Launching Pad for the Gospel {to our neighbors pt2}

This week I'm focusing several posts on how our homes can be a launching pad for the Gospel to our neighbors. Yesterday's post explained some ways and todays post will be even more practical! Whenever someone new comes into your neighborhood or even if you just moved in make up some quick bread and run it over and introduce your family. This is something I have my kiddos help me with so they are part of the process.

Breads I usually make are banana nut bread, zucchini bread or strawberry bread. After making the bread I try to fancy it up a bit. I found this "Hello Neighbor" printable from Joy Ever After which was too cute!

Do you have a system you have to build relationships with your neighbors through food?

What foods do you tend to take over to new neighbors?

I'm linking this:

Women Living Well, Time Warp Wife, Raising Homemakers, Women in the Word Wednesday, We are THAT Family,Monday: Made by Your Monday, DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, Craft O Mania, Polly Want to Party, Amaze Me Monday Tuesday: Today's Creative Blog, Take a Look , Glam Party Thursday: Catch a Glimpse Party,Friday: Feasting in Fellowship

Tidy Mom

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Launching Pad for the Gospel {to our Neighbors}

Don't Waste your Homemaking is such a passion inside of me. One way I seek to not waste my homemaking is to view my home as a launching pad for the Gospel. This has so many angles to it but, I want to draw many of them out briefly so that you might catch the same vision for your homes. photo via

The Gospel is for everyone, no exceptions. Unbeliever or believer. The Gospel is the message that will bring a person who is utterly dead spiritually into a new birth. It contains the message that will encourage, strengthen, challenge, restore and give hope to the person who is already Treasuring Christ. Because the Gospel is desperately needed to help both the unbeliever gain sight to see Christ and come to supremely treasure Jesus and to preserve the believer it's important that we seek out these opportunities.

This week I want to focus on using our home to minister the Gospel to our neighbors. Do you know your neighbors? It's so easy in our American culture to come home drive in our garages and never even approach or see the people living right beside us. If you don't know your neighbors {even if you've lived in your home for years} get to know them. photo via

Be available and accessible. If you come home and you see a neighbor sitting on his front porch go and talk to them and begin a relationship. Figure out their interests, be observant, see if they have a fishing boat or if they have kids and strike up a conversation.

When a new family moves into your neighborhood plan to help them and soon after they settle in be intentional on bringing them a meal or some sort of dessert. If you are the new family be intentional with your new status to create relationships. Make up a bunch of breads, decoratethem and take them to your neighbors and introduce yourselves. In tomorrow's post I will share with you the bread my family and I took over to a few neighbors when we moved in.

photo via

What are ways you are intentional in making your home a launching pad for the Gospel?

I'm linking to:

Women Living Well, Time Warp Wife, Raising Homemakers, Women in the Word Wednesday,We are THAT Family

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2011 Resolutions

photo via

Remember the first day of 2011? I hope you took time with the Lord to prayerfully decide some resolutions/goals for the new beginning.

I shared my main focus in the post how I wanted my home to be

A Launching Pad for the Gospel.

I wanted to do a checkup with you ladies and myself to see if we're staying on track. We are midway though 2011 and at this point many people forget about anything that they wanted to change on January 1st, but I hope this serves as a reminder to refocus our goals and press on to the end to 2011. In the next few days I plan to share with you more about making your home a launching pad for the Gospel, what all I mean by that and specific ways to carry that out!

What were some of your goals/resolutions for 2011?

Do you think you have tried to maintain that focus up to this point?

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Funny Fridays: funny baby skaters

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Family Retreat

Due to some very serious family issues my husband has taken a week off from his job and we are headed to Florida for a retreat, refocus and extended prayer time. Please be in prayer for my family during the next week. The last two weeks have been some of the most difficult weeks of my life, someone in our family has to be under 24 hour supervision {minus sleeping} and it's put a strain on me to say the least.

Here's a few ways you can pray for us:

Pray that God would renew us again to His mercies and grace.

Pray God would grant us more wisdom in how to handle difficult issues with our kids that no one seems to have answers for.

Pray for a MAJOR upcoming court date {next friday}. Pray that court would indeed happen {this is the 3rd time it's been scheduled} and that the decision would be made next friday in the best interest of the kids.

Pray that we would all be able to enjoy this rest right before we have to testify and prepare for court.

Thanks so much for praying Ladies! I will have several posts next week because they are pre-scheduled so come back and check them out!

photo via

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Writing for DWYH

I've been praying and wrestling with a decision about this blog for a while now and finally seem to have answers. I'm wanting to add a few contributors to Don't Waste your Homemaking. I enjoy writing a post basically everyday but, I've found areas this blog is lacking and honestly, I'm not the best to write in some of these areas! So.... I'm going to be opening my blog up to potential contributors. If your interested in any of the topics listed above give me an e-mail and share your thoughts with me!

