Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

FINDING MY MAMA VOICE

I grabbed my baby and settled into my rocking chair. She lay naked in my lap with her hair wildly askew, I picked up her bottle and placed it to her mouth. I cradled her in my arms, gently rocking her while humming a sunday school song.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A question children are typically asked. There are a multitude of common answers…firefighter, policeman, doctor, and veterinarian are among them. My answer always sounded different.

I simply wanted to be a Mama.

“But what else do you want to be? You can’t just be a mama. Don’t you want to be a doctor and help people? Or be a dentist and make lots of money?”

I just wanted to be a Mama. That’s it. In my heart and in my soul I knew I was born to be a Mom.

As I grew older, the pressure to choose an occupation mounted. So many days I spent wishing others could see what my heart felt.

Eventually, I felt my hearts-song slipping away. It was drown out by the noise of school work, life-decisions, college and pressure. It seemed simply being a Mama wasn’t feasible or acceptable.

I tucked my heart-song away, only pulling it out when I was alone. Fleeting moments spent standing in front of a mirror, imagining my baby belly, dreaming of what my baby would look like and what songs I would sing when they cried.

I was secretly enamored by the black-and-white pictures from the past, where simply being a Mama was enough. The days when Caroline Ingalls would tend her house, fields and babies with a humble smile.

While the world was screaming you must work outside of your home. You must make money. You must help support your family. If not, you’re a lazy, worthless mother my heart was saying trust God. Stay home. Listen to the song I sing to you. The same song you heard when you rocked your naked baby years ago.

I had a choice to make.

Safety and comfort or stepping out and finding my own Mama voice.

The choice I made, after years of squelching that voice, was to finally listen to my song. To embrace it. To cherish it. The only regret I have is how long it took me to be brave.

What I’ve now realized is what I’ve referred to as my heart-song, was actually God calling to me. God had called me, even as a young girl, to be a mother, a wife and a homemaker.

I have to remind myself, God doesn’t call us to be the same, to follow what everyone else is doing, He calls us to be different! There is one thing I need more than money, fame and a fancy career…Jesus!!! And to be fulfilled in this life I need to follow God’s will for me. For each of us, this looks different.  He puts a different song in each of our hearts.

And if I have the approval of God, the world’s opinion can fall by the wayside.


And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24

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5 Ways to Prepare for Canning Season

I don’t know about you, but I love to can. Every year, as summer draws to a close I start gearing up for canning season. If you’re new to the canning world, or an old pro, hopefully these tips help you enter preservation season calm and prepared to tackle those bushels of tomatoes and pickles and corn.

1. Set Goals

What are your goals for canning?  You may want to save your family money or you may just enjoy the craft of it.  You may have a garden and want to enjoy reaping the benefits of it all year long. You may enjoy canning because you have control over what goes into it (like no chemicals and preservatives). 
You may have only one goal, or a few that I listed above.  Think about your goals.  Why do you want to do this and what do you want to get out of it?

I can for a few different reasons.  I love that it saves our family money, it’s super yummy, it’s convenient and honestly I just really love canning.  I love knowing that I can run downstairs and grab a jar of spaghetti sauce or chicken broth.  


2. Purchase Supplies

There are a few things you’ll need regardless of what you’re planning on canning. If you’re planning on canning anything that requires the water bath method, you’ll need a pot tall enough to accommodate your jars. Make sure your pot has enough room for a couple inches of boiling water and a couple inches of head room above that is fine for boiling water bath canning. Your pot will also need to have a canning rack in it.

You’ll also need some other basic supplies, some you may have on hand already and some you may need to purchase. You will need spoons (I prefer wooden) and a ladle. You will also need:

  • a canning funnel {to get liquids into the jars without spilling all over}
  • a jar lifter {essential for getting hot jars out of hot water safely}
  • a magnetic lid lifter {a tool for picking up and placing just one lid at a time}
Sidenote…WalMart carries a canning starter kit and a canning utensil kit.
You will also need to stock up on jars, lids and rings.  If you’re like me, you always have way more rings than you’ll ever use.  I’m not quite sure how that happens honestly.  If you are buying new jars, a lot of times they will come with lids and rings.

3. Take Inventory


Before you start canning, take inventory of what you have {if you’ve canned prior}.  Also, think of what your family eats lots of throughout the year.  For us, it’s always spaghetti sauce, corn, stuffed hot peppers, chicken stock, green beans, hot pepper zip, zucchini relish and pickled beets.

4. Buy Your Basics

There are some items that I already know I will use a ton of throughout canning season.  Tomato paste, vinegar, salt, sugar and ketchup are my must-haves for canning season. Your basics might also include pectin and bottled lemon juice.

Stocking up also means you must sort out your recipes first and decide what you’re canning.  So before you begin, search out recipes in your favorite cookbook or look on Pinterest.  Here is a link to my Pinterest board all about canning.  There are so many amazing canning recipes there!

Check through your spices, too, and make sure you’re good for italian seasonings, cinnamon, pickling spice, or whatever spices you know will be used. I highly recommend buying your spices in bulk. Fresh spices mean tastier preserves!

5. Invite Your Girls Over

An important part of this process is not overwhelming yourself.  And if this is your first time canning, trust me, you’ll want all the help you can get.  Especially if it’s someone who has canned prior.  Plus it’s just more fun to do this kind of work with another person!

And there you have it.  You’re all ready for a fun-filled day of canning.  And listening for that ping ping coming from your kitchen later in the day.  Do you have a favorite canning recipe?  Feel free to share it with me!

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