Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

I Heart Charlie's Soap

Don't worry, I haven't stopped loving my Mom's soap. Charlie's Soap makes an All-Purpose cleaner and Laundry powder that I have been using. I just ran out of the supply I purchased in July of last year. They are a smallish family business based out of North Carolina. Their products are non-toxic and biodegradable.

Their all-purpose cleaner is great in the bath tub and shower stalls. Really cuts through the grime and soap scum. I use their laundry powder on my towels and sheets. It cleans them wonderfully and without all those detergents and leaves them smelling clean and fresh. I tried using it with clothes, but noticed that it tends to fade dark clothes at a quicker rate.

Day Fifteen - Ezra's Photos

Sticky ball

Friday, March 14, 2008

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Take time out for little ones

I Took His Hand and Followed
Mrs. Roy L. Peifer

My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn't make the bed,
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little son and I...
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the summer sky

We waded in a crystal stream,
We wandered through a wood...
My kitchen wasn't swept today
But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade
And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest,
Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,
We climbed a sunlit hill...
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,
We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,
That I didn't brush the stairs,
In twenty years, no one on earth
Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years, the whole wide world
May look and see and know.

I found this poem from this site and I thought it was lovely (I think I'll start using that word more often too).
http://www.besthomeschooling.org/articles/lillian_jones_ps_kdgtn.html

Your Life's Melody

Thanks to my mom, Dorothy, for allowing me to share this amazing bit of encouragement with you. She wrote this the other day and emailed me with it.

“He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.” ~Psalm 40:3

I recently bought the soundtrack of South Pacific, a favorite of mine. I’ve always loved the old classic musicals; West Side Story, Oklahoma, My Fair Lady and of course, South Pacific to name a few. I was listening to “Happy Talk”, one of the songs of South Pacific and noticed how the notes went all over the place…up and down…a charming, catchy tune. It occurred to me…kind of like an epiphany….that our lives are so similar to a melody. We have our ups and downs in life.

And I was wondering if you were able to chart your ups and downs on a musical score, a melody would surely form. What kind of melody, I’m not sure! But it gave me some encouragement that maybe I would like my melody, created by all my life’s challenges and battles, better than just looking at the musical score with just one note all the way through the song. Like “johnny one note”. Pretty boring, wouldn’t you think?

Normally we Christians don’t look at our battles as something we like. We do everything we can to get out of them…mostly on our own accord. But the thing is…the thing that just came to me….is that we need these ups and downs to have a life worth playing! And the greatest conductor, the One who can take our paltry songs and change them into something worth listening to, is Christ. He can change our little song into a magnificent overture!

Day Thirteen - Ezra's Photos

Books