I know turquoise glass is a big thing right now, and I just wanted to give you a heads up that they have some jars for $1.85 at Totsy today! If you’ve never ordered from them before, shipping is free on your first order! Look for the “Circle Glass” sale.
You may be wondering what this business about the Ebenezer is all about and what it has to do with my Anti-Procrastination challenge today.
In the Bible, an Ebenezer was a stone of remembrance. In I Samuel 7:12, Samuel set up a stone “and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” In Joshua 4, the Israelites were commanded to take 12 stones out of the Jordan river (one for each tribe) and set them up when they reached the opposite shore. The purpose of these stones was to serve as a memorial to the children of Israel that would remind them and their children of God's power and deliverance all the way from their leaving Egypt until the point when they reached the Promised Land.
I believe that we as Christians should set up “Ebenezer stones” as reminders for ourselves and for our children of how powerful our God is and how He cares for us. When discouraging times come, we can look at those memorials and remember what God has done for us in times past. It is so encouraging to look back and remember specific prayers that received specific answers. God has done miracles large and small on our family's behalf. I don't want to forget those things. I don't want my children to be ignorant of those things either.
“Ebenezer stones” for me come in the form of a journal. I like to keep track of things we're going through and how God overcomes those situations. There are so many times that God has obviously been at work in certain situations. If I don't write them down they will go unnoticed and forgotten throughout the rest of history. If I do write them down, I can look back on them and be blessed. I can show my children what a big God their Mommy and Daddy serve and teach them that they can trust Him too.
My journaling lately, though, has been sporadic at best. The more kids I have it seems the harder it is to fit it in. But I have to make time for it. God commanded the children of Israel to set up those stones because He did not want them to forget who He is and what He had done. He doesn't want me to forget either.
I may not be able to spend an extensive amount of time every day, but when the Lord has worked in my life in a specific way, I'm going to make it a point to find the time to write it down.
If you're a Christian, I believe you should be keeping a memorial of God's working in your life too. (If you don't know for sure that you're a Christian and on your way to heaven, please don't let this day pass without making sure you know! You can find out here or email me for more information.)
Your “Ebenezer” may look a little different than mine. Maybe it will simply be a prayer list on which you record the specific answers that God gives you. Maybe it will be a detailed journal. Maybe it will be an index card file on which you write down one line a day of God's blessings, answers to prayer, or what He has taught you.
Whatever you decide – make the time! Not only will it be a blessing to you personally and be a tool for you to teach your children, but ultimately, as God said in Joshua 4, “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.”
Have you ever wondered how to make your own hair spray? It's actually very easy!
I cannot believe I didn't research this sooner, but I just always figured that it was probably impossible.
The good news is that it's not impossible, and you can make your own hairspray! No more breathing nasty chemicals and spending money.
Homemade hairspray requires only 5 minutes of your time and 2 ingredients.
It costs literally 2 cents to make an entire bottle of hairspray, and the best part is that it will hold your hair every bit as well as well as a bottle of store-bought hairspray!
Here's what you do:
That's it! I have been using this recipe for several months, and I honestly forget that I'm not using “real” hair spray.
A few notes from my personal experience:
1. I used an empty bottle of store-bought hair spray. I figured the mist would be the perfect consistency that way (and it is.)
2. I also added around 8 drops of lavender oil to mine to make it smell good, but that is completely optional.
3. The first time you use your homemade hair spray, you might think it's not going to work because it's so wet. Give the water a couple minutes to evaporate, and you'll be left with nothing but hair held firmly in place. If you want an even firmer hold, give it another misting after the first round has dried.
If you try out this recipe, be sure to let me know! I'd love to hear how you liked it!
Update 5/12/15
I started making this using raw, organic cane sugar instead of refined white sugar. It goes bad much more quickly with the raw sugar. (It will last about 2 weeks.) Adding a few drops of lavender or rosemary essential oil will extend the shelf life a little longer.
This Anti-Procrastination challenge has helped me identify so many of the excuses I make for not doing things. The excuses are many and varied, but are usually such things as “I don't have enough time”, “It's too hard”, or just plain old, “I don't feel like it.”
Today I identified yet another excuse, and I realized yet again that all my excuses are pretty lame. This time the excuse was that the thing I needed to do was too simple. Sure, I wasn't verbalizing it in those terms, but when it was all boiled down that's all it amounted to. Isn't that just stupid?!
What I (we as a family actually) have been neglecting for way too long is to pray for missionaries around the world. My husband and I both pray for missionaries in our private prayer times, and we as a family will pray for specific needs of missionaries when they are brought before us. But regular prayer for missionaries as a family has been…well…this sounds so harsh, but it's true…nonexistent.
The reason we kept neglecting it is that the process was just too simple. We've had a simple system in place for a very long time, but we have never once used it – just because it seemed too simple. We felt guilty because we should be praying together for more than just missionaries. We felt like we needed an elaborate system to make sure we were covering all of our prayer bases. Because we felt like we couldn't do it right, we weren't doing it at all.
A couple days ago I finally pulled out our simple system and just started using it completely impromptu with the kids at lunch. And while I do hope to eventually come up with something a little more elaborate, at least we're praying for missionaries together a whole lot more than we used to!
Here's the “system”, if you can even call it that!
It's a cheapo 4×6 photo album with missionary prayer cards inside. We pray for one missionary at each meal.
Sure, I'd like to keep the prayer cards perfectly updated. I'd like to have a way to list out specific prayer needs for each missionary family instead of relying on our memories. But for now, our missionary friends are being prayed for by a little family of five on a regular basis. The kids are so excited to see who the next missionary in the album will be. They keep very accurate records of whose turn it is to pray, and ask what exactly they should prayer for in regards to that particular missionary.
Okay, now, you know what I'm going to ask you. What have you been putting off because it's just too simple? What are you waiting to do until you come up with a more elaborate system? Just make do with things the way they are. You can always expand your system later. It's better for something to be done too simply than not at all!
If you’re just joining the Anti-Procrastination challenge, you may want to subscribe to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each new challenge!
Whenever I hear myself saying, “I need to…” or, “I really should…”, I know I have a great candidate for an Anti-Procrastination challenge. Instead of just saying I need to do something, it's time to actually do it!
One thing I find myself saying often is that I need to email or call one of my friends. I made so many good friends in college, but now we've all moved on to various parts of the country and even the world.
Staying in touch with them is not my strong point even though I miss them and think of them often.
Instead of just saying that I need to call or email somebody, I'm trying to actually do it as soon as I think about it, (or at least pencil it in on my to-do list for the day so I don't forget later.)
I just finished emailing a good friend before I starting writing this post, so now it's your turn.
With whom have you been saying you need to get in touch, but just haven't found the time yet? Make the time today to keep your friendship strong!
If you're just joining the Anti-Procrastination challenge, you may want to subscribe to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each new challenge!
I have another post halfway finished that I had planned to finish and post today, but I am feeling the need for a nap instead.
I wanted to share this post from my Mom's blog about a fire they had at their house, and I thought today would be a good day to do it.
“We went to bed that night thinking all was well. We didn't know that we were wrong…”
Click here to read the entire post.