The winner of the new e-book, Not A DIY Diva, is……
SARAH NUTTER!
Congratulations! Thank you ALL for entering! And I definitely recommend jumping over to The Inspired Room and reading more of Melissa, or picking up your own copy of Not A DIY Diva. I’m reading my own copy now and love love love it.
Call me crazy, but I recently signed up for Pinterest. As if I need one more interactive thing to do on the web, right? Pinterest is a virtual pinboard of ideas. Many ideas. A vast expanse. An exciting adventure into the world of What Could Be. But there are downsides to this new adventure. The ideas come so fast, and I am pinning and pinning and pinning, all the while thinking, “When will I ever have time to do any of this?” Or, “Man, my home is nowhere near where I’d like it to be.” Or, “I want my life to look more like this pin.” And once again, something that was meant to inspire, actually leaves me feeling defeated; like what I’m doing just isn’t good enough. My efforts have fallen short of what the culture has required.
But then, alas, I was turned on to a (new-to-me) blog called The Inspired Room. The author of the blog is Melissa Michaels, and she writes wonderful things about home and design – none of which you’d expect. Melissa encourages her readers to design an authentic life that is reflected in the home, instead of striving (and often failing) to make our homes look like the pictures in the magazines (or the pins on your virtual boards).
Her words relieve me. I want to shout and cry “YES YES YES!” while twirling and dancing a little jig around my laundry-adorned living room. I have always wanted my home to be a place my family wants to come home to. As an admitted home-body myself, I want my home to be a haven. Comfortable. Inviting. Unintimidating. Real.
I am so excited to be reading more of her blog. And also excited that Melissa is publishing an e-book this Tuesday!
Not A DIY Diva, How to Create An Authentically-Inspired Life in a Pinterest World, is a compilation (prettier and neater) of all that she’s been writing on her blog for the past four years. (Talk about seeing a work completed!) I am so looking forward to reading it; to finding encouragement for moving forward in my home, making it a place of invite and peace – from the inside out.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.”
Matthew 23:25-26
Trying and trying to make my life and home look a certain way does not change what it actually is. That is not fulfilling the purpose God has for me as a mother and a home-maker. I think God wants me to be a life-maker, spreading His good news like seeds over all the hearts in my life. This begins in my home. I want to change what my home inherentlyIS, that the way it looks might be an authentic reflection.
I thought you might feel the same way… and be interested in reading the e-book, too! So I’m giving away a FREE COPY! Hooray!
To enter, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post telling us why you’d like to read the book. Simple!
If you want an additional entry, head on over to our Facebook page and share the link to the giveaway on your FB page. Then just lemme know you shared the link.
Winner will be selected at random and announced Wednesday evening. Until then, skip on over to The Inspired Room and browse the archives. And have a great week of life-making!
This month we’ve been focusing on the word “THANKS” in our home. You might be thinking, “Wouldn’t that be a better for November? Not too quick on the uptake there, Tasha.” And you’re right. But I was eager to get this word on the fridge for the sake of my son, who can really stand to learn a little thankfulness these days. In my eagerness, I decided not to save it for the month of Thanksgiving, and in my excitement, totally underestimated what a challenge this word would be for us.
Maddox has learned how and when to say “thank you” in interactions, but understanding why we ought to have an attitude of thanks is a completely different beast!
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
An attitude of thanks is not necessarily the same thing as the words “thank you” coming off the lips. An attitude of thanks turns its face toward the good. It strives for peace. It struggles for humility. It is willing to put griping and complaining aside, for the sake of Christ-likeness.
These are things that most adults, myself very much included, can’t even grasp on a daily basis. I don’t really expect that my two-and-a-half year old could. But if I’ve learned one thing in parenting, it’s that children pick up on attitudes quicker than anything else. Attitudes seem to be a great initiating point for understanding concepts and ideas. So if I can model an attitude of thanks, then my children will learn to walk in an attitude of thanks as well.
Maintaining thankfulness in every circumstance, day in and day out, no matter what is going on in the day – that’s not easy thing. But I know we can get up every day and choose to walk in the Spirit, taking on an attitude of thankfulness.
How do YOU do it?
Going the way of “natural” in the home can seem so overwhelming. You start researching organic milk and end up reading about lead in your crock pot. One thing leads to another and you wind up feeling like natural living is an impossible mountain to climb and you should just give up altogether because there’s no way under high heaven you could ever do it all! And while there is some reality in those thoughts, you can do A LOT to detox your home.
The biggest question I hear, often coming from worried brow and twisted lips, is, ”Where do I start???” Here are five simple first steps, baby steps, that you can implement easily and slowly. Don’t try to do ‘em all at once. Just pick one or two that look like the easiest to accomplish for your family right now, and let that be your start!
