Menu Monday 8/11/08

Happy Monday to you!

May each one of you have a blessed day in the Lord today!

Here is my menu for the week:

Monday:

Rosemary & Lemon Chicken (Oprah's recipe)

with Crash Hot Potatoes (Thanks Pioneer Woman!)

Tuesday:

Baked Fish & Veggies from the Garden

Wednesday:

BLT sandwiches w/ tomatoes from my garden.

Aren't they purty?

Thursday:

Pesto Chicken (One of my faves from Elizabeth!)

Friday:

Homemade Pizza Night

(even though it would be so much easier to call Papa Murphey's!)

Saturday:

Ham & Cheese Frittata

Sunday:

???

Hide them in your heart...for children!

I firmly believe this promise from God. I don't just believe it, I'm claiming it for my daughters. Ever since they were little, we have learned scripture together.

We started with Bible Verses put to praise music. Does anyone remember Psalty? Or how about the Gaither's Kids Under Construction? Veggie Tales...Steve Green...so many.

It gets a little harder when they are older, but it's not impossible. I use to post a Bible verse in the kitchen on a decorated plate. Since this is the hub of our home, it is visible to everyone. As part of their chores, they needed to learn the verse of the week.

(I have to be honest, I haven't been as diligent this summer-yikes!)

Teaching Precious Promises to our children is very important! I want them to know that God's Word is alive and active and applicable to every area of our lives.

I received a request from a fellow blogging mom to review her book entitled A Few Simple Steps to Teach Your Child Scripture. It is an excellent source and she is offering it free on her blog. I recommend it highly because it is an excellent tool to help teach our children to hide His Word in their hearts.

I'm off to worship the Most High God with my family. I hope you are worshipping at His feet today too! Oh, He is so worthy!

Sharing the Love & Gratitude Awards!

An award for me? Wow! Thank you Kim!!!!

The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE!!!

Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love.

All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh.

All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog.

**All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same**

Thank you Kim for this award! If I could give it back to you, I would. I don't know how you do it! You are almost always the first to leave a comment on my blog. I look forward to your posts everyday. Thanks for letting me help with your new blog look. It was a blast!

So many of you bless me by visiting my blog. That's why I wrote about you on my Thankful Thursday Post. So, I want to pass this award to all of you. Please, help yourself to this award and pass on the joy. It really is for a good cause.

Since I am a rule follower, I want to pass this award to:

Nikki is a very talented artist! I won her giveaway last week and I can hardly wait to receive these goodies. I'll post pictures whenever they come in the mail. She sells her items on Etsy. Warning! If you go to her Etsy site, you will have a hard time picking just one thing. I always enjoy seeing what she is creating and reading about what God is doing in her life.

Erica has become such a sweet blessing! She has two daughters, just like me, except they are much younger. She dresses them in matching outfits...I miss that sweet stage. She is a wonderful wife and mommy and I always look forward to reading her blog, seeing those precious girls, and reading about what God is doing in their lives.

Elizabeth! Oh, I'm so thankful for you. She is a talented and accomplished chef, and she is so creative. She was the sweet friend that generously explained how to make a diaper cake. (See yesterdays posts). She has a heart for the Lord and for her family.

Denise gave me my first award. I want to "Share the Love" back to her. Her blog is so much fun! This last week she invited all of us on a Tour of Homes. I would have missed out on the fun without her. She always leaves the sweetest comments and I so enjoy reading about her joy-filled life.

_________________________________________________________________

And...another award? OH, my gracious!

After a hard day (a day where I had to fight to keep my joy)

this was quite a surprise:

Melanie blessed me with Gratitude with Attitude Award. Thank you, Melanie! You are absolute joy and I am always blessed when I visit your blog!

I would like to pass this award to:

Denise at Shortybears Place. She has the most beautiful attitude of gratitude to our Heavenly Father. You are a true inspiration!

Cheryl at Hope for Each Day. No matter what is going on in her life or the life of her loved ones, she has a thankful heart. You too are an inspiration!

