…delicious looking isn’t it? Thank a curious swarm of bees who moved into my granny’s empty hive…and made it home sweet home.

On Friday afternoon, Mom and I undertook a task that we’ve been wanting to do for a while. Our steady stream to more organic living has taken us to the road of soap making. We wanted to make sure that soap making would not only be healthier but we were hoping it would be less expensive in the long run, and so far it has. We used the recipe from The West Ladies on their tutorial video Home Stead Blessings The Art of Soap Making.

tools graciously loaned by The Brooky’s

There is something so gratifying about making your own soap and waiting proudly as it cures for two weeks. Our first batch turned out lavender colored  (we think it was from the vegetable shortening that we used) and we ended up with 28 nice sized bars. We didn’t put any scent into it, though we added the suggested oats for moisturizer and cinnamon for colour, though it only turned out a darker lavender. Our next batch will probably have some essential oils for scent, but right down we’re going to test with plain soap.

“Because God’s plan is better than ours, and because He is sovereign, we don’t have to be searching for husbands, worrying about being pretty enough or charming enough to attract one, or fretting over the prospect of dying old maids. ” page 220

I love this quote from Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin in their extremely enlightening book, So Much More. We have the promise of God that He is in control. The Bible tells us over and over again that nothing comes about that God does not know of. No young woman sits waiting at home for the husband God forgot about. He plans everything perfectly, so perfectly in fact that we will probably not see His complete sense of timing in this life.

I breathe a sigh of relief when to hear that my own personal charms and looks do not matter when it comes to the Lord providing me with a husband, if the time comes. To know that I am not in control really does send a fresh breath of contentment into my soul. If I was responsible for making myself pretty enough to see that I end up married, I would be in vain. And those are not the kind of marriages we want in the first place! A marriage based completely on looks will fade just like the features that they felt were so desirable. In truth,  marriages worth having are the ones that only God  brings together.

And as for charm, I know the Lord tells us that charm is deceitful, but what exactly is charm? Witty expressions, adorable traits? I always thought that charm was elegant and desirable. Most classy ladies had charm I thought - so I looked it up. From the words of Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, charm is:

3 a : a trait that fascinates, allures, or delights  b : a physical grace or attraction —  used in plural  *her feminine charms*  c : compelling attractiveness

The only thing “deceitful” that I can find in the definition is the word “allures”. Fascination and delight are not wrong in themselves, nor are physical grace or attractiveness…but ‘allures‘? To allure means to tempt, entice, or seduce…all actions that require the heart’s emotions. So the charm to be weary of is the charm that allures, not merely a charming character with Victorian styles, but like anything…it is the heart that matters. We sometimes do not realize the emphasis the Lord puts on the heart’s emotions. It is from the heart that we realize the need for a Saviour, it is the heart that produces my truest thoughts and desires.

I want to keep this quote in my mind whenever I think “Am I pretty enough for someone to actually think about courting me? I mean, I shouldn’t scare them before I even know them!” - which happens a lot. I am still learning to value the heart instead of the head, a little more everyday. Anything can happen at the blink of an eye to change the way we look but it takes a wave of change to scrape away our spirits. In the end, what do I work harder at beautifying…my outward or my inward appearance?

What I woke up to this morning…

Yep, she’s only got one. We got rid of all the other chickens when we thought we were moving, so we only have this hen, a rooster, and now a little chick. They’re slowly multiplying…

…you forget an important part of the pattern!

This is what you call “Half a Hat”. Can you tell what’s missing….6 inches of the pattern, the top is the decrease without the part for your head. I thought it looked funny but I didn’t want to ask…

God has blessed us with the ability to temporarily take leave of our senses when we are in pain, like trekking to safety with broken bones or passing out when the throbbing pulses of our nerves indicate severe injury, but occasionally that ability can come into play in unwanted circumstances, like today.

