Natural Skin Care

     
Hello everyone! I hope you all have had a blessed week!

     Today I have chosen to follow up on my previous article, "My Modesty Journey". Yes, this is the post that I said I would do on what I do without make-up (a.k.a. what I do for acne.)

     First off, you should know that I like to use things that are as natural as possible. Chemicals on your skin can cause bad damage and thus are not the best option. I have learned & am continuing to learn about natural remedies and all natural products to use in daily life. 

     Also, natural things for your skin are cheaper than any chemical-laden thing at the store!

 So, to continue ~
    Did you know that while make-up can "cover-up" imperfections it actually can damage your skin in the long run? Just something to think on ; - )

   *Important ~ let me just say that I am not a doctor or anything close to that. I  am merely sharing this information for the (hopeful) benefit of others. I am also not suggesting that the items below are cures for acne or that they will work for everybody. I am only writing what my personal experiences have been with these products & am giving instructions on how I use them.*

     Before I use any of the natural things below, I make sure I have a clean face. I wash my face at least once a day. Most experts on skin care say to wash your face no more than twice a day. You do need some oil on your skin for protection!

     I believe that these are some really good natural things to use when washing your face:

~ Baking Soda

~ Apple Cider Vinegar

~ Coconut Oil
~ Witch Hazel

~ Palmstones (can be purchased Here)

~ Soaprocks (can be purchased Here)

~ A Honey, Salt, Cinnamon, & Baking Soda Mixture

~ Lavender, Tea Tree, & Purification Essential Oils (Purification oil from Young Living - Here)

~ Burt's Bees Pore-Refining Mask with French Green Clay (I don't have a link for it)

     Well, those are quite a few to get you started! I will now list what each of these have done for my skin & how I use them.

~ Baking Soda ~ is a great exfoliant & it really deep cleans my skin when I use it!
     Just wet your face, apply baking soda on it, & scrub hard! Then wash off & follow with a skin toner such as apple cider vinegar or witch hazel.

~ Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) ~ has been a great skin toner & has helped brighten my skin. The acidic properties in it will perhaps irritate your skin a little and/or redden your face - but with me the redness and irritation has never lasted too long.
     Just wet a cotton ball/cloth & apply all over face and neck. Note that it does have a strong smell and the smell will stay for some minutes.

~ Coconut Oil ~ while most oils can have negative effects on acne, I have found that coconut oil actually helps reduce the redness of mine! I use it every night by applying it all over my face and neck - it helps keep my skin hydrated, soft, and nourished. (With extended use I can see some extra 'glow' in my skin after it has soaked in!)
    You don't need much of this oil & it soaks in fairly quickly! I love coconut oil! It is SO good for many things!

~ Witch Hazel ~ has been a good skin toner for me. It doesn't irritate my skin very much at all & tones nicely.
    Use after washing your face but before using a moisturizer.

~ Palmstone & Soaprocks ~ are made from whole herb extracts, are mild, and long lasting. You can read more about them on the pages I linked above. Each stone we have purchased has had an individual smell!

    Use to wash face and follow with a toner. I usually rub the Palmstone against my hand until I have a good lather, then I apply to my wet face. I then apply baking soda over the soap and scrub. A great combination and it cleans my face really well!

~ A Honey, Salt, Cinnamon, & Baking Soda Mixture ~ this mixture is actually a facial mask. I use it every so often and it does work quite well. It does sting a little, and when I wear it I am playfully called a bear :)
   Recipe is as follows: 21/2 tsp honey, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2/4 tsp sea salt
   Mix all ingredients together and apply to either whole face or just certain areas. Leave on for 10-15 minutes, then wash off with warm water. Using it up to 3 times a week is good - or even more if you wish.

~ Lavender, Tea Tree, & Purification Essential Oils ~ these essential oils have been very good to use for helping with acne. I have found that lavender helps me best with reducing redness, and tea tree helps me best with drying pimples. Apply the essential oils on a clean face to your problem areas.
   Purification is so strong that I hardly ever use it; it burns my face - bad. Some say to apply almond oil to your face before applying purification; but I do not because I don't think the purification will be able to soak in very well with oil underneath it. So I just let it burn. 
   Purification is one oil that I would not recommend applying all over your face! Be careful with it!

~ Burt's Bees Pore-Refining Mask with French Green Clay ~ If you can find this, I would get it for 'every so often' usages. It has directions on the box it comes in, and it applies dark green and dries light green. My siblings say I look like a monster when I have this on! lol
   Applying the mask once (or twice) a week has been good for me.

