What Flag are you Flying?

What Flag Are You Flying?

A young lady from my church is currently spending a semester abroad studying in London. As I was looking through the amazing pictures that she posted recently, I was awestruck by the opportunity that she has to live where our country's history began.

As I looked through the photos, I noticed a photo of Buckingham Palace that she had captioned, "The Queen isn't in today." How did she know this?  The Royal Standard is always flown to signify that the Queen is at home within Buckingham Palace. On this day, only the Union Jack was flying, letting the throngs of people standing outside of the palace know that the queen was not in residence.

I began thinking about Jesus, the King of all Kings.

How do we let others know that He is at home in us?

Many people wear religious clothing, cross necklaces, and have the fish symbol magnets on the backs of their vehicles, but do people really see Jesus in us without all of the accessories?

If I never again wore any religious-themed attire, never wore a cross necklace, and didn't have the fish symbol on the back of my vehicle, would others still be able to tell that I'm a child of the King?

 Sadly, I know that I fall short weekly  daily  hourly each and every day of my life. Thankfully, I know that He is always there for me to ask forgiveness for my sins and short-comings. You see, Jesus is always with us. He is never away for a weekend. His phone line never rings busy. He never has someone else to stand in for Him. His presence is a constant, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. We simply have to have faith, and stand back and let Him do what He wants to do in and through us. He's waiting on us to really see Him. He's waiting on us to let others really see Him in our lives.

A fire has been ignited in me. My heart has been convicted. My toes have been stomped on. My soul has been challenged.

People NEED to know Jesus, and as Christians, we are obligated to help them see Him in us.

Salvation in Jesus is wonderful news. If you have something amazing that has happened to you, you wouldn't keep it a secret. You'd want to shout it from the rooftops! How is the Good News of Jesus any less important?  There are people dying and going to hell every minute of every day. What can I do to change that? What can YOU do to change that?

Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? If you were to die right now, do you know without hesitation where you would spend eternity? If not, I would love to share my Jesus with you.

I will end with this thought....

What flag are YOU flying in YOUR heart today?

Blessings,
Amy

Stand Up and Be Counted

The past few weeks have been tense ones in the state of North Carolina. 

Our state is facing a very important vote on Tuesday, May 8th, that will put to bed the definition of marriage. Is it one man and one woman? Is it open to interpretation regardless of your sexual orientation? Is it discrimination for those on the "for" side to vote in favor of the amendment? Is it liberalistic for those on the against side to vote in opposition?

Both sides FOR and AGAINST raise passionate debates on why they personally believe they are right. It's at best, a heated topic of debate, discussion, and sadly, venomous at times. 

I see things very black and white. There is no gray area. I'm either for or against. It's right or it's wrong. I've always been that way, and at 41 years old, I doubt that that will be changing any time soon. I'm also someone that has never gone along with the main stream, what is popular, or what is politically correct. 

When you are a Christian, you ARE different. You ARE set apart. You ARE treated differently in society. Perhaps not so much on a day-to-day basis at work and school, but definitely when hot topic debates such as this amendment are brought to the surface.

Yesterday, our pastor spoke with fire, conviction, and passion from the pulpit on "The Biblical Standard of Marriage."  My husband and I had been praying for our pastor since reading the church marquee on Saturday with the sermon title. Speaking out for something that goes against what's popular or widely accepted is difficult at best, and those willing to take that stand need our prayers and support, and Dr. Yount preached one of the best messages that I have ever had the privilege of hearing. I thank God for a man of God that doesn't back down, and preaches the message that God lays on his heart.

Our state has been bombarded by so many commercials that take away from the main issue - redefining marriage. 

For me, this is a non-issue. 

Genesis 1:27-28 (NIV) states:

"So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them. God blessed them and told them, 'Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.' "

God himself performed the first marriage ceremony in the garden of Eden - between a man and a woman.

As far as I'm concerned, that settles this issue. God ordained marriage as one man and one woman. North Carolina doesn't have the right to redefine what God perfectly created so long ago. 

I was told yesterday that Christians are "discriminating" against homosexuals. I would challenge you to think before speaking such harsh words. After all, we do live in the United States of America where all of our citizens are born with the privilege and honor to have their own ideas, make their own opinions, pursue their own dreams, and practice or not practice the religion of their choice. My daddy is one of the thousands upon thousands of men and women who have fought and died for those precious rights to be preserved since our country was founded.

