a new adventure

well, i am embarking on a new adventure this month! 5 days ago i signed up to be an Arbonne Independent Consultant. over the last few months i have really fallen in love with the products Arbonne provides, and a couple of weeks ago, i really fell in love with the business.

if you are a regular reader of my blog (and there hasn't been much lately, i am sorry!) you know that i am pretty discontent with life as it stands right now. i don't like working 40 hours a week. i don't like having debt. i don't like not being in control of when i work or who i work with. i don't like the thought of never being able to adopt because i don't have the money. i don't like not being able to give to causes i believe in for lack of funds. these are just some of my 'why's' for joining the Arbonne team. i am so happy to have HOPE that if i work hard enough i can finally live the life i envision.

a little over a year ago, God placed a vision in my heart for what my life and family would look like. i had such hope for a while, looking at that vision and seeing the joy and freedom in it. after a while though, i got really discouraged because i realised that some of the things i see in this picture could never happen doing what i am doing now. i wondered why God had given me this vision and why he would make me want something so badly and then not show me a way to get it. not to sound cheesy, but i really believe that when i prayed a couple of weeks ago for a way out of this lifestyle, He brought Arbonne to me. the products are great on my skin...i have terribly sensitive skin; the products also fit into my quest to use only natural products and support businesses that have green practices. the potential for income is really appealing, and i see how God will use this opportunity to grow me.

i say all of this not to drum up sales or to get people to join the company and sell (well, unless you want to and feel the Lord leading you the same way He lead me!) but to really share with you why i am excited about this new chapter. i love selling, i love meeting new people, i love being in charge of my schedule and i love having HOPE.

a new year, a new address, a new me?

over the past year or so my values have been challenged. in a good way. as you can read through my posts, i have dealt with issues of community, money, missions, family and a little about food. the Lord has been challenging me to really try and see things through His eyes. if He created everything in this world and at the end of the day called it 'good'....i surely have a responsibility to honor it.
i feel like i have taken advantage of His creation for the last (ahem!) almost (louder cough) 30 (hacking now) years. i have not given much thought to the way animals are treated, how people around the world are treated or how our universe is cared for. frankly, when i started trying to see these things through new eyes and appreciation, all i did was cry. that made me want to stop looking around, but i didn't stop. my heart was broken. i wondered if this is how God feels when He looks at the injustice and pain and carelessness all around us. i know it pains Him, and it hurts Him much more than it could ever hurt me.
everything in this universe was created with a purpose. to bring glory and praise and honor to the Most High God.
a star shining in the distance, with it's miraculous chemical and gas composition. no scientist could ever replicate it. unfortunately, our governments send satellites, rockets and experimental machinery into space where they will never be brought back to earth. space trash litters the universe.
the incredible, healing, oxygen giving amazon is key to being able to sustain life as we now know it on earth. it's lush forests providing shelter to countless creatures and plants unseen outside of it's boundaries. yet, it is burned, cut down and bull dozed so that the land can be mined, built up and profited upon.
animals, created so skillfully and diverse, are a beautiful example of God's creativity. some are so sophisticated that they have real communities; they mourn the loss of a friend; they show affection; they build tools. however, too many are seen as expendable and too low on the food chain to care about. they are poached, abused, neglected and eradicated.
have we really taken our God-given domain over the earth too far? i think so. when i really take a look at how we view the world, my heart sinks and i feel so ashamed. it's not enough for me to feel bad about what i see. it's like when i consider salvation; it's a great thing i am saved, but if i don't share the good news with others then the victory is kind of hollow.
this burden has caused me to change the way i think about a lot of things, and come to terms with the fact that i cannot change the minds of every person on earth. all i can do is change my actions and try to consider how my choices impact the world around me. i am not perfect, never will be until glory.
things that i have committed to doing going forward, as long as i am able to:

• being a better steward of the earth's resources through reducing energy and water usage
• supporting farmers who practice humane animal husbandry and ecologically sound food production
• striving to eat foods that God provided for me, not 'frankenfood' that barely resembles what it's supposed to be and has little or no nutritional value left
• living more simply by cutting back on purchases of brand new items and carefully considering what new (or new to me) purchases enter the house. paring down the possessions will leave more time and money for Kingdom worthy causes

i say these things not to make you feel bad about anything, or to try and 'convict' you of something you have not yet felt the Spirit leading you in. i do want to help you consider these things though. my prayer is that God will be glorified through our actions, and that He would soften our hearts toward His creation.

what are your thoughts?