   So, these are a few natural things that have helped keep my skin look bright, fresh, clean, and healthful. 

   * On a side note, if you wear, or will be wearing make-up, please consider non-comedogenic make-up (which means that it tends not to clog pore or cause blackheads.) With a little searching, you can find companies that sell such products. 
   Just type in "non-comedogenic"or "natural" make-up in a search engine and it should be able to find multiple sites for you. =)

Query of the Day:

   Do you wear make-up? Why or why not? Please explain.

GSH Series ~ Story 1

GSH Stands for 'God's Sense of Humor'

    This is the first post on the subject. Basically, each story under the title 'GSH' will have a short story about something that happened on some random day that made me stop, think, and laugh.

So, the first story....

    A couple of days ago while food shopping at HEB (just Mom and me) in the produce department, Mom was getting the veggies and I was supposed to be collecting a bag-full of apples. The apples we wanted just happened to be in the top crate of the fruit stand; to my utter dismay.
    I tried to reach the best apples (which always happen to be at the very top of the crates) while trying not to over-stretch myself so that I wouldn't be leaning over the other fruits in the lower crates. It was rather annoying to me, and I began to jestingly complain about my height to myself, "Can't reach the apples very well now, can you? This wouldn't be happening if I was taller. Lord, why did you make me short?" I was internally laughing at myself because of how I must have looked, and hoping no one was watching me too intently.
    A few seconds later, still getting the apples, I looked over my should and saw this extremely short woman walk by me (I mean extremely short, probably a little less than 4.5 feet tall). It was then that I really started laughing at myself. Here I was complaining about my whole 5'7" height (which isn't even classified as short, actually it is supposedly tall), and God brings along this really short woman to show me how ridiculous I was being.
    Needless to say, I was reproved.

    I just have to laugh at myself with this story! When I saw that lady walk by I could almost hear God saying, "So, you think you're short?" lol

Query of the Day:
    Have you ever had a situation of GSH happen to you?

The Fruits of The Spirit

Galatians 5:22 & 23 ~ "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness*, and self control. Nothing in the Torah (Law of God) stands against such things."
*some versions say 'humility'. In my paper, I used 'gentleness' as that was the word used in my Bible*


     Well, this post brings back some memories, as I wrote this "Fruit of the Spirit" paper 2 years ago for school just 6 days before my 15th birthday!


     I hope you enjoy reading it, my friends! 

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If you are a believer in Yeshua then you should have these 9 manifestations of the Spirit to some extent. I want to go now and look into each of these 9 manifestations and explain a little bit about them.

LOVE -
You must have love if you are a believer, for if you have no love you are not being a shadow of Messiah. Christ not only loved His friends, He loved His enemies as well, and that is great love. We should love as our Messiah loved, that is selflessly. We should love one another so much that we do not do anything to offend or hurt each other. To really love someone we must always do what is best for that person. In our families we must love one another so much that we would die in each others place. 

Speaking of loving one's family, when we bicker and fight we are not loving each other, but rather we are acting like we are enemies of each other, to love each other we should get along and be kind to one another, and treat the others like they are special to you (and they should be if they are your siblings). To really love one another we must treat each other better than we treat ourself, and to treat others the way we want to be treated.

JOY -
Genuine joy comes from Adonai (the Lord). If we are His then we will have exceedingly great joy because we know we are His, and that no one can take us from His hand. When we have this joy we should want to share it with others, to tell them how God has touched and saved our lives. Our joy should show in the way we talk about our Lord.

Joy is a very important thing to have for a believer. If we have no joy then one could conclude that we aren't a very strong believer in Yeshua (Jesus). The Lord wants us to have joy in most everything, even in trials and persecutions He says to "rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven." 

The martyrs are fine examples of having joy in persecution. They knew where they were going to be after death so they were joyful. As Adonai's (the Lord's) children we also know where we will go when we die so we can be joyful that we will one day be eternally with our Father.

PEACE -
Peace comes from knowing that our God will always be with us and take care of us. If He knows when a sparrow dies, how much more will He know what we need or what we are going through at any given moment? 

As children of Adonai (the Lord) we should have peace knowing that He is in control of everything. He allows everything that happens to happen. We have peace to know that through whatever happens, God is still right there, by our side, helping us us through. He will always provide help to us when we need it. We can have peace and rest because we know that He loves us so much that He will always be there for us, even when no one else is. He knows our fears and is willing to replace them with His peace. 

His peace surpasses ALL understanding.

