My last post I was feeling overwhelmed and I whined a lot.
God heard my heart and sent help in a BIG way!
We are still able to get beef fat from a local supermarket for FREE. And I have a volunteer, my good friend Kathy Boldt, to pick it up, sort and trim off meat bits. Then I pick it up from her to grind up with my sisters massive grinder. Then I drop the ground fat off to my "render ladies". My dear friends Joy Allen and Jill Bolhuis. I then pick up the rendered tallow ready to be turned into soap!
This allows me to focus my energy on making the soap and keeping up with normal life.
I also have volunteers lined up to package soap once it's fully cured/evaporated.
To date we have made 536 - 1 oz bars of soap for the project. The money is all in for making 3,000+ bars of soap with money to spare.
Then today God shocked me with TWO more donations of a sizable amount. $50 each. Now that our oil is free, larger molds and loaf cutter are being made and donated to me, discount on a bar cutter, and all the ways God has met needs. I only need to buy lye and packaging meaning we are able to make the soap for around 2-3 cents a bar. So the extra $100 will make it possible to make around 9,000 bars total. TRIPLE my goal!
This is all dependent on the continuing steady supply of the FREE beef fat.
Keep your prayers coming. As long as there is money to buy lye and packaging, free beef fat and people to help render it into tallow... I will keep making soap for OCC.
God is so good!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Rendering Tallow
I'm getting ready to make 3,000+ bars of soap for Operations Christmas Child.
As of today the current fundraising for the project is at just under half way. $274.
I was able to get a local supermarket to donate beef fat that I am rendering into tallow.
I've never rendered tallow till this week. This post will be documenting how I did it.
It started Wednesday night when my husband and I picked up this....
Then I chopped it up a crock pot full of it and 4 hours later I had this... Which amounted to 3 1/2 lbs of tallow.
While that was cooking I sorted the rest so I could take it to my sisters to grind it up. As the above pot did not render out much tallow. So, I felt defeated. Till I cam home from my sisters with this....
Which one crock full rendered into this! It had 2/3 LESS waste. See how there is not massive amounts of cooked meat bits floating? That means MORE tallow than the first go round. (about 6lbs of tallow came out of this pot)
Now my kitchen looks like this...
While I'm sure some peoples kitchens look worse. I'm a little obsessed with having my counters cleared off. I have zero energy to go deal with this mess. Yet in an hour I need to go milk the goats so I NEED to deal with the mess. I have to have a clean spot on the counter to filter milk.
I still have 5 lbs of tallow in my fridge that is cooled, solid, and needs to be bagged up.
Then Sunday I will be picking up more beef fat.Which I do have some help lined up for, but don't want to take advantage of. This is a 2 day project with the use of my sisters grinder, with out that it would of took me 3-4 days.
I keep telling myself that every week rendering tallow won't be this busy. They have a sale on beef at the supermarket this week. Last week the sale was on Pork and they had NO beef fat for me.
So this is how you can pray for me.
Soap making I can handle, that mess stays in my basement. I can leave it and walk away with out causing myself added stress.
I got over 20 lbs of tallow from that box of beef. Which equals approximately 320 bars soap for OCC children. So, it is worth doing it. I just will not have time to do both soap making and tallow rendering. Anyone (or multiple people) want to take over the tallow rendering? Other wise I'll continue waiting on God to supply the funds to buy the tallow.
As of today the current fundraising for the project is at just under half way. $274.
I was able to get a local supermarket to donate beef fat that I am rendering into tallow.
I've never rendered tallow till this week. This post will be documenting how I did it.
It started Wednesday night when my husband and I picked up this....
Then I chopped it up a crock pot full of it and 4 hours later I had this... Which amounted to 3 1/2 lbs of tallow.
While that was cooking I sorted the rest so I could take it to my sisters to grind it up. As the above pot did not render out much tallow. So, I felt defeated. Till I cam home from my sisters with this....
Which one crock full rendered into this! It had 2/3 LESS waste. See how there is not massive amounts of cooked meat bits floating? That means MORE tallow than the first go round. (about 6lbs of tallow came out of this pot)
Now my kitchen looks like this...
