{Greek Yogurt}

 I found some recipes on the internet awhile ago that called for Greek yogurt and I finally asked mom to get me some when she went to the store.

I tried the first recipe this morning...

It was a dip for fruit.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 c.  Greek yogurt

2 tbsp. Peanut butter 

Dash of cinnamon

1 tbsp. honey

Combine ingredients!

It was super simple,but it is yummy!! 

Then I decided to try another one of the recipes I found.

Frozen yogurt:

6 ounces  Greek Yogurt

2 TB unsweetened baking cocoa

Stevia to taste

Stir all ingredients until smooth. 

Put in the freezer for 30-45 minutes.

I just tried it a few minutes ago and was not impressed. It wasn't very sweet and didn't taste much like chocolate. I may give it a try again something,with some variations. 

I definitely suggest the dip! It is really good and pretty cheap to make!! 

Good Deals

I think bargain shopping is part of my heritage...my mom,sisters,and I do it,my aunts do it,and my Grandma D. does it...I'd say we are all pretty good at it too. 

You can't beat a good deal!! 

Mom went to Sears the other day after she took me to work. When I came home there was a bag on the sofa.

I will admit the thought did cross my mind that it was something for me.

Alas,I looked in the bag,only to find a shirt for my dad.

I was a little disappointed.

Then my mom started telling me about how it was on clearance and she got another amount off. 

Let me remind you,we are not mall shopping people. When we want clothes we go to thrift stores and buy it second hand-we let someone else pay the ridiculous prices.

Apparently she got some sort of card there and so she earned another $7 off,so she said we should go in sometime. 

We ventured in there today and left with a sweatshirt for my brother...

and a scarf for me. 

I really wasn't going to get it...

but my mom insisted.

Really,she did...

I walked away from it and she kept going on about how nice and spring-like it was...

so I went back and got it.

It was a $24 dollar scarf on clearance for $11.99,with an additional 30% off...

and then my mom had $7 dollars off...

so we got the scarf for a little over $1 ! 

it's double sided polka dots!! 

We walked out of Sears today with a shirt and a scarf and the bill was only a little over $10.

I'm sure my sisters and I will pass on the heritage to our children and grandchildren of bargain shopping...

because who doesn't like a good deal?!?!? 

I'm finally posting about the Caldwell's being at our church like I said I would a week ago. 

They did a number of things while they were at our church...preached at our Sportsmans dinner,taught classes,preached,fellowshipped with us,and so on. It was a real blessing have them here and I learned so much from them. 

We had classes with them on Monday and Tuesday night,4 classes in all. There is so much that could be said about these classes,but I'll try to just highlight a few things. 

Class # 1  was about having Visual Passion in Your Children's Ministry.

 This was more aimed towards the teachers heart. Here are some things that really stuck out to me:

 Bro. Caldwell talked about being engaged in what you are passionate about. He later on mentioned that to be fully engaged means that you must be lost in the person of Jesus Christ. 

He also mentioned that ministry without passion is ineffective. 

"A visual passion will infect people. The message you've got is more important than you. Be foolish for Christ!" 

Class #2 was Teaching Children with a Variety of Visuals 

These guys are masters at visuals. I could say a whole lot about this,but I won't.

"To apply truth in a message or lesson,we must do more than say it,we must show it."

Class #3 was Mystery in Your Children's Ministry

I went to this class out in Ohio at the LLC,but it was good to hear it again. 

"Seek life change...if you are changing,your students will be changing...if you are not achieving life change you need to change something in your class or life." 

Everything involved in ministry takes work-but it is really worth it!! 

Class #4 was Getting Started with Puppets

Let me just say...I am not sure how anyone can sit through this whole class and at the end not want to be a puppeteer! There will definitely be puppets next time I teach junior church. I already asked one of the teen boys in our church to do puppets