PATIENCE -
Patience is something that takes some time to learn sufficiently. At home, patience is tested day in and day out. It takes maturity to pass tests that have to do with patience. When you have patience you will wait for others and not shout "What is taking you so long?! It is my turn now!" When your sister is taking too long in the bathroom in the morning, it takes patience to wait and not bang on the door yelling "Are you ALMOST done?!!!" 

Without patience we would explode at anyone when they aggravate us in some way. Adonai gives us tests every day which test our patience and help it grow. He gives us these tests because He knows how important it is to have patience in our lives. Yeshua (Jesus) was patient with his disciples when they didn't understand his teachings. We must learn patience if we are to be successful as believers.

KINDNESS -
We must always be kind one to another, just as Yeshua (Jesus) was kind to all who came to Him. When you show kindness towards others you show them Messiah's love. 

There are many ways to show kindness to others such as, visiting prisons and giving the prisoners Bibles, giving homeless people food, helping someone when they are hurt or in need, giving clothes to abused children and women, helping your siblings with a project, and many, many other ways. 

Yeshua (Jesus) said "whatsoever you do to even the least of these you have done unto me." I can picture Messiah smiling when He sees His own bestowing kindness to everyone they meet. Being kind to others sometimes means giving up our agendas to be there for others when they want or need us. When we are kind to others, people see Yeshua (Jesus) in us.

GOODNESS -
Goodness is a little bit like kindness. But goodness is also when others choose to do wrong and you choose to do right. When you are playing with others and another person comes to play, you can show goodness by letting that person play or giving up your place to him if there are no more available spots. 

Goodness is trying you best to follow the law and do good to others. When someone asks you to stay with them because they are scared you show goodness and kindness to do as they ask. By obeying the speed limits you show goodness. And if a lady drops her change in the store and you pick it up and give it back, you are displaying goodness. When you show goodness to others it makes you feel good, because you know you have done right.

FAITHFULNESS -
To be a strong believer in Yeshua (Jesus) you must have faithfulness. Why? The main reason is because if you are not faithful to Adonai (the Lord) you will stray from His ways very easily. You must also be faithful to your spouse, even if you aren't married yet, by staying away from sinful associations with someone you aren't married to. Being a faithful friend means you won't forsake your friends when they are in need, and that you will be there for them when they need you. 

In the Bible an example of faithfulness is shown in God. It says "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" and another verse says that Yeshua (Jesus) is called "Faithful and True". He is with us always, staying faithfully by our side. In times of need we can always go to him for He is always there for us. 

Another way He is faithful to us is that He is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins". So to follow His example we should faithfully forgive those who trespass against us. Un-believers will be able to tell when we are faithful to our Lord.

GENTLENESS -
Gentleness is not only portrayed in our deeds, but also in our speech. When you speak with gentleness you do not say harsh words or raise you voice above what you need to for the person to hear you. When your brother hits you for no apparent reason and you keep your tongue from shouting "OUCH!!! That really hurt!! You are SO mean!! I'm telling mom!!" and instead you say gently, "Ouch! Little brother, that wasn't very nice. Yeshua (Jesus) doesn't want us to hit each other. Please don't hit me anymore." that is showing gentleness. 

When you act with gentleness you won't hit, bite, kick, throw, scream, shove, or push anyone to. You guard your actions carefully when you have gentleness. Instead of throwing your sister the book she asked for, you nicely hand it to her. Instead of yanking up your baby brother when he is whining, you gently pick him up and talk softly to him. 

By practicing gentleness you are actually being considerate of other peoples feeling instead of just your own. Every believer should have gentleness, especially towards other believers. When you show gentleness by guarding you actions and words, you are being an example, and others will see that and wonder why you have it.

SELF-CONTROL -
When you have self-control you control the way you act, think, and what you say and do. Self-control is a very important thing to have as a believer, for without it you act just like the world that you are supposed to be being a light to. You must have self-control in many ares of life. In areas such as, how you dress, how you move (especially to music), what & how you eat, what you look at, what you read, where you go, what you do, who you hang around, how you act, what you say, and how to know when you have talked enough.


As you can see, it is very important to have self-control. If you have no self-control when you listen to music, you might start to move your body in really bad ways. To control our anger, we REALLY need self-control, for without it we would blow up a lot. Yeshua (Jesus) definitely had self-control in this area, because he normally stayed calm when the Pharisees rebuked Him time and time again. By gaining self-control we will all be much better off.

