THE HOUSE DOCTOR - AN ORGANIZED HOME IS A HAPPY HOME

ORGANIZING YOUR CLOTHES CLOSET

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

To quote Edmund Burke:  “Good order is the foundation of all things.”  This has never been more true than in the case of the organization of a well loved home.   Your daily living needs CAN fall into perfect harmony with your busy life; if you will only just stop for a moment, take a deep breath and get yourself more organized. 

Please don’t think of this part of loving your home as a negative activity!  It can be a fun adventure, and when you are completed with all of it; you will be so happy with the results that you will feel like a whole new person! 

The longer you put this off, the harder it will become.  Saying I don’t have time is just the same as saying “I don’t want to do it.”  Most of us feel this way when it comes right down to getting things organized.  We just keep procrastinating and unfortunately this brings added stress and less harmony into our homes.  Of all places on earth, your home should be the one place where you are guaranteed to find peace, joy and harmony.  That is our goal!  

So here goes; take a deep breath and let’s begin to climb this mountain together!  All the remodeling, arranging and changing isn’t worth a thing if it disintegrates into an unorganized mess.  We have spent the time, money and energy on those things; let’s polish them off by getting everything organized.

With the tips I’m going to give you; organizing your home will become as easy as eating a piece of cake! 

Let’s tackle one happy adventure at a time.  The first and easiest place to start is with your own closet.   

You NEED to have an organized clothes closet in order to function happily in life.  Having your clothes clean, organized and well planned will make a HUGE difference in your attitude at the very beginning of each day.  It will free up SO MUCH of your valuable time. 

How many of us are rushing around in the mornings, wadeing frantically through the middle of screaming kids who are getting ready for school, while agonizing over fixing husband’s lunch and organizing his work clothes (did you forget to wash his socks AGAIN?); looking for that other shoe to go with that outfit again, or wondering what we washed for ourselves to wear when we did the laundry last week?  Why can’t we find it in the closet?   

Every home in America seems to have a sock eating laundry room.  Where do they all go?  When we finally do find the clothes we were looking for, we realize nothing is pressed and we try to get the wrinkles out by sticking the clothing into the dryer for a few minutes.  Once that is accomplished and we put it on and look in the mirror we see a huge gap in the side seam where the threads have come unraveled while in the dryer.  Oh no!  We panic and grab whatever we can find to cover our body with and rush out the door, herding other people as we go.  We wind up going to work looking like we slept in our clothes, and we are totally grumpy to the kids on the way to school and also to dear husband who hasn’t a clue of our stress level at the moment.  All because we feel sorry for ourselves and think and feel that we have no time to tend to our own needs while helping the rest of the family survive.  Everyone is unhappy because stress is contagious.

Been there, done that; do not want to go back again!  Let me tell you there is a much easier way to live! 

The whole goal of THE HOUSE DOCTOR is to explore ways to produce a home full of love, peace, harmony and beauty as easily and as inexpensively as possible.  We want home to be a soothing place where you can enjoy the seasons of an abundant life.  The scene I mentioned earlier is absolutely NOT the results we are seeking here; but everyone has been there at some point and time. 

The joy comes shinning through when we finally begin to understand how to avoid this.  Unknown to half the population in this country, there really can be a day when you wake up on a Monday morning and jump out of bed realizing that your breakfast will be easy to fix, your kids will have their things all ready to go and their homework all finished and organized, your wardrobe will be perfectly planned out, and there will be a whole tank of gas in the car.  You can even smile as you send hubby off to work knowing that you have packed him a perfectly healthy lunch with a sweet little love note tucked inside for a surprise in the middle of the day, and he will be totally assured that he can come home to a healthy dinner on that same evening, maybe even candlelight and wine!  

No I'm not talking about Blondie and Dagwood or Ozzie and Harriet.  (I just told my age and even might have lost a few of you here.)  Honest…..I’m not joking!  It IS possible!  It CAN happen, but you won’t get there in one day.  It is a cumulative process of getting organized one step at a time, and you must lay the foundations for each of these processes to flow smoothly and correctly inside your home.  Soon it will become just like clockwork.  Just trust me and read on.

Let’s start with the most important part first; that would be you!  When Mama isn’t happy; nobody is happy! 

Everyone depends on you.  But guess what?  You need to have your life in order before you can help anyone else.  Your clothes are important.  You can't leave the house without them!  Let’s begin by organizing them first. 

Wait until you have a whole day to set aside so you can tackle this project from beginning to end and be done with it.   Chose a day when hubby has to work and send the kids to grandma’s house!  Go straight to your laundry room and take an inventory.  What do you see? 

You need to make a list of the items you will need to purchase for the operation of your closet and your laundry area.  Do that first. Put these items down on your list and check for what you already have and what you do not have.  I’ll give you a good basic list.  You can adjust it for your own purposes and budget. 

If you go right out and buy everything I am mentioning here, you will spend about $200 at your local Walmart.  You will recoup much of your budget by not having to buy any cleaning supplies when you buy groceries for the next two months.  You will also not need to buy any new clothes for awhile, because you are going to see how far these organizing techniques will stretch your current wardrobe.  You might be shocked!  You can also make do with what you have on hand and around the house until you can afford some of the items on my list.  If you need to just buy them slowly over time as you get the money.  Figure out what works for you.  So my list below is the top of the line, luxury supply list!

