Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

I love my in-laws. Over the years they have learned that we don't break the Sabbath Days by attending big family parties on Sundays. We live in Florida, so do they, and most family parties consists of swimming activities for the kids. They were pretty bothered when we went to a family party on a Sunday and our kids were not allowed to swim, so they started changing parties to Saturday for the kids sake.

Many people think that this is extreme but we wanted to teach our children that God came first and if He said to keep the Sabbath Day holy, then we do it. We told them that family time is a good thing on the Sabbath but we have to restrain from activities that keep us from focusing on God and His work.

So for many years we have been able to attend activities and do fun things because they moved them to Saturday for us, (I do love them). However, my sister-in-law has scheduled her wedding for December 30, a Sunday, not sure why, but it is her wedding choice. So how do we attend this and not feel like we are breaking the Sabbath?

Being with family and celebrating this joyous occasion is good but one thing we do in not breaking the Sabbath is to not shop, or make anyone do any work for our benefit, unless its an emergency then we have no choice. So if we go to this wedding we will be making the servers and staff work. We can't not go, she spent a lot of time with us as a child, she's like one of my own children.

I imagine that God does understand these things, at least I hope he does, but how should I get past the feelings of disobedience to this commandment.

I talked with my daughter, asking her these questions. Her answer is one I feel is helpful, (when did she become so wise?). God knows your heart and desire to be obedient but sometimes there are situations that dictate the opposite view. She used the example of having to go to the store for medicine because there is a need and you ran out of your supply. You don't want to do it but it is a necessary evil, so to speak?


I feel better about that, it makes sense. God knows me and he knows my desire to serve Him. If these things occur I believe he would expect me to attend and be with family at this time. I hope this doesn't appear as if I am justifying breaking the Sabbath. I work very hard to be sure we honor it in our household but there are times that are out of our control and we have to do the best that we can. I think we just have to spend the rest of the day doing God's work. Besides, there is nothing wrong with sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the reception, right?

Being Prepared Means less Fear

Hello,

Today, I plan to talk about the importance of Emergency Preparedness. I want to share my story about being prepared.

I grew up in Florida, and you know that means hurricanes but we hardly ever see them on the west coast. After I grew up and started having my family I realized I had more than just me to worry about so I started attending hurricane preparedness seminars. Every year I would go and every year I learned new stuff. We had only had one hurricane once that just sat in the gulf, Hurricane Elena, but eventually it moved off only leaving us with some beach erosion.

One year, my mothers aunt became ill so I took my kids and went to Miami to help her out for  a while. I never liked putting the radio on in the car because it was always a good time to talk with my family. But one day as we were going to the library my daughter begged me to turn it on, good thing we did because we heard the news saying that Hurricane Andrew was heading for Miami.

What a scare, we only had a day and a half to get ready for landfall. So we rushed home and started prepping the yard and house for the storm. All those years of preparation seminars helped me to be better prepared for this major storm. After the electricity went out we headed to a hallway in the middle of the house and waited out the storm. Early the next morning after daylight appeared we went out to assess the damage.

We had a couple of trees down, one against the house but no real damage, and one across the driveway. We still had no power then we saw why, a tree from the neighbors yard had fallen over the power line from the street to the house. But we were all in good shape other than that. The bad part of it was the electric company couldn't fix lines to the house until they had power up on all the streets. So we lived several weeks without power.

Lucky for us my aunt had a gas stove so we could still cook without a problem but the well was on an electric pump, so we had to go borrow water every day from friends, once we were able to get out of the driveway. I think because of all those seminars we were better prepared for the storm. We always have to be prepared anywhere we live and not just because of  Mother Nature.

I have learned that emergencies happen when you lose a job, or a loved one, or the economy gets tight, there are just so many different scenarios. But the key is to be prepared no matter what. All those things need the basics which include cash, food/water and shelter. If those needs are met then it is easier to think through your situation and get down to business of picking up the pieces.

The funny thing is after 8 years of living out west with no real emergencies, we moved back to Florida to be closer to family in 2004. Yeah, that was the year 4 big hurricanes hit Florida. welcome back, right?

