Author Archives: mittonmusings

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About mittonmusings

A Canadian, lifestyle blog with an inspirational twist!

Aloe Vera

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I’ve been reflecting, lately, on how complex our world is, and yet, how it all seamlessly works together to provide us with all that we need:

  • Our middle school son has been learning about parts of a cell and all the intricate workings of the tiniest of living things. I love that! Besides, it’s just fun to say “rough endoplasmic reticulum” and know what it means.
  • We have been surviving the snowmaggedon of 2019 here, and many are waiting for spring to arrive — and it will — eventually. The snow will melt and nourish the land just in time for spring flowers to peep up out of the ground. But for now, we continue to shovel out.
  • We’ve marked the year anniversary of my beloved mother-in-law’s final battle with Alzheimer’s, and reflected on how painful it was to watch this awful disease rob her of so many things. Yet the beauty of her life was cared for so diligently by her beloved husband and family.

Which brings me to my Aloe Vera muse. In case you don’t know, aloe vera is the term given to a variety of succulent plants know for it’s “healing” or “soothing” properties. The aloe vera gel is harvested and used in countless beauty and hair products. It’s been grown by many a gardener for it’s attractive, easy growing nature and it’s medicinal properties. A few years ago, I received a huge pot of aloe. It had been left untouched for some time and had propagated to about 40 “pups” or off shoots — baby plants, if you will. I have shared or used most of those babies and now have a few lone survivors left on my windowsill. Recently, I bought an aloe stem (stalk?) with my groceries! It didn’t cost too much, and held all the promise of good things. Only issue… what to do with the crazy thing?!

You tube to the rescue again! Apparently, you harvest the gel inside by trimming away the sharp, spiky edges, filleting the green off, and scooping up all the yummy aloe vera gel from the inside! I wish I was better at videos, because it would have been much more entertaining for you to watch the process as opposed to my still photos! The plant smelled a little funny, it tastes bitter direct from the plant, and the gel is like trying to herd a slippery pile of snot. We laughed. All in all, we harvested a good sized jar of the soothing aloe gel — currently stored in my refrigerator.

Further research says I can use it on my skin, hair and nails. We’ve been trying some natural bar shampoo that is a little drying, so hair help might be on the agenda. I can mix it in with my smoothies for digestion help (or a good cleanse (apparently) if one adds too much!) I use it all the time for minor burns and skin irritations. It works wonders on sunburn (not that we are having any of that in the middle of winter!) but supposedly it works well on chapped lips, so this is a current seasonal option! I figure if it worked for Cleopatra’s beauty regime, it will certainly help with ours!

Learning more about this miracle plant has shown me, that yet again, the Creator of this world takes good care of us! Time and time again the words of Psalm 147:3 ring true: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (ESV) Like the soothing gel of the aloe vera plant, God is the balm that calms our hurts, heals our pain, and binds our wounds. Sometimes it is messy. We get lost in the snotty goo of our imperfections, but His grace covers us and provides that added layer of protection on our parched, chapped skin.

His nourishing word cleanses us from the inside. Our bible study group last week reminded me that meditation on God’s word gives us the tools we need to navigate through our daily routines. Like the aloe, a little nourishment can keep us “clean” and boost our immunity.

So, if you are like us, and dreaming of more tropical weather and sunburn season… remember the little Aloe Vera plant and all it’s benefits. Let it be a green reminder to you of how God is the balm that cleanses and purifies. The One who heals and calms our hurts. Be blessed!

Roller Coaster Ride

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I was chatting last week with a friend who was handed a pretty hard lot in life recently. Her seemingly blessed life was rocked with shock and abandon. The ripples were filtering down into many different parts of her life and she was becoming simply numb to it all. Our life journeys can be like that sometimes. And Jesus followers are not immune to this dark world, either. We have seasons of joy and seasons of pain, too. No where in the Bible does it say that just because we got God, we get a free ride. We get a ride, alright, but it’s often a roller coaster ride that sometimes we don’t want to take.

Photo Credit: Unsplash Jr. Korpa

Yet, the beauty of it is, Jesus makes the ride bearable. He brings the joy. The thrill of the hill that allows us to tolerate the down turns. As my friend and I chatted, we came to the conclusion that unless you experience the darkness, you don’t recognize how beautiful the light is. Only when you have been in the cold, dark, dampness, do you appreciate the warm glow of the fire. Your faith begins to grow stronger and purer because it stood the test of the dark.

Many of us question why bad things happen to “good” people. Why does God allow the innocence of a situation to be tainted by the darkness? No easy answers, I am afraid. But I am encouraged by the words of a worship song called Blessings by Laura Story. She wrote it in response to one of those dark moments in her own life. I encourage you to read about it and her story here. The song lyrics challenge us to look at those dark days in a new and different light. To wonder “What if our blessings really do come from raindrops?” Only God can see the end of the roller coaster’s track, because we’ve never been on this ride before. We can’t focus on the turn ahead because we are only looking at the bottom of the hill.

Photo Credit: Adi C.

mittonmusings.com is a lifestyle blog — with a twist of inspiration! We designed it that way to stand out from other lifestyle blogs, not because we have all the answers, but because we want to encourage others who are along for the ride. We’ve opened up our 30 days of Blessings challenge again, to do just that. Perhaps you need to feel the joy of the ride right now. Or could it be that you need to be that crazy friend who holds your buddy’s hand and buys you both a ticket for the “Loop de Loop” when neither of you have the courage? It’s not too late to join the challenge! Sign up here. Maybe it is time for us to keep our hands and feet inside at all times, and keep our seats in the upright position, secure all loose articles, and simply wait until we come to a complete stop before we exit left. Enjoy your ride, my friends!

Photo Credit: Unsplash Chris Slupski

Happy Blog-A-Versary!

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Hurray! mittonmusings.com has been online for a full year now! We launched in February 2018 and are celebrating our first birthday! How exciting! Thank you, dear readers, for being a huge part of the adventure! After all, what’s a blog without followers?!

Come join me on this adventure! (Photo: Pexels)

What a year it has been… we have learned so much about the big, bad world of blogging and all that the great internet highway has to offer. We have navigated the social media world and connected with the techno wizards. It has been a fun (and yes, sometimes frustrating) experience as we learned editing, media building and even launched an email course!

We’ve met some friends. We have shared some posts as guest bloggers to others and others have shared with us. We’ve narrowed our niche and shared our faith journeys. And just as any other one year old, we have learned and grown!

This past week was Random Acts of Kindness day, and what better way to celebrate your anniversary than sharing with others… so we are happy to announce that mittonmusings.com will be launching another exciting e-course!! But before that… we will be opening up for a second round of 30 days of Blessings!!

If you missed this e-course the first time through, then be sure to sign up this time!! Or maybe you enjoyed it so much the first time, you are ready to do it again!! It’s the perfect way to feel blessed and bless others! 30 days of daily email prompts to help you do just that! And it is our absolutely free gift to you! Simply sign up at the 30 days of blessings page and await your first email! (We launch Monday… so sign up today!)

Thank you again for being a part of our blog-a-versary!! Enjoy our gift to you!!