ITEMS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR LAUNDRY ROOM AND CLEANING OUT YOUR CLOTHES CLOSET

 Several matching, stacking plastic clothes baskets (3 or 4 for sorting and two for storing dirty clothes),

30 metal and plastic clothes hangers like you find in uptown department stores, both for hanging dresses, shirts and blouses. They should have that little hole in the middle that lets you hook another hanger on to them (get 30 of these others too) that hold pants and skirts with the metal clothespins built in on each side for fasteners. 

3 or 4 containers of good laundry detergent.

3 or 4 containers of fabric softener

3 or 4 bottles of spray-on stain-remover. 

A steam-iron and an ironing board along with some good spray starch. 

One box of sandwich sized plastic baggies. 

Two small plastic trash containers with a swinging lid on top that you can keep covered, but easily drop things into.

10 clear plastic shoe-box-sized containers that can be purchased at the dollar store. 

So go on now!  Go right out to the store immediately and purchase any of these items that you do not already have on hand and/or decide how you will use what you have to make them happen.  Bring it all home and go straight back to your laundry area/room. 

Now remove anything from your laundry area/room that doesn’t pertain to doing laundry!  It is a laundry area, not a junk place or an extra storage bin.  Gather all the unnecessary items and place them wherever they really belong.  Establish a house rule that no one will pile things in the laundry area/room just because it looks like an available space.  It isn’t.  Sweep and dust the area.  A clean laundry room means you will be folding clean clothes and not dragging them through a pile of dirt and grime and having to wash them all over again!  

Not today, but later after you have your clothes closets in order and your basic laundry area set up, it might be nice to consider anything you could do to make this area feel more cheerful and pretty.  After all, you do spend a good bit of your precious time inside this part of the house (even though we are going to eliminate a lot of that work time after today) you still we be in this part of the house often.   Why not make it as pleasant and as upbeat as possible?   If you are blessed enough to have an actual room just for laundry you might think about using one corner of the room as a craft/office/desk area.  You could be tending to your desk work and bill paying while you are waiting on the dryer to finish and the washer to spin out.  Just a thought to tuck away - but all of that is for another article on another day.  For right now just concentrate on getting your basic laundry area needs covered and in good order.   

Take any of those flimsy plastic hangers (the kind you get clothes on at WalMart) or any wire hangers (the kind the dry-cleaners give you) and either throw them away or give them away.  Use the new ones you bought instead.   They will hold up much better because they are strong and they swirve.  Hopefully your laundry room has a hanging space available to hang your new hangers from.  These should be THE ONLY types of hangers you will ever need from this point forward.  They are well worth the small investment. They are excellent choices that will  help keep your clothes much more organized.  Combining the two types of hangers together for hanging as one gives you so much extra closet space.  Enjoy the fact that there will now be no more tangled piles of hangers to sort through and untangle on laundry day.  Just hang the new empty hangers on your laundry shelf until needed, making sure you keep all the hooks turned in the same direction.

Hopefully your laundry area/room has some amount of shelf storage space where you can place all the containers of laundry detergent, fabric softener and stain remover.  It may sound crazy to store so many of them at once, but this means you have at least one month’s supply (probably more; maybe even TWO months) of all your laundry cleansers, and you will not have to make that last minute run to the store just to pick up laundry detergent whenever you finally get around to washing clothes.  This will give you at least a whole extra hour in your day each week for a month, so use that time to do something you haven’t had time to do with your husband or kids.  Have a date.  Read a story. Sing a song together. Make mad passionate love.  Cook a special dessert, take a bubble bath,etc.  You will be amazed how not having to make so many little trips to the store changes your life! 

Organize these detergents neatly in the near by space that you have available.  If you do not have shelving, I suggest you find a way to make that happen.  It will be well worth the time, money and effort to have a place to keep everything organized and together.  Find a good place to store your iron and ironing board, then pray that you never have to use them!  I hate ironing, but sometimes it is necessary.  You don't want to have to go out and buy these items at the last minute before an unexpected event.  Best to have them ready and on-hand in a place where you can conveniently locate and use them.    

Take a damp rag and wipe all the dust and spilt detergent and lint and cleansers off the tops of your washer and dryer and surrounding areas.  Find a space, either on the top of your washer and dryer, in a corner of your laundry space, or on an empty shelf nearby for storing the plastic clothes baskets.  Keep them neatly nesting within each other until laundry day.  You will use them for sorting clothes.  

Make a space for the two small trash containers.  Put a trash bag inside both and use one for throwing away the lint from the lint filter of your dryer.  Empty this when full.  Saves steps.  Use the other one for a place to put wet dish towels and dish clothes after use until laundry day arrives.  The top on the container will keep them from smelling up the whole house and they will be out of sight.  Every time you do laundry; remember to empty this container and wash them.  Store any wet items here until you can get to washing them.

Put ONE clothes basket in your bedroom beside your clothes closet for right now.  It will become your dirty clothes hamper.  Once your closet is clean and organized, just set it inside the door.  Use a tall one that doesn’t take up much floor space but still holds lots of laundry.  Drop your dirty clothes in here at the end of the day.  Just close the closet door and all of your dirty clothes are out of sight.

