Cold and Flu Brew Tea

1 C Echenecea
1 C Yarrow
1 C Elderberry Flowers
1/2 C Peppermint Flowers
1/2 C Ginger Root

**Combine and store in air tight container.  A quart size mason jar is a great container.  Label the jar with a homemade tag. I made mine from an old bit of stationary and piece of twine.

**Steep 1 tsp tea in 1 cup boiling water, use a tea strainer..Or, if you are using your coffee maker, use the same amounts as when making your coffee.

The Nightly News and Adult TV Controls

      Since I was born in 1956, I was a little kid during those early TV years.  The Nightly News was the big show at our house.  Supper was scheduled around this nightly summary of world events.  I don't remember really watching but I do remember being very afraid.  I got a nightly dose of Race Riots and the Vietnam War.  It took me years and Denzel Washington, to objectively look at Malcolm X and what his life meant. I'm not sure any of us who were  young during the Vietnam War have resolved the conflicts. A friend, who was there, suggested "Apocalypse Now"  as the film that gave the best overview. 
     The news stories are pretty much the same.  We are still fighting each other.  Bigotry and prejudice still smack us down.  Now our young men and women are fighting another war, with the enemy and innocent  once again looking  the same.  So, when you are thinking about putting that control on a movie or tv show due to violence,  do the same for the nightly news. Watch later, after the little ones are asleep.  Home needs to be their safe sanctuary, don't put scary things in the living room.   

Pot Holders

Items needed:  Sewing machine, thread, scissors, old bluejeans and/or ironing board cover. 
--Cut the bluejeans or ironing board cover material into 6/6 inch squares.  (3 squares for each pot holder. This could vary depending on the weight of the denim. Hold the pieces in your hand, test them. If the denim is heavy and new, you may only want to use 2 pieces.)
--Now find your outside material.  This is your kitchen and your creation.  Check out your closet or chest of drawers.  Heavy cotton materials work best, but I made some out of T-shirts too.  We all have old clothes that we put back in the closet or dresser.  Cut 2 pieces for each pot holder 6/7 inches.
--Place the padding (jean material) between the 2 outer pieces.  The outer pieces should have an inch lap at one end.  Now turn one of the outer pieces upside down.  Sew the 3 even sides, leaving the 4 end open.  Flip the inside out piece over and press out the pot holder.  The raw end needs to be folded over itself and top stitched.  You can top stitch around the rest of the pot holder to give it a finished appearance.

**This design can be enlarged to make hot pads that will match your kitchen and or dining room.

God's Temple

  Joshua and his momma had gone to the corner market for necessities, as she called them.  Joshua wasn't quite sure what ne-ces-sities meant, because momma never got the same thing twice.  The one thing she got most often was a pack of cigarettes.  Today, she lit a cigarette as soon as they got back into the car.  It smelled awful and filled the car with stinky smoke.  What he really couldn't understand was that she breathed in the smoke straight from the cigarette.  It didn't make sense to Joshua that his momma, who seemed very wise, having an answer for just about every question he asked, would want to breathe in the smoke. 

  Joshua thought about yesterday's sermon.  During the sermon, Joshua had been playing with his Sabbath toys on the church pew.  Momma always packed a special Sabbath bag for him.  She kept his Sabbath toys separate from the rest of his toys.  He only played with Sabbath toys on Sabbath or during extra special family worship time.  Each week there was something different in the bag.  Yesterday, the Sabbath bag had Noah's Ark, with lots of animals.  There was a new lion family added to the set.  There were felt story people.  This week momma had put in the characters from the Baby Moses story.  There was a Bible Story Coloring Book with a box of crayons.  There was a bag with cheerios, nuts, and raisins.  There was a small juice container.  Down in the very bottom was a plastic peel and stick picture board with Jesus surrounded by people and children. And, the children got to be closer.  Sometimes he would put Jesus sitting on the rock, and sometimes Jesus was sitting in the sand.  He was pretending that he was one of the children sitting close to Jesus when her heard the pastor say, "Jesus lives in you". Even while he played,  Joshua would listen for the words he understood.  Yesterday, he knew a lot of the words.  But, momma's smoking confused him.  It didn't match the words.

    "Momma", he asked, "Are our bodies God's Temple"?

    Momma replied, pridefully, "Yes, they are."  She thought about yesterday's sermon.  Momma was so proud.  Joshua had listened to the sermon.  He wasn't just playing on the church pew.

   "Momma", he asked, "Does Jesus live in us?"

   Momma was absolutely beaming when she answered, "Yes, He does".  Momma's thoughts were racing with mommy pride.  She couldn't stop smiling.  She was astounded that a four year old could possibly understand the concept.  "My child is brilliant", she thought.  "God is going to do something special with him."

   "Momma, he asked, looking up with very serious wide brown eyes,  "Aren't you choking Jesus?"

   Momma's face suddenly changed.  Her pink cheeks turned a dreary day gray she hesitated, then then answered, "Yes, I am."  Momma's pride had turned to quiet shame.

  Joshua noticed later that when Momma did her devotions she didn't smoke.  Then he noticed that she didn't smoke on Sabbath.  One day he realized Momma wasn't smoking at all.  He ran to his Momma and gave her a big hug and asked, "Jesus can breathe now, can't He, Momma?"

  Momma smiled, "Yes, He can", scooping Joshua up into her arms for a special hug.