Here is another practical tip. Think of your water and air situation in your home.
Water-I think of this because when we lived in OH our water was terrible. My dad would get a couple of gallons of water out of the drinking fountain at work and bring it home to us daily. We used this "city" water for all our cooking and drinking and I only washed my hair with that water. I've also heard that those who drink tap water have more miscarriages. I think of how close we are to farm land too.
We have a Brita filter and we filter all our water for cooking and drinking with that. We buy bottled water for traveling. I try to drink that bottled water when we are at church instead of church water or lemonade. I don't think our system is the best. I know others that pay $20 per month for a Culligan system. I know some have paid to have a nice water system installed in their house. I know some have big jugs of water delivered to their house. If you add up our Brita filters which we change regularly and the bottled water we buy for traveling we probably spend close to what it would cost to have a Culligan system.
I post this to get you thinking, especially if you are drinking tap water and you live in a rural area.
Air-I have a friend that had to move out of their parsonage because the mold was so bad. They were sick all the time. Our Lambs seem to have colds a lot. We have talked about getting someone out here to clean out the air ducts. Our parsonage is about 40 years old and I can't imagine how much dust and dirt is in our ducts. Our streets are gravel plus they did a lot of work in town here last year for a new sewer system. I'm sure that adds to the dust and dirt in our home.
Ram's dad bought us a nice air filter that we put in our bedroom. At first we thought it was a strange gift, but we appreciated it. We recently replaced the filter and it was unbelievable how much dirt we could see on that filter. Ram and I have seemed to get less colds since we got that air filter.
I know that you may not be able to afford to get your air ducts cleaned or to get a nice air filter, but I hope this post gets you thinking. Perhaps start a savings fund for this purpose?
Please add any comments about air or water in your rural homes.
Come back tomorrow for another practical tip about being a rural pastor's wife.
6 comments:
Do your boys EVER drink tap water? - Maybe at a restaurant in town or when on vacation? I'm asking because of the benefits of tap water - it can help build one's immune system, which is so critical at their ages. Just wondering.
Lead. We are getting lead tests again because despite my diligence with cleaning my baby still has lead in his blood so now we will be testing all 3 kids.
Your comment surprised me, Anon. My boys rarely drink unfiltered tap water. They drink tap water that is filtered with the Brita or bottled water. I'm not sure what benefits of tap water you are talking about. I know fluoride, but what else? I hope you comment again because now I am curious.
Do you know Amy U.? Matt's first call was to a dual parish near Fargo, SD. (I hope I'm getting this right.) Anyways. They were drinking bottled water because the water apparently smelled bad. Amy's dad is a plumber and installed a nice water filtration system one of the first times he came to visit. He also tested the water. Get this! The well water in that area contained arsenic. The parishioners never told them "DO NOT DRINK THE WATER". I would have been so mad.
We installed a filtration system in our parsonage. I love it. It isn't as expensive to install as you might think. We buy new filters every eight months or so (the directions say every six months, but we stretch that because the filters aren't dirty). The system has paid for itself. The only caveat would be if your well water contains tons of iron or other minerals. Obviously the filters filter all that out and would need to be replaced more often. Then it would be cheaper to do Brita or Culligan.
Also worth mentioning, because the water system was/ is a housing expense, we save receipts and mark the costs down on our taxes every year.
How's that for a rambling post?
Oops. Fargo, ND.
Actually, the U. family was in the next circuit north of us. We were very sad when they moved! But it makes me even more glad that we do Brita when you remind me of that, I had forgotten about the U. family.
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