Consistency is Key

I have had so much fun being creative in my soap making! One of the things I have enjoyed is using various molds to produce a variety of shapes in the soaps I offer. I use recyclable things like quart milk cartons, coconut water and Pringles containers, broth soup cartons, etc. I like to seek out a variety of shapes to keep it interesting and fun! The struggle I have run into is keeping the bars a consistent size and weight. Makes it tough to price them fairly.

So what I have decided to do to remedy this inconsistency, is to simply use 'soap molds'....molds specifically made for soap. This keeps the bars a consistent size and weight. But I can still make a variety of shapes!! Fun!

Consistency is so very important to soap making in general. There is little to no wiggle room for error with the oil to lye ratio in soap recipes; any variation is the difference between a successful outcome....or not!

As humans, we crave consistency. From the time we enter this world as infants, we thrive well with a consistent 'schedule' or predictability about our day; at least consistency helps to create some sort of schedule in those early days. On a personal note, speaking of infants....I recently became a grandma for the first time! Oh my! Such fun!!

Keeping on a personal note, during almost 15 years of homeschooling my kids, I have learned that consistency has been the key to our success. Consistency in what our day looked like helped the kids know what to expect, creating a level of comfort for them. It also allowed for some sanity for me :). It's been said that consistency leads to habits. Habits form the actions we take every day. And actions lead to success.

I'm going to take a rabbit trail for a moment, but bear with me, it will go somewhere eventually. Being a homeschool mom I am no stranger to the opinions of others. The 'ooohhhh' (with a tone of pity) after mentioning to someone that we homeschool

is something I have grow accustomed to, and even expect. I remember when I took my older two out of public school in 1st and 2nd grade, my daughter's first-grade teacher called me at home to express his concern. He said that he thought her outgoing personality would be severely impacted by her being homeschooled. I thanked him for his concern and assured him that I was certain her personality would not be affected by our choice to change the way she was educated. There seems to be this misperception about homeschool kids and socializing. Now my daughter is an adult, and her outgoing personality is still intact and going strong ;). What I have learned in these many years is that ignorance (the unknown) creates fear in many (all the what-ifs).

On the flip side of this, some of my kids have gone (or are going soon) back into public school from being homeschooled. We receive an equal amount of (if not more) opinions and judgement from fellow homeschoolers who perhaps don't agree with this decision. For those who homeschool because of 'religious' reasons, the belief may be that God is only available and active in the homeschool circle. Ignorance creating fear? I certainly understand where they are coming from, but we were not given a spirit of fear as we go out into the world, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:17).

"I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only." Jeremiah 23:23

My point is this....if we are consistent with the values we instill in our children, we should rest in the confidence that wherever they go and whatever they do, they will take those values with them. Especially as they have more opportunities to grow, make mistakes, and learn from them along the way. They will grow as they go!

Abide is another word for consistency. It means to stay in a given place, to maintain unbroken fellowship (with God). Consistency produces lasting fruit (results in your life!).

"Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4

In this world where change has become a constant, let God be your constant. GOD IS CONSTANT. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews13:8).

So no matter where your circumstances take you, abide in Him, the results will be the production of lasting fruit in your life! He is the key!