4 hours ago
I recently read "The Christmas Singing" by Cindy Woodsmall. The book is an Amish romance novel about Mattie, a cake-maker who had her heart broken by Gideon three years earlier. She had built a new life in Ohio when her cake shop burned down and she returns home - but that puts her back in contact with Gideon, and she realizes that the reason she always thought he broke up with her may not be the truth.
I really liked this book. It was just a light, fun book, and the length was perfect for a quick read. Nothing too horrible happened, and it was a sweet story. The characters were likable. This book didn't go as much into Amish customs as many Amish books I've read, and the story could have been written about non-Amish people too, but I thought the Amish setting added alot of charm, as it always seems to. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something light and happy, and I enjoyed it very much.
Note: I was given access to this book by Waterbrook Multnomah publishing group in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.
Speaking of Christmas-type books, what are some of your favorites? I'd love to hear!
I really liked this book. It was just a light, fun book, and the length was perfect for a quick read. Nothing too horrible happened, and it was a sweet story. The characters were likable. This book didn't go as much into Amish customs as many Amish books I've read, and the story could have been written about non-Amish people too, but I thought the Amish setting added alot of charm, as it always seems to. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something light and happy, and I enjoyed it very much.
Note: I was given access to this book by Waterbrook Multnomah publishing group in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.
Speaking of Christmas-type books, what are some of your favorites? I'd love to hear!
I’ve got more cloth diapering tips from fellow bloggers this week, and they have some really helpful advice if you are thinking about cloth diapering! Read on.
“I used Josiah's Nest blog to help me get started. Moriah was so helpful in giving me pointers and answering all my questions. And I just kept asking others who were doing cloth what they thought. I believe all of us ended up using a different brand *lol* Like I said, it's like disposable. Some styles work and some don't =)
As for supplies and such, you want at least 12-15 diapers to start with. The baby will go through about 8 a day depending on amount of poops, etc so you want to have enough for an entire day plus a good start the next so you have time to wash and let them air dry.
As for washing: I use charlie's soap and do a hot wash with a cold rinse with an extra rinse. Then I do 2 extra rinses with warm/cold water. My washer is HE so I can set it up so it doesn't seem so bad - haha. Takes about an hour and 30 minutes with our washer. I then let them hang dry. You CANNOT use regular soap or detergent, diaper rash cream, etc with these diapers. I also hang them outside when it's warm to let the sun bleach them if there are any stains. Charlie's soap does great with getting them super clean =)
Good luck and feel free to contact me with any questions =)
Or if you want to buy the fitted size small Fuzzibunz off me to try. Its a good way to get them used initially so you aren't paying full price to see what brands you end up liking!”
“So far we've only used one brand of cloth diapers, BumGenius Organic Elemental All-in-On One-Size. I don't have many complaints about them but I would say if you have the opportunity to try a few different kinds, go for it and don't jump in with 2 feet and commit to one brand right away. I wish I'd gone the way of sample packs to start with (just so I had something to compare to)! To get started I would suggest a 6-10 diapers that way you get a feel for them before you have to go wash again. Add in a wet bag and some detergent and you're all set! We use the BumGenius detergent since we could buy it in bulk. We
I wrote 2 posts about cloth diapers.
The before: http://meetthechapmans.blogspot.com/2011/05/diaper-debate.html
The after (part 1-before solids): http://meetthechapmans.blogspot.com/2011/11/cloth-diaper-update-part-1-before.html”
“First of all, I've only been cloth diapering two kids for about 3 years, so I'm far from an expert. However, I have been able to try many different cloth diapering systems and have finally decided what works well for us. Which brings me to the first point of cloth diapering; different things work for different families. Keep this in mind when you're purchasing cloth diapers. It's far better to buy one or two of a style, see if it works for your baby, and then later decide if you want to purchase more. The wonderful thing about cloth diapering is that if you purchase a diaper, use it a few times and find that it's not quite working for your baby, you can easily resell it on Ebay, or Craigslist. I purchased a lot of our cloth diapers through the popular Mom and baby deal-a-day sites (such as Baby Steals, Hippo Baby Bargains, Baby Half Off, etc) and in that case, it was very helpful for me to visit diaperpin.com and read their product review pages. On their website, Mom's have given unbiased reviews on nearly every cloth diaper out there. So helpful, considering many of them go into detail about the build and weights of their babies.
Our favorite cloth diapers have been GroVia, Thirsties, and BumGenius (in that order). After a few years of cloth diapering, I now prefer 100% cotton against babies bum. The sun bleaches cotton so much nicer and they do not hold odor like the synthetics do. We do a combination of all in ones, pocket diapers, and fitted diapers with covers. I really don't have a preference over one or the other, after a while it's all easy. Even my husband doesn't complain, he just grabs the nearest diaper and puts in on the nearest kid. :)
If you're finding yourself intimidated by cloth diapering, you're not alone. At first it is overwhelming. So many choices, and you want to make the right ones the first time. But, you have to remember this is not the biggest parenting choice you'll make. Try it, if it works great, if not you can sell your "stash" and no harm is done. But, I will say that if you are wanting to try it at all, go for it! Some people insist that it will take time away from their family to cloth diaper their child(ren), but it absolutely does not. It's just as quick to change a cloth diaper as it is a disposable, and when it comes to the laundry - it's really nothing. 
It's absolutely impossible for me to write about cloth diapering in short form, but I'll pass on a few links that I've found helpful through this cloth diapering adventure. Much is by trial and error, but I can assure you that when you find the right cloth diapers, you will enjoy the ease and huge, huge money savings.
http://ameliathompson.blogspot.com/search/label/Cloth%20Diapers (My friend Amelia has an excellent 5 part series on cloth diapering, including how to sew your own!)
http://thoughtsnwhatnots.blogspot.com/2011/04/cloth-diapering-101.html (A blog post I wrote back in April, with a little more detail about what works for our family.)”
-Leanna at Thoughts And Whatnots
“If you are thinking of giving cloth diapering a go, just do it! It is not as complicated as some might think. In fact, for me, it is truly easier than dealing with disposables. Perhaps it's just because that's what I'm used to now. You can find many gently 
-Natalie at Extraordinary Love
Thank you ladies for all your fabulous advice!
I'm going to take a break on the cloth diapering posts until after the New Year, but when January comes keep an eye out for a cloth diapering resource post, and my story/final thoughts on cloth diapering!
I think cloth diapering can be awfully intimidating to start out. I am committed to this now, and I still have days where it intimidates me! But I have found a lot of encouragement from ladies in the blog world who also use cloth diapers. I asked some of my cloth-diapering blog friends (who have been doing this longer than me) for some advice for newbies, and I got a lot of great tips! Here is what some of them had to say.
“Hi, I am Danielle and I am very excited that Callie asked me to give my opinions and tips on cloth diapering! I have been cloth for about 6 months, so I am no expert but I will share the main things that I have learned! First of all, don't be scared to give it a
try! I was terrified at first and everyone was against it and now, I love it! I wish I would have started sooner! One thing I learned was that you don't have to have the $30 diapers for them to work. I used Comfyrumps (comfyrumps.com) and Go Green pocket diapers (gogreenpocketdiapers.com) which are reasonably priced but work wonderfully! Two websites that I use for cloth diapering accessories because they have free shipping are sweetbottomsbaby.com and jackbenatural.com- and these both have Facebook pages where you can call out to other mamas when you need help! Such a wonderful resource! I love my diaper sprayer, and we went to Lowe's and got all the stuff we needed to make it ( the guys usually know what exactly you need, or there are videos on Youtube) and it was cheaper! My biggest piece of advice is just try it, If you don;t like it you can at least say you tried :) And don't be afraid to ask for help!”
-Danielle at This Is The Stuff
"Favorite brand of diaper? Bum Genius 4.0
What you need to get started? To start full time: at least 12 diapers, a pail and wetbag, detergent. If you want to do cloth wipes too (and you might as well!) you'll need about 20 wipes and a spray.
Why you decided to use cloth? Cost of disposables, environmental impact, chemicals in disposables. I am so glad I started cloth diapering. I love it. I love that we don't have a ton of garbage. I love that Henry has been rash free since we started (except for the teething rash we have right now). I love that we've spent about $300 on our cloth diapering supplies and not a penny more. That will be all we spend on diapers.
Helpful resources? Blogs! My Life in Transition and Mama at Home were the ones I first read before I was even pregnant. I also have a cousin and a close friend who cloth diaper so they were good resources too.
Is the laundry difficult to keep up with, and any routines/products that make it easier? No. For some reasons Cloth Diaper Laundry is fun! I look forward to doing it. I just wash every other day using Rockin' Green detergent. Sometimes I use a color safe bleach as well.
Is there anything you wish you knew before you started? No. I think I was pretty well prepared. It really is as simple as it sounds.
