Listen, my daughters, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. When I was a boy in my father’s house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, “Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.” Listen my daughter, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many, … Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. … My daughter, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart.

Proverbs 4:1-6, 10, 13, 20-21

Is that not the mother of all lectures? Listen! Pay attention! Keep my commands! Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget my words! And on and on! I can sympathize with Solomon as a boy – the lectures he must have sat through! In one Bible translation, the scripture says his father sat down and drilled him on these matters. As tedious as lectures can be, we know Solomon was actually a very lucky boy to have a father who cared so much about him that he would take time to instruct him.

When we are very young, lectures don’t do us any good. We learn through hands-on, personal experience. As we grow and mature, we become able to learn in another way – through the experience of others – via lecture in school and advice from family and friends.

Learning through one’s own experience is powerful and certainly preferred when it comes to learning about geography, cultures, languages and the arts. However, there is a whole other body of information that is far preferable to learn from other people’s experience. Take mathematics, for example. Aren’t we glad that someone else figured out for us that the circumference of a circle is equal to the diameter multiplied by π? When it comes to math, we want to take advantage of all that has already been discovered by someone else’s experience and learn through lecture, without all the hassle and brainwork they had to endure. Then, with that foundation, we may move on to discover even greater things about math and how it relates to our lives and the physical universe.

“Life” is another subject in which we can greatly benefit from other people’s experience. Yet many young women today reject the idea of taking advice from someone else about important decisions in life. They want to figure things out for themselves. This is about as sensible as setting out to discover again from scratch the circumference of a circle.

Imagine we’re driving down the road and a red sports car passes us and speeds on ahead out of sight. Five minutes later, the car comes back toward us. The driver slows down and waves at us to stop. He hollers from his window, “The road is blocked up ahead. You won’t be able to get through that way.”

Do we reply: “Hey! This is my life and I’m going to live it the way I want to and if I make mistakes, well, it’s nothing you haven’t done too!” and then speed on ignoring the other driver’s advice? Surely, we wouldn’t do something so silly. But if we have ever invoked the “It’s my life, I’ll make my own mistakes” mantra in response to good advice from someone who cares about us, we’ve done something just that foolish.

That “my life” mantra, or rebel’s yell, usually follows advice we don’t want to hear. Our parent, teacher, mentor or friend is telling us that we are about to do something we’ll regret. It’s obvious to everyone and we know it as well, but our course is set and we are determined the outcome of our actions will be different than what everyone predicts.

At these times, when our desires pit us against common sense and the wise counsel of friends and family, instead of insisting on driving down that road ourselves to find that the road is indeed blocked, try this: say, “I appreciate your concern. I’ll give that some thought.” That’s so easy! We’ve just averted a conflict and prolonged lecture, we haven’t committed ourselves to any change in course and we’re in a great position: we can do anything from here and we won’t have to eat our words. Instead of backing ourselves into a corner with a rebellious retort, we’ve created an open field and we can go anywhere we want without looking or feeling like we’re giving in. We are making our own choices!

Next, we should do what we said we would do: give it some thought. Our head and heart will be clear to consider the advice because we’re not in conflict with the person giving it. Will that advice save us a wasted trip down a blocked road? Proverbs 27:12 says, “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”

Hold this thought: I learn from the mistakes of others, not repeat them.

By Julie Ann

When you hear the phrase “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” more than likely one person comes to mind:  Dear Ole Dad.  In general, fathers are full of good advice concerning money and finances.  In honor of Father’s Day this month, I thought it would be fun to take a few of Dad’s money sayings and see what we can glean from these words of wisdom.

Do what you need to do to survive.

The first bit of advice one might hear from Pop is the idea that if you need money to pay your living expenses, take work where you can find it.  Sometimes we may think that we are too good to clean toilets or flip burgers, but Dad always reminds us that when it comes to surviving, sometimes we have to do whatever it takes (legal and within reason) to earn a paycheck.

Why pay someone to do something you can do yourself?