My vote will have nothing to do with discrimination, hate or prejudice. I am simply voting MY beliefs, MY convictions, MY morals, and for the society I want for my children and grandchildren. I encourage and challenge you to do the same. 

Whether you're on the for or against side of this issue, speak with kindness. Angry, heated words in defense don't do anyone any good. You're not going to persuade someone to see "your" side by being mean. We are all individuals that have our own opinions. Respect one another as you vote. You don't have to respect the side of the issue that someone else takes, but as Americans, it is your right - and mine - to have our voices heard.

Stand up and be counted. 

God bless,

Amy

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I am so happy to report that I have made my very first batch of homemade laundry detergent...and best of all...it only costs pennies per load to make!!! I found everything that I needed to make the detergent on the laundry aisle at Walmart - with the exception of the 5-gallon bucket. Here is a breakdown of the cost:
5 gallon bucket and lid - $4.14 (one-time expense)
Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda - $3.24
20 Mule Team Borax - $3.38
Fels Naptha - $.97
Total Paid - $11.73 + tax
*Keep in mind, the supplies are all paid for, and there are many, many more uses of all of the items for future batches!*

Recipe:

2 gallon bucket with lid

1/3 bar Fel Naptha Laundry Soap

(Ivory soap can be substituted for the Fel Naptha...you can forego the shredding of the Ivory, and put right into the microwave)

1/2 c. 20 Mule Team Borax

1/2 c. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

Essential Oil (if you prefer fragrance over a simple "fresh laundered" smell)

Step 1:

Grate 1/3 bar of Fel Naptha

Step 2:

Put a pot of 6 cups of water on the stove over low. Add the shredded soap until melted. Don't boil. Once the soap is melted, begin adding the remainder of your ingredients as follows.

Step 3:

Add 1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax to the mixture.

Step 4:

Add 1/2 cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda to the mixture.

Stir until dissolved. This mixture will thicken to a honey-like consistency. Once you've reached this state, remove from heat.

Step 5:

Pour 4 cups of HOT water into your bucket. Add the soap mixture to the hot water, and stir. If adding in essential oil, add a few drops to the mixture now. Once this step is done, add in 1 gallon of HOT water + 6 cups of HOT water to the mixture and stir well.

Step 6:

Stir well, cover and let sit overnight. You will need an immersion blender to stir it all up the next day prior to using.

This recipe filled my 5-gallon bucket halfway.

Use 1/2 cup per load = 64 loads.

I'll be doubling the recipe next time.

I never thought that I'd utter these words, but I can't wait to do my laundry tomorrow!!!!! :) I'm having a true pioneer woman moment.

Baby Steps

Are you dominated by thoughts of food morning, noon and night? 

I shouldn't be, but I am.

I'll admit it with hands raised high in the air.

I am a food addict.

I was raised as a member of the "Clean Plate Club", and constantly heard about those less fortunate that would've loved to have the vegetable left on my plate that I refused to eat. I have raised my children - up until this point - by these same values, and it has to stop. Now.

The above picture made it's rounds all over Facebook during the Christmas season, and it doesn't just say volumes....it SCREAMS it's message. In our society, it's always about more. Having more, buying more, obtaining more and being more than everyone else. These little children are most likely dominated by thoughts of more, as well. More food, more shelter, more security and more peace. Such simple requests compared to what our society values as important. Unlike these babies, I have never gone to bed hungry. I have always had enough more than enough to eat. Regardless of my differences with these precious children, I'm sure that food rules their thoughts, too, but on a very, very different scale of importance.

This past week has been so hard, as Team Murphy has pledged to plow full steam ahead with healthier minds and bodies as our goal. We have made some big changes in the way we cook, the way we eat, the portions we eat, and we are working to change the way we look at food. Food should be something that we fuel our bodies with, not a covering to lie across feelings or emotions that seems to overwhelm up at times. I'll freely admit that I completely miss that bowl of ice cream before bed at night, but I'm not going to miss the fat that it has added to my body, and the guilt that has chiseled away at my self-esteem over the years.

I started off last Monday with a trip to the grocery store to restock my pantry with healthier options for all of us. I have been packing lunches for the children for school, and make sure to have a healthy snack waiting for them when they get home to tide them over to supper. So far, they are really enjoying the snacks. Normally, they'd come in and make a sandwich, or eat a bunch of junk, but that's not an option any longer. We're changing the way we look at food...one day at a time. Here is an example of a snack that I had ready on Wednesday when they got home from school...