The nine fruits of the Spirit are all found in Yeshua's (Jesus') life. So by shadowing Him we will be practicing those nine fruits. When you are a child of Messiah, others should see His character in you, including the nine fruits, which should grow more evident as you mature as a believer.  

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p.s. Yes, I am working on the promised follow up to "My Modesty Journey" that talks about natural skin care. I should be spending more time on it, but, so many other things get in the way. I will try to get it up on the blog soon.... next week I hope =)

Truest Joy

Happiness and Joy are two different things.

    I can be happy that it was pretty today, that I have food to sustain me, family and friends that love me, and a home that shelters me. And in our world today I could probably get away with replacing happy in the above sentence with joyful; but is that a correct way to describe joy?
    So, what is joy?




Here is a definition from dictionary.com:

joy

noun

1.

the emotion of great delight or happiness caused bysomething exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure;elation: She felt the joy of seeing her son's success.

2.

a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something orsomeone greatly valued or appreciated: Her prose style is a pure joy.

3.

the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety.

4.

a state of happiness or felicity.

verb (used without object)

5.

to feel joy; be glad; rejoice.

    So, while joy is a state of great happiness - it is not the equivalent of happiness.
    One thing that I would argue is that while those who live for themselves may experience some happiness (and a counterfeit "joy"), I do not believe they ever have true joy. I tend to believe that only those who are truly living for our Lord the Creator have true joy; because true joy comes from Him.
    True joy is a strong emotion, much stronger than happiness, and in it's true, pure from - it isn't a selfish emotion.




Here are a few verses on joy (there are SO many more):
    Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. ~ Psalms 32:11


    And Hannah prayed, and said: my heart exulteth in the LORD, my horn is exalted in the LORD; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in Thy salvation. ~ 1 Samuel 2:1


    Glory ye in His holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. ~ 1 Chronicles 16:10


    Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous, praise is comely for the upright. ~ Psalms 33:1


    And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD; it shall rejoice in His salvation. ~ Psalm 35:9


And, my personal favorite:
    Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. ~ Philippians 4:4 




    Many of the verses I have found on joy have said something like, "I rejoice in Your salvation" or "Rejoice in his salvation". Is not this something to be exceedingly joyful about!?! Indeed, and not only that, but the result of our great joy should be that we live solely for Him and tell others about His salvation and unending love!
    This is true joy, the joy that comes from knowing we are His precious children and 'nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ our Lord!' What a powerful truth!
    I wonder at how God could love me so much; sinner that I am. Where would I be going without Christ? Oh, I do not even wish to think on that! This is why we have joy; true, pure, exceeding joy. As Christians we should be the most joyful people on earth, abounding in joy that the world will see and want.




    In the last verse mentioned above, we see that we must 'rejoice in the Lord always', even in hard times. This is no easy thing to do, but, through Christ all things are possible. Thank God for that truth!
   
    So, joy is not only a wonderful emotion; it is a command. Rejoicing always is no easy command, but it is essential. How will others see and know that we have something different if we have no joy to share? I don't think they will.
    I'm talking to myself here as I struggle with being joyful. I want others to see by my life that I serve the one and only Lord and that I find my joy in Him. If I am not joyful, will they be able to see this?




Just some thoughts......




Query of the Day:
    Do you have a favorite verse about joy?

Quote on Happiness

I came upon this blinkie quote and thought about how true it is!

It inspired me today!

I hope you are inspired by it as well, my friends!

Seeming Silence

Does God ever seem silent to you?


    I know, He has seemed that way to me before too.


    But now I realize it isn't God keeping silent, it's that I am either too impatient waiting for an answer, I already know His answer but want a different one, or I am too caught up in my cares and worries that I've missed His reply.


    Our God answers us in a few different ways, "Yes", "Wait", and "No, I have something else in mind." Many times I find that when God seems silent, it is really just me not listening. Or in a worse case scenario, it's me wanting a different answer.


    I am trying to listen to my heavenly Father more and to accept the answers He gives that I do not like, instead of just talking to Him.


    If I spend a good amount of time talking to the Lord, yet hardly listen to Him, it doesn't do me much good. True, I am talking to Him, but without listening to Him, I've missed something crucial.


    It is even worse when I listen to Him, yet choose not to accept His answer. I used to do that more often than naught, but now I am striving to accept whatever He says, because I really do want the Lord of Hosts to run my life - not me.


    I believe that our Almighty God wants to talk with us and reveal Himself to us. But He cannot do that if we never stop and listen.


    Something to think about.....

Query:
    How many of you like reading random posts?