I read on a few blogs that it is safe to use vinegar in your rinse to help fight odors. BUT on the bum genius website it says not to, because it can wreck the PUL cover. It IS ok to use bleach once a month and that works great for me. I also came across this chart of detergents and I wanted to pass it on!”
“Favorite brand of diaper? bumGenius. There's a reason they're the #1 cloth diaper brand. They really know how to make great diapers.
Why you decided to use cloth? We decided on cloth diapers to save money, and I'm so glad we went that route! Our budget truly cannot support buying disposables.
Helpful resources? AllAboutClothDiapers.com, especially the "My Recommendations" page.
Is the laundry difficult to keep up with, and any routines/products that make it easier? I do diaper laundry every other day, so that dirty diapers aren't sitting around too long. It's not difficult because the machine does all the work. I just switch it from rinse to wash to rinse, and add some detergent.
Is there anything you wish you knew before you started? I wish I knew about those snap-on onesie extenders! I think Sophia could have worn a lot of clothes a lot longer if I could have closed them around her bulky butt! :) “
-Jenene at Prairie Girl Gone Coastal
“When you get past all the pee and the poop and the initial sticker-shock of cloth-diapering, it all comes down to one thing: The laundry.
If I had a dollar for every person that's told me, "But I just don't have time to do that much more laundry. It would never get done," I'd be rich.
Ask any cloth-diapering mama, though, and they'll tell you that's simply an excuse.
The laundry, in reality, is not that bad. In fact, my workload has not increased by more than 20 minutes a week, I'd say, when it comes to laundering diapers.
The trick, honestly, is having a routine: Wash on the same days, at the same time, every week.
For me, I do diapers every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 11 a.m. I run my four cycles (a cold rinse, a hot wash with soap, another hot rinse, followed by a cold rinse) then I throw all hemp and microfiber inserts, plus my pre-folds and fitted diapers and cloth wipes, in the dryer while laying my diaper covers, wet bags, pail liners, and pockets on a drying rack - outside if it's sunny – to dry. In the evening, right after my daughter goes to bed, I stack everything up and put it in it's respective places in her room.
In addition, every 6 weeks, over the weekend, I strip my diapers - using several hot soaks and rinses and white vinegar - to make sure the diapers don't get any ammonia build-up.
To keep myself accountable, I pencil it all into my planner, and I set timers so I remember to go back and turn on the next rinse cycle on my washing machine.
Honest to goodness, it takes me no time at all. And, truth be told, I do not have a huge stash of diapers. I'd say I have a moderate amount, but most mamas I know run with way more. And, yet, I've never gotten to the point where my child was wearing her absolute last clean diaper on her butt while all the other cloth diapers were racing against the clock in the washer and dryer. With a schedule, you just don't get to that point, no matter how few diapers you have.
The key is to have a routine and stick to it. My child hasn't worn disposable diapers since her first week of life, and if I have my way, she never will. There's really no need. It's cheaper and, thanks to my laundry schedule, easier for me to cloth-diaper.”
-Brittany at Living In The Moment
Stay tuned for more tips next week!
P.S. I tried to get in contact with every blog friend or follower of mine who I knew used cloth diapers, but if you are a blog friend/follower of mine and I missed you, and you have some tips you are just itching to share, you can e-mail me at throughcloudedglass@gmail.com.
I got this idea from Krystle and Claire, and I had to do it myself!
I think this is appropriate thing to post the day before Thanksgiving, because I am very thankful to live where I do, and very thankful for the upbringing I had.
I am so thankful the Lord has allowed me to be a wife and mother.
I’m thankful to share this life with a man as amazing as Derek.
I’m thankful for my sweet and happy son, and the chance to give my children a blessed childhood like I had.
I truly am eternally grateful that “Jesus loves me” and “family will forever be there”.
I'm thankful that this is where I come from, and that He's not done with my story yet.
I can never thank Him enough for all He has done for me.
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The Place I Come From . . .
I am from feather pillows and teddy bears, from Sleepytime tea and reading with Mom in the middle of the night.
I am from the mountain ranch, wild and free and grand, the smell of fresh-cut hay on the wind.
I am from the quaking aspen trees, fields of dandelions, and rushing rivers, the tall grass, the bright irises, new air and deep sky.
I am from Christmas shopping trips with Dad, riding horses under the summer sun, and hazel eyes, from Daybreak and Rock and Messenger.
I am from the patriotic and the loyal.
From “Jesus loves you” and “family will forever be there”.
I am from streams of mercy and amazing grace. I am from filthy rags, washed snow white in nothing but the blood of Him who turned the water to wine.
I'm from high altitude and thin air, and the old German country, from salted nut rolls and sweet potatoes and choke cherries.
From the boy who split logs for a penny each, the girl from the city who came to this place and could never leave, and the twins who made the growing years better.
I am from the baby box in the closet, the albums resting on the bookshelf in the corner of a crowded basement, the frames on the walls – all the visible remnants of memories and of a heritage that will forever dwell in hearts. The places my new memories and the heritage I leave will go as life marches on.
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Thank you Lord that this is my history! Thank you for the ultimate gift of taking me from filthy rags to white as snow by Your grace. Thank you for where You have me now, and thank you, Lord, for all the places You have yet to take me.
Happy Thanksgiving to each one of you as you give Him thanks for what He has done and for what He will do!
P.S. If you want to write your own "Where I'm From" poem, check out the template here.
Welcome to the Salvation Stories link-up! Our salvation is the greatest gift we have ever been given, and it's important to tell others about what the Lord has done for us!
If you want to read about why I decided to do this link-up you can see the post "Have You Shared Your Story?". If you decide to join us, just write a post about how you came to know the Lord and link it up below! See the post "Details (On The Link-Up)" for more information.
I'm so excited to hear everyone's testimonies! I'm going to start the ball rolling by sharing my own.
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I was blessed to grow up in a Christian household. I don't remember a time when I didn't know about Jesus - my mom told me and my brother and sister, about Him as soon as we had the ability to understand her (actually even before we had the ability to understand her).
To be completely honest, I don't remember everything that went through my mind when I made the decision to follow Jesus, but I know I had alot of questions for my mom about Heaven, and Jesus, and when He was coming back. My mom wrote them down because she was amazed at how hard some of my questions were.
When I was almost four years old, I remember riding in the car with my mom on the way home from grocery shopping. My brother and sister were sleeping in the back seat. It must have been on my mind that day, because as we pulled in the driveway I remember asking her if we could pray so that I could ask Jesus into my heart.
She took me right in the house, and we knelt next to my parents bed. I wasn't sure what to say, and wanted my mom to pray for me at first, but she explained that I needed to talk to Jesus myself. She helped me, and I said the first real prayer I can remember - in that moment I became a follower of Jesus.
In the years that followed we continued going to Sunday school, church, and Bible studies. When I was nine years old my parent's started homeschooling us, and I think that decision on my mom and dad's part had important ramifications for my spiritual growth. During the years that I went to public school I was so concerned with what the other kids thought, but as we started homeschooling I remember becoming more conscious of what God thought, and I started wanting to please Him. I was baptized when I was about eight years old in a horse tank at our church, as a public declaration that I wanted to serve the Lord.
When I was ten years old I used my own money to buy my first devotional book, and I started doing daily devotions, which was a huge step in making my walk with the Lord a part of my daily life. My parents also sent us to a Christian camp every summer, and not only did it give me some great memories, but it was always a great spiritual "growth spurt" for me - I think it served to strengthen my resolve to make sure that my personal walk with the Lord remained strong the rest of the year. When I was twelve years old I renewed my commitment to follow the Lord for the rest of my life.
The high school years are often a time when you might expect that a person would rebel or turn their back on their faith for a while, or make some decisions that would affect their relationship with God. But nothing like that ever happened to me. Not that I didn't have my doubts at times, especially as I dug deeper into the Bible and different doctrines, but every time I had doubts or struggled with something I read, I went to the Lord with my doubts - and He always helped me find the answers, or at least gave me peace about the things I didn't understand.
Nothing dramatic happened after high school either. I spent a summer as a counselor at the same Christian camp I went to as a girl - that was definitely a summer of refining and spiritual growth for me as well, the same as when I went there as a camper only amplified.
I started college, met Derek. We got married. My next major trial was when we started trying for a baby, and had trouble. I asked the Lord so many "Why?" questions during that time, and I had some pretty dark days. But I never felt abandoned or forsaken. If anything the Lord used that trial to help me cling to Him more, which I think He does often with trials. And I just knew even on the worst days that He was there, helping me through. He gave me a peace about it when I didn't know what was going to happen, and eventually we were blessed with our sweet baby boy. That brings us to now. The Lord continues to guide me and show me little things about Himself. He continues to reveal my sin to me, and helps me to improve in those areas. I'm looking forward to a lifetime of learning and growing with Him, and doing my best to serve Him where He leads me. And then there's an eternity with my Savior after that, which will be so much better than I can imagine. That's really what it's all about.