Anyway, over the next few months we will be discussing how to make emergency preparedness plans. Until then stay safe.

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all of you this beautiful day. Yesterday my family and I spent the day creating fun traditions since things have changed in our lives over the past few years. We did a lot of fun stuff but the stuff that meant the most was just spending time together.

One thing we did was paint wooden boxes as a gift to our Savior, then we put inside a promise of a gift of something we would work on in 2013 to perfect ourselves. It was a promise to Jesus that we would become better in something we thought would please him. It was very special as we talked about the things we could offer Him. So every year we will go back and see if we accomplished that promise and then create a new one. I loved that idea, can't remember where I read about it but it doesn't matter, its now a tradition for us; to show our gratitude to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Today is supposed to be my post for Emergency Preparedness, I will post that on Thursday instead. Have a great day! And don't forget to praise God for his ultimate sacrifice, His Only Begotten Son.

Merry Christmas My Friends

This morning as I was driving to church I noticed a clash of jewelry. I wanted to wear my silver "mom" necklace that had my children's birthstones in it but I put on a sweater, (yes, it was cold this morning in central Florida), that had a gold pin of the manager scene. When I realized the clash of silver and gold, (by the way who said we can't wear the two together?), anyway, I took the pin off my sweater because I wanted to wear my mom necklace today. As I was putting the pin in the tray in my car a thought came to my mind, "was I putting Jesus after my family"?

The scriptures tell us that we should put Him first before everything, including our family. Some people have a hard time with that. I know at one point in my life I did. How can I put my family behind God. God could take care of himself, my family needed me, so I had a hard time with that thought; God first, then spouse, then children, extended family, church, etc. in that order. I had thought the same about my husband, he could take care of himself but my children needed me to take care of them.

As I studied this out in my mind and read the scriptures I learned that if we put God first then all other blessings would follow. When I began to think of God first I could see the blessings in my family, in myself, in the way I did my callings and my work. I could see a change in me because I was doing it right. I felt the peace in knowing that God was pleased that I would put him first in all things. It wasn't always easy to do but I knew everything would turn out alright if I just followed that principle.

An example: I really didn't want my husband to be gone long hours leaving me to care for my young children alone. But once I let that go, knowing he was doing God's work, or providing for his family, then I saw great blessings between us. I started showing him how much I appreciated his commitment to God and his responsibility to our family. He in turn showed me the love that I needed and made sure I got some "me" time, as well as "me and him" time.

 I got out of the car this morning and took a few steps toward the door of the church, I stopped then turned back to my car and grabbed my gold manger pin. I placed it back on my sweater and never thought anything of the clash of silver and gold the rest of the day. Even though the difference of color in jewelry is small thing it reminded me of my promise to God that I would always try to put him first in my life. I renewed that commitment today as a gift to my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and ask that you too will give the gift to our Savior that you will always put Him first. May God watch over you this holiday season and bring great blessing this next new year.

Last Minute Gift Ideas

It's crunch time and you still have a few items left to buy. How about some easy to make ideas?

Here are a few websites that have some fun stuff to make for that person you never know what to buy them or a neighbor or even a co-worker. Have fun and see how creative you can be!

Malted Carmel Hot Cocoa

Cookies in a Jar

Easy Gifts Under $2

Cookies, Candy and Holiday Plates

Check out my Pinterest to see more ideas.

Recipes using Honey

There is no use saving food that you will never use so this week I want to give you a recipe that uses honey and other food storage items in it. I hope it will be a good one for you, also, I gave you links to several recipes using honey and you can find lots more recipes and uses for honey on the Internet.

Two-hour Whole Wheat Bread = 4 loaves
5 cups of warm water                              1/3 cup of potato flakes
2 Tbsp yeast                                             6 cups of whole wheat flour
1/3 cup of honey                                      1Tbsp of salt
1/3 cup of oil                                            4-5 cups of unbleached flour
2 eggs

Dissolve yeast as per package instructions. Make a sponge dough using all ingredients down to and including the salt. Use bread mixer or hand-held electric beaters. Let rise about 10 minutes. Add remaining flour gradually as needed to make a soft dough. Knead on floured board and cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double. Punch down; shape into 4 loaves; place in greased bread pans. Cover and let rise again until double.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Put hot bread on a towel to cool for soft crust.

