God’s Word

    So, did anyone else feel the Earth move Saturday night about 11?  We Kansans are TORNADO folks, we know exactly what to do in that circumstance, but an EARTHQUAKE?!  Woah.  Scary stuff.  Apparently Oklahoma had the largest Earthquake in it’s history, 5.6.  Now I don’t know enough about Earthquakes to tell you if Kansas had an earthquake too, or if we just felt the tremors from OKC.  Or an aftershock?  Not sure it was that either, since we felt it simultaneously.  No matter what it was called, it was scary and I believe, a sign of the times…..

Matthew 24:7-8  “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

  Jesus IS returning to take His followers home, are you ready? 

Salvation is as easy as ABC:

Admit you are a sinner, in need of saving.

“There is no one righteous, not even one … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:10 & 23

Believe He died on the cross for your sins.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Confess that Jesus is Lord of your life, and Change your lifestyle so it reflects Christ in you.

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

  If you choose to take these steps, contact a church or trusted friend to pray with you, for you and guide you through your Bible as  you dig into God’s word.  Such promises found there!

  On to today’s already-scheduled post, which just happens to be about God’s Word:

  It is my hearts desire for my children to dig into God’s word as they learn to read. So, you can imagine how my heart leapt for joy, when this is the sight that greeted me after school one day….

Destiny reading my Bible.

  She is fascinated to see what I have highlighted. She also loves to have me give her references to look up in her own Bible. Over the summer she added an New Living Translation Bible to her birthday list, she liked it better than her NIV.  Dale and I both love that translation, so we found her this darling pink one:

This inside is really great too, neat illustrations and mini-devotionals. 

Immediately she began digging into scripture and highlighting passages that spoke to her. 

“Mommy,” she says, “God is changing my heart, I can feel it.  I WANT to read His word!”

Oh my goodness, this brought tears to our eyes!!!!  She is GETTING it! And starting the habit at such an early age, praise the Lord!

  The biggest part of helping my children understand who God created them to be, is encouraging their relationship with the Lord.  I know they will never fully understand who they are, until they understand who God is.

A Parent’s Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this treasured child of mine. Although you have entrusted them to me, I know they belong to you. Like Hannah offered Samuel, I dedicate my children to you, Lord. I recognize that they is always in your care.

Help me as a parent, Lord, with my weaknesses and imperfections. Give me strength and godly wisdom to raise these children after your Holy Word. Please supply what I lack. Keep my child walking on the path that leads to eternal life. Help them to overcome the temptations in this world and the sin that would so easily entangle them.

Dear God, send your Holy Spirit daily to lead and guide them. Ever assist them to grow in wisdom and stature, in grace and knowledge, in kindness, compassion and love. May they serve you faithfully with their whole heart devoted to you. May they discover the joy of your presence through daily relationship with your Son, Jesus.

Help me never to hold on too tightly to this child, nor neglect my responsibilities before you as a parent. Lord, let my commitment to raise this child for the glory of your name cause their lives to forever testify of your faithfulness.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

What a promise! Praise His name!

~T

Be sure to click over to the next post for today:  A yummy soup, full of veggies, sure to warm your tummy!

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Sweets & My Sweet

These Candied Popcorn balls were great! We decided to do Grape flavor, which tasted JUST like a Jolly Rancher. Except chewy. Oh man, was this popcorn good and not healthy at ALL, but hey, you gotta live a little, right?! 🙂

Being Grape popcorn balls, I figured they’d be a bit more, well, you know….

Purple.

Guess that’s what you come to expect from a society that adds dye to EVERYTHING!

Here is a purple tinted photo to put your mind at ease, that these popcorn balls do indeed taste like Grape, despite their non-grapey color in the above photo.