I used to struggle with thinking my testimony was so boring. It's much more interesting and very powerful to hear stories of God calling people out of deep sin or desperate situations.
But I realize now that those thoughts of thinking my testimony was boring were nothing less than a spiritual attack. My sin is no less serious, and my spiritual condition no less desperate than anyone else's.
I need a Savior just as much as every other person on the planet.
The story of how I came to know the Lord is not boring to Him. The angels still rejoiced over that lost little girl asking Jesus to come into her heart. This story is no less worthy of being told than the most dramatic salvation story you can think of, because it is still a story of how the Lord saved someone who was terribly lost.
For some reason, the Lord chose to place me in a Christian family and to draw me to Himself at a young age. I never had to walk through life without Him - I don't even remember the time before I knew Him. Accepting Him as my Savior is (as far as I can tell) my earliest memory. And through my whole life I've felt His presence and His hand guiding me.
The older I get, the more I realize what a blessing it is that I have the story that I do. The Lord spared me from the pain of experiencing the things the world has to offer before coming to know Him, He protected my heart and kept me close to His side, and we've had all these years of sweet fellowship together.
Sure, I have my times "in the valley", and I struggle with sin. But He has always been there to correct me when I'm wrong and keep me on the "narrow path".
As I look back on my life up to now, I wouldn't trade my personal story of redemption for a more dramatic or exciting testimony. It's been a gift, a most precious gift, to have Him leading me through everything I've had to walk through this far, and I know He'll continue with me through whatever trials or blessings life has in store for me.
I couldn't change that for the world.
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If you are interested in learning more about Jesus or having a personal relationship with Him too, or if you have any questions for me, please e-mail me! I will do my best to answer any questions you have, or I'll do my best to find the answers if I don't know. You can also check out the "What I Believe" tab above for more information.
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Okay, the post for which you've all been waiting with bated breath! (I kid, I kid.) The cost analysis breakdown for cloth diapers vs. disposables!
Now most cost analysis posts assume that you are just paying one flat fee for cloth diapers, and you'll never have to pay another dime. But unless you would buy cloth-diaper friendly diaper cream and cloth-diaper-friendly cleaning supplies even if you were using disposables, that is not the case.
Unfortunately, cloth diapers do require you to buy special products for washing and to treat rashes, and these products do cost more than the type Derek and I would normally buy.
So my cloth vs. disposable cost analysis is not focusing on the amount spent on the diapers themselves, but the amount spent on each option at the end of the year. I haven't really seen another website compare costs in this way, so I did the math myself.
I'm just going to say right now that I did, in fact, skew my numbers a bit. I figured up the absolute least I would spend on disposable diapers, and I factored a very realistic or over-estimate of the amount I would spend on cloth. I'm one of those worst-case-scenario types. I wanted to know the least amount of money I would save. Just know that most likely we'd save more than the amount I listed.
Other Things To Keep In Mind
These are approximate costs only! I am not claiming complete accuracy on prices or ultimate costs - this is just to give me (and you) an idea of how much would be spent on each option.
This is not the amount that Derek and I are paying for cloth right now. Since I have a limited stash at the moment, I'm washing more often and I'm paying more in laundry costs than I normally would. These numbers are based on what I estimate we will spend once we are cloth diapering full-time.
This is based on the assumption that I'll be doing a load of laundry every other day. That may be an over-estimate.
I did factor in the fact that newborns go through more diapers, and that you get more diapers for your money in smaller sizes for disposables. The laundry numbers for cloth diapers didn't change, because I'm still assuming that laundry is done every other day.
The total number of diapers for each year is an under-estimate. I really couldn't remember our average diaper usage in the early days, so I just guessed, and the numbers always vary alot from day to day.
The first-year numbers are a projection of what we would have spent or saved if all factors had been the same from when Wyatt was born. For example, if we had used the same brand of disposables, got the current discounts on disposables, or started cloth with the same detergent for his entire first year. Obviously this is not what really happened, I'm just estimating.
These numbers are based on the estimated average frequency of use and cost of diapers and other products that Derek and I would use. Obviously this will be different for each family, so if you really want to know your own personal costs, you have to do the math yourself.
Note: Derek and I have a well, so we do not pay for our water usage. If you do have to pay for your water, you have to factor that in to your end-of-year costs for cloth diapering.
Also, we will obviously need to spend more in special situations, for example, if Wyatt gets a really bad rash and we need more heavy-duty diaper cream. I'm not taking into account these situations.
And finally, there are a million different products, and a million different ways to do cloth diaper laundry. This cost estimate is just based on one set of products, and couple of many ways to do cloth diaper laundry. My numbers may be way off for your family because you don't do laundry the way I listed. I would appreciate any tips on how you save money further, but keep in mind that I'm just going off of the general recommendations I found, and once again, it's just an estimate.
The Products
-CJ's Butter diaper cream - $12.25/12 oz.
-Bac-out - $35.99/gallon
-Rockin' Green Hard Rock formula (we have hard water)- $15/90 loads
-Pampers disposable diapers - prices varied, I took the standard prices on Amazon when buying in bulk for the first set of numbers and the best deal I could find for the second set.
-Petroleum jelly (which is what we use for diaper cream with our disposables) - $2.28/ 13 oz.
-Munchkin/Arm and Hammer diaper pail liners - $6/10 liners
The first three items are not actually what we are using right now to wash our diapers, but these are the products we plan on using in the future. I did research after the fact, and the above products seemed most cost-effective for us.
For example, at the moment I'm using water softeners in addition to detergent since we have hard water, which is costing me more. The Rockin' Green hard water formula will eliminate some of the cost for me in the future.
I did not include the cost of diaper pail deodorizers in this analysis - I'm planning on just using baking soda to start with, and since that's what I use for disposables anyway I didn't add it into the cost.
The Basis For The Numbers
Okay, now for the actual numbers! I calculated how much I thought we would spend per year on each of the above products based on an estimate of our average usage (like I said, this isn't completely accurate, it's just an estimate for our family).
I'm including four sets of numbers.
1. What we would spend on disposables at retail value if buying in bulk (which we actually haven't been until recently, so our actual costs are more than this, but this is just an estimate).
Includes price of diapers, liners, and petroluem jelly for diaper cream.
2. What we spend on disposables at the moment. I discovered an incredible deal for diapers with Amazon Mom and the "Subscribe and Save" option - so we pay 15 cents per diaper for Pampers right now. Which is incredible. Normal retail value for these diapers bought in this quantity is at least 21 cents per diaper, and more if you don't buy in bulk. I wish I had signed up for this sooner, but se la vie.
We have paid much more than this up to this point, but I'm projecting how much it would cost if we were able to get the "subscribe and save" deal throughout the diapering years. The price even with the deal is always changing, but I wanted to see if we would still save money with cloth. This deal is a big reason why I broke all the finances down this way in the first place.
Includes price of diapers, liners, and petroleum jelly for diaper cream.
3. Cost of cleaning cloth diapers when spraying Bac-out on every diaper. Some people recommend using a spray of Bac-out on each diaper after each use, and some people recommend just putting a few squirts in your first rinse when doing laundry. Which method you choose makes a big difference in how much you spend.
Includes cost of Rockin' Green Laundry detergent, Cj's Butter, Bac-out.
4. Cost of cleaning cloth diapers when you use 3 squirts of Bac-out per wash. This is assuming you use it this way every time you wash your cloth diapers, which I hear may not be necessary.
Includes cost of Rockin' Green Laundry detergent, Cj's Butter, Bac-out.
Costs Per Year
1st Year (Estimated 2257 diapers)
1. Disposables at retail value when buying in bulk: $583.56/year
2. Disposables with great deal: $423.07/year
3. Cloth when using Bac-out on each diaper: $228.56/year
4. Cloth when using 3 squirts Bac-out per wash: $89.40/year
2nd Year (Estimated 1825 diapers)
1. Disposables at retail value: $532.18/year
2. Disposables with great deal: $423.72/year
3. Cloth when using Bac-out on each diaper: $194.00/year
4. Cloth when using 3 squirts Bac-out per wash: $89.40/year
Now, you have to add to these numbers the start up costs for diapering. This would be 35-40 bucks added to the disposables for the diaper pail, but I'm not adding that because our diaper pail was a gift.
My estimates as of right now (I'll probably post how much I actually spent when I feel I have enough diapers to go full-time) are to add $300 in start-up costs for cloth diapers to go full-time. This estimate includes 2 large wet bags, 1 small wet bag, diaper sprayer, and 15 cloth diapers averaging at $15 each.
If you are cloth diapering a newborn you'll probably need more diapers, and if you have two in diapers you will obviously need more. I will probably need to add more diapers to this stash in order to cloth diaper my next child.
I'm being optimistic here, it may cost more than $300. If you want to see some good estimates on how much it would cost to go full-time with different types of cloth diapers, you can check out this blog post at Musings Of A Homemaker.
