BBQ

Today, we had a bbq in the park with our some of our dearest friends our church family.  It was such a joy to share the evening with them.  

My Kids

Since I haven't blogged in a while that means I haven't posted any pictures of the kids in awhile either.  So I thought I would post an everyday pic of my kids so you can see how they've grown.  I think you also might be able to see that they have just a tad bit of personality too!

Recognizing His Grace in a BBQ

I took a step back from writing for a long time.  I kept hoping I would be able to write again but each time I have approached it I have sensed, ‘no not time yet’.  Well, I am not hearing that right now but...I am not hearing, ‘go for it’, either.  So, if this is the only blog for a while you’ll know why.  Here goes.

God has been working deeply in me for some time now.  I have had to take a step back to give God time to work.  Over a year ago I started to experience some physical problems that seemed to be very serious.  After many Dr. visits and testing it came to that I have a problem in my heart.  Not my physical one but my spiritual one.  I had some real misconceptions of God and what He expected of me. 

After this long year I have continually sensed Him impressing on my heart that I need to rest in Him and stop striving for His acceptance because I already have it.  I am so grateful to be loved inside and out.  I feel I am freer to live.  I am not as bound up inside myself as I once was.  I am finding that I am doing a lot more living.  In fact today I found myself inviting the entire church to a BBQ at a park in two days.  Wow, now that is living!  I am so grateful that God takes His time and does things well.  Along the way I would have loved to have rushed Him along but now I am beginning to see what kind of workmanship God does.  He is a true craftsman; He knows what He is doing!!!! 

Where have I seen God's grace today???

Where have I seen God's grace today???

To be honest today hasn't not been the easiest of days. I have been feeling overwhelmed and nervous about upcoming events. The to do list seems longer than attention span. My kids weren't terribly excited about doing school today which resulted in more moments of conflict than I would like to recount.

All these things and more caused me to search for God's grace in this day. My concerns about upcoming events haven't completely gone away but I have had the wonderful opportunity to talk through them with my husband who pointed me to a scripture that I had never read in the way he shared with me. It both challenged and convicted me. The to do list didn't get done and I did get distracted many times but...many things did get done. The kids did learn today somethings were academic and other things, the more important things were taught too. Today was one of those days where He was here guiding me and walking me through those not so easy moments but His presence was very subtle and at times I missed it. Many of situations I felt like I blew it but I also deeply feel His forgiveness and love. What an amazing gift of grace, His forgiveness.

Learning to find God's grace

I have come to see that giving grace is next to impossible unless I understand the grace that has been given to me from God through his son Jesus. So I am setting out to look for area's I see God's grace. I am praying as I see and come to know his grace more personally that it will be made real in me and that I will see it working in my life.

Today, I felt that I saw His grace in so many ways. One of the ways I saw His grace was in the way God is meeting out family's needs. God provided for our family in such a way that it was undeniably God. He has a way of showing us He hears and listens that feels like a loving and gentle kiss. I am so very grateful for His eyes looking upon me and my family.

New Cookie Recipe

This week I have tinkered with two cookie recipes. The first one is the toll house cookie recipe. I made the toll house recipe like normal except these three things. I used half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. In another cookie recipe I made months back the recipe it called for dark corn syrup to help make them chewier. So in the toll house recipe I added a tablespoon of dark corn syrup. Finally, I added a tablespoon of coffee. What??? Yep coffee (brewed coffee from earlier in the day). It helped make them more flavorful with adding a touch of color. I didn't taste the coffee but I felt it added a richness in flavor.

Today, I made another cookie recipe for oatmeal cookies.


Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup of butter flavored shorting. I usually use real butter for cookies but shortening seems to work better in this recipe.

1 cup of sugar (I tend to like my cookies a little less sweet so I don't fill the cup all the way to the top)

1 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

2 eggs

Cream together above ingredients

In separate bowl I combined these dry ingredients

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 tsp. of baking soda

1/s tsp of salt

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 Tlbs of flax seed (adds a nice pop and is great for you)

Add dry ingredients to wet and blend

Fold in 3 cups of Old Fashioned Oats (they give a better texture to the cookie)

Fold in one bag of cinnamon chips (this was the first time I used them and we loved them) or chocolate chips, or raisins.

Bake at 375 for 11 minutes

The things I added were, flax seed, whole wheat flour, and cinnamon chips. These cookies have a nice thin layer of crunch on top and are chewy in the middle. Oh, so good.