I am a soapmaker by trade, and am also a stay-at-home mom. Christ is first and foremost in my life, and I’ve been blessed with a wonderful husband and family. I have told people I’m the youngest “old person” they will ever meet! I love soapmaking, quilting, cooking, crocheting, gardening, etc. I think we’ve lost a lot of valuable information in the break-neck world we live in, and I enjoy a slower pace of life in the country. Grab yourself a cup of coffee, make yourself comfortable, and come on in!
***************************************************************************************************************Our Statement of Faith
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” I Timothy 2:3-6
We believe in one eternal God – the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, that the Bible is God’s Word. {John 1:1; Revelations 1:8} We believe God exists as the great Three in One – God the Father, Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. {Matthew 28:19}
We believe the Bible (Old and New Testaments) is infallible as originally written, and that it is literally “God breathed”, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. We believe the Bible is the authoritative standard for all people across all time. {2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21}
We do not believe in any other gods but God. {Deuteronomy 4:35, Isaiah 45:5-6, Matthew 4:10}
We believe John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God always has been, and always will be. There is nothing older than God. Jesus is the Word that became flesh. {John 1:14}
We believe God created and sustains everything that exists, and that life did not simply “evolve”. {Genesis 1; John 1:3, Acts 17:24} We believe the “Big Bang theory” is about as logical as a library exploding and a Webster’s Dictionary being spontaneously formed from it.
We believe Jesus is THE Messiah, and His birth, life, death, and resurrection fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophesies in the Old Testament. {John 4:25-26, John 10:25-30}
We believe Jesus is God’s Son, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and was sent to die as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of man so that we would not have to suffer spiritual death and separation from God for all eternity. Jesus was persecuted, crucified at Calvary, buried for three days, bodily rose from the dead on the third day, and forty days later ascended to heaven where He is at the right hand of God the Father. We believe in Jesus’ physical bodily second coming to Earth to set up His millennial kingdom. {Matthew 1:18-21; Matthew 27-28; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Mark 16:19; Luke 1:30-35; Luke 22:69; John 1:1-5; John 3:16; Acts 1:3, 11; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 20:4}
We believe there are no perfect people on earth, and that all men, women and children, regardless of race, creed, or color, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. {Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12}
We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, and the security of the believer once saved. We believe the gift of eternal life is available only through Christ Jesus. {John 10:27-29; John 14:6; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:38-39; Ephesians 2:5-9}
We believe salvation cannot be attained through good works (deeds); that man can never be “good enough” to save himself. {Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8-9}
We believe God wants ALL people to repent and be saved. {John 3:16, I Timothy 2:3-6, 2 Peter 3:9}
We believe heaven and hell are real places, and eternal punishment awaits those who finally reject Christ as Lord and Savior. {Matthew 25:46; Luke 16:19-31; John 14:2, Revelation 21 & 22}
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Is there something missing in your life that money, possessions, family, and friends cannot fill?
Do you know that God loves you and wants a personal relationship with you?
We were not made to be independent of God. That “hole” or “void” in your life can only be filled by God. There is peace and contentment that comes from serving Him. Even when chaos is around you, you have “a friend who sticks closer than a brother” {Proverbs 18:24}, who will never leave you or abandon you {Romans 8:38}, who loves you unconditionally.
{1 John 4:9-11}
Do you know there is nothing you can do to make God love you more than He does right this very moment?
You are His precious child. He knows everything about you – your likes and dislikes, thoughts, dreams, and fears. He knows every heartbeat, every freckle, even every hair on your head is numbered. He accepts you, in fact, the Bible tells us that HE chose *us* {Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 2:9}.
Have you chosen and accepted Him?
Every person on earth sins. No one is perfect; everyone makes mistakes daily. We tend to think of sin in varying degrees – “big sin” (such as stealing and murder) and “little sin” (such as little white lies), but in God’s eyes – sin is sin. Sin separates us from God. It is impossible to be “good enough” or to save yourself. Jesus died and rose again to set you free from the bondage of sin. Your sin debt has been paid in full!
God loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for your sins so that you can be with Him forever. The blood Jesus shed on the cross at Calvary paid for your sins in full. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
Realizing you need Jesus in your life is one of the first steps toward salvation. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)
Believe that Jesus is God’s Son, that He died for you.
Repenting of your sins means you are sorry for the things you’ve said, thought, and done that were sinful, and you want to be different. True repentance and turning your life over to Jesus brings changes in you. It doesn’t mean you will never make mistakes again – it does mean you are given a fresh start, a new beginning. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17)
Accept Jesus as your Savior, ask Him to come into your heart, cleanse you of your sins, and make you a new creation.
Thank Him for His sacrifice and for loving you. Ask Him to lead, guide, and direct you as you learn more about Him.
