The "G" Key

As I type, I am internally and even a little outwardly frustrated at my laptop!!!  You see, my "g" key has messed up.  We have worked and worked, but there is no fixing...scrrrrream...it.  The scream is for the extra effort it took to press the "g" key in the word "fixing"!!

I don't recall exactly how it happened, but it now sticks out higher than the other keys.  And as I type, and the words start flowing....scrrrrream...I have to stop and put forth extra effort to get that g to appear on the screen.  It is ruining my day!  It is messing up my flow!  It is causing me to pause when I don't want to pause!!!  Did you see how many g's I just has to stop for!!!

As I was contemplating my frustrations, I began thinking of my actual day and the tasks at hand.  How many times do little g's pop into my day, and how do I handle the interruptions?  Let me clarify.  How many times am I going with the flow, getting things done, and suddenly a frustrating moment happens?  Example...had a great devotion time, everything is going smoothly this morning, and then...Bam...milk is spilled everywhere.  How do I handle the difficulty of stopping for something irritating in the middle of my day? Do I get mad and bang on the keyboard, like I have done a few times this week? Or do I take the bump in my day in stride and keep going?

Unfortunately I have not been good at taking things in stride lately! 

Just like the g key is messing with my happy when typing, everyday little mishaps have been messing with my happy outlook on life.  And there seems to be a lot of g key moments lately!

While trying to turn my frustration into motivation to stay positive, I have decided that every time I must pause for the g key, I will say a mental praise or thank you to God.  You see, I had to pause right then to make the big "G" appear to spell God.  It is even harder to make the g capitalized.  So every time I am to type a g, I am to quickly thank God for the beautiful weather, the ability to type, the words He gives me to share, my family, the food we have to eat...you get the picture.  Instead of wanting to scream at my g key, I am going (Wow that is two thankfulness thoughts in one word!) to be thankful!

And I will try to do the same in life!

Instead of getting mad at spilled milk, I will be thankful for the milk we had and the precious child that spilled it.  When we are in bad traffic in the morning, I will be thankful for the ability to drive.  When I can't find my keys, I will be thankful my vehicle.  For every g key moment or bump in the plan that causes frustration, I will turn it into a moment of happy instead a moment of mad!

When life hands us lemons, we might not feel like making lemonade.  I don't even really like lemonade.  But if we are just thankful for those sour lemons, something sweet is sure to develop.  And every time I hit the g key, a sweet and precious moment with God will follow!


Today's Verse
"For thou art my lamp, O LORD:  and the LORD will lighten my darkness."  2 Samuel 22:29

What's Cookin'

I didn't talk about this over the summer, but my husband and I did a week of the Daniel's Fast at the beginning of the summer...and it was HARD!  Fasts are generally hard, and that is kinda the point...to focus on God instead of what we are missing.  I am praying about doing the fast again soon, and I will definitely be using this recipe if I feel lead to pursue this again.

When doing the fast, I missed Coke Zero and ice cream the most.  This recipe would be an alternate to ice cream. Unfortunately I didn't read about it until after the fast, but it is still good anytime.

Freezing bananas and mixing in the food processor makes an ice cream like texture and it works great in smoothies.  If using for the Daniel Fast, you would need to use all natural peanut butter, almond milk and no chocolate syrup.  I hope your family enjoys!

1 sliced banana - frozen overnight (So much easier to process if you slice before freezing.)
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup oatmeal
1 Tbsp peanut butter
1/2 Tbsp chocolate syrup

Just throw in the food processor or blender or use an immersion blender and mix until creamy!  Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Today's Verse
"when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me."  Micah 7:8b


Wondering what the Daniel fast is?  Here are a few websites...
http://www.daniel-fast.com/
http://www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Daniel-Fast

What's Cooking - a day late

Oh there is a chill in the air...time for soup and the sniffles.  My little one and myself have been suffering from a bad cold.  So hence the day late!  I have already made two delicious soups this season.  These are sure to hit the spot on these chilly nights!  On both soup, we added a little heat with some fresh jalapeños after getting the kids' servings out.  We also topped the wonton soup with something new and so tasty.  We took egg roll wrappers and sprayed with a little butter spray and sprinkled with salt.  We baked for 8-10 minutes at 425, until golden.  We then crushed and added to the soups.  It was the perfect, crunchy accessory.  I really hope your family enjoys!


Creamy Mexican chicken soup

2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 to 2 cups of chicken stock
4 oz cream cheese
1 can tomatoes and green chilies
1 cup of corn
1 can of pinto beans (drained and rinsed )
1 tsp cummin and cilantro
1/2 tsp onion, garlic and chili powder

Throw in a crockpot on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4.  Top with tortillas  guacamole, cheese, jalapenos or what ever you like!

Wonton soup

1 box chicken stock
1 can cream of chicken soup
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp ginger and onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic
8 frozen Chinese chicken wontons
Fresh jalapeño

Combine the stock, soup and spices and simmer for about 10 minutes on medium.  Add wontons and reduce to medium-low.  Continue cooking for about 20 minutes or until the wontons are cooked through.  Top with jalapeños if desired. 

Today's Verse
"whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe."  Proverbs 29:25b

My Source

No internet!!!! We had no internet all week last week.  No real explanation.  Everyday we would call and listen to an automated voice say..."The problem will be resolved by 12:00 pm"...call again..."The problem will be resolved tomorrow by 5:00 pm" and so forth and so on went the waiting for the internet issues to be resolved.

It is surprising how much I rely on this little source of information.  I check my email (a main source of communication with both of my daughters' school); I check the weather, the news, my recipes, and the list is long.  Not to mention this!!!  I missed typing.  And then there's the fact my daughter has homework every night on a math program that can only be pulled up using...you guessed it...the internet.

