A couple years ago I looked around my house and realized that I did not have anything alive in it … I mean beside myself, my husband, and our pets! But there was no greenery! No plants! There are several reasons to incorporate plants into your decor:
· Plants add life and dimension to our décor, and
· Act as natural air purifiers
According to the list I found, the spider plant, English ivy, and pothos are on the list of the top 20 indoor air purifying plants.
I will be the first to admit that plants are not my forte—in fact I have killed quite a few over the years but, unfortunately for the poor plants, I have persisted and have now kept a number of plants alive, some even thriving! Through this process, I have learned of a few plants that are hard to kill house plants and easier to care for than others. The following are the plants that I like and have been able to keep alive—and the ones I really like in my decor!
Spider Plants
While I detest the name, I really like the plant! My mom always had spider plants when I was growing up and spider plants are the easiest plant to keep alive that I have yet tried. Seriously. I have over-watered (you can root a new plant in water so I don’t really think you can overwater them), under watered, and everything in between and they have still lived. They also don’t necessarily need a lot of natural light in my experience! They tend to grow to fill the size pot you plant them in so if you don’t want a bigger plant—don’t give them more room!
Ivy
I have had my ivy plant for about two and one-half years; my mom gave the ivy to me for Christmas a few years ago and she is astonished every time she comes over and finds the ivy still alive! Ivy is the second longest plant survivor in my house—the first being my spider plant. I water the ivy once a week and she seems very happy. I did move her at Christmastime from our front room (that gets lots of light) to our bedroom (which does not get a lot of natural light) and she did not like that. Except for that, the ivy has been happily growing and I believe she will continue to!
Pothos
I am on my second pothos—the first one I killed. This was especially bad because the plant I killed had been grown by my sister-in-law from a clipping of my husband’s now-deceased grandmother’s plant. Thankfully she knew better than to entrust the main plant to me! She also has a difficult relationship with plants and therefore did not judge me (at least to my knowledge) for killing her plant. She has since given me a second plant-clipping and this one is doing much better than the first!
Air Plants
Ok, I will admit to having killed one of these too—but he lived for two years before his death! (I had named it Harry-because he looked like a Harry of course!) These little air plants can be tucked in so many different places in your decor and look so cute! They don’t take much water; some you have to run the water over for a second or two a few times a week, others you may have to soak in water weekly. Other than that, they really don’t require much. We were away for several days during the winter months and had our thermostat turned down much cooler than we normally would and I believe Harry died because it was too cold for the few days we were away. Air plants are native to the tropics.
Pearl Plant
This plant is technically categorized as a succulent but I don’t think of it as a succulent at all. I find it to be easy to care for, like an ivy, but not requiring a great deal of natural light. With a little water once a week, this plant has been growing very nicely for me.
Succulents
These are not plants that I have had very much luck with. I know, I know—they are supposed to be very easy to take care of, and so hard to kill but I’ve lost track of how many I have killed over the years. I mention succulents in this post, not because I have had great success with them, but because I know others who swear by how easy they are also. If you think you are hopeless when it comes to plants because you can’t even keep a succulent alive, you are not alone! Please try a spider plant or an ivy. If you do decide to try a succulent, here is what I have learned: succulents are supposed to be easy because they don’t require much light or water. I think I have drowned mine by giving them too much water. Apparently they don’t want water every week, or at least as much as I was giving them.
All of the above plants are currently enjoying their life in my home; they exist on one watering a week and a moderate amount of natural light—minimal care that even I can handle! If you have tried having plants in the past and have given up on them altogether, I hope this post encourages you to try again and see what happens!
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They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, “Hosanna! “ “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”
John 12:13 NIV
In high school I was required to read the play, “Our Town,” and I really enjoyed it. I found it to be such a beautiful, bittersweet play. The play is about a woman, Emily; we see her as a young girl, then as a young woman, then we see her funeral. Emily has the option to go back and pick one day to relive if she chooses. The other dead around her tell her not to, but she chooses to relive a day anyway. Her remembered joy of the day she chooses quickly turns to anguish as she sees all the little things about the day that she wasn’t grateful for or happy about. She wants to yell at herself to enjoy everything, that everything is perfect, that life will go too quickly and she should be enjoying everything.
