Stacy Lynn Harp, M.S.

DrainWig Review and Giveaway

A few weeks ago I was sent an email asking if I would like to review this new product called DrainWig, in exchange for my honest review and an opportunity to give one away to one of you. Since I have very long, naturally curly hair and getting my drains unclogged is an issue that I deal with all of the time, this was a no-brainer. I gladly accepted the opportunity.

It took about a month before I received the product, so I almost forgot about the opportunity to review it.  However, now that I have the product and finally installed it in my bathroom, here are my honest thoughts about it.

First, I don't have the typical shower with the strainer type floor, so I can't just use the shower one.  I wish I could because it would've been way easier.  Instead I am using the bathtub one, which is nothing more than a simple chain with some cheap plastic hooks on them, that you put down your drain and then using the sticky cup to adhere to the side of your tub it keeps it in the drain.

 

So the one I'm using is the packaged one in blue.  

My first impressions of the product was that it was nice, but very cheap.  It's good that it's cheap because you're going to use it and then throw it out.  Although, I can see how it is possible to use it again until the cheap plastic hooks either break or wear out.

I wasn't all that impressed with the set up because the product is so cheap that just hooking it up, it actually fell apart.  So, you have to keep that in mind. Plastic is flexible and will slip out, especially since this is a product that is used in water.

Once I was able to fix the DrainWig and get the actual thing to stay where it was supposed to be, I had no problem putting it down my bathtub drain, which has a pretty narrow opening.

I've had it in my bathtub drain now for about a week and it has barely caught any of my hair.  In fact, I am very surprised at how little of my hair that it has actually caught.

It could be that most of my hair is being caught by my bathtub mat, which I got on purpose because I noted how much my mat collects my hair, which allows me to just gather it up and then throw it out myself.

I did notice that after about the second day, there was just a tiny weenie bit of my hair on one of the DrainWig plastic pieces that is designed to collect your hair.

Since the infomercial for this product says to pull it out after a few months, my guess is that it will most likely collect my hair, after a few months.  I can't honestly tell you that it has, because like I said, I've only used it about a week and so far really nothing has been caught.

I have to admit that despite not really knowing if this really works, I think it's an ingenious product.  It's way better than having my husband take one of those plastic scraper things with the sharp triangle corners or one of those big clunky drain clearers which you use like a fishing pole.  If I had a choice between those three things, it's the DrainWig for sure.

Also, I should tell you that the design of the hook and the flower is nice and it compliments any normal persons bathroom decor.  Who knows there may be some weirdo with a weirdo bathroom decor, but for me, the hook and flower design is perfect.

So, I have a deal for you.  First, if you'd like to buy yours and save $5 on a set, all you have to do is use the coupon code FIZZ5 (the last digit is the number 5 not an S) Click here to buy now!

 

Or you can leave a comment below, and you'll be entered to win.  I will contact the winner directly and have the product sent to you.

The winner will be asked for the following information:

First Name & Last name of WINNER:

BLOG URL WHERE GIVEAWAY WAS WON: 

Street Address, City, State, ZIP (NO PO BOX):

Email address:

USA ONLY ENTRIES

Leave your comment below to be entered to win!  Contest will end on February 28th.  

Enter to Win $100 Worth of Salonpas

 One of the fun things that I occasionally like to do is review products that I am sent and actually interested in.  Salonpas is one such product.

Maybe you're like me and you exercise all of the time.  If you do, then you know the pain of muscle strain, as well as the pain of injury.  Maybe you don't exercise, but you have a bad back or you type all day long and you have carpel tunnel.  Maybe you have tennis elbow or maybe you are just getting older (cough... like I am)... whatever the cause or the case, you have probably tried a number of things to take away your pain.

Here's the truth... most of us try things like Tylenol or Advil first.  We, after all, are American's and American's love to pop pills don't we!  If you're not an American, you probably have popped a few pills too!  I so busted you!

However, did you know that taking pain meds can actually impact your liver and other organs, when in fact, you could be using something like Salonpas and putting what you need, where you need it... right there on the pain.

Now, admittedly, I've used things like Ben-Gay and my husband made me try Aspercreme, but I wanted to try Salonpas to see if it worked as well, or as better as these other two. 

 

The verdict was that I loved the Salonpas products.  They worked fast and relieved my pain and I didn't have to take other medicine.

So, would you like to win $100 worth of Salonpas?  If so, watch my video and then enter!

