Epilogue

It's been a long time since I last posted on this blog and I don't know how many people still read here but I thought it was about time I updated so that people aren't left wondering what happened to me.  We finally had a baby girl in July after another hyperemesis gravidarum pregnancy during which I spent most of eight months in bed.  (I have a hyperemesis gravidarum blog on which I attempted to record the pregnancy but it is rather sparse as I was mostly too ill.)  Little Girl is absolutely delighted to finally have a baby sister and we are so thankful for the blessing of another child.  Although I will leave this blog up, I feel like it is part of a different chapter of my life - the one before two years containing 17 months of pregnancy (over four pregnancies) and 12 months of hyperemesis gravidarum (over two of those) but only one baby - so I will no longer be blogging here.  I do however intend to continue my hyperemesis blog.

While I am posting I also want to thank Clare (who blogs at Battlements of Rubies) and Elena (who blogs at My Domestic Church) for all the times that they have posted about the loss of their babies.  They are two Christian women who I admire greatly and my memories of things that they have said in the past have helped me far more than they know since last April.

The Recipe Room

I haven't gotten as far as doing my post of yesterday's food yet but I wanted to just mention that I now have a recipe blog. Anything in my food diary which I have posted a recipe for will be linked. I'm thinking of transferring those recipes which I've already posted here (such as yoghurt and sourdough bread) but I'm currently undecided about that.

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

Janice and Susan, founders of 5 Minutes for Mom, are hosting The Ultimate Blog Party. It’s a cool way to get to know some new mama bloggers and also a fun chance to win some prizes. If you want to know more about the party, click on the banner at the top of this post and it will take you to the party page.

Some people reading this will be regular readers but for those who aren't, I'd better introduce myself. I'm Susan a.k.a. Saved Sinner - welcome to my blog. I live in the North-East of England with my husband and my almost two year old daughter.

First and foremost I am a Christian - a sinner saved by god (hence the blog title). I hope that this comes out through my blogging and I aim to glorify him in all that I do. I hope that my blog can be an encouragement to other Christians and mothers and that those who are not Christians feel welcome and are able to learn something about my faith.

Although we would not consider ourselves "attachment parents", we do do a lot of things which would be associated with attachment parenting such as elimination communication, baby wearing, baby led weaning (baby led solids to Americans!) and extended breastfeeding. I haven't blogged as much about these things as I intend to so hopefully I will write a bit more about them in the near future.

Speaking of the near future, we are God willing move house very soon. For the last couple of weeks (and for the next two weeks) I have been cooking loads of meals for the freezer so that when we get down to packing, moving and unpacking I won't have to be cooking so much. It's been quite fun planning what to make and freeze and I enjoy cooking a lot. In the last year or so I have been learning to cook in the style of "Nourishing Traditions". I regularly make yoghurt in my crockpot and sourdough bread. I have just about finished developing a spicy fruit sourdough loaf (which can also be made into hot cross buns) which I will be posting before Easter.

Feel free to browse around my blog before you hop back to the party.

Works For Me Wednesday - Bloglines

I used to find that even reading half a dozen blogs was very inefficient use of my time. This is because by the time I'd clicked through to each blog I read and waited for it to load up only to find that there weren't any new posts I had used up a lot of time effectively doing nothing.

I guess if every blogger posted at regular intervals this wouldn't be a problem but some people post multiple times a day whereas others may only post two or three times a month. Even those who have a predictable pattern such as a daily post don't post at exactly the same time daily.

Enter Bloglines.

Since discovering Bloglines a couple of months ago (thanks to Buffy) my blog reading is much more efficient and much less wasteful of time:

• I can see instantly which blogs have new posts so don't need to look at each blog.
• If I want to comment on a post and can't (for example if I'm feeding while nursing Little Girl and she's a bit too wriggly or if I just don't have time) or I want to refer back to the post for some reason, I can tick the "keep new" option. This then means I don't have to go searching back through people's blogs to find old posts.
• When I missed a month of blog reading, each blog's posts were on one page meaning I didn't have to click back through loads of pages and Bloglines kept track of what I had and hadn't read so I didn't have to keep track myself.

If you read more than a couple of blogs, I would definitely recommend giving bloglines a try.

Why "Sinner Saved"?

Why did I choose the title "Sinner Saved" for my blog?

The most important thing about me is that I am a sinner and I am saved.

Being a sinner is not unusual - we are all sinners. Before I was a Christian, I didn't think I was a sinner. Admittedly I didn't think I was "good" - I knew I wasn't perfect but I thought that I was "good enough" to go to heaven. After all I wasn't a murder or anything so I had to be good enough didn't I? Wrong.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"

Romans 3v23

Once I had become a Christian I knew that I was a sinner. But, along with the knowledge that I was a sinner came the gift of salvation. I am too sinful to earn a place in heaven. I could not even come close. But I am saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God"

Ephesians 2v8

Christ lived a perfect life and died on the cross to take the punishment which I deserved for my sin. Thanks to his sacrifice I am saved. Whoever believes in him will be saved.

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John3v15

Being saved does not stop me from sinning. I am no less a sinner now that I am saved. So my blog title reminds me of the two most important things about me:

• I am a sinner.
• I have been saved.

Blog Purpose

I've been inspired by more than one blog I read to write a bit about the purpose of my blog.

This blog is a reflection of my life. The most important thing in my life is being a Christian and I hope both to be a witness to unbelievers and be an encouragement to fellow believers. I am also a wife, mother and homemaker trying to live up to the standards set in Titus 2 and Proverbs 31. (Of course I am nowhere near the high standards set in the Bible but I must continue to work towards them.) I hope that by sharing with others about what I am doing, I can be an encouragement to them.

To my suprise I have also found blogging to be helpful to myself. Firstly, I am encouraged and helped by those who read and comment on my blog. Secondly, writing about these things for an audience helps me to think things through in a more clear and organised way. Thirdly, I find that writing about what I have done for other people to read helps me to be more organised and get more done. I never expected these benefits but I guess God had planned it this way.)

So I guess the purpose of this blog is to share the outworking of my faith in my life for the mutual benefit and encouragement of myself and my readers.