Organization.

Although I love organization I'm not the best at it and therefore don't have much to share on this topic. If your heart beats when you organize something or if have tons of ideas to share about how to make our homes a bit more tidy in a chaotic world shoot me an e-mail! photo via

Healthy Living.

Living healthy via exercise and healthy food is another element I would like to add to my blog and I know there are alot of ladies out there which have tons of knowledge in this area.photo via

Sewing.

A skill that I haven't mastered {or even know the first thing about} is sewing. I love sewing tutorials and would love to bring someone on the DWYH who could share sewing projects and give sewing tips for gals like me who would like to start sewing. photo via

Gardening.

Flowers and vegetables can be such a blessing but it's something most people don't know a lot about. If you harvest veggies or have flowers to pick in your yard and want to regularly contribute I would love to hear from ya! photo via

Cooking.

Recipes, cooking tips, menu plans or anything in between is a needed element around here and would love for some contributors to share some delish goodness! photo via

If you would be interested in contributing any of the above topics or devotional thoughts, book reviews, party ideas or anything else your passionate about please share your thoughts with me at dwyhomemaking@ymail.com ! {You wouldn't be contributing weekly, every other week maximum and this could include posts you have already posted on your own site. If you don't have blog and would be interested in contributing please contact me as well!}

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Mickey Mouse Party

My cousin attended a Mickey Mouse party with her son a few weeks ago and has shared these awesome photos with me! Love all the details of this party!

Classy Micky Mouse Cake, LOVE the topper!

Creative Cupcakes that look delish!

What would a Mickey party be without Mickey party hats?

This cutie is my cousins boy, so adorable with his oversized Mickey hands!

What's your favorite party you've attended with your kiddos?

I'm linking this:

Women Living Well, Time Warp Wife, Raising Homemakers, Women in the Word Wednesday, We are THAT Family,Monday: Made by Your Monday, DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, Craft O Mania, Polly Want to Party, Amaze Me Monday Tuesday: Today's Creative Blog, Take a Look , Glam Party Thursday: Catch a Glimpse Party,Friday: Feasting in Fellowship

Tidy Mom

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Unwasted Homemaking Party #21

Homemaking party #21 is up! Thanks for not flooding my inbox w

ith hate mail because of the lack of partying last week. Hosting for the 4th, two sick kids, unexpected lake trip has kept me very busy! We're back to the party this week and can't wait to see what you ladies have been up to!

Cake Balls

Check out this fun way to make cake balls!

Flower Pillow Form

Take a look at this tutorial on how to create this adorable pillow!

Get ready to party {Homemaker's style}. If your a blogger...

Please copy the code under the 'Unwasted Homemaking Linkup Party' to the right of this post and place it somewhere on your blog. {I want to make sure we continue to grow this party :)} IF NOT I will have to deleted your link! I hate to do this but, I put alot of effort into making this party grow and if anyone links they need to use my button.

Keep it related to Homemaking... which only excludes a few things. Any recipe, family tradition, devotional on homemaking/mothering, cleaning tip, craft etc.

Link to your specific post and not your website domain.

Linkup as many posts as you want! No Limit!

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Frame Earring Holder Tutorial

Do you have tons of earrings and not a pretty way to store them? I found an amazing earring holder tutorial that I wanted to share with you from Jessica who blogs at O. Aloutte!

Jessica is a southern newlywed who enjoys crafting, decorating and a nice hot cup of tea. I absolutely love a good bargain and creating things affordably. {I think we would be crafting and bargain buddies if we lived closer!}

On yet another junk store trip I found this picture for $4. I snatched it up because it was so big (21" x 25" - is that a weird size?) and I knew it would be perfect for all my earrings.

I pried the picture out and took off the weird burlap-ish border.

After sanding the frame down, I primed it and spray painted it with Krylon Ballet Slipper.

The result was a little too cutesy pink so I used the same "faux glazing" technique I did here using black acrylic paint.

I got a roll of aluminum screening at Ace Hardware and cut it to size. Regular scissors actually worked fine for this. Then I stapled it down with a staple gun.

And here is the final project hanging on my bedroom wall.

Pretty easy and I'm really pleased with how many earrings it holds!

Please leave Jessica some comment love on her blog for sharing this amazing tutorial with us!

Also check out another awesome tutorial for a decorative tray.

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Why is Marriage Magnificent?