Costs For First Year (Includes Start-Up Costs)
Okay, I'll add $35 dollars to the disposables for the diaper pail, just to be fair.
1. Disposables at retail value: $618.56/year
2. Disposables with great deal: $458.07/year
3. Cloth with Bac-out on every diaper: $528.56/year
4. Cloth with Bac-out only when washing: $389.40/year
Conclusions
The first year is the most expensive when you are doing cloth diapers. You may not be saving anything depending on how much you would spend on disposables, and how often you use Bac-out.
You have to approach cloth diaper laundering with a strategy, or you may not save as much money. Obviously we will be going with the 3 squirts/wash Bac-out method.
The good thing? Even though the first year you may not actually be saving anything, for each subsequent year, and with each subsequent child, you do save significantly with cloth diapers.
I'm estimating that we will save about $1,170.30 (as a minimum) if we were to have two more kids and they were each in diapers for only two years. This is assuming we would continue to buy disposables in bulk with the discount if we weren't cloth diapering. And that is accounting for the money I'm losing in start-up costs the first year, and the approximate cost of another 15-ish diapers should I need that many (about $500 total in cloth diapers).
Are the savings as drastic as some claim? Not when you take into account laundry costs.
Do you still save money? Yes. In our case, we will still save quite a bit.
Is it worth the hassle? That's something each person has to decide themselves. For me, I think it is, because I am saving money in the long run, and I actually am finding the whole cloth diaper thing kind of fun.
There is some value to the cuteness factor too, after all.
P.S. I would just like to say a big thank you to Leanna at Thoughts And Whatnots for talking me down off the edge of the cloth diapering bandwagon. When I thought about all the extra costs I was about ready to jump off, but she was very encouraging and gave me some good information! It helped me stick with it long enough to do the math and realize it wasn't so bad.
First of all, I just want to say that this post is not going to be a “how to” post. I’m not going to do reviews of all the different products we’ve used so far.
We still use cloth diapers very part-time. Mostly because I don’t have a big enough stash built up to do them more than that. My plan is to add a diaper or two to my stash every paycheck. In another month or two I might have enough, but for now, we only use cloth on the days that I’m home. I’m not an expert on this subject, and I don’t feel like I qualify to do any sort of informative post until I’m doing this nearly full-time.
This post is mostly about my first impressions of cloth diapering.
On The Diapers Themselves
They are cute. Cute, Cute, Cute.
Right now, I like pocket diapers best. They’re easy to prepare, you put them on just like disposables. They seem to have about the same absorbency as disposables. They do leak occasionally if I wait too long between changes, but so do disposables, so they are pretty comparable in my opinion.
I haven’t tried any fitted diapers, I’ve just done the one-size-fits-all kind. I haven’t had any trouble with these. I can see how they might not fit a younger baby very well, but they work really well on Wyatt.
On The Laundering Process
The part that is the most hassle is finding a brand of detergent. You can’t use normal detergent on cloth diapers, so you have to buy a special kind. This is slightly annoying, but I suspect it’ll become less annoying as I continue with this.
It’s also annoying that you can’t use normal diaper cream. I like my petroleum jelly, because it’s cheap. The diaper cream that works with cloth diapers is no where near as cheap as good ‘ole Vaseline.
Other than those two annoying factors, doing cloth diaper laundry isn’t too big a deal. I just throw the diapers in there, pre-rinse, then wash a normal cycle with a second rinse using the fancy detergent. Then I hang up the diapers and throw the inserts in the dryer. I haven’t had any problems with them taking a long time to dry or anything. It’s really like any other load of laundry, except for the extra rinse at the beginning.
On Detergents
The detergent I’m using right now has “enzymes” that help break things down and kill bacteria. I really like this detergent because of that, but I’m thinking I might have to switch in the future because we have hard water.
If you have hard water you need to use some sort of water softener when you wash, so I’m using separate water softeners right now, and it just isn’t cost effective. I’ll have to switch to a different detergent that has water softeners but no enzymes, meaning I’ll have to get Bac-out or some such product to get the enzyme benefits.
I think it will still be more cost effective to use the other detergent and a separate enzyme product though than to use this detergent with separate softeners, just because of the price. It’s hard to know how much I’ll save until I can know for sure how long each type will last me, and I won’t know that until I’ve been doing this longer.
Just my thoughts on detergent.
On Dirty Diapers
Wet ones are easy, it’s the dirty ones that are more difficult. I’ve only done a couple dirty diapers using cloth, and I really wish I had a diaper sprayer. I’ve been using a water bottle to “squirt” water on the diapers to clean them off. It works alright for now, but I think a diaper sprayer would make this whole process way easier.
The dreaded dirty diapers are what most people fear most about cloth diapering (me included). It’s easy with disposables – you just take the diaper off, throw it in the trash, and never think about it again. If you have any kind of fear of dealing directly with dirty diapers, I wouldn’t recommend you start cloth diapering without a diaper sprayer.
Thankfully, I’m pretty comfortable with “the dirty work” and I always have been, so it hasn’t been much of an issue for me. After that first diaper it was no big deal.
On The Whole Process
My biggest issue is the “special” brands of detergent and diaper cream you have to buy to use with cloth diapers. I did a whole cost analysis of cloth diapers that takes this into account, and that will be up next week, so keep an eye out for it.
Other than that, I’m finding this whole thing kind of fun! Wyatt looks really cute in the diapers, and I really don’t mind taking care of the washing and such. I’m really looking forward to trying out more brands of diapers as well, and I get kind of excited when my cloth diapers come in the mail.
Will I stick with this? You know, I think I will.
Stay tuned for more on cloth diapers over the next couple weeks!
Thanksgiving is coming up soon, and everyone will be making their lists of things they are thankful for.
Somewhere in my list I always include my salvation, because really, isn’t the fact that Jesus died for our sins the ultimate gift for which to be thankful?
I realized a couple months ago that I have never posted the story of how I met Jesus on my blog. You can get the short version in the “About Me” tab, but I’ve never devoted an entire post to the most important event of my life, the moment I’m most grateful for. Why I haven’t is beyond me. I think it has been a thought niggling in the back of my brain for a while now, but I’ve never sat down and typed it out.
I decided that as we enter this season of Thanksgiving and then celebrating the birth of our Savior, it would be a great time to finally share my “salvation story”, if you will.
As I thought about it, I realized a lot of you might never have posted your testimonies either. I’m not judging – sometimes things get busy and you just don’t think of it. I know! So I thought I’d ask if any of you want to join me in thanking our Savior for what He has done in our lives in the best way we can – by sharing our stories with others.
I’m planning on posting my testimony on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, November 17th. It seemed like an appropriate way to lead into a holiday that is all about thanking God for our greatest gifts.
Will you think about joining me and posting your testimony on your blog that day as well?
I’m planning on doing a link-up, and there will be a button made at some point.
I’ll post a reminder as it gets closer, but I’m giving it a full 2 1/2 weeks – I think that’s plenty of time to decide on whether to join in and to write up your testimony if you do decide to do it. If you have written a post about your testimony in the past, you can definitely just link to that as well.
If you’ve never devoted an entire post to sharing your salvation story, I hope you join in!
More details and a button coming soon!
Lately I've been thinking alot about the Future. But not in the way you might think.
At first I was thinking about the Future in regards to everything it may or may not hold. What will happen with our jobs in the Future? Will we live in this house forever? So much has changed in this past year - what will life look like at this time next year? Will I have as much trouble getting pregnant with our next baby as I did getting pregnant with our first? How many kids will we have? Mostly just questions of the unknown.
But lately, my thoughts about the Future have been more focused on my actual thinking about the Future. Sure, it can be fun thinking about what might be, but is it really healthy? I've been convicted recently that it's not, not in the way that I have been thinking about it.
Two Exceptions
I don't think there is much good to be done in thinking about the Future, except as it may affect our present actions.
If I'm thinking about the Future only so I can plan appropriately for what I need to do today, there really isn't too much of a problem (got that tidbit from "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, and I agree).
If I'm thinking about and focusing on Eternity that is a very good thing, because it has immediate repercussions in the Present - I'm going to live in a more godly manner today if I'm living with Eternity in mind. (see Chapter 15 in "The Screwtape Letters" for a good discussion about this whole subject).
But in this post I'm talking about thinking on my physical Future here on earth.
If I'm thinking about the unknowns of the Future, it only brings about two reactions: worry about the Future or discontent with the Present.
Worrying About The Future
When I start thinking too much about what might happen in the Future, it's almost impossible not to worry. I get to thinking about all the "what-if's", wondering what will happen, and then wondering what I should do if it does happen.
It's so easy to forget that worry is a sin. And I mostly worry about things in the Future - I don't worry so much about what is happening right now. Worrying about Future events that may or may not happen is a huge joy-stealer in my life - how am I supposed to be joyful when so many cares and worries are loading me down?