a post of blogs

some of my friends have been asking me lately what blogs i stalk on a regular basis. these questions usually come around because i am quoting yet ANOTHER blog post i read, or raving about a new blog i found in the blogosphere. i am a bit nerdy now about finding interesting blogs and after a while these complete strangers start to become your 'friends'.
i wanted to dedicate a post to introducing my friends to some of the blogs i follow so they too can be nerdy blog stalkers :)

introducing:
lindsay,the passionate homemaker
the mennonite ladies
toni,the happy housewife
kimi,the nourishing gourmet
kristen, the harried homemaker
carrie, at it's frugal being green
laura, the organizing junkie
rachel, at the high chair

at passionate homemaking you will find frugal, delicious meals that are healthy and natural. lindsay has great ideas for organizing, simplifying and maintaining your home; child care; gardening and natural, frugal living. she is a great christian woman whom i have had the pleasure of meeting recently (!) and provides really great insight on the high calling of womanhood.

i have just found mennonitegirlscancook! i love it! the recipes are mouthwatering and very down home. they remind me a lot of church potlucks :) and the kind of food i l-o-v-e to eat. i also really appreciate the occasional devotional post, as they are so encouraging!

toni is the happy housewife. please, before you start in on her posts, read her story! the Lord has transformed her heart, her marriage and subsequently her life and it makes her posts so much more meaningful, i think, knowing that she is so sincere in her striving to serve her family. she has great parenting tips, money management ideas, and as a long-time military wife lots of insight into base living. i really like her recipe posts also!

the nourishing gourmet is a site i found a couple of weeks ago while trolling for blogs that supported nourishing traditions methods. kimi has a great repertoire of healthful recipes and kitchen tips. i don't know about you, but i am ALWAYS looking for a new recipe to try :) she is also a strong christian and approaches her food and family care from a Biblical perspective.

the frugal antics of a harried homemaker is a great site. kristen gives advise and ideas that fall totally in line with the title of her site. dinners are quick and cheap, money and time saving tips, and need i say it again...recipes :)

since i also like to visit sites that aren't food-based..haha..i follow the goings on of carrie at it's frugal being green. many frugal ideas are also green ones, because making your laundry detergent is cheap and earthfriendly for example. if you are new to the green scene i really suggest heading over to the blog site to get acquainted with natural, earthfriendly living.

laura is THE organizing junkie! she has great tips on organizing your house room by room, learning to purge, and doing 'life' organization too. her posts are very motivating, and if you read my post on the urge to purge, you will know where i got my inspiration! :)

last but not least is my friend rachel who maintains the high chair. i akin stalking rachels blog to being a fly on the walls of her house :) she's a gifted and funny writer who's stories will make you laugh hysterically :) rachel posts recipes, home organization tips, gardening ideas and parenting tips like cloth diapering. it helps that i know rachel personally and have met her husband and children, but i think you will connect with her posts as well!

so there you have it, my top blogs!! i hope you will check these ladies out and start stalking too :) if you have any sites you visit regularly, please leave a comment and let us know. i'm always up for more reading material!! :)

no paper left behind

just because i left my green blog does not mean i am now a planet hater : ) i fully intend on posting green tips here on my new blog so that we can continue to exchange ideas on eco-friendly topics.

last night i was watching 'wasted' on planet green channel. if you haven't watched this program before i really recommend it. your eyes will be opened to the practical ways you can change your lifestyle and home to be mindful of your waste. one of the struggles that the subject family had was that they consumed almost 1 ton of paper per year in the form of catalogs. CATALOGS!! this made me think about the normal family and how much paper they must consume just with bills, newspapers, junk mail, etc. here are some tips i thought of (some of them i have already been doing out of convenience) and wanted to share:

• have your bank statements and credit card statements emailed to you


• get your bills emailed to you instead of paper copies ( i do this with my cell phone,cable, and N does it for our electric bill)


• sign up for e-coupons instead of getting a newspaper. also, this way you are only printing the ones you will need/use.


• get email alerts for sales at your fave stores instead of getting catalogs and postcards in the mail

there are other paper items that we love and really would be inconvenient to get rid of or do electronically. for these things, use your recycle bin and/or creativity. the age-old usage for newspaper: potty pads for the puppy or bird, wrap a gift with the comics, make paper airplanes or pirate hats to occupy your kiddos. one of my friends is a kindergarten teacher and she loves magazines so that she can do 'scavenger hunts' with the kids on rainy days when recess is not an option - do you know a teacher that you could donate your left over magazines to? also, for the sensitive items that you do continue to get by mail (credit card offers), shred them and put them in your compost pile. they will decompose and there will be no paper trail! : )