Giving and Receiving: Everything has a Season

         How hard is it to give to someone in need or to give in general? Especially when you are always on guard since being in the world has taught you that if you give you are weak or it has taught you if you give you are always done wrong. No one ever appreciates what you have done or continue to do for them, you seem to always have someone taking advantage of you and using you for what you have. Then you see them disappear when you fall on hard times and you look around and there is no one there, well at least the people you assumed would be there is m-i-a after you have helped them out for so long.

Thursday's Fruits of the Spirit; Encouragement and Strength pt.1

Encouragement & Strength pt.1

This weeks scriptures and for the next couple of weeks will be about strength and encouragement. I know for myself it is difficult to try to walk in the spirit while my flesh is being attacked with things that shouldn't matter to me happening everyday. A lot of times the cares of this world become my cares and that is not how we should operate especially when we know we are NOT of this world.
       It's always that point when we feel like we just can't win or keep pushing on. These particular scriptures came in handy for me at a crucial time when I lost my grandfather and again when I lost my grandmother.

What's in my First Aid Kit?

Who knew having a family would require you to become a full time nurse? After my first son was born and I was newly married I didn't know I would be caught off guard with the teething and fevers from the baby. Neither did I know my husband would turn into a baby when he got sick or if his allergies were bothering him. These are things no one gives you a heads up about when you start your family. In that moment when they need you, you don't want to be sitting there looking crazy and clueless you have to find solutions to make them better because they are depending on you. From fractured legs to headaches and fevers there are some must haves that you need to have stored away for that random rainy day when you will surely need it. I have gathered some items to keep safe in a first aid box or to make your own first aid kit for you and your family.

10 Ways I Use Baking Soda in My Home

I learned so much about baking soda that its only right I start reaping its benefits. I have gathered a list of things that I use baking soda for when making my natural DIY products at home.

1. Toothpaste
2. Deodorant
3. Laundry Detergent
4. Insect Bites- It works great in the summertime on mosquito bites
5. Deodorize the refrigerator- Now I know everyone's mother or grandmother had a box of opened Arm and Hammer Baking Soda sitting in the fridge to get all the food smells out of there!

How to Prepare for a Natural Disaster

A very important topic that people seem to put off unless it hits home and by that time its too late is Natural Disasters. There can be snow storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes at anytime. You could be trapped in the house or have electricity failure for days where you won't have any access to lights or an TV to tell you what is going on. As we can see our country has its fair share of disasters and then we see the aftermath of people having to go to shelters and seek food or loot local stores because of lack of preparation. It's easier to survive without things when you are single or maybe without kids but when you have children they are not as patient so going without water or food for days in some instances will definitely put a fire under your butt to go and find a way by any means to feed your family. Here is a list of things we all should have stored away for that day where anything can happen.

What is Baking Soda?

After doing much research on how to live a natural lifestyle by making most of my products at home and chemical free I have found that majority of the things you want to clean, cook or use on your body consists of baking soda. Generally baking soda is know for its use in the kitchen for baking when it is used as a leavening agent. Little did I know I would be using this in almost everything I made and how many benefits it has.
   So the question is what exactly is Baking Soda and why is it so useful. Below I will give you the other names its known by and some of the scientific breakdown on why this is so powerful.

Baking Soda is also known as

• Sodium Bicarbonate
• Sodium hydrogen carbonate
• Bicarbonate of soda

 It is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO₃. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda (sodium carbonate). The natural mineral form is nahcolite. It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs.

Baking soda is a chemical salt with diverse practical uses. With a chemical formula of NaHCO3, it is a white powder with crystalline grains. Although it can be produced by artificial means, in its natural form, baking soda is called nahcolite, taking its name from its chemical formula.
Sodium bicarbonate is weakly alkaline. As such, it acts to neutralize acids and break down proteins. This quality accounts for its usefulness as a tenderizer and a leaven. Also, its neutralizing action on acidic scent molecules makes it an effective deodorizer. Added to the water when doing laundry, baking soda stabilizes the pH level, enhancing the detergent’s effectiveness. It may also be added to swimming pool water to balance the pH and keep the water clear. Because it is so weakly alkalized there are tons of uses for it and many benefits. 

Information for Baking soda was used from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate and http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-baking-soda.htm. Click these links for more detailed information.

DIY Natural Ant repellant

Okay so in addition to my children I have other guest or should I say pestilence in my house!! ANTS!!
Ants are so horrible because they are small and then form these little military lines across my my kitchen on my dishes and in my sink.

    For a minute I thought they paid rent in my place and I was the one that was intruding! The day I found one chilling in my tea cup that was the straw that broke the camels back! (Whatever that means lol!) So I had to find a way to get rid of them before they got rid of me...they were literally giving me the boot, I couldn't take it no more.

Natural or C-Section Delivery? Any final thoughts...

      My next method of delivery wasn't a very hard choice for me even after 2 previous c-sections I made it up in my mind that I would have the exact meaning of my soon to be daughter's name which is Faith. You couldn't tell me I wasn't going to have a natural delivery.
      My first pregnancy was c-section because I was just getting into reading the scriptures for myself not fully understanding what was going on. I let the doctor persuade me that having the surgery would be the best decision for me since I have Myasthenia Gravis (an autoimmune disease) and because my son was weighing 10 lbs. It was no way I would consider giving birth to such a big child and then not be able to fully push him out because the autoimmune disease causes me to have muscle weakness.