MY NEW BLOG February 3, 2009

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN MOVED (AND RENAMED)

click here to visit my new blog www.neohomemaking.wordpress.com

I’m not dead! On the contrary, I’m ALIVE!!! December 30, 2008

To my dear readers, I know I have seriously neglected my blog now for a few weeks.  Don’t worry I’m still alive and busy as ever.  I’ve been really focusing on my weight loss team on sparkpeople.com becasue 2009 is the beginning of a slimmer, more healthier Tree!  I’ve been blessed to have wonderful people on sparkpeople.com join my team so that we can be an encouragement to one another.  So let me catch you up on a few things:

We celebrated Christmas! My husband really explained to me why he feels that we should celebrate it.  It is a time of rememberance, family, love, appreciation for Christ coming into this world to save us from an eternity in hell.  What he ultimately shared with me is that its a matter of the heart.  God knows our motives and we certainly wanted to give Him glory and not worship a tree or anything of the sort.  Christmas brings out the best in people.  We found that people are more charitable, loving, and unselfish.  In addition we also found that athesist and agnostic people want the celebration of Christ’s birth to be prohibited and stopped.  Which is exactly why we will continue to celebrate Christ’s birth.

New Year

Hubby and I decided some things have to change for 2009.  We are tired on being carnal in the sense of not tapping more into the essence of God.  We are understanding the importance of living a holy life and a spiritual life.  Everything from our diet to our clothes to our dialogue and finally who we are around is going to change for the glory of God.  We are going to make a conscience effort to really seek God’s face concerning some things in our life.  Now that the new year is coming what changes are you going to make to increase your spiritual life? 

 

If I can find some pics of our house for Christmas I will post them.

Is Christmas Christian? December 3, 2008

Last year my husband gave away our Christmas tree not for any religious reason he just wanted a bigger one for this year.  We have been looking for a tree but really big trees are quite expensive.  In the back of my head I was wondering if it was something we should even buy. Years ago my husband and I considered not celebrating Christmas because it has alot of pagan traditions involved in it just like Halloween (we don’t celebrate) and Easter (we don’t celebrate).  Now I’m wondering if we try to justify these holidays, like so many Christians do. Are we guilty of that also?  We take pagan holidays and try to dress them up as a way to “bring the world in”, or we try to dress it up as if its origins are from Christianity. I wonder if we are TRULY teaching our children to be set apart, different, sanctified? Or are we finding “Christian” ways to have them fit into the world’s mold? As a wife I’m under my husband’s headship and right now I know he enjoys the holidays because he was raised not to celebrate Halloween, and he went to church all day on Christmas (which in my opinion is not a bad idea).  So he wants his children to enjoy the holidays which I can totally understand because I come from a family that made every holiday a big event especially Christmas so I remember the joy, fun, and happiness I experience and I don’t want my children not to experience that but my dilemna comes when I feel that we, as Christians will are becoming like the world with its vanity, greed, selfishness. When will there be a great divide to show if you are for Baal then stand for Baal but if you be for Christ than stand for Christ.  In our western society there are too many “Gray Christians.”  Lukewarm is the word that describes western Christianity.  In my spirit I crave for the day when we will see holiness and a clear define of Christianity.  (But in all honesty my flesh loves holidays and the fun it brings.)When will we (including myself) let go of the world and not count it as a lost? Well I’ve said enough so here is the article that I wanted to share with all my readers.  I got this article from biblestudy.org. Does the Bible CLEARLY say holidays like Christmas and Halloween are wrong?       Q. Can you show me the exact scriptures that state holidays such as Halloween and Christmas are against Bible teachings? I have searched the Bible and not found one that specifically points out these celebrations are wrong. It seems that Romans 14:1-16 allows us to believe and worship God as we want as long as we remain faithful to God and Jesus Christ. (Submitted by: Traci) A. It’s true. The Bible doesn’t contain an explicit statement saying, “Thou shalt not celebrate Christmas, Easter, or Halloween.” However, the Bible also does not have a specific text condemning the use of heroin or cocaine either. Yet most Bible believers would condemn drug abuse by (at some level) using the principle that since the Bible condemns drunkenness from alcohol, it also condemns getting high from drugs. So, are there any texts that say it is wrong to adapt pagan customs or borrow the ways of those who worship a false god and use them to worship the true God? These scriptures would in principle apply to holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween that have most or all of their customs based in pre-Christian paganism. Consider the following text from Deuteronomy 12:29-32: “When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.“

