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The McKinney Family is becoming increasingly more interested in the preservation of our beloved Planet Earth. So great was my enthusiasm for Mother Nature that I coined the phrase "Greenliness is next to Godliness." Or so I thought. Imagine my crushing disappointment when a quick Google search revealed that some 58 people have discovered the term before me.

Our greenliness has been a gradual development. First we began recycling, using compact fluorescents, adjusting our thermostats, and air drying about half of our laundry. Then we boldly leapt into cloth diaper use, in spite of my brother-in-law Richard calling me "Bat Crackers Crazy." Finally I invested in reusable napkins and kissed my paper towels goodbye. I even whipped up some handkerchiefs on my handy-dandy new sewing machine. And last night I placed my very first order as a Melaleuca Preferred Customer. "What took you so long?" some of you might ask. Well, to be honest, for a long time, I found the Green Movement to be really obnoxious. There were so many self-righteous, in-your-face know-it-alls that I sort of threw the baby out with the bathwater. (Not literally. Don't worry...Alice is fine)

When we were kids, greenliness was known by another name...conservation. Clay and I like this term a lot better than "environmentalism," which immediately conjures up a portrait of bleeding heart tree-huggers who despise and ridicule people who don't see things exactly as they do. They actually believe that the world would be a lot better off if humanity was obliterated. "Conservation," on the other hand, seems normal, practical, and thrifty. Conservation encourages scientific exploration to create cleaner, easier and cheaper ways to improve human life, animal life, plants, water and the world in general.

PETA claims you can't be an environmentalist and eat meat. Luckily for you, you can be a conservationist. Go ahead. Have a nice steak once in a while. Heck, you can even go hunting and make it a deer steak. Buy that leather jacket you've been wanting. Make some babies...there isn't really an overpopulation issue. Can't afford to buy all organic all the time? It's okay. Not quite ready for a compost heap? Don't worry about it. Everything in moderation. Live a little! Be a conservationist!

The other day I was scopin' out the 'net and came across an article touting vintage clothing as being a "green" alternative to buying clothes brand new. Vintage?! Well, la-di-da. What about just plain old USED clothes? We have a fantastic Goodwill in Dickson, which my mom and I frequent quite often. Goodwill is a fantastic organization. You can get rid of items you can no longer use without throwing them in the trash. You can buy pre-owned items for a fraction of the cost of buying something new, which is economically and environmentally friendly. And Goodwill uses the money from the sales to train and employ people with disabilities, limited education, and criminal pasts.

One of my favorite "green" items is the Necktie Skirt. It combines recycling with creativity. I've made two already, one with the "closed tie" method and one with the "opened tie" method. I like them both, but I'm partial to the "opened tie" method. It's a lot lighter and cooler and you don't need as many ties. The "closed tie" would be a great winter skirt, perhaps with a pair of boots. You can find a wide array of pre-owned neckties at stores like Goodwill. Their usual price is about $1.50 each, but you can find them for 75 cents on half-price days. There is not a huge demand for pre-owned neckties, so usually you have the entire selection to yourself. I've attached a link to great directions for making a necktie skirt. http://untied.lindaeverett.com/How-to-Make-a-Necktie-Skirt.pdf. It's pretty straightforward and intuitive. This is a great project for novice sewers. If I can do it, you can do it!

This just in for all my cloth diapering peeps: In an earlier post, I recommended using a Thermos Pump Pot to store warm water to wet your cloth wipes. Well, since then we have discovered a better option: a wipe warmer. Now, I know that this is technically using an item in a way it was not intended, and that is why I tested this for a few months before recommending it. We simply place the wipes in the warmer (folded in half fits nicely), add warm water, and plug in. I highly recommend placing only a few wipes at a time and cleaning the warmer regularly. It can start to smell kind of funny in there after several days, and you don't want any weird mold growing on your wipes. It's very convenient and easy to use!

We love it when we can be green, save money, and make our lives easier all at the same time!

In church yesterday our friend Greg reminded our church to pray about the rapidly growing trend of "Soft Persecution." Greg's well-spoken admonition (and the Nashville Scene newspaper I read during lunch) got me thinking about the war on Fundamentalist/Conservative/Evangelical Christians. Because I am one! That's right, folks! I am a member of that group whose name has become a dirty word to most of America...Fundamentalist.

