Who are You? Plus a money saving tip

Well, I sure hope and pray that y'all have had a great start to the New Year so far!!!    In my neck of the woods, we have had snow and ice and sunshine and rain and sunshine and ice and rain.............that was just all within the last 15 minutes!!!  hahahaha    I'm so over winter already y'all. It wouldn't be so bad if I could walk on the stuff...hehehehe, but I do more sliding than walking and I am very concerned about my Achilles tendon issue.    It got flared up here back and it really bothers me when I get out on the slick or wet deck and try to walk across it.    I guess I get a little tense and when I do, it goes all the way down to my heel and makes it start hurting again and I have to double up on the meds to get rid of the inflammation.    Seems like a vicious cycle, but hey,  I can walk, so I'm not complaining at all.    I got out of bed today, so that makes any day a wonderful day, even if it is raining, snowing or whatever!!!     Don't y'all agree?    Sure you do.   Woop Woop!!!   Just a little shouting in house right about now.    Yay!!!    

There has been much sickness around here and I'm sure you've seen it in your areas also.    I just want all that stuff to go away!!!    It really takes it toll on all of us, but I worry most for the elderly.     We just need to try to be more aware of how we are feeling and if we are running a temp and coughing and blowing our noses, stay in and away from anyone more susceptible to lung issues.     I know, I know most every one of us wants to be seen and as often as possible, no matter the cost.    ggg    Well, ain't that so?    I just have to remind myself from time to time that other people's health and safety is much more important than my need to be seen.    I sure wish others would do the same.

One thing that I am gonna try to do this year is to add a tip or two to each blog post.   I hope you will let me know if it is helpful to you or someone else you may share them with.   I don't know a lot, but I love sharing what little I do know, so this is the first tip about the wet wipes to help you stay healthy. I get them at the Dollar Tree in an oval upright plastic container with a red flip top pop off lid.   There is between 60-75 wipes in the containers.    I keep them in the door pocket of the car all year long.   Since they are wet wipes, they will freeze during cold weather.    So, to keep them from freezing, I will put about 1/4 cup of alcohol that I have also gotten at the Dollar Tree in the wet wipes container. One bottle of alcohol will more than last a whole winter season and two vehicles.    It will keep the wipes from freezing and it also gives a little more sanitizing power in the winter, which we need.   And since alcohol is drying to your skin, as soon as you get home and wash your hands, use a good moisturizer on your hands.

So, today I had my FCE, Family Community Education club meeting.     We always go over old business and new business and stuff like and have a show and tell time and if someone gets together the stuff, we have a small craft project.    We haven't been having many craft projects as of late.   So this morning I got the stuff together and we had a mini art session!!!    Yes we did!!!!    We all enjoyed it a lot and I hope I can do more in the months to come.  

I had been seeing some art of a friend on the Google+ communities and oohhhing and aaahhhhing over her work and she said it would be quite ok for me to use her idea and share it with others.    So, that is what I done today.     I dedicate this craft project to my friend +Sue Marrazzo  and I thank her for the encouragement to use her idea.   Be sure and check out some of her art by clicking on her name, she is awesome!!!   I didn't have a sample to show them, I just got everything out and we just done it at the same time and all the ladies really enjoyed it.   I was so thankful that they had a good time making this little pin.

It is a 2x2 mini art canvas in black.    I gathered up a bunch of acrylic paints, metallics and non metallics, tooth picks, beads, buttons, pin backs, and a sticky back copper stained glass edging.   They weren't dry, so they don't have the pin backs on them and copper edging.    We will put that on when they are completely dry and cured for a day or two.    But I did take pictures of all our multi media mini art canvas pins.    I was gonna bring some glitter, but I forgot it.   But.....I'm just sure some glitter will fall on mine before it's completely done.    hehehehe     Hope you enjoy the pics.

This one is mine.   I put a couple of pearls on mine.   I use white metallic, blue metallic, purple and a spot of bronze metallic and just swirled it around with a toothpick.

 It looks like most of used about the same colors.

 This one a bit more white and blue.

 I really enjoyed the looks of this one with the pink.   It really stands out.

 This one had pink in it too, and I really love the way they turned out.

This was mine again with the small pin back just so you can see perspective of size.    Without that, they look like they could be 14x14 inch canvases.    hahaha   (that would be a goofy big pin, wouldn't it.   hehehe)

So, there you have it.    I hope enjoy seeing this.    I will put up another pic when I have mine finished completely with the copper edging on it.     Thank you Sue, for the inspiration.   I hope we done your project justice.    We sure enjoyed it!!!!!

Have you ever been lied to?    Do you know a lie when you hear one?     How does it make you feel to hear a lie?      You know what I mean.     Just a quickening in you gut, or a tug at your heart, or just an all out warning system going off in your head.     It's really hard to hear lies being told about friends, family or significant people in our lives.    It hurts.     And if you love the person being lied about, you want to say something, don't you.     Or maybe you just don't say anything because you don't want to make scene.     Either way, you recognize it as a lie and your heart aches for the other person.

So, lets get to the heart of the matter.     What about when the lie is about you?     "Them's fightin' words"!     ggg     Think about it.    Who tells "you" the most lies about you?     The enemy!     The devil!    The evil one!     His number one job is to kill, steal, and destroy!!!     We read the Bible and we are warned about his evil ways and tactics and we know he wants to keep us bound up in lies; in his lies.     If he can tell you a lie about you and you believe it, guess what, his job is done and he has you tied up in the corner right where he wants you.     