While I'm sure some peoples kitchens look worse. I'm a little obsessed with having my counters cleared off. I have zero energy to go deal with this mess. Yet in an hour I need to go milk the goats so I NEED to deal with the mess. I have to have a clean spot on the counter to filter milk.
I still have 5 lbs of tallow in my fridge that is cooled, solid, and needs to be bagged up.
Then Sunday I will be picking up more beef fat.Which I do have some help lined up for, but don't want to take advantage of. This is a 2 day project with the use of my sisters grinder, with out that it would of took me 3-4 days.
I keep telling myself that every week rendering tallow won't be this busy. They have a sale on beef at the supermarket this week. Last week the sale was on Pork and they had NO beef fat for me.
So this is how you can pray for me.
Soap making I can handle, that mess stays in my basement. I can leave it and walk away with out causing myself added stress.
I got over 20 lbs of tallow from that box of beef. Which equals approximately 320 bars soap for OCC children. So, it is worth doing it. I just will not have time to do both soap making and tallow rendering. Anyone (or multiple people) want to take over the tallow rendering? Other wise I'll continue waiting on God to supply the funds to buy the tallow.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Soap For Operation Christmas Child
Have you seen what I've been dreaming of?
Soap, of course! But more than that, soap for Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.
You can learn more about what I hope to accomplish and how YOU can help on the newest blog page titled OCC Fundraiser. You can access that page by clicking on that link <<<. Or clicking on the tab at the top of this page that says "OCC Fundraiser".
Above all I could use your prayers. With out God in this it will never happen. I need to get the funds in a short period of time to accomplish big things. I anticipate being able to make 500 bars of soap a month. To make 3,000 bars that will take 6 months. I need the soap to be ready by the first week in November. If you do the math that means I need the money to buy the all the oils needed and have them shipped to me by the end of February so I can get started in March. I will be buying the oils in bulk all at once, in order to make the most soap.
End of February?! What was *I* thinking?! I AM thinking that our God is big enough.
Soap, of course! But more than that, soap for Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.
You can learn more about what I hope to accomplish and how YOU can help on the newest blog page titled OCC Fundraiser. You can access that page by clicking on that link <<<. Or clicking on the tab at the top of this page that says "OCC Fundraiser".
Above all I could use your prayers. With out God in this it will never happen. I need to get the funds in a short period of time to accomplish big things. I anticipate being able to make 500 bars of soap a month. To make 3,000 bars that will take 6 months. I need the soap to be ready by the first week in November. If you do the math that means I need the money to buy the all the oils needed and have them shipped to me by the end of February so I can get started in March. I will be buying the oils in bulk all at once, in order to make the most soap.
End of February?! What was *I* thinking?! I AM thinking that our God is big enough.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Why I Allow My Children to be Slackers!
I'm not good at consistency. As my little buddy Johnathan would of said, "not at all".
I don't vacuum but maybe once a month. The floors get mopped maybe 3 times a year. I clean my bathroom clean when it's gross. I mean REALLY gross.
I don't cook dinner every night. That doesn't mean we get take out on the nights I don't cook, it means the people in this house have to fend for themselves. If they are lucky there is leftovers, bread, or hot dogs in the house on those days.
I get to deal with the consequences of said "laziness".
I don't vacuum, because my children do. But they don't do a great job of it. So, that means I don't have the cleanest of floors but maybe once a month when I decide to vacuum for them.
We "spot" mop most of the time, the floor gets visibly dirty in on the hard floors I hand a spray bottle and a rag to a shorter person (usually the 8 yo) and tell them to clean it. I can live with that.
The bathroom? Well, the kids clean that, too. They are still learning what MY definition of clean is, so it builds up yuck around the toilet on the floor, under the seat, and around the sink faucet... then I clean it WITH them when I can't stand it no more or if we are having company over.
The kids are also responsible for the dishes, most of the dog care, bird, chickens, folding laundry, and whatever else I tell them to do.
I get lazy sometimes. I have days I don't want to be a responsible adult and "keep up" with the housework that I am responsible for. So I don't. I pick my priorities and I leave the rest for another day. It will get done. Just like when my daughter or son hasn't done their dishes for 3 days straight and we have no cups.