If not thinking about the Future helps me to worry less, not only am I sinning less by not worrying so much, but it's so much better for my mental and physical health as well
(Kara wrote a good post on worry, and that's where I found the above quote.)
Dreaming About The Future
But not all thoughts of the Future are filled with doom and gloom - sometimes I like to dream about the Future. And really what is wrong with that?
I think sometimes it's okay to just dream a little, but if my mind is often consumed with daydreams about things that may or may not happen, I don't think that is healthy. It's not at all helpful for appreciating the moment - in fact, focusing on what might be in the Future takes my attention away from being thankful for all those everyday gifts that I have right now (this also ties in with the book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voscamp, which for me has become partially about living fully in the Present, not with the Future constantly in mind).
And then on top of that, there is bound to be some disappointment if my actual Future doesn't live up to my expectations, or I may find myself discontented with the moment and wishing it away for the sake of things in the Future. How ungrateful that is! The Lord showers blessings on us every day, and I'll miss most of them if I'm always looking for the next thing.
Minding The Present
Right now, today, is all I have. I have no gaurantee about anything in the Future - why do I spend so much time thinking about my Future here on earth when what I do with each Present moment is what will really count for Eternity? What eternal value is there in focusing so much on the earthly Future? There isn't much.
Can focusing much of my thoughts on the Future help me live better today? Not really, unless I am only thinking about the Future so I can plan present tasks. But then I still have to be careful not to let worry sneak in, and that is so easy to do.
Can thinking about the unknowns of the Future help me serve the Lord better? No. It takes my attention away from the Lord and focuses it on temporal dreams or fears.
(Katie wrote a great post recently, "On Tomorrow", that also touched on this subject - I borrowed the quote from her.)
I don't want to focus so much on the "what if's" or "maybe someday's" of the Future. I don't want to waste the Present - this moment is all I have any control over, because once it has passed me by it becomes the Past, and I can't have it back.
I want to appreciate every gift and make the most of every moment that is given to me right now, because what I do right now is what will matter for Eternity. I think I could honor the Lord much better if I think less about the Future (or even the Past, but that is a different subject), and just practice minding the Present.
Obviously I'm still working on it, and this is a struggle I'll probably have until my Future no longer includes this physical world, but only Eternity - but then it won't be the "Future" anymore, it will just be a never-ending Present with my Savior.
And that is the most beautiful thing to look forward to.
At first I was thinking about the Future in regards to everything it may or may not hold. What will happen with our jobs in the Future? Will we live in this house forever? So much has changed in this past year - what will life look like at this time next year? Will I have as much trouble getting pregnant with our next baby as I did getting pregnant with our first? How many kids will we have? Mostly just questions of the unknown.
But lately, my thoughts about the Future have been more focused on my actual thinking about the Future. Sure, it can be fun thinking about what might be, but is it really healthy? I've been convicted recently that it's not, not in the way that I have been thinking about it.
Two Exceptions
I don't think there is much good to be done in thinking about the Future, except as it may affect our present actions.
If I'm thinking about the Future only so I can plan appropriately for what I need to do today, there really isn't too much of a problem (got that tidbit from "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, and I agree).
If I'm thinking about and focusing on Eternity that is a very good thing, because it has immediate repercussions in the Present - I'm going to live in a more godly manner today if I'm living with Eternity in mind. (see Chapter 15 in "The Screwtape Letters" for a good discussion about this whole subject).
But in this post I'm talking about thinking on my physical Future here on earth.
If I'm thinking about the unknowns of the Future, it only brings about two reactions: worry about the Future or discontent with the Present.
Worrying About The Future
When I start thinking too much about what might happen in the Future, it's almost impossible not to worry. I get to thinking about all the "what-if's", wondering what will happen, and then wondering what I should do if it does happen.
It's so easy to forget that worry is a sin. And I mostly worry about things in the Future - I don't worry so much about what is happening right now. Worrying about Future events that may or may not happen is a huge joy-stealer in my life - how am I supposed to be joyful when so many cares and worries are loading me down?
If not thinking about the Future helps me to worry less, not only am I sinning less by not worrying so much, but it's so much better for my mental and physical health as well
(Kara wrote a good post on worry, and that's where I found the above quote.)
Dreaming About The Future
But not all thoughts of the Future are filled with doom and gloom - sometimes I like to dream about the Future. And really what is wrong with that?
I think sometimes it's okay to just dream a little, but if my mind is often consumed with daydreams about things that may or may not happen, I don't think that is healthy. It's not at all helpful for appreciating the moment - in fact, focusing on what might be in the Future takes my attention away from being thankful for all those everyday gifts that I have right now (this also ties in with the book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voscamp, which for me has become partially about living fully in the Present, not with the Future constantly in mind).
And then on top of that, there is bound to be some disappointment if my actual Future doesn't live up to my expectations, or I may find myself discontented with the moment and wishing it away for the sake of things in the Future. How ungrateful that is! The Lord showers blessings on us every day, and I'll miss most of them if I'm always looking for the next thing.
Minding The Present
Right now, today, is all I have. I have no gaurantee about anything in the Future - why do I spend so much time thinking about my Future here on earth when what I do with each Present moment is what will really count for Eternity? What eternal value is there in focusing so much on the earthly Future? There isn't much.
Can focusing much of my thoughts on the Future help me live better today? Not really, unless I am only thinking about the Future so I can plan present tasks. But then I still have to be careful not to let worry sneak in, and that is so easy to do.
Can thinking about the unknowns of the Future help me serve the Lord better? No. It takes my attention away from the Lord and focuses it on temporal dreams or fears.
(Katie wrote a great post recently, "On Tomorrow", that also touched on this subject - I borrowed the quote from her.)
I don't want to focus so much on the "what if's" or "maybe someday's" of the Future. I don't want to waste the Present - this moment is all I have any control over, because once it has passed me by it becomes the Past, and I can't have it back.
I want to appreciate every gift and make the most of every moment that is given to me right now, because what I do right now is what will matter for Eternity. I think I could honor the Lord much better if I think less about the Future (or even the Past, but that is a different subject), and just practice minding the Present.
Obviously I'm still working on it, and this is a struggle I'll probably have until my Future no longer includes this physical world, but only Eternity - but then it won't be the "Future" anymore, it will just be a never-ending Present with my Savior.
And that is the most beautiful thing to look forward to.
Edit: Good news! I was just testing the technique that I originally thought would allow anyone to find the sign-in e-mail for any blog, and I realized that when I originally tested this it sent it to the account e-mail that I was signed into because it was the same e-mail I had listed as my contact e-mail in my profile - so people actually can not find your e-mail sign-in this way.
However, in the past Blogger has reset my settings (without my permission - so annoying) to the default settings which did make my private e-mail visible for a short period of time, before I discovered it and hid it again. I've wanted to change my e-mail sign-in ever since this happened so that I'd have the peace of mind of knowing that if Blogger "reset" my settings again, it would be my blog e-mail (instead of my private e-mail) that showed up anyway. The instructions below are still the only way I've found to change your sign-in e-mail, but I will let you know if I ever find an easier way!
I had a few requests for me to post the "how-to" on switching your blogging account from one e-mail address to another - this is handy if you created your blog with a personal e-mail address before you were aware of blog security (like I did). If you are concerned about making sure your private e-mail stays hidden, it may be a good idea to switch your blog to a different account.
1. So the first thing to do is to create another e-mail address that you want to be associated with your blog. This can be with whatever service you want, but I think you'll have to set up a Blogger account with this e-mail if it's not a Gmail account.
Update: Jessica told me of an easier way to change your e-mail, but this will only work if the e-mail you used to set up your Blogger account is not a Gmail address.
If it is with another service, you can go to your Google homepage, click on your username in the upper right-hand corner, click on "Account Settings". Under the "Security" section, you can select to "Change Your E-mail" - then change it to your new blog e-mail address. You'll also want to update your contact e-mail in your Blogger profile if you have it set to your old e-mail. Then you are done.
If, however, your sign-in e-mail is a Gmail account, you'll have to go through the below steps.
2. After you create that e-mail, go to your Blogger account and click on the "Settings" tab. From there, click on "Permissions".
3. Click the "Add Authors" button, and enter your new blog e-mail. Click "Invite".
4. Open your new blog e-mail account and accept the invitation.
5. Go back to the permissions page signed in with your original e-mail. It should show your original e-mail as the administrator, and your new e-mail as a contributor. Click on the link to make your blog e-mail an "administrator" too.
6. Once you have both of your e-mails set up as administrators, sign in with your new blog e-mail. You should have access to all aspects of your blog from that e-mail now.
7. Once signed in with the new e-mail, go to "Permissions", and remove the other e-mail. That e-mail address will no longer be associated with your Blogger account. Don't delete the old Blogger account though, because it will delete your entire Google account associated with that e-mail, and any pictures you uploaded previously to your blog will be deleted too, unless you use an outside service.