 

Just Give Me the Good News

Have you ever been around someone who says to you, "Hey...just give me the good news!" and yet nothing in their life even remotely reflects that they look at good news?  I have and it honestly makes me chuckle.  I'm not sure why, except to say that people lie all of the time and most of the time it's like they are completely oblivious to the fact that they are double minded men and unstable in all of their ways.

I have been podcasting/blogtalkradio'ing now for almost ten years.  Ten years of doing interviews with people, ten years of listening to Christian celebrity types, ten years of covering news and politics and the homosexual agenda and ten years of learning what people REALLY want.

People will tell you they want to be encouraged and they will tell you that they need help with their life, but the truth is that most of the time, they are lying.  I know this because when I do shows that are strictly built around the idea of edification, encouragement and complete focus on Jesus Christ, the numbers for those shows drop to the basement floor.  It's a fact.  Anytime I have solely focused on the good news, the results are pathetic.

What people and I mean Christian people when I say this, what Christian people want is bad news, gossip, controversy and the typical "if it bleeds it leads" stuff.  

People will say they want bible study because they can't get it in their church, but then when we give them an actual bible study, again the numbers are relatively pathetic... although, they have grown in recent years.

One challenge that I have as a broadcaster is providing content that will edify but also tantalize the listener.  Isn't that sad?  I mean, seriously...isn't that SAD???

I think it is.  I actually think it's pathetic.  It's pathetic that Christians honestly aren't interested in bible study all that much, or testimonies of lives changed because of Christ or ministry opportunities that will edify and encourage other people.

So why am I bringing this up?  I'll tell you.  Because I am at the point where I honestly find it funny.  I truly mean laughably funny.  I am generally an upbeat and positive person.  In fact, the complement I receive more than anything, aside from my hair looks great and I have pretty blue eyes, is that I radiate JOY.  LOL... is that funny or what!   I think it's mostly true, but here's the thing, I think it's true because I LOVE to focus on what JESUS does in the lives of people, because I know what HE has done in my life.

In fact, just a few days ago I was at my bible study and a dear precious saint, came up to me, gave me a hug and placed a hundred dollar bill in my hand AND told me the Lord said to give it to me.  That morning I was praying about finances... IS that cool or what!   That's the stuff that I'm talking about, how God answers prayers and provides and allows us to see HIM at work.

Since this is my tenth year of broadcasting and I've learned over the years what creates "ratings" I've decided to do what I always do and that is the exact opposite of what gets ratings.  I can't rejoice in evil.  I also can't focus on the negative for very long because it's just not healthy.  Research has even shown that depressed people are often news junkies... think about it.

Which is why, on days like today, when I interview a stellar guest about her work with 400 plus women and 100 children that she works with and who have found salvation in Jesus Christ, I honestly don't care if my audience wants to hear her good news.  I want to hear it.  I want to hear what Christ is doing and I want to be apart of something eternal, not something temporal that tickles the ears.

So, as for me, just give me the good news.  If you want change in your life, this is what I would encourage you to do - look at the Good News, focus on the Good News, tell people the Good News.  The devil has enough publicity don't you think? 

Quiet Time...

Many years ago when I first became a follower of Christ I had to pray and read my bible in secret.  I was in high school at the time and my mother was very hostile towards my new faith.  She was so hostile at first that she wouldn't even let me have a bible.  I know that may be hard for some people to believe, but it's the truth.

As a result of that, my friend Gail, who was the one who shared the gospel with me, she was able to smuggle me a bible and give it to me at school.  I'll never forget that day because we met before school, in the library and her gift to me of the bible, was almost like how you may picture a secret drug deal in the underworld.

After I received the bible, I would read it every chance I got, which meant that I would read it at home where my mother was not a fan.  In fact, the bible to my mother was worst than pornography.  I think she would've preferred me to actually have porn over the bible...and no, I'm not kidding.

Since I couldn't freely read the bible in the open, I would get up every morning at 5 AM and have my secret quiet time before my mom woke up and anyone else in the family would be up.  Fortunately, being the only girl in the home, I had my own private bedroom.

Fast forward 30 years and here I am again in the midst of trying to find the opportune time to have a devotional time.  You may think it would be easy with just a husband and animals, but the truth is, it's not! LOL...

I have three very different animals who have specific needs and I'm telling you, trying to get any privacy with these animals can be difficult.  It's like having a little farm inside my house and while you may think it's easy to just go in a private room and shut the door... Ah... not so much.  I have a cat who meows like crazy in the morning, until he's fed.  Even after he's fed, he likes to talk... A LOT...

