Minimalism & Simple Living
Summer is here and the neighborhood is prowling with neighbors out and about enjoying the fresh air, which means it is time to brush-up on your “How do you do?” neighbor skills.
Most of the good advice on being a good neighbor is a little too Mr. Rodgers for me. [Read more…] about How to be a great neighbor
Most of us don’t have the luxury of a job role that requires just one thing of us. We need help with time management tips because we wear multiple hats, have constant interruptions, are overran by the tyranny of the urgent, and get way too many e-mails.
While most of us can’t change many of these dynamics, we can definitely get a hold of how we respond to it.
and continue to [Read more…] about The 3 Time Management Tips That Saved My Life
From the Editor: There’s something about stepping into a hospital elevator that makes many of us feel uneasy. So we asked our guest contributor, Maureen Otremba, to help us make a hospital visit as comfortable as possible, for you AND the friend you’re visiting!
My work as a church minister includes making hospital visits to members of our congregation who request such a visit. Over the last several years, here are a few helpful tips I’ve learned about visiting a friend or loved one in the hospital:
1) Make the visit for your friend—not for yourself. In other words, try to fill the need of your friend, and not your own. Does your friend need company, cheering up, spiritual encouragement, or even errands done? Make this the focus of your visit—NOT catching her up on your stuff.
2) Make the visit brief. Most people are in the hospital because they are not feeling well; so long visits tend to exhaust them. Don’t presume your friend will tell you when she’s tired. It’s always better to keep the visit short than to stay too long.
3) Respect her privacy. There may be things about her condition that she doesn’t want you to know. And by all means, do not share anything about your visit with others, unless you have permission from your friend to do so.
4) Be considerate of hospital staff. They are trying to do their jobs in tending to the medical needs of your friend. Step out of their way; offer to leave the room if necessary. And thank them for their work. (You’d be surprised how infrequently they get thanked.)
5) Pray. Before you visit, after you leave, and even while you’re in the room (if your friend welcomes this), call on the Lord Jesus, the Master Healer, whose touch brought wholeness while He was on this earth, and whose Holy Spirit heals through us. If your friend is comfortable with this, reach out and touch her arm, her shoulder, even her feet.
Should I bring flowers?
While you can, it might also be nice to send flowers later on. If they have an extended hospital stay, a fresh bouquet may be nice after others have wilted. Or, if they have headed home, you can send flowers there to remind them that they are still being thought of.
Overall…
Of course, this list is nowhere near all-inclusive. And each visit has its own set of circumstances which call for sensitivity and flexibility. Above all, listen more than you talk. The gift of presence is sometimes most valuable when no words are exchanged at all.
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“Come to me all you who are weary and over burdened, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30 Phillips
I remember lying in bed one evening filled with anger. I was angry at my husband, angry at friends, angry at my life as a stay at home mom. I felt under-valued, under-loved, misunderstood and [Read more…] about Heart to Heart: A Must Read for Moms
{ To see the stain test and my recipe, click HERE. }
After making my first batch of Homemade Laundry Detergent with these directions and my revised recipe, here are a couple of tips:
1. Microwave AND use Food Processor or blender with Zote soap. The first time I just used the food processor with cut up cubes of soap and some baking powder to keep it from sticking. However, it ended up more course than I would have liked. Next, I microwaved cubes of soap for a couple of minutes, it will fluff up and when it cools break it up and then use the food processor. This gave me a nice, fine powder that will dissolve more easily in the washer.
2. Mix it outside! Enough said, the fumes could knock you out!
3. Use the Sun Oxygen or OxyClean scoop as your measurer, it is exactly 2 TBSP, the recommended amount to use. (The bucket works great to store a portion of the soap in, too!).
4. When in doubt, pre-treat with oxyclean spray, or another spray stain releaser.
5. Throw out the dryer sheets! Since using this I have had no need for dryer sheets and there is less lint in my trap (the fillers in commercial detergents actually break down your clothes, causing lint and wear.
Side tip: If you still have a lot of static try reducing the drying time, over drying causes more static.
Do you have any tips? Please share below or feel free to post questions :)
My parents handled it well, the day ALL three of their twenty-something children registered to vote at our little town hall with the same address: theirs. We had all left home, gone to college, had careers, and now returned for various reasons.
“The thing is,” I explained to the clerk, “It’s not like [Read more…] about How to move back home successfully