The word paints a picture of a crazy-eyed, ignorant hillbilly that shakes Bibles in people's faces and goes around thinking that everyone sins but him. This is not an accurate portrayal of Fundamentalists. The definition of a Fundamentalist is simply someone who adheres to certain fundamental doctrines revealed in an inerrant scripture. For instance, I believe in the literality of the accounts of the Creation of the World, the Virgin Birth, and the Resurrection of Christ. I also believe in the doctrines of the Trinity, Sin, Salvation and yes, even Hell. I am ardently pro-life. I am deeply convinced that having sex outside of marriage is not just wrong; it’s plain bad for you. I believe that the Church (or "organized religion" as some naysayers put it) was founded by Jesus Christ and is necessary for edification, fellowship, and accountability. I even believe that members of the clergy should be men! I’m not making this up. I base my religious beliefs on a quaint little tome known as the Holy Bible. If it were up to me, we’d experience spirituality by dancing naked in the moonlight under the gently swaying bows of a full-bloom apple orchard.

You might think that, considering my peculiar set of theological beliefs, I sit around reading my worn-out King James Version while listening to "Give Me That Old Time Religion" on my ancient phonograph. Not so, my friends. I am engaged in the culture around me. I could never make it as an ascetic. I enjoy movies, tv, music, and Harry Potter. I love art, exotic cuisine, and pretty clothes. I read lots of Willa Cather, I vote Libertarian, and I recycle. I enjoy partaking in God’s many and varied blessings.

I also struggle with sin every day. You won’t catch me saying, "I’m not a bad person." I know sin when I see it, and I am thoroughly aware of my own sin nature. It is terribly unpopular to talk about sin. It is the last taboo. In this day and age, tolerance is demanded for every sort of behavior…everything, that is, but calling a spade a spade.

As Derek Webb once said, "Everyone is crooked deep down." Everything we do falls short of God’s holy standards, hence the need for salvation. You might be surprised to discover the compassionate response from a Christian if you were to confess that you had sex outside of marriage, struggled with substance abuse, or even had an abortion. You might be surprised hear them tell you of their encounters these very same sins…and the testimony of how they sought forgiveness from their rebellion and were restored. They might tell you how they came to learn and love God’s law. God gives us his law for the same reasons loving parents give their children rules...for their own good. You don't want little Suzie to run out into a busy street because you don't want her to be struck by a car. You teach Billy nice manners so he will learn how to treat people with kindness and respect.

Yes, we Fundamentalists believe there is such a thing as absolute truth. And we are hated for it. Every Christmas and Easter, I read article after article attempting to disprove the core of my beliefs. The results are in, these pseudo experts declare: Christians are fools! It reminds me of another faith that was long ridiculed throughout history: Judaism. How long until we Christians are proclaimed to be the cause of all the trouble in the world? How long until we are arrested, our jobs taken from us, our children turned away from schools, and our homes confiscated? How long until they decide upon The Final Solution? How long until they kill us?

After years of cowardice and resistance, I recently learned how to use a sewing machine! This may not sound like much of an accomplishment to you, but I am positively bustin' with pride. As Peter Pan said, "Oh, the cleverness of me!" I have reason enough to celebrate, because no human being that ever walked on the face of Planet Earth has had more trouble with the creation of a garment than I had. "One-Hour! Easy" the patterns assured me. And I'm sure it's plenty easy, unless you don't have the first clue of what you've gotten yourself into. It is pitiful to see a 28-year old woman weeping over a piece of fabric like an 8th-grade home economics student.

I learned how to hand-sew at a very young age but always gave my mother's sewing machine a wide berth. Some kids are afraid of monsters in their closets or mysterious creatures that live in the woods. I was afraid of my mother's sewing machine. It made loud noises and tried to bite me. Now that I'm an adult, I see that my fear wasn't an irrational one at all. But to be fair, it wasn't really the sewing machine's fault. It seems sewing machines as a species are unpredictable, crabby, and impossible.

Remarkably, although my experiences with sewing machines thus-far are the stuff of horror movies, I'm hooked! I can't wait to see what I can get into next. My urge to create has prevailed against all the yelling, banging, and use of words I'm not proud of. For my next trick, I'm going for a necktie skirt! Wish me luck...I'm going to need it! By the way, if you have any silver bullets or crucifixes you're not using, you might want to send them my way.

Check us out! Matching mother-and-daughter turtle-print cuteness!