Organic and saving money without compromising quality!

I've been all about being organic for a while and slowly making the journey of being off of all things processed or  chemical.  It just makes sense!  Especially when you know what's really in food and/or hygiene/make-up and cleaning products, etc. 

Recently, I've found an awesome recipe for laundry detergent and deoderant that I've modified somewhat for my personal tastes or needs.  I am saving tons of money and not compromising the quality or effectiveness.

I don't remember the laundry recipe off the top of my head, especially since I did tweek it a bit so I'll post that later.  However, for those interested in making their own homemade deoderant here's the recipe I used. 

1/4 cup of arrowroot flour or cornstarch (I use arrowroot because I think it works better and cornstarch has a little higher risk of having some chemicals in it)

1/8 cup of baking soda-aluminum free (I use Bob's red mill)--you could use up to 1/4 a cup but I think it would have the potential to irritate your skin, especially when us ladies shave.

2 table spoons of coconut oil--I mix a little extra in because it's so good for your skin (coconut oil is solid at room temp and melts at 76 degrees--body temp will melt it quick)

I add a few drops of essential lavendar oil to mine or some other sweet essential oil for scent...a few drops goes a long way with essential oil--it's potent!  (FOR MEN--for Tyler I use a couple drops of essential tea tree oil...on its own it has a masculine scent)

Mix together, store in a zip baggie (apply with fingers) or put in your old deoderant bottle (a spoon rounds the top nicely). 

Goes on completely CLEAR...coconut oil melts at body temp so it smooths on really easily and crystal clear! 

Just an FYI, it will not prevent you from sweating, but that's so GOOD, your body needs to detox...other deoderants prevent you from sweating and traps all those toxins in your body. 

If you need suggestions on where to find things let me know!

Anyone else have any awesome, safe, and fun recipes to share???? Let me know! I'll be trying my hand at some cleaning products next and some lotion, soaps, scrubs...I'll share what I learn, if it's any good!

Rehearsing Our Troubles

“Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts (thoughts and feelings) and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7



I’ve been reading through a devotional book by Sarah Young, called Jesus calling. A couple of days ago I read a couple of lines of one and could not go any further.


“As you anticipate what is ahead of you, you forget that Jesus is with you—now and always. Rehearsing your troubles results in experiencing them many times, when you are meant to go through them ONLY when they ACTUALLY occur. Don’t multiply your suffering in this way!”


I must confess (and those of you who know me well can attest) that it comes so much more natural for me to look ahead and be anxious and worrisome than to trust and receive peace. There have been times when fear of what could be paralyzes me in my tracks because I rehearse in my mind, as though I’m in a play, how I will respond and get through something that I may NEVER go through. To add to the scenario I try to justify that I’m preparing myself for what MAY happen and start anxiously trying to plan around it. Not only is it frustrating to me when my “plan” is met with resistance, but it also causes conflict and frustration for anyone that causes the resistance to my plan (Ex: God, Tyler, other family, friends, etc).


Just recently Tyler asked me to pray for him to be more comfortable with a decision that we had already made. He was having some anxious thoughts about it. I immediately jumped to the conclusion he had changed his mind and was going to go against what we had already planned. I was so angry and upset to his dismay. All he wanted me to do was to pray for him; Tyler especially has had lots of things going on that has caused some uncertainties and fears in other areas of our lives. Instead of being met with encouragement, understanding, and prayer—he is met with anger from an anxious wife feeling as though her carefully constructed plans were coming unraveled.


I’m thankful that God loves me just the way that I am, but loves me too much to allow me to stay unhealthy in any area of my life. He has dealt with me on anxious thoughts and living in the past and how sweet the victory to overcome that, but it is also “painful.” Painful in that something is broken that I’m trying to fix on my own. Painful in that it requires unwrapping my hands from the steering wheel and giving up control. I can’t “fix” this. The ironic thing is that I’ve never had control of anything, just a false sense of control. Surrender is giving up control of something we never had control of anyways. It’s freeing, but it also takes discipline.


“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather healed. ” Hebrews 12:11-13


I definitely can say I’ve experienced that to be true. All of it; the discipline feeling sorrowful, but also experiencing the yield…joy, peace and healing! I long for that again. A peace that comes from hope, the confident expectation in Jesus to come through… and the joy of receiving in ways that I could have never thought and imagined, in the right time, the right way.


Jesus, forgive me for holding on to a desire to control rather than holding onto you. Replace my fear with confident trust in you. Heal the unhealthy places in my life bringing health, joy, and beauty in my relationship with you. Bring healing and health to relationships that have been hurt by anxious thinking and living. I trust You want more for me than I want for myself. I desire to know you and for my life to reflect who You are, I can’t do that without You, forgive me for trying to do it without You.

