Malachi 3:3

I received this in an email...Just thought I'd share.

Malachi 3:3 says:

"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."


This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:
"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered,
"Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Cleaning Tips

Okay so who doesn't like a clean house? I can only relax when my house is nice and clean...not just picked up, but actually clean. When a house is clean, you not only see the difference, but you can smell the difference. When you walk into my home, I want it to look and smell nice!
Since we're a one income family, we're on a tight budget. I can't afford costly cleansers and all this fancy cleaning equipment. But no matter, the most effective cleaning supplies are also the most inexpensive!

Here's what I use:

A. Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- there are a million uses for this handy, CHEAP substance! Google it!

Uses for Baking Soda

My uses (aside from general cleaning)
Odor absorber-
1. Sprinkle it on carpet and furniture, then vacuum up.
2. Sprinkle in the garbage can.
3. Leave a small box open in the fridge and freezer.

B. Vinegar- another amazing, cheap product with millions of uses!

Uses for Vinegar

My uses:
1. General cleaning
2. In dishwasher as a rinsing agent
3. Keep my dog's ears clean

C. Lemon juice

My uses:
1. De-greaser
2. Deodorizer

D. Lysol All purpose 4 in 1 disinfectant spray

1. Disinfectant
2. Deodorizer

I use this mainly when I don't have any cleaning mixture made up...it's quick and easy and actually really cheap!

E. Windex
F. Murphy's Oil Soap- Even though you can make your own window cleaner and furniture polish, I've found Murphy's oil soap much cheaper than using olive oil (the main ingredient in homemade furniture polish) plus it smells nice and cleans and shines really well.

Now...to keep my home smelling nice, nothing beats the smell of clean! Here are some other ideas I use.

1. Burn soy candles and incense.
2. Fragrance satchels placed in drawers
3. Air fresheners

When I say I am a Christian...

When I Say "I Am A Christian"...

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I’m not shouting "I am saved"
I’m whispering "I get lost!"
"That is why I chose this way."

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble
and need someone to be my guide.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak
and pray for strength to carry on.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed
and cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I’m not claiming to be perfect,
my flaws are too visible
but God believes I’m worth it.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartaches
which is why I seek His name.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I do not wish to judge.
I have no authority.
I only know I’m loved.

-Author Carol Wimmer - Copyright 1988

What I Want For My Children...

Soooo. With Olivia just having turned 10 a few weeks ago, and Danielle beginning 1st grade recently, I've been feeling a bit sentimental. I miss the days of my girls being babies. I regret the fact that I was so busy...working, doing, seeing, whatever. I didn't pay the attention to them that I should have. I made some irresponsible decisions in my life and I can never take them back. Life is so full of distractions. What we don't realize, until it's too late, is that you never get these days back. Ever.
I'm thankful though, that I've realized this sooner rather than later. Sometimes I wish I could turn back the time, but since I know I can't...I just want to make the most of the time I have with them now. I want to be fully present and fully aware of my children. Their lives, their fears, their hopes, their tears, their joy, their everything.
That being said...what I hope for my children is this:

I want them to be honest. With others and most importantly, with themselves and with God.
I want them to dream and dream big.
I want them to have a solid foundation set in God's love.
I want God's discipline to be gentle on them.
I want them to never be afraid to try new things.
I want them to look in the mirror and to like what they see.
I want them to love, and love deeply.
I want them to care, and care deeply.
I want them to see this world through the eyes of Jesus.
I want them to long to help those who are in need.
I want them to set themselves apart and not conform to this world's standards.
I want them to know unconditional love.
I want them to see things as they truly are, and not as they would want them to be.
I want them to be able to give unconditional love.
I want them to never lose hope.
I want them to always have faith.
I want them to be generous.
I want them to work hard.
I want them to play harder.
I want them to be strong.
I want them to want what they've got.
I want them to know that God's love and faithfulness is unfailing and never ending.
I want them to know that they are the ones stopping them from achieving anything they want.
I want them to know...that at the end of the day, their Daddy and I love them more than life, would give our lives for them, and will always be here for them no matter what. I want them to know they can always come home.

Favorite Things- Pt. 2...

1. Tide Clean Breeze...Tide always works, no matter what the laundry stain and I love the smell of Clean Breeze. I wish they'd just bottle it up as a perfume! hahah

2. Zout...This is stain remover for laundry and it is awesome! It's never come across a stain it wouldn't remove! Including, but not limited too: blood, chocolate, juices, kool-aid, grease, grass, baby formula. (Can ya tell we're MESSY people???) You can also use it on a variety of fabrics.