I have one very clingy bichon (Grover) who is my shadow and wherever I am, he's there.  Meanwhile I have my older bichon, (Tug) who isn't as clingy but he's still there.  You may think it's easy to have one bichon in the room with the other one on the other side of the door, but it's not.  It's partly pathetic and also partly humorous.

Then of course, I have my husband who will leave me alone, but I actually prefer to be in the home all alone when I have my quiet time because I like pray outloud.  He's not the type that does that, but I am, so in order to have a quiet time where I can actually talk to the Lord in my prayer time, I have to whisper.  I KNOW.... LOL.... it's not a horrible thing, but it's not all that natural for me.

The key to a quiet time is to remember this... it won't be quiet.  I'm thinking that maybe I can just call it my time with the Lord.  Because in a way, that's what it is.

It's like, "Hey Lord... psttt... here's what I'm thinking.... hold on a sec, I have to let the other dog in now..."

The good news is that God is happy regardless of the way time is spent with Him, just as long as you spend time with Him.  He's always there anyway, so don't stress it.  I'm telling me that, not you, as I'm sure your quiet time is perfect. ;)

The Truth Is People Are Unhappy

What I'm about to say will be controversial, but that never stopped me before.  The truth is that most people are unhappy.  There, I said it.  Now you can either agree or deny it.  If you deny it, then you're probably in the unhappy category.

Of course, this is nothing but my opinion, but I think my opinion is based on solid observation.

The last few years for me have been about transition and last year, in particular, I saw quite a bit of transition in some of my relationships.  What I have learned from people who no longer consider me their friend, is that their unhappiness is the blame.  That and the fact that when you actually try to hold some Christians accountable for their sin, it's easier for them to walk away or throw you under the proverbial bus.

These are not happy people who do this.  In fact, happy people are happy because they are real with their feelings, they have healthy boundaries and they know how to discern when it's their issue or the other persons issues.

The truth is that unhappy people don't want to change.  That is actually a fact.  I know this because I've seen it quite a few of my former friends.  They either hide behind a "temperment" issue and blame it on that, or in some cases, they hide behind their form of spirituality.  Note, I'm not saying Christianity, I'm saying spirituality because that is what it is.

It's really super easy to over spiritualize things, when you don't want to deal with the truth.  Other people just live in denial about things and like to blame you.

Here's what's interesting to me though, unhappy people really can't stand happy people.  In fact, they will go out of their way to try to suck you into their unhealthy mindset.  And I'm a pretty tolerant person, but last year, I basically had it with 3 people I have know collectively for over 25 years.

I could tell you each story, but I will spare you the details.

Here's why I bring this up.  Most of us will be unhappy at some point in our lives.  God gave us emotions and some of those are negative.  I'm not talking about the natural things in our lives that cause us grief, sorrow and loss.  What I'm talking about are those people who will never be happy because they have chosen that mindset and if they are Christians, they have disobeyed the Lord in their thinking.  (Yeah, I just said that and I mean it, because the bible says it. Read Philippians 4:8)

Also, we're all prone to the temptation of comparison and "wondering what or wondering if".  I am totally guilty of that.  I personally wonder what my life would've been like if I had never been sexually abused or if my parents had never divorced or if I had been brought up in a Christian home.  Yet, I know people, who are completely unhappy who have had all of those things!

I know a person who has nothing but a Christian heritage, their parents are still married and they were never sexually abused and yet they are one of the most miserable people I've ever known.

I also wonder what my life would've been like if the Lord had blessed me with children of my own, and yet it's amazing to me the women I've shared my desire to have children with, who have had multiple children and how ungrateful and how depressing they are as mothers! I've heard mothers say things like, "Oh pets are way better" or "having kids isn't all it's cracked up to be" or "if I could do it all over again I'd never have kids".  I wish I was kidding, but these statements have come from self professed Christian women.

Another area I have noted that people are generally unhappy about is their looks.  Given our culture, I understand why there is this obsession with some people, but honestly, it's all a waste of time.  God made each of us uniquely and He gave us all genes and issues within our DNA.  Some of us will be thinner or fatter than others and some of us will have great hair and others will go bald.  It's the outer body, it's decaying every day.

So why are people so unhappy then?  I believe the real reason is because people don't fear the Lord and they don't appreciate what they have or the people in their lives that God has placed there.