Baking Soda and Vinegar
Replace your cleaning products with baking soda and vinegar. Commercial cleaners are filled with harmful chemicals. Baking soda and vinegar have been used for years and years as cleaning products, probably by your mom and her mom and her mom. Eartheasy is an awesome website with recipes for making your own natural household cleaners using a few simple ingredients like these. The one I use the most often is the Toilet Bowl Cleaner. 1 Cup vinegar; 1/4 Cup baking soda. Pour them, from separate containers, into the bowl. Watch it fizz. Let it sit a couple minutes. Clean with brush as normal and flush. Easy peasy!!
No More “HI’s”
When it comes to your pantry, the first step is not to go all organic. Organic is great and we buy as much as we can, but not a good place to start. In making-over your food selection, first get rid of the two “HI’s.” That’s High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated Oils. Start reading your ingredient labels and rid your house of these two ingredients. Read the labels at the grocery store and don’t put anything in the cart that’s made with a “HI.” After you’ve got the “HI’s” out, get the preservatives out. While the “HI’s” probably aren’t as harmful as preservatives, I think they’re an easier place to start. Easy to remember, easy to spot on a label. It’s all about building momentum.
Organic Cotton Sheets
Anytime you buy organic anything it’s going to be a little more expensive. That’s largely in part because of the manufacturing processes. It takes more man-power and less machine-power, generally, to produce organic goods. But Target has these sheets…
Organic cotton at a very reasonable price, often comparable to many of their standard sheet sets. You’re breathing in the contents of your sheets for about a third of your day, every day. Organic bedding is a very simple way to start detoxing your life.
Plastic Out, Glass In
As the plastic in your kitchen gets old, wears out and loses lids, replace it with glass storage. Glass is non-porous, so it won’t absorb anything. The potential for harmful bacteria is much less when using glass. Glass can be heated to very high temps with nothing leaching out into your food. And the options for glass storage are getting wider all the time. Don’t go breaking the bank by replacing everything at once, just do a few pieces at a time. Before you know it all the plastic will be out. If you must use some plastic (which I completely understand, having two young kids in the house), choose plastic that is certified BPA Free.
Paraben and Sulfate Free Bathroom
Parabens are the most commonly used preservatives in soaps, shampoos and cleansers of all kinds. They are easy to recognize on labels because “paraben” is always in the name (methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, isobutylparaben, butylparaben, benzylparaben). Parabens fall into the category of “hormone disruptors,” meaning they have potential to disrupt the natural workings of our hormones, and may be linked to breast cancer and reproductive problems.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate are two other ingredients to get out of your bathroom. Sulfates are used in almost all cleansers and detergents because of their effectiveness for cleaning, but some are more naturally derived than others, and the two listed above are skin irritants (“lauryl” more irritating than “laureth” but no better) and potential carcinogens. Yikes! Get ‘em out!
After six-and-a-half years of pursuing natural living for my home and family, I can assure you, the task is not impossible. It is, however, one that should be tackled slowly, one baby step at a time, to ensure lasting changes for a less-toxic home.
Posted in Nest
Tagged baking soda, glass storage, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, natural home, Nest, organic cotton, parabens, sulfates
The word guiding our family this month is “GIVE”… and boy is it ever bringing some changes! I told you I would be checking in on this and letting you know how the “GIVE” focus was going for us this month. So I think it’s appropriate to tell you about a new financial goal we’ve made in our family.
We’re calling it Goal to Give.
Goal to Give is simply this: We want to give away half the money we make. And we will begin making decisions with this goal in mind.
I know this might sound unrealistic. It sends me into a downward spiraling thought process of “This could never really happen” when I get to thinking about it. But then I remember this story:
“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and He saw a widow put in two small copper coins. And He said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”"
Luke 21:1-4
If she can give all, certainly I can give half.
I believe the Lord will enable our family to do this in two ways. I believe He will bring some amount of financial increase, but I believe it will be small. More than bringing increase, I believe He will show us that we don’t need all the things that we naturally suppose we need. He will show us how to lower our bills and get the stuff out of our lives. He will teach us how to redirect the money that He has already given us.
He will teach us to be thankful for our 1200 square foot mansion. He will teach us how to keep our grocery bill to $400 a month. He will remind us that it’s ok for our children to wear clothes from Good Will. He will bring us back to the family we ministered to in Mexico (when we were still unmarried college students without a family of our own) who were so thankful and filled with joy upon receiving the keys to their new, single room, no plumbing, concrete-floored, no-bigger-than-my-kitchen home. They had walls and a roof, and that was enough for the seven-member family.
I have full confidence that God will enable our family to give half. And even saying that feels a little foolish, because I know there is so much that I could just give right now, today, without needing divine enablement. But I think for our family, and most American families, the desire (unlike the ability) to give begins with a change in our thinking. And this is the change that I know God will give us.
We aren’t setting a time limit on our goal, because we have no idea how long it might take to reach it. And we want to reach it no matter how long it takes.
This is exciting stuff… mostly I think because this is God’s heart. I see the call to give running deeply and consistently through Scripture. So we will start obeying.
Will your family join us? Will you join us in the Goal to Give?