All the items listed in the recipe above are items that can be stored in food storage. I have listed several good recipe websites. I hope you start having lots of fun with honey.

http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-recipes.html

http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/side/vegetable/honey-glazed-vegetables.html

http://www.yummly.com/recipes/orange-honey-glazed-vegetables

http://www.honeyhillfarm.com/trivia.htm

Forgiveness is a Hard Thing to do

Everyone of us has had the need for forgiveness in our lives whether we were the forgiver or the one needing to be forgiven. Some offenses are extreme and seem justified in not forgiving, while others are minor and easy to forgive, but do we?

One time, many years ago, I had a friend that I really liked. I learned a lot of things from her. She did something one day that made me upset so I went to someone else to complain, she overheard me saying something about it but I did not see her standing there. She was mad when I called her the next time and I begged her to tell me why. Finally, after several calls, she told me why. I was so upset with myself for offending her. She was my friend and you don't treat friends like that.

I begged her to forgive me but she couldn't at that time. It took awhile for her to get past my selfish act, it really was a petty thing for me to ruin a friendship over. I should have come to her to complain instead of someone else. The change in our friendship was my fault, I still ache over my stupidity. She has forgiven me but I'm not sure I have forgiven me; I am working on it.

This wasn't a small matter but it was something that wasn't as big as things that can't be given back, like life. How do we forgive someone when life is taken from us? Why does God require us to forgive all things?

Over the years I have discovered that I have two choices, I could live with an unforgiving heart and keep the pain forever, or I could forgive and be free from the pain. It's hard to explain the release you feel when you have truly forgiven someone of a terrible injustice. I haven't lost someone to murder but I have lost a child to something that was supposed to protect her, an immunization shot. Who do I blame for this? It took a while to get over, I even got made at God but I was given the peace in my life once I started the forgiveness process.

I believe we are commanded to forgive everyone because it helps us to be free from the chains of sorrow that hold us down and never let us move on in our lives. Having an unforgiving heart is like an illness that slowly kills you. There is a cure for it but sometimes it takes a long time to heal. But we have to have a positive state of mind in order to heal. 

We have the control over whether or not we forgive or don't, but it is a release from grief that helps us to heal. So God, in his wisdom, has told us to forgive knowing that we can begin that healing process. It has to come from us, no one else can do it for us.

It's not easy but deciding to heal is the only way we can find forgiveness and move on. We will not forget what things are done to us or someone we love, once things are said they will always be there and that is probably why I can't forget easily the wrong I did to my friend. But I do feel good about conquering the negative feelings of hate and anger that Satan plants in our hearts from wrong doings, I have the control for things in my heart, not him. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who commands us to do things that seem hard but in reality is for our good.

May this Nation heal from the wrong doings that are done against us and those we love, everyday. May there be peace in our hearts so we can offer that peace in the world.

Magnet Boards

Every year I make gifts for the ladies I work with at Coca-Cola. Last year I took a small glass plate and fabric with Coke written all over it. I used Mod Podge to put it together and then added a stand for the plate to sit on, they loved it.

This year I am making them magnet boards. So here is what I did:

1) I took a plain stove cover (found at Walmart, can find them cheaper at the Flea Market).

2) I painted the whole top with Mod Podge.

3) I placed the pre-cut material on the stove cover and smoothed it out.

4) Then I put Mod Podge on the sides and smoothed down the material on top of that. I had to use Mod Podge to seal the corners nice and even.

5) After everything was glued on I applied Mod Podge to the top of the material to make it a little firmer. The glue dries so don't worry about the way it looks, just apply a thin coat. After it dries trim the edges.

6) Then you are done. Here is my finished product. I made my family drink Coke from the bottles so I could use the bottle caps for magnets. I found small round magnets at Michael's Craft Store and stuck them to the back of the bottle caps then stuck it to the magnet board.

I think they will like it,what do you think.  I like it but I didn't make one for me, just them, as I always do.