Maybe your dad was a Mr. Fix-It and instilled in you the concept of saving money by learning to do the job yourself.  I have plenty of girlfriends who are capable of changing a car’s oil and performing basic car maintenance because their fathers taught them how to do it instead of taking it to a shop.  There are many things you can learn with a quick Internet search, enabling you to save money by not having the job done by a professional.  Of course, the caveat here is to know when a job is above your skill level.  After all, you don’t want to make matters worse and cost yourself more money by paying someone to fix what you tried to fix yourself.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Maybe you got an allowance or earned money from chores as you were growing up.  Did your dad encourage you to save it in your trusty piggy bank?  Hopefully that great advice carried over into adulthood and you put a percentage of every paycheck into a savings account (or a trusty piggy bank).  In these uncertain economic times it’s more important than ever to have a financial safety net in place.  In case Dad didn’t tell you how much to save, most financial experts recommend having enough savings to cover your budgeted expenses for at least six months.

Don’t spend it all in one place.

When Dad gave you that allowance, maybe he jokingly warned you not to spend it all in one place.  While typically said in sarcasm, this is actually good advice.  Make sure that you are not devoting too much of your budget to one thing.  Spending most of your paycheck on rent? Then consider moving to a cheaper place.  Maybe dining out, fast food and lattes consume a huge amount of your budget.  Cut back by eating at home more.  It’s important to have a well-balanced budget with the proper amount going to necessary expenses.

Live within your means.

Hopefully Dad taught you only to buy what you can afford.  You should never, ever buy anything that you cannot pay for in full at the time of purchase, or make reasonable monthly payments that your budget can accommodate (for example, car payments).  If you follow this advice, you won’t run up credit cards charges, and you will save until you can afford it.  (Don’t dip into that six months’ worth of savings for it either!)   Some people call this paying yourself forward for that big purchase.

Live like you did when you were poor.

Perhaps there was a time in your life when you worked for minimum wage, ate Ramen noodles every night and shopped only at thrift stores, just trying to scrape by on next-to-nothing.  Maybe after a while you got a better job or a promotion or raise.  A little advice from Dad in this situation is to continue living like you did before your good fortune.  With more numbers to the left of the decimal on your paycheck, you may be tempted to splurge and indulge.  Don’t give in to that temptation.  Instead, build up your six months of savings, find good investment opportunities, increase your charitable giving and carefully consider in what areas you might increase spending for your own welfare (like buying healthier food than noodles!).  You will be amazed at how much money you can save by living like you are poor.

Money doesn’t grow on trees.

Finally, probably the best-known of Dad’s advice when it comes to money is the old adage regarding where it does and does not come from.  Dad clearly wants us to know that money can only come from hard work and good money habits.  Making money is not easy.  Budgeting, saving and careful spending isn’t easy. It’s work.  You cannot expect to have money just thrown at you (unless you are insanely lucky) and you cannot expect to get ahead by being financially haphazard.  This Dad cliché seems to encompass everything he’s been trying to tell us all these years.

Thanks for the advice, Dad.

Click here to open the page-flipping version of Single! Young Christian Woman

In this issue:

Graduation Advice Overload?

Aren’t we glad that someone else figured out for us that the circumference of a circle is equal to the diameter multiplied by π? When it comes to math, we want to take advantage of all that has already been discovered by someone else’s experience and learn through lecture, without all the hassle and brainwork they had to endure…READ MORE

Is He Interested in Me or Not?

Remember that old Motown song “Ain’t no mountain high enough to keep me from you”? Apply that here. If he is not doing those things, he is not sincerely interested or interested deeply enough and the truth will set you free…READ MORE

My Disposable World

While eating my tuna fish sandwich off of a cardboard box, which had been conveniently turned into a dinner table, I had a realization: “Everything I own is disposable.” …READ MORE

Spring Formals are in the Air

Whether it’s prom, a graduation party or a formal wedding, you’ve spent a good deal of time getting ready for a magical evening, but that doesn’t mean the event will be fool proof. Wardrobe malfunctions are no respecter of persons. And at the least expected remark, you and your date could come to an impasse…READ MORE

And more!

