Study Baskets

A dear and long-term friend of my gave me the most thoughtful gift, so I thought I would share the idea with others. She gave me a basket filled with spiritual study supplies that sits beside my chair where I do my devotions, reading, and studying. It is so handy and filled with the most useful tools that I don't have to get up and search for these things.

She filled my basket with a composition book for ideas and notes, a note pad to jot down those to-do items that float around in my head and distract me, an ink pen, a devotional book, and note cards to jot a note when I'm thinking of someone. Isn't this a wonderful gift?

Luke 11:1 tells us that Jesus had a "certain place" that He went for prayer and fellowship with His Father.

Our Church Rocks!

A ROCK SOLID LIFE

Music captures the senses and expresses emotions we didn't
know we had inside. We hear a song and realize it reflects our
desires, our dreams for the future and sometimes, our biggest
fears. And if we listen carefully we might even hear a longing for
purpose, a desire for a fresh start, and a search for God. -HCC

Fruits of the Spirit

Do you remember the 9 Fruits of the Spirit?

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control

Galatians 5:22-23

Keeping Score

Are you a score keeper? Do you feel like you're winning and your spouse is bankrupt? If so, challenge yourself to a week of service by doing the lowliest task. Go the extra mile without being a scorekeeper.

31 Days to Pray for Your Children

31 Days to Pray for Your Children

Sugar Ants

Now that spring is here, I've noticed the little sugar ants scouting around my kitchen. I heard that coffee grounds sprinkled around the outside of your house will prevent them from coming in. Starbucks gives away their used coffee grounds, so I picked up a bag. We'll see if it works.

Your Destiny

Your Destiny by Frank Outlaw
Watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Watch your words, for they become your actions. Watch your actions, for they become your habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. Watch your character, for that becomes your destiny.

Get Serious About What You Are Eating

Get Serious About What You Are Eating
Steps to Help You Change What You Eat
-A good friend of mine put these steps together from different resources. She lost weight following these steps and looks and feels great!

Promise Yourself That You Will Eat Better From Now On
Don’t think that you can completely change every bad eating habit overnight. Take small steps and decide everyday that you can become healthier.

Take Daily Supplements
Benefiber, Multi-vitamin, Vitamin D, B-12 & Omega 3

Smaller Portions of Meats, Rice, Potatos, Pastas & No Seconds
No seconds except for veggies and fruits.
I stayed on this step for 4 months before moving on.

Add More Fresh Fruits and Fresh Veggies to Your Meals
Don’t smother foods in extra sugars and cream sauce. Give up creamy salad dressings. Add fresh spinach to beans, peas, salads, soups, tomato sauces.

Get Moving
Walk, cardio, yoga, jogging, etc.
It’s always hard to carve out the time for exercise.

Give Up Sodas, Diet Sodas & The Crystal Lites
And anything else overly processed, sugared and/or preserved.
Hidden sugars are everywhere.

Give Up the Fried Foods, Fast Foods & Processed Foods
Don’t buy anything with trans fats, partially or fully hydrogenated vegetable oils. Give up the processed cheeses.
See You the Owner’s Manual by Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.
Don’t go looking for these foods. If you must eat them, just eat less of them.

Get Serious About White Carbohydrates
Substitute sweet potatos, brown rice and whole wheat breads.

Eat More Olive Oils, Nuts & Seeds, Avocados, Dark Chocolate &Olives
See the Flat Belly Diet edited by Liz Vaccariello.

Get Serious About White Sugar
What’s worse, sugar or sugar substitute? Who knows.

Deviled Eggs - With Angelic Ease

I wanted to share a tip for an easy way to make the deviled-egg filling. Place the hard-boiled yolks, mayonnaise, and dill relish in a sandwich bag. Seal the bag after letting the air out. Mash up the contents until it's a smooth consistency. Cut the tip off of the bag, and squeeze into each egg. It can even be swirled for a fancy presentation. When you are finished, toss the bag.

For perfect boiled eggs, place the raw eggs in water that covers them about one inch. Once the eggs come to a boil, remove them from the heat, cover, and let sit for 17 minutes. Cool them by running them under the cold tap.

