or there and other simple items. My toddler loves to tinker with yarn and anything mechanical, so I haven't been able to use the sweater machine very much lately. I hope to use the machine more often in the future ;)