By Julie Ann
A few months ago, I set out on a 1,800-mile, three-day road trip to relocate from New Mexico to Oregon. After numerous wallet-deflating gas station stops, (what felt like) hundreds of fast food cheeseburgers, two motels and one relative’s spare bedroom, I felt like I had become somewhat of a road trip expert.
As we head into summer, you might be gearing up for a road trip too. But with the soaring costs of gas and the national economy still in recovery, you are probably trying to keep cost to a minimum. So whether you are heading to the next town, the next state or across the entire country, here are some tips that will help keep your road trip cost low, leaving more money for souvenirs or admission into the Idaho Potato Museum.
Transportation:
One of the biggest expenses of a road trip is transportation. These expenses revolve around the price of gasoline and general wear and tear on your car. These costs can add up quickly.
To keep costs to a minimum you should make sure that your car is in good shape before hitting the road. Always check to make sure your tires are properly inflated. Studies had shown that properly inflated tires can increase your gas mileage by over three percent. You can also improve your gas mileage by using the manufactures suggested motor oil. If it’s been awhile since your last automotive tune-up, a visit to a licensed mechanic is highly recommended. This step may also help prevent an untimely break-down in some town where you least can afford it.
Once your car is in tip-top shape, you can help improve gas mileage by modifying your driving style. Reducing your speed, not running the A/C and avoiding “jack-rabbit” starts and stops will all add up to better gas mileage. (Plus, you might even avoid a traffic violation or two!)
Even after doing all you can to save gas, eventually you’ll still have to make that painful trip to the pump. Fortunately, with all the available information technology it is easier to locate the cheapest gas prices on your travel route. Use a gas price tracking Web site to scope out cheap gas along the route or download an app for your Smartphone (I downloaded GasBuddy for free on my Android). This should help you know if you should fuel up in Tulsa or wait until you get to Oklahoma City.
Also use a mapping Web site, Smartphone map app, or GPS to calculate the most economic routes. If you are prone to getting lost, this should also help keep you on track so you can avoid wasting gas if you accidently take a wrong turn and then have to backtrack.
Lodging:
If your road trip will involve an overnight stay or two, you’ll probably want to pre-plan in order to save money.
Obviously the best method for saving money is by finding free lodging. You can consider camping (check out FreeCampGrounds.com for a more than 2,000 places nationwide to sleep for under $10), sleeping in the car (pick a safe spot like a hospital parking lot) or finding a friend along to the route who will offer you a couch for the night.
However, if you are like me and need a soft bed and warm shower, and have no friends along the way, you’ll have to find a motel. Doing an Internet search and reserving a room before hand is best. It may sometimes be a little time consuming to search for and find the cheapest place, but well worth it in the end. If you have preplanned and reserved a room, you will know exactly where you are staying, how much you will be paying and you won’t have to worry about getting into a town and not finding a cheap room (and a decent room) for the night.
Compare prices quickly on most of the major hotel chains at Web sites like Hotels.com and Expedia.
Food and Snacks:
To me, eating snacks and fast food are one of the best parts of a road trip. In fact, on the routes I frequency travel to see my family I know every single convenience store ( note-convenience stores have a very high price mark-up) that carries my go-to road trip snack: Little Debbie Fudge Brownies. But again, grabbing chips, a drink and a brownie after every fill up or potty break will put a huge dent in your travel budget. So be sure to stock up on any snacks beforehand. Instead of stopping for fast food for each meal, carry an ice chest with sandwiches, snacks and cold drinks. If I were to indulge my brownies habit to an extreme on a trip, I could pick up a box of brownies from a grocery store and get about 10 for the price I would pay for three at a gas stations.
Once your car is ready, you’re preplanned and stocked up; all you need is some great music, fun car games and spirit of adventure. Be safe, obey all traffic laws and be sure to stop and check out some crazy roadside attractions!
Oh and if you’re curious, the Idaho Potato Museum is located in Blackfoot, Idaho, in case you’re headed that way.

