Be Encouraged in Your Season

Dear friends,
God takes us through many seasons in our lives. Some seasons are full of blessings and prosperity. Some seasons are full of pain and sorrow. The Word of God tells us that all these seasons are for our good (Romans 8:28).
I don't know what season you are in, but God wants us to be encouraged in this season.
My friend knew that I needed encouragement and she told me to check out this song by Josh Wilson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MniOtRnCO9I
I found another song by Josh that should encourage us to move...don't just stay in prosperity and blessings, share it with others :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B1Lv8k5pEc
Be encouraged today! Today is God's day, no matter what season you are walking through!
Until next time...

Cupcake Of The Month-Strawberry Surprise

Greetings friends,

So, as promised here is the cupcake of the month, Strawberry Surprise. I actually made these for Valentine's Day, but am just now getting the pictures posted. (I know, slacker!) 

 As with any cake recipe, it is always a good idea to get all ingredients out first (that way I don't leave anything important out of the cupcakes). By the way, the imitation rum complemented the strawberry very well...might try that again with a different recipe.

 Butter, eggs and sugar...my favorite part of any recipe :)

 So the surprise in these cupcakes is strawberry jam. The whole pieces of berry were so yummy in this cupcake!

Okay, now it is time for a confession...these cupcakes were anything but a cupcake. They were so much more like muffins...so in the end, I didn't even frost them. I had some strawberry sorbet that I dolloped on the top. I'm kinda glad that I hadn't planned to take these to anyone and I won't be trying that recipe again. Guess this cupcake adventure was just to remind me to stay humble :)
Until the next adventure...

Singing In The Rain

Hey ya'll!
I was listening to some GLEE songs that my brother had on his phone and I loved the totally hip remixed version of "Singing In The Rain". I love the old movie with Gene Kelly and below is his version of the song. Enjoy it!

As much as I love this song and dance, I always struggled with the comparision of singin' and dancin' in the rain. Rain is not in itself a happy and joyful thing. I mean let's be honest, we don't jump up and down and declare to the world that a rainy day is the best thing that could ever happen to us. If you are like me, you kinda get a little down thinking about the rain.
God has been reminding me that through the rain in my life, He wants to bring joy and peace. He does this by creating character during the rainy seasons of my life. John Paul Jackson said it well in this quote from his book The Art of Hearing God, "Whatever God has promised you, He will prepare you to receive by intentionally allowing situations to arise in your life that are designed to develop your character. At times, it will seem you have experienced the death of your promise" (18).
In other words, the longer the rain, the greater the blessing. So, join me in singing and dancing in the rain :)
Until next time...

Attempt at Homemade Bread

Hey friends,

Do you remember the nursey rhyme "Patty cake, patty cake"? This is one of the verses:

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Roll it up, roll it up;

And throw it in a pan!

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man.

Simple right...
My friend Mary and I also thought that homemade wheat bread would be simple to make too. Umm...we were wrong.

                            

 Getting all the ingredients together was simple enough. Nothing too scary yet.

 Dough made and ready for the first process of kneading...this is where things became a bit scary :)

 We kneaded that dough...and we kneaded that dough...and we kneaded that dough!!!

 We threw it in a pan and waited...

 YEAH!!! It doubled in size, just like it was suppose to. We were thrilled!

It didn't even cool down before almost all of it was gone. It was delicious! I have to say though, the whole process took about 3 hours and involved a bit of sweat, but thankfully no tears :)
The smell of homemade bread is so comforting and making it was fun. However, Mary and I have decided that a bread machine is something that we both want to invest in for our future kitchens.
Until the next adventure...

Waterfalls and Streams

Dear friends,

I am inspired by nature. I am very much like David from the Bible. If I am having a hard day and want to escape...I want to be outside. If I am having a great day and want to celebrate...I simply want to be in nature. It is a place where my spirit and soul are at rest.

During one of my recent hiking trips, God showed me something valuable about waterfalls and streams.

Waterfalls are mighty and powerful! There is a lot of water that flows through waterfalls every day. The force of the water flowing over a waterfall is nomally very great. I have even known of people drowning because they were forced under a waterfall and the force of the water was too great for them to escape. 

