This morning I woke to hear Michael W. Smith crooning on the radio, an old hymn written by Helen Lemmel…..

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace.”

Last week a wise and godly person shared some advise with me, she said, “Hold tightly to what is eternal, but loosely to what is temporal”.  Ahhh, something I need to remind myself of daily!   So easy to say, but so difficult to do sometimes!  And yet it makes perfect sense!   Why stress out on things that one year from now we won’t even remember? 

Col. 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things”.   That is my prayer and my desire for today, and the rest of 2012 – to not stress out on the material things, but keep my focus ”on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”.   Happy 2012!!!

So this week we sat down, and made a list of “pros & cons”.  

I was quick to compose a list of cons:
-miss a test at school on Friday,
-miss Marching Band Friday night,
-cost of the trip,
-loss of sleep,
-and a whole slew of other parental concerns.

Megan, however, squarely met those with a valid list of pros, (some of which are too personal to share publicly).  She had some really good points!

Yesterday morning, Megan and I were sitting in chapel, and Pastor Shannon started sharing from the book of Jonah.   It was a wonderful message, and as he spoke, it was as if God was speaking to me!   Shannon’s main point was, “People are more important than our comfort”.   Ouch!!!!   Here my daughter is wanting to go to share the Gospel with others, and I was worried about “my comfort”, and minor inconveniences that I’d have to deal with.

So after much prayer, it is with a renewed frame of thinking, and a blessing, that I send my daughter off this weekend to serve God and share His Love with others!   That’s not something that I was willing to do a week ago.   It’s amazing how God can work in your heart and mind, when one is open to do His Will! 

1. Take my life and let it be
   Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
   Take my moments and my days,
   Let them flow in endless praise.
2. Take my hands and let them move
   At the impulse of Thy love.
   Take my feet and let them be
   Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3. Take my will and make it Thine,
   It shall be no longer mine.
   Take my heart, it is Thine own,
   It shall be Thy royal throne.
4. Take my love, my Lord, I pour
   At Thy feet its treasure store.
   Take myself and I will be
   Ever, only, all for Thee.(by – Frances R. Havergal)

I got this recipe from my friend, Cinda, and was excited to try it.  These donuts are baked, not fried - a little more healthy that way, and a whole lot easier!

Sugar-and-Spice Doughnuts

1  1/2 cup flour     (I used Jules GF flour)
1 cup sugar      (I used WAY less!)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t  salt
1/4 t  ground cinnamon
1/4 t  ground nutmeg
2 large eggs   (at room temp)
1/4 cup veg oil
1/2 cup milk    (I used DF milk)

Mix dry ingredients.  Mix wet ingredients.  Combine.
Pour into donut pan.   Fill rings about 1/2 full.  (don’t over fill, it will puff up as it bakes)
- I got donut pans at Michael’s Craft Store  (use 50% off coupon, )
Bake @ 375 for about 10 minutes (?).
(should make about 15 donuts)

Mix:
1/4 cup sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t salt

Dredge warm donuts in the spiced sugar to coat.

You can also coat donuts other ways:
-cover with chocolate
-shake in bag with powdered sugar
-make a glaze to drizzle

Be creative!     Enjoy!!!

“This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24

Not a bad reminder to start the day out with! 

So this week I’ve decided to look for something good when faced with things I’d rather not do.   To start off with, I’d rather not run to Bradley High School twice a day for the next 3 weeks!   This morning, the boys and I were in the basement cleaning up, and way back in the closet I came across this OLD case.   We brought it out, cleaned it up, and opened it.   Landon said, “what’s that?”   It was a case filled with old cassette tapes that Scott and I had collected way back in our youth!

Oh what fun reading the labels and song titles, and reminiscing!!     If you were into Christian contemporary music in the 80′s, I mean who could forget Farrell & Farrell’s “People in a Box”, David & the Giant’s “He’s Got it Under Control”, Steve Taylor’s “Meltdown”, and even DC Talk (all of them!)???

Those were a few of my favorites, I’m sure Scott would have memories with his White Cross, Degarmo & Key, Stryper, and 10 Petra cassettes!    Of course there were many more: Russ Taff, Michael W Smith, Amy Grant, Mylon LaFevre, …….