When a friend of mine told me about making her own laundry detergent, I thought she was goin’ granola to the extreme on me, but when she told me how much money she saved by doin’ so, a bell went off. Sounded somethin’ like “Cha-ching!” So I finally rounded up a couple of teenagers who work for pizza and told them to start grating bar soap for my homemade laundry detergent. Twenty minutes later, they had a big ole batch of soap that I put in a empty box from the last detergent I had bought at the store. Those 180-load boxes usually lasted me about two months and cost about $20. This home-made detergent cost me about $30; difference is it’s lasted me since last November! Yep, I’m goin’ on five months now and have a third of the box left! Don’t ask me why, but it only takes a few tablespoons of the homemade stuff to get the clothes clean. And I even like how it smells.

Besides just savin’ money, I believe homemade cleaners are better for a body. Did you know that house wives who are exposed to cleanin’ products are two times more likely to develop some types of cancer, includin’ breast cancer? Now that’s a fine howdy-do for keepin’ a clean house! But the fact of the matter is we’ve done the same dang thing to our cleanin’ products since the 1950s as we have our food: made ‘em dern bad for us!

Let’s get back to basics and save some money while we’re at it. Here are some recipes of a different kind: downhome healthy concoctin’ for one! Most of this information is from HealthyChild.org. If I haven’t convinced ya to try some of these recipes, check out their article on a recent study linking 200 household products with asthma and hormone disturbance (hmm, that actually explains a few things!).

Get ready by buyin’ a few high quality spray bottles with ounce measurements on them, some castile liquid soap (you can find online (Amazon, Vitacost.com) or in health stores; a gallon of distilled white vinegar; washin’ soda and borax (found in your supermarket’s laundry aisle) and a big box of bakin’ soda.

• For Scrubbin’ and Scourin’, Alternative to Scouring Powder: For a “soft scrub,” mix together baking soda and liquid soap until you get a consistency you like. The amounts don’t have to be perfect. Make only as much as you need, as it dries up quickly.
• Surface Disinfectants, Alternative to Lysol: Spray surfaces with vinegar and then with 3% hydrogen peroxide (available in drug stores). Keep the liquids in separate spray bottles and use them one at a time.
• Glass Cleaner, Alternative to Windex: Put 3 tablespoons vinegar per 1 quart water in a spray bottle. Some recommend using half vinegar and half water. For extra-dirty windows try this: 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap, 3 tablespoons vinegar and 2 cups of water. Shake well, spray on and wipe off with newspaper. Alternately to the alternative, try washin’ yur windows with club soda.
• Drain de-clogger, Alternative to Drano: To de-grease and deodorize sink and tub drains, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down drain followed by 1 cup vinegar; let bubble for 15 minutes; rinse with hot water. You might have to repeat the whole procedure more than once or leave the baking soda and vinegar to “cook” overnight.
• Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Alternative to Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Pour 1 cup of borax and 1/4 cup vinegar into the toilet before bed. In the morning, scrub and flush.
• Deodorizer, Alternative to Air Fresheners and Febreze: Vinegar and baking soda are great room fresheners. Vinegar deodorizes, while baking soda absorbs odors. Mix 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon vinegar (or lemon juice) and 2 cups hot water in a spray bottle and spritz in the air to remove odors. Zeolite, a mineral, also absorbs odor, but good luck finding it in stores and if you search online, be sure to enter “zeolite odor control” because it’s wildly popular as a detox treatment. Zeolite products can also replace yur Carpet Fresh and if you sprinkle some in the litter box, you can buy a lot cheaper kitty litter without smelling the difference.
• Furniture Polish, Alternative to Pledge: First off, you should know that only real wood furniture needs an oily polish, everything else can be dusted with a damp cloth just as well. For real wood, polish with a rag lightly coated with olive oil.
• Whitenin’ and Sanitizin’ Agent, Alternative to Bleach: Use hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine bleach.
• All-purpose disinfectant, Alternative to Pine-sol or 409: 2 teaspoons borax, 4 tablespoons vinegar and 3 to 4 cups hot water in a spray bottle. For extra cleaning power, add 1/4 teaspoon liquid soap to the mixture.

And finally, I leave you with the concoction that’s cleanin’ my clothes so well.