Okay, this next task is going to sound crazy at first.  Take everything you have hanging up in your closet that is washable off the hangers and sort into stacks on the floor of your room by colors, blues with blues, reds with reds, blacks with blacks, etc.  Keep the dry-cleaned things hanging, but lay them on top of your bed and sort them into like-colored stacks too.   Now put one stack of the clothes into the washer at a time and wash, dry and hang on a temporary hanger until you find a way to coordinate the many single pieces of your wardrobe into whole matching outfits that you are sure you will be wearing.

Tip for when you are washing clothes:  when you pour your liquid detergent into the washer, have the fill-water already turned on and running to fill up the washer.  Measure the detergent out into the cap of the detergent container and hold the detergent under the running water of your washing machine to dispense.  When the water washes the detergent from your detergent cap into the washer, simply replace the empty cap on top of the detergent container.  The washing out from the fill-water while you put the detergent into the washer will keep the cap clean after use and prevent it from becoming a sticky mess when you turn it upside down again and this will keep it from leaking all over your  washer and dryer space, leaving detergent residue everywhere.  

Now, take one clothes basket out of the stack on your laundry room shelves and set it on the floor of your laundry room for holding the clothes that you no longer wear or use.  Discard them as you go.  As you wash and dry each load of clothes hang what you REALLY want to keep on the new hangers.  ONLY KEEP WHAT YOU REALLY WILL WEAR.  Drop what you do not need to keep in the laundry basket so that you can take it to your favorite charity later.  So much of our closet spaces are cluttered with things we never use!  Get rid of those things!  Fold them and put them aside in the clothes basket.   When the basket is full, load it into a box and drop off at your favorite charity.  Others may be happy to receive the things you are not using.  Your closet will be happy to have more space!  You will not have been wasteful.  If you have spare clothes left over when you are through sorting that you are sure you will not wear; get rid of them!  Don't feel guilty.  Don't make your closet space feel guilty either.  

Wash and dry everything and hang whole groups of coordinating pieces and matching outfits together.  Put the shirts, blouses and tops on the top hanger, underneath that hanger hook in the other hanger with the metal clasps for hanging pants and skirts.  Hang very dressy dresses by themselves and put less used dressy items at the back of your closet. 

So your whole coordinated outfit should be hung together, such as shown in the photo.above. 

   

Since your closet should be completely empty with your unmatched clothes all either piled on your bed or sorted in clothes baskets for washing, you can match everything as you launder them.  The colors seperated together just makes easier matching when you are putting outfits together.  Make sure they are all hung securely and neatly using your new hangers. You will probably come up with many new combinations that you enjoy.  This is the beauty of taking the time to sort through things.  It will be like getting a whole new wardrobe.  With all of your clothes out of the closet and starting the coordinating with a new slate, you will get creative and see many more pieces that you already have that you love but didn’t know you had a match for. 

Make a list of the separates that you want to keep which have nothing to go with them.  Fold  them into a separate basket until you are able to coordinate a whole useable outfit from new purchases.  Don’t let them take up room in your closet until they can be used.  Tuck this list into your wallet and ONLY buy the needed items when you are shopping instead of buying on impulse. 

 Once you get a complete outfit sorted out with the separate matching pieces all ready to hang together; pick out the jewelry that you will wear with that outfit.  Put that assortment of jewelry (I usually have a necklace and earrings and maybe a bracelet) into a plastic bag and ziplock the bag to store. Attach the bag of jewelry for each outfit behind the clasp on the lower hanger of your coordinating clothes.  (See the photo illustration.)

Now everything (exept your shoes) will be hung together when you pull your outfit out to wear.  No more searching through the closet for three or four pieces that go together then running back over to the jewelry box to pick out your jewelry for that outfit.  No more untangling necklaces and looking for earring backs.  Everything you need is right there in one place, and all hung together when you need it.  This makes life so simple and easy when you are dressing each morning! 

When you have your first outfit all together with it’s own set of jewelry, hang it on the bar in your closet nearest to you as you first open the closet door.

Some people like to hang like-colors together in their closet because they are looking to make it easier to match things.  We already have everything coordinated together in once place; so  I tend to disagree with that thought, even though it DOES look pretty!  

Instead; I like to hang the outfits in the order that they will be used.   Assemble all of your clothes this way, starting with your favorite outfits first, then mixing and matching all the left over separates together in the combinations that you like.  Don’t hang anything that you are not sure you will wear.

Hang one coordinated outfit at a time in your closet until you have at least a month’s worth of clothes all coordinated.  This would be about 30 coordinated outfits, one for each day of the month.   If you don't have that many clothes, just use what you have and make this a goal for new purchases.  Slowly add to your collection of outfits until you have 30; then STOP!  You will never need to go clothes shopping again!   

Remember to hang all outfits in the order that you want to wear them, allowing for work outfits on work days and casual outfits on casual days. If you will be needing two outfits for some days just hang them side by side then move on to the next day's clothing needs.  Just go down the rack thinking “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and start all over again four times in a row.  Hang all your clothes in the order of what you want to wear for the next 30 days of the upcoming month. 

Guess what?  If you don’t have time to wash for a whole month, you will not have to worry!  For one whole month your wardrobe will be beautifully coordinated and in order.  As you find the time to do laundry, just remember to keep coordinating everything this way as you go along. 

Now, isn’t that a whole lot better?  Is your mind feeling a whole lot less stressed?  Don’t stop here though; we still need to work on shoes, pajamas and underwear.  Easy-peasy though!…Find a drawer for your underwear and fold it neatly in that drawer.  Again – I suggest 30 of everything.  Find another empty drawer for your pajamas and a few sweat pants and t-shirts to fold to wear around the house when you are just “being comfortable” and relaxing.  Almost done…...