Here are some more fun ideas to do with Mod Podge. Just copy and paste the link to the Internet and it should take you the web page. Enjoy!!!

http://modpodgerocksblog.com/2012/11/30-mod-podge-christmas-crafts.html

Let's Get Started

Looks like I had a few more views so maybe it's working, I think I will keep these posts going after all, lol.

This week is the challenge week, my goal...to challenge you to start buying your food storage suggesting certain items. You don't have to buy what I suggest it's only to help you get started or get you thinking about other things you want to store.

If you have been watching all the struggles going on around the world, and even in our country, I'm sure you are starting to get a little nervous about what is coming our way. We have a bad economy that looks like it could get worse, natural disasters, stronger outbreaks of virus's and illnesses, etc.

Well, the scriptures tells us if we are prepared, we don't need to fear. So that is one reason why I felt like I could be helpful to those who want to be prepared, by creating this weekly post on food storage and preparedness. I do hope you can benefit from it.

I would like to challenge you to work on 3 different areas, if you can. If you can't, just work on what you can. If I suggest a 3 month supply but you can only do 1 month or even 1 week, then do that. The point is just get started and get what you can. Anything is better than nothing or depending on someone else for help.

Sometimes I get great ideas and charge into things without a plan, then I get frustrated when things don't work out. If you are like me, then a step by step plan can be very helpful. So let's take this one week at a time and see what happens.

This month, the 3 items I would like to challenge you to work on are:

1) Honey - 1 supply (basic staple)
2) Toothpaste - 6 month supply (basic non-staple)
3) Pork n Beans or Baked Beans - 1 case (tasty food)

tips for honey storage:
http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodstorage/a/honeystorage.htm

Did you know there are different kinds of honey?

http://honeyo.com/types.shtml

Cost of honey varies per dealer and variety, I get mine from the flea market. I spent $22 on 6 lbs of Wildflower Honey. That will probably be a 2-4  month supply depending on how much you use. I learned a couple of things about honey; it is 64 calories per tablespoon but when a recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar you will use 1/2 cup of honey. So you can plan how much will last you according to what you would use as a family, test it. I also learned that Wildflower honey is good for allergies. If you get annual allergies, like I do, a teaspoon can help build up resistance to what's in the air. Not use if that's true but I'm willing to try the natural over the man made, test it out.

Toothpaste is inexpensive, and we want to be sure we are still being clean and healthy during trying times, so we have to think about these things, too. Watch for sales or buy 1 get 1's then store up on as many as you can afford depending on how much your family uses a month. For my family, we use a medium tube a month and the price is around the $2 area, so to get a 6 month supply will only be $12. For me that is easy to do depending on whatever else I need to get.

Pork n Beans is something that can be stored that has flavor so I thought that might be a good direction but from what I can see it only has a 2-3 year shelf life. My thought is the tasty stuff will have shorter shelf lives, sad huh? You can shop around for those, watch for sales, and look online for food storage company options.I checked out the prices at Walmart. I found a large can of their brand beans for $1.48, comes in a case of 12 cans so I would spend around $18 for a case.

So for around $50 I have started my food storage with several items. I think that will be my budget for the month, $50. But you do what you can so can feel prepared.

I think that's it for this week, let me know how it works for you or some suggestions of good deals and tips that can be helpful to all of us. Next week will be some recipes using honey and other food storage basic items.

I Want to Live in the City of Enoch

I have been studying the Pearl of Great Price, if you are Mormon, this is scripture to you but if you are not then I want to explain that this is part of our scriptures. In the Pearl of Great Price are hidden treasures that we have been blessed with in the latter days.

I have been really taking my time and trying to learn from these books. Recently, I began studying about the City of Enoch and what they did that got them translated. There are a number of things they did but the general idea is they lived in a place where everyone worked together and shared in the blessings of that work.

I have thought a lot about it and seeing what I could do to make changes in my life so I could become more like them. Then something happened that showed me that I was on the right path. I went to pick up pizza for a family I knew who were moving out of state but were stuck for a couple of days with everything packed and no way to cook.

