Making The Home: Refrigerator Organizing

by Miss Jocelyn

Everyone has a refrigerator and everyone needs it to where they can easily see and use it. I've seen a great many of the insides of other people's refrigerators, and most of them were very icky and all stuffed to the hilt. I imagine a few greenie-meanies were growing hair in there.

A few years ago Mother Dear came up with a method of organization for our refrigerator by creating labels for each shelf. This way when we put groceries away or got ingredients out to cook with we knew exactly where to find them. Now, we have definitely been lazy at times had to start the whole thing over by taking everything out and rearranging, but this method has worked quite well.

All the dairy goes on the bottom shelf because that is the coldest part of the refrigerator and so it is the best place for dairy. All the leftovers go on top, veggies in the drawers, and meat in the upper drawer.

How do you organize your refrigerator?


Miss Jocelyn, GGM Sr. Exec. Market- Manager, is a senior homeschool student with a passion for writing truth. She blogs from her heart at A Pondering Heart, designs blogs at A Pondering Heart Boutique, and owns and operates Feelin' Feminine.

Shalom ~ Peace

When I heard that the theme at Growing in Grace for January was peace, I was excited to hear this because it is one my favorite fruits of the Spirit. It is special to me because it is the meaning of my name. I wasn't very sure of this until I saw Miss Jocelyn’s article where you type in your name and it comes up in Hebrew. My name on there meant peaceable and perfect. After that, I was really sure that is what it meant.

The dove is a symbol of peace. In the Bible, a dove was released by Noah after the great flood in order to find land. The dove came back carrying an olive branch in its beak, letting Noah know that the water had gone down and there was land once again for man to live on. You can read this story in Genesis 8.

Jesus is the Prince of peace. Whenever I feel the presence of the Lord I sense this great peace come over me and all of a sudden I feel calm and relaxed. That only comes from Him. You can even feel His peace in hard times.

Interesting Fact...
The peace symbol was created in Britain as a sign of nuclear disarmament, which means they wanted to get rid of nuclear weapons.

Now, the LORD bless thee, and keep thee. The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Discerning the Truth

This time of year we hear of many people writing list of goals for the new year, a New Years Resolution. The problem most people face is that mid-January they stop working towards those goals. Why do people lose track of goals like this? The answer is the simple fact that they lack the ability to commit. A commitment is a vow you make between you and someone else. Whether it's just for yourself, or between a spouse,a friend, or the Lord. Commitment is by definition: (from http://1828.mshaffer.com)

1. To give in trust; to put into the hands or power of another; to entrust; with to.

Commit thy way to the Lord. Ps. 37.

The things thou hast heard of me, commit to faithful men. 2 Tim. 2.

2. To put into any place for preservation; to deposit; as, to commit a passage in a book to memory; to commit the body to the grave.

What kind of commitments do you make? What do you give in trust to another? I can talk about friendship in this article and tell you that I am committed to friendships that glorify God. It is not wise for us to remain in friendships that are not edifying to the Body nor honoring to Christ. I have had 'friends' before that I knew were not good for me or my family and have needed to get away from their influence. Yet there are friends with whom I have committed myself to not only have, but also be a friend to.

How can you be a friend when they don't want to walk in the Lord's path with you anymore? When I decide I am a friend to someone I am a friend for life. I have had friends who have walked away from the Lord and while I am not in their physical presence I keep my commitment to pray for them. Not only that, but I do not want to take part in conversations from others who are disgruntled with them. I have a very dear friend that I have not seen nor spoken to in several years due to her not keeping in touch with me when she moved away. I have no idea how to find her, but if she called me in the middle of the night in need of help I would be there. When she decided to walk away from me I made sure that she knew I love her and am here for her no matter what. The friendship may not be current, but the door is left open, should she need me.

How do you handle the friendship when they betray you?
I have had friends betray me in many ways. Sometimes a friend may betray you by telling a secret about you. Something you trusted them to keep private. If you confront that friend in love and they repent and ask forgiveness, the friendship can heal. Yet if they refuse to confess their wrong doing and they continue to speak ill of you, then the Bible says to cut off that association.

Proverbs 22:10, "Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease."
Proverbs 22:24-25, "Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: ²⁵Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul."

We are also cautioned not to rebuke a scorner. Openly dealing with a scorner only brings himself a shame.

Proverbs 9:7, "He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot."

Sometimes there is no way we can deal with a scorner directly, yet the Lord knows everything that is going on.

Ecclesiastes 12:14, "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

Proverbs 15:3, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good."

How do we know if what they're saying is true or not?
Maybe you've had someone you know and trust tell you something about someone and you wonder if it is true or not. Ask yourself this question first, "Why are they telling me this?" Is the friend trying to protect YOU or expose the person they are speaking of? The Bible is very clear how to handle situations that need to be dealt with among the Body. I had a friend tell me a good piece of advice in regards to "When do I tell?" She said to me,

"If you grieve over whether or not to tell, you probably should, yet if you are eager to tell then you should not. Just pray."

Yet if you find that it's a situation where you feel you must tell, you MUST be wise in WHO you tell. For example, if I know a lady is not the kind of wife I think she should be, that is NOT my place to tell her. She has a husband and that is his position in her life not mine. Now if a married friend of mine starting seeing other men I would prayerfully step in and speak to her in LOVE and if she didn't listen I would go to our pastor. Yet if it's a matter of whether or not she is cooking their meals at home or spending too much time watching television it's just not my place.

Now if I am still unsure if I should be hearing the information about someone I have to step back and look at the big picture. The Bible says that we are to judge by their works.

Proverbs 31:31, "Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."

Is the person in which they are speaking of a person with a good reputation? Is the person someone who is faithful to her family and her ministry? What kind of character do her children have? Does her husband work hard to provide for them? A woman who is doing right by her children will have children who honor her. She will have a husband who sacrifices in order to provide for her and their children. She will be a person who can be be relied upon in ministry. If she is a lady of her word then I would not listen to the 'scoop' this scorner is wanting to tell you.

A person is known by their commitments. We talk about being committed to marriage, family, and ministry. We all make mistakes there is no doubt about that, yet a person who keeps their commitments is a person who can receive the benefit of the doubt.

I have heard news about people that I knew were committed so I choose not to listen to that gossip. Sometimes the gossip can be true, but if the person is a person of character and longevity in their marriage, family, and ministry then I choose not to listen. Maybe the scornful party has the wrong perspective.

There is a woman I know who used to go to a church my family has gone to before. She insists on speaking ill of that pastor, his wife, and their children. I have tried time and time again to avoid the topic with her and I have even rebuked her of such comments. Yet she continues to bring it up after many years. The pastor and his family in which she speaks of has been incredibly helpful to my own family and the lives of many others. Thus I have decided not to believe her comments. She is a scorner. Yet even if what she says is true it is not my place to give heed to such stories. She needs to keep her feelings between her husband, that pastor, and God.

Proverbs 11:13, "A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter."

What do I do if someone else is speaking ill of me to my friends?
If they are your friends they won't listen, they will inform you, and will stand by your side. That is what commitment is. We cannot control whether or not someone gossips about us, but we can determine what kind of response we give.

I have friends that have been hurt by a scorner, and I myself have been a victim to nasty gossip as well. Yet all we can do is live for the Lord and seek His guidance for our lives. "If we keep our eyes on Jesus, right living happens." ~C.D Baker


Sisterlisa is the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Growing in Grace Magazine and owner of AGMinistries, a devotion blog for women. She is married and homeschools her four children while remaining active in community service and leads the deaf ministry at her church.