Media and Your Homemaking – Times Have Changed!

July 31, 2011 by 35 Comments

 

Do you remember when women used to have to butcher and pluck their own chickens?  Me neither!!!

All my life chicken has come in a plastic wrapped package – ready for seasoning and the oven!  Or even better - I can buy rotisserie chickens cooked and ready to serve!  It’s wonderful!  But our great grandmothers did it a bit differently!

My grandmother explained to me,  a chicken in a box used to be delivered by a local farmer to her mother.  Her mother would put the chicken between her legs (and for anyone who is squeemish skip this next phrase), twist it’s head off.  Then she would drain the blood.  After draining the blood, she fired up a pot of boiling water and soaked the chicken until the feathers could easily be plucked.  She would place the chicken into the sink – pluck it – and take all of the inside stuff out.   Then after all of the above – she could begin the process where we begin our process today – seasoning it and cooking it.

Then there was the laundry.  I find it a challenge to get all my laundry washed, dried, folded and into the drawers in a timely manner.  But not too long ago, women washed their clothes – by hand - in sudsy water, put it through a ringer, rinsed the clothes - by hand, put it through another ringer and then hung them outside or in the basement to dry.  THEN – this is the KICKER to me –  every single item had to been ironed!!!  Ugh!  Did I mention, I hate ironing and avoid buying clothes that need ironed?   There was no such thing as permanent press so everything including underwear was wrinkley and in need of being ironed.   It would be one long day if I ironed every item I wash! 

Since our great grandmothers sewed much of their clothes, sewing and mending was a large part of a woman’s day.  My grandmother says how excited she was when the invention of iron on patches were created!   I am SO thankful for stores like Target where I can get matching sets of clothes for five bucks a pop! 

Oh – the time our generation has been given by convenience stores and products is  a gift!  But we have managed to fill up all the extra time with all sorts of things. I feel it.  There are days where I look around and can’t figure out where the day has gone and why the house looks like a tornado hit.

Where has all the free time that convenience stores and products have given us?  Can I suggest where one large portion of that time has gone…

MEDIA!

I am not saying this is the only time zapper we are experiencing – but it’s one large one so let me be transparent for a moment.

1.  I am guilty of being on my computer while laundry piles up.

2.  I am guilty of letting my children out of chores so I can have more time answering email in the morning – rather than overseeing them with their chores.  As a result – the upstairs is messy for the day.  But the kids love it! lol!

3.  I am guilty of staying up too late following a twitter stream rather than doing something more productive around the house like cleaning out a closet or baking a batch of cookies for the family. 

4.  I am guilty of admiring someone else’s decorating or garden on-line rather than decorating my own home or tending to my own garden…yes, weeds grow while I read about gardening!    My home school room goes undecorated, while I admire all the amazing homeschool rooms on-line!  It’s so ironic!  I have a plethora of ideas – but in the rush of life, I’m not slowing down to do them.

I am sharing this in hopes that you can relate to the struggle I have.  I have learned SO much off of other ladies on-line as far as tips and tricks and recipes for homemaking but at times it has taken me away from homemaking and caused a bit of chaos in my home.  One of the best ways I’ve managed on-line time is through logging my hours or setting a timer to keep me from neglecting other more important duties.

Let’s strive together to be Proverbs 31:27 women : “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”  Together let’s pursue making our homes havens for our families by being organized, consistent and self-disciplined.  Let’s aim to not be distracted and distant, but always there with a hug, a smile, a warm meal, a clean set of sheets and some lines in the rugs from our vaccuum.  It is one way we can show, without words, our love to our families.  This is how our great grandmothers did it.

Share with me your thoughts:

1. If you are a blogger and you have decided to join this series by blogging each week, please place the Media Mondays button somewhere on your blog so your readers can find us here and then link-up below. (if for some reason the code is not working for you – please – right click – save as – the Media Mondays button and link it to this post)

2.If you are not a blogger, join the discussion in the comment section! I look foward to hearing your thoughts.

3. If you use Facebook or Twitter, I want to encourage you to copy and paste this link from the browser on your status update and ask your friends to join the discussion.

Walk with the King!