There was a man standing outside the pizza store and he asked if I could spare a slice of pizza. I told him the pizza was for someone else, he quietly said ok. I went inside and got the pizza for this family, then I thought I could buy him his own pizza but without transportation it might be awkward carrying the box so I bought him some bread instead. He was very grateful for that and left. My children were in the car waiting for me, they are teenagers, and I explained to them what happened and about the City of Enoch. As I looked at the man walking away, the hymn "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief " came to mind, and I cried. I felt the Spirit witness to me that I did as the Savior would have me do.

I was on the right track. I felt the need to tell my children if I ever came up missing and I was never found not to worry cause I could have been translated. LOL! Well, I don't ever expect that to happen but I know that I can work for that kind of perfection in my life anyway.

I have been praying for a while that I would be able to see people through the eyes of Christ but I have just realized that I really need to be looking at people as I do my Savior. Then, I would be more willing to do for those who are lowly and lost, those who are in need of His love. We are the answers to people prayers through inspiration from above. So as I see it, we need to act upon that inspiration and help all people at every opportunity.

I am so grateful to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and I have been so blessed my whole life. Now it is my turn to share those blessings, that were so freely given to me, with others. I just have to open my eyes and heart and see my Savior in every soul. I can do that, may be a little harder to do when people offend me or mine but I can work on that.

My Christmas Wreath

OK, so I made my new wreath for Christmas. I have always loved crafts but raising 4 kids has made it hard to find the time to do the things I love, not saying I didn't love raising my kids cause I did and still do. But finding a few minutes for me to do something that I like to do was near impossible.

My passions are reading, crafts and genealogy (family is a given). Once my kids are all living their own lives, with their own families, then I can spend my days attending to my passions, maybe.

Anyway, here is a snap shot of my new wreath. How do you like it?

If you like it, I have included the "how-to" so you can give it a try. It's inexpensive, I spent less than $10, and it could even be a gift for someone if you want to share. I hope you have as much fun as I did in making this cute and easy craft.

1 Styrofoam wreath (I used the green one and ended up with a lot of green stuff all over me, but it does wipe off)
1 skein of red yarn
1 skein of green yarn
1 skein of white yarn
1 flower of choice
3 jingle bells

I marked the wreath in two halves. I estimated and marked 3 -1/3 sections on the top half and started wrapping which ever color I wanted to start with, I started with white. Because the inside is smaller than the outside I had to space the yarn, wrapping it around until I came to the end of the 1/3 mark then I back tracked filling in the gaps by laying the yarn side by side. I have to admit it took me about 4 tries before I figured out how to get it started (could be why I had all the green stuff on me, lol).

After I finished that color, I went on to the next, and then the next, then repeated on the bottom half in the same color pattern. After I finish a color I tied it off in the back or you can connect it to the next color. I found a white poinsettia flower with a clip on it and just clipped it where I thought it would look nice. I tied on my bells at the bottom, when we open and close the door we can hear them ring, awww, the sounds of Christmas.

You can add what ever you like, I have added a few other designs that others have done to help with some ideas. .

 Use a bright wreath that won't dry out like needly pine. Wrap yarn in alternating hues around a Styrofoam wreath form, tying the ends when you switch colors. Add a cluster of jingle bells using silver craft wire. The bells will jingle when the door opens and shuts.

 You can make this the same way, just add you little items as you like or even choose a different size wreath.


 I also added a couple other wreaths that I thought were cute.

 Glue candy cane pairs together, back to back (with the curve facing outward). Tie a piece of ribbon to hold them together. Repeat 11 times.Lay out candy cane pieces & glue tips together creating a heart shape.To secure candy canes together, dab E6000 on all points. Let dry for a couple of hours or overnight.Use leftover ribbon to hang the wreath. E6000 is a strong adhesive.

http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.com/2011/12/framed-christmas-wreath.html
You can copy and paste this link and it will take you to the web page where she tells her story about making this wreath.

Well, I hope you like my wreath, if not, just say something like "oh, that's nice" and move on, lol. I think this part of the blog just might be fun. Good luck, and enjoy.

Basic Supply to Sustain Life

Here is my first post to help people get excited about food storage and emergency preparedness. I hope you like it, feel free to comment on the pros and cons of these posts.