Ok, here’s the good part.   The only cassette player that we have is…… in our van!   I’m so excited to jump in the van and play a different tape every time I go and pick up Megan at Band Camp now.  

If we just take a minute to look for something good or positive in every situation, it will make the chore much more bearable! 

I was looking online for homemade ice cream recipes, and came across this recipe for One Ingredient Ice Cream – just bananas, that’s all you need (no dairy, no sugar, no soy)!!!   So the boys and I decided to try it today.   It was so creamy and delicious!   We ate it with a spoonful of peanut butter on the side.  Who doesn’t like PB and bananas?    

One Ingredient Ice Cream
Adapted from The Kitchnn

• ripe bananas

1. Peel and chop the bananas up into bite-sized pieces.
2. Freeze the banana pieces in a single layer for 1-2 hours (or up to overnight, just let them defrost in the fridge or on the counter to be soft enough to pulverize in the food processor).
4. Place banana pieces in a bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until the texture is smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides if necessary.   (I used a Ninja, and it only took less than 1 minute)
5. Serve using an ice cream scoop. If using, top with add-ins. Store remaining ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer.

Add-in Ideas:

• blueberries
• strawberries
• caramel
• chocolate sauce
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• coconut flakes
• honey
• nutella
• peanut butter
• pecans (toasted, candied, salted)
• vanilla

It was kind of ironic that as I was driving to the grocery store for a “mommy”  time out!!!,  this song by Trace Adkins came on.    Now that school is over, the kids are home and some days feel like they are full of : more cooking, cleaning up messes, settling squabbles…….. arggggg - “Calgon: Take me away”!!!!!

But these days will fly by, and the time will come when there will be no more little feet running in the house, no more Lego’s on the floor to stumble over, no more laughter at silly jokes, no more squeaky violin practices, or chords blaring from the amp……….  and I’m gonna miss it!!!!!!

This one turned out delicious!    It tasted almost like I remember Pizza Hut’s Pan Pizza tasting!   On the down side, it did take t-i-m-e to make; 1 hour to raise, 1 hour to chill, 1/2 hour to bake, and another 15 minutes to let rest (almost 3 hours).

I made this pizza loaded with all kinds of veggies; onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black olives, – tossed in a little meat too.   At our house this one is called “Mommy’s Pizza”.   (I’d share if they’d eat it) 

I also made a Meat Lovers Deep Dish, and our usual Hawaiian pizza.

A great way to end a relaxing Saturday; eating pizza and watching Reds Baseball (too bad the Reds didn’t win!)! 

This was a sad week for Buckeye fans.   As most of the nation is aware, coach Jim Tressel resigned from his job as head coach of The OSU Buckeyes, due to some poor choices he made!    Jim Tressel is a Christian man, but he is also human and makes mistakes like the rest of us.  

This week had me thinking a lot about mistakes we make and the forgiveness that is available when we mess up.   The Bible is full of Godly men who blew it. 

-For example David, “a man after God’s own heart” (I Sam. 13:14), messed up big time with “Bubble Bath Sheba”, yet there was forgiveness and restoration.
-Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, persecuted Christians (how much horrible can you get?!?), yet due to a supernatural spiritual experience, he was converted and forgiven, and went on to write about 25% of the New Testament scriptures. 
-Peter, the one with the ultimate denial of Christ, received forgiveness when he wept bitterly and repented of his sin!  He went on to be very influential in the early church.

Christians are just like everyone else; we mess up, we make mistakes, we’re not perfect.   But the one thing that does separate us, is the forgiveness that we receive through Jesus Christ.    I John 1:9 is very clear, “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”.  Thank you God for Your forgiveness!!!

I don’t usually take naps, but I did today, and when I woke up 2 hours later – totally refreshed, I discovered that Scott had found a recipe for GF Hamburger Buns (from Jules Gluten Free Flour), and made them for me!    Very brave of him (and totally sweet)!!   I had never made this recipe before, and working with GF bread is very different from baking regular bread!

Let me just say, he did marvelous!!!   These hamburger buns were delicious!  They were so soft, moist, and just a hint sweet.    I’m hooked!!!    Did I mention that I have the best husband ever!?!     Thanks Scott!!!