Diced carrots, 2 tablespoons of low fat ranch dressing for dipping, 1 apple, and 1/2 banana. They each had a small glass of diet pepsi with their snack. This was a great way to fill them until supper at 175 calories. Now that we're a week in, the snacks aren't as large, because our bodies are adjusting to less food. Their favorite right now is a Nutri-Grain bar with grapes or 1/2 banana. I'm so incredibly proud of how well my children are adapting.

Now, for week one results!!!!!!  I am down 7.2 pounds!!!!!!  Both of the children lost weight, as well. All in all, we're off to a great start. There is a long journey ahead, but we're going to make it...and we're going to make it together.

Change is a 'Comin'

The dreaded scales. Ugh!

The bathroom scales - or any scales for that matter - have never been kind to me. Never.

After experiencing an increasing number of medical issues in the past few months, and KNOWING that they're coming from my being overweight, I promised myself that 2012 would be the year I shed the weight. Once and for all. Oh sure, I've made the resolution to lose weight in the new year every year since I was, oh, 10! This time is different - and yes - I've said THAT before, too. This time, I'm not only losing for MY health, but I'm fighting for the health of my children. The most precious beings that have ever walked into my heart. The ones that I promised to protect. The ones that I would lay my life down for without a second thought. The ones that I am single-handedly leading to a lifetime of obesity, diseases, and self-esteem issues through MY food choices and MY bad eating habits.

I want to be completely open, honest and straight-forward with this topic. It's NOT easy for me to be so incredibly transparent about my constant companion - food - and how my relationship with food monopolizes so many of my daily thoughts, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm not alone in this battle.

This past Sunday morning while getting ready for church, I was watching John Hagee on TV, like we do every Sunday. He had a familiar guest on the broadcast with him - Dr. Don Colbert. Where had I seen him before? Ah, yes, LAST New Year's this same doctor was on with Pastor Hagee talking about his eating plan for weight loss. I was so motivated that I went out the next day and purchased his book, "I Can Lose This Diet." Where was the book? That's right, it was collecting dust on my night table, where it had laid since it was purchased last year. I'd never even read the first line.

No more dust-collecting. I'm reading that little gem right now, and trying to pin down the REASON for why I'm a food addict. There, I've said it. I'm an addict. You have to know the REASON why you're an overeater, or nothing will change for you.

As I've read through just the first chapter, I've been blown away by the statistics of obesity. Here are just a few that have really rattled me:

• Only 2-5% of all dieters manage to lose weight and keep it off for good.
• Diets fail 80-90% of the time.
• Obesity currently kills an estimated 400,000 Americans each year, and is currently the second leading cause of preventable deaths.
• The obesity industry (fast-food restaurants, obesity-related medical treatments and diet books pull in more than $315 BILLION per year. Folks, that's nearly 3% of the US' overall economy.
• If you are overweight or obese, you increase your risk of developing 35 MAJOR diseases, and developing more than a dozen forms of cancer.

This next statistic really kicked me in the teeth...

• Overall, this is the first generation of children that is not expected to live as long as their parents, and they will be more likely to suffer from disease and illness at a much earlier age.

Wow. If that doesn't make you catch your breath, I'm not sure what would. If I don't lose weight for myself, I MUST do it for my children. Children follow us by example. They learn and live what is taught to them. If you have ever attempted to lose weight before and failed, like I have a couple thousand times, I would love for you to walk this journey with me.
BE TRANSFORMED. BE ENCOURAGED. BE HEALTHIER.

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to beat it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).

God bless you all,
Amy

New Year, New Outlook, New Me

2012.

Sometimes, it seems that life is flying right before me, and I can't catch up...can't catch my breath. I remember when I was younger, and my mama would say, "Just wait until you're out of school. Life will fly by in the blink of an eye." As a then-teenager, who was far too intelligent to believe anything that a parent said, I thought, "Sure it will." As it sometimes always turns out, Mama was right. She knew what she was talking about. I find it so hard to believe that this year is a year of such huge milestones for my family. Audy and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in September, our oldest will become a licensed driver, not to mention, a high school junior, and our youngest will start her last year of elementary school in the fall. Life is fleeting. Life is precious.

