Soap making must be therapeutic for me because I find myself enjoying the process of making it. But the main reason I make it now, is because homemade soap is, what I consider, a 'safe' product, meaning that it is a product that isn't made in a factory, and doesn't contain all the additives and chemicals of store bought soap.
I have made homemade laundry soap, root beer, deodorant, toothpaste, yogurt, buttermilk, cultured butter, cream cheese, bread, pasta, and a host of other things. Why do I do this? Am I so bored that I have to come up with things to do?
We are living in a unique time, which mankind has never lived in before. Technology is developing so quickly and we have so many modern conveniences at our fingertips. Science is developing ways to change the genetic structure of food in order to make it prettier and to taste good. Biotechnology is developing ways to make food stretch. Industrialized farms use fillers in their feed, so that all the animals can have food. Factories have been built which put pollution in the air and water. Cars and trucks are becoming more and more efficient, yet, even with all the filtering, the air is still becoming tainted. Grocery stores came about in 1946, providing an easier means for people to get their groceries. Because of the ease of using processed foods, farmer's markets have lost business. It's a lot easier making something from a box or jar than it is to get the ingredients yourself and make the meal. (An example of this is Spaghetti sauce. It is already premade and sold in jars in the grocery store). People aren't thinking that it is possible to make your own spaghetti sauce at home anymore. Our great grandparents didn't have that luxury, and the only way they would have made spaghetti sauce was to get the ingredients together and make it.
One of the most dangerous disadvantages in our day is eating food that has been sprayed with insecticides. I saw a show on TV many years ago, depicting people spraying fields of wheat. Whenever I buy flour (unless it is organic) I remember that it probably has been sprayed and it is not good for us to eat anything made from this flour. But I always wondered, what are the options? Any alternatives?
It is true, that we could go to the store and buy a bar or bundle of soap. We can buy boxed pizza mixes, and jars of pasta sauce along with boxed pasta. I am not writing this to place condemnation on anyone, nor am I trying to set up a legalistic standard by which we can so easily fall from, but, I am explaining why I make as many things as I can, at home, using my own selected ingredients.
For all the niceties we have available to us today, there are (what I call) trade offs. That simply means that we have a lot of conveniences that were never available in the past, but there is a cost (or will be a cost at some time in the future).
Years ago, as food items were being evaluated, whatever the name of the group was at that time, probably did a fair job at deciding whether a food item was actually safe for a person or not. This judgment is not exclusively about food either. Today we have the FDA, which stands for the Food and Drug Administration, to evaluate food items, as well as drugs, to determine if the food or drug is safe enough to eat. The problem is, whatever standard the FDA is using, it is way too lenient. I believe, in part, this has to do with the fact that most people who work for the government (as well as for any company or organization today) are not believers in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This simply means that the decisions they make will not be based from people's minds who have the wisdom of God. The decisions that are being made are made from minds of people who are unregenerate (not born again) and their minds are carnal, at best. They are not people who look to the future to find what will be best in the long run. They are only looking at what they see today, and what will bring money into them today. And as long as people support them by buying processed food and junk food item, they will continue to make their products.
I have lived through watching many of these changes take place. But my grandmother saw even a bigger amount of change than I did. My grandmother spent a lot of time in the kitchen. I am sorry to say that I missed out on eating whatever she made because I was too distracted with everything around. My grandmother was homemaking even before grocery stores were available. When she was growing up, there were no factories that made soap that would be sold at stores. As my mom was growing up, they grew a lot of their own food, even chickens to eat! Not many do that today. Although my grandmother claimed to be sick, she never went to a doctor for anything (except to have a baby!). She lived to be 92 years old. Her memory was very good up until the end of her life.
I once watched, or rather listened to, a show on TV depicting two women who were going to trade places in their homes. One was a Christian and the other was very modern and worldly. At first, the Christian lady seemed to make a lot of sense, but I didn't understand some things she incorporated into her home. For example, her family made a decision to move into a home suited for them, and they would live primitive lives. They had no electricity in their home. I am not sure of what the reason for this was though. Were they trying to make their lives as hard as possible, or was there a logical reason for not having electricity?
I am not saying that we should be doing hard things just for the sake of doing hard things! We live in a generation that seeks pleasure, entertainment, convenience and comfort. We have these things because they are available to us, and we think they are normal for us to have!
A question that some people have asked me is, 'Do you cook meals for your family?'. At first, I thought this was a no brainer. Of course. Everyone cooks for their family. Somebody does the cooking. But as I study this, probably not. You see, cooking is too hard for some people to do. I use myself as an example of this as well.
When I got married, we didn't have bridal registrations at Target or Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Plus, I didn't know many of the people in our church, or, for some reason, had not met them yet. I got many presents from people, mostly my mom's friends and these unknown church people. I had no idea how to use much of the stuff I got. It was a shame because people bought me nice things, but they were too hard for me to figure out how to use. The reason for this, I believe, is that I was a product of our culture. Reading an instruction booklet was like reading a Chinese comic book! Too hard!
By God's grace, things have changed for me. Necessity provided the reason for taking the time to learn how to serve my family, and how to read instruction booklets in order to use items that were necessary for me to help my family with.
No, I'm not just going to go to a store and buy an item I need to use, if I can help it. But it is a long, long process and I am no where near the end of it. It is a journey and it is a good one.
Along these lines, there is a book written by Alex and Brett Harris called, 'Doing Hard Things'. It is addressed to teenagers, but, this book is not only for teenagers, I believe people in this generation need to read this book as well! There are also pdf files on the internet, related to this book and its study guide.
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