1 box borax
1 large box baking soda (find it in the laundry section)
1 box washing soda (also found in the laundry section)
1 large tub oxyclean – optional
2 bars Fels Naphtha soap, grated
2 bars Zote soap, grated

Mix it all together and use sparingly, about 3 tablespoons for a large load. Dissolve it for a bit in hot water, then change the temp to warm or cold, accordin’ to what yur washin’. This soap doesn’t foam up, so don’t sit there watchin’ it! It’s doin’ its job, I promise.

* See W.E. Morton, Further Investigation of Housewife Cancer Mortality Risk, Women and Health, 1982, 7:43-51; Dr. D.A. Sterling, Comparison of Risk of Chronic Conditions and Cancer Between Homemakers and Otherwise Employed Women, National Center for Health Statistics Conference, Washington, DC, July 15, 1991

Click here to open the page-flipping version of Single!

Relationship Reality Check

The day is filled with celebration, music, dancing, toasts, cards and gifts. They achieved their dream. It was a perfect day. One year later they face each other across a mahogany table with their attorneys. Don’t let this happen to you! Check your relationship against reality with this handy inventory. READ MORE

7 Hallmarks of a Great Lover

cWhen you are seeking to find something within your relationship, you have to ontinually be committed to being the lover and the beloved: the “more blessed” giver and the “blessed” receiver. READ MORE

Use it or Lose It: Cutting Down on Food Waste

According to studies, the average American throws out about $38 worth of food each month. That’s nearly $500 per year (which adds up to a staggering $165 billion overall!).  You don’t have to be a rocket surgeon to know that much waste is insane! READ MORE

The Virtue in Poverty

Were you born into a family that doesn’t have to worry about money? If so, lucky you! If not, join the club. READ MORE

Recap on Crimson Harvest

This quick but exciting read merges fantasy and reality in the story of an average teenager with spiritual struggles and bloodthirsty monsters of an ancient evil. READ MORE

Read Any Good Ones Lately?

Ever stop and think what would happen to the world, if people quit reading? What would happen to our little piece of the world if we became apathetic about reading? READ MORE

By Thom Mollohan

“Live for Now!” shouts a roadside billboard with pictures of a top-contending soda. Every time I see it I feel a pang of astonishment and I immediately begin reflecting on the overall spirit of our age. Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not finding fault with that company in particular. Their marketing people have simply done what marketing people get paid to do; namely, finding a slogan that will so resonate with the advertising’s viewers that moves them to buy. A smart advertiser will come up with a motto which fully captures the deep-seated feelings, ambitions and drives within us.

What saddens me, however, is not the fact that this company used this slogan—I wonder why someone didn’t use it sooner—but how very successful it is likely to be. It says what we want to hear. It echoes what our urges compel us to do and it conveniently cloaks responsibility for the repercussions of living for the now. Why is it likely to be successful? Because, the world says there may be no tomorrow.

Ever since the movie, the expression “bucket list” is in wide use. It is especially interesting that most things that end up on a bucket list are self-gratifying endeavors. People want to perform a particular stunt, try a particular kind of food or visit a particular place. The general idea seems to be that we’d better hurry up and do all the things we’ve ever thought we wanted to do in this life because the now is all we have. Fill it up with all the fun, pleasurable and self-centered ambitions we’ve stored up for ourselves because there is nothing after the now to look forward.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with being adventurous, doing exciting things and rejoicing in God’s goodness. These things are, after all, what motivated me to explore a jackal den when visiting a desert in the Middle East. But how many of us have things on our bucket lists that will make an impact in the hereafter?

I’m sure there are many factors that make our generations so receptive to the “Live for Now” slogan. Many people have bought into the lie that “now” is all there is. Others are still worried about the off-the-wall interpretation of the Mayan calendar—which would mean the world should already be gone by now and you wouldn’t be reading this. Or perhaps the movie “2012” set off too many morbid imaginings. Whatever the case, many people do indeed believe that the only worthwhile pursuit in this life is to grab what we can, while we can, before we lose the chance.

But there is more to this life than the now. I believe the Bible’s claim that God will wrap up things in His way and in His time—He specifically said that no one else knows when that would be. I also believe that there is an eternity awaiting us and that this life has been given to us so that we can prepare for that next life. I even believe the Bible when it says that Jesus Christ is the only way to enter into that life.