We live with the consequences and we move on. They get done and it's usually STILL a fight, but they are learning WHY we do the dishes more than once every three days. It takes less time and is more sanitary to do them daily. But if I let them "fail" they see and live the consequences. Then maybe, just maybe, they will remember that when they have their own home and do the dishes everyday...until they have their own minions in the form my of grandchildren. Then I hope my children will in turn give their children the grace to be lazy sometimes.
And frankly I think my way is working just fine if the 12 year old is singing while he does his work.
I don't vacuum but maybe once a month. The floors get mopped maybe 3 times a year. I clean my bathroom clean when it's gross. I mean REALLY gross.
I don't cook dinner every night. That doesn't mean we get take out on the nights I don't cook, it means the people in this house have to fend for themselves. If they are lucky there is leftovers, bread, or hot dogs in the house on those days.
I get to deal with the consequences of said "laziness".
I don't vacuum, because my children do. But they don't do a great job of it. So, that means I don't have the cleanest of floors but maybe once a month when I decide to vacuum for them.
We "spot" mop most of the time, the floor gets visibly dirty in on the hard floors I hand a spray bottle and a rag to a shorter person (usually the 8 yo) and tell them to clean it. I can live with that.
The bathroom? Well, the kids clean that, too. They are still learning what MY definition of clean is, so it builds up yuck around the toilet on the floor, under the seat, and around the sink faucet... then I clean it WITH them when I can't stand it no more or if we are having company over.
The kids are also responsible for the dishes, most of the dog care, bird, chickens, folding laundry, and whatever else I tell them to do.
I get lazy sometimes. I have days I don't want to be a responsible adult and "keep up" with the housework that I am responsible for. So I don't. I pick my priorities and I leave the rest for another day. It will get done. Just like when my daughter or son hasn't done their dishes for 3 days straight and we have no cups.
We live with the consequences and we move on. They get done and it's usually STILL a fight, but they are learning WHY we do the dishes more than once every three days. It takes less time and is more sanitary to do them daily. But if I let them "fail" they see and live the consequences. Then maybe, just maybe, they will remember that when they have their own home and do the dishes everyday...until they have their own minions in the form my of grandchildren. Then I hope my children will in turn give their children the grace to be lazy sometimes.
And frankly I think my way is working just fine if the 12 year old is singing while he does his work.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Public Service Anouncement
My heart is heavy tonight for a family in my town that I don't even know. A family whose 14 year old son is fighting for his life after being shot by a police officer. That 14 year old had pulled a FAKE gun out in the police officers presence.
Please pray for the King family and for the officer involved and his family.
I was just talking to my children about this very issue at the end of October.
My husband found a fake gun while working on at a Fear the Farm, a local zombie hunting place open for Halloween. Someone had left it behind and it had been altered to look more real. It had the orange tip removed. My husband was startled by it being there, until he picked it up and it was plastic.
Please teach your children to NEVER pull a Gun , real or fake, on a police officer.
Teach them to raise their hands and announce that they have a FAKE or real gun on their person and where it is located at. Let the officer retrieve the gun or wait till the officer tells them to remove it from themselves.
Fake guns should not be painted or altered to look more like real guns. They have that orange tip for a reason. To save lives. The lives of the person holding the fake gun. Usually a child. If it doesn't have a orange tip, consider painting the tip orange.
I am not against kids playing with guns. My boys play with toy guns. They have air soft guns. They turn sticks into guns. But I suppose if your child is not capable of understanding how to behave around a police officer with a gun, real or fake, then you might want to consider not letting them play with guns. Or maybe you don't let your children play with guns and think that is enough. No, please still educate them. They may end up with friends playing with their guns.
EDUCATE your children starting NOW how to behave if a police officer is around or questioning them in public.
Please pray for the King family and for the officer involved and his family.
I was just talking to my children about this very issue at the end of October.
My husband found a fake gun while working on at a Fear the Farm, a local zombie hunting place open for Halloween. Someone had left it behind and it had been altered to look more real. It had the orange tip removed. My husband was startled by it being there, until he picked it up and it was plastic.
Please teach your children to NEVER pull a Gun , real or fake, on a police officer.
Teach them to raise their hands and announce that they have a FAKE or real gun on their person and where it is located at. Let the officer retrieve the gun or wait till the officer tells them to remove it from themselves.
