Movie Review: The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

This was an excellent movie to me. Where I'm from, you rarely see men being actively involved in the upbringing of their children, let alone trying to guide them spiritually but in this film, Jonathan Sperry truly gives an example of what Christlike discipleship looks like.

It starts off with 3 young boys whom would meet up regularly at Mr.Sperrys for bible study. Mr.Sperry taught the young boys how to overcome evil with good and love their enemies as Christ did which made a miraculous transformation in the heart of one of their childhood bullies and Mr.Barnes, whom gives the title of the movie it's name. This is truly a great movie to encourage all people to love as Christ loves us, and not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. It's amazing what one friendship can do :)

Film is available to watch on Netflix.com
or you can order it Here

How to treat Staph/MRSA infections

DISCLAIMER:
The information offered on this blog is solely my personal opinion based off of my own research and personal use. It does not serve as a substitute for professional medical prevention, diagnosis, or treatment. Please consult with your physician, pharmacist, or health care provider before taking any home remedies or supplements or following any treatment suggested on this blog. Only your health care provider, personal physician, or pharmacist can provide you with advice on what is safe and effective for your unique needs or diagnose your particular medical history.

 

With the uprising of Staph and MRSA infections, it would be good to know ways to treat and prevent this Superbug naturally.


Staph (short for Staphylococcus) is a type of bacteria. It is known for living on skin surfaces, mainly the nose, eyes, and genital areas but can be present on any part of the body. Staph infections can be brought on by skin to skin contact, by touching contaminated objects and/ or sharing objects with roommates or loved ones who have the infection such as: sharing linens, towels, eating utensils, etc. Infection can also occur when an area of the skin is punctured or broken, bacteria can then enter the bloodstream and cause infection.


MRSA (Methicillan Resistant Staphylococcus Auerus) Is a type of Staph infection that has built up immunity against commonly used antibiotics normally prescribed to treat Staph infections, making it somewhat more difficult to treat. Under most circumstances, this type of infection usually heals after a period of time with certain treatments, however, until the infection has cleared, it is still contagious.


Signs/Symptoms of Staph Infections

• Folliculitis (pronounced: fuh-lih-kyoo-lie-tus) is an infection of the hair follicles, the tiny pockets under the skin where hair shafts (strands) grow. In folliculitis, tiny white-headed pimples appear at the base of hair shafts, sometimes with a small red area around each pimple. This occurs often where people shave or have irritated skin from rubbing against clothing.
• Hordeolum (pronounced: hore-dee-oh-lum), commonly known as a sty (or stye), is a staph infection in the eyelid. It develops when glands connected to the base of the eyelash become swollen and irritated. A person with a sty will usually notice a red, warm, uncomfortable, and sometimes painful swelling near the edge of the eyelid.
• Impetigo This contagious, often painful rash can occur in all ages, but it is most common in young children and infants. The types of impetigo caused by staph bacteria usually feature large blisters that may ooze fluid and develop a honey-colored crust. These sores occur most commonly around the nose and mouth.
• Cellulitis This type of infection causes the skin to look red and swollen, to the point that the hair follicles create dimples similar to the appearance of an orange peel. Cellulitis occurs most often in the lower legs and feet of older persons.
• Furuncle (pronounced: fyoor-un-kul), commonly known as a boil, is a swollen, red, painful lump in the skin, usually due to an infected hair follicle. The lump usually fills with pus, growing larger and more painful until it ruptures and drains. Furuncles often begin as folliculitis and then worsen. They are most frequently found on the face, neck, buttocks, armpits, and inner thighs, where small hairs can often be irritated. A cluster of several furuncles is called a carbuncle (pronounced: kar-bun-kul). A person with a carbuncle may feel ill and feverish.

With all of that said, I would like to share 2 natural treatments to help eliminate Staph/MRSA infections. For reminder, my disclaimer has been posted at the top of this post, discretion advised.


Remedy #1 :

Turmeric Powder. Turmeric has long been known for its anti-inflammatory,anti-bacterial, and antiseptic properties. Research has proven its benefits of treating many different health conditions from Alzheimer's disease, to cancer.Turmeric should be avoided by people with gallstones or bile obstruction. Pregnant women may want to consult their Doctor before taking Turmeric as it can be a uterine stimulant. Please note there is a HUGE difference between using the Turmeric Powder and taking the Turmeric Capsules,read your labels and avoid Dicalcium Phosphate & Maltodextrin if you see listed as 'Other Ingredients'. Purchasing a $2-3 bag of Turmeric powder from your local health. food store or international foods store is highly encouraged.


For consumption, mix 1tsp-1Tbls of powder with yogurt or jello, and take up to 3 days until symptoms clear.




Remedy #2:

Manuka Honey. Not just any honey :) But Manuka honey. Originally from Australia and New Zealand, this honey has excellent antimicrobial properties as well as anti-infection organisms. Some researchers have shown that it also has the ability to make MRSA more sensitive to antibiotics such as oxacillan , therefore making it effective in reversing antibiotic resistance!