I remember reading a very powerful blog post from Katherine Albrecht when she was going through her breast cancer scare.  She wrote about her fear of dying in a hospital room and observing life from her bed and only seeing out the window.  She also wrote later, after going through a zillion treatments that if she could endure all of that, then an hour at the gym to exercise is no big deal.  I'm paraphrasing this, of course, but it was very impacting to me.

It was impacting because she was being honest and secondly, it helped me with my perspective on my own health.

Here's one thing you can always know and count on - God's word.  That would be the written scriptures called the Holy Bible.  I know most people and sadly most Christians rarely open the book up and read it, but I'm telling you, that if you did and you actually did what God says, you'd be way happier.

That's my goal anyway.  I admit I have sad days just like any other person, but through God's grace and mercy, I've found true contentment in life.  I surround myself with doers of the Word and not merely hearers who do nothing.  

And therein is the key.  DO what the Word tells you to and don't merely listen to it.

It's really easy to have knowledge, but it is way better to have wisdom.  Think about it.

How is it that people raised in godly homes, who have never been abused and have been given everything on a platter, are miserable and someone like me who has nothing but the cards stacked against me, are happy....

It's in the doing and not merely knowing.  If you want change, you have to get up and move.  Otherwise you're like the baby in a diaper who cries and sits there in a soiled diaper.

God Is Serious About Sin

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

 

God is very serious about sin.  This should be an obvious statement, but if you look at the church today, you'd never get that impression.  Check out some of the things that just this one chapter in 1 Corinthians 10 warns against and then consider how serious God is about sin.

1 Corinthians 10 is a history of Israel and it's written to warn us.  It's written to warn us to be very careful about sin.  Today the church preachers rarely seem to preach on sin, especially the sins mentioned in this chapter.

v. 5  Notes that God wasn't pleased with most of those who were following and partaking of Christ in the desert.

God warns us against...

v. 6 - Lusting after evil things

v. 7 - Not being idolaters

v. 8 - Committing fornication and 23,000 fell in one day

v. 9 - Tempting Christ

v. 10 - Murmuring

We are to...

v. 14 - Flee from idolatry

v. 15-22  - Partake of the Lord's table not the devil's table  

Make sure whatever you do doesn't stumble another believer and do all things to the glory of God.

When you have gossip, homosexuality, celebrity worship, complaining, and evil being glorified in the church, you can know, God isn't happy.  He doesn't approve of any of it.

He has left a way of escape, and the question is are you going to take it when you're tempted?  We know from Israel's history that most didn't.  Most engaged in the sin and as a result died.  Think about it.

When the Spirit of God Bears Witness

A few months ago I met someone who I instantly liked.   I know why I liked them, it was because of the joy they exuded and also the fact that as I learned about her life I found out that she had some major trials and overcame them.

I found out a few months after I met her, that she took up painting after she retired and that her art had been shown locally.  In fact, I went to see it and I really enjoyed it.  She had painted a gorgeous portrait of her husband of decades, as well as some portraits for missions, including one for Make Way Partners, which I happen to love and support myself.

Anyway, I share this because the Spirit of God shared with me that she was a special child of His, and as I have found out recently the Spirit also has shared with her things about me.  Today she shared with me that when she sees me that she feels joy.  (I know, not something most people say! LOL) But seriously, it was something that touched me.

It touched me because, just like I felt joy around her, it seems the Lord has brought her joy being around me.  I think that brings joy to the Lord to see when His children are kind to one another.

I also think it's interesting because there are people who you just know KNOW the LORD and then there are those that say they do, but there really isn't any fruit that proves it.

Delight when you find the real deal.  Trust me, it is something worth delighting in.

If These Walls Could Speak by Amy Grant

Tonight my wonderful husband and I were listening to some old music together and we got really touched by a song by Amy Grant called If These Walls Could Speak.

 If you've never heard the song, here it is.

I'm not sure why, but tonight this song really spoke to me. It moved me to tears. It also moved my husband.

 

Maybe it's because I'm in the middle of my life (assuming I live a normal lifespan) and I've seen God's grace in my life or maybe it's because people I love are no longer with me, or maybe it's because I know my father's life will be ending soon, whatever the reason, this song is very very poignant.