3. Snuggle... Sweet Almond Essence- I absolutely LOVE this stuff but since it's not budget-friendly, I only use it with towels, blankets and sheets. Normally I make my own fabric softener using baking soda and vinegar (I forgot to add that to my previous post) and then use dryer sheets.

*Never use fabric softener on kids' clothes or bedding because it breaks down the flame resistance and can actually make it more flammable!*

4. Magic Eraser...I love these things! They really do clean just about anything. It's never let me down and even though they're a little pricey...it's worth it when the only other option would be to repaint, refinish, etc...or ya know, spend hours scrubbing. Yeah, I admit it, I'm drawn to convenience at times, lol. And you always pay for convenience!

5. Oreck... These vacuums are crazy expensive compared to most, so before the eyerolls come, let me explain... Dan's company offers a reward program for something or other and each quarter they get so many points. You spend those points on items in a catalog and as it happened there was an Oreck XL in there. Now since I am a vacuum-aholic, I begged Dan to let me spend every single point on this thing. I knew I'd never get one if I had to actually pay for it! Well...this thing works like a dream. I've had it for almost 2 years and it STILL works like it did when I first got it. The suction is awesome, it's incredibly light-weight. It has an extra long extension cord and you can buy the bags for it at Walmart! You should know we're extremely hard on vacuums...and I would go through about 2 a year. That's $200 a year. With the Oreck it comes with a free mini-canister vacuum with hose attachments (I adore this thing and use it daily) plus free tune-ups for so many years, depending on which model you buy, (for instance the new model The Oreck XL Platinum comes with a 10 yr. warranty and 10 free annual tune-ups) and also a several year warranty (also depending on which model you buy) so all that being said if you spend more than a $75/year on a vacuum, you end up SAVING money! These things are worth it.

6. Downey Ball...These are really cheap and if you have a Washer with no dispenser like mine, it's a must-have.

7. Sharpie...These are amazing inventions.

8. Baking Mats...My Mom introduced me to these and I love them. Just place it in the pan, spray lightly with cooking spray and there ya go. This saves things from sticking and keeps your pan from getting all icky. These are what I use: Wilton Easy-Flex Silicone Baking Mat



Well, I think that's it...I'm sure I'll think of more things and I'll continue to add to the list as I think of them.

Rough Day...

Welllll, today was rough. I barely slept the night before and had to be awake by 7am as usual. I also had a few errands to run, including the Dollar Tree (LOVE THAT PLACE!) and the Library (one of my absolute favorite places in the world) So really the day was a strong start, aside from being really sleepy...as the day wore on though, my exhaustion started showing and Olivia was being out of character, very demanding, very thoughtless...of course she's only 10, I know, and my patience was already on the thin side, so that, along with extended family issues (My so-called mother,the one that raised me, her husband, her daughter, the sister I was raised with, are all very...screwy. For lack of a better term and I don't mean to be offensive but believe me when I say this. It's true. Anyway, with all that going on, the evening came to a screeching halt when Dan said something very innocent and mundane that sent me into waves of tears. Poor Dan. Before he could even try to comprehend what he had said wrong, it all came spilling out. After that, he sent me to bed with lots of hugs and kisses and I awoke a couple hours later feeling much, much better. Of course it'll be hard to sleep tonight but that's okay as tomorrow is only a half day and I'll be able to rest up some. So anyway. The first "not wonderful very close to being awful" day of Homeschooling has come and passed and guess what?! We survived! YAY! And I'm still loving it.

Favorite Things...

These are some of my favorite things...

1. Sofa throws. I collect them. I LOVE them! So comfy and cozy.
2. Thunderstorms. Oddly enough, I find them comforting and peaceful.
3. Folgers Vanilla Biscotti. YUMMY stuff right there.
4. Cadbury Creme Eggs. Again. YUMMY!
5. Micro-plush blankets. These things are soooo warm and comfortable.
6. Sandals. If I HAVE to wear shoes, I prefer sandals.
7. Italian food. See why I have trouble losing weight??? HELLO!
8. Water. I love to swim. I love to watch the ocean. I love water period. Except DRINKING it. LOL
9. Bouquets of wildflowers.
10. White gold.
11. A fireplace. (NOT the artificial ones. The REAL ones!)
12. Fall. I love all the colors...and the breeze...and the mild weather...I just love fall period.
13. Soy candles. These things are AWESOME. They smell wonderful, fill the entire room and they burn cleanly. (No soot!) And wait...get this. They're good for your skin! You can actually pour the hot (actually only warm) wax onto your skin and it not only nourishes it but will NOT burn you! (I know this for fact.)
14. My grandma's biscuits and gravy. She makes them the best EVER! I practically grew up on them.
15. Pedicures. A rare treat for me but a treat nonetheless.