Fake guns should not be painted or altered to look more like real guns. They have that orange tip for a reason. To save lives. The lives of the person holding the fake gun. Usually a child. If it doesn't have a orange tip, consider painting the tip orange.
I am not against kids playing with guns. My boys play with toy guns. They have air soft guns. They turn sticks into guns. But I suppose if your child is not capable of understanding how to behave around a police officer with a gun, real or fake, then you might want to consider not letting them play with guns. Or maybe you don't let your children play with guns and think that is enough. No, please still educate them. They may end up with friends playing with their guns.
EDUCATE your children starting NOW how to behave if a police officer is around or questioning them in public.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Along for the Ride
I woke up this morning at 9 am. This is normal for me, I am not one of those 5 am farmer types. My gals get milked around 9:30 am and 9:30pm.
Life has been so busy around here that I when I seen the time my first thought was, "oh no was I supposed to be somewhere this morning?!" The second thought was "what day is it even?"
After figuring out that it was a normal Wednesday with no where special to be, I leisurely crawled out of bed and began my day.
Life has been going by so fast lately I feel as if I am just along for the ride. Not really even slowing down long enough to ENJOY the ride.
Tomorrow I get to stay home all day... oh wait it's Halloween, never mind.
Life has been so busy around here that I when I seen the time my first thought was, "oh no was I supposed to be somewhere this morning?!" The second thought was "what day is it even?"
After figuring out that it was a normal Wednesday with no where special to be, I leisurely crawled out of bed and began my day.
Life has been going by so fast lately I feel as if I am just along for the ride. Not really even slowing down long enough to ENJOY the ride.
Tomorrow I get to stay home all day... oh wait it's Halloween, never mind.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Phillipians 4:14
I started out feeling discouraged this morning.
Monday we got about 4-6 inches of rain in less than a hour, maybe even less than a half hour. I wasn't home, but I was gone for a about an hour. We came home to a trench washed out in our driveway and our roof developed a leak!!!
When we entered our home from our walk out basement there was a puddle of water on the floor, in the basement? Where is this from? Why?
Upon first inspecting the problem we thought our old dog had peed on the floor above and it ran down into the basement. So we moved on with life. A few hours later I noticed the ceiling was sagging in the kitchen over the fridge. I pushed on it and sure enough, it was soft and wet. Oh boy!
I put a quick call into my insurance agent to start the claims process. They told me to get an estimate for the damages. So I called a couple roofers. Got the news that I need a completely new roof. We have the insurance adjuster coming out on Friday and they will decide what, if anything, will be covered by them.
I'm praying and trusting God through this, but it isn't easy for this control freak to do that~!
I was feeling so discouraged, we are already robbing Peter to pay Paul to get our 1/2 cow this year, but we can't afford to not get the cow this way. If we had to go to the store to buy meat it would cost us sooo much more in the long run. So, this money really does have to come to us from God. We can cash out our IRA's there is almost enough in them to cover the cost of the roof. If that is what God directs us to do.
When I told my friend just how much our deductible is for our insurance she replied, "oh yeah never mind. That's too much. God can't possibly do that!" I laughed and was reminded by her sarcasm just how big our God is!
I already see God working in this. Preparing us for it, if you will. I have been canning like crazy this year, even though we didn't even put in a garden this spring. And my 100+ tomato seedlings turned into less than 10 plants! Our God is bigger than that! Our 9 apple trees are overloaded with apples. So, I've done apple sauce. A friend invited me to pick beans with her. I put up 21 pints of beans from that FREE adventure! That same friend gave me about a bushel and a half of tomatoes. 16 quarts worth plus some sauce I'm boiling down overnight. Another friend gave me a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes, I turned that into 8 quarts and a meal of goulash. I have pears coming from another friend at the end of the week or so. They graciously give me their extra pears year after year. I am so blessed!
Here is where I need YOUR help. Help me show my problems just how big our God is!
I'm having a soap sale to help fund our roof project. Offer expires 9/30/2013. Buy 2 get one of equal or lesser value free! Make sure to email me your free bar choice, do not add it to your cart. I know God can provide enough buyers to completely sell me out, if that is His will, with out even saying a word about it. He's that BIG. I know He could also provide the money from some other avenue. But I also know that God calls us to help one another to be proactive and be the hands and feet of Jesus.
