Please pray for my husband. Today when he returns home after a long day of work, he's going to discover glass jars sitting on our counter, containing creamy brain-like substances floating in a brown liquid. Sounds gross, huh? Well, thanks to a lovely and generous young friend, I am now in possession of two rather large kombucha scobys (a.k.a. mushroom or mother). A "scoby" is the acronym for a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. These fermenting friends create another probiotic drink with benefits similar to those I mentioned before in my post about kefir.
I am really excited to "brew" some of my own kombucha. Just last month I tried some berry flavored kombucha from Celestial Seasoning and after a first sip that nearly took my breath away, I decided I liked it! It was fizzy, not too sweet, had a great tarty kick, and after a brief "hot flash" of detox, I appreciated that it had healthful benefits, too! ;)
According to my favorite culturing website (Cultures for Health), Kombucha scobys are grown in green or black sweetened tea and should be left to culture for 7 to 30 days. The longer the culture is left to do it's work, the drink becomes less sweet, but boasts stronger probiotic qualities. Once the scoby has done it's work, you can drink it plain, or mix it with a bit of juice. I've got two jars going, so after next week will determine how to serve it up. I've heard that store-bought kombucha tastes quite a bit different from home-grown, so I'm anxious to compare the two.
I'm also excited to see how the scobys reproduce. Yes, did I neglect to mention that scoby mothers grow babies?! Yup. The mother culture will develop babies that can be used to make more kombucha. This is totally fulfilling the desires of my inner food chemist! Bwahaha.
So, do you kombucha? I'd love to hear thoughts from any of you kombucha pros out there. :)
November 16, 2011
November 14, 2011
Tiredness and Respect
There are just some nights that I wish I could clone myself. Last night was one of them. I am at a loss to know if it was the noise of the heater coming on, or her tummy, or pre-teething fussiness that kept waking Olivia up. Whatever it was got the girl up to eat 4 times last night. It's nights like this that make for a very tired, zombie-like Mama the next day. Andrew was kind enough to bring her to me this morning b/c at that point, my ears were in denial of the small fussing sounds coming across the monitor. "Surely....that can't be her!"
This morning, the child is playing rather contentedly at my feet, safely contained in a laundry basket with her blanket, "fluff" and a few toys. With so many boxes and moving chaos littered about the house, I'm finding this to be a safe area for her to play. It's rather convenient for her teething needs too, since there is a nice clean basket edge to chew on within gum's reach. Oh yes and I might explain that a "fluff" is a crocheted square I made up from a soft remnant of yarn. It's become a nap/bedtime essential as Olivia will bury her face and lace a finger or to into it before she can begin a proper nap. It's pretty cute.
For the past month or two, a few church friends and I have been gathering to go through Nancy Wilson's book "The Fruit of her Hands". It's been an excellent study and very refreshing to work through with like-minded ladies. This week's chapter is on the issue of respect. Mrs. Wilson does a fantastic job shoring everything up with scripture, and is brutally honest with the disrespect women can have toward their husbands. I would think her harsh if I hadn't heard of the disrespect present in the lives of so many Christian women. The general outcry is "My husband doesn't lead!". While this may be true, Mrs. Wilson points back to the scriptures, exhorting believing women to respect their husbands, not just when they feel like it, but in obedience to God and His word. Respect is an option, but a command. She goes on to encourage women to practice being prayerful, and thankful, noting the good attributes in their husbands. When women focus on the negative, that's probably all they're going to see, and instead of whining or gossiping, PRAY for your husband! Since the gentler sex tends to be more vocal in complaint, this kind of in-your-face truth seems most appropriate.
This teaching harmonized beautifully with a discussion I just had with my Dad. Their church was recently blessed through a conference given by Gregg Harris (homeschooling pioneer, and father of authors Josh, Alex and Brett Harris). Dad shared with me about the conference and the various topics he covered, one of which was on respect. Mr. Harris encouraged ladies to respect and love their husbands into leadership. What a concept, huh?
"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words but the behavior of their wives when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." 1 Peter 3:1-2
My prayer for the women of the church (local and universal) is that we will be women of the word, lovers of our husbands, and be characterized by quiet and gentle spirits. Just as God bears patiently with our own sins and short comings, may our love toward our husbands, unconditionally, and in all things, sharpen us all to a greater image of Christ-likeness.
This morning, the child is playing rather contentedly at my feet, safely contained in a laundry basket with her blanket, "fluff" and a few toys. With so many boxes and moving chaos littered about the house, I'm finding this to be a safe area for her to play. It's rather convenient for her teething needs too, since there is a nice clean basket edge to chew on within gum's reach. Oh yes and I might explain that a "fluff" is a crocheted square I made up from a soft remnant of yarn. It's become a nap/bedtime essential as Olivia will bury her face and lace a finger or to into it before she can begin a proper nap. It's pretty cute.