Filed Under: Homemaking, Media Mondays, Social Media, Technology

Crescent Chicken

July 28, 2011 by 31 Comments
Janelle from Comfy In The Kitchen invited 5 families for dinner and we were so honored to be on the guest list!  Here’s some pictures from our visit! 
Yum!  We brought nothing – Look at all of this food!  Awesome!
The boys fished.
And the girls watched a movie!And here is one of Janelle’s most popular recipes – Crescent Chicken!
 
This delicious recipe comes from my Grandma (or “Nana B” as we call her)…I have wonderful memories coming home from college to this delicious home cooked meal. It has become one of my husband’s favorites too. I like serving it along side of mashed potatoes …. the cream of chicken soup serves as a delicious gravy. Enjoy this simple yet delicious meal! 
~Janelle 
Crescent rolls, chopped and cooked chicken (I simply boil chicken breasts and cut), cheddar cheese, cream of chicken soup (milk).
Make soup in a medium saucepan using milk according to directions.  
Lay out one crescent roll at a time and place appx 3-4 bite sized pieces of chicken and appx 1Tbsp of cheese in the center of each triangle. 
Gently roll up
Seal edges by pinching the dough. (You will not get perfection, just make sure the filling cannot leak out)
Place all of your rolls in a 9×13 dish and pour soup mixture over top ( salt and pepper as desired).
Bake at 350 for 30 mins until crescents are golden brown
Serve with mashed potatoes and your choice of veggies! 
A combination of buttery crescent roll, melted cheddar and juicy chicken…Mmmm…
Crescent Chicken
(serves 6-8 rolls)
1 (8 or 6 jumbo count) package refrigerator crescent rolls
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of milk (using soup can)
Preheat oven to 350
Prepare soup using milk and set aside. Separate crescent rolls. Spoon chicken and cheese onto each crescent; roll and seal to enclose filling. Place in a 9×13 baking dish. Pour soup over rolls. Bake at 350 uncovered for 30 mins.

Enjoy!
~Janelle

 

Thanks Janelle!

Walk with the King,

Courtney

Please join Janelle for her Feasting In Fellowship Friday Link-Up Party here:

I am contributing at Raising Homemakers today! Come visit me there:
Raising Homemakers

Filed Under: Comfy In The Kitchen, Recipes

WLW Wednesday Link-Up Party and My Top 3!

July 26, 2011 by 49 Comments

 

 

Here’s my Top 3 favorite posts I’ve read this week:

1.  All this talk about Media on Media Mondays has made me perk up to the conversation already happening on-line.  Here’s John Pipers thoughts on tweeting and twitter :

“If I did not know a great God and a great Savior and a great Life and a great Plan, I would not bother writing Tweets—or books. But if God can be spoken of meaningfully in a 300 page book, he can also be spoken of in a 30-minute sermon, and a three line Tweet. All efforts to speak of the Infinite make our little differences between long and short irrelevant.”

Tweeting is to preaching what the book of Proverbs is to the book of Romans. It’s the difference between epigram and argument. In fact, if you need a biblical warrant for the literary form suitable for Tweeting it is the book of Proverbs.

The epigrammatic, aphoristic form has always been revered, not despised. It is a demanding form, not a lazy one. Long does not equal hard, and short easy. Long may be easy and short hard. It’s easy to strew the jigsaw pieces all over the floor; it’s hard to make them fit into a puzzle picture on the table. Concise is a worthy goal, and demands the effort of thought.” read more…

If you are on twitter and follow me, leave your twitter name and link in the comments section and I will follow you back :) !

2.  I want to share with you my newest addition to “Blogs I Love” – it’s Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Check out all of her amazing and free printables!

 

3.  Erin from Home With The Boys wrote a really fun post titled: Why I Love Dresses and How They Can Save You Money  Check out this great fashion advice to save money on your fall dresses!

 Now it’s your turn! It’s Women Living Well’s Wednesday Link-Up Party!!!  Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don’t forget if you join below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (Posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting, homemaking, finances, recipes, organization and more!)

 
 
 

 
 


To find the code go to the sidebar – I apologize that I’ve had trouble with the code lately – the code on the side bar should work! :)

Walk with the King!