8. Make your new Blogger profile look all pretty.
If all you want to do is switch to another e-mail, then you are done! However, if you are like me, you were following all of your blogs with your original e-mail. This is a problem because if you use Google Reader, you want to be able to read in Google Reader and comment on blogs with the same account, so you don't have to keep signing out and signing in with the new account every time you want to comment. There are two ways to handle this problem.
1. Just keep your original profile up and running, list your blog as your "website" in that profile, and read and comment with that account. I don't know of a way to find out the e-mail address associated with a Blogger profile, but I'm not certain - there could be a way to find the e-mail associated with your profile that I don't know about.
2. Or, if you're like me and get a little OCD about this stuff, you can re-follow all of your blogs with your new account and then un-follow with your old account. Unfortunately, there just isn't an easy way to do this - you have to re-follow individually. Yes, it takes forever, but it was worth it to me to just have everything transferred to one new account, and for my peace of mind. One advantage of this is you show up at the top of the follower list in the little "followers" gadgets, so you might get more new traffic that way - I consider that a little bonus for all my hard work.
And that's it! I hope this is helpful, and let me know if you have any questions - I'll do my best to find the answers for you!
However, in the past Blogger has reset my settings (without my permission - so annoying) to the default settings which did make my private e-mail visible for a short period of time, before I discovered it and hid it again. I've wanted to change my e-mail sign-in ever since this happened so that I'd have the peace of mind of knowing that if Blogger "reset" my settings again, it would be my blog e-mail (instead of my private e-mail) that showed up anyway. The instructions below are still the only way I've found to change your sign-in e-mail, but I will let you know if I ever find an easier way!
I had a few requests for me to post the "how-to" on switching your blogging account from one e-mail address to another - this is handy if you created your blog with a personal e-mail address before you were aware of blog security (like I did). If you are concerned about making sure your private e-mail stays hidden, it may be a good idea to switch your blog to a different account.
1. So the first thing to do is to create another e-mail address that you want to be associated with your blog. This can be with whatever service you want, but I think you'll have to set up a Blogger account with this e-mail if it's not a Gmail account.
Update: Jessica told me of an easier way to change your e-mail, but this will only work if the e-mail you used to set up your Blogger account is not a Gmail address.
If it is with another service, you can go to your Google homepage, click on your username in the upper right-hand corner, click on "Account Settings". Under the "Security" section, you can select to "Change Your E-mail" - then change it to your new blog e-mail address. You'll also want to update your contact e-mail in your Blogger profile if you have it set to your old e-mail. Then you are done.
If, however, your sign-in e-mail is a Gmail account, you'll have to go through the below steps.
2. After you create that e-mail, go to your Blogger account and click on the "Settings" tab. From there, click on "Permissions".
3. Click the "Add Authors" button, and enter your new blog e-mail. Click "Invite".
4. Open your new blog e-mail account and accept the invitation.
5. Go back to the permissions page signed in with your original e-mail. It should show your original e-mail as the administrator, and your new e-mail as a contributor. Click on the link to make your blog e-mail an "administrator" too.
6. Once you have both of your e-mails set up as administrators, sign in with your new blog e-mail. You should have access to all aspects of your blog from that e-mail now.
7. Once signed in with the new e-mail, go to "Permissions", and remove the other e-mail. That e-mail address will no longer be associated with your Blogger account. Don't delete the old Blogger account though, because it will delete your entire Google account associated with that e-mail, and any pictures you uploaded previously to your blog will be deleted too, unless you use an outside service.
8. Make your new Blogger profile look all pretty.
If all you want to do is switch to another e-mail, then you are done! However, if you are like me, you were following all of your blogs with your original e-mail. This is a problem because if you use Google Reader, you want to be able to read in Google Reader and comment on blogs with the same account, so you don't have to keep signing out and signing in with the new account every time you want to comment. There are two ways to handle this problem.
1. Just keep your original profile up and running, list your blog as your "website" in that profile, and read and comment with that account. I don't know of a way to find out the e-mail address associated with a Blogger profile, but I'm not certain - there could be a way to find the e-mail associated with your profile that I don't know about.
2. Or, if you're like me and get a little OCD about this stuff, you can re-follow all of your blogs with your new account and then un-follow with your old account. Unfortunately, there just isn't an easy way to do this - you have to re-follow individually. Yes, it takes forever, but it was worth it to me to just have everything transferred to one new account, and for my peace of mind. One advantage of this is you show up at the top of the follower list in the little "followers" gadgets, so you might get more new traffic that way - I consider that a little bonus for all my hard work.
And that's it! I hope this is helpful, and let me know if you have any questions - I'll do my best to find the answers for you!
I live in a small town with a tiny library. For most of my book reading needs, I go to a larger library in a neighboring city. But recently I discovered that our tiny little library that’s just a few minutes from my house actually has a pretty good movie selection.
I made a trip to library recently to get a couple movies, and as I was waiting for the librarian to check them out for me, I saw written on a board behind her that September was Banned Book Month. The library is encouraging people to read books that have been banned.
I’m not exactly sure what I think of this, because a lot of those banned books are banned because they are inappropriate. But as I thought about what books they are encouraging people to read, I began to wonder about the greatest book that has ever made a “banned books” list – a book that is banned in 52 countries today, because it tells the Truth.
I wonder if the Public Library system included the Bible on their list of recommended banned books?
I guess I inadvertently may have participated in Banned Book Month in September.
How about you?
I made a trip to library recently to get a couple movies, and as I was waiting for the librarian to check them out for me, I saw written on a board behind her that September was Banned Book Month. The library is encouraging people to read books that have been banned.
I’m not exactly sure what I think of this, because a lot of those banned books are banned because they are inappropriate. But as I thought about what books they are encouraging people to read, I began to wonder about the greatest book that has ever made a “banned books” list – a book that is banned in 52 countries today, because it tells the Truth.
I wonder if the Public Library system included the Bible on their list of recommended banned books?
I guess I inadvertently may have participated in Banned Book Month in September.
How about you?
I am just overwhelmed at God's goodness as I write this!
I can't go into details, but Derek has been going through a situation at work. Basically, if things went one way, it could make his job for the next year alot more stressful. From all appearances, it looked like this change was going to be inevitable, and we were both kind of resigned to it, though we did pray that things would just stay the same if at all possible.
Well, Derek recently had the meeting that would decide whether this thing at work was going to change or not, and I was praying for the meeting, that if at all possible the Lord would work it out for things to stay the way they are.
But with the Lord, nothing is impossible! It was decided that the changes were not going to happen after all! When I heard, I just wanted to cry, because I know it was wearing on Derek, but the Lord worked it all out for us!
I'm just amazed at how the Lord cares about the little details about our lives. This wasn't anything too drastic or earth-shattering - it just would have caused a bit more work and stress. But the Lord heard our prayers, and showed His love to us this way.
This reminder that the Lord cares and wants to hear about even the little things we have to deal with in this life came at such a perfect time for me. I know the Lord not only did this for Derek, but He did it at this precise moment in time to remind me that He's got this - He's got everything under control. He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7), He loves us (1 John 3:1), and He works out everything for our good (Romans 8:28), even when it is in a less obvious way than in this instance.
What an awesome God we have!
I can't go into details, but Derek has been going through a situation at work. Basically, if things went one way, it could make his job for the next year alot more stressful. From all appearances, it looked like this change was going to be inevitable, and we were both kind of resigned to it, though we did pray that things would just stay the same if at all possible.
Well, Derek recently had the meeting that would decide whether this thing at work was going to change or not, and I was praying for the meeting, that if at all possible the Lord would work it out for things to stay the way they are.
But with the Lord, nothing is impossible! It was decided that the changes were not going to happen after all! When I heard, I just wanted to cry, because I know it was wearing on Derek, but the Lord worked it all out for us!
I'm just amazed at how the Lord cares about the little details about our lives. This wasn't anything too drastic or earth-shattering - it just would have caused a bit more work and stress. But the Lord heard our prayers, and showed His love to us this way.
This reminder that the Lord cares and wants to hear about even the little things we have to deal with in this life came at such a perfect time for me. I know the Lord not only did this for Derek, but He did it at this precise moment in time to remind me that He's got this - He's got everything under control. He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7), He loves us (1 John 3:1), and He works out everything for our good (Romans 8:28), even when it is in a less obvious way than in this instance.
What an awesome God we have!
Forgiveness is sometimes a hard thing for me.
I have no difficulty whatsoever forgiving someone who asks me for forgiveness. They are obviously sorry and know that they hurt me if they ask for forgiveness, so it's easy for me to forgive them then.
But it's really hard for me to forgive someone who hurts me and never expresses the slightest bit of remorse about it.