 

We all have memories, but if the walls around us could speak, they would tell a different story. I think this is one of the reasons why Amy has always been one of my favorite artists. From the very beginning of my walk with Christ, Amy Grant's music has played a pivotal role. And now, having had the opportunity twice to interview her, I think I understand more now, than I did when I was younger. Life is about connecting heart to heart with people. If you can do that with music and touch the lives of people, you've been given a gift. If you can do that by being you, you've been given a gift. All of us have been given that gift, because we all touch people. If the walls around us could talk to our dearest loved ones or even our enemies when we were not around, I think it may surprise many people what they would say. Here's one thing I'm convinced they would say. You were more loved than you believed you were and you also hurt more than you ever let people see.

Observation: A Man and His Two Dogs

I am an observer.  I'm also a questioner.   I share this because you can pass by things all of the time and not think anything about it and I think that's the case with this old man who walks his dogs every day in my neighborhood.  I don't know the man and I don't know his dogs.  I don't know any of their names, but I do know that whenever I go to the pool, I can count on that man and his dogs walking on the street I'm driving on.

What I finding most fascinating about this old man and his two dogs is that he doesn't just walk his dogs, but he stands on the sidewalk and he waves at everyone who drives by.  THAT is what makes this guy stand out.

The other day, when he waved at me, I waved back.  I normally wave back anyway, but I felt this urge to wave and smile and return the kind gesture this old man was offering to me, a complete stranger, driving by him.

I remember thinking to myself, "I bet this guy is lonely and this is his only form of connection with the outside world.  He walks his two dogs, rain or shine, and waves at everyone.  This is how he stays connected to people."

Of course, I could be wrong about the guy.  However, why else would he daily do this?  He's like a Wal-Mart greeter on that street, but he isn't being paid anything to do it...not financially anyway.  He gets a pay off somehow... what it is, I speculate is human connection.

Since we live in a relatively disconnected world, despite all of the electronics we have to connect us, I see this old man and his two dogs as someone who is trying to get the humanity in us connected again. Maybe his waving at everyone as he walks his dog, is his form of Facebook.  I don't know, but I like to think it is and for him, I will always hit like by waving back.

Do You Thirst for What Is Right?

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.  Amos 8:11

Have you ever wondered what makes people thirst for something?  I woke up this morning and the word that popped into my mind was THIRST.  I was thinking maybe it's because I have pretty bad dry mouth from a medical condition, but then I thought about it and I instantly thought of what Jesus said on the cross in John 19:28, "After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst."

It's interesting because the word thirst is only used 31 times in the King James Version of the bible. The majority of the times the word thirst is used is in the context of people thirsting for water.  That's pretty obvious, since the bible is recording about people who live in a desert land.  Even the verse where Jesus said, "I thirst" concerns water.  As he was dehydrated hanging there on the cross, after having been flogged and having had his flesh torn to shreds.... even the Lord got thirsty.

There is one interesting verse that describes something different than thirsting for water.  In Matthew 5:6 we see, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

We also see this implied when Jesus is talking to the woman at the well in John 4:14, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

Later we see Jesus saying the following in John 6:35,  "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

I love how we see all throughout scripture the parallels between the physical body and the spiritual. God cares about all of our needs.  He loves us and desires that none perish and all come to repentance so that we can have life everlasting with Him.

It's interesting to note that if we thirst for what is right (righteousness) that God will give that to us and we will also get eternal life.  

Amos reminds us that there will be a day when there will be a famine in the land for God's word.  I think we are there in so many ways today.  The world around us is nothing but temptation calling us away from those things God declares right.  Here's an example of something I read this morning on Facebook...

A woman wrote in a Facebook group for bichons that I'm in, that she just broke up with her boyfriend because he didn't like to sleep over with her because she let her bichon sleep in bed with them.  The overwhelming majority of the responses to her complaint was basically, "Good get rid of him, if he doesn't like dogs, he's not worth it".  My response was,"Lol. .. In my day women got married before giving it away. ... Think about it, if you did that, the dog would stay, because there would be commitment. My heart breaks for you." - Which received virtually no response from the 123 commenters on that post, except two people who liked my comment.

My point in this is that this woman is not doing what is right in God's eyes.  She's prostituting herself and having her boyfriend over for sex outside of marriage and she's then complaining that he doesn't like her dog!  Just about everyone missed the REAL point!

I also found it interesting because people were commenting about how dogs give unconditional love and how she didn't need a man and I'm thinking... that woman is thirsting, but she hasn't yet found out that she needs the Lord.

My hope and prayer today is that we can all consider what we are really thirsting for.  Let's pray for a thirst for righteousness and then embrace the only one in the world who is called Righteous and True.