Monday, February 27, 2012

What is a Girl to Do?

Statistically, young men and women are waiting longer to marry. The average age for a man to marry is 28, and the average age for a girl is 26. So what is a girl to do while she is single?

1. Do not sit around waiting. You typically complete your formal education between the ages of 18 and 22. Yahweh does not intend for us to sit around doing nothing for 8 or 10 years just wondering where our young man is. He intends for this to be a very productive preparation time in our lives. We are to learn how to serve our families, our congregations, and our community. This is also an excellent time to hone our homemaking skills such as sewing, cooking, cleaning, home decorating, handcrafts such as knitting and crochet, and so much more. This is also the time that we have the freedom to learn and study the Word of God. We can also have the freedom to go on mission trips, travel to see friends, etc.

2. Be a Sister. We are to be sisters in all purity to our brothers. Yes, one of those brothers will probably turn out to be our husband at some point; however, we do not know who that is! We need to treat each young man as another woman’s husband and our friend only. We can encourage them, listen to them, and serve them, but we do not need to chase them. Chasing guys will chase the good guys away leaving only the guys without good standards. Besides, you do not want to chase the guy and “win” them. That is the guy’s job!

3. Do Not Dwell on Young Men. No, it is not a sin to notice young men. That is totally normal for us as young ladies to notice young men especially when they are kind and willing to serve; however, we do not need to dwell on them. We especially should not be dwelling on certain young men and dreaming of what our life would be like if we were to marry them.

4. Yet Notice the Positive. Rather, we should take note of what makes us notice the young men that draw our attention. Is it because he willingly served His mom? That is a positive! Take note of what draws you to various young men and begin a list of qualities you are looking for in a future husband. Learn from your brothers.

5. And notice the Negative. Negatives are helpful. Notice what turns you off from a young man. Is he flirty? If he is, then realize he’ll flirt with all the girls even when you are married. I do not know about you, but that is a quality, I definitely do not want. So I will put that on my list as something I do not want. I’ll also look at the opposite which is faithfulness and put that on my list. I want a husband who is faithful to God first then me second only to God. Again, learn from your brothers.

6. Pray. Prayer is very crucial during this time in your life. Pray that Yahweh will develop you into the Godly young woman that He wants you to be, and pray for the same in your future husband. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from the book Praying for Your Future Husband which is on this exact topic allowing God through prayer to mold you and your future spouse. And do not hesitate to pray for him in specific ways as you feel led such as health, spiritual life, etc.

7. Be under authority. Another key part is to be under the authorities in your life. They are there for your protection. They have lived much longer than you and learned many things that you and I have both yet to learn, so they can provide guidance and insights that we often miss due to “lack of experience” in this area. They can also help prevent us from wearing “rose-colored glasses” resulting in a distorted view. So keep talking to your parents, listen to them, and be willing to submit to their guidance. It will save you much heartache.

In the end, Yahweh has a beautiful life story painted for each of us whether or not it includes a special young man. Keep living that and stay in His will.

Friday, February 24, 2012

My week...

I'm glad to be back to myself and rid of my cold. I've been able to get a lot done this week so far...working on my first ministry video to be put up on YouTube next week...cleaning off my computer in order for it to be sent off for repairs...maintaining Commandment Keepers...writing on my book...helping at home...family time...and so much more.

I've also really been enjoying being back into Scrapbooking. I've gotten my entire trip to Israel scrapbooked and journaled. That was 72 pages (times front and back making it a total of 144 sides) in two separate scrapbooks. Wow! But I'm so happy to have it done and really like how it turned out.

I also got all of our family's bakery recipes typed up, organized, and printed. They are all now in one notebook instead of scattered among various recipe cards and books to always have to be searched out. This will make our life much easier!

So now off to help make soup for lunch that will also be for Shabbat and other Shabbat preparations.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Stepping Stones in a Life of Faith

Well, my week has been going good so far...not quite what I was expecting..but exactly what YHVH had planned. I'm learning more and more to rely on Him and not my own plans. I want things to turn out a certain way, but I know He has my best in mind. Speaking of that, this poem in my e-mail this morning spoke so well to that topic, I would like to share it with you.

STEPPING STONES

The Lord came to me like a dream one day and asked, "why do you sorrow?"
I answered, "Lord my life is so full of pain, I can't face one more tomorrow."

The Lord sat down beside me, and gently took my hand.
He said, "Let Me explain to you, and then you'll understand.

Each sorrow is a stepping stone you must surmount each day,
And every stepping stone you climb is a sorrow that's passed away.

The road of life is a mountainside, with crevices in which to be caught,
But as you struggle on your way, I, the Rock, will lend support.

Every stepping stone you climb, makes spirit and heart grow strong.
Exercising character and faith, this road seems painful and long.

The way is paved with stepping stones, to uplift your heart and soul,
Though difficult, they aid your way, to a City paved with gold.