Busyness or Fullness

Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is the fullness of joy; in Your right hand their are pleasures forever.  

Happy New Year, friends and family!

So, does anyone else feel like they just blinked and 2010 was over?  It's funny when your younger you can't wait to be older and time just seems to creep by.  Once your older life just seems to fly by.  We're such busy people.  But do we just have busy lives or are we full?

I had the awesome blessing of leading a women's bible study these past few months.  We finished up a few weeks ago.  My life is more rich through the friendships that have just formed through this group of women, I'm excited to continue to grow along side of each of them.  I learned so much from each of them and treasure the many discussions we had. 

One week I gave out "homework"  for us to assess our weekly schedules to look at what we had going on that takes up our time (stuff on the schedule and off the schedule-ex. working out, tv, etc).  God was challenging me to assess my own schedule before this by bringing to my attention how many times I would tell people "I'm so busy" or some variation of that.  God has continued asking me, "Do you want busyness of life or fullness of life?" 

There is a huge difference between busyness and fullness. Fullness is God-focused and busyness is self-focused.  Busyness results in burn out because we're looking for fulfillment or validation of our importance in the activities we're involved in.  Busyness for some reason makes us feel like we're important, the more busy I am the more important I am.  It causes us to look to ourselves, others, and our performance to determine our value and our impact.  Fullness, however, is only found in Christ, and its results are joy.  Fullness can only be found in God's presence.  Am I lingering in His presence each day or rushing through it, just another "to do" marked off on the list?

Lord, I desire the fullness of life and joy that can only be found in Your Presence.  I confess that many times I rush into and out of spending time with you to mark it off of my "to do" list for the day.  I've looked for significance in the things I do and accomplish, instead of in You.  Sanctify my schedule.  Although many things may be good, what is the best, what leads me to You?  Help me to prioritize the things that draw me closer to You. 

Does it Matter More?

Tyler and I have had several conversations lately that start out "I want to lose x amount of weight."  We've been bombarded over the past few weeks with commercials and advertisements galour for weight loss programs, gyms, weight loss food, etc, etc, etc.  It's getting old pretty quick. 

Something else that is getting old are my thoughts.  I've been pre-occupied these past couple of months with what I call "vain imaginations" of myself.  In other words, my mind  has been pre-occupied on things that aren't true, but that overwhelm me with feelings of failure, inadequacy, and insecurity.  My vain imaginations aren't true, however I find myself living as if they were at times.  Ugh!  Didn't I already win this battle?

Tyler has been patient with listening to me talk about these things with him, but sometimes he's been frustrated because he feels wounded by my lack of trust in him.  He realizes I'm battling with inaccurate thoughts and constantly telling me what he sees, what he knows to be true about me.  "Doesn't it matter more to you what I see and know?" was something that he asked me several days ago.  That is a question I believe that Jesus has been gently asking me for some time now...Does it matter more to you what I see and know to be true or what this world is telling you?   

Do I value truth or vain imaginations?  Do I value freedom from or captivity to these vain imaginations?  Does my actions and responses reflect what I truly value?  It's easy to bow down in surrender to the natural, worldly patterns of thought.  Retraining or re-programming our minds requires us to be intentional.  God asks us to take captive and destroy anything that raises itself up against the true knowledge of God. So contrary to our natural tendencies.  How do we do this?  God has been calling to my mind Psalm 46:10-11; Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Cease striving means to let go, relax.  For me that means to stop being so prideful, believing that I can get it all under control on my own, and remembering how big and powerful my God is.  It means letting go of what I might be feeling is true and believing what He says is true.  I'm never going to "measure up" to the standards of this world, but I don't have to (I think I need to repeat that alot).  God is my stronghold and who I am is defined by Him.

Be glorious to me

I've been dumbfounded many times throughout my life by how involved and concerned God is with what seems like the smallest details in my life. It's like He's always creating a chance for Himself to show off...and He is. He is showing off to me so that He can be showed off through me.

I heard a question posed on a radio program not too long back that has stuck with me. "How can we share and show how glorious God is to others, when He isn't glorious to us? Ask God to be glorious to you so He can be glorious through you." I had never really ever thought to ask God to be glorious to me.

I started praying that He would be glorious to me. Of course I start looking for the neon signs and the "red sea partings" to show me His glory, failing to see the "small" things or things I take for granted daily that show off His glory just as much. I've begun to see His glory in the food He puts on my table, the air He uses to fill my lungs, doing the laundry, cleaning out the refrigerator...etc.

Is there any place or time that His beauty and glory cannot be revealed to me? How different would my heart and attitude be if I realized I can find it even in cleaning out my fridge and in making a huge mess on the floor just after cleaning it? There would be a holy difference that's for sure and I for one could use more of the wholeness that brings to every aspect of my life. You would see a whole lot more of Him and whole lot less of me.