I’ve never been good with blood. The first time I passed out was at eight or nine in a hospitable and since then it’s been a somewhat predictable pattern of fainting. The last time I passed out Mom sat me in the chair so I wouldn’t hit my head falling to the floor like all the previous times, but that chair didn’t stop me. I just found a different route to the floor, though indeed a little less bumpy.

Well today, I was a little nervous as I needed to have blood drawn. 4 little vials waited beside me and the room was small and oddly lit, but the lady was very kind, hinting at my nervousness. I made it through 3 vials and then it started; that horribly uncomfortable silent-movie-type of symptom. My vision became blurry and I couldn’t hear the faces talking to me. An intense sweat broke out over my body and I immediately tried to read something on the wall to occupy my mind but before I could finish the poster on coughing, I performed the ‘classic Margaret faint‘, as Mom calls it. Apparently I went white and for someone who always has a rosiness in their cheeks, white means white. My head fell forward and my body shook for a little bit and then I came to.

The lady, when I awoke, was impressed with my “Snow White” fainting which made me feel better since I was unconscious in front of her. Compared to my somewhat unattractive routines in the past, this fainting was very proper and the closest I’ve ever come to fainting like in the movies. You know - the elegant sigh, the back of the hand against the fevered brow, and then the sweeping fall to the couch, ground, or in the below case - into the arms of those standing by.  I hate to bust the bubble of those who have never fainted, but let me tell you…the actual process is not elegant in any way, sadly.

From my perspective, during the seconds in which I was “gone”, I experienced a very fascinating example of the mysteries of the mind. In those fifteen seconds I saw every Dick Van Dyke episode flash before my mind in a fifties type of reel. For those wondering why, I had just watched an episode of Dick Van Dyke before leaving. Case solved.

For the last year, as most know, the Twilight series rose in popularity, gathering a cluster of women from all ages in their growing fan club. I sat back and watched, metaphorically speaking, as the hordes kept sweeping the nation, obsessed with a forbidden romance, though for centuries we’ve seen the grip forbidden love has had on people, yet for some reason an average story has the hearts of countless women. The grip however ranges from those who just watch the movie once a day to those wearing the insignia on their underwear.

I, personally, have never had any interest in the Twilight fad. At first because everyone liked it, which immediately puts me off. I like to be different and hold my head up high when girls almost hyperventilate when they realize I’ve never done something and now…not having watched the Twilight movies. So, my first inclination was to not like it, even though I’d never seen it.

But then I read very useful articles such as : Eclipse : An Ideal Romance, Abstaining from the Madness, and How Twilight is Revamping Romance.

Then, after considering the entirety of the subject, I decided to watch the first movie, so I would be able to finalize my objections. And while I’m on the subject of objections…I read on her Wikipedia page that Stephenie Meyer likened her book with having been inspired by Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, among other classics of literature! For what it’s worth, I didn’t see any supernatural men falling in love with Anne, who is the opposite of Bella; charming, talkative, and completely fascinated with life.

After having Mom verbalize her trust that I wouldn’t turn into a “fanpire” I viewed the movie on You Tube. I have seen the plot before, though, minus the undertone that the leading man has a thing for the heroine’s blood.

As a movie, it was, at times, corny. There are a few moments where I thought Bella was surprisingly refreshing as a heroine, mostly due to the fact that she trips and acts like the average girl, which is probably what captures most girls’ attention. Lined up against the wall with other movies, it isn’t out of the ordinary in the fact that the romance is selfish - on Bella’s part, and that a real eternity exists yet they choose to live their life on their terms.

And for the record, as for ‘promoting abstinence’, I felt that during that particular scene, when Edward throws himself across the room after kissing her, that he is not removing himself from the act of premarital sex, but trying not to kill her. If he was sure he wouldn’t kill her, I feel like they would’ve went ahead and… *ahem* you know, since he did end up spending the night in her bed anyway he obviously didn’t think about it being too sensual.