 

 

Filed Under: Women Living Well Wednesdays

Media and Our Parenting ~ Part 2

July 25, 2011 by 26 Comments

Yesterday we discussed areas where children are using media heavily – this includes cell phones, texting,  the internet, facebook, twitter, youtube, iPods, video games and the television. 

All of these media outlets or amoral – they are neither good nor bad – it’s the use of them that determines their morality.   This is the lesson our children must learn. 

As moms, we must train our children to recognize the good use and the harmful use of media.  How you may ask?  Here’s a few of my thoughts – please add to them in the comments section:

1. Boundaries.  When the item comes into the home for the first time – set boundaries. 

For example, the cell phone will charge in the kitchen each night – where mom and dad have access to everything that has happened on the phone during the day.  This avoids the phone being used at all hours of the night for secret temptations.

Another example – video games – set a timer.  It’s so inconvenient but how far are we willing to go to keep from raising lazy children?  It’s worth it. 

 iPods – have them get permission before downloading any songs period.  Screen their music and help them make wise decisions.  If there is a certain song they like that you think is unhealthy – talk about it. 

 Television – block channels or hours of the day when they are not to be watching. 

Computers – keep them in a central location in the home where sneaking would be difficult – ie. the kitchen.  My sister has an automatic shut down on her computer – from midnight until morning it can’t be turned on without a code that only she knows.

2.  Prepare to be unpopular with your child.  If you set the above boundaries – be prepared for some battles.  It’s easiest to have no boundaries at all.  But you know better than your children all the dangers.  You will have to be strong, consistent, gentle in your explanations and prayful as you guide your children. 

3.  Don’t be afraid to snoop.  Okay – I already know that there are a host of moms who really think this is a bad idea – you think it will ruin your relationship with your children right?  NOPE – let your children know in advance that you will be overseeing their activity on media ie. snooping.   It should be no secret to your children that you are aware of what they are doing – this will keep them from feeling violated – you will not secretly snoop – you will openly oversee their activity because you love them and want to protect and guide them.  

My parents did all of the above during my youth.  They set boundaries on music, movies, tv, friendships, books and magazines.  They were very unpopular for their boundaries.  None of my friends had as strict of boundaries as my parents had (both in my public school and in my youth group.) I cried at times, complained, fought back, and mouthed off.  My parents stood their ground – in love. And I am SO glad they did!  (Thanks Mom and Dad!  You rock!)

The key is they did this IN LOVE.  My parents talked with me about my choices, showed me in God’s word principles that dictated our choices, and guided me into truth lovingly and gently. 

I was able to receive their boundaries because of 2 things:

1.  I had been loved with an unconditional, gentle, and forgiving love.  My parents listened and listened and listened to my heart – and then after all their listening – they guided my heart.  We must have our children’s heart if we are going to lead them into truth.  This listening starts the day they are born.  Do not be the distracted mom on your computer (preaching at myself here) – listen to your children – listening equals love.

2.  They taught me to fear God.  This was key to my obedience of their boundaries.  From a young age my parents taught me how to have a quiet time.  I developed my own walk with God by 4th grade.  The more I obeyed, the more sensitive I was to detecting things that were holy and unholy in the media.  The more I was able to detect holy and unholy things, the more discerning I became. The more discerning I became, the more wise I became until I came to a point of not needing my parents guidance.  I naturally knew what was appropriate and inappropriate and began discerning for myself (as my sisters can attest to - I was a real pest to my big sisters as they tried to enjoy the radio – I was known for saying “that song is baaaaaaad“.  My poor sisters :(   Thanks for putting up with me girlies!  You rock too!)
 

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

 
The child who is loved and has a healthy fear of God will eventually be able to monitor their own media.  A child who daily is in God’s word and desires to please him will be sensitive to the junk media offers and will practice self-control.  So we must parent toward this goal.  To raise children who love and fear God and who have their own personal walk with God.

 

Walk with the King!

Don’t forget to visit the link-ups from part 1!  I love hearing everyone’s thoughts on this!

Filed Under: Media Mondays, Social Media, Technology
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