I just viewed this video for the first time a few minutes ago on another blog that I follow and I wanted to share it with you all. It moved me to tears within seconds. What a simple but powerful way to share a bit of your testimony.
I know it to be true in my own life that God can take our brokenness, hurts, addictions, shortcomings and use them for His glory and honor to accomplish something so much more than we ever thought possible. If you asked me 8 years ago if I thought the Lord would be using me and my life experiences to further His kingdom, I would have probably told you no way. I know I would have. But I am so glad to know that He can and is using every bit of my story, good and bad for His work.
My cardboard testimony would read something like this-
Front: I thought that I knew better than Him. I ran away as fast as I could.
Back: Now I can’t run to His open arms fast enough.
One last note. You know by now how much I love and relate to music. The song that they use in the video is probably one of my most favorite worship songs to sing in church so I wanted to include that as well.
If you feel like sharing and leaving a comment with what you cardboard testimony would be, I would love to read it! Have a great Sunday everyone.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declare the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
So here is the deal. I like to try new recipes too so I would like to try and get all of you involved with Tasty Tuesday. If you like to cook/bake just as much as I do, I would love it if you would leave a recipe of your own either by leaving a comment or using the Mcklinky below if you have your own blog.
This first recipe is a new one that I just tried for the first time tonight but once I stumbled across it in one of my cook books, I knew that I had to try it since Jay loves buffalo chicken wings. There aren’t a whole lot of ingredients involved and you just place it in the crockpot so it’s a no fuss meal when you couple it with some sort of sandwich. Since there isn’t much too the soup you could try topping it with some celery or crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese and extra sour cream.
Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup
Ingredients
6 c. milk
3 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3 c. shredded cooked chicken (about 1 lb.)
1 c. (8 oz.) sour cream
1/4 c. – 1/2 c. hot pepper sauce
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
Quick Notes
Instead of having to cook chicken, I used canned Tyson chunked chicken. Just take a fork and shred it up before adding it to the other ingredients.
With Valentine’s Day coming up, this is a yummy treat to make that is very festive looking.
Recipe: Raspberry Brownie Dessert
Ingredients
1 package fudge brownie mix
2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 package (3.3 oz.) instant white chocolate pudding mix
1 can (21 oz.) raspberry pie filling
Instructions
Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions, using a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Let cool completely.
In a small bowl mix heavy whipping cream and pudding mix ; whip with a fork until stiff peaks form.
Carefully spread over brownies and top with pie filling.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting.
I have found that raspberry pie filling can be difficult to find, so if you are unable to find raspberry, I suppose that cherry pie filling would taste just as good.
I hope that you all enjoy these two very tasty recipes!
Click here to enter your Tasty Tuesday link and view the entire list of entered links…
This past weekend Jay and I went with 40 some of our youth and the rest of the youth leaders along with some parents of the youth to see the movie “To Save A Life”. I don’t know if you all have it in a theater near you, but if you do, I highly recommend taking the time to go see it. This is a great movie with an awesome message. We need more Christian films like this and the only way that is going to happen is if we go out there and support them. Here is the Focus on the Family “Plugged In” review if you are wanting to know what its all about and prepare yourself, especially if you will be taking any kids with you. I think that I just might have to go see it again, it was that good. Happy viewing!
I have never been one to really grumble about winter, but as I get older, I start to tolerate them less and less each year. I love having the change of the seasons and wearing my jeans and sweaters through the winter months, but come February, I am ready to be done with it. I was feeling a bit in a “blah” kind of mood today after a few bleak days, so I decided to boost my mood with a fresh paint job. On my nails that is! During sandal season, I always have my toes painted some bright, cheery color but during the winter months, I tend to neglect them. It’s funny how something so small could change my mood completely. I don’t normally paint my finger nails because they aren’t usually long enough to do so and I am a stay-at-home wife and mommy so they take quite the beating between dishes, laundry, cleaning etc.