For the disciple of Jesus, the motto cannot be to live for now, because doing so, focuses our window of eternal opportunity upon a moment that vanishes like smoke. For the disciple of Jesus, the only genuine motto is to “live for… ever”. Why? Because while the here and now is a fleeting moment, forever is… well, a really, really long time. Just ask anybody.

Jesus discussed everlasting life on multiple occasions. He was an eyewitness to the wonders of heaven because He had originally come from there. He said that eternal life is, “that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3 ESV). Eternal life then is an endless abiding with God who is so incomparably vast and infinitely wonderful that awaiting us are pleasures and adventures and experiences so numerous that they cannot be counted and so beyond our imaginations that we could not possibly begin to describe them.

He also said that God loves those who live in this world and expressed it perfectly through the gift of His Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice to pay for our sin. By believing in Him we are given eternal life. We believe in Him by staking our hope and confidence so utterly upon Him that we forsake all our false hopes or idols as well as our living-for-now habits and selfish pursuits.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life… For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (John 3:16, Romans 6:23 ESV)

Hopefully, you also see the short-sightedness of “live for now,” and are willing to settle for nothing less than “living for… ever” with God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Maybe we should make a bucket list with “live forever” at the top. What else should we put on that list? Maybe joining a fellowship of Christians. Maybe hosting a Bible study in your home. Maybe a mission trip or a tutoring program. Maybe helping the sick neighbor across the street. Maybe reconciling with a loved one. And maybe, just maybe, skydiving… at least once.

Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past 17 years and is the author of The Fairy Tale Parables and Crimson Harvest. He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church and may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com.

Reblogged from Genuine Motivation:

Life is good for people who do the right thing.
Life is good for people who play by God’s rules and are totally consumed with knowing God.
They don’t break the rules; they follow the rules.
You, God, have laid down the law and you expect us to live by it.
Man, I wish I were more consistent in doing things your way...

Read more… 43 more words

Review by Donna Lee Schillinger

If the Mayan calendar piqued your interest, you might be interested in this meatier mystery, which is also far more likely. Conspiracy theorists, doomsdayers and prophecy aficionados will be able to sink their teeth into The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery that Holds the Secret to America’s Future. Author Jonathan Cahn is a messianic Jew, which for some hard-to-articulate reason seems to add credibility to his fictitious expository of the non-fictitious premise that an ancient prophecy in the book of Isaiah is being fulfilled for a second time, this time in the United States of America.

Written as a soft science-fiction mystery along the lines of National Treasure (with less action), Cahn’s writing style is so repetitive that I wondered several times if my cat was playing a dirty trick on me and moving my bookmark back a few pages. I concluded that Cahn must live with a senile grandparent for whom he has to repeat things often. Either that or the publisher gave him an ultimatum, “Add 50 more pages by tomorrow!” The book could have easily been half its size with all plot points intact.

The book is based on a series of concurrences between the prophecy in Isaiah 9:10 and the events of 9/11 and aftermath. (See one already, 9:10, 9/11? Also, Cahn recently confirmed that in the One-Year Bible, from 1985 through 2001, Isa. 9:10 was in the reading for September 11.) Cahn reveals the concurrences as nine harbingers, each in a symbolic seal, which the main character has to figure out with the help of an unnamed angel in a trench coat. But get bogged down in plot—Cahn only wrote it that way because he rightly knew more people would read a story than a straight analysis. I read eagerly awaited the tipping point where Cahn’s argument would give me goose bumps. Half-way through the book, I was still thinking this sounded more like that time when a family member tried to convince me we were related to England’s Prince John. The acrobatics and contrivances… just… too… much!

Let me add that I am not a skeptic and I believe the entire premise is within the realm of possibility. And yet there was only one concurrence which, upon reading, caused my eyes to widen, nostrils to flare and eyebrows to rise. Turns out that George Washington, after delivering the first presidential address to Congress on April 30, 1789, led the legislators in a foot-procession to a little stone church to consecrate this nation to God. The very spot where that little stone church sat is, today, Ground Zero. (Cue theme from Twilight.)

There are others too… many others. (OK, kill the music.)

