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Breaking down idols

“All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” Joshua 24:23

I am going to confess here to an idol I struggle with that I think a lot of moms today struggle with.  This idea of "me time."  I know that there are benefits from getting out and refreshing yourself.  Whether that be with exercise, friends, a date with the Husband, anything really.  But it becomes a problem when you feel like you can't function in your home until you get one.  Well that has been me.  Since moving to the country I no longer go out 3-5 nights a week to work out.  I do it in my home.  And for me its the whole getting out of the house with no kids that helps me reboot.  It is harder to do that now.  So when you combine sick kids, visiting family and holidays I have been feeling like I need a break.  And even though its true, I have started to worship the idol of needing some "me time." 

They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall.  Psalm 106:36

Well this is me right now.  I am worshipping my idol and am not functioning in my home the way God has called me.  My kids are suffering, my husband is suffering, my friendships are suffering. And most importantly my relationship with God is suffering-greatly.  

I have a place to go other than reboot in a worldly way.  Because I have been feeling overwhelmed-stressed-suffocated- I have been walking away from the one that gives me all my strength and sustenance and instead been moping-complaining-getting angry.  Why I do this... well because I'm still living in my sinful fallen body and yet wanting the new world!  It's really the whole Romans 7 Struggle that Paul addresses:

 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. ¹⁶ But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

¹⁸ And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[d] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. ¹⁹ I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. ²⁰ But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹ I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. ²² I love God’s law with all my heart. ²³ But there is another power^[e] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.²⁴ Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? ²⁵ Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

It is not easy to do this.  To say I'm not gonna mope and complain about my "hard" life (not really that hard- the real problem is my discontent heart.)  But I am thankful that God loves me where I'm at and is there to help me move out of myself and closer to Him.  Boy, I can't tell you how often I am SO  thankful that he doesn't get as angry with me when I screw up AGAIN, like I do with my kids.  His unconditional love blows me away.  I pray it never stops moving me.  

Though the nations around us follow their idols, we will follow the LORD our God forever and ever. Micah 4:5

So today, through God's prodding, I am going to pray for a change of heart.  I am going to beg for His power to work through this day with a cheerful, gracious, loving heart.  I want Him to shine through me today.  Please know, that it is nothing in myself (because I am pretty ugly inside) that allows me to be a good Momma, Wife, Sister, Daughter, Friend.  It is only God's grace changing me, moment by moment that I am the person I am today.  PRAISE HIM!!!

French Toast Casserole

So I made this super easy delicious (can be healthy-ish) French Toast Casserole.  I had a whole bunch of bread that I had to use up.  So I found this recipe to make french toast casserole.  It uses about a whole loaf of bread- perfect!  And I have seen tons of recipes before but they were too involved or I thought not having the exact bread would ruin it.

Now this recipe did call for Texas Toast but I used just regular Whole Wheat bread.  I will post the recipe and give the original link.  I will then tell you how I adapted it twice!

Ingredient Checklist

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

1 cup brown sugar

1 loaf Texas toast
4 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1. Melt butter in microwave & add brown sugar....stir till mixed.
2. Pour butter/sugar mix into bottom of 9 x 13 pan....spread around
3. Beat eggs, milk, & vanilla
4. Lay single layer of Texas Toast in pan
5. Spoon 1/2 of egg mixture on bread layer
6. Add 2nd layer of Texas Toast
7. Spoon on remaining egg mixture
8. Cover & chill in fridge overnight
9. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes (covered for the first 30 minutes)
10. Sprinkle with powdered sugar
11. Serve with warm maple syrup

Ok so the first time I made it, I was using up my Whole Wheat bread and I made it for dinner.  So when I put the egg mixture on the layers, I just spooned enough on each layer to soak the bread.  So I probably had about 1/3 of the egg mixture left over.  I also made it around 10 in the morning and started cooking it around 5:00pm

Now for the more decadent version I made lol  My husband (and my kids) really loved this casserole so he begged me to make it again.  I had suggested doing a Stuffed version this time, and off to the store we went.

So for the bread, the first layer was the whole wheat bread and the second layer was Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Bread :)  I still did the Brown Sugar bottom, then the Whole Wheat, spooned egg mixture.  Now this is where I changed it up.  I got Strawberry flavored cream cheese.  I spread a thick layer on each piece of the Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Bread that I was using for the second layer.  After the second layer was laid, I again  spooned just enough egg mixture on that layer.  Now I did go back and put a second layer of egg on the Pepperidge Farm Bread because it seemed like it could use a little more.  This time because the dear husband was sooooo hungry I did not soak it but put it right in the the oven.  As my husband said "This is the single most amazing thing you have ever done in your life. I'm speechless"

If you have any questions, post them in the comments and I will answer them for you!

Veggie Pancakes

Ok So I posted a photo on Facebook about these Veggie pancakes I made, and there was some interest in the recipe and how they turned out so I thought I would write a blog post about them.

So they are definitely NOT a breakfast pancake.  But depending on how much you eat could be a meal or just part of the meal.

So I got the recipe from http://weelicious.com/2009/04/15/veggie-pancakes/ 

I doubled my recipe.  The adaptations I made are as follows:

-I used 3/4 White Whole Wheat flour and 1/4 cup flour.  I only did this because I ran out of the WWW flour.

-I used frozen carrots that I thawed and then chopped in my food processor

-I used the full amount of salt but I will be cutting it in half the next time.  

They are definitely a softer pancake, so if you want it more crispy, you will need to put them in the oven to dry them out a little bit.  I did freeze mine.  I let them cool and then portioned them out and into ziploc bags.  They reheat well.  I start in the microwave and then finish then in the toaster.  

The verdict?  I like them alot!  Especially with some dip.  Bella kinda likes them, Ada loves them (She's my veggie lover) and Caiden only eats them if he's really hungry and it's the first thing on his plate lol (he is not a veggie lover lol)  

I will definitely be making these again.  Not too much work and they are pretty healthy and filling!

Braided Curls/Waves

So in the heat and humidity of summer, I am a "Do as little as possible" kinda girl when it comes to my hair.  However my hair likes to go CRAZY in the humidity. I mean crazy wolf like hair (as a child I obtained the nick name SheWolf because of my hair)

So I can't just let it dry on its own.  It's very thick and when I let it go curly naturally it's very heavy and HOT!  

So my first hair tutorial.. and maybe my only haha

So this is the finished product....

All you do is a french braid starting at the temples.  If you start higher, the waves will be closer to the crown.  I like the loose wave look and straighter bangs - Hence starting down lower.

I do this after I take a shower and my hair is still damp.  So not right when you get out of the shower, but after your hair has some time to dry.

Then I sleep in it.  When I wake up I let it out and put some of this texture cream in.  I love this stuff.  It gives it some stick and volume but not crunchy!

There you have it! Hope you all enjoy my very amateur tutorial :)

"Give Them Grace"

I have been recently been feeling a "new" tug from God.  I have been feeling like my Faith needs to be more Christ centered and less Works centered.  Now I never would have said my faith was works centered, but what I was trying to get/learn from the bible was more How-to and less Jesus.

But God has been showing me that if I wanna know what to do in every situation, I need to look to Jesus. Not just as the Supreme example, but as my Source!

One specific area this perspective has changed greatly is my childrearing.  I found myself frantically trying to find ways, tips, advice on how to raise my children so that they had the best chance of being saved as they got older.  So because I was coming at it from the angle of "My acts save my children" or at least play the biggest role, I was going about parenting all wrong.  And I was living in an almost crippling fear that every time I screwed up, which is WAY more than I can count and probably even know, I was crushing their chances to be saved.  In all I do as a parent, my greatest goal is their salvation.  I want them to know the love of Jesus, so rich and so full, and His power for our lives.

So how did this look in everyday parenting?  It may not seem so bad- especially compared to how the world might parent- but it is light years away from how God really calls me to parent.

I would recite Scriptures to my children, as if these Laws of the Scripture would motivate them to obey.  Tell me- when does a law motivate you to obey???  Now I am NOT saying you should never quote Scripture to your children in the midst of their sin or even in an encouragement.  But it CANNOT STAY THERE.  The Law is meant to crush us and our utter inability to keep it.  This is then supposed to THROW us to Christ.  But I wasn't showing that to my kids.

So now instead of just saying,

 "Bella, Love is..."

Bella: "kind" (1 Corinthians 13:1)

I now then say "Now God expects you to be kind, and its really hard.  That's why we need Jesus. He was kind when we couldn't be, and he will help you be kind if you ask him to."  We then usually pray.  If she wants to I let her.  But if not I will pray for her.  I will pray the Gospel message so she can hear it even more.

I was also damaging the power of the Gospel and Love of Christ, by not accepting my own failures and expressing my need of Jesus in the midst of them.  I had this faulty view that by failing I was showing my kids that Jesus isn't big enough to help you.  Oh how twisted we make things.  NO, by my failure I can show them that God loves me if I'm Bad or Good and He GAVE ME JESUS.  I can show them that my faith is not dependent on how well I parent them (obey) but on Christ's blood and righteousness.  

So when we had devotions at breakfast, we talked about being thankful in all things and what Christ has to do with that.  When we prayed I asked God to save the children from their sins, then I asked that God would save me from my sins today and I became overwhelmed with His unconditional love for us and began to cry.  Bella saw mommy crying because of how much God loves her.  Now that is a beautiful picture for Bella to see.

Now to give credit where credit is due.   The Lord has used several books to help me see these truths.  "Loving the Little Years" by Rachel Jankovic is so practical in everyday experiences and gives you specific words and ways to express these things.  "Give Them Grace" by Elise Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson will change you and your perspective on parenting.  My husband and I have been going through this book and we aren't even that far yet but it has been Christ centering.  And finally I have been going through a devotional "Just like Jesus" by Max Lucado.

May we love and live like Jesus.

Thankful for my Stubborn Child

So out of my 3 children, I have one that is particularly difficult.  The moment something is not their way, there is an immediate, usually full blown fit.

This entails screaming, throwing themselves on the floor, hitting the offender, flailing and so on.

As this happens SEVERAL times throughout the day (as this is the only way the child knows how to deal with their emotions at this point) there is a lot of disciplining and correcting.  But this also allows WAY more opportunities of pointing this child to Christ then my other children.

Yes, I often FAIL and don't correct them with the right motives, or the right way.  BUT what I am thankful for is as I finish the correction and I say to my child, "I love you and I hate to see you sin honey- it breaks my heart."  I often end up crying a little because I see the absolute struggle for them and my heart breaks because I know how hard of a battle this will be for them as they get older.

I desperately want to take away the deep struggle they face, and then as I think about those feelings of love and compassion I have for that child in the midst of those constant battles they face, I think about how every time I stubbornly disobey -kick and scream like a little child- my Heavenly Father weeps over me and lovingly disciplines me.

I would have NEVER understood the DEPTH of this love He has for us if it wasn't for my Stubborn Child.

So yes it makes for a difficult day, and I often would trade anything for a more pleasant child (usually when my focus is on me and not Christ's love and goals for us)  BUT I am so thankful for just another little glimpse into the depth of God's love for us!