I know I don’t have the most beautiful hands/fingers/fingernails in the world. But hey, at least I shared a picture of my hands instead of my feet
To really top my evening off, Jay surprised me with some beautiful yellow tulips and a Lipton Raspberry Iced Tea (YUM!). I think that he secretly did it so that his sweet gestures would be noted for all of you to see and read Or possibly, he is taking our Bible Study and couples devotions to heart and was just being the wonderful husband that he is. I love sweet little surprises like this that are unexpected. It really is the little things that mean so much.
In other news, Caroline has finally started walking! I am thankful for this milestone, but at the same time it makes me a little sad. She is growing up so quickly and I know that her crawling days will soon be a distant memory just like so many other milestones that come and go. She was so proud of herself when she took off walking that she would get to giggling so hard, it would cause her to fall down. With every other milestone she has had thus far, she has been a little slower than Joel was but she is right on track with him on walking. It has never bothered me that Joel or Caroline were/are late walkers at 15 months. My mentality is keep them down as long as you can! I will try and post some pictures and possibly a video if I can figure that one out of her new found mobility.
It’s been a few weeks since I have done Tasty Tuesday but I am back with a new, super tasty one. Both Jay and I really love asian inspired food so when he requested stir fry for dinner last night I decided to find something new and different. I personally think that the leftovers tasted better the day after. This stir fry can be served over rice or asian noodles or you can eat it all on its own.
Recipe: Cashew Chicken Stir Fry with Mandarin Oranges
Ingredients
1 can (11 oz.) Mandarin Orange Segments
1/4 c. Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce
3 T. oil 2 Skinlees, Boneless Chicken Breasts
1/3 c. Cashews
1 garlic clove, minced
1 med. onion sliced
1 lg. green pepper sliced
Instructions
Reserve 2 T. juice from the oranges and mix with stir fry sauce. Set to the side.
Heat 2 T. oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add chicken, cashews and garlic and stir fry for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Heat remaining oil in the same skillet and add onion and green pepper. Stir fry for 3 minutes.
Add the chicken mixture and stir fry sauce to the skillet and stir to coat.
Remove from heat and gently add mandarin oranges.
Serve over white rice or asian noodles.
Quick Notes
Instead of green pepper, you could also use snow peas.
If you read my post about choosing my “One Word” last week, I just wanted to share this song by Casting Crowns with you. It really goes along with my thoughts in that post and wanted to share it with those of you who may never have heard it before or have and just really love it like I do. I LOVE Casting Crowns in general and this is their newest song. They write some really great stuff that always touches me in some way and gives me encouragement to meet me where I am. Enjoy!
You all will probably think that this is totally weird, but Joel (our 3 year old) LOVES to go to Wal-Mart. If we have not gone there in a day or so, he will ask me if we can go. He is like his momma and loves to go just to go and walk around.
We were inside all day yesterday, so I decided to make a Wal-Mart run for some milk and a few other things. While we were there, Caroline really started to get restless because it was creeping up on lunch and nap time for her. In order to keep her entertained, I handed her my car keys to keep her busy like I usually do and tried to speed along, getting what I needed so we could be on our way. Howver, on our way to the check out, I became distracted by a big ole’ rack of exercise apparel that was marked down to $3.00! I absolutely could not keep on walking without giving it a good look over. So I rummaged through and found some cute little tank tops and a few pairs of shorts. It’s not that I don’t like working out, but I prefer to look cute while doing it. This girl sweats in style! After I decided I had more than enough exercise tanks to last me the next 10 years, I headed to the check out, paid and made my way out to the car. My least favorite part of Ohio winters, by far, is loading and unloading the kids to the car but I refuse to let that keep me down! Just because I am a stay at home mom does not mean I am a homebody. So after I placed and buckled both children into their carseats, loaded the bags into the trunk and took the cart to the cart coral, I climbed into the car, grabbed my keys to start the car and…… NO CAR KEY! COME ON! Of all the keys she would be able to remove from my chain, did it have to be that one??? So I frantically start looking through my purse praying that it’s going to be in there. Nope. Soooo, out I go. I grab my cart out of the coral, unload the kids and head back in to the store to retrace my steps. Needless to say after walking all through the store, there is my key, laying on the floor next to a rack of sweats. Caroline will no longer be using my car keys for entertainment sufficed to say . That little doll face 15 month old is not to be underestimated in her smarts by any means. But the trip was still totally worth it for the super cute workout clothes that I got for next to nothing. I am actually looking forward to working out in the morning in one of my new get-ups. Bring it on Jillian!!!!
