Adapting

If there is one thing I have learned, especially since reaching adulthood, it's that life does not happen the way you planned it as a child. When you are a child you have hopes and dreams and expectations of life. You have plans of what you want out of life and what you plan to put into it. The longer I'm alive (I am a whopping 31 in a few weeks) the more I realize that all of those preconceived ideas don't actually come to pass. Well I shouldn't say all, because some of my childhood dreams have come true. My husband is one of those. Awwwwe! But, throughout life your relationships with people change or end. You find your preferences change. People move. People get married. people get divorced. People die. People are born- now that one really changes things! 

There has been a few times in my adult life that I have thought, wow! My life is just awesome. Nothing can go wrong! It's exactly as I had planned. I've come to realize that's the calm before the storm! 

When these situations come along I've learned that instead of wallowing in the fact that life isn't what you thought it would be- embrace what it is now. Live in the fullness of joy that God has promised to those that trust Him. 

Case in point: my mom is getting married in three days. Say what?!  I definitely didn't see that in my future when I was a child. I saw me growing up with my mom and my dad. My children growing up with their grandma and grandpa. I didn't see cancer entering my dad and losing him. But life goes on and you either adapt, or you wallow. Life has too much to offer to waste time wallowing. 

My mom is the epitome of the verse, "in whatever state you are in, therein be content." She adapts like no body's business! Whatever she faces she says, ok so this is what we're doing now, lets do it. This is what life is now- let's go for it. God is with me no matter what so I can face it all. Her strength astounds me and inspires me. When she started dating a man from her church I thought, man, this is not something I imagined I would ever see in my lifetime. When she became engaged to this man I thought, I did not see this coming a couple years ago. And now that their wedding date is approaching I am thinking- yup! Life isn't what I thought it would be, but Praise God, He is still in control and He is still bringing the fullness of joy to those that trust in Him! 

I am very happy for my mom and her husband to be. I can see the love and respect that he has for her (and her for him) and for his Saviour and that is a wonderful thing! 

So life is changing, my family is growing, and I am changing and I am growing...and adapting... I wonder what's next?

Daddy's Girl Part 3- A Zealous Heritage

Well seeing as it's Father's Day I deemed it appropriate to write a part three to my mini series. I wanted to talk about my heritage. 

My daughter asked me recently what heritage meant. I responded very Websters dictionarily (is that a word? maybe I should look it up...) and told her it was something passed down from generation to generation. The next day she was telling me about how, at school, she likes to work as quickly as she can while still doing a good job. I said, "Ah ha!" loudly and freaked her out because she thought she was in trouble. I explained to her how that was part of her heritage! Something that was important to my Grandpa that he passed on to my dad who passed it on (the nice way of saying it was expected and enforced especially in our family business...) to me and it is now, apparently a skill or attribute I have passed on to my own daughter. I like to think of it as a skill though because darn it you get so much more done that way!

There are many things that I am thankful are part of my heritage. My love of gardening and nature. My eagerness to laugh and have a good time. My love for music and singing. My love for my family. Above all I am most thankful that my dad passed on to me his zeal for God. My dad was an amazing preacher and I remember so many of his messages, but one that stands out in regards to my heritage is the one he preached on 2 Kings 10:16. "Come with me and see my zeal for The Lord." There was nothing more important to my father than living his life for The Lord to the utmost capacity of his being. He was an all or nothing kind of guy. And when it came to his faith in Jesus it was all! He preached it from the pulpit and led by example. 

Come with me and see my zeal for The Lord. It is my deepest desire that my children see this alive in me and that they too become part of that heritage. 

A zealous heritage. That's what I have. 

Me and my dad on Father's Day 1990 at a church BBQ 

I can't believe it's not butter!

I can't believe how much I love butter! Like actual butter, not margarine. My whole adult life I've blindly been one of the millions of people lured by the lack of cholesterol and fat in margarine and products like it. What have I been missing?! On top of being much more nutritious, butter tastes sooo much better! I've been really feeling strongly about making healthier eating/lifestyle choices lately. The biggest thing I've been trying to do is find actual products that aren't a knock off of the real thing . You know that the knock offs are most likely mechanically made, probably using mostly chemicals or chemically enhanced ingredients.  God's creations work so much better and better for you than mans' creations. Seriously. 

I'm not trying to go all hippy on you, now. I do not eat seaweed or grass sprouts-  I'm just tired of counterfeits. I've been doing a lot of reading up on these counterfeit food products and cleaning products and the health effects that they are having on us, especially in North America.  Diabetes, cancer and heart disease to name a few. Manufactured products (like margarine) lower your immune system, making it harder for you to fight off colds, flues and the like as well. 

Did I mention how much I hate counterfeits? Its what Satan uses to trick us as christians too. He uses truth, wisdom and power, but in ways that destroy or promote personal gain. It's his oldest trick in the book- literally. Genesis 3 satan disguised as a serpent deceives Adam and Eve into taking of the forbidden fruit by telling them it would make them wise like god in that they would know good from evil. Truth of a sort. However, he failed to tell them that it would also separate them and all of mankind from God because of their sin. Counterfeit truth as I see it. Looks like truth, feels like truth, might even get away with it as truth for a little while, but eventually it will reveal itself as a lie. 

Growing up in the horticulture industry, I made a very interesting discovery. For every plant, there is a weed that looks EXTREMELY similar, and will usually grow right next to the original. Satan's counterfeit. We see in that same chapter of genesis that weeds were part of the curse of sin. 

Hippy or not,my tkids are thinking I'm going nuts because of my new natural product discoveries! I'm putting coconut oil on EVERYTHING. No joke. It works on everything from hemroids( apparently...) to chapped lips! I'm so excited about all of it that I just had to share some if my discoveries with you all!

Some of my new favourites that I have personally tested and found to work:

Coconut oil- sunscreen, Chapstick, deodorant, reduces visibility of stretch marks (!!!)

Vinegar- mix with orange peels to make a great all purpose cleaner, which I have also been mixing with a tbsp of coconut oil as my dishwasher detergent; as a fabric softener/deodorizer in the washing machine; 

Lemon juice- an all purpose cleaner that is also antibacterial; mix with olive oil for a great furniture polish/ dust spray. 

Baking soda- teeth whitener; mix with water to form a paste =facial cleansing scrub (this one is amazing!!)

Those are just a few of my recent discoveries which are now a staple in my life! I will share more with you as I try them out.