I’ve often thought of that play and asked myself what day of my life would I choose to relive if I had the choice? Would I pick a big, special day like my wedding day? If I were to choose my wedding day, I would get to see all my friends and family who had traveled from out of town for the big event … but I think I would end up choosing a more mundane day. One that was special, but not super special.
Last year we went camping and that Saturday was great. We had a breakfast of pancakes and bacon with French-pressed coffee that we cooked leisurely at our campsite. We worked on our hobbies before we decided to go to the pool where we alternately swam and read our books. After some time, we made our way back to our campsite and worked on our hobbies again for a while before building a fire and making dinner. After dinner, we cleaned up and relaxed around the campfire; we watched the stars and the flames until we decided to call it a night and go to sleep.
It was a simple day and it was special because we were away, but not all that exciting. We didn’t see anyone special; we didn’t even do anything we couldn’t do fairly easily from home. But it was a great day. It might be one I would consider reliving at the end of my life—but oh how bittersweet it would be knowing the end of the story and watching that day rather than living it now, presumably still near the beginning of my life’s story.
I wonder if that’s how Jesus felt as He rode into Jerusalem that day, all those years ago, hailed by the crowds waving palm branches. Unlike us, He knew the end of the story. He knew that in less than a week the crowd that cheered and waved palms before Him, the crowd that laid their coats on the ground and gave Him a young colt to ride on, would turn against Him. He knew that they would scream for His torturous death. He could feel the bitter sweetness of that moment in its entirety. He knew what the end of His story would be. He knows what the end of all of our stories will be. What a blessing that the end of our stories remain hidden from us. We don’t get the chance to relive days in our lives. We don’t get to change history; we don’t see the future, and we never know when the story of our life ends. But we know this: Jesus came so that when the days of our lives have been cut off and we have no more left, we can go to live with Him for forever.
Forever. Such a short word for such a great expanse of time—more than we can even fathom. Forever. Never ending. We get that chance with our few and precious days here on earth to choose where we want to spend our forever. If we choose Jesus, we will get to spend all of forever in a state that I imagine feels like our best days here on earth. And if we don’t choose Him? I think we will forever feel the pain and regret of all the missed opportunities, all the moments we wish we could go back and reclaim. I urge you to take a good look at the condition of your heart this Palm Sunday and ask yourself, if you were to die today, would you get to live your best days yet forever or would you forever feel the pain of the decision you didn’t make when you had the chance?
Sometimes I get in the mood for historical fiction from certain time periods. Sometimes I want World War II historical fiction, other times I’m in the mood for the American Revolution, and other times I want something from ancient times.
Today I am sharing 3 books that take place in the first century. I tend to shy away from reading too much from this time period because it’s just so ancient…. How could I possibly relate to it? But even historical fiction about ancients times can be both gripping and relatable when well done so check out the following titles to see if any sound good to you!
The Medicus by Ruth Downie
When a young slave girl is brought into this first century hospital with a broken arm and nearly dead, no one seems concerned; that is except for Ruso, or the Medicus as he is better known, an army doctor who finds himself down on his luck in an outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. In a moment of weakness, Ruso purchases this young slave girl from her abusive owner only to find that not only does she refuse to talk to him, but she can’t seem to cook or perform any of the household tasks one would expect of a slave in her position. To Ruso, something does not seem right about this girl and before Ruso knows it he is playing the amateur sleuth, trying to piece together the deaths of the young prostitutes working out of the local bar. Where will all this searching lead him? Will he ever get his slave girl to tell him the truth about herself?
Pontius Pilate by Paul L. Maier
This is a book about the politician Pontius Pilate—yes, The Pontius Pilate—the one who washed his hands of the crowd’s decision to crucify Jesus. It is so easy to demonize this man; the phrase “washing my hands of it,” almost always means standing aside and watching as something we believe to be wrong takes place. However, like a lot of events in history, this pivotal event that Pilate plays a part in was hardly a black or white issue. There were many political tensions running through the area at the time; the Jews had so many laws that made no sense to the Roman ruling class. The event with Jesus was not the first time Pilate had to deal with difficult situations with the Jews. This book is based on as much fact as we have from those times and then gently fleshed out to create a compelling narrative. I found it very engrossing and interesting!
Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
We’ve all heard of Cleopatra but what about her daughter? After Cleopatra commits suicide she leaves behind three children who have to go on living on their own, penniless, and without a country to call their own. Our main character Selene, her twin brother Helios, and their six year old brother, are taken to Rome where they are to be raised in Caesar’s house. While being allowed to live is undeniably a good thing, every move they make is watched closely and could lead to their demise. Young Selene must use all the cunning she possesses to keep her brothers safe in order give them all a shot at a better future. Can Selene makes friends in this foreign country?
While this book is probably more fiction than fact (given that we simply don’t have good records from that time) Lily of the Nile paints a portrait of what life would have looked like, as well as the challenges of three children brought up as royalty having to then conform to the expectations set on them by a different culture. Where is the line between conforming and losing one’s identity?
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For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
1 Timothy 1:7
Last week I talked about spring, about new life being breathed into us, and about making time for the things that make you come alive. This week I want to talk about what happens when we don’t push past old comfort zones and stay stuck in our old limitations.
In keeping with the spring theme, think about what would happen if those little buds didn’t push past their old limitations for new growth? The tree wouldn’t grow. It may even start to die. What would that look like in terms of our faith if we did that?
The story of Jonah comes to mind when I think about this. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh. But Nineveh was not a nice city and Jonah did not want to go. Instead of traveling towards Nineveh, he decided he would travel in the exact opposite direction. You most likely have heard the story—Jonah heads the opposite way, God sends a storm, Jonah tells the crew to throw him overboard to settle the storm, they finally do, the storm calms, and Jonah, upon landing in the water, is swallowed by a big fish where he rocks around inside the fish’s stomach for three days and three nights until the large fish vomits him up on shore. Finding himself alive, Jonah makes his way to Nineveh!
Now I have had things I haven’t wanted to do in this life—things that I have wanted to avoid and run away from. But, as my mother always said, it’s usually much better to just get it over with. I think Jonah would have agreed with my mother in hindsight. Pushing past old limitations and outside of our comfort zones are difficult endeavors. It gets uncomfortable—and I hate being uncomfortable. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received came early on in my career when I was told to “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” This is true in our faith as well.
Unfortunately it seems to be one of the laws of this world that growth only comes from being uncomfortable. The first time we boldly witness to a stranger—uncomfortable! The first time we offer to help a stranger—uncomfortable! But what do we feel if we don’t push back our comfort zone when God calls us? My guess is oftentimes we end up like Jonah; crammed into a small uncomfortable space, feeling like we are in the dark, and wishing we would have just done the thing we had worked so desperately to avoid.
I definitely still have times when I shy away from doing something that makes me uncomfortable. I’m sure you do too. My hope is that we can encourage one another in our faith, and ask God to help take some of the scariness out of the unknown and discomfort. Who knows what will come of it—maybe our small actions will one day impact a city, maybe even our city.
P.S. If you have a friend who might enjoy this post please share~ doing so will help them and me too!
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I’ve talked about How To Refresh Your Home’s Decor For Spring of 2022 and I’ve talked about Spring and Easter Vignette Ideas, but what about the infamous spring cleaning that we’ve heard about our grandmothers doing? Is it really necessary to tear our houses apart and give them an in-depth scrubbing from top to bottom every spring?
In short, no. Or at least not as necessary as it was in days gone by. Back in the day when everyone heated with coal, and you could see a cloud of smog hanging over cities, houses needed to be scrubbed to keep the dirt and grime from overtaking the house, but in this day and age, such aggressive cleaning tactics are not needed every spring. However, spring is a great time to look around and tackle at least a few of the in-depth cleaning items that get overlooked (and are often unnecessary) on a weekly or monthly basis.