So after much prodding from my husband, here I am, making my first post in over a month. I know, I know. I am a down right boring blogger and I will try to work on that.
So you may be wondering about the title of this post. No, I am not loosing it. So please don’t worry about my mental health (although I am the mommy to a 3 year old and 15 month old and feel like I might loose my mind some days). The title actually comes from the first part of the bible verse found in Acts 20:24. This was the very first bible verse that I can remember highlighting in my bible and tucking into my “favorites”. If you are not familiar with this verse it reads:
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
This verse just keeps coming back to me over and over again within the last few days. God has breathed new life into this verse for me after our guest speaker used it in his sermon this past weekend. I left church on Sunday really thinking hard about this verse and how this just sums up my life goal as a Christian.
This morning while I was playing with the kids, we were listening to K- Love on the laptop, and they were talking about having one word. I don’t know how this topic even came up, but they were asking listeners, if you had to choose one word for yourself, what would it be? This word could be something that you want to be, work on, do, become better at, make your mission etc. People were calling in and submitting them on FB or by e-mail and there were some really great ones. So I thought, ok, what would my one word be? What should it be? I like to constantly look for something that I can change or make better about myself. There is always room for growth. Anyhow, my word that I came to was Testify. I suppose that it could also be testimony. There are so many ways that I can make this my word for the year that I don’t even know where to begin. This is an area in my life which I could use some major growth but have always felt uncomfortable and challenged with. I absolutely hate stepping on toes and being in awkward situations. Needless to say, there have been many times that I have been presented with opportunities to share but have not done so because of fear, and I am ashamed of that. This is so much more than stepping on toes, awkward silence or even hurt feelings. My greatest hope would be that all of my friends and family would come to have God’s awesome grace poured out on them the way that I have and if I don’t take God up on His opportunities, then I have not done what He has called me to do. That’s only one way that I can testify however. I think of how I can testify to strangers in the way that I live, testify to my husband and children in the way that I love, testify to my friends and neighbors in the way that I care for them. You get the point.
So what would your word be? I would love to hear them.
A song that K-Love has been playing lately (it’s the only station I listen to if you haven’t picked up on that yet) puts testify into perfect words. It’s by a group called Pocket Full of Rocks and the song is Alive.
I hope to hear back from you with your “one word”.
I know, I know. Its not Tuesday,but I totally forgot to post this week with all of the hectic preparations for Christmas going on around here! I happened to remember tonight as I was making some food for our Yeater Family Christmas tomorrow.
One of the things I was making was my Vanilla Fruit Salad. It is a fairly new recipe that I found to add to my recipe basket, but I had tried something very similar to it many years ago while visiting one of my good friends grandparents up in Michigan at their lake home. I couldn’t help but think of my good friends and their Grandma Hoopie, who is no longer with them. I only had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of times, but she was such a sweet lady and I will always remember my trip to their home when I make this recipe.
I thought this would be a good recipe to share with you all because it is a very easy and light side dish or even dessert that can be put together in no time. It’s a nice alternative to take with you for holiday get togethers that isn’t so heavy.