I know that you are tired, for I too have walked this way,
My sorrows did they multiply, but I cleared many stones away.

I left My Rock to lift you up, I left behind My story.
To give you strength to make your climb, to that special place in glory.

And never fear, the Rock is here, you'll never climb this mountain alone
Surmount life's sorrows, continue on, for they are but stepping stones.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own
understanding. In all ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6

-- Author Unknown

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Natural Remedies to Help a Cold...

Due to my having a cold this week, I thought I would share some of the natural remedies that my family has been using.

First, we start drinking honey vinegar 2 - 3 times a day. Put 1 Tbsp Organic Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar in a cup along with 1 Tbsp honey (preferably raw and local) in a coffee cup or mug. Add 1/2 cup hot water and stir. Drink. This helps to kill infection and build your body's natural immunity.

Then we have a colloidal silver maker which we use to make colloidal silver and keep on hand. I take 1 Tbsp of that 3 - 4 times a day.

I've also been drinking a packet of Emergen-C (1,000 mg of Vitamin C plus other vitamins and minerals) in a 1/2 cup of water 2 - 3 times a day.

My family blends a special blend of essential oils called Immune Booster Blend which we also sell on our family's webstore. I use a simple oil tart burner with a tea candle. Most people use these to burn scented tarts, but they also work great to burn essential oils. I put 4 or 5 drops of the Immune Booster Blend in the tart burner and allow it to burn for about 15 minutes. I sit close to it to be able to inhale it and get the full effects of the oils which are good germ killers.

I am also using a drop of Thieves Oil on my tongue as needed to help cut the sore throat as well as gargling with salt water (1/2 tsp salt dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water; gargle and do not swallow).

As a result of this, I feel that I've overall maintained better energy and health that I would have otherwise. I have not needed to go to the doctor when otherwise I would definately have gone. My sore throat on a scale of 1 - 5 was a 4 at the peak. Using natural remedies allows my body to know how to defend itself and does not destroy the good along with the bad as is typical on antibiotics. Try a few of these ideas yourself and see what you think. I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments. Have you tried any of this before? Do you try something?

Monday, February 13, 2012

Fun Adventures...

This past week was a good yet busy week. My parents and I went off on a night away for my mom's birthday. We went over to see the Newark Holy Stones which were found in an Indian Burial Mound in the Newark, Ohio area which I find very interesting considering the fact that it is very possible the lost ten tribes have integrated into some of the American Indians. These stones have a figure of Moses on them as well as the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew on them.


We enjoyed shopping in the Roscoe village shops as well. Then we returned home in time to see Gaga on Momma's birthday.

On Tuesday, I went home with Nicole, a girlfriend of mine, for a girl's night. We enjoyed going thrift store shopping. Then we ate supper at her home with her very sweet step-mother. Then us girls watched Emma based on the Jane Austin classic. I had never seen it, but I enjoyed it greatly.

Thursday I had my cleaning job for a homeschooling family that I enjoyed greatly. Friday, we got all ready for Shabbat and company as Aunt Daria and her grandkids came for the Shabbat. We enjoyed their company and watched Courageous together that night. Courageous is the newest movie by Sherwood Pictures who also made Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof. I greatly enjoyed their new movie and would highly recommend it.

Sunday, I began developing a sore throat, so I am home sick today...not fun...wish I could get rid of the sore throat! I have a slight cold to go with the sore throat, but the throat is always the worst part. Thankfully, my mom is filling me with Vitamin C, Colloidal Silver, Immune Booster Blend, and it is greatly helping.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Chasing Dust Bunnies

My Sunday and Monday were very busy productive days...probably a bit too much time spent working on the computer, but I did get a lot done. My To Do List has more done on it, than not done which is a good thing! I'm finding that having a daily morning routine helps me to be more productive...now to just get the rest of the day into a routine and that would be good.

Tuesday, I had one of my house cleaning jobs, and I don't know what happened...but the floors were covered in dust. It had only been two weeks, but I was chasing dust bunnies for hours! I'm still sore today from all my chasing as the "bunnies" literally bounced all over the floor. (And I mean literally as the balls of dust and crumbs bounced up and and down on the run as I pushed the vaccum close to them.) I busily ran errands that afternoon after finishing to make the most of my gas into town.

Wednesday was a good day of getting work done on our family recipe book which I hope to publish later this year as well as ministry work for my ministry and Commandment Keepers. We keep adding new authors to Commandment Keepers which is so exciting for me. Then I keep adding more pages to my book which my ministry will be publishing once I finish it. I did not realize how much work writing is until I started this book, but it is so worth it.

We had my grandfather out visiting with us today. He has Alzheimer's, so he sleeps a lot. But we enjoy having him here with us. We've made a banana pudding for him - his favorite desert - and it's cooling on the countertop right now. So I'm off to clean our house and prepare for Shabbat as our congregation will be gathering at our house this coming Shabbat. I can't wait. We're studying the Threshold Covenant, and it is a very interesting topic!