Angie at The Knightly News. Besides the song on her blog, which is one of my favorites, her heart plays a beautiful melody of gratitude to God in every post that she writes. Yes, another inspiration.

Please, visit these special blogging buddies when you can. You will be blessed!

It's a Diaper Cake, Baby!

I am one of twelve or fourteen hostesses this weekend for a baby shower for our precious new Youth Minister-Intern's wife. She is wonderful, and he is too!

I had the joy of making the invitations.

She told me the nursery would be in blues and browns.

Here is what I came up with.

(I... meaning, me and the Lord)

I was thrilled with how they turned out. We had a shower meeting and couldn't really decide about a table decoration and then I saw Elizabeth's creation! I knew when I saw it that I just had to try to make one. I had never seen one of these before. A diaper cake! Who knew?

She was so gracious and generous to share her instructions and her expertise.

Thanks a million, Elizabeth!

(She is amazing! I've tried several of her recipes and they are wonderful.)

So, with the help of my girls we set out to purchase the supplies.

Have you heard the one about

the three blondes that tried to make a diaper cake???

Oh, I couldn't have done it without their help! Thank you, sweet girls!!!

An hour and a half later this is what we made:

We just fell in love with the little elephant. If you pull his tail, he plays a lullaby. Tiny socks, tiny bows, tiny diapers...I think I need to "go take an Advil" as my sweet hubby would say. Two Advil and the baby fever will pass.

Anyway, it was so much fun! Fun memories with my girls!

Ya'll have a blessed weekend!

Joyfully,

LNT Coupon

I just received this in an email and thought I would share it with all of you!

I think I'll have to visit LNT and purchase some more coffee to use in my anniversary present. Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!

Thankful for Blogging Buddies

"This is the day the LORD has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24.

I'm so thankful for a new day, for the blessing of getting to be a wife and mother to the ones I always dreamed about and hoped for and prayed for, for the blessing of my parents and the joy we have being neighbors and worshipping together at the same church, for our new youth minister intern and his precious wife who are expecting a baby any moment, for my Jesus who is absolutely the best gift I have ever received, I have known Him for 32 years!

And...today I am thankful for you, my blogging buddies! Kristen wrote a blog this week about this "parallel world." She echoed how I feel in my heart. When God began convincing me that I should start writing a blog, I was convinced that it would only last for a week maybe two, because what on earth would I write about and who would care to stop by and read it???

And, what about this safety thing??? He kept encouraging and I finally stepped out in faith. I really thought, I'm not so great about writing consistently in my journal, maybe this could be a sort of journal just for me. And then, you came along. Oh, you have blessed me so much! I'm blown away and so honored that you stop by my blog.

It's hard to explain in word how much you, my friends, mean to me especially when we have never met face to face. I know I'll meet you face to face someday, but maybe not on this side of glory. I've laughed with you, cried with you, prayed for you, rejoiced over your precious "we're expecting" news, watched as your little ones grow, and just enjoyed seeing what God is doing in your lives.

It is a privilege and a joy to be on this journey with you. I've tried to explain it to my other friends, the ones that don't blog, but they just don't get it. Boy, are they missing out! I've learned so much from you. My family has appreciated all of your recipes, encouragements to get better organized, sewing projects (even when I wanted to get out the hot glue gun instead), a new way to display scripture (I just love Word Filled Wednesdays), and this day--each Thursday, a day to actually write down what we are thankful for.

So, today, as many days, I'm thanking God for you and for this special friendship we share. You are special and God and I think you are wonderful!

One of my favorite quotes from Max Lucado's book God Thinks You're Wonderful says, "God is Fond of you. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. If He had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.

It's true! You are wonderful. I hope you realize that today!

Word Filled Wednesdays 8/6/08

Have you taken time to look up today?

Oh, the heavens have been declaring the glory of God this week. I've looked forward to the sunsets and the sunrises like a little child this week.

Each evening and morning seem more beautiful than the last.

God loves to show us a little bit of His glory. Don't miss it.

Take time to look up and marvel at His awesome handiwork.
You will be glad that you did.

P.S. For more Word Filled Wednesdays visit my friends
at the 160 Acre Woods.