Streams on the other hand are steady, calm and peaceful. There is not as much water flowing through them as with waterfalls. And the force of their waters is gentle. But don't miss a streams importance. If it weren't for streams, I would not have drinking water in my kitchen. If there were no streams, there would be no mighty waterfalls.
You see what I think God wanted me to learn was that every person is like water. Some of us are mighty waterfalls, moving water quickly and powerfully. These are the people who are rocking the world and changing lives with the power of the Holy Spirit. Some of us are like the streams,  moving water with steady, peaceful and calm movements. These are the people who build relationship with purpose and care. These are the people who rock one persons life at a time.
You see, God wants to use both types of people. There is not one type that is right or wrong. God needs both types of people to help build His kingdom.
Be encouraged today, if you are His child, then He wants to use you. It doesn't matter what type of water you are, He can and will use you!
"This man is a chosen instrument of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the descendants of Israel;" -Acts 9:15
May you and I be instruments of God today!
Until my next adventure...

A Jump On Spring Cleaning or Just Plain Rusty

Hey friends,
So I got this crazy idea to start cleaning out my whole room...this may seem like a simple task, but you obviously haven't seen my room if you think this. Let's just say that I use every inch of my room. It is normally somewhat organized, but there is something in every nook and cranny of my room. I not only decided to clean my room, but I have for quite some time felt that I needed to purge my room. So, that is the task that I have undertaken...I think I have lost my mind :) At the very least, I may lose my mind before this project is over.
Anyway, I opened the pretty pink chest that has always sat at the end of my bed and to my surprise I found some of my precious books that I read when I was just a babe. What nearly knocked me off my feet was the horrible smell of decaying paper. Yuck!!! Not the kind of odor that you want in your bedroom.
So, I quickly moved all the books that I wanted to keep into a plastic container and realized that the smell was coming from the chest itself. Hmmm...I was thinking it was time for the chest to find a new place of residence. Then...I moved the chest.
To my unpleasant surprise I found a dry rust stain that was about 2 feet wide. YIKES!!! Can I just say that rust stains don't normally just come up with a regular carpet cleaner.
Being the resourceful person that I am, I immediately went online to find a solution. There were many solutions, so the hard part was deciding which one to try first.
I decided to try cream of tartar mixed with water that made a paste. This helped, but didn't do away with the stain. It made for a few funny comments from my family, because it really looked like I had smeared toothpaste all over my carpet.
Anyway, on to lemon juice mixed with water. I sprayed this directly on the stain and left it for about 7 minutes (I read that it could take the color out of the carpet if let for more than 10 minutes). This did take some of the stain away. So now I was left with a stain that was about 1 foot wide.
Decided to try plain dish detergent mixed into water. I dabbed this all over the stain. This process was again very comical to my family. My dad thought that it looked like I was pumping someones stomach...I became quite involved in the dabbing process :) This process really didn't make any difference at all. Just good for a few laughs!
So, now it was time to turn to the chemical based cleaners. They didn't work at all! (I declare this as a tear or two escape.)
I suppose my only option for the moment is to cover it with a rug. If you have any thoughts that would help in my quest for a rust-free carpet, let me know.
Until the next adventure...

My Favorite Spot and Deer

Dear friends,                                       

This is a picture of my favorite spot. This is the place that I go to be still and hang out with Jesus. It is so peaceful in my spot!
I was so excited that it was a sunny day and I was able to hike to my favorite spot. I was reflecting and praying as I hiked into the woods, so I suppose for once I was being quiet. If you know me that well, you know that being quiet is not my strongest quality :)
Anyway, as I turned the corner, there were two beautiful white-tailed deer drinking at one of the streams along the way. It was a moment of bliss and then it was over. They realized I was there and ran toward the other side of the mountain.
In this moment God reminded me of why I was headed into the woods...to be with Him. This scripture immediately came to mind:

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?" Psalm 42: 1-2

I also had another thought as I hiked a little more before getting to my spot. Do I long to meet daily with God? Do I really thirst for His presence? On this day, I know that I did long greatly for His presence. I am so glad that He and I got to enjoy some precious time together.
Do you long for His presence?