Household Helps: Company Meal May 24, 2010

There are three guarantees in life: taxes, death,….and company! Even if it is for a cup of coffee, having a friend over for a visit is one of life’s (pleasurable) guarantees. Try to prevent worrisome preparations the lead up to stressful minutes before your company arrives by having a “go to” menu for an entire meal. Even better, aim to enjoy your company once they arrive:

1. Make sure it is easy to prepare and is a meal you enjoy to eat.
2. Try to find your meal that is non-perishable (canned, jars, dried) so that it has a long shelf life.
3. If it is a one pot meal, all the better (crock pot, casserole).
4. Consider a meal that takes little time to prepare, so you can move quickly into action and be ready before company arrives.
5. Add appropriate background music if you want.

Spaghetti is a fabulous option (buy a jar of sauce loaded with meat and veggies) and supplies are easy to have on hand:

• Sauce
• Noodles
• Cheese
• Canned rolls or canned french bread (in the refrigerator section)
• Salad is a bonus!

If a full meal is too much for you to offer, try being available for dessert. Keep an easy mix on hand (my favorite is brownie mix!). Brew fresh coffee, and have a few varieties of hot tea bags on hand. Lay out your sugar and creamer, and you’re good to go!

Bottom line: build your plan before it is needed so that you feel comfortable opening your home, and so that you can sabbath with your friends once they arrive!

Sharing Time

Simply Sabbath: Muddy Waters May 21, 2010

“Who is it that can make the muddy water clear? But if allowed to remain still, it will gradually become clear itself.”

– Tao Te Ching

Clear River Water

Muddy waters are easy to make–stomping about and moving quickly. They are dirty, and maybe even dangerous as unseen creatures can nibble at your toes (ok, so maybe we’re talking plain ole’ crawdads…but my toes are delicate!).

Clear waters are pristine, and require me to stand still, immersed in the watery coolness, to use slow movements. Clarity can be so perfect that my reflection might be seen, letting me see the branches that spread above, and warm sunlight spilling from above.

Striving for clarity might come more from slowing, listening, and watching, rather than pressing forward.

Household Help: Gnats. May 10, 2010

Tis the season, at least in my humble abode, for gnats (fruit fly). I find it a bit humbling to have such little critters overtake my space. Plus, if you fight to have bug control, doesn’t that mean that your house is dirty and unkempt? A little speck of humility just buzzed by me….

Three suggestions to help prevent and kill the little invaders:

1. Keep your home clean. Focus on dirty dishes in the kitchen, over-ripe food on the counter, and even old trash in the bathroom. Be rid of their food supply!
2. Pour 1 gallon of boiling water down all water drains in your home. This will kill gnats that are resting in the cool puddles in your pipes, plus, keep your drains effectively flowing.
3. Make “bug traps”. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into a small glass. Tightly cover the glass with plastic wrap. Using a fork, poke several small holes into the plastic, being careful not to tear the plastic. About 4-5, gnat sized holes are best. Set the apple cider glass wherever the gnats seem to be congregating, often near a light source. The pesky guests will work their way into the glass, but will not be able to work their way out, and thus will drown in the apple cider vinegar. After about three days, the vinegar will loose its sweet smell. Merely pour the vinegar and dead bodies on the ground, or down the drain. Make as many “bug traps” as you need. Apple cider vinegar is cheaper by the gallon–but keep that lid on tight, or the gnats will find your lure!

Simply Sabbath: Your ways May 7, 2010

I cannot shake this poem from my soul. A piece of dark chocolate that melts very slowly. And that is a little bitter.

Sometimes in this groping dark of knowing my not-knowing
I am exhausted with the struggle to believe in you, O God.
Your ways are not our ways.
You sent evil angels to the Egyptians
And killed countless babies in order that Pharaoh–
Whose heart was hardened by YOU (that worries me, Lord)
Might be slow to let the Hebrew children go.
You turned back the waters of the Red Seas
And your Chosen People went through on dry land
And the Egyptians were drowned, men with wives and children,
Young men with mothers and fathers (your ways are not our ways),
And there was much rejoicing, and the angels laughed and sang
And you stopped them, saying, “How can you laugh When my children are drowning?”

When your people reached Mount Sianai you warned Moses
Not to let any of them near you lest you break forth and kill them.
You are love–if you are God–and you command us to love,
And yet you yourself turn men to evil, and you wipe out nations
With one sweep of the hand–the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites–
Gone, gone, all gone.

Sometimes it seems that any means will do.
And yet–all these things are but stories told about you by fallen man,
And they are part of the story–for your ways are not our ways–
But they are not the whole story.

You are our author,
And we try to listen and set down what you say, but we all suffer
From faulty hearing and we get the words wrong.

One small enormous thing: you came to us as one of us
And lived with us and died for us and descended into hell for us
And burst out into life for us–: And now do you hold Pharaoh in your arms?

Madeleine L’Engle

Household Helps: Stain Fighter! May 3, 2010

I had one of my greatest house keeping victories last week–the non-washable ink pad stains (remnant of a great Sunday school craft) on the Little General’s church clothes were completely removed. I have not had a lot of luck with stain removal on washable items, and this was my first big achievement: an entire outfit preserved. This handy little chart has been a great reference, and works like a dream. Print it off to hang by the washer for your reference! From lipstick to coffee, all your worst enemies are listed on this chart. To be prepared, there are several items that should be stocked in your stain fighting kit:

1. Rubbing alcohol,
2. Cotton balls,
3. Petroleum jelly,
4. Mineral spirits,
5. Diluted dish soap,
6. Enzyme detergent,
7. Cheese cloth,
8. Vinegar,
9. Lemon juice,
10. Hydrogen peroxide.