So here we go, to our new local, fancy gas station, to have an icee and do math homework on my laptop.  Kinda interesting!  Lot's of strange looks.  But hey, we got her homework done!

You can find anything on the world wide web.  Ask it a question, it will supply hundreds and hundreds of answers.  It is an infinite source of knowledge, but it is not all knowing!

There's only one Source for that kind of power.  And I am so glad He is my Source.

Last week was one of the craziest weeks on record.  Not only because of driving to gas stations to do homework, but just the whole weeks's schedule.  Several dental procedures for my oldest and myself, a few volunteer chances and several other things that left me driving all over town.  I am not a fan of driving in our big city downtown area, but I found myself downtown two days in a row.  By the time I had to sit in the dental chair on Friday for almost three hours, I was kind of glad for just the chance to sit down!  (Even though the pain was horrible!)

We made it through as a family.  We were a family that prayed our way through the hectic and completely crazy week.  A family that relied on the Source of power to get the lists accomplished. It wasn't a perfect week, but He gave us the strength to keep us going.  We had to rely completely on His Power!


Today's Verses
"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation (hope) is from him.  He only is my rock and my salvation:  he is my defense; I shall not be moved.  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength...Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him:  God is a refuge for us."  Ps 62:5-8


He is our refuge. He is our only Source of hope.  He is our only source of power.  Without Him, we can do nothing.  We were thankful to get that internet power back, but even more thankful...eternally, never able to express our appreciative hearts...thankful for our heavenly Father.

God Supplies ALL Our Needs

We are out of paper towels AGAIN!!!!  This morning I put the last roll out, and it will be gone by tomorrow.  Spills, hand washing, counter wiping...these things are used for everything in our house. We are also running low on toilet tissue.  I am forever buying these paper products.  I should really buy more of this stuff in bulk!

As I was making a mental list of what we needed again, and secretly grumbling about another trip to the store, a story randomly popped into my head.  I smiled as I remembered the setting and the story.

It was Sunday school class...junior girls.  Just a bunch of silly 11 and 12 year old girls...that was funny in itself!  I pictured our big hair and the funny things we used to do.  I had a good laugh.  I remembered our teacher reading a story to us.  We were sitting in metal chairs and intensely listening, all packed in a circle around her.  The story was about a young lady who was watching her pennies.  Money was tight and she had a few more days before she got paid again.  She was making it, but barely.  Then the story took an interesting turn.  The girl in the story was about to run out of toilet tissue.  I remember us girls giggling.  Our teacher smiled, but softly scolded us.

What would it be like not to have the money to buy something we needed?

The girl prayed for God to help her.  She had faith.  She knew He would come through.  The story would count down the squares left as the girl would pray.  The night came when she was completely out.  She prayed again, only to be interrupted to the sound of laughing outside her door.  She opened the door to the best site!  Some neighborhood boys had TP'd her trees completely in toilet tissue.  The stuff she needed was hanging everywhere!  She laughed and thanked God as she cheerfully cleaned up the best mess she could have imagined!

I'm not sure if it is a true story...but it sure kept our attention, and obviously it stuck.

Today's Verse
"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want (lack)."  Psalms 23:1

The lesson...God will supply all our needs (Philippians 4:19).  We shall not want!  The solution might come at the last minute.  It might be answered in a way we never could have imagined.  It might not be exactly what we were praying for.  It literally might come straight from above and rain down upon us.  But we have faith our need will be taken care of.

I am thankful I can stop by the store tomorrow and pick up the few items on my list.  But there are some bigger things we are in need of in our family.  A roof in need of fixing, dental work needing to be done and an air condition that needs to be replaced...just to name a few.  But when these needs start to mount and the temptation to worry creeps in...I will remember the toilet paper raining from above, and I'll remember it will all work out!  He will supply all our needs.  We can be certain of that fact!

What's Cookin'?

So we are getting into the swing of things!  It has been a great start to the school year.  With the little one loving preschool (Big sigh of relief from mama!) and big sis loving first grade, we are excited to see what the year will hold.

The first day of preschool was last Wednesday, and I was very emotional.  The plan for the day was changed at the last minute.  This made me upset and threatened to ruin the day!  But we put on a smile and accepted things can't always go the way we would like.  It was a fabulous day in the end, and thankfully she declared she loved school!  She even wanted to go the next day and was disappointed when I told her she would have to wait until Friday to go back :).

I was a little disappointed when my preschooler declared she did not want the usual MM waffles for her special first day.  YIKES!  That is always the go-to-breakfast when we have special days! She wanted chocolate cinnamon rolls!  What was I going to do?

So this is what I came up with.  I was already making chocolate dipped marshmallows for something else, so I saved a few tablespoons of melted chocolate and spread onto crescents with some butter, sugar and of course cinnamon.  There are no exact measurements, but I don't think anyone could mess this up! It was quite tasty and I hope your family enjoys!

Rolls
1 can crescents
2-3 Tbsp melted milk chocolate
1-2 Tbsp cold butter cut into small pieces
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Icing
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2-1 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

Half the dough and spread out and press seams together.  Spread with melted chocolate and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and dot with butter.  Roll jelly roll style long way and slice into about 10 rolls.  Altogether you should have about 20 small mini rolls.  For larger rolls, roll the short way and you should have 8 big rolls.  Place on a parchment lined pan and bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes.  Mix icing until desired thickness and pour over baked rolls.  Warm and so so so good!

Today's Verse
"And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."  Hebrews 10:17