Wednesday, October 5, 2011

A view into my day

Hi everyone!

I have been sorting through photos from the past 4 months June through September and realized I have some catching up to do. So from now on I will try and post a few times a week until I can catch up on all that you all have missed. :)

For today here are some photos of one of days this past week. I had seen another lovely blogger Miss Linda do this and I enjoyed seeing what her day was like. So here is a sort of diary of my life on a typical day.

I forgot to get more photos in the evening so you will have to be content with just commentary. :)
In the morning I love to get out of "photo album" which I have turned into a memory verse card holder. I put all of verses in there I want to memorize on index cards. I have to say that I have not been doing this lately, but I have been going over verses I have memorized in the past in the mornings. This method is handy to bring with you anywhere as well!

" So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of Wisdom."-Psalm 90
I have been reminded more and more by the Lord and friends and my family that we need to remember that this life is but a vapor and so short. The Lord is at hand and He is coming again soon. Its reminded me as well to get a heart of wisdom, but not earthly wisdom that comes from myself or others, but the wisdom of the Lord.
Then I glanced over at my dresser and realized even more that I am an adult now and really have grown in the past year. I have the responsibility of getting things from the store for my mom by driving. I also have a cell phone of my own now, it updated this of the weather before I started my Bible study. Its a great feature as I am always wondering about the weather.

The red journal underneath my phone is my prayer/Bible study journal which I use each morning to write down verses I am memorizing or really want to ponder throughout the day. I have always had a journal ever since I was 13 I guess and now I love writing in them. I hope someday my children and their children will be able to glean some wisdom from the Lord from my scribbling. :)

Acts 18:9-10 " Do not be afraid but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." 

Then I studied chapter 18 in Acts and chapter 19, I have been just really loving reading Acts. Its so encouraging and challenging!
In chapter 18, Paul was afraid to share the Gospel for fear he would be abused and persecuted again, but God said to him in a vision do not fear! How much more then should we not fear as we are not getting beaten and put in prision in the US as Paul was in Rome and other provinces. The Lord has shown me more and more that I need to share the Gospel because the days are coming when the Lord will come again. We should not hide and not tell of the hope that is in us. I must say many a time I do not share the Gospel because I am afraid, but God says do not be afraid, and we have many Christians in our cities in the US, probably more than Paul had, but he still preached the Gospel. How much more should we? These were my thoughts all day yesterday.  I felt as though I really have not been doing what I should do as a christian, I have felt as though I have not verbally shared the Good News enough.
Then I also read from Psalms 92:4-5 " For You Oh Lord have made me glad by your works; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are you works Oh Lord! Your thoughts are so deep."


I read this and remembered that yes I should be joyful always because My God's works are so so great! His thoughts are so deep, too deep for me even to understand, but He wants me! His steadfast love never ever wavers for me His child. He loves me with a love no one else can ever love me with! That is a promised hope, its not a hope that is unsure, its sure!! My God loves me with a steadfast love. He will never forsake His bride!
Then I went on a run, I tend to pray while I run now. I used to listen to my ipod, but it has basically died. So now I use the time to pray and remember my God who is always with me. I feel more at peace this way and remember that He will protect me while I run through the neighborhood. Yes I do wear pants when I run, I have found its easier and warmer in the winter months. I could wear a skirt, but it gets in my way, so pants it is. I wear loose sweat pants, not so pretty, but warm and great for exercise. I have been convicted by the Lord in the past few years that its definitely not a sin to wear pants and for some things its necessary.
When I came in from my run I was cold, but at the same time hot, I hate that. But it was worth it to get a good 30 minutes of exercise. I love earl grey tea, ever since I went to England in 2009 with my sister and Jennie Chancey on the England tour I have fallen in love with the taste of tea. I have it most every day in the fall and winter months. Earl grey is my favorite type!

For my early meal I wanted some scrambled eggs made in my cast iron skillet, but I had neglected to clean it the previous day. So I thought I would do a little tutorial on how to clean your cast iron in this post. Yes this post will be a little long. :)

I clean my cast iron with sea salt, I was actually reading a magazine called Reminisce and it has stories and things that lots of elderly people send in about how they lived in the 30s-70s when they were children and young people. One lady did an article about cast iron and I tried what she said to do, which is use no soap or water to clean your cast iron! I had never heard of this, I was always using water, but no soap with a scrubber to clean it. But she said that salt has properties that are great for cleaning, so its great for clean cast iron.

So what I do is I get a dry paper towel, pour some sea salt in the dirty pan and scrub. If you have a lot of stuff that is stuck on use some sort of scrubber to get it off, but no water or soap, just the sea salt.

And here you have it! I beautiful and clean cast iron pan. :) Not using water or soap helps it to stay smooth and that way you have an anti stick coating on your pans. Its lovely isn't it! :) Cast iron just is so fun to me! I love using it and taking care of it. :)

Now if you are not going to use your cast iron pan after you clean it up, then re-season it, this means re-oiling it. I use coconut oil to oil my pans, but you can also use canola oil or vegetable oil. But coconut oil is the best I believe health wise. We only buy extra virgin, here a photos below. :)

We get it in a huge bucket way bigger than the one in the photo. We use this little bucket for storing small amounts in the house. We store all of our bulk foods in our garage. If you want to know more about getting different whole grains and other organic foods in bulk shoot me an email here- ra.stricker@gmail.com