This morning's sermon on how precious each and every second of our lives are really drove home what I need to be my focus in 2012 . God gives me 86,400 seconds each and every day to live to my fullest potential. To enjoy His creation. To share His love with others. To be the wife, mother, daughter, sister, daughter-in-law, and aunt that my family deserves. This year, I fully intend not to worry about everything under the sun. I worry over things that are of no value. I worry over things that are completely out of my control. Our pastor taught this morning that we need to live in the present. I'm going to do just that! I'm going to LIVE.

With that in mind, there are NO resolutions for me this year...only goals that with God's help, I will reach - and surpass. Here are a few things that I am going to do to work on living in the moment a little more, and being less a stick in the mud uptight, in no certain order.

1. I'm 41. It's time to get the weight off once and for all and live a healthier life for not only me, but for my children, who are learning my bad habits.

2. I'm going to walk with my children for exercise once a day.

3. I'm going to be less "busy", and more attentive when my children want to share something from their day. I promise to really listen to them when they share with me, and not be thinking of things I could be doing in the back of my mind.

4. I'm going to live in the present, and not plan out every second of every day, and live by my schedule so much. As a business owner, that's not easy, but if I live by my schedule, and not in the moment, I'm missing out on the little things that will mean the most in the years to come.

5. I'm going to enjoy every single moment of love and marriage that I have been blessed with my best friend. My parents were given 19-1/2 years together before my daddy was called to Heaven. We have been married as long as they have at this point. I want to savor every joke, enjoy every hug, and cherish each loving glance at one another. I want to soak it all in.

6. I'm going to be more financially-minded. When we sit down to make out of a budget for the month, no more rationalizing that this one purchase won't hurt. If it's not a necessity, it won't be purchased.

7. I'm going to strive to be the child that GOD wants me to be in all areas.

8. I'm going to take a picture a day for the year, and journal about that day. I don't want to miss a second more of the life God has given me. I want to be able to look back on the bad days, and KNOW that I came through that because of God, and not anything that I may have said or done. I want to be able to look back on the good days, and remember each expression on the faces of those I love...remember each word spoken...and thank God for the good times.

9. I'm going to spend as much time with my family as possible. This past July, we came very close to losing my sister, when she was involved in a fatal car accident. Since that day, our family has drawn closer and closer. Even though that was a dark time, looking back from this side of it, I can see God's hand all over that day. There is a lesson to be learned from every incident that occurs in our lives, be it good or bad. What I took away from that day is that LIFE IS PRECIOUS. We aren't promised a tomorrow. We aren't promised another minute.

So, there are my realistic goals for 2012. Simply put....I plan to truly LIVE each and every moment as if it were my last.

...And so it begins...

Hello!
My name is Amy. I live in the foothills of North Carolina...90 minutes from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and 4 hours from the nearest beach. I love all things domestic — sewing, quilting, cooking, reading, etc. I will admit that I haven't sewn since I made the decor for my now 15-1/2 year old son's nursery :), but after receiving a shiny, new sewing machine from my mama for Christmas, I'm an eager beaver to once again...get crafty! I have so many "projects" planned for myself in 2012...losing weight (once and for all!), quilting, working on many, many Pinterest projects, gardening and canning all of the wonderful fruits and veggies from the harvest, not to mention, continuing to operate my full time business where I am a cake decorator and continue to be an active member of our church that we love so much. :) In this blog, I hope to share all about my trials and tribulations of being more homey in my cooking, cleaning, organizing and project undertaking in words and pictures.

I am happily and hopelessly in love with my husband of 19 years. In the past 3 years, we have both grown so much in our faith. God has opened doors for us, and introduced us to so many things that we never dreamed we'd experience. We're not perfect, but we love the Lord, and pray daily for Him to guide our steps, words and actions. We have two blessings that are the source of my joy - and graying hair. :)  The oldest is 15, driving and enthusiastic about joining the military as soon as he graduates. He is fiercely proud in the military background of our family, and wants to serve his country.  The youngest is 11, and she is absolutely fearless. She is a ball of energy from the time she wakes up until she finally closes her eyes at night.   I’m a self-employed cake decorator by day. (I have a licensed bakery that I operate from my home).  I started this little blog to keep a record of some of my projects and activities.  And most importantly, a place to meet new friends!