For use: May apply honey topically (even if the wound is open) to the infected area and leave on for about 20minutes as needed. There have been no proven adverse reactions for prolonged use thus far.
To take internally, add 1Tbls to a cup of tea or take it alone as needed until symptoms clear.






For more information, check out these sites:
http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/boils.html
http://kidshealth.org/teen/infections/bacterial_viral/staph.html#
http://www.squidoo.com/genuine-active-manuka-honey
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/staph-infections/DS00973/DSECTION=symptoms

Book Review: Preparing to Be A Helpmeet by Debi Pearl

Ratings wise, this book would get a stellar 4.5/5. It was very informative, interesting, and honest! Mrs.Pearl and others give wonderful insights and tips on what young women should do before marriage, and also things they should avoid, for instance, becoming a "grabber". You will have to purchase the book to find out what that is :) but I certainly would recommend this book to anyone who feels God is calling them to marriage and want to be all they possibly can be before they meet their "Prince" :)

One of my favorite chapters was chapter 7, "Knowledge". In this chapter Mrs.Pearl shares an experience she had with the "Death Angel". That encounter really led her on a new mission of learning. To not believe everything she is told and no longer go with the flow of what everyone else is doing but instead seek out ways to better protect and prevent unnecessary harm from her family by acquiring knowledge. This knowledge can be in anything. She encourages young girls to grow herb gardens, to research the pros and cons of vaccinations, figure out how a poison in an amazonian frog has been traced to being in the gut lining of those suffering from schizophrenia. The chapter was awesome! If you are the one who loves to learn new things, you will enjoy this chapter as well.

The book also includes a teachers guide in the back. You can use the guide in your own personal study time or in a small ladies church group. It works best with a group but you can do it alone if you'd like. This is a must read! If anyone else has read it and wants to share their insights, please do!

God Bless,

Jazz <3

When feelings fail

This sermon has a great point. When you go to revival conferences or christian events, they tend to really give you that "feeling" that the Lord's presence has truly been in that place! Or when you are a new believer, all the "feelings" of being inlove are so strong, it is like you are on cloud nine all the time! But what happens when we get back home from the conferences, when we encounter a trial or two or are informed of some besetting news, what happens to those feelings? They cause us to feel like everything was amiss, we think that somehow God has changed because our feelings have changed.

The bad news is that feelings are fickle. We can easily be deceived when we base our experiences of God and his love for us off of how we feel. The good news is that the bible tells us that God is the same always. He is not fickle like human flesh which gives us all the more reason as to why he is so trustworthy.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. "- Hebrews 13:8

"And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!"- 1 Samuel 15:29

These scriptures testify of the Lord's consistency. Let us trust in his grace alone and unchanging, unconditional love to sustain us, not our feelings.

Europe has banned all Medicinal Herbs. Now what?

Earlier I came across this really interesting blog which discussed herbs, homesteading, and natural health, yet it informed me of some very upsetting news. The UK has banned all medicinal herbs unless otherwise prescribed by a registered herbal practitioner. I am not going to go into semantics as to what all this will entail, you can google all of this information up and take necessary precautions.

The sad thing is that anything happening in Europe means it is only a matter of time before it is due to sweep the U.S. and this is not good. Wanting to make sure this claim was indeed accurate I looked it up and it was confirmed by quite a few sources.

Check out the full article Here

Check out the full article Here

After I read these articles, it was really starting to make my heart heavy. But then I thought to myself "Wait, Lord, you are greater than all. Surely you will make provision for us." Seeking encouragement I grabbed my bible and looked up scriptures with the words "Famine" and "Pestilence" in them. There were two scriptures that really stood out to me and gave me hope.

"You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
 Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
 Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
     
 A thousand may fall at your side,
 And ten thousand at your right hand;
 But it shall not come near you.
 Only with your eyes shall you look,
 And see the reward of the wicked.
     
 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
 Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
 No evil shall befall you,
 Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling"- Psalm 91:5-10



"From six disasters he will rescue you;
 even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.
 He will save you from death in time of famine,
 from the power of the sword in time of war.
 You will be safe from slander
 and have no fear when destruction comes.
 You will laugh at destruction and famine;
 wild animals will not terrify you.
 You will be at peace with the stones of the field,
 and its wild animals will be at peace with you.
 You will know that your home is safe.
 When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.
 You will have many children;
 your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!
 You will go to the grave at a ripe old age,
  like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time! We have studied life and found all this to be true.
  Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”- Job 5:19-27


The word always speaks for itself. We need not to fear the things coming upon the earth. There will be terrible times, evil men going from bad to worse, but let us purpose to set our faces like flint and establish it in our hearts that we are going to persevere until the end. It will not be easy but, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Powdered Homemade Laundry Soap

Okay, I LOVE creating things with my hands and learning to make and master new things. Recently, I decided to start learning how to master my own homemade laundry soap recipe.

First, I tried to make a liquid detergent. Smelled great but cleaned little, lol. I later found that certain liquid laundry soap recipes may not work too well if your water hardness level is high and ours is, so that may be a factor as to why it didn't work. Then I decided to try making a powdered detergent. After skimming through different youtube tutorials of how to make it, I stumbled across a very informative channel called by "Whitney Sews". Her recipe was rather simple. Will post the video below.