I only use about half a teaspoon full of the coconut oil and then you melt it in the pan. Its a solid at room temps, but is a liquid at higher temps.
Here is photo of what the coconut oil does when it melts, it was hard to get a photo for some reason. But its basically a clear liquid. Then you can whatever you want, I did eggs.
My tea and my bread and eggs, yummy! Then I practiced piano for church on sunday, I am one of the pianists for the services at our church. I did not get photos of that, but I did get photos of my music for my voice practicing and from my lesson. I had to drive to my lesson as well, so I listened to my favorite group Selah in the car.
Above, on of the songs I am studying for my college vocal lessons. Its so beautiful! This song can be found in the Celtic Woman songbook. Its my favorite song I am learning right now.
Here are some photos from my lesson, the exercises I must do daily to become a better singer. They are difficult, but fun! :)

 These are from the Little Book Cocone exercise book. I also do the Big Book Cocone exercises as well. I have also been using Italian Arias as well to sing the song Alma Del Core, which is my most difficult exercise right now I believe! There are some high notes in it. :)
This one is my favorite I believe because its easier than number 8! Its funny that 8 is harder than number 9 for me. :)
I always write out a to-do list for each day or else I am lost not remembering what I need to do.
 After I do some more things on my to-do list I read this lovely book Womanly Dominion. Its so good!!! I can't put it down, its so good. I read about Abigail and how she was a woman who did not just sit and knit she was intentional for the Lord. She did not say oh the Lord will do that, she got up and moved in order for the Lord to do what He wanted to do in her life. We as women should not just be sitting around we need to be active in our faith pursuing God's will for our lives!
I also uploaded this wonderful program to my parents computer, because the family computer is right next to the piano. So I can just scoot on over to the computer and type of the music after I compose it. I believe this will be better than having to go up to my room upstairs when I have a tune that needs to be written up. So I uploaded that before I went to my lesson and after I did some music practicing and reading. I also heaped up more compost outside and remembered the gardens need tending today. Then I helped with some more chores in the house before leaving for my vocal lesson.

 My sister made us all chocolate milkshakes after dinner. It was so yummy!
In the evening Dad taught us from the WORD from Ecclesiastes and I learned a lot. I wore those earrings as well.
I changed into my princess night gown I call it since it has elaborate embroidery all over it and its red.
I did some knitting on my nubia which is a type of scarf they wore in the civil war in the fall/winter months. We have a reenactment in a week or so and I want to get it finished in time. I do that while we watched The Polar Bear king, a great movie from my childhood. It was instant on netflix which is always a plus not having to wait for it to come in the mail. My sister did some sewing a civil war dress she is sewing for a customer and my mom watched as well. Then we all went to bed. So that was my day! Sorry this is so long, but I thought it would be fun to give you glimpse into my day. :)

In Christ,
Rebecca

6 comments:

Jacqueline said...

Oh, dear Rebecca! I am just so inspired and thankful to read of your thoughts (and actions) on being at home during this season of life! I am blessed beyond words and SO wish I could have had a similar journey! But the Lord has refined me through fire to burn out more and more of the dross from the rebellion of my younger years. To know what you know at your age is so helpful and safe!! Thank you for sharing ...keep up the great writing (and come back next week to link up, too) It will reap a harvest, I know!! Blessings,
Jacqueline @ Deeprootsathome.com

Stephanie Ann said...

What an interesting post! I've been knitting so much for this event coming up that I anticipate a heat wave will roll in. :D

Míriam Luiza said...

Interessante suas informações!

Rebecca said...

I so enjoyed your post! It brought back memories of my time as a stay at home daughter--I wouldn't trade them for anything :) It amazes me that some people can't understand why we would chose to stay at home--I guess they just haven't been able to experience the joy that comes from being at home. :)
Keep up the good fight,
Rebecca :)

Danielle Pajak said...

Hi Rebecca! :-) I haven't written you in awhile, but I saw this post and I loved it! I love hearing things about what you are doing and this post gave a glimpse into what daily life is like for you. You are so knowledgable when it comes to home-making things, with the sea salt cleaning the cast iron and all of things I read from your FB statuses. I think that is so awesome.

I also loved hearing all what the Lord has been showing you and convicting you about. I can understand about sharing the Gospel. I recently read through Acts and that verse you quoted where God tells Paul not to be afraid also stood out at me. Another reason is because God said that to him when he was in Corinth and the area of Corinth at that time was not very much different from our American society. I too desire to be more vocal about giving the Good News. I have been praying and thinking about it. I will have to share some of my thoughts when I can write you next!

Oh! And that is so awesome that you love tea. I love tea. A LOT. Haha. Earl Grey is very good. Have you ever tried English Breakfast or Irish Breakfast or Black Currant? I am thinking they might have had those types when you were visiting England. :-)

Rebecca Ann said...

Ladies its so good to hear from all of you! I am glad you were all encouraged by my post. I thought it would be fun to share a typical day for me. They are all usually different, but lots of the things are the same. :)

Jaqueline I was so glad to find your blog and have been encouraged again and again to pursue the Lord above all else! thank you for striving to serve God through your blog! God has really been so good to me, I feel as though I still have much to learn even though I am young and have loved God from an early age. He brings us all to Himself in His timing I have seen and helps us to learn more and more in His time. Praise God we are not our own!

Stephanie yes I have been knitting so much as well. Boy would it be funny if it was too hot to wear out new knitted garments! :)

Miriam I am glad you found the post interesting! welcome to my blog!

Rebecca its good to hear from you as well, welcome to my blog! Thank you for your kind words, although I believe that even if I was not at home the Lord would still be glorified, but I do thank God I have a home to abide in that is centered on God. For that I am ever grateful! I am a third generation christian and I am amazed at God's faithfulness to my family.

I am so glad you enjoyed the post as well Danielle and yes I have been so convicted about evangelism I even bought some tracts. Now I am not sure if I will use them, but if the Lord provides the right time and place I will. Can't wait to hear your thoughts about it as well! Praying for you dear friend!

In Christ,
Rebecca