In these situations, each time I think of the offense, I get more and more frustrated. After all, I was clearly right, and that other person (whoever they may be), was clearly wrong, and don't they see how they've hurt me?
This frustration just festers, like an infected sore on my heart. Then the bitterness takes root.
Once the bitterness starts, it spreads like a cancer. It seems to me that at this point it is not just my relationship with the offender that is hurt - my whole outlook suffers.
Little annoyances or inconveniences that I would normally brush off with a smile suddenly irritate me to no end. Every little rude remark from a stranger sets me off, and I find myself complaining about all the rude people in the world, without realizing that when I snapped back I became one of the rude people.
I become a complainer, because when all the little irritations build up, I've got to get my frustration out somehow.
My relationship with the Lord suffers, because when I try to pray, I either can't focus or I find myself complaining to the Lord about so-and-so (I don't think He appreciates that).
What I've described above sounds a bit extreme when I read it back to myself. You must realize that this doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen every day. It's just an ever-so-gradual shift in my way of thinking, and after several months in this downward spiral, I realize where I've fallen. I realize what a crabby person I've become. And I realize this is not who I want to be.
How does this all come about from one little offense that should have been no big deal? It all comes back to selfishness. I get absorbed in my own hurt, I feel a little self-righteous, I take things into my own hands and refuse to forgive because it makes me feel better - not realizing that this self-absorbed, self-righteous attitude will gradually extend to every other situation I find myself in.
Not realizing that in the end, it's a poison to me.
Not realizing that of course that Lord would want to deal with that poison in my system before He takes care of the situation.
Bottom line: I've yet to find a verse that says you only have to forgive someone if they apologize first. In fact, I can think of plenty of examples in the Bible where the offended party forgives the offender before they ever ask for forgiveness. They are some of the most beautiful stories in the Bible, and some of my personal favorites. The story of Esau and Jacob, the Prodigal son, and Jesus and Peter come to mind.
I think if I really realized the weight of all that I've been forgiven, I wouldn't have a problem forgiving someone else - even if they never apologize at all.
Instead I become like that despised servant who was forgiven so great a debt by his master, and then had a fellow servant thrown in jail over a few pennies (Matthew 18).
It pains me to even write that sentence, because I don't want to be like that. And when I come to a point when I realize that I have been like that, there is only one thing to do.
Let go of those silly pennies. Ask the Lord to forgive me (again) for allowing that bitterness to take root in my heart, for not extending the grace that has been extended to me, for being self-righteous and selfish. And then change my attitude toward those who hurt me, and toward those innocent bystanders who have felt my anger without doing anything to deserve it.
When will I learn this lesson for good? When will I not have to go through this over every little offense that is not accompanied by an apology? I feel ridiculous to still be struggling with something like this. I'm so glad the Lord forgives me - if only I could more readily extend that forgiveness to others, instead of taking so long to realize what is happening.
Unforgiveness is such a sneaky sin. It sneaks into your heart when you aren't paying attention, and you barely realize it's there until it has grown out of control. And then it's painful to cut it out, but once it's out, things begin to heal.
I confess my sin to the Lord, and He helps me root it out. I take steps to change my attitude. I offer a token of renewed friendship; I practiced giving grace to an innocent bystander.
Little by little, I get back on the right track.
It feels so trite to say it now, but it is so true. Refusing to forgive someone really hurts them much less than it hurts you.
I have no difficulty whatsoever forgiving someone who asks me for forgiveness. They are obviously sorry and know that they hurt me if they ask for forgiveness, so it's easy for me to forgive them then.
But it's really hard for me to forgive someone who hurts me and never expresses the slightest bit of remorse about it.
In these situations, each time I think of the offense, I get more and more frustrated. After all, I was clearly right, and that other person (whoever they may be), was clearly wrong, and don't they see how they've hurt me?
This frustration just festers, like an infected sore on my heart. Then the bitterness takes root.
Once the bitterness starts, it spreads like a cancer. It seems to me that at this point it is not just my relationship with the offender that is hurt - my whole outlook suffers.
Little annoyances or inconveniences that I would normally brush off with a smile suddenly irritate me to no end. Every little rude remark from a stranger sets me off, and I find myself complaining about all the rude people in the world, without realizing that when I snapped back I became one of the rude people.
I become a complainer, because when all the little irritations build up, I've got to get my frustration out somehow.
My relationship with the Lord suffers, because when I try to pray, I either can't focus or I find myself complaining to the Lord about so-and-so (I don't think He appreciates that).
What I've described above sounds a bit extreme when I read it back to myself. You must realize that this doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen every day. It's just an ever-so-gradual shift in my way of thinking, and after several months in this downward spiral, I realize where I've fallen. I realize what a crabby person I've become. And I realize this is not who I want to be.
How does this all come about from one little offense that should have been no big deal? It all comes back to selfishness. I get absorbed in my own hurt, I feel a little self-righteous, I take things into my own hands and refuse to forgive because it makes me feel better - not realizing that this self-absorbed, self-righteous attitude will gradually extend to every other situation I find myself in.
Not realizing that in the end, it's a poison to me.
Not realizing that of course that Lord would want to deal with that poison in my system before He takes care of the situation.
Bottom line: I've yet to find a verse that says you only have to forgive someone if they apologize first. In fact, I can think of plenty of examples in the Bible where the offended party forgives the offender before they ever ask for forgiveness. They are some of the most beautiful stories in the Bible, and some of my personal favorites. The story of Esau and Jacob, the Prodigal son, and Jesus and Peter come to mind.
I think if I really realized the weight of all that I've been forgiven, I wouldn't have a problem forgiving someone else - even if they never apologize at all.
Instead I become like that despised servant who was forgiven so great a debt by his master, and then had a fellow servant thrown in jail over a few pennies (Matthew 18).
It pains me to even write that sentence, because I don't want to be like that. And when I come to a point when I realize that I have been like that, there is only one thing to do.
Let go of those silly pennies. Ask the Lord to forgive me (again) for allowing that bitterness to take root in my heart, for not extending the grace that has been extended to me, for being self-righteous and selfish. And then change my attitude toward those who hurt me, and toward those innocent bystanders who have felt my anger without doing anything to deserve it.
When will I learn this lesson for good? When will I not have to go through this over every little offense that is not accompanied by an apology? I feel ridiculous to still be struggling with something like this. I'm so glad the Lord forgives me - if only I could more readily extend that forgiveness to others, instead of taking so long to realize what is happening.
Unforgiveness is such a sneaky sin. It sneaks into your heart when you aren't paying attention, and you barely realize it's there until it has grown out of control. And then it's painful to cut it out, but once it's out, things begin to heal.
I confess my sin to the Lord, and He helps me root it out. I take steps to change my attitude. I offer a token of renewed friendship; I practiced giving grace to an innocent bystander.
Little by little, I get back on the right track.
It feels so trite to say it now, but it is so true. Refusing to forgive someone really hurts them much less than it hurts you.
Do you ever read a story in the Bible and just wonder if you've ever even read it before?
I'm not lazy in my Bible reading. I've read through the entire Bible several times. So I know, no matter what story it is, I've read it before.
But it's amazing to me how different stories and different verses stand out to me each time I read it. I think it has alot to do with my life situation - I pay attention to certain stories more depending on where I am in life.
This is why it says that God's word is "living and active". The Bible will never become obsolete, and there will always be something new you can take away from it! I love that.
Oh, yes, but back to the story I'm sure I've never read before (that's not true, I vaguely recall it, but it never stood out before).
You know in the Old Testament, when the Hebrew people are in Egypt, and they become a great nation, and the new Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, enslaved them? Then he decided he needed to start getting rid of the Hebrew boys that were born?
Well, his first plan to get rid of the baby boys was to tell two of the Hebrew midwives (whose names were Shiphrah and Puah) to go ahead and help the Hebrew women deliver, and then kill the new babies if they were boys, but to let the girls live.
I don't know what made him think they would actually obey those orders. I wonder if Shiphrah and Puah were Egyptian or Hebrew themselves? Anyway, the Bible says they feared God and did not do what Pharaoh ordered. (Can you imagine actually obeying an order like that? It makes me shudder.)
So Pharaoh called them and asked them why they didn't obey his orders (that would be so scary - after all, he could order that they be killed).
And they said something along the lines of "Oh, Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women - they have really fast labors, and we don't get there in time to kill the babies."
Sounds a bit like a lie to me. But the Bible doesn't specify, so maybe that was actually true. Regardless though, Shiphrah and Puah didn't obey Pharoah's orders because they knew it was more important to obey God's orders.
Amazingly Pharaoh did not kill the midwives, the Hebrews continued to multiply, and God was pleased with the midwives because they feared Him and chose to obey Him over Pharaoh.
In fact, God rewards the midwives by giving them families of their own.
Now, isn't that a happy story?
