My Experience Using Baking Soda and Vinegar For Hair Wash and Rinse

One Of The Many Uses For Vinegar and Baking Soda: Shampoo and Conditioner

I have been using a baking soda solution to wash my hair and a vinegar solution to rinse my hair for over 6 months now. I use 1 Tblsp. of baking soda dissolved in 1 quart of water for my shampoo and 1 Tblsp. apple cider vinegar in 1 quart of water for my conditioning rinse.

I thought I would share in this post what my hair care routine is like and how it has worked for me.

Before I started using baking soda and vinegar in my hair I just used any 'ol generic brand of shampoo and conditioner. My hair is wavy and tends to be dry. I would often shampoo only once a week, but condition my hair a few times in the week.Using extra conditioner helped to keep my hair from being dried out and made the curls more defined.

About 9 or 10 month ago I read this article by Quinn from Reformation Acers Blog. The author had been using baking soda to wash her hair for nine weeks and it looked great! She also had wavy hair and showed before and after pictures of how her hair had gone from kind of wavy to pretty curly. Her article convinced me to give baking soda "shampoo" a try.

All summer I used 1Tbs./1Qt. baking soda to water and 1Tbs./1Qt. apple cider vinegar to water as my shampoo and conditioner. I was mixing my solutions up in one quart sized plastic bottles and what I didn't use I just left in the shower and used the next time I washed my hair. I was getting about three washes out of one quart and washing my hair once a week.

This routine was working very well. My hair was feeling fine. My hair was getting a little dry towards tips. I started using baby oil and/or olive oil to moisturize my hair occasionally.

Things took a turn for the worse in the fall around the end of October. For some reason my hair was getting really greasy. I am not sure what the cause was for all of the build up. It may have been a combination of the changing seasons, humidity, junk in the water supply, who knows. I was determined not to give up and use a commercial shampoo. I began brushing my hair out more frequently with a fine comb and I washed it everyday for three days straight, using the full quart of baking soda water and vinegar water. That resolved the grease problem, much to my relief.

Since then I have continued to use the full quart of solution every time I wash my hair, and washing my hair a few times a week. Not only do I think using more seems to do a better job, but the bottles of watery baking soda and vinegar get very cold when left in the shower. So, I like mixing up a warm batch every time I wash my hair. :)

In conclusion, I am very happy with how my hair feels after using only baking soda and vinegar to wash and rinse my hair for the past 6 months. My hair feels healthy and soft. Baking soda and vinegar are cheap and effective. I am glad that I know exactly what is being put on my scalp and I don't have to be using a chemical soap to wash my hair.

What Came of Missing the Train

From: Echoes of Grace -Born Again

 

It was nine A.M. The 8:50 train had been dispatched and the station master was settling down for an hour's quiet. Suddenly a man, with a red hot face and bursting with ill-temper, rushed on to the platform. He stormed against the bus driver whose neglect had made him late, declaring he would rather have forfeited $25.00 than miss that particular train.

What was to be done? The only course was to wait for the ten o'clock train. The man was infuriated, and walked up and down the platform excitedly. Presently, when he had cooled down, the station master went to him and said. "There's a comfortable waiting room inside, if you would like to sit down, sir."

The man went in, and found a pleasant room, shaded by climbing roses on the outside. There was a table on which were spread some gospel tracts. To while away the time he took one and began to read: "Passing onward, yes; but whither bound?"

Soon his whole attention was absorbed. Time fled. Passengers began to arrive. The ticket office was opened for the coming train. Still he sat on, deeply interested in what he was reading.

"The train's in sight," said the station master.

"The train?" replied the man, like one waking from a dream. "Will you sell me this tract? I want to read it again."

"Take it and welcome, sir," responded the station master. "The lady who supplied the tracts will be glad if you will accept it."

"Thank you, and her," said the man. He took it, and in another minute he was speeding away in the train.

A month had rolled by, when a gentleman stepped off the train and offered his hand to the station master.

"Do you remember me?" he asked.

"I do, sir. You are the gentleman that missed the train a few weeks back, and were so troubled about it."

"I need not have been. I missed the train, but I found the Savior. Oh! what a tract that was.I had been so absorbed with business that I did not allow myself time to think about God, or to read His Word. I could not get away from the solemn questions that tract raised. Please tell the lady that it has led me to Christ. Now I want others to know Him, so I am buying all I can, and giving them away wholesale. I never knew what happiness was before."
 

The man resumed his seat in the train, and the whistle blew. There was a solemn joy in the heart of the old station master as he waved him farewell, and saw the joyous look upon his face. He was a new creature in Christ Jesus.

"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that 

God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. 10:9.

"Passing onward, quickly passing,

Yes, but whither, whither bound?"

Bible Memorization: Week Two

2015 Bible Memorization Challenge 

It's hard to believe a whole week has already gone by since the 

first of January, isn't it?!