God promises if we accept Him, He will accept us – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” {Romans 10:13} There is nothing God cannot forgive except denying Him.
If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, we encourage you to join a local New Testament church and tell others about your salvation.
“The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
If you are a born again Christian, we encourage you to get into God’s Word on a daily basis and learn what you do not know. If you want to grow spiritually and walk closer with God, you must be fed from God’s Word regularly.
Rejoice! God loves you and cares about everything about you. :o) Too many of us allow ourselves to be downtrodden by life – we are in the world, but we are not of the world.
Be a blessing to someone every day. Get up in the mornings thinking of what you can do to make a positive difference in another person’s life. Let God use you to show His love and compassion through your own daily living.
“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ”
Ephesians 6:11-17 (NIV)
Hi! I am so happy to find your blog! I have similar ideas you may be interested in. I am putting you blog as a link on my page. Consider adding mine to yours as well. Have a great day! http://readinessquips.wordpress.com/
I just found your site over the weekend and i think its great! I want to start storing long term foods. starting with grains and flour ect. is there anywhere in surrounding AR. that carries this stuff? Bulk food is pretty cheap until you try to ship it, boy it gets expensive quick. I live in Hot Springs and not having much luck outside of 20lb bags of white rice from walmart. i wouldnt mind a nice drive to pick supplies up now that gas is back down. Anyway keep the good work. In Yeshua Kelly
Glad to have you aboard, Kelly!
Bulk food in AR – your best bet is Sam’s Club. There is one in SW Little Rock, and another one in Sherwood (past McCain Mall). You can buy lots of things in bulk there – 25 lb bags of flour, 10 to 50lb bags of sugar, 25 to 50lbs of rice, beans, etc. Salt is also cheaper there in bulk too. Shipping does break the bank rather quickly, so we shop locally as much as we can. (Plus the Riceland Rice at Sam’s is locally grown here in AR – I try to support our farmers!)
Be sure to freeze any of your grains before packing them for long term storage. I freeze mine for several days up to a week or so, then let them sit out and thaw for a day or two in order to remove any moisture. I can’t see spending a lot of money on supplies only to have bugs or mold ruin it. 🙂
Because He lives,
arksoaper
hey back thanks for the quick response! and the headsup about freezing the grains first of all the websites Ive read nobody had mention that. There biulding a Sams club here in Hot Springs I cant wait.Anymore tips for a beginner from anyone out ther is very much appreciated. Kelly
Look under our “Stockpiling”, “Self-Sufficiency”, “Food Storage”, and “Emergency Preparedness” categories at the upper right hand part of the page. That should keep you going for a little bit. 🙂
Feel free to ask any questions!
P.S. I’m looking forward to the Sam’s being built in Hot Springs too!
hello again,hope all is well. well Im going to Sams this weekend, and I was wondering if I need to freeze flour or any other dry mixes before I put them in the mylar bags?I have also found a neighbor who has canned foods for years and is going to help teach me how to do that and use her equiptment.She sound pretty excited, I think she misses doing so it should be fun.Hope we get a good crop of tomatoes this summer.:) goin to work now be blessed Kelly
Hey Kelly,
Yes – I would freeze any type of grain or grain product before putting it into mylar. I freeze all of these: flour, cornmeal, rice, beans, pancake mix, pasta, cracked wheat (tabouli), cake mixes, etc.
Freeze for at least 3 or 4 days up to a week or so. Let it thaw at room temperature for a couple of days to evaporate any moisture before packing into mylar (otherwise you could have a mold problem). Freezing takes care of any critters or eggs in the food.
Have fun with the canning! Most people who home can are glad to share their information with others willing to learn.
Here’s hoping both of our gardens produce an abundance this year! 😀
Thank you for your reference to my blog in April. I hope you will also take a look at my last to entries. One is a 50 year old cartoon and the other is my statement on the trend to remove social conservative and biblical issues out the “new” conservative movement.
On a more personal note: I am sorry for the loss of your child. I am a single father of three due to to loss of my wife to cancer two years ago. I know some of the pain you feel and you have my prayers.
Hi Kime,
Thank you for your post! I’m one of your “Vote Them Out” members. 🙂 More people need to wake up and see what is happening to Christian values in this country. Our Arkansas reps do NOT represent the majority will of their constituents. I hope there is a turnover in the 2010 election!
Thank you for all you’re doing – it is greatly appreciated.
I am sorry to hear about the loss of your wife. There are few things in life as painful as losing someone you love so much. May God comfort you and your children, and grant you peace that only He can give.
I was searching for some words of comfort for a broked hearted friend, when I found your blog. Thank you so much for sharing you story and for reminding that we are assured of God’s presence no matter what the circumstances we are in, He’s 24/7 on call… just a prayer away. To God be the glory