My favorite verses is found immediately after a more well known verse in the Bible. The well known verse is "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
I feel many of us forget the verse that follows it. I know I do that is why I have made it my favorite and memorized it.
"Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction." Philippians 4:14
This verse reminds me that we are to help each other in times of need. It helps remind me to take a meal to family who just had a baby or illness. It helps remind me to help clean a friends house, with out being asked, in times of stress. It helps remind me to call a friend when they are having a difficult day to cheer them up. It reminds me to slow down and spend time with the ones I love and the ones that love me. It reminds me to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Can you help me spread the word about this sale? Pin my page, share on Facebook, tweet about me, or email your friends? Maybe even buy a couple bars?
Help me show my problem just how big our God is! Thank you in advance.
Monday we got about 4-6 inches of rain in less than a hour, maybe even less than a half hour. I wasn't home, but I was gone for a about an hour. We came home to a trench washed out in our driveway and our roof developed a leak!!!
When we entered our home from our walk out basement there was a puddle of water on the floor, in the basement? Where is this from? Why?
Upon first inspecting the problem we thought our old dog had peed on the floor above and it ran down into the basement. So we moved on with life. A few hours later I noticed the ceiling was sagging in the kitchen over the fridge. I pushed on it and sure enough, it was soft and wet. Oh boy!
I put a quick call into my insurance agent to start the claims process. They told me to get an estimate for the damages. So I called a couple roofers. Got the news that I need a completely new roof. We have the insurance adjuster coming out on Friday and they will decide what, if anything, will be covered by them.
I'm praying and trusting God through this, but it isn't easy for this control freak to do that~!
I was feeling so discouraged, we are already robbing Peter to pay Paul to get our 1/2 cow this year, but we can't afford to not get the cow this way. If we had to go to the store to buy meat it would cost us sooo much more in the long run. So, this money really does have to come to us from God. We can cash out our IRA's there is almost enough in them to cover the cost of the roof. If that is what God directs us to do.
When I told my friend just how much our deductible is for our insurance she replied, "oh yeah never mind. That's too much. God can't possibly do that!" I laughed and was reminded by her sarcasm just how big our God is!
I already see God working in this. Preparing us for it, if you will. I have been canning like crazy this year, even though we didn't even put in a garden this spring. And my 100+ tomato seedlings turned into less than 10 plants! Our God is bigger than that! Our 9 apple trees are overloaded with apples. So, I've done apple sauce. A friend invited me to pick beans with her. I put up 21 pints of beans from that FREE adventure! That same friend gave me about a bushel and a half of tomatoes. 16 quarts worth plus some sauce I'm boiling down overnight. Another friend gave me a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes, I turned that into 8 quarts and a meal of goulash. I have pears coming from another friend at the end of the week or so. They graciously give me their extra pears year after year. I am so blessed!
Here is where I need YOUR help. Help me show my problems just how big our God is!
I'm having a soap sale to help fund our roof project. Offer expires 9/30/2013. Buy 2 get one of equal or lesser value free! Make sure to email me your free bar choice, do not add it to your cart. I know God can provide enough buyers to completely sell me out, if that is His will, with out even saying a word about it. He's that BIG. I know He could also provide the money from some other avenue. But I also know that God calls us to help one another to be proactive and be the hands and feet of Jesus.
My favorite verses is found immediately after a more well known verse in the Bible. The well known verse is "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
I feel many of us forget the verse that follows it. I know I do that is why I have made it my favorite and memorized it.
"Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction." Philippians 4:14
This verse reminds me that we are to help each other in times of need. It helps remind me to take a meal to family who just had a baby or illness. It helps remind me to help clean a friends house, with out being asked, in times of stress. It helps remind me to call a friend when they are having a difficult day to cheer them up. It reminds me to slow down and spend time with the ones I love and the ones that love me. It reminds me to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Can you help me spread the word about this sale? Pin my page, share on Facebook, tweet about me, or email your friends? Maybe even buy a couple bars?
Help me show my problem just how big our God is! Thank you in advance.
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