Enjoy!

Winter and Spring

These are 2 of the 4 seasons. Isn't it amazing the change in just 2 months? These pictures are of the same location.

Kitchen Garden

We started a kitchen garden with sweet bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelon, and peppers. We planted the tomatoes in different locations in our yard as a test. We decided to plant mostly in the corner by our compost because of the rich runoff. It also gets natural water and sunlight. We mixed the compost with garden soil. I'll log the progress to see if it turns out to be a good location.

Calorie Count

I've tried various diets (for a day or two because that's the longest I can go). I'm just not a dieter, but I'd like to get a few pounds off before summer. I finally realized that I am most successful when I count my calories. I found this website (click on logo). It's not hard to keep track once you tab your basic foods. The blueberry smoothie that I mention in my blog is 297 calories. An hour of Jazzercise burns about 391 calories.

No, I haven't lost a pound tracking my calories, but I did realize that I could trade some foods that I was eating with surprisingly high calories for some foods that I prefer that had less calories. It's all about keeping the balance.

A friend and I have been keeping daily food journals and emailing it to each other. It's been interesting AND keeping us accountable - even when we splurge. It's been fun.

What healthy foods to you eat? Share your ideas!

I Have Arrived

Today, an older African-American lady and I were loading groceries into our trunks. Our cars were parked beside each other. She was telling her friend while looking at me, "I Have Arrived." She smiled at me as if she was including me in the conversation, so I said, "I'm sure glad somebody has." She laughed. I asked her what she meant by that. She said it's when you get to a place that you know you've arrived and you know that you're there because you no longer rush or worry and are completely at peace with yourself and others. I thought it was an interesting comment, particularly for Easter.

I told her I was going to post her comment in my blog. She just chuckled and told me to have a blessed day as she got into her car.

Have you arrived? What does it mean to you?

Facial Scrub

In a book, Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me by Paula Begoun, she suggests mixing baking soda with your facial cleanser for a facial scrub. There are so many wonderful uses for baking soda. This is one of her many good tips.

Chores and Rewards

I struggle with the best balance between chores, responsibilities, and allowance. There are lots of ideas out there. If you have one that works, please let me know.

On a TV show, I saw an interesting concept. There were tasks written on Popsicle sticks. Each task was worth a particular amount. So, I thought we'd try this plan.

I created pockets out of scrapbook paper for each of my children to put their completed chores. I have one larger pocket with all of the chores that they can choose from to earn their allowance. They have to select these tasks without being asked to do them. There are money values placed on the tasks which are differentiated with colored tape. Once they have completed a task, they move the stick to their pocket. At the end of the week, I total the amount on their sticks and give them their allowance. The different price points gives them incentive to earn more if they're working toward something.

I placed these pockets on our family board. I painted a small wall in our kitchen with magnetic paint and then chalkboard paint. I put magnets on the back of the pockets so that they would hang on the wall. We keep our schedules and messages here. Now, we have our chore sticks.

Spring Blooms in Our Yard

The Legend of the Dogwood

There is a Christian legend of unknown origin that proclaims that the cross used to crucify Jesus was constructed of dogwood. As the story goes, during the time of Jesus, the dogwood was larger and stronger than it is today and was the largest tree in the area of Jerusalem. After his crucifixion, Jesus changed the plant to its current form: he shortened it and twisted its branches to assure an end to its use for the construction of crosses. He also transformed its inflorescence into a representation of the crucifixion itself, with the four white bracts cross-shaped, which represent the four corners of the cross, each bearing a rusty indentation as of a nail and the red stamens of the flower, represents Jesus' crown of thorns, and the clustered red fruit represent his blood. (copied from Wikipedia)

Dying Easter Eggs

We added a drop of oil to the dye to get the tie-dye effect. Palm Sunday was beautiful, so we dyed Easter eggs on our picnic table in the sunshine.

That's My King

Rhema - A rhema is a verse or portion of Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to our attention with application to a current situation or need for direction.

Easy Ways to Peel Potatoes and Grapefruit