God's Promises

 

 

A rainbow always reminds us that God keeps his promises!!!

 

 

These are two of God's promises enjoying themselves after the rain!

 

Nathan is trying to teach Camden how to play football.  Camden doesn't want to play if it is flag though, because he can't tackle! 

Putting it all together

I like to finish things.  I may have lots of projects going at one time, but I finish them.  One thing that seems to take me a long time to finish when I get behind is my Bible study.  Last Fall I started a a study on Esther, Ezra/Haggai, and Nehemiah (actually 3 Precept studies).  The study lasted until Spring, but I just today finished all of it.  Right in time to be behind on starting Romans tomorrow!!!  I learned a lot through the year, but because it took me a few extra months to finish, I don't have a cohesive view of it all.  So I am attempting in this post to put together what I have learned. 

In Esther, the biggest thing I learned was to obey those in authority of us unless they are out of God's will; like when the king asked Vashti to parade at his banquet.  But when Esther obeyed Mordecai as her parental authority, and thus obeyed God, God protected her.  And always be willing to do the right thing.  God puts you where He wants you, for you to do the right thing.

Ezra was the priest of God who spearheaded rebuilding he temple.  He knew the Law just as we are to know the Word.  Because of that, he could finish the temple correctly.  When they finished, many of the people were sad because the temple was not as beautiful on the outside as Solomon's had been.  But others, who had not seen Solomon's temple, rejoiced greatly because they had finished the work.  What was exciting to know was that this temple would have more glory than Solomon's because Christ Himself would come into this temple!!  The glory of God would not just be behind the holy of holies, but in the temple where everyone could see Him!

I think the biggest thing I learned in the books of Ezra and Haggai came from Haggai 1 where God says to "Consider your ways".  The people had not finished the temple,but they had finished their houses.  Verse 4 says, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?".  So many times I do for myself or my house, while neglecting the church.  I know the church is not the building, but I think I need to help keep up my church and not only think of my house's upkeep.  I need to think of paying off the debt of my church's building and not just focus on getting my house's finances in order.  I don't think that working on my house or my family's finances is wrong, but the church building I attend church service in should not be neglected.  Nor should I neglect the actual church, body of believers, to focus only on my family and home.

Nehemiah also focused on giving to the church in part of the book when it talked about the Levites and singers returning home from Jerusalem because they had not received the tithe...they had not been paid.  It is important for Christians to give their tithe.  If we don't, we will hinder the work of God in our church.

The other thing that I learned from Nehemiah involved goodness.  Nehemiah 5:19 says "Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people".  I have a favorite quote by John Wesley that says, "Do all the good you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can."   I know that when talking about doing good, you have to be careful in where your emphasis lies.  You can't just do good for people in order to feel good about yourself.  And in only doing good without sharing Christ, you are not being the witness that you need to be for the Lord.  Having said that, we should do good.  All goodness comes from God and one of the fruit of the Spirit is goodness.  Nehemiah, in his governing of the Israelites, did good; especially for the poor who were in debt and enslaved.  He asked God to remember him for this goodness.  When our life is over and we stand before God, after first relying solely on Jesus as our way to heaven, what then will God say about us?  What rewards will He give us?  What good will He remember that we did?  In sharing Christ with a lost world, we also must share His goodness.  And the only way to share His goodness is to be good to other people. 

So that is how I have pulled my year of Bible study together.  I start Romans tomorrow.  I pray that I don't get as far behind on it as I did this past year.  But I am glad that in sticking with it, I was able to learn from these great men and women of the Old Testament.    

Recipes, and more recipes!!

You would think that with my Southern Living book, that I would have enough recipes to try, but then the fall Southern Living magazine came in the mail!  This not only made me want to make these yummy apple-cinnamon-caramel muffins, but it even got us to drive to NC to pick the apples for the recipe!!  They were really good, although the caramel does melt into the muffin by the next day.  And the stems are just for looks :)

I do want to recap July and August recipes.  Either I was too busy to do much cooking, or the recipes weren't appealing, but I didn't cook as much from my book in the past two months. 

In July, I was able to make some burgers and some egg sandwiches.  I think I was too involved with camps that month!