Recipe: Vanilla Fruit Salad
Ingredients
1 lb. fresh strawberries, quartered
1 1/2 c. seedless red and/or green grapes, halved
2 medium bananas, sliced
2 kiwi fruit, peeled, sliced and quartered
1 c. cubed fresh pineapple
1 can (21 oz.) peach pie filling
3 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the strawberries, grapes, bananas, kiwi and pineapple.
Fold in pie filling and vanilla.
Chill until serving.
Quick Notes
I use a little extra of each fruit so that it is not overpowering with the syrup of the pie filling and vanilla. Also, if you I am trying to work with a tight grocery budget, I will use canned pineapple instead of fresh. If you want to save yourself some extra time, I like to cut up all of the fruit in advance, with the exception of the bananas, and place them in individual containers. Also mix the peach pie filling and vanilla and store. Then all you have to do is dump everything into your serving bowl and add the bananas.
Instead of having a bunch of pop or other options for gatherings, I generally like to serve punch. This is a super easy one to put together and a little bit goes a long way with its tangy, citrus flavor. For some color and festive flair, I made up an ice ring in my silicone bundt pan with cranberries in it. You could also float lemon and orange slices if you don’t want to use an ice ring and serve with ice chipped ice.
Recipe: Sweet Citrus Punch
Ingredients
1 Can (12 oz.) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 can (12 oz.) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 c. grenadine syrup
2 liters ginger ale, chilled
Instructions
Just before serving, combine all the ingredients in a punch bowl and mix.
Add ice ring.
One last thing that I thought I would share with you all is an idea a found for homemade luminaries using mason jars, which I happen to have in excess. I thought I would share some pictures of how my little project turned out (I think they look pretty good). They added the perfect homemade touch to our outdoor decorations and look so pretty lit up at night.
If I don’t get the chance to post again before Christmas, I wish you all a very blessed Christmas with your loved ones! Merry Christmas!
I’m back! I have really been slacking off on my posting but I am trying to work on that.
It’s Tasty Tuesday! Hooray! I decided to pull out some of my old Taste of Home magazines and try all new recipes for the next couple of weeks. As a result of that, I have a couple really yummy recipes to share with you. The first one is Greek stuffed chicken. Jay and I love both feta and olives which makes up the stuffing for this chicken recipe so this recipe is a fun, yummy twist on chicken.
Recipe: Greek Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
4 boneless breast halves
1 package feta cheese (6 oz.)
1 jar of pitted kalamata olives (4 1/2 oz.)
2 T. olive or vegetable oil, divided
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 T. chicken broth
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 medium onion sliced
Instructions
Flatten chicken breast to 1/8 in. thickness and set aside.
In a food processor or blender, combine the cheese, olives, 1 T. oil and oregano; cover and process until the mixture reaches a thick chunky paste consistency. Spread over chicken.
Roll up the chicken and place in a baking dish.
In a bowl, combine the broth, sugar, vinegar, garlic, thyme and oil.
Pour over the chicken and then top the chicken with the sliced onion.
Cover and bake @ 350 for 30 minutes.
Uncover and baste with pan juices.
Bake for 15-20 minutes longer or until juices run clear and chicken is lightly browned.
This next recipe we actually had for dinner tonight and it was a major hit! Especially with the kids. I know so many times I don’t keep pancake mix on hand because it goes bad so quickly so this is a great recipe because you don’t need the mix. These are super yummy and packed with blueberries! Just the way I like them
Recipe: Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes
Ingredients
2 c. all purpose flour
2 packets instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal mix
2 T. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
2 egg whites
1 egg
1 1/2 c. fat free milk
1/2 c. reduced fat sour cream
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
Blueberry sauce:
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 c. sugar
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites, egg, milk and sour cream. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.
Spoon batter onto a hot griddle coated with nonstick cooking spray. Turn when bubbles form on top of pancake; cook until the second side is golden brown.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the syrup ingredients. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 minute; stir. Microwave 2 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly. Serve warm with pancakes.
I hope that you all get a chance to try these recipes and enjoy them! Happy cooking!