The only thing I used differently was Ivory soap and added Oxi-Clean to my concoction. It worked really well :) The only thing I would suggest if you are dealing with clothes that have strong odors is adding about a 1/4 cup of white vinegar during the rinse cycle, or you can add it to the washing cycle. That knocks out any lingering odors you may have and brightens your whites :)

Would I make it again? Yes. Do you save money making this particular recipe? I would say yes because the Washing soda and Borax will last you quite a while, however Oxi-clean can be pretty pricey, yet, it is worth adding it to me.

Here is a photo of my finished product!

Bringing our desires in subjection to the will of God

One of the latest books that I've been reading is the well known book titled "Passion & Purity" by Elisabeth Elliot. In it she pretty much uses her own story of how both her and her late husband Jim Elliot kept their love life fully submitted to Christ, even though there were quite a few times where she addresses how it wasn't easy. This book is more than a love story, it is full of Godly wisdom.

In one of her chapters, she talks about fighting her desires of wanting marry Jim. Sometimes she states how she entertained the thought of wanting to ask the Lord to simply to remove her feelings for such a noble gift if it wasn't His will, thinking it would be easier to go through life,better that than left wondering. (Boy, can I relate to that!) But I wanted to quote something she said that was really profound to me. It reads: "If the yearnings went away, what would we have to offer up to the Lord? Aren't they given to us to offer? It is the control of passion, not its eradication, that is needed. How would we learn to submit to the authority of Christ if we had nothing to submit?"
Isn't that the truth? How many times have we thought to pray, "Lord, instead of wondering if I should take this job or move to this town, or go to this college, why don't you just remove such desires from me? It would be so much easier to navigate through life if I didn't have to wonder."

Now isn't that funny. Could it be that we wonder so much because maybe we do not trust the Lord  to answer our prayers according to his will? Or maybe deep down, we are not sure if we want his will, especially if that indicates going without those things we so desire. But if that's the case, the bible tells us plenty of things concerning issues like this. Let's look at a couple of scriptures.

"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."- Matthew 10:37-39

Here's a good one. Jesus tells us that when we desire anything more than him to the point that we are willing to forsake him because of it, we are not even worthy of Him. How tragic. He also goes on to say that he who follows after his own way in life, without ever submitting or even seeking the will of God will lose it in the end, but he who forsakes his own way and now lives a life that seeks to only do and fulfill the will of God, these people will find it :) What an encouragement!

"Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."-Matthew 6:31-34

This one is pretty clear. We are not to worry about *anything*. The main thing that should consume our attention is mentioned in verse 33 "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you". When our focus is solely on God and being obedient to his perfect will and plan for our life, he will take care of everything else. He is faithful and can be trusted.
That is what I like about the book "Passion and Purity" because despite the trials, and temptations both Elisabeth and Jim faced, they laid all of that down at the feet of Christ and said "Thy will be done". Let it be so with us in our daily lives.

Talk about Trials

For a while now, my relationship with Christ seems to be under constant strain and speculation. It has not been easy over this past year. Many things I still do not know their purpose of coming fourth but the Lord does, and you think that would be enough for me, but sometimes it isn't. I remember when I first came to the Lord back towards the end of summer in 2006. I had just turned 18 the week prior but for about a year prior to my conversion, the Lord really began drawing me nearer to Him.

Needless to say my life had been changing so much, nothing was for sure anymore, nothing except this new found love and relationship I had been called to solely by the grace and will of God alone. The journey since then has truly been a blessed one, but there have also been many challenges which brings me to the reason why I am making this post.

Have you ever had those times to where you have been so broken and experienced such a low, you can't even tell which way is up? Trials come out of nowhere and seem to last a lifetime, leaving you in utter turmoil and despair trying to think back and see which sin you have committed to possibly cause all of this. You pray and seek God but it seems as though there is a wall of brick and mortar between you and your prayers to the Lord. What happened to everything being as it was before? When everything was joyful and the knowledge and confidence of being consumed with Christs love was all you needed to get you through the day? The times where you were seeking any free time you had to slip away and be with Him. He was all that mattered.

Some say every high must reach a low, and every relationship has it's dull moments, but is that really to be the case for a believer? The bible tells us a few things about trials so that our faith won't fail when we encounter them. Let's review some facts and see what the word says concerning them. Trials: come often (James 1:2), under various circumstances (1 Peter 1:6), their purpose is to prove our faith and not cause us to lose our faith (1 Peter 1:7), they are to be expected (1 Thessalonians 3:3), God will deliver us from them all (2 Peter 2:9, Psalm 34:19) they cannot separate us from God's love (Romans 8:31-39).

One of the greatest weapons we have when facing a trial is to have our minds renewed and fixed on the word of God (Romans 12:2,Psalm 1, Isiah 26:3, Matthew 4:1-11, Ephesians 4:10-17). When we are focused on what his word says which is truth and free from blemish, it is far easier to not entertain the lies the enemy may throw at you to cause you to want to faint.
I hope this blog helps someone and it is my encouragement to you to keep your mind renewed according to the word of God, then you may prove what his perfect will is.