(edited:)
It looks like I am going to be very busy in the coming weeks, and won't be 
keeping up with the Bible memorization posts on here. I'll probably keep working
on my own as I can, and hope this has encouraged some others to work
on memorizing as well! 

Here are the next two verses for this week: 

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: 

and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: 

yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

Isaiah 53:2-3

Again, here are some more suggestions if you'd like to work on some different verses:

 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,

 neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

   But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me,

that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness,

 in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. 

 Jeremiah 9:23-24

OR:

   And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity 

shall cover the multitude of sins. 

   Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 

 1 Peter 4:9-10 (continued from last week)

Creation Close-Ups : Leaf Cutter Bees

Leafcutter bees are amazing creatures that testify to God's handiwork! 

 

 

Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

Nehemiah 9:6

Here are some interesting facts about leafcutter bees:

 > Leafcutter bees are solitary bees, which means they do not live in colonies with other bees.

> Leafcutter bees are very docile and only sting when directly handled.

> Leafcutter bees are important pollinators. According to research certain species of leafcutter         bees can do 20 times more pollinating than honey bees!

>  Leafcutter bees do not make honey.

>  Leafcutter bees nest in tubular shaped cavities 

 

Life Cycle:

Leafcutter bee eggs are laid in tube shaped compartments constructed from leaves by a female leafcutter bee. The female leafcutter bees are able to lay fertilized and unfertilized eggs. Unfertilized eggs grow into male leafcutter bees. Male leafcutter bees have 16 chromosomes and females have 32 chromosomes. An egg will get 16 chromosomes from the female and if it is fertilized it will get 16 chromosomes from the male. Unfertilized eggs are laid at the end closest to the outside of a leaf nest. This means that the males are the first to emerge from the nest. They are ready and waiting to mate with the females once the females emerge from the nest.
  What an amazing design!

Female leafcutter bees do a lot of hard work! They must build the leaf nest, stock it with food for the eggs, and lay eggs! The female leafcutter bee will search for a good location to build her nest. She uses hallow, tube shaped openings in old plant stems, tree bark, even tunnels in the soil, and many man-made objects including leafcutter bee houses made specifically for leafcutter bees.


Once the female finds a good location for a nest she will collect leaves to construct the nest cavities. She first cuts several circle shaped leaves the same diameter as the tube and places them in the back of the tunnel. Then she cuts oval shaped pieces of leaves to make a capsule to lay her egg in. Leafcutter bees will also use flower petals to line their nest with sometimes.

 She then sets to gathering food to put in the capsule for her baby to eat as it develops. She collects nectar and pollen from flowers. The nectar she drinks from the flowers with her proboscis and the pollen she collects on her legs and on the hairs on her abdomen. She flies back to the nest and spits out the nectar and brushes the pollen off of her body. Then she mixes the pollen and nectar together. She has to gather more than one load of pollen and nectar.  Each subsequent load has more nectar and less pollen until the last load which is just nectar. This ensures that the egg, once hatched, will have the right diet for each stage of growth.
Again, I am amazed at this perfect design!

Once all of the food is gathered the female leafcutter bee will lay an egg into the nectar. She then goes to cut some more circle shaped leaf pieces to close up the compartment and begin a new compartment.

A female leaf cutter bee will complete one cell a day, on average, depending on weather and available resources. 

The eggs will hatch shortly after they are laid and the larva will begin to grow. They will go through a few stages as they develop. How quickly they develop depends on their temperature. It is possible for an egg to develop quickly enough to be able to emerge later on during that same summer if it was laid early enough in the summer. But, in most cases the fully developed pupa will over-winter in the leaf capsule and emerge in the spring. The next generation of leafcutter bees will start the life cycle all over again, knowing instinctively how to play their part.

Leafcutter Bees Used In Agriculture:

Leafcutter bees are used in agriculture as pollinators. Leafcutter bee are less efficient at gathering pollen and nectar than honey bees. This means they have to make many more trips than the honey bee to gather the same amount of pollen. Therefore, they end up visiting and pollinating many more flowers. Leafcutter bees are also easy to house and manage, making them an ideal pollinator for farmers to use. Leafcutter bees are most widely used for pollinating alfalfa crops and wild blueberry crops.

Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.

 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.

 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.

Psalms 86: 8-10 

 

 

 

Bible Memorization : Week One

 

2015 Bible Memorization Challenge 

You are welcome to join me at any time!

This year, I would like to try memorizing Isaiah chapter 53. I thought I would 

break it up into two verses per week if the verses are short enough, or just one verse

 per week if the verse is extra long. After looking over the chapter, I think it will take

 two months (January and February) to complete.

Here are the first two verses: 

  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 

    For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 

Isaiah 53:1-2

Here are a couple other suggestions if you'd like to try memorizing something else instead:

Hebrews 13:5-6

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

1 Peter 4:7-8

 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

   And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.