You should have nothing in your closet now but your wardrobe.  Closets are meant for clothes, not extra storage warehouses!  Keep your closets functioning as they should.  Hopefully you have a shelf above your hanging clothes.  If not; have someone install one for you, or do it yourself.  THERE SHOULD BE NOTHING ON THE FLOOR UNDER YOUR CLOTHES!  When you vacuum your closet, nothing should be in the way of your vacuum cleaner.  Everything should be easily visible to you when you open that door.  No junk piles!  Also, no one can hide out in your closet without you noticing their feet!  Just thought I’d throw in a little safety; not that you probably need it, but it will make you FEEL safer if you ever suspect anyone.  Just open the door and look – if you see no feet – you are home free.

Now take those ten clear boxes that you bought from the dollar store and store a pair of your favorite shoes in each one.  Stack them neatly on your shelf. Put the shoes you wear the most in the most accessible spots.  If you are like half of America you will have several pairs of shoes you never wear left over.  Give them away with the extra clothes.  Let someone get some use from them.  Just keep up to 10 pairs of shoes, the ones you REALLY wear and when you look up at them on your shelf now you will be able to find them easily because they will be neatly stored in those clear plastic boxes and you will be able to see the shoes you need through the box. 

Welcome to your coordinated life!  By the time you reach this point you should be feeling very grateful.  Grateful to have your closet organized and your stress level reduced; but also grateful that you live in a world where you have so many clothing choices that you can take for granted the fact that you own 30 coordinated outfits, including jewelry and shoes.  We have so much abundance in our lives these days and there are still places in the world where people only have the clothes on their backs and no place to hang them.  We are very, very blessed and we should never take that for granted.  Thinking about all of this may even give you a guilt complex.  Please don't let that happen.  Today it is trendy to appear less materialistic by only wearing the same clothes over and over again and only having a few pieces in your wardrobe to worry with.  I see the logic, and the sincerity in this line of thinking; but I also think for most of us today the logic is misplaced and misguided.  It APPEARS that you are doing without and helping the world, but in fact you are simply not using your blessings.  You doing without does not mean that others automatically have!  If you want to help clothe the needy of the world think about sending the extra money you have normally been spending on making your unorganized wardrobe work for you as you rush through life to someone who could actually use it for buying clothes that they need.  You can easily do this once you have your 30 outfits neatly hanging in place; because as I said before; you will never have the need to go shopping again!  Take that several hundred dollars a year you have been using because of your unorganization and give it out in surprise gift certificates to broke college students, or give it to a mother with six children to clothe.  Now that would be more useful for everyone.  You also could volunteer the time you save by not having to do laundry so often, and not having to run to the store all the time to work in a local shelter that provides clothing for those who find themselves in need.  Remember, you are going to take everything you don't use to your favorite charity too; so please stop feeling guilty for receiving the fruit of your hard earned labor and just remember to thank God for His awesome provision of giving you an abundant life that overflows to add to other peoples abundance too.  Rejoice and be glad that you are using wisdom and order in your life and don't take on other people's misplaced and misguided guilt.  

Next step – go and do this same thing for the rest of your family members, or have a closet cleaning seminar in your home to teach everyone how to do this for themselves.  Now each person living in your home will be coordinated with good, clean, attractive clothes that they like to wear for a whole month.  Your family portriats will look awesome!  Your Christmas cards will be lovely!   Make everyone take a closet inventory about every six months and keep the order going.  This step shouldn’t be too hard with the foundational work you have already done up front.

I hope you have enjoyed this first step in getting your house organized.  Keep reading THE HOUSE DOCTOR section in my Saturday blogs for more organizational articles.   Keep looking for more organizational tips as well as the usual decorating and remodeling tips for making your house into a home. 

So go enjoy your extra time; your pristine and organized laundry area, and your coordinated wardrobe!  I will eventually post another article which will have instructions you can use for making all of your own cleaning products.  This will save you even more money, make your home healthier and keep you doing the things you enjoy instead of pushing a shopping cart all week.  Be watching for that article during an upcoming post, hopefully before your first few months of laundry room supplies dwindles down.  For now, just bask in the new peace and harmony you are now going to find in your morning routines simply because you got your whole household's wardrobes and closets organized!  Life is good!

MONDAY NIGHT MENUS - A RAINY DAY STAY INSIDE PICNIC

(From the recipe collection of Sheila Gail Landgraf) 

MAKING COOKING AT HOME EASIER
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Are you missing the BBQ grill while the rain is pouring?  

Want a way to bring a little sunshine inside the house on a rainy winter day?  

Here is a way to make the same tasty foods inside!  Smile….The sun will come out tomorrow!  This picnic may take a little planning.  You need to marinate the ribs the day before cooking, and you will need to let them cook for 4 to 6 hours - so plan your schedule accordingly to use the ribs recipe.  You will need to soak the beans for a day before preparing and they will need 8 hours in the crock pot.   It will be worth the trouble; slow-cooked ribs are very tasty, and the beans just naturally go with the flavor of the ribs.

Tonight's menu consist of Rainy Day Ribs with Hot Cheese Mini Muffins, White Shoe-peg Corn And Tomato Salad and Bacon And Bourbon Baked Beans.  

Who cares if it is raining when you've got this feast going on?