In August, we had Not Yo Mama's Mac and Cheese!  It was good, however, the boys were not thrilled about the addition of prosciutto.  But any pasta with white Cheddar, Gouda and Parmesan is yummy!  The citrus tacos were ok; I think that I am too spoiled with Taco Spot and can't do any better!  The only other stand out were Lasagne Pizza Cups.  Canned biscuits, beef seasoned with pizza sauce and garlic and onion, ricotta cheese, all topped with mozzarella cheese.  Easy and good.  I even froze extra and sent them to school with Nathan. 

So on to September!  And lots more apple recipes with all my apples!

Pink Lemonade!!

Need I say more!!  I have now succeeded in tasting all of the summer cupcake flavors at Cupcake!  I think I have gained 10 pounds!  The last day I needed was Sunday, and although I was mainly interested in pink lemonade, I also tried the french toast.  French toast wasn't my favorite, and pink lemonade was ok, but there is always red velvet everyday!!!  Can't wait to see what flavors they have for us in the fall :)

Montana

Nathan and I have been slowing down in our virtual trip through the US.  He is growing up, and although he is interested in different states, he is getting busy with his own life.  And homework is increasing.  7th grade has been tough so far. 

But we are trying to keep it up, even if slow.  Montana was our latest state.  We ended it with a meal of pan fried trout and Indian Fry Bread.  We also ended it with a week at home that was a gully washer!  Montana speak for a very heavy rainstorm!

Although I forgot to take pictures, I thought I would share the Indian Fry Bread recipe.  It is very easy, and although I didn't think it was the best (very dense), Dave and Nathan really liked it.  So here it is for when they ask me to make it again.

6 cups flour
3 Tbsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
2.5 cups water

Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.  Slowly add the water and knead with fingers until dough is soft, but not sticky.  Add more water if necessary.  Grease a 9 x 9 baking pan and spread dough inside.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  Eat the bread hot with a dash of butter or jelly.

I only make half of the recipe and it seemed to fill up my 9 x 9 pan and was thick.  I also brushed melted butter on top.  Be careful though and not leave the leftovers out on your counter; even in a sealed Ziploc bag.  Your black lab still may find it and eat it!!

RIP Sparten

Well, we had a pet death today.  Sparten was found in his water bowl this morning, upside down.  Not good.  We figured he wouldn't make it, but Nathan was still upset.  For the past month or so I have been having to force feed him, and even though it looked like he was recovering at one point, he just kept shrinking away.  At first we thought he had a calcium deficiency; but then it looked like he had a parasite problem.  Without finding a herp vet, there wasn't much we could do.  We were even soaking him in Pedialyte.  This only changed his color.  Since I was the one feeding him everyday, I was getting kind of attached to him.  We heard from one knowledgable person, that pet store geckos tend to have these problems.

So we are now without a leopard gecko.  Nathan wants another, but we will have to find a better source of geckos.  And figure out how to not let parasites in his life.  So rest in peace Sparten.  For a cold-blooded reptile, you were pretty cute!

Cupcakes!!

I have become addicted to cupcakes! We like to watch Cupcake Wars at our house and it always makes me want cupcakes. There are three cupcake stores that I know of in Charleston right now, but my favorite has been and continues to be Cupcake. The cupcakes there are so pretty and even though I am not an icing person, I like their icing. This summer I discovered that on the back of their loyalty card is a list of the daily specials for the summer. I used to always get Red Velvet, which is still my favorite, but I thought it would be fun to taste all of the specials; at least the ones that sound good. So far we have made it to every day we want but Sunday. We are missing Pink Lemonade. My favorite special is the Chocolate Strawberry, but Cherry Limeade and Key Lime are really good too. My least favorites are Watermelon (even though it is so cute because is has a green cake, pink frosting, and chocolate chips seeds) because it tastes to candyish (too artificial for you Cupcake War fans!) and Salted Caramel Chocolate. I was really looking forward to the second one, but it was too salty. Although my favorite Cupcake store is downtown Charleston, there are at least 3 others. One in Mt. Pleasant, one in Columbia, and one in Greenville.

 

Chocolate Strawberry, Cherry Limeade, and Creamsicle from Cupcake

 

The other two stores have their merits too. Sugar is another downtown store. What I like about their cupcakes is that they have fillings in many of them, and lots of different flavors like lemon, lime, and orange. Their icing is good too, but their cakes tend to be taste stale. The last store is named Butter, I think. My friend Ashley treated me to their cupcakes recently and the praline cake was really good. The icing to me is not the best, but the cake and praline was delish! So all in all, I am becoming a cupcake connoisseur. And why not...everyone loves cupcakes!!!