Peace on Earth Challenge: Week 1

Peace on Earth Challenge

Courtney over at Women Living Well is hosting a Christmas Challenge called Peace on Earth. Basically the challenge is to get us to focus more on Jesus and not let our lives be so over come by all the things that we "have" to do before Christmas.

So many people love Christmas time for all of the wrong reasons. Like: how many presents they are going to get, how many places they get to go, the lights, the tree, and let's not forget the food. Don't get me wrong, all of these things are nice, but where is Jesus at in all of this? If you ask any kid what Christmas is all about, they are going to say "Santa!"

NOPE! That's just not right. We celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas, not a big Jolly Guy bringing presents. Under the leadership of my wonderful husband we have gone through all of our decorations and eliminated the Jolly Guy! In fact if we had kids, they wouldn't be told about him. They would be told the birth of Jesus and why it is celebrated.

The first challenge from Courtney is to write at the top of the December calender:

I Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

He does care for each one of us! Even though he already knows what our anxieties are, He wants to know what is bothering us from our own hearts! Talk to God about your problems. Talk to God about you fears, hurts, and tears! But also praise God! Many people forget to do this. They go through the lists of needs that they have and forget to utter a single praise to God. Psalm 150:6 says, "Let everything that have breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!"

The other part of her challenge is to light a candle every morning in your kitchen. And each time the candle catches your eye to say a prayer for peace in your home. There should be a lot of talking to God going on!

I personally love the idea of this challenge!

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!!

So lets put Him back where He belongs!

Tips on How to Iron Clothes

So I am getting ready to iron all of our dress clothes, that way if my wonderful husband decides he wants to wear something all he has to do is grab it from the closet. I do iron our clothes, usually on Sunday mornings when we are rushing around trying to get ready for church, that doesn't make for a relaxing Sunday though. So I thought I would look up ironing tips, just to make sure there wasn't and easy way that I didn't know about! Turns out, there isn't, you just have to do it. So, then I thought, well maybe someone else could learn from this information. So here is an article that I found at http://www.betterlifestyleproducts.com/how-to-iron-clothes.html.

How to Iron Clothes - Ironing Clothes Help

Most people do not enjoy ironing clothes. In fact, it is widely considered to be an unavoidable chore by most. However, the reluctance of many to iron clothes is simply caused by a failure of understanding how to iron clothes properly. Learning the right steps to ironing clothes should make the process a bit easier for you.

• Before you ever begin to iron, plug the iron in, adjust it to the correct setting, and allow it to preheat. You will know your iron is ready for use if it sizzles when you spray a bit of water on it. Locate the tag on the garment you are preparing to iron. It will provide you with information about the material. Some clothes, you will find, should not be ironed. Others have a very low tolerance for heat, so you'll have to iron them at a gentle setting. Use high heat for cotton and linen. Cotton mixes and wool are ironed on a medium level. Use a low setting for silk, nylon, polyester, and other like fabrics. If you are using a steam iron, make sure there is the proper amount of water inside.

• When you actually begin to iron, take your time to ensure the garment has been stretched flat across the ironing board. This will save you some time in terms of re-ironing wrinkles that you put in. As you iron, make sure to iron clothing evenly with smooth, careful strokes. Always remember to keep the iron moving. Stopping at any point could burn your clothing.

How to Iron Shirts

• Start the process by ironing the collar. Stretch the back of it across the flat surface of the board. Run the iron over the back of the collar several times until you are sure it is correctly pressed. Turn the shirt over and handle the front of the collar.

• Move to the sleeves of the garment. You need to be sure to iron the back of the sleeves first, then move to the front of the sleeves. Start by stretching the larger part of the sleeves across the point of the ironing board. Iron all the way around the back of the sleeves, then move it toward the sleeve front until you have ironed the circumference of the sleeve. Stretch the lower back of the sleeve across the large, flat surface of the ironing board. Iron toward the cuffs. Flip the shirt over and do the front, making sure to take careful, short strokes.

• When you get ready to handle the rest of the shirt, lay it as flat as possible on the ironing board. Work from one side to the other slowly smoothing out the wrinkled spots as you go.