HOT CHEESE MINI MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

¾ cups buttermilk

1 beaten egg

4 tablespoons softened butter

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degreees.  Mix all ingredients together.  Pour into mini-muffin tray and bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

WHITE SHOE-PEG CORN AND TOMATO SALAD

Ingredients:  

Two cans Green Giant white shoe-peg corn ( or use fresh if available)

2 quarts small cherry tomatoes (washed and halved)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 medium red onion (chopped)

1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)

1 tablespoon basil (chopped)

Dash of salt

Dash of Pepper

Directions:

Toss together, chill and serve.

RAINY DAY RIBS

Ingredients:

5  pounds beef ribs –separated

4 tablespoons minced garlic

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons A1 Sauce

 2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon bourbon

5 onions peeled and chopped

Directions:

Mix all ingredients but the ribs and the onions together in a bowl.  Pour mix over ribs into a zip-lock bag and marinate in refrigerator overnight.  Next day pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.  Line a broiler pan with foil and overlap lots of extra foil on the sides.  Put ribs and onion in the foiled broiler pan and pour marinade over them.  Roast open in oven for 15 minutes.  Take ribs out and cover the ribs and onions tightly with the overlapped foil. Reduce oven to 250 degrees and cook for 4 – 6 hours basting and turning when appropriate.

BACON AND BOURBON BAKED BEANS

Ingredients:

1 pound dry navy beans

10 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into pieces

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups water

¾ can of BBQ sauce

1 cup loosely packed brown sugar

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons molasses

1 cup bourbon

1-1/2 tablespoons ground mustard

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Directions:

The night before put beans into a large pot and cover with water.  Drain and wash the next morning and put beans in a pot on the stove and heat until boiling, then let simmer for about 40 minutes.  Cook bacon on stove top until fat is rendered and drain on a paper towel.  Saute the onion in the bacon grease as well as the garlic.  Remove onion and garlic when clear colored and add to a crock pot.  Add bourbon, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, ketchup, molasses, ground mustard, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.  Stir well and add in beans and stir again.  Crock on low for about 8 hours, then turn off and let sit for 2 hours to let the beans absorb the sauce and to let the sauce thicken.  It is less trouble to make these the day before and reheat when you serve your meal.  This one of those foods that is even better when it sits in the refrigerator overnight.

SEASONS - PONDERING ASH WEDNESDAY

UNDERSTANDING THE SYMBOLISM THAT IS REPRESENTED BY THE OBSERVANCE OF ASH WEDNESDAY

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

It is almost that time of the year again, the day we see people walking around with smudged ashes on their foreheads.  I grew up Baptist and I can remember being a child and seeing someone with ashes and thinking they just got real dirty and didn’t wash their face.  I never knew the significance of Ash Wednesday until I started going to the Episcopal Church. 

Now that I am nondenominational in my religious affiliations; I find I miss Ash Wednesday and Lent, and even though now I have chosen to mostly observe the Hebraic Holy Days from a Christian perspective; I often observe Ash Wednesday and Lent right along with my Episcopal and Catholic friends. 

I don’t feel this is a requirement of God; but I don’t think God minds it either.  Actually, I think God truly appreciates any time when we humans make an effort to remember to be conscious of our sins and work on repentance and confession and try to set our minds and hearts to the mode of overcoming and the pursuit of the holy.  Lent and Ash Wednesday are days that fall into this type of observance.

Ash Wednesday actually marks the first day of Lent.  Lent lasts for 40 days, and it is a time for meditating and examining our hearts as we make our way through life’s annual calendar up until the day that we celebrate the joyous day of The Resurrection of Christ. 

It is a time to reflect and grow closer to God. 

It is a time to make little sacrifices in our daily living to show our love and devotion to God.

It is a time to put extra effort into prayerful fasting. 

We are always reminded to reflect on the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the dessert.  It was a time that he was tempted by Satan and he overcame Satan by The Word of God.   

So; on the first day of Lent, ashes are imposed on the foreheads of the faithful as a reminder that they are mere humans who will live and die one day.   The ashes appear in the shape of a cross and they are worn all of the first day of Lent as a testimony to the fact that we come from ashes (the dust of the earth) and we shall one day return to ashes.  It is to remind us of our own humanity; which emphasizes the fact that without God in our lives we are really nothing at all. 

The mark on the forehead brings many other thoughts.  Some people remember how Cain, an unrepentant sinner, was marked by God.  Cain did not repent nor did he consider bringing the proper sacrifice that God commanded to redeem his sins.  Because of this he was doomed to live with the mark of his sins upon him until the day that he died.  Cain was living in total rebellion all the days of his life.  He was determined to put himself and his own desires above the desires of God.  Cain is a study in contrast to the person desiring to observe the process of Lent.

The whole idea of the season is to remember NOT to be like Cain, but to examine your heart and repent of any un-repented sins before the day that celebrates The Resurrection of Christ, who IS the miracle provided by God that saves our souls from death and merely returning to the dust of the earth.