It is so easy for us to encourage others.     The sad part of it is this, most of us feel like we don't deserve that same encouragement.     It is just easier for us to believe the lies of the enemy than it is to believe the same encouraging words that we share with others; that when we accepted Christ Yeshua, as our Lord and Savior all the old things in our life before Christ was totally erased.     That is what happens when we accept Yeshua, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!!!      All that stuff that had held us back, like stinkin' garbage, is gone forever.      Why is it so hard for us to believe what the Bible says about us?     Why is so hard to believe that we are a new creation in Christ?     Let's face it, Christ has our heart, but the enemy still resides in our mind.     That's it, just straight up, the enemy still has our mind in bondage.   We know in our hearts that what I'm saying is true.     We don't want it to be true, we really don't.   So how do we move forward without the enemy in our mind?     I won't even pretend to have all the answers, but I can point you in the direction for all the answers, The Word of God!!!!     All that matters is the truth of the Word of God!!!!     Here is a short list of who you are in Christ:

John 1:12   --children of God

Ephesians 1:5  --adopted into the family through Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 6:17  --one with Christ in Spirit

Romans 6:6  --no longer slaves to sin

Genesis 1:27  --created in the image of God

Jeremiah 1:5  --known by God before you was born (life begins at conception)

1 Peter 2:9  --chosen, royal, holy, God's special possession (peculiar treasure)

Galatians 3:27-28  --clothed with Christ, no divisions or separations, all one in Christ

1 Corinthians 6:19-20  --living temples of the Holy Spirit, bought with a price (Jesus bought you)

2 Corinthians 5:17  --new creature in Christ

Galatians 5:1  --set free in Christ

Ephesians 4:24  --righteous and holy

Colossians 2:10  --fulfilled in Christ (made complete, whole)

Colossians 3:12  --holy and dearly loved

Colossians 1:22  --blameless and free

Hebrews 4:16  --we can come boldly to the throne of God to seek mercy and grace from Him

1 Peter 2:11  --an enemy of the devil

1 John 2:27  --anointed by God

1 John 4:10  --loved

Revelation 5:9  --have been redeemed

Isaiah 53:5  --healed

John 15:3  --cleansed

Philippians 4:13  --capable

I could go on and on and on with more scripture to show us who we are in Yeshua, Christ, but I think this is more than enough to get us started on retraining our thought process about ourselves and stop us from listening to the enemy.    I pray that we will use these verses and others as a reminder of "who we are" and "whose we are".     I have to remind myself from time to time and fill my mind with the good stuff.

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

One thing I know for sure is this; dwelling on the stinkin' thinkin', the lies that the enemy tells us day in and day out are NOT what is excellent or praiseworthy.     The list above is.     Think on those things and praise Yahweh, that all things are made new in Christ, Yeshua!!!!!!     Share this with someone you know who would benefit from a little pick-me-up.    They will appreciate it so much.

So, let me ask you a question.     Who are you?     It's not based on economic status, your checking account, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the color of your hair, the color of your skin, your weight,  the size of the house you live in, where you were born.     None of those things matter.     They really don't.   What does matter is the foot of the cross.     It's level for everyone.     Everyone has to make their way to the foot of the cross at some time or another, to be in right relationship with our Father God.    If you have acknowledged that you need help in your life and Christ is that help; if you have accepted Christ into your heart; if you have confessed your sin with your mouth and believed in your heart that Christ died for your sins and is now at the right hand of the Father, then you can claim all these verses over your life and all the many more in scripture that tell who you are.   Woohoo!!!     That's some good news!!!!     Child of God, who are you?   

I have another little "tip" to share with you that can save you a little money.    Who doesn't want to do that?    It won't make you rich, but a few extra pennies in your pocket is better than them being in someone elses pocket, "ain't" it?     A friend of mine up in Ky (she will know who she is when she reads this   ggg) gave me a pump bottle of hand soap for my birthday last year.   Most of the pump bottles just pump out liquid soap into your hand.     This one pumped out foam!     I loved it!   So much so that I used it up way too quickly.   hehehe    What can I say, I loved the foam.   Well, I wasn't about to toss the empty bottle.     The pump mechanism is much larger than the one in a regular hand soap bottle (if you are interested in looking for one).     So that got me to thinking it was the mechanism that made the foam.     The soap solution was much thinner, watery.     My experiment led me to this finding.     Take off the pump mechanism from the bottle and put about 2 tablespoons, no more than that for sure, of regular liquid soap in the bottle and fill it the rest of the way up with hot water, leaving enough space to accommodate the larger pump mechanism.     Don't shake the bottle, just swirl it around until the soap is evenly distributed  and then put the pump mechanism back in and ENJOY your new foam hand wash!!!!     A regular bottle of hand wash will last for forever, almost!!! Yay!!   Woop Woop!!!

I sure hope y'all read something here today that spoke to you.   Maybe a tip, or maybe the Word of God, or maybe just my ramblings; if it did, tell someone you know about it, they may need to hear it too.     I love it when you leave me a little note, it makes me happy.    I hope we enjoy the day that has been put before us.   Cold, rain, snow, sleet, ice, floods......no amount of bad weather can keep us from the presence of Yahweh!!!!    Nothing can!!!    Isn't that GOOD NEWS!!!!    Don't forget to "dream" God sized dreams!!!!

Till we meet again, right back here, blessings, God loves y'all and so do I!!!!!!   hugs, Patty