Notice that Israel was warned to not borrow or adapt the ways pagan nations use to worship a FALSE God and apply them to their worship of the TRUE God. God is telling ancient Israel, and us by extension, that sinful pagan customs are not made right by applying them to Him. Let’s consider a simple analogy that will help explain this Biblical principle. Let’s suppose that after a man gets married he places around the house, in prominent locations, framed pictures of his ex-girlfriends. How would the wife feel about these reminders of his former loves? Would she be convinced his devotion to her was full-hearted? Would such an explanation as, “When I look at them, I think of you instead now,” be all that convincing? One of the best Biblical examples of what God thinks about humans “borrowing” and adapting false (pagan) practices and customs for use toward worshipping Him is found in the book of Exodus. This example occurs after God uses Moses and Aaron to free the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. We pick up the story when, after leading the Israelites to Mount Sinai, God calls Moses up the mount to receive instructions and the Ten Commandments engraved in stone. The children of Israel must wait at the foot of the mountain for Moses to return. As time passes without the appearance of Moses, the Israelites grow a little restless . . . ” And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for [as for] this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which [are] in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron. And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw [it], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow [is] a feast to the LORD. “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted [themselves]: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. . . Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. ” (Exodus 32:1-8, 10) Notice that God didn’t accept the worship of the Golden Calf as worship directed to Him despite Aaron proclaiming a “Feast to the Lord” (verse 5) would occur the next day. God’s anger was kindled toward the Israelites for introducing pagan practices into their worship of Him. God was ready to DESTROY the Israelites, the very people He recently freed from Egypt, for such disobedience until Moses intervened (Exodus 32:11-14). Customs used to worship false gods that are transferred to the true God are unacceptable since Scripture says God never compromises with paganism. For example, notice what the Apostle Paul says in 1Corinthians 10:19-22: ” What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cups of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? “ Notice that “jealousy” concerns the demand for exclusive devotion, just as a wife would (or should) demand from her husband sexually. (See 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 for more about Christians not compromising with paganism, that they should have no part with it). What the pagans practiced did not honor the true God, regardless of how much sincerity or faith they had. The same goes for the customs used in Easter and Christmas. And, does anybody really believe when kids dress up as demons, ghosts, monsters, etc., and then go around extorting neighbors with the threatening words “Trick or treat,” meaning, “I won’t soap your windows or turn over your trash cans if you bribe me” (that’s the historical origin of the phrase), that these Halloween customs somehow worship God? The case against Halloween is even more clear than the case against Easter and Christmas. Halloween is a holiday that honors the “god of this world“! (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ), who is Satan the Devil (Of course, it’s a lie to tell kids Santa Claus leaves them gifts under the tree instead of their parents–which is another problem morally with the standard Christmas story, but here I digress). God tells us not to adopt the practices and lies of false religions: “Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified by the sings of the heavens although the nations are terrified by them; for the customs of the peoples are delusion” (Jeremiah 10:2-3). We shouldn’t be learning how the pagans of the past worshiped their gods in order to do the same today. What’s most curious is right after these scriptures that warn against false worship comes a description of a tree being trimmed by a “cutting tool,” decorated with silver and gold, and fastened down with nails that sounds all too much like a Christmas tree! (See verses 3-4). How did pagan customs come into the Christian church? They primarily entered through the Catholic Church. From the late Roman Empire forward the church decided to either ignore such customs creeping into the church or just adopt them wholesale so that they (the church) could be more appealing to a wider audience. Hence, there’s no record of celebrating Christmas before the fourth century A.D., some three centuries after the time of Christ. What was happening around December 25th each year back then? Well, we had the Saturnalia (a celebration much like Christmas, although also comparable to the Mardi Gras, Carnival, and other festivals of Misrule). We also had the story of the god of light, Mithras, being born from a rock on . . . December 25th! The pagan festivals celebrated around the time of the winter Solstice, when the days stopped getting shorter and started getting longer, has a lot more to do with Christmas than the birth of Jesus, which historically most likely occurred early in the fall, not late in December. The Catholic Church began to paganize itself when it chose to compromise with paganism (especially after the fourth century A.D. when the Edict of Milan given by then Emperor Constantine openly endorsed Christianity as a religion). In your question you stated that Romans 14 taught that we have the freedom to worship God as we pleased. This chapter of the Bible concerns, at least indirectly, the customary fast days (Mondays and Thursdays) the Jews had traditionally observed. (Notice the main issue in dispute revolves around vegetarianism versus meat eating, and each group tolerating the other and not offending the other, not the general subject of paganism, as is discussed in 1Corinthians 8). Some of the early Christians had adopted a similar practice in which Wednesday was considered a day to regularly fast on (as recorded in the early Christian writing known as the Didache). Some of those who adopted this custom wanted to also impose it on other days for Christians. Romans 14:6 has nothing to do with authorizing compromises with paganism when this text is consider in context.