Since I observe the Jewish Holy Days from a Christian perspective in a very nondenominational way (is that a paradox?)  much of this work of the soul that many of my Catholic and Episcopal friends faithfully go through at Lent are things that I begin in the Fall Holy Days starting with the season of Elul and continuing through to Rosh Hashanah, or The Feast of Trumpets, then The Days of Awe which lead up to The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur.)  I see Yom Kippur as a shadow of the work Jesus did on the cross and it speaks of Atonement, just like Resurrection Day.  Of course, I also celebrate Resurrection Day, which culminates with Early First Fruits at the end of the Passover week when I consider my sins in the days of unleavened bread and ponder how to put them out of my life and how to put more of Christ into my life.  Very similar to Lent, Unleavened Bread is also a type of fast.  So many of these days have the same underlying truths and symbols of Lent, and they actually are more authentic to the scriptures.

So if I join in and observe Lent also, much of the spiritual housekeeping of my adopted Jewish heart has already taken place; especially since I observe the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread and Early First Fruits, where I am reminded to purge the leaven from my life.  Leven represents sin.  Fast days are tied in even before that time though during the time leading up to Purim at The Fast of Esther. 

So, basically by the time everyone else gets around to these housecleaning times of the soul; I’ve already been practicing those exercises and observances in many ways and many days all through the year with God’s Holy Days; but it never hurts to be thorough when it comes to your soul and eternity – so I often chose to join in and go through Lent with my friends, even though I do not feel this is actually required or commanded directly by God.  

We know from historical studies that the whole idea of Lent was actually started by a monk many years ago, and possibly evolved from his own personal studies of those observing the original Holy Days of God we find in Exodus.  He merely put some of the same or similar practices and meditations into a different time of the year and added the imposition of Ashes.  Ashes have always been, since the ancient days, a biblical symbol of showing repentance and morning for the human condition of mankind. 

I think we all can agree the important thing is to be sure you DO repent, during any time or season.   This is what really matters.  After all, repentance should actually be a DAILY observance for all Christians, and these extra; though not commanded seasons of examination, help us to stay aware of what God expects from us all through the year.  It also expresses one’s desire to please God and to offer up sacrifices that are pleasing to Him.  

Seasons come and go and what do we learn from them?  

How do we keep our observances pure with the right intentions before God?  

A key element is to let God lead your mind and heart to where He wants your spiritual awakenings to be.  It is best to start any significant season of meditation and reflection with prayer that asks for clarity and guidance and truth.  Every year should be a little different in some way, because God doesn't have us living stagnant lives.  We should be building our characters upon the foundations that he lays within our hearts, improving every year and changing and transforming to God’s image more and more as we go further and further on the journey of the Christian life.  We learn in stages, as we go through daily living with God as our guide and Christ as our Redeemer.  Our lives and days are full of varied things to learn, yet, all of God is constant and never changing no matter what time or season we are currently going through.       

So the ashes are imposed in the mark on the forehead that is put there in the shape of a cross.  It is the cross that makes the mark of Ash Wednesday so different from the mark of Cain.  Here the faithful have their counter-mark, their identification in the sign of the cross as being servants of The Most High God. Instead of being marked as rebellious sinners; they are marked for their imperfect but humble desire to live in total submission to God's will.     

It is also interesting that the ashes are imposed on the forehead as opposed to any other part of the body.  They are placed right over the brain, the part of us that thinks and considers the things of life.  When God captures a heart, the process usually starts in the mind before making its way down to the heart.  

Marks do carry significance.  Remember how God called Abraham to “mark” his own people through the act of circumcision?  Today we consider that one who decides to live in God’s Kingdom and pursue God’s ways with all of his heart is marked of God through the circumcision of the heart.    

Could this marking of the heart, so symbolic of perfect love and obedience to God, be the next step that comes to reside within us after the marking of the mind?  What stays and resides inside the mind eventually shows up and proceeds outward in actions that come straight from the heart which show the heart's true colors of either love or hate.  

We are in constant need of the Word of God to mark our minds. 

Is your mind marked with the words of the Holy Scriptures?  

We are in constant need of the love of God to mark our hearts. 

Is your heart marked with the love of God?

With the marking of the ashes we are also symbolically reminded of a passage of scripture found in Ezekiel 9 which speaks of The Glory of God instructing a man with a writing kit in his hands to go about Jerusalem marking the foreheads of the people who have lamented and wept or grieved over the detestable things that have happened in the city.  Instructions were given for everyone who did NOT have this mark to be killed, showing no mercy. 

Most people interpret this passage found in Ezekiel Chapter 9 to be a prophetic and futuristic vision of Jesus Christ being the “man with the writing kit”.  The “writing kit” is symbolic of The Lamb’s Book of Life, and it is only Christ who has the authority over this book.  There He has recorded those who have given their souls over to Him and He has written their names down in his book and blotted out their sins (which were recorded too) with the covering of his blood.  Let’s look at that passage a little closer, thinking of how a person can be “marked” of God.

Let’s read that passage to be sure of what it is telling us in prophecy: 

Ezekiel Chapter 9:

Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.”  And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.  With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side.  They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.  Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the Cherubim, where it had been and moved to the threshold of the temple.  Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion.  Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark.  Begin at my sanctuary.  “So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.  Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain.  Go!”  So they went out and began killing throughout the city.  While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas Sovereign LORD!  Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”  He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice.  They say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’  So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.  “Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded. 

So what does this passage found in Eziekel that speaks of a “mark” on the forehead mean?

I think it speaks of final judgment, and I clearly notice that those marked by Jesus receive mercy and pardon from the other evil sinners of the earth. 

