Homemade Bread

I had a very fun weekend making homemade bread. It turned out great!! This will definitely become a staple in our house. It is so easy and great tasting.  My kids helped me make it too. It turned into a great learning tool for them.  They learned the importance of measuring and following directions. Plus it showed them how much love and work goes into making dinner. Being a little more frugal in our home saves money which is great! I love Pinterest and have created a board called frugal.  That is where I have pinned all frugal recipes and ideas. Follow me as I try to make small changes in our lifestyle to save!

I finally did it!!!

I finally did it!! I made a batch of homemade laundry detergent.  I am so proud! It was so easy I recommend you at least try it and see if you like it. I was kinda leery at first. Well, I am it and it smelled great!! Okay so I was still not convinced that it would clean good.  I immediately started a load and couldn't wait for the load to finish.  I opened the lid and was impressed. They looked great and smelled great! Now final test. The dryer! I waited for the dryer to finish and I loved the results! Now I am off to make some homemade fabric softener.  I will let you know how that turns out soon!!

A Godly Example

Terrific Thursday

Good morning!! I hope you are having a terrific Thursday! If not you should be because you are alive and breathing. God has blessed you with yet another beautiful day! As I was reading in Ephesians 4:29-32 "29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." It struck me that how many times a day do I offend or sadden the Holy Spirit? You know I don't think that I have ever really stopped to ponder on that but I did today. I am a saved child of God, bought with a price, and yet I don't stop to think what I just said could have made the Holy Spirit sad. Do our children make us sad with their words? Do siblings or friends? Or maybe the person in line at the grocery store? Yes! Yes! Yes! It happens on a daily basis. Yet when one of these offends us with our words we think on and go over the words time and time again. Trying to figure out why they would have said that. Well, we need to do the same when we speak a word of hurt, ugliness, hatred or anger because when we do we might think oh no one knows I said that or thought that. WRONG!!! The Spirit knows and it just saddened him! Even though the words may not escape out of our mouth it still is hurtful. God doesn't want us to speak or think things that are evil and mean. He only wants us to be filled with things that will spur us on spiritually. Let's not grieve the Holy Spirit! The key to this is prayer!! We can not change things on our own. In James 5:13-15 It says, " 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." We need to pray, pray, pray so our tongues speak praise!

Mandisa - Overcomer

Integrity

What is integrity? One definition of integrity is: “the quality or state of being of sound moral principle; uprightness, honesty, and sincerity” What does scripture say about integrity? Proverbs 2:20-21 So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it … Job 2:3 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” David was a man after God’s own heart. If you were to go back to when David was alive and interviewed the people. What do you think they would say about David? David was a man after God’s own heart because he listened to the calling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the pressing on our hearts to walk assuredly for God. When we are displaying integrity it is to be displayed in our every day life! Not just on Sunday’s or Wednesday’s. We have to walk out our faith everyday. We have to give up things of this world. We have to let go of our fleshly stuff and take up our cross. Sometimes we have to choose between friends and Christ. Are you living with integrity each and everyday? Or are you just playing the part? Pull off the mask and live for him! Psalm 7:8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. We will be judged for how we lived our life for Christ. If our lives were played out before the throne of God on a big screen would we be able to stand proudly or would we be hiding in shame? “Integrity is keeping a commitment even after circumstances have changed.” ~ David Jeremiah Do we display integrity in Christ Jesus? Who or what are we living for? It's not enough to just be a good person. Someone 2000 years ago took all our junk and sacrificed his life for it. It's not enough to be good but we need to have the saving power of Jesus Christ living in us! Goodness doesn't get us anywhere but Christ blood gets us more than enough!

What is your favorite Spring time activity?

My favorite Springtime activity is sitting on my back porch and listening to new life spring up. Seeing the grass grow greener and greener each day. I love Spring!! I love the warm days and the longer evenings. My favorite sounds are frogs croaking and birds chirping. Spring represents new life and rebirth. This is a great time of reflection on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. When he freely gave his life for us on the cross he took all the sins of this world upon his back. He bled and died to pay the payment for us. Then he was buried in a borrowed tomb. Lain to rest. While he was in the tomb he went to the deepest part of the earth to get the keys to death and he arose to bring us new life! This is why we are able to rejoice in the hope of our future. The hope of heaven. The hope of new life. The hope of Spring! 2 Corinthians 5:17 "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"