Daddy’s Home November 18, 2008

When daddy comes home from work its a big event at my house.  The kids scream daddy and daddy makes funny noises and gestures to greet his children.  I’m blessed to have a husband who is so committed to me and the kids and who is a great father!

Here is daddy playing ring around the rosie with his girls:)

Family Fun Day November 15, 2008

Family Fun Day is something we do almost every Saturday, rain or shine.  This is the time that my husband and I devote to spending QUALITY time with our kids since the weekdays are usually filled with obligations such as school, church, work, up keep of the home.  Family Fun Day could be anything from going to the park, getting ice cream, playing in the kid’s play area at Burger King, going to the library, etc.  Family Fun Day does not have to be an expensive activity because its all about spending time and showing love.

My husband makes alot of sacrifices to make sure we have our Family Fun Day.  For example, my husband has to work every other Saturday to do payroll.  Today, since he knew that he wanted to help some of the men at the church paint and wanted to spend time with us he went to work at 4am.  He worked 4-9am, painted the church (9:30-12:00), and then came home to spend time with his family.

Today our Family Fun Day activity was to rake leaves.  I know it might sound lame, but our children enjoy the outdoors and they were able to help their dad and I while also playing in the yard.  We worked together as a family taking the occasional time out to play soccer:)  Here are some pictures I took of our Family Fun Day.

My “Tunky” (my son) and ‘Lil Momma” ( my daughter) working hard trying to beat the other to the

leaves (as if there wasn’t enough)

Daddy made a big pile of leaves for the kids to jump in.  Then he tried to covered their legs in it.

Daddy was think “FUN”, Mommy on the other hand was thinking “GERMS”.  They took a good bath

after all this fun.  Even “Munchie” (my baby) joined the fun!

“Tunky” took the broom from mommy so that the men could do the hard work!  What a gentlemen:)

“Munchie” being “Munchie”.  She took our little solar lamps out of the ground.  BTW she broke all of them.

What can I say…That’s my baby.

Labor of love…Fun…Family…And a Clean Yard!

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent November 13, 2008

Recipe for Dishwasher Soap

I found this recipe for dishwasher soap and not only is it safe but it washes the dishes well also. Dishwasher soap is easy to make, and cost effective. I mix up a batch in an empty canister, and pour it in the dishwasher as needed.

Mix in a container:
2 Cups Borax
2 Cups Baking soda

Use 2 TBSP per dish load and add a TBSP of vinegar to the rinse cylce and there you have it…Inexpensive dishwasher detergent.  FYI  I bought the big box of Borax at Walmart for $4 ( I still have most of it left after making the detergent) and a large box of baking soda for $1.  I still have enough to make maybe 5 more containers.  With this economy you have to learn how to make your dollar stretch.

UNVEILING OF MY NEW BLOG!!! November 10, 2008

I mentioned a few weeks back that I will be doing something new to my blog.  Well it is my great joy to introduce my new blog titled DIVA ON A DIET.  This blog is specifically for discussing things pertaining to weight loss.  It will provided resources, recipes, tips, my experiences, etc on its page.  I will keep treeiskeepingitreal but will soon transfer all of my files under a new blog title.  Stay tuned!  Until then check out my new blog  www.divaonadiet.blogspot.com.  I hope you like it.  Also feel free to subscribe to my blogs.

Blessings,

Tree

Budget 101: Christmas Gifts November 10, 2008

                               

Being a stay at home mom I’m learning the importance of staying within budget.  With the holidays quickly approaching I feel like any other red blooded American…I want to shop!!!  Even though the craving and desire to spend money I don’t have and to max out my credit cards is quite strong and have made up my mind to become more thrifty and conscious about my spending.  Afterall, I have to live after the holidays.  So my solution to this problem is not to give up the fiestivities but to learn how to stretch my dollar and enjoy the holidays without going broke. 

One of the things I’ve decided to do is to make some homemade gifts.  I know it might sound cheesy to some but I think it takes alot of love to create and make a gift for someone.  Yes it’s easier and probably more fun to go out and buy but considering the economic times we are in it would be wise to find alternatives. 

Now I’m not a seamtress but I love to bake and I’m pretty good with crafts so I’m in the process right now of finding things I could make.  Some ideas I have come across was jar gifts.  You put dry ingredients in a jar with the recipe attached.  So recipes include cookies, cake mix, soup ingredients, etc.  You decorate the jars and make the ingredients look pretty in the jar by layering.  I thought that was a cute idea and a very cheap one.  Here is a link for some creative Jar Gift Ideas and Recipes: http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/index.shtml

Another idea I had was making soap and bubble baths.  I’ve always wanted to learn how to make soap so here is a great opportunity to learn.  Below is a great website for making soaps.  It has some pretty easy recipes.  The website also have great Jar Gift recipes.

http://www.craftbits.com/viewCategory.do?categoryID=SOA

My last idea is to bake, bake, bake, and bake some more.  Find out family favorites and bake them and put baked items in pretty cellophane with ribbons.