So whether or not we celebrate Lent in any shape, form or fashion in our lives; the truth is that a day of judgment is coming and the whole earth will receive the wrath of God; except those who have the mark of Christ covering them.   It does not matter which ritual you chose to follow to show the world the shape of your heart during this season; what matters is that your heart is marked and circumcised by Christ.

Are you marked by Him?  

Are you covered in the blood of Christ that assures your pardon from your many sins?  

Now is the time.  

This is the season to draw near to God.  Judgment day will come.  I pray that we all are ready and that our focus is clearly glued to the light of Christ that leads us to our heavenly home with God the Father.    

 In one sense these people are like Cain in that they are protected from death.  The reasons though are very different.  They are protected because they have been faithful and true, Cain was protected so that he could suffer enough to possibly see his own sins and change.  It never happened.  God always allows us these times to consider our sins and He is patient as He waits to see if we will change.  Some of us remain in sin, like Cain, but those of us who are willing to humble ourselves and change eventually reap unimaginable blessings in eternal life.  

Lent will soon began and many of God's people on the earth will start this process of sorting out their lives.  Now you know when you see the marks on people's foreheads; what they are doing and why they do it.  

Have you noticed the faithful?  

More importantly, have you noticed the mark of love and kindness from a neighbor or a friend?  That too might be symbolic of the mark of Christ over their heart.  Some sacrifices involve giving instead of giving up.  Sometimes, during this process God leads people to make changes in how they relate to their fellowman as well as how they relate to God.  

Whatever customs we follow and however we observe them today; in the end we will all be marked, one way or the other.  

Which way will you chose and what will be the sign over your heart?  

Will the things that you have been taught in your head sink down into your heart and spirit and spill out to others in the world or will you be like Cain and turn your face away?

We all have a choice.  

The mark comes from God, but the meaning of it is found within our own souls.  

What will your mark look like?

      

OH THE PLACES WE SHOULD GO - REMEMBERING ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Who would ever think you would find something Irish in St. Augustine, Florida? Well, I did! For the sake of all of you still looking for St. Patrick's Day adventures, I'm posting the information here for you under the WHAT TO DO FOR FUN part of this article; but first I must tell you my own St. Augustine stories.

The lovely city of St. Augustine is a place I lived in when I was only four years old.  My father had been laid-off from his work in the sheet metal industry and he knew of a place where he could find work in St. Augustine, FL.  We loaded up the old rambler, said goodbye to the cornfields of Alabama and headed for the ocean breeze. 

I had never seen the ocean before.  I fell in love. 

We rented an old upstairs garage apartment owned by two spinster sisters on the historic side of town.  Some of my father’s buddies involved in the same lay-off gravitated toward the coast with us. We all became neighbors in the same neighborhood.   All of the kids knew each other and we played in the alleys of those old apartment buildings together.  Tin garbage-can tops became the shields of knights and yardsticks were their swords.  Fair ladies had tea parties in the shade underneath the creaky old stairs that were wearing old and turning gray from the salty air that surrounded us.  Today this place has been demolished and the land has been used for part of the busy tourist section.

Dad worked hard during the week and Mom spent all her time cleaning the house and cooking meals.  Those old hardwood floors were so shiny you could use them for mirrors.  We dined on a silver colored metal table with a black and white formica top and metal chairs with red vinyl seats.  Life in St. Augustine was just grand.

The history of the birth of our country surrounded us every day.  Of course, being only four, most of it went right over my head.  I do remember when we visited the first and oldest little red school house (it is weathered now, not red.)  I remember it well.  I thought it was a big deal to be going inside any school, much less the oldest school in America.  In those days we often strolled right by Ponce De Leon’s Fountain of Youth without even giving it a second thought.  We are all living proof that the story is just a fable. 

We grocery shopped every Thursday in the old market district, and every Sunday afternoon after church we headed for the beach at Anastasia Island.  We would gather our sand-buckets and beach-balls and floats, put on our flip-flops and head for an afternoon of uninterrupted fun.  My parents and their friends became kids too, once we got to the ocean.  They threw frisbee, flew kites, collected seashells and built sand castles with us.  It was a great place to be growing up and a total escape from any cares at all; just long leisurely days filled with sunshine and the imaginations that children have.

Now I love going back to the place where I formed so many good memories.  It is not quite as wonderful to me now, because the old apartments have long been torn down and replaced by more modern buildings and the old Spanish Fort has become very crowded with tourists.  Everything is much more commercialized and a whole lot busier than it was in my memories.  Still; St. Augustine will always be charming and quaint.  It is a very beautiful city.  I still love going there and it will always remain a favorite destination for me.

WHERE TO STAY:

If you venture out to St. Augustine today, the new will be mixed with the old.  You will have so many good choices of lodging that your head will spin trying to make a decision.  You will find all of them listed at www.oldcity.com/bed-and-breakfasts.  There are both fine hotels and wonderful bed and breakfast establishments everywhere.  There are vacation homes and cottages for rent by the week, month or just the weekend. 

I personally love the old established places on St. George Street.  There are many of them.  If you stay on or around St. George Street within Old Town, you will be within walking distance of many historic sites, shops and restaurants.  Old Town is not that far from some sandy beaches and there are lots of close by parks to explore too.

If you are more into the beach scene than the history scene, I highly recommend staying somewhere on Anastasia Island.  There too you will have a million great choices in a place to lay your head.  Check that same website for suggestions.  Anastasia Island is where we would take our Sunday outings to the beach when I was a child.  The beaches are absolutely beautiful.  The sunsets are amazing.