I know the rest of the story goes on and horrible things happen before God delivers the Hebrews out of Egypt. But I like that in this facet of the tale, we have a happy ending on our hands. It's comforting to me to hear another example of God rewarding those who fear Him.
And He does reward us when we choose to obey Him - sometimes we can see those rewards here on earth, and sometimes our rewards don't become evident until eternity, but they are there nonetheless.
Are there any stories or verses that you've read lately that you had forgotten about?
P.S. The above is just a paraphrase of the story in Exodus 1. You should go read it yourself if you're interested.
I'm not lazy in my Bible reading. I've read through the entire Bible several times. So I know, no matter what story it is, I've read it before.
But it's amazing to me how different stories and different verses stand out to me each time I read it. I think it has alot to do with my life situation - I pay attention to certain stories more depending on where I am in life.
This is why it says that God's word is "living and active". The Bible will never become obsolete, and there will always be something new you can take away from it! I love that.
Oh, yes, but back to the story I'm sure I've never read before (that's not true, I vaguely recall it, but it never stood out before).
You know in the Old Testament, when the Hebrew people are in Egypt, and they become a great nation, and the new Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, enslaved them? Then he decided he needed to start getting rid of the Hebrew boys that were born?
Well, his first plan to get rid of the baby boys was to tell two of the Hebrew midwives (whose names were Shiphrah and Puah) to go ahead and help the Hebrew women deliver, and then kill the new babies if they were boys, but to let the girls live.
I don't know what made him think they would actually obey those orders. I wonder if Shiphrah and Puah were Egyptian or Hebrew themselves? Anyway, the Bible says they feared God and did not do what Pharaoh ordered. (Can you imagine actually obeying an order like that? It makes me shudder.)
So Pharaoh called them and asked them why they didn't obey his orders (that would be so scary - after all, he could order that they be killed).
And they said something along the lines of "Oh, Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women - they have really fast labors, and we don't get there in time to kill the babies."
Sounds a bit like a lie to me. But the Bible doesn't specify, so maybe that was actually true. Regardless though, Shiphrah and Puah didn't obey Pharoah's orders because they knew it was more important to obey God's orders.
Amazingly Pharaoh did not kill the midwives, the Hebrews continued to multiply, and God was pleased with the midwives because they feared Him and chose to obey Him over Pharaoh.
In fact, God rewards the midwives by giving them families of their own.
Now, isn't that a happy story?
I know the rest of the story goes on and horrible things happen before God delivers the Hebrews out of Egypt. But I like that in this facet of the tale, we have a happy ending on our hands. It's comforting to me to hear another example of God rewarding those who fear Him.
And He does reward us when we choose to obey Him - sometimes we can see those rewards here on earth, and sometimes our rewards don't become evident until eternity, but they are there nonetheless.
Are there any stories or verses that you've read lately that you had forgotten about?
P.S. The above is just a paraphrase of the story in Exodus 1. You should go read it yourself if you're interested.
Well, it's been a while since I posted a review for the Blogging for Books program! The last couple of months have been so busy that I just never got around to requesting my next book, so a few weeks ago I logged back on and picked my next book.
When I was looking for my next book to read, "To Be Perfectly Honest" by Phil Callaway caught my eye. The description sounded very interesting to me - a guy decides to tell the honest truth for an entire year. As one of Callaway's friends says in the opening chapter, for a Christian "Isn't that a bit like giving up arson for Lent?"
His friend makes a point, since we should all work to live honestly anyway - but as Callaway began his "truth vow", it's apparent that there are many small ways where we may not be acting in an honest way without really realizing it.
The book is written in a journal format, with Callaway telling relevant stories from each day of his truth vow (sometimes he succeeds in being honest, and sometimes he doesn't). Callaway is a "humorist" and the stories are told in a funny (and honest) way. He pokes fun at different people he encounters in day-to-day life throughout the year - not in a mean way, but you should be aware that no one is safe.
There were a couple points where I wasn't sure I agreed with something Callaway said, but I could appreciate the humor in his observations. It takes alot for me to laugh out loud at something I read, and I found myself chuckling many times while reading this book.
The value in the book lies mostly in entertainment, but there were many lessons woven into his stories as well. I was especially struck by some of the creative ways he found to witness to others.
I also really appreciated how honest he was in writing about his thought life - those secret sins that aren't really put on display, such as pride, envy, critical thoughts, being judgemental, etc. I saw my own struggles in alot of the situations he described. He sums up the lessons he learned personally in the epilogue, and extends the truth vow deadline for another fifty years.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was humorous and light-hearted, even while dealing with some heavy subjects. I came away from the book feeling cheerful, and that's always a bonus to me!
Note: I was given a copy of this book for free by Waterbrook Multonomah Publishing Group for this review. This is my honest opinion of the book.
By the way, you should all go over and rank my review on the Blogging For Books website - mostly so they can see I'm doing my job and give me more options for books to review. And if you blog and want to recieve free books, take a look around their site while you're there!
So for some reason I decided to google my blog name under Google Images.
Probably not a good idea, unless you want to totally freak yourself out.
A bunch of pictures from my blog showed up on Google Images. Now, I've never been overly concerned with this before, but it concerned me that pictures of my baby also showed up on Google.
So, being the obsessive rational person that I am, I decided to do what I can to protect my pictures.
Now, for me, this does not mean that I'm no longer going to post photos on here. I like posting photos - I think they make the blog more interesting, and part of the reason I blog is for my own documentation, which includes pictures.
There are a few things I've decided to do though. . .
1. Watermark my pictures.
I use Photoshop Elements to watermark my pictures, using a custom watermark brush that I created using this tutorial.
If you want to adjust the opacity of your watermark while editing in Photoshop, just click SHIFT-CNTRL-N (or SHIFT-CMMD-N on a Mac) to create a new layer, and then apply the brush to that layer. Then you can adjust the opacity using the slider, or select a different style from the dropdown menu (I like to use "Overlay").
If you don't have Photoshop, PicMonkey.com is a great (free) photo editing site, and you can add a watermark using the text tool.
I used to transfer the images to Photobucket and copy the html code to put them in my posts. I liked using Photobucket, because you can make the pictures whatever size you want in your posts, and you don't have the data storage limits that Blogger has.
Then I started using Windows Live Writer (and later MarsEdit when I switched to a Mac), and I love it - these programs make it very easy to adjust the size of your pictures and move them around in your post, and then you can upload them all in one batch. Though it uploads to Picasa, which may be a problem if I ever run out of photo storage, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Sidenote: If you are not familiar with html, and you compose your posts with the "compose" tab in Blogger, I highly recommend that you start practicing using the html tab. You can do so much with html once you figure it out, and the only way to do that is to practice! If you have any questions, please e-mail me, and I'll do my best to help (though I'm not an expert)!
2. Set all my albums in Photobucket and Picasa to private.
I just feel safer this way, and it shouldn't affect the pictures from showing up in your posts (though use caution, because I had trouble switching the privacy settings on one album and had to re-add all my photos to my posts after I had set it to private in order for it to work- yuck). By the way, Photobucket allows others to copy your photos to their albums unless you adjust your privacy settings so they can't.
3. Disable right click on the blog.
I read a post on Kelly's Korner, and she gave a link to disable right-click. Can people still save my images to their computer if they want to? Yes, but I feel like it helps discourage that. Plus my pictures have the watermark, so people would still know they are mine.
Here is the link to the code for disabling right click - but don't go edit the html for your whole blog like the site says. Not only is it scary if you don't know html code that well (you could mess up your whole blog!), but it doesn't work that way - I tried it. Just add a gadget under "Design->Page Elements" in Blogger, select an html gadget, and add the code into that and save. It'll do the same thing.
4. Disable left-click on my pictures.
I never realized it before, but Blogger and Photobucket add a link to your pictures when you upload them so that people can click on them and open them in a different window or see your Photobucket album when they click. I hate that.
To remove the part of the image code that makes it a link, you have to delete a section of the code. It's not as complicated as it sounds. I found a great tutorial on how to disable left-click on pictures in Blogger - check it out. You can always preview your post to make sure you did it right.
I so wish I had known that you can do this when I first started blogging, because of all the time involved in de-linking every picture on the blog. So if you're just starting out, I'd suggest doing this now if you're concerned with protecting your pictures.
5. Finally, you can edit your robot.txt file to tell Google not to file your images.
This is easier than it sounds. Take the following bit of code . . .
User-agent: Googlebot-ImageDisallow: /
And then go to "Settings" on your Dashboard:
Then "Search Preferences":
Then click the "edit" button next to the words Custom robot.txt, select "Enable", and then paste the code into the box. Don't forget to save your changes!
And wolla! Your images won't show up in Google searches anymore (though a couple might sneak through here and there). I decided to go this route because while I love sharing pictures of my family on my blog, I don't love it when my family pictures show up in image searches. Now they won't! You can read more about how to block specific images from searches here.
And that's what I've got! Any other things you all do to protect your pictures?
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