• Hang the shirt directly after you finish ironing. Be sure to button the top and center buttons.

How to Iron Dresses

• Begin by stretching the skirt portion of the dress across the point of the ironing board. If you are working with pleats, start at the bottom and work toward the top. Work your way around the skirt with strong, fast strokes.

• If the top of the dress won't stretch across the point of the ironing board, smooth it as flat as possible across the large, flat surface of the board. Start with the back and work your way to the front. On each side, be sure to work from the top down.

• Hang the dress as soon as possible after you iron it. Try not to wear the garment for a few hours, as it will be more prone to wrinkling again once you've heated the fibers.

How to Iron Pants

• Turn the pants inside out. Begin with the top. Iron the circumference of the waistband. Move toward the pockets. Be sure to iron both sides of the pockets. Iron the fly, then the seams of the pants, then the hems. Follow that order carefully, and use smooth, quick strokes.
• Turn the pants so the correct side is facing out. hook the waistline of the pants around the arrow shaped edge of the board. Use the iron to press out the wrinkles of the top front part of your pants.

• Put the pants legs parallel to the board, with both of them headed in the same direction. Iron each leg without damaging the current creases.

• Iron the cuffs, and hang the pants.

Ironing clothes is really a delicate process. The iron produces so much heat that if you are not sure how to iron clothes, you should really get educated on the process before you start. It’s not as simple as flopping a shirt on an ironing board. It takes effort to learn how to iron like a professional. For some people it takes a long time, but if you learn how to iron, you can cut the time you spend ironing.

Sisters of the Lord Meeting

As you can tell from the title we have a new name for our "Secret Sister" Group. Our main focus of these meetings is to learn about the Lord, not to get gifts, so we decided to change our name to something that would be pleasing to the Lord!

This month we had our meeting at a restaurant. Needless to say, it was very loud, and we couldn't visit with everyone, since we were stuck around a table and not in a house. It was nice not to have to cook or clean up though!

Below is the lesson we done. Everyone was provided with a tea cup and when we got to the part about being thankful for everyday things, we added a piece of candy to our cups until they were over flowing with thankfulness!

How Full Is Your Cup?

Sitting in front of you is a cup. Just a simple plain Jane, white cup sitting there. There’s nothing inside it to make it any different from your neighbor’s cup. Our lives are much like these cups. Empty until something is put inside! The best things that can be put into our “cups” are Godly things. The more Godly things that we allow into our cups, the less room we have for “worldly” things. Thanksgiving is also this month and I think we have a lot to be thankful for, and we don’t even realize it. We go about our daily lives and don’t see the good that God has blessed us with. So we are going to fill our “cups” up with things that we take for granted.

“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” Psalms 107:1



• Breath?

• Did you wake up this morning?

• A Home?

• Air/Heat?

• Lights?

• Water?

• Car?

• Kids? How many?

• Husband?

• Mother?

• Father?

• Grandmother?

• Grandfather?

• Aunts?

• Uncles?

• Nieces?

• Nephews?

• Friends?

• Clothes?

• T.V?

• Radio?

• Bible?

• Salvation?





If God has blessed us with all of this why do we run from Him? Without Him we would have nothing! So this month we need to be Thankful for the simple things in life. Try not to complain about each and everything that goes wrong. Try thinking of one thing each day that you can be thankful for. Then during the day, when things start to get rough, pray and thank God for that thing! Do it each day! The more that we praise God the less that we will be grumbling which praises Satan.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

Proverbs 18:21

How to be a Good Wife

"The Following excerpt is reportedly from a 1950's home economics textbook intended to prepare girls for married life."

1. Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a Delicious meal - on time. This is a way of letting home know that you are thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home, and prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair, and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be cheerful and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

3. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper,etc. The run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

4. Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures, and he would like to see them playing the part.

5. Minimize the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Great him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.

6. Some DON'TS: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

7. Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing, and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

8. Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

9. Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or other places of entertainment; instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

10. The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can relax.

Wow! If women treated their husbands like this...Things would be really different. Maybe husbands would treat their wives like the jewels they were created to be.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10

Well I have a lot of work to do...