If you simply came for the fishing but your family wants to enjoy some other things too, you might consider staying at Devil’s Elbow Fishing Resort.  These are a string of quaint and simply designed little beach cottages with front porches and tin roofs.  They are cute and very comfortable.  They remind me of the first little house that my parents built just after we lived in St. Augustine, and I think these designs are in keeping with how beach cottages used to be. They have all the modern conveniences and are quite cheerful for everyone, though not fancy at all.  They face the ocean and the dock with plenty of piers so you can drive your own personal boat up and park overnight without a problem.  There is a guy named Hank who will greet you and give you the low-down on the best fishing spots.  Fish till your heart is content.  If you don't have your own boat, there are lots of charters available. Your loved ones will be close enough to lots of other fun activities, so this might be the best of both worlds for a true fisherman and his family.

WHAT TO DO FOR FUN:

Wherever you decide to stay, there will be a million and one choices of something fun to do. 

Take a horse-drawn buggy ride with a tour guide who knows his history. 

Take a night boat cruise and admire the twinkling lights of the old city from your boat deck in the ocean with your drink in your hand. 

The city is full of museums, shops, restaurants and antique stores. 

History abounds in this oldest city in America.  See the old fort, Ponce De Leon’s Fountain or The Oldest School House.

There are plenty of places to play golf and tennis. 

As I mentioned earlier there is deep sea fishing, or you could chose to just go beach combing and search for shells or simply take a swim or sunbathe. 

St. Augustine has its own personal light house! There is a museum at its base and it is great fun to explore. 

Quaint old churches beacon you to come inside for some quiet meditation.

Old buildings of architectural legacies are everywhere. 

The Henry Flagler Museum is a must see for anyone who comes to St. Augustine.  The history here is amazing.

You should also visit the old stone fort called Castillo de San Marcos. 

At Christmas don’t miss the “Nights of Lights.” 

On Independence Day the fireworks are amazing. 

There is a wax museum to wonder through.  (They all look so real! You will be creeped-out for sure. As a child I thought they had waxed real people!) 

Drive across the Bridge of Lions and take a tour of Anastasia Island.

Enjoy the Art Walks on the First Friday of each month, and check to see what festival will be going on when you arrive in town.    

Here is your Irish tip: If you go in the middle of March you can discover the St. Augustine Celtic Music and Heritage Festival.  I’m sure you were not expecting to hear of that event in St. Augustine, Florida, but it is true that the oldest city has some CELT hidden inside its walls.  

This totally Irish event has happened for the last seven years and the entertainment and excitement keeps growing and growing because the people love it.  The Festival is held at Francis Field from March 10 – 12 and includes live entertainment with music on two separate stages.  There are Highland Games with clans from Ireland and Scotland participating in whiskey tasting and other Celtic activities.  Irish storytelling is featured!   Of course there will be a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown St. Augustine on March 11th at 10 a.m. 

If you want to know more about this Irish side of Florida visithttp://www.celticstaugustine.com.  You never know what you will find where these days!

St. Augustine is also host to an annual Seafood Festival and there are many other such festivals throughout the year.  Just surf the web and check them out according to the date of your visit. There is something for everyone all the time.

WHERE TO EAT: 

One hobby that everyone seems to agree on is eating.  St. Augustine has some great restaurants with your favorite food selections just waiting for you.  There are so many eclectic variations of food here.  


Let’s start with Old Town where The Raintree is an excellent choice.  The restaurant lives in a renovated 1879 Victorian house.  It serves delicious international/contemporary/traditional food selections with your choice of fine wines.  

Another smaller, cozy, intimate place in the old Historic part of town on Cordova Street is The Old City House Inn and Restaurant.  Excellent world cuisine is served in a warm elegant atmosphere.  It is small, so make reservations.  The smallness adds to the experience in this case.

A lot of people seem to love The Reef, which is well worth checking out if you don’t mind driving a way down A1A to the beach.  They say the view is as awesome as the food and many people enjoy their meal and take a stroll down the beach afterward.

There seems to be a trend starting in St. Augustine with food trucks that serve gourmet meals.  They buy their vegetables fresh and local and they serve up food near the waterfront from their funky food trucks.  They (these creative restaurant owners and chefs) come up with quirky slang sayings, like “the funky fork” to describe their food, which is excellent and quite healthy to boot.  I love fine dining, but I have to admit the spunk and passion of all of this has turned my head and sent me to ordering from places I usually would not venture out to.  

Two examples are the Uptown Scratch Kitchen which serves both lunch and dinner, and Crave, which only serves lunch.  Both restaurants have amazing menus that change every day.  The staff is funny and entertaining.  They are a bit “off the wall” which only lends to the novel experience.   The selection is astonishing for such an unpretentious front, and the food is usually to die for.  Give it a shot; I think you will like it.    Start with lunch and when your taste buds get the message, gravitate to dinner.  The only complaints I heard were the people who sat on the picnic table in the open outside fresh air and didn’t know how to anchor their food on a windy day. This wasn't a problem for a country girl like me. Oh well, the effort was worth what the taste buds experienced here.  

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All food is fresh and new everyday.  I think this could catch on everywhere!  

There are lots more places to dine in St. Augustine and the surrounding area.  You get the idea. 

I highly recommend you grab your flip-flops and load up the car.  

Ships ahoy!!!