Could some Biblical prophecy pertain to the United States? Certainly; but it seems more likely that applying Biblical prophecy to our country and our times is just another form of rampant nationalism and ethnocentrism. The United States has the makings of a great nation, but the jury is still out on whether we will earn that status in the annals of history. After all, 230 years isn’t much of a track record in the big picture. Look at the Mayan and Aztec empires, both of which lasted at least twice as long as we have – nobody’s pegging them for a role in Biblical prophecy. Too geographically small, you say? What about the Mongol Empire which stretched from present-day Vietnam to Hungary? They had it going on, but now, with a few hundred years of perspective, who gives them much thought? Even if we get “great civilization” status some day, that doesn’t mean God has a special role for our country in His plan. We need to take into account the underlying assumptions of self-importance in Cahn’s premise, without discounting it altogether on that basis.

Sadly, end times prophecy attracts a lot of kooks, and this book has been touted by them all! But don’t let that dissuade you from giving it a contemplative look.

The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery that holds the Secret to America’s Future by Jonathan Cahn. ©2011 272pp. $16.99 (but sells for less on Amazon.com)

I am a mountain woman. Nonetheless, I do shave … now and again. Seriously though, I bumped into a friend the other day who recently left home for college, and she was telling me about being responsible for her own expenses now. One of her biggest gripes was the cost of shavers. She said she can’t buy the cheap kind, because they don’t work well for her and they wear out quickly, but the three- and four-blade varieties are so expensive and don’t last that long either!

That conversation started me to wondering about how to increase the life span of a shaver. Turns out I’m not the only one losing sleep over this subject. The Chicago Tribune even ran an article on extending razor life! Turns out, we could all be saving money on shavers with a few easy adjustments.

The logical place to keep a shaver between uses is in the shower, right? Actually, that’s the worst place. The shaver’s worst enemy is moisture, and steam from the shower, or even the damp environment of a shower caddy, is going to dull those blades before the next use. A simple strategy for extending shaver life is to pat shavers dry with a towel and store in a dry place between uses. This could actually double the life of your shaver, saving you 50 percent on shavers!

Secondly, keeping a shaver clean and free of hair and product clogs will also extend its life. You may think I’m freakishly frugal, but in an effort to save money I don’t use shaving cream. Body wash is easier on a razor and works just as well for lubricating the legs for shaving.

You can also realize savings by shaving less frequently, especially in the winter months when probably no one is seeing your legs anyway!

Just not into that? You might also try going back to the cheap twin-blade shavers. Consider this: Venus Embrace five-blade shavers cost $8.52 for three shavers at Wal-mart. Schick disposable twin blades cost $1.97 for 12 shavers. If you do the math (five-blade shaver costs $1.70; twin blade costs $.16), it would take 10 uses of the Venus shavers to recuperate the cost difference over the twin blades. If you’re not getting that kind of longevity from the premium shaver, you might try using a twin-blade again and see if it works well for even one shave. It’s not so great for the environment, but it would save money to use a twin blade once and toss it over getting only five or six shaves from a premium shaver.

Alternately, try electric shavers, which give the additional flexibility of allowing you to shave dry, or depilating products such as Nair. A nine-ounce bottle of Nair costs under $5 and will likely be enough for removing hair six or more times. And hair doesn’t grow back as quickly.

This may not be helpful to know, but twenty years ago there was no such thing as a four- or five- blade shaver. They work well, no doubt, but are they essential? Hardly. If money really is tight, you can shave for less. But if you simply cannot do without the luxury of a many-bladed shaver, at least don’t ever, ever pay full price. Since the top three companies are constantly vying for the consumer, and six, seven or eight blades seems ludicrous, there are almost always coupons available for premium shavers in the Sunday paper or online. Additionally, while at the store, whip out your phone and do the math to see which of the many products offers the best deal. Should you buy a handle with cartridge refills, or disposables? Are refill kits actually cheaper than starter kits? Look for shavers in clearance aisles too, and when you find them, stock up. Sometimes when packaging or product style changes, the older ones get red-tagged.

With just a little more consideration, you can indeed shave down the price of shaving.