"The awe and wonder of marriage or “the greatness of marriage is that it displays something unspeakably great, namely, Christ and the church.” {This Momentary Marriage pg. 138}

When you are at a wedding don’t you reflect on how marriage is such a good thing, a magnificent thing? Even though marriage isn’t a fairytale of never facing trials and having to be refined it is a beautiful thing. Have you ever wondered why it is such a beautiful or magnificent thing? I’ll give you a clue, it’s not because of marriage it self but because of what it is modeled after, points to and portrays. John Piper lists these three truths in his book This Momentary Marriage.

Marriage is modeled after something magnificent, Christ and His church. Christ loved the church; He laid down His life for her. Marriage is a daily fight for this, we don’t physically give our life for our spouse {although we might face that in our lifetime} but we daily give ourselves sacrificially. We put the others interests above ours. We show grace and we forgive and bear with our spouses when they are at fault, just as Christ does with His church. We as wives submit to our husband’s decisions and allow him to lead. image via

Marriage points to something magnificent, Christ and His church. When we correctly love our husbands then our marriage will point to Christ and His church. When our husband offends us and we forgive we are displaying to those around us how Christ forgives His church. We are able to in our marriage relationship to point to Christ. image via

Marriage portrays something magnificent “as Christ loved the church” and as the churchsubmits to Christ.” When we delightfully fulfill our roles in marriage we will portray something magnificent to the world. When your husband loves you as Christ loved the church Christ will be displayed and the world will have an accurate view of Christ and the church. When we as wives submit to our husbands we are displaying to the world that the church submits to Christ because He purchased the church. The opposite of course is true, when our roles are messed up {wife being unsubmissive} then it will portray an inaccurate view of Christ. image via

Think deeper about your marriage than the fact that marriage is a good thing, think about how it has the amazing power to display Christ and His church to the world. It can point the lost to the beauty of Christ and aim at bringing them to Himself and it can encourage believers to treasure Jesus by the way it’s modeled after Christ.

Have you ever thought about how your marriage is modeled after, points to and portrays some magnificent?

I'm linking this: Women Living Well, Time Warp Wife, Raising Homemakers, Women in the Word Wednesday,We are THAT Family

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Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been making homemade laundry detergent for over a year now and I LOVE it! It's super easy to make, lasts forever, cheap and it's natural!

Here's the low down on the Soap:

Yields 10 Gallons of Laundry cleaning soap.

Top Load Machine - Use 5/8 Cup per load which = 180 loads

Front Load Machine - Use 1/4 Cup per load which = 640 loads

Ingredients:

1 Fels-Naptha Bar

1 Cup Super Washing Soda

1/2 Borax

4 Cups Hot Tap Water

Grate bar of soap and add to pot with hot tap water. With the setting on medium low heat stir until the soap is completely melted. {Stay with the soap, don't leave because it will get overheated and stick to your pot}.

Fill 5 Gallon bucket 1/2 full with hot tap water.

Add melted soap, borax and super washing soda.

Stir until completely dissolved.

Fill the rest of the bucket with hot tap water and stir again.

Let set overnight or until the soap is completely cold.

After it's cold stir again and fill an old laundry dispenser 1/2 full of your new laundry soap and the rest full with water.

That's it, just shake before each use!

Super easy, Super cheap & Super natural :)!

Do you make your own Laundry Soap, if so do you do anything different?

I'm linking this:

Women Living Well, Time Warp Wife, Raising Homemakers, Women in the Word Wednesday, We are THAT Family,Monday: Made by Your Monday, DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, Craft O Mania, Polly Want to Party, Amaze Me Monday Tuesday: Today's Creative Blog, Take a Look , Glam Party Thursday: Catch a Glimpse Party,Friday: Feasting in Fellowship,Tidy Mom

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Insightful Reads for the Weekend

image via

Here are three posts I wanted to pass along for you to read over the weekend.

Disturbing Changes to the NIV

by Desiring Virtue.

If you haven't heard the new controversy over the changes made to the NIV please read this article which explains why the new changes are very disturbing.

{image via}

The Empire State's Moral Revolution: New York State Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

by Dr. Albert Mohler

A brilliant and scary perspective into the legalizing of same-sex marriage in New York. {image via}

Strive to Stop Striving by The Resurgence

Resting in the finished work of Christ isn't something we tend to do as Christians, we strive for acceptance but this isn't the Gospel. {image via}

Enjoy your three day weekend :)!

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Funny Friday: {England} Too Late to Apologize

This is one of my all time favorite you tube videos! I've been waiting nearly a year to share it, I'm a girl who loves history and well when you combine history and music you get this amazing funny friday video! Happy 4th hope everyone enjoys the holidays!




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