Here is the plan per month;

wk 1 - Tips about food storage and financial preparedness
wk 2 - Challenge to get items for food storage
wk 3 - Recipes
wk 4 - Emergency Preparation tips

I hope those will be a good start. So every week, on Tuesdays, I will post something about food storage and preparedness according to the plan of the week.

I decided that I needed to start with the basics and give you the list of foods that are good to store and has a long shelf life. These foods will guarantee a healthy survival in times of crisis and not so costly to acquire. But remember, do not go into debt to get your food storage. If you plan carefully you can be successful in gathering what you need and staying in budget.

Basic Food Storage per person, per year -

400 lbs - Wheat/Grain = Wheat, Rice, Oats, Flour, Pasta

2.5 gallons - Oil = Vegetable Oil, Shortening, Peanut Butter, Mayonnaise, Salad Dressing (mayonnaise type only) 4 gallons = 24 lbs of oil, 1 quart mayo = 1.5 lbs of oil, 1 quart salad dressing = 1 lb of oil, and 1 lb peanut butter = .5 lb of oil

60 lbs - Beans/Legumes = Beans (dry, lima, soy), Peas (split), Lentils, Dry Soup Mix

16 lbs - Powdered Milk = Milk, Nonfat Dry, Evaporated ( 6 cans = 1lb)

60 lbs - Sugar = Sugar ; granulated, brown; Molasses, Honey, Jams, Preserves, Jellies, Corn Syrup, Fruit Drink (powdered), Flavored Gelatin

8 lbs - Salt (store in original containers)

14 gallons for 2 weeks - Water (just for drinking), more for other purposes such as cooking and cleaning

So these are the basics and will get you through tough times, which seem to be coming our way if you're not already there. It's better to be prepared before tough times hit and they always do, and you never know when that could be. As the Boy Scouts say, "Be Prepared."

It looks like a lot of stuff but the good thing is we can do this little by little and have a variety of items to choose from if we have to use it. Its never a waste of time or money to do this because if you are blessed enough to never have to use it then it can be used to help others which is what we are required to do per the scriptures. Jesus tells us several times that we are to take care of the poor and needy, this gives us the opportunity to do so, if we don't use it to sustain our own families.

It is recommended that these foods be rotated out every 2 years even though most have a 20 year shelf life, loss of vitamin and nutrients happen over time. The oil should be rotated every year.
These are just the basics, later we can talk about storing tasty stuff.

Well, that's my tips for today. Next week, I plan to start challenging you to buy your food storage, one item at a time.

New Ideas for Blog

Hello,

Well, I have been analyzing my blog. Since July, when I began this blog, I have had 1,880 views on my blog. Yeahhhhh!!! But my daughter started hers at the same time and she has over 130,000 views. So we started looking at reasons why there was such a big difference. Here is what we found.

She, my daughter, blogs about things that are of interest to several different people. Some like hair and make up, some like children stuff, and some like cooking stuff, etc. Point is, she gets views from people because she talks about a variety of things, where mine is mostly reaching out to one genre, those who like learning more about being righteous women.

Rantin' & Ravin' 

So...I have decided to add a couple of things to my blog that might draw more viewers. As of this Tuesday, Dec 4th, I will be talking about food storage ideas and giving challenges and recipes for food storage. I think there are a lot of people who like learning about this and always want new recipes to try out on their families and friends. You can also feel free to add some tips and recipes.

Also, on Thursdays, I would like to share some craft ideas or DIY's that I find interesting or have tried. I have recently made my first door wreath and love it, now I am ready to try one for the Christmas season. I will probably show that one next Thursday, after I make it and see how it looks first.

My purpose for this blog, in the first place, was to do my part in building up the Kingdom of God by reaching out to people who are looking for spiritual direction. I truly believe that women are the heart and soul of the home and we can inspire and direct our families for good. This is my way of being more helpful in that endeavor, however, its not enough, so I need to reach more people and it requires some changes to the blog.

Anyway, those are my ideas to increase views on my blog. I will still write my Sunday post of inspiration for righteous women. Hopefully, the combination of the 3 will draw more viewers and make it a more pleasant place to visit. Thank you for your support.

Wish me luck!!!