soap story

Here goes.

Back to April, 2011 when, during a leadership meeting at church, (I confess I was daydreaming a little) in popped the idea of making bar soap. (Have never done this before and never thought about doing this before.) I was convinced this was from the Lord, but couldn't imagine why God would ask this of me.

I prayed and asked the Lord "Why am I making soap?" The answer seemed to be "trust me." I don't particularly like this answer. I researched the internet on soap making, picked out a few recipes, compiled a few ingredients and made my first batch. May 5, 2011. It was okay. The scent was not very strong (since I had no idea how much I needed) and the bars were kind of hard, but when tested in the sink and shower--sure enought it was soap!

I did not, however, feel the relief and contentment I hoped to feel. Instead I really NEEDED to make more!

I told my good friend Stephanie about this crazy thing I was doing. I thought she might tell me that I was nuts and there was no way God would tell me to make soap and I should stop right now and what was I thinking...

Instead, my friend (who also happens to run our church food pantry) began to tell me a story about a survey the food pantry clients completed in April in which soap and cleaning products were high areas of need which were not being met.

HMM...

So, I prayed some more and began to feel that God was leading me to make soap and bless our food pantry clients with it. But that's a lot of soap! So I spent the late summer and fall happily making soap--all kinds!

It was amazing the interest this sparked. The conversations I was having with people about soap and about the food pantry.

One lady I talked to suggested that women who are struggling financially often aren't able to afford personal items. That especially at the holidays women often don't have enough left to get things they need for themselves.

This got me thinking and when our church ladies were having a tea before Christmas I suggested we take up an offering and put together some bags with special items for the ladies. This was met with resounding excitement and encouragement, so we collected $133 from the ladies tea and got additional contributions from others in the congregation.

Then came the shopping! Another good friend Jill and I went hunting for goodies to put in the brown paper bags. Then we filled the bags and added festive ribbon at the top. When we were finished we filled 100 bags! Praise the Lord!

The soap bars were cut and packaged with "Pure Blessings" and Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God." written on the label. 190 bars in total of homemade soap (not the first batch--which I am keeping to make laundry detergent ha, ha, ha).

But God blessed us even more...the week before the giveaway the local food bank which distributes food to pantries in the area asked Stephanie if she could use 8 boxes of hardcover books about women's health!!!

My daughter and I set up the table and gave away the soaps and the books and the paper bags. We were so blessed to have the opportunity to tell about the soap making to some of the clients and volunteers. We were doubly blessed to have so many people ask did I really make the soap. We were thrilled to tell the ladies that the ladies of Trinity Church wanted to bless them by giving the bags with personal items (deodorant, lotion, lip gloss, sanitary items, etc.) which they were so grateful to receive.

But most of all, we were grateful to God, who brilliantly orchestrated the entire event and brought so many people together before Christmas to give of themselves!

PS. I am still making soap...

Meet Rosie

So we'd like you to meet Rosie...
We have enjoyed having a dog for 7 years now. We had a guinea pig too for almost 4 years (but she recently passed on to a better place). Now we have a new pet. A cat. Katie insists she is annoying, but since Katie has to take care of her (and sleep in the same room with her) and I only have to pet her while sitting on the couch, I think she's quite nice! :-)

She's cute, a little shy (especially around our dog) and very curious. She is my natural consequence for offering my daughter a pet if she successfully cleaned her room every day.

Priceless.

It doesn't seem like it should be such a big deal. Just bought new curtains and rod for library window. The instructions say it takes 30 minutes to install...

Yesterday's demolition of the old, yucky blinds took 30 minutes...

Today's installation took 1 hour and 45 minutes...

Then the ritual staring and adjustments took another 30 minutes...

Total time--2 hours and 45 minutes.

Transformed library: priceless! ;-)

Soccer 2011

Finally the soccer photos and video are here. Katie really enjoyed soccer this year and made some friends. The coach was great too. Last night's game was really cold though and I'm glad we're almost finished for the season!!!

End of the Season Tomatoes

Became tomato juice...

Treasures found...

Spent a lovely long weekend with my mum sorting through boxes of books, albums and old memories. It was amazing to see old family bibles, books and other items. I saw a Thiessen book which charts our family back to the 1700's and even has my name in it! It also was an opportunity to clear out items that we no longer use or need, or which do not bring joy.

One especially neat find connects to my recent visit with my aunt (my dad's sister) when I spent some time asking her questions about family history and my dad. One of her memories of their time in Russia after the communists took over is that they were not allowed to worship publicly. She remembered that their mom (my Oma) would read from a book of sermons to the family on Sundays. I think we found this book. It is a book of sermons, written in Gothic German and published in 1896 in Russia. Inside the book I found a postcard for my aunt (which I am sending her) written to her before her marriage but after they moved to Canada. It is so neat to find these connections to the past, even as we are launching into the future.

For me, the joy is in knowing of the faith my ancestors held, and in hopefulness that I am passing the legacy of faith in God on to my children and they to theirs, and on and on...

...this treasure of knowing God will bring abundant life and freedom to the generations that follow and possibly to others who might know God because of them.

"Come sail away, come sail away with me..."

Along the lovely Illinois River, we enjoyed a day of sailing and relaxation. Bret converted our canoe into a sailing vessel to try out the sport and (I think) because he wanted to see if he could do it. He has enjoyed some lovely summer and early fall sailing trips.

Katie and August don't mind getting in on the action and Schwarz is always glad for an excuse to get wet! We had a lovely time.

Unfortunately the winds did not cooperate for a return sail, so the captain and crew came back the hard way.