For the past month or two, a few church friends and I have been gathering to go through Nancy Wilson's book "The Fruit of her Hands". It's been an excellent study and very refreshing to work through with like-minded ladies. This week's chapter is on the issue of respect. Mrs. Wilson does a fantastic job shoring everything up with scripture, and is brutally honest with the disrespect women can have toward their husbands. I would think her harsh if I hadn't heard of the disrespect present in the lives of so many Christian women. The general outcry is "My husband doesn't lead!". While this may be true, Mrs. Wilson points back to the scriptures, exhorting believing women to respect their husbands, not just when they feel like it, but in obedience to God and His word. Respect is an option, but a command. She goes on to encourage women to practice being prayerful, and thankful, noting the good attributes in their husbands. When women focus on the negative, that's probably all they're going to see, and instead of whining or gossiping, PRAY for your husband! Since the gentler sex tends to be more vocal in complaint, this kind of in-your-face truth seems most appropriate.
This teaching harmonized beautifully with a discussion I just had with my Dad. Their church was recently blessed through a conference given by Gregg Harris (homeschooling pioneer, and father of authors Josh, Alex and Brett Harris). Dad shared with me about the conference and the various topics he covered, one of which was on respect. Mr. Harris encouraged ladies to respect and love their husbands into leadership. What a concept, huh?
"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words but the behavior of their wives when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." 1 Peter 3:1-2
My prayer for the women of the church (local and universal) is that we will be women of the word, lovers of our husbands, and be characterized by quiet and gentle spirits. Just as God bears patiently with our own sins and short comings, may our love toward our husbands, unconditionally, and in all things, sharpen us all to a greater image of Christ-likeness.
November 9, 2011
The Adventure Continues
Dear Blog,
I am so sorry I've neglected you for so long.
Most sincerely,
Me
There. Now that I've got that out of the way, I can move on to say that much has happened during my 2 month blogging sabbatical. We've received visits from both sides of the family, made two trips down south for both work and fun, have been steadily getting beautiful eggs from the girls, planted a 2nd garden, and gratefully welcomed the fall season. Good riddance to the brutally hot summer of 2011!
The girl is 6 months old today. Where has the time gone?! She has continued to blow us away with her developments, and perhaps being our only child, we're a bit enamored with anything she does. Just a week before her 4th month, she decided that laying on the floor wasn't getting her anywhere fast and started her attempts at crawling. Each week since that time has increased her speed and adventurousness. She is now regularly yammering "Mama", and "Dada" amongst other syllables though we're not quite sure she's associated her "words" with the people they belong to. As of these past 2 weeks, she's added sitting up on her own, pulling up and trying to stand to her list of achievements. We love her smiles and very slobbery kisses. She is such a happy and delightful girl to have around! Oh how our lives have so drastically changed in these 6 short months!
Two weeks ago we got some "big news" that has turned our world upside down. An opportunity came up for Andrew w/in his company that will be sending us up north for a while. We're very excited and spent a good portion of last week searching for a new home. It was nice to get a feel for the area we will be calling "home", and hope that the place we fell in love with will pan out as our new respective domicile. **prayers are greatly appreciated**
Being the planning nerd I am, I printed out some graph paper and made a diagram of the house. I also made little graph paper cuts-outs of our furniture, and have been playing with arrangements. Andrew laughed watching me measuring over him to acquire the area of the couch. Despite his teasing, I know he will appreciate not having to move the furniture several times, since I think I know where things will go. ;)
Thoughts of moving have brought along an array of emotions. We're thankful for a new adventure, and excited to see what the Lord has for us up there. However, we're also really sad to be leaving. There are so many wonderful memories of our time here. The wonderful friends that welcomed us with open arms when we first arrived have become like family. The quirky 1950's house with no dishwasher, or pantry, and measly insulation is our first home together. This is the place I learned to get my feet under me as a new wife, homemaker, AND expectant Mommy. It's the place we planted our first garden, jumped into the world of chicken farming, and made the enormous decision to welcome our daughter into the world in our living room! For all of it's quirks, we will miss this place and look back on it with many fond memories.
Even after a few weeks of living in this country town, I gave Andrew a head's up that whenever we would have to move again, he should be prepared for me to bawl my eyes out. I know that we will make new memories where ever we go, but I believe it's perfectly right to mourn a bit, but also to treasure this time in our lives. This will be upwards of a twelfth move in my lifetime, so maybe I should be used to it by now. An encouraging thing a dear friend reminded me on the subject of moving is that "Where ever you go, God's people will be there."
