Wednesday Night's Dinner

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts (Blend mayo, parmesan and garlic in a bowl) dry chicken breasts and put on baking pan, spread mayo cheese mixture on top of each breast. Then sprinkle Italian bread crumbs on top and bake at 375* until done. I used Hellman's Recipe for the chicken.

Boil box of elbow mac and drain. Then brown 3tbsp butter in skillet, add 2 tsps of minced garlic, brown, add in 2 tbsp flour and simmer, then add in milk and broth from baked chicken and 1/2 tsp basil, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, pepper and cooked noodles, heat through.

Serve with your favorite veggie.

Autumn Stew (a DeAnna original)

Autumn Stew

3lbs of Pork Stew Meat
2 Large Sweet Potatoes, diced
1 Medium White Potato, diced
10oz Frozen Bag of Corn
1 can Fire Roasted Green Chilies
1 jar Mild Salsa
1 can Pinto Beans, drained
3/4 tsp Moroccan Seasoning
1/2 tsp Salt
1 can Chicken Stock

Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high 6-8 hours. Serve with Corn Muffins.

My tiny tornado of terror.

We are barely in the door from school, the backpacks are still in midair and the fighting and whining begin. There are a multitude of mistakes this Mama has made in the eyes of her youngest. Her underwear is too small (they are perfect), her hairbow was too big, I forgot to pack her lunch (she asked to buy her lunch today) and last but not least I did not pick her up early from school and I promised her a half day at sometime. She runs to her room, slams the door and starts crying. At this moment I have a decision to make, thankfully this is no longer lost on me. I can either show her kindness and Christ's love or I can let my emotions get the better of me and raise my voice and argue with her. I lower myself to her bed, scoop her up in my arms and share with her what God's word says about how we should treat others. I ask her if I can pray with her to help her attitude and get a pouty yes. We pray, she then wraps her arms around my neck and gives me a big wet kiss on the cheek. Then she says something very surprising "Mama I am so glad you love Jesus and Love me too." I breathe a prayer of thanksgiving that this time I made the right choice and showed Christ to my children. I pray that the next time I am in this situation God allows me the presence of mind to again choose a soft answer and His love over what my flesh demands. For in this is how my children will learn to follow our Lord and point others to Him.

Family

Today Donald and I learned in a new way what family is. We have been struggling with our daughter's anxiety and our church attendance. The last time I was at church I ended up in the van with our 7 year old in tears (both of us). How was this good for our church? How was this honoring to God? I came home that day and quit church as far as I was concerned, there was no way I could do this alone and with Donald's work schedule there was not a way for me to have the support and reinforcements I needed. Fast forward to today. We met with one of our pastors with every intention of letting him know we would not be returning. We didn't have a game plan, God had been silent but we knew what we wanted, what was easiest. As we talked our Pastor listened, validated our feelings but then came alongside of us and let us know that we were not walking through this valley alone, that our church was with us no matter what we chose and for whatever we needed. He gave us a new perspective and refreshed us. As we prayed God began giving me a new vision of what He wanted from us and how He could use this valley where we were. Our church loves us even though our contribution as far as volunteering maybe small, they are willing to be our strength when we are weak. Isn't this what family is all about? Not abandoning each other when we think things are too tough? What a blessing we received today and how much lighter our load became just because we finally put aside our pride and sat down and let our brother in Christ know what was going on in our lives. We have received emails of encouragement and they have meant the world and have been a great buoy to our sagging spirits over this month.

 In our spiritual family and in our physical family we need to be sensitive to others needs, provide strength when they are weak and love on them when they feel unloveable and watch God bless! There are going to be times when you are the strong one and there are going to be times when you need the strength of others and that is okay. Just remember to show Christ's love to your family daily however you can!

Sometimes the journey is His gift!

Sometimes we are in a beautiful place without realizing it!

I have always been someone that wants certainty when God asks me to step out in Faith and start a journey. Well, we all know that this almost never happens. God's ways truly are not our ways and it is called Faith for a reason. Today God showed me that sometimes the journey is His gift, not just the outcome. It seems like I would have gotten this message loud and clear when we fostered to adopt...if I did get it I have started forgetting. Today we started on a new journey in our lives. (I will share more information as time goes on, no worries.) I started it looking for those "signs" of certainty and God prodded me to stop, to just sit back and let Him work in our lives. There is a lesson to be learned here for certain but I am not to know what that is just now and that is okay. Somehow this new journey is going to strengthen me and make me a more beautiful child of God. I will be able to minister in new ways and my walk with my Heavenly Father will be stronger if I stay focused on allowing Him to have His will and just accepting what comes. So pray for our family as we strap on our seat belts and enjoy the ride!

Leaving Mediocrity!

We do not serve a mediocre God. As Christians we are to show God and His Character to this dark sin cursed world. God is calling me out of MY mediocrity! What does it mean to be mediocre?

me·di·o·cre

ˌmēdēˈōkər/

adjective: mediocre

1. 1.

   of only moderate quality; not very good.

   "a mediocre actor"

   synonyms:

   ordinary, average, middling, middle-of-the-road, uninspired, undistinguished, indifferent, unexceptional, unexciting, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill, pedestrian, prosaic, lackluster, forgettable, amateur, amateurish; More informalOK, so-so, ‘comme ci, comme ça’, plain-vanilla, fair-to-middling, no great shakes, not up to much, bush-league "a mediocre performance"

   antonyms:

   excellent

Origin

Luke 1:49 ~ "For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name.

 Not very good? We serve a PERFECT God, who has limitless power and is longsuffering toward us and forgiving of our sins and shortcomings. And I have been content, yes content to hide His wonder and magnificence from those that need Him. No more! This act has caused me to be spiritually sick, to miss out on God's best blessings for my life. There is no room for bitterness, jealousy and the like in my walk with Christ or with other Christians. We all have our own unique place in this Family, He doesn't love one more or greater than the others. He died for us all and we need to rally out of our mediocrity and share Him with a lost and dying world that need Him,there is work to be done that is of the utmost importance. We are not to be sidetracked with bitterness, anger and sin. I am to stop intentionally depriving this world of their HOPE. I know that my Heavenly Father calls me to encourage and build up my brothers and sisters in Christ, to witness and share Him with the Lost and when I don't obey I am intentionally (choosing) to deprive others of Christ. That is serious. Christ gave His all for me, because He loved me and He deserves my all.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. ~2 Timothy 1:7

Psalm 28:7-8 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.  The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

Isaiah 33:2 O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

Romans 14:9   Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

Will you join me on my journey to leave the state of mediocrity and travel to the land of Greatness in our Savior?

Choose Someone...

...to shower with love. Lately I have been feeling under-appreciated, unloved even. And you know what? God has sent a small army of people into my life to shower me with love and encouragement. I feel like I radiate from their love and attention. I even feel like I could conquer the world. So this started me to thinking about who can we encourage and influence in a positive way? Who can we reach out to and show them God's love in a profound way. It might be some small treat that they enjoy that no one seems to pay attention to, or a gift card to their favorite coffeehouse. Find some way to love on someone this week and watch what God can do through you!

Whatever else may be said of man, this one thing is clear: He is not what he is capable of being.

~G.K. Chesterton

Spa Birthday

The nail station.

Fruit tray and chips with salsa

Corn Dogs, Homemade Cupcakes

Facial Station

Pickles, BBQ Chips w/ Meat and Cheese Skewers (held together by pretzel sticks)