Candied Popcorn

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup White Karo Syrup
• 3-½ ounces, weight Flavored Jello, Your Pick!
• 12 cups Popped Popcorn, lightly salted

Preparation Instructions

In a sauce pan mix the sugar, Jello and syrup.
Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly.
Bring to a light boil or until all the sugar is dissolved.
Then pour over popcorn. Form into balls or spread out on cookie sheet lined in foil or sprayed well. Store in air tight zip lock or Tupperware. Popcorn can also be easily formed into balls and wrapped in tight Saran wrap.
Enjoy! Tastes best fresh, as in that night yet!!

And here is MY sweet~

  I sure don’t get snuggles as much as I used to pre-busy crawler stage.  SIGH, I love bedtime snuggles!

He is SOOOO sweet!

Happy Independence Day!! Enjoy your family!

 

God Bless America……without Him, we are nothing.

~T

  “You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”

~Erma Bombeck

Library Day & Vietnamese Fried Rice

  Once every other month, we head to the library for new books. 

  A LOT of new books! 

  By the time we’ve picked out some for Avery, some for Ty, and chapter books for Destiny, we’ve usually got about 45 books to lug home.

  Because of this, we wait until Monday’s to go, when daddy is home from work early.  Besides helping me haul books to the car, his job is to sit in the rocking chair and read to the children who are done picking out their books, while I run around with the ones still needing to choose.  Paxton just chills in the car seat or on Daddy’s lap, but before I know it, I’ll be helping him pick books too!

  Ty asked to pick his own books out for the first time tonight. 

    “Well sure, buddy! Why not?”

  He came back with 9 books, all called: “The Night Before Christmas”.

  Needless to say, there were a few giggles as we put them all back, and tried again. 

    Speaking of Tylan, he is now the proud owner of his very own library card!!!!

  So what’s the best part of this Library Adventure??????

The next few days are filled with QUIET. 

Beautiful, perfect, peaceful quiet. 

The quiet only broken by the sound of turning pages and the occasional giggle.

I LOVE IT!

  Destiny is getting to be a faster reader, completing a small chapter book during her 1 hour of required reading time.  She does this during the little one’s nap on the weekends.

It is my hearts desire, that my kids love to read.  I can only hope this promotes a life time of reading and a love for it too!

    I adore getting lost in a good Christian novel!!! But alas, I don’t even bother to get books for me anymore.  It’s just mean to see them sitting there, untouched week after week.  I haven’t checked out a book since Paxton was a few months old and reality hit.

Life with 4 is busy! 

  Besides, right now the Lord is asking me to blog during my down time, not read and I am ok with that……. 

Cause I love you guys!  🙂  

  Too bad I won’t be able to take you out to the pool with me this summer. 

  Hmm, I might trade you in for a book those days, but don’t worry, I’ll still talk to you after the kids are asleep…….

Cause you pretty much ROCK!

~T  🙂

P.S.  Thanks to some afternoon prep work, we came home from the library and had this delicious supper ready within 10 minutes:

VIETNAMESE FRIED RICE with CHICKEN

Serves 8

Earlier in the day to make supper go waaaay faster, cook 3 cups brown basamati rice in 6 cups of water. If you feel like continuing your early prep, go ahead and chop your onions and cube your chicken.

Heat in large electric skillet:

6 T. cooking oil

Add:

1 lb. raw chicken, cut into cubes

6 cloves garlic, pressed

1 1/2 –2 large onions, chopped

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. sugar

4 T. Soy Sauce

Stir-fry until meat is tender and hot, 2-3 minutes.

Add: 6-8 cups previously cooked rice

Stir-fry 5 minutes. 

Add:

2 cups frozen veggies such as peas, carrots or green beans

Stir well into rice-meat mixture.

Just before serving time.

Add to a cleared area, 2 eggs, beaten.

Heat and stir until eggs are cooked and mixed through.

Serve hot. 

  This recipe is FANTASTIC! And super cheap. It comes from the “More With Less Cookbook”.  Yum-o!  Making this again ASAP.

This recipe shared with:

Everday Sisters

The Ultimate Beans & Rice Linky Party