So, for whomever God has for us up there, we look forward to meeting them. For what friends we're saying goodbye to, we will miss them more than words can say. Their friendship has been an incredible blessing, and one we hope to maintain, even from a distance. Things may not be the same as they used to be, but as children of the Lord, we share a bond that cannot be broken, and will eventually all end up "moving" into the same "house" in the end.
I'm going to date myself and my music tastes by referencing the Steven Curtis Chapman song "Great Adventure", but bear with me. ;) I love the line that says: "Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze, through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace, let's follow our Leader into the glorious unknown, this is a life like no other...this is the great adventure." There is a great amount of glorious unknown ahead of us, but as the Lord leads, we are in the exact place He wants us. It's a privilege to follow Him, and to follow my husband into the wild blue yonder. Come wind, come tornado, come earthquake...the Bornes are on a great adventure!
I am so sorry I've neglected you for so long.
Most sincerely,
Me
There. Now that I've got that out of the way, I can move on to say that much has happened during my 2 month blogging sabbatical. We've received visits from both sides of the family, made two trips down south for both work and fun, have been steadily getting beautiful eggs from the girls, planted a 2nd garden, and gratefully welcomed the fall season. Good riddance to the brutally hot summer of 2011!
The girl is 6 months old today. Where has the time gone?! She has continued to blow us away with her developments, and perhaps being our only child, we're a bit enamored with anything she does. Just a week before her 4th month, she decided that laying on the floor wasn't getting her anywhere fast and started her attempts at crawling. Each week since that time has increased her speed and adventurousness. She is now regularly yammering "Mama", and "Dada" amongst other syllables though we're not quite sure she's associated her "words" with the people they belong to. As of these past 2 weeks, she's added sitting up on her own, pulling up and trying to stand to her list of achievements. We love her smiles and very slobbery kisses. She is such a happy and delightful girl to have around! Oh how our lives have so drastically changed in these 6 short months!
Two weeks ago we got some "big news" that has turned our world upside down. An opportunity came up for Andrew w/in his company that will be sending us up north for a while. We're very excited and spent a good portion of last week searching for a new home. It was nice to get a feel for the area we will be calling "home", and hope that the place we fell in love with will pan out as our new respective domicile. **prayers are greatly appreciated**
Being the planning nerd I am, I printed out some graph paper and made a diagram of the house. I also made little graph paper cuts-outs of our furniture, and have been playing with arrangements. Andrew laughed watching me measuring over him to acquire the area of the couch. Despite his teasing, I know he will appreciate not having to move the furniture several times, since I think I know where things will go. ;)
Thoughts of moving have brought along an array of emotions. We're thankful for a new adventure, and excited to see what the Lord has for us up there. However, we're also really sad to be leaving. There are so many wonderful memories of our time here. The wonderful friends that welcomed us with open arms when we first arrived have become like family. The quirky 1950's house with no dishwasher, or pantry, and measly insulation is our first home together. This is the place I learned to get my feet under me as a new wife, homemaker, AND expectant Mommy. It's the place we planted our first garden, jumped into the world of chicken farming, and made the enormous decision to welcome our daughter into the world in our living room! For all of it's quirks, we will miss this place and look back on it with many fond memories.
Even after a few weeks of living in this country town, I gave Andrew a head's up that whenever we would have to move again, he should be prepared for me to bawl my eyes out. I know that we will make new memories where ever we go, but I believe it's perfectly right to mourn a bit, but also to treasure this time in our lives. This will be upwards of a twelfth move in my lifetime, so maybe I should be used to it by now. An encouraging thing a dear friend reminded me on the subject of moving is that "Where ever you go, God's people will be there."
So, for whomever God has for us up there, we look forward to meeting them. For what friends we're saying goodbye to, we will miss them more than words can say. Their friendship has been an incredible blessing, and one we hope to maintain, even from a distance. Things may not be the same as they used to be, but as children of the Lord, we share a bond that cannot be broken, and will eventually all end up "moving" into the same "house" in the end.
I'm going to date myself and my music tastes by referencing the Steven Curtis Chapman song "Great Adventure", but bear with me. ;) I love the line that says: "Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze, through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace, let's follow our Leader into the glorious unknown, this is a life like no other...this is the great adventure." There is a great amount of glorious unknown ahead of us, but as the Lord leads, we are in the exact place He wants us. It's a privilege to follow Him, and to follow my husband into the wild blue yonder. Come wind, come tornado, come earthquake...the Bornes are on a great adventure!
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