Have at it! You probably can’t make the stain worse, so take the risk and try these suggestions. If the suggestions do not work the first time, I have found it helps to let the item soak for a few hours, and then repeat the process. Some stains come out one layer at a time. Kind of like life.

Simply Sabbath: Whole Creatures April 30, 2010

Rift

“We are meant to be whole creatures, we human beings, but mostly we are no more than fragments of what we ought to be. One of the great evils of twentieth-century civilization is the rift which has come between our conscious and our intuitivive minds, a rift which has been slowly widening for thousands of years, so that now it seems as unbridgeable as the chasm which separated Dives, suffering the torments of hell, from Lazarus, resting on Abraham’s bosom.”

Madeleine L’Engle, The Irrational Season

We are meant to be whole creatures…who is settling for less? If I’m a fragment of who I was meant to me, what was God’s heart for me to begin with?

Peaceful Rhythm: Take Time to Think April 29, 2010

“Having time is absolutely essential. You need time to think. You need time to be with your thoughts, to mull them over, to change them again until you light upon the right thoughts that will guide you where you want to go. You need time to figure out where you are….It’s because we haven’t had time to think that we’ve allowed our work lives to get so out of control.“

Elaine St. James, Simplify Your Work Life

Absolutely essential….to stop and listen to my own thoughts. To clear the static long enough to hear the words that my heart and mind are forming. There is something comforting in the constant buzz, and to stop long enough to hear myself is a little scary. What am I really thinking? That this job is a waste of my full potential? That I am a wee bit extreme? That I am plain exhausted? That I should have kindly said, “no”? That maybe it is ok to just rest for a few minutes?

Maybe by stopping to think, to be deliberate, and to trust my instinct, I can bring a little control into the chaos. For me, chaos is being reactive (to people, to circumstances, to events). I can only handle so much chaos before screaming. Calm is having mentally considered what the next moment brings. Calm is being proactive, having already thought about the situation (scheduling, a hard conversation, shopping).

I am learning to be more calm. I’ve found this requires turning off the TV, which I only had on for background noise anyways. I’ve found I do not turn on the car radio nearly as often. I’ve found that I rarely turn on music. I’m learning to trust my initial thought just a little bit more.

Peaceful Rhythm: Expected company cleaning. September 30, 2009

Hospitality is becoming a peaceful opportunity to serve in my little abode. This is a sign of great growth, trust me. Regularly inviting company into my home reminds me to practice this discipline of preparation and serving. Sometimes I can only muster an invitation for dessert and coffee, but my introverted self needs a regular stretching. My goals are usually simple and consistent:

1. Offer a small oasis of rest in my for my guest,
2. Love on this guest in any way possible,
3. Do not throw my own self, or own family, under the bus in the process.

This is a very difficult trio to balance so far, but those moments, in which all is balanced, are peaceful and restoring! Adding a new person into my normal family routine is more vulnerable than I would have guessed. I forget that my guest has come to visit with me, not inspect my home keeping skills. Without forethought and preparation, I am guaranteed stressed and unnerved–especially whenever I consider this person to be a leader in my own life walk. Planning brings me peace of mind and balance to such opportunities. Our American culture demands that we gather around food, even if it is “just” coffee, so I have to consider what to make (dinner or just dessert?), not to mention the other details! Consider the following:

• Prepare all “food” before company arrives and you are distracted (all things having to do with food: all dishes, serving utensils, ice, napkins),
• Arrange a nice table (flowers, candles, linens),
• Consider appropriate music (a bit of jazz for dessert, bit of Mexican for tacos….),
• Ensure your kitchen and dining area is clean (most individuals can overlook clutter, but scum on the counters is highly unappetizing),
• Inspect all entry ways for order (turn on a porch light, sweep the sidewalk, cover all trash),
• Scrub down the bathroom (remember that all bathroom visitors will be spending several minutes in the room–does it smell nice? Is there soap in the dish and a dry towel for hands?),
• Clear clutter (ongoing projects that overtake surface area are fine for daily living, but distracting for company; without sacrificing organization, lay the project careful in an out of way place).

Anticipate any needs in advance, then enjoy the peaceful environment that you have created for your guests and your family. Bring yourself to mentally and physically stop to enjoy the meal, and after dinner leave the dishes in the sink so you can continue visiting. As hostess, you can set an air of peace and relaxation that will allow your guests to rest, and in turn, bless you and your family.

Simply Sabbath: Turn back and live! September 25, 2009

Is it sacrilegious is giggle over scripture? Perhaps it is worse to forget it is even there. How about this one:

Put all your rebellion behind you, and get for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!

Ezekiel 19:31-32

The blunt wording is a little humorous. The outright ridiculousness of God ever being obligated to say, “I don’t want you to die!” makes me feel embarrassed for those Israelites. But I’ve told myself that lie before–God obviously doesn’t want any “me” in the picture. But the truth of the matter is God’s heart desires us to turn away from this lie and live. He said so. What is truly living? Making and meeting goals? Getting through the day’s agenda? Keeping my hands busy? Leaping at every reasonable opportunity? Did those poor Israelites ever turn away from the danger of their rebellion by making a choice to live? I want to live.

Household Helps: Appliance "how to" September 23, 2009

One day, I realized there were quite a few dial combinations on my washer and dryer. These options had been there all along, but I was not sure just why they were useful. I pulled out my washer manual and dryer manual, and noted the recommended settings and information on an index card. Then, I taped the index card on the appliance itself–right next to the dial! My clothes will now have a longer life, my appliances will more efficiently, and my soaps will work more effectively. In principal, keep a “cheat sheet” of information that is only used occasionally so that you can recall information accurately and quickly, right where you use the item the most often.