Well there you go, some of my ideas for gifts this Christmas!  Let me know what ideas you have for this holiday season.

I’m Back October 28, 2008

I know that I haven’t post a message in a few days but  I have a good reason.  My son pulled the cord from the keyboard and broke it.  I went to Walmart to purchase another one and when I connected it to the computer it didn’t work.  Thankfully they allowed me to exchange it and now I’m back in blogland;)   A few things to report:

1.  I lost 4.2 lbs this week (Thanks to Weight Watchers and alot of will power)

2. My husband gave the message on Sunday morning (Youth and Young Adult service) and I will be lying if I didn’t tell you that I was utterly amazed and shocked.  Now, I’ve seen my husband give speeches and I even heard him on radio stations but I was in absolute awe in how God used him.  He didn’t want me to hear his message but I seen with my own eyes how he sought God for a word to preach day in and day out so I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised.  All I can say is glory to God.  His sermon was about having a relationship  with God.  He challenged the congregation to look at their motives for doing things.  Are we saved because we are afraid of going to hell or are we saved because we love God?  I can’t do it any justice right now because I’ve been processing it since I heard it.  To sum it up God used him to deliever a message that will pull on the heart strings of the listeners and challenge us to have a SINCERE relationship with God.  Praise God

3.  Update on the crockpot….IT WORKS:)  I wanted to throw it out the first day when I took it out of the dishwasher but decided to wait just to see what would happen if I allowed the inside to dry.  I plugged it in this morning and it works….heehee…I’m so happy…happy enough to change  my menu for today so that my crockpot can do its thing:)

4.  Have you ever had a moment of thankfulness.  I mean deep down appreciation for what you have and what the Lord has blessed you with.  Well I get these moments often.  The other day I was cooking and my husband and kids were sitting at the table waiting for the food to be done so we started having a small Bible study with our kids( something we started doing a few weeks ago and will continue to do).  Below is a picture of my family after they just finished our family Bible Study. 

 

I just watched as my husband and children played and sung songs.  I am so thankful to God for the opportunity to have a family and not just any kind of family but a loving family. 

I’m a blessed girl!

Tree

Hubby’s Good Deed…Gone Bad October 23, 2008

Look at this picture carefully.  Do you see anything wrong with it?

Well let me tell you how my brand new crock pot base ended up in the dishwasher…Cord and all!

My dear husband came home from work with the sickies but decided to help me by cleaning the kitchen since I cooked and took care of sick kids all day.  His efforts were definitely appreciated because being a stay at home mom, washing dishes and doing laundry can become very tedious.  So I took advantage of the opportunity to do some blogging stuff (BTW I plan to unveil my new masterpiece in a few weeks.  Still alot of tweaking to be done).

To my surprise I opened up my dishwasher this morning to unload it and right there before my eyes was my brand new, wonderful, handy-dandy crock pot that I bought at Target (love that Target).  I looked at it for a few seconds thinking there is no way he put this in the dishwasher with its cord.  IMPOSSIBLE…

Okay the shock subsided and I decided to see if my sweet husband just put it in the dishwasher to store it somewhere.  NOPE.  I took it out of the dishwasher and water dripped from it…MY HEART SUNK.  I plugged it up and all the cute little light were blinking at the same time and none of the buttons worked.

Now I’m not going to lie, I was fuming.  It was a new crock pot and it cooked great and it also switch to the warm setting after it was finished cooking.  Plus I only used it 2-3 times.

Finale

I called my hubby at work and wanted to really understand his reasoning behind putting an electronic appliance in the dishwasher.  Guess what…He had none.  I felt bad (a little) because he was sick and probably incoherent so I just left the conversation alone.  I think I wanted him to understand how much I liked my crock pot and how upset I was to find it broke moreso than an explaination of his thought process at that moment. 

Perhaps I can see if his new Blackberry Curve Phone is waterproof.  No, I wouldn’t do that but a smile came across my face at the thought.

Bad Tree, Bad Tree  

Anyway, Hubby’s so cute that I have to forgive him:)  What can I say…He was just trying to help me   

Needless to say its done and over with and as I’m typing this blog I find it quite hilarious.  Only my family can bring this much humor on a daily basis.  You never know what’s gonna happen in my house:)