Walls
Do your walls need scrubbed down every year? If you keep up with wiping off dirty handprints and drips as they appear on the walls then your walls most likely do not need an in-depth scrubbing every spring, except in a few key areas, namely the bathroom. Because of all the condensation that collects in the bathroom and runs down the walls, you will notice that your walls get drip marks on them over time. These drips look are on the yellowish side of the color spectrum and just look gross. But don’t worry—you’re not alone! Most homes have this unless the bathroom is very large or extremely well vented. Take a dampened towel with just a drop of dish soap (not enough for you to even see suds) and wipe it over the walls; this will erase most of these marks, especially if you do this semi-annually or annually.
Pro tip: Lightly wet a mop and in essence mop your walls. This usually is enough pressure to do the trick and is so much faster and easier!
Baseboards:
Speaking of walls, what is at the bottom of the walls that usually misses out on receiving the proper amount of attention? Your baseboards, of course! Take a look at your baseboards. You may need to just take a Swiffer along the top of them, but if your baseboards have marks then you’ll have to get down and wipe them—there’s really no great way to clean them without getting down on your hands and knees. Unfortunately.
Cabinets:
Your kitchen cabinets get dirty, even if they don’t look dirty. Using a lightly wet cloth with just a tiny amount of cleanser on it, wipe all of your cabinets down. Pay special attention to the area around the handles, in front of your sink, by your coffee maker (if you have one), and above your stove and microwave.
Sink:
Speaking of sink, your drain probably needs a good deodorizing! You can buy different options from the store or you can pour about a quarter cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a half cup of vinegar. Let it sit for a few minutes and then run hot water for a couple minutes to rinse.
Pro Tip: To make your drain smell good, add a little bit of lemon or lime rind to your garbage disposal and then run your disposal.
Coffee Maker:
Most water, even city water, has minerals that can and will build up in your coffee maker over time. Most brands have their own brand of descaler that can be run through your coffee maker to remove this build up. If you want another at-home solution, use a 50/50 water and vinegar solution as your descaler (check your coffee maker manual to make sure this is an approved option—in most cases it is). If your coffee maker has a clean function, run it on a clean cycle; if not, do a regular brew cycle, followed in both cases by two brew cycles of just water. This will prolong the life of your coffee maker!
Washing Machine:
Washing machines need cleaning too! Again, most manufacturers and other companies have specialty cleansers you can buy, or you can revert to our old standby—vinegar and baking soda. I like to spray down the inside of my machine with a 50/50 vinegar and water mix, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and then come back and wipe down the inside and around the plastic seal. Next, add vinegar (2 cups to a front loading washer, 4 cups for a drum washer) and run a cycle on the hottest and highest setting, followed by running an additional empty load cycle with ½ cup of baking soda, again on the highest and hottest setting, followed by a rinse cycle of just pure water. Check with the manufacturer or your washing machines manual to make sure this is an approved option—in just about every case it is.
Upholstery
If you have pets or little kids, your upholstery needs cleaned! You’ll be shocked at how much additional hair and debris you will extract from your carpets! Vacuum first, then clean with a home-grade carpet cleaner. This applies also to chairs and couches. If your couch has removable cushion covers, these can be washed in the machine but be sure to check to see if they can be dried in a machine or if they need to be air dried. Regardless, when they are about 80/90% dry, put them back on your cushion. This is not something to do when you have guests coming over in the evening!
Air Vents
Air vents collect dust on the outside and the inside. Clean the outside with a Swiffer or a soft brush vacuum attachment. If there is a gray residue left, wipe with a damp cloth. If you have vents that sit in the floor, it is worth taking the cover off and vacuuming the inside and the outside of the vent—whatever is down there is filtering into your air. I realized it was time to clean the floor vent in my dining room after the third person commented on the dozen or so hair bands that my cat had dropped down it!
Air Filters:
Air filters get dirty and when they do they don’t work well, they could even allow dirt to be filtering into your air! Most manufacturers recommend changing your air filters every 90 days, so if it’s been 6 months or a year you are most definitely due!
I hope this helps to shed some light on some often overlooked cleaning tasks! My goal isn’t to overwhelm or make you feel shame if you have never cleaned any of these; rather, I am hoping to shed some light on ways you can get your home looking and in the case with a lot of these, also smelling better, so that when you come home you can truly relax in your beautiful and clean home.