But in the light that Twilight is receiving globally, I feel that it can be dangerous for young girls and as it seems - their mothers. Yet all movies, with the exception of a few truly clean films, can become distractions when they become more than a two hour plot line. When anything takes our eyes off of Christ we are vulnerable and when we place something ahead of Him Satan takes his best shots. Twilight is not the only movie that has stirred hearts in the wrong direction. When we have an obsession towards something, whether is be Edward Cullen or our own personal glory, it becomes dangerous. We are all sinners, easily swayed by the smallest thing, but the thing that defines us from the world is that we have a Saviour, one who is more powerful than our sinful nature, and can save us from it.

After having seen it, these are my conclusions…it is an ordinary movie with a plot line that straddles others before it, with the exception of vampires and werewolves. I do not feel the need to watch this movie again, and I am a romantic, so that tells you something.

But what is more, I do not believe Twilight is at the very heart of the problem, but our own hearts. We choose to let it control us or not. Sure the movies have helped in that area, but we take what is in them and decide to let them run rampant for a while.

Our generation has been somewhat spoilt on freedom. We live in a society, which for now, limits only a few things from it’s citizens. When they wake up in the morning, nothing in their mind leads them to think about their freedoms…for they have been here for so long, that they feel they can’t be taken away.

At our local elections a few months ago, only 20 % of the people even bothered to show up! Most are comfortable in their liberties, not thinking a second thought that the wrong choices could take them away.  Mom and I listened to an Iwo Jima survivor give a talk, and he recalled that recently, when he and his wife rode in a parade proudly carrying the flag, only two or three people lifted their hands in a salute, or held a hand across their heart.

We live in a society that no longer remembers the cost of what is free, to them, now. Men still die protecting our rights, which, in turn, are taken away by the present government officials. Young children continue to grow in a culture that has forgotten its past. Where there is no vision, the people perish.  Where they forget their past, their future is vulnerable.

Patriotism isn’t dead, but many people are forgetting to take it along when they leave their homes during the day. Our conflicted generation has little respect for the honorable things in life. Sadly, our country’s great freedoms and liberties are one of them.

I pray that though our country is falling, the Christians, who have the only hope of a great kingdom, will stay strong, not forgetting God’s promises.

After reading Why Am I Not Married? over at Visionary Daughters,  I was convicted in one of their paragraphs on what I really thought a husband would want in a wife and if I was preparing to be those things. I sat down and honestly contemplated the virtues I would want to be, whether I have them or not, and these are what I came up with.

1. She must be a maturing Christian, showing the fruit of the Spirit.
2. She should be committed to family; present and future.
3. Her character should be real and not falsely implied.
4. She should be able to run a house without too much difficulty.
5. A follower of the Scriptures, not only reading but acting out their commands.
6. Modesty. Not only of the body but of the mind.
7. Willingness to change lifestyles for the plan God has for her life.
8. Ability to be hospitable. A warm and welcoming personality as well as home.
9. She must have a gentle spirit.
10. A willing and sacrificial heart.

#4 is still in the process but I am pushing through my dislike for cooking in order to serve my family more.

#7 and # 10 are in the same boat of being willing to follow the Lord and doing what He commands without any other element thrown into the picture. I am a little hesitant to change my life, but I believe that if I was called by the Lord to leave the life I know, that I would do so without grumbling. I may be a little unsure at first, but I don’t want to grumble.

#8…oh boy! I don’t like to talk a whole bunch in public conversations. However, I don’t go out of my way to be silent. I may pipe in every now and then or talk with someone who needs talking with, but I try not to be unpleasant under any circumstance.

There’s my convictions and confessions about how I fail at them (for all to see *gasp*), but I have the best aid on my side; God’s grace and prayer.

About a week ago I made my moebius after I observed Mom making one. So, I picked up some yarn at our newly-organized-with-more-yarn-than-before JoAnn’s, and I started, after Mom graciously casted on with the invisible cast on, a skill I have yet to learn. The yarn is homespun and it looks like a sunset, with red fading into a deep olive green. It has an I-chord on the edges which give it a lovely finish.

It can be worn like this…

…or this.

The twist before joining the ends is genius. Elizabeth Zimmermann is such with knitting.

For Marie: