What is up with the weather? I am wanting to use my crock pot, but the weather man says to expect temps in the 90s. It is the middle of September. Isn't it supposed to be in the 70s and 80s?
Monday: Chicken salad on croissants Tuesday: Oriental chicken salad Wednesday: Church dinner Thursday: Quiche and salad Friday: Fajitas Head on over to Laura's for more menu ideas.
This morning in my time with the Lord He reaffirmed the importance of being with Him.
In Proverbs 31 one quality towers head and shoulders above the rest. One quality makes her value "more precious than jewels" and that is her spiritual life. Proverbs 31:30 says 'Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised'. another version says 'worshipfully fears the Lord'. In other words she worshiped God and put Him at the top of her priority list.
I don't want God to be just one of my priorities, I want Him to be THE top priority.
We had a fabulous time away in the mountains. I thought about posting a picture of our time away but thought it might bore you all. Puzzles, reading, napping, sleeping late, watching movies, and taking a drive through the forest don't make for exciting photo ops. I am back and feel quite refreshed thank you very much. We should do that more often. I am ready to start the busy week! Bring it on!!
The family is off for a few days of R&R. What I am most looking forward to is no cell service, not for me because rarely do I get calls on my phone, but for my hubby. You would think he was a doctor or at least a government official the way his phone rings. Sometimes I wish he had one of those messages that says 'If this is a true medical spiritual emergency, stay on the line and we will be right with you, if not please call back during regular working hours.' I hope you know I am mostly just kidding.
I have a crate packed with cookbooks to go through (I bought some new recipe cards yesterday), magazines I have not had the chance to read yet (including a new hair magazine), a new book, and several board games to play. I will throw in a few movies to watch and it should all make for a perfect long weekend.
We are hoping to do some hiking and pick up some peaches for homemade peach ice cream.
This has been planned since April and I am so looking forward to it. We almost had to cancel and give into football, but God was gracious and relieved us of having to make that hard call. Have a great weekend! I will see you next week! I am sure to have great menus after looking through all those cookbooks from the library. ;o)
Do you ever feel like there is an endless abundance of the work that God needs to do in your life? Just when you think God has finished a certain work...there is another...right there waiting in the wings...in His perfect timing to begin the process of refining. But sometimes the work that needs to be done comes in clumps. Several things come to the surface all at once, or maybe in a series of revelations.
It was a dry Summer. And I am not talking about the weather. I am referring to several areas in my life, but I want to talk about spiritually today. It was just a dry season. Granted there were a few times of rain, but mainly dry. Parched. Thirsty. My attitude contributed greatly to the lack of rainfall.
So, now it is almost fall and the seasons are changing not only in the climate outside, but inside my heart also. And it has nothing to do with me. God chooses to speak even in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. Again, it has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with Him and His faithfulness to me, the unfaithful, the fickle, the temperamental, the wicked.
Like Lori, God spoke to me on Sunday. And has continued yesterday and today. I feel the cool breeze of the Spirit. My hubby really spoke to my heart in Sunday night's sermon when he talked about pouring ourselves into our relationship with God and letting everything else fall into place. That if our relationship with God is right, all other relationships and such will naturally fall into place, or at least my heart will be in the right place.
Then Monday morning during my quiet time I read
Despite our extraordinary calling-to experience God's love and to love Him in return-we fill our lives with idols. Given the greatest invitation in the universe, we treat it as an obligation that we might be able to squeeze in around our other interest. Could anything be more ludicrous? The infinate, holy, jealous merciful, mighty, Ancient of Days makes a straight path for us into His heart of passion, and our response is so often to say, "We'll see; I've got some other things I'd like to do, too." The angels must be astonished at the squandering of such an opportunity. Journey Magazine
Did I just not finish a bible study on No More Idols? Apparently I am just like the children of Israel.
Is it just with me or does God work in themes in your life too? Then later in the day I read from Girl Talk:
If our pastor, whom God has called and gifted to preach, spends many hours studying God’s Word to share it with us, shouldn’t we be humble and diligent to review and apply that truth?
Ouch. Rarely, and I mean really rarely, do I look over my notes from Sunday. In fact I have got in a bad habit of not even taking notes on Sunday morning. Instead going into the service not even expecting God to show up. That my friends is pride, not humility. Thought I would just point that out to you in case you didn't catch it.
So, here I am again. In a place of renewal of my heart. Checking my heart attitude. Not merely going through the motions, but looking and expecting God to show up. Pouring myself into my relationship with Him. And watching as everything else will be just fine, because my heart will rest in Him and Him alone. What continues to amaze me is that God chooses to pursue me, in spite of me. I would have written me off long ago. Voddie says it best...
I am going to try something new this month (starting next week ;o)). I was reading my new Gooseberry Patch cookbook that I picked up this week at Costco and it suggested to give each day of the week a theme. I had read this before from Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary(check out her other ideas for meal planning on her side bar). I am thinking this will help simplify my meal planning. The thought is to give each day a theme of something that your family enjoys. For us it will be Mexican, Italian, Breakfast, Soup & Salad (or sandwich) and I am still thinking on the other two, maybe a casserole night? We always have dinner at church on Wed nights so that makes only 6 I need to figure out. Sunday night will definitely be something in the crock-pot since we are at church all afternoon. Emma has started a cooking class and is required to make 3 meals a week for her family; a breakfast, lunch and a dinner, so I am trying to help her come up with good and easy meals to make.
The weather and our schedules are changing a little. Football, church, school and lessons are all in full swing. We really try to make eating dinner as a family a priority but Monday and Wednesday nights are impossible. Monday will be crock-pot night and Wednesday we eat at church.
Fall Harvest Chowder (slow cooker) 1/2 lb ground beef 1/2 C chopped onion 4 C water 1 C carrots 1 C diced celery 1 C cubed potato 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatos 1 can (8 oz) tomato puree 1 t. salt 1/4 t pepper 1/4t crushed bay leaf 1 1/2 t Italian seasoning 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high
Hot Chicken Sandwiches(Gooseberry Patch Taste of Autumn) 2 1/2 - 3lbs chicken 6T butter 6T flour 1t salt 1/8 pepper 1/2c celery thinly sliced 12 sandwich buns Boil chicken for1 hour. Reserve 2 1/2 c broth. Allow chicken to cook; remove skin & bones, shred meat. Melt butter in a sauce pan; whisk flour until smooth. Blend over low heat. Stir in broth, boil 1 min. Add salt, pepper. Stir in celery & chicken. Heat thoroughly; serve on toasted buns.
From the number of comments that I have received, both on and offline, we all want our homes to be a place of simplicity and sanctuary. Take a look at Websters definitions:
Sanctuary: 1. A holy or sacred place, esp. one devoted tot he worship of a deity. 2. The most sacred part of a place in a sacred structure; esp. the part of a church where the principal altar is situated. 3. A place of refuge: a wildlife sanctuary. 4. Immunity from the law or punishment.
Simplicity: the state of being simple; freedom from complexity or difficulty. 2. Freedom from ornament or ostentation.
That sounds so wonderful doesn't it. But there is a little fact that makes this so hard. Our lives are complex and difficult. So how do we create simplicity and sanctuary in the middle of complexity and difficulty? I think this looks different to each family. What may be simple to my family may be crazy complicated to yours and vice versa.
If you have not already met Rachel Anne @ Home Sanctuary head over and be blessed. Mon - Fri she posts a little thing for you to do to create sanctuary in your home. She even makes it fun by giving you points each day. Keep track of your points and you will have a chance to win a great prize at the end of the month. How fun is that? When I follow along with Rachel Anne I always feel like at least once a day I have done something to create a little sanctuary.
This has been a fun weekend getting everything ready for the next school year. Pencils are sharpened, notebooks ready, books checked out. I AM READY, I hope the kids are!
We went to the library last week and I checked out Gooseberry Patch A Taste of Autumn (check out their website for a free recipe each week.)I copied lots of fun new recipes like Hot Chicken Sandwiches, Schoolhouse Cookie Bars, and Potato Quiche. I hope to try these when the weather cools off a bit more.
This week is easy to plan for with three meals I don't have to cook!
Monday: Labor Day BBQ @ the in-laws Tuesday: Either Tacos or Taco Soup depending on weather Wednesday: Church dinner Thursday: Church Block Party (hot dogs) Friday: Fajitas
I am really excited to start the school year this week. We are starting some new things that I hope will be fun and educational for all the kids. First we are trying Total Language Plus. The kids will do spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing all pulled from a piece of quality literature that they are reading. Emma (14) is reading Pride and Prejudice, Eli (12) A Cricket in Times Square, and Eden (10) The Courage of Sarah Noble. they will also be decoding scripture for grammar. Emma will have a 5 page research paper to write as well as a paper on character study, and an analysis paper of the book. Evie (7) is doing a literature unit on Ezra Jack Keats. This unit study is new to me also so we will see how it goes.
We are also going to start notebooking for history and geography. I think this is a great way for the kids to have a hands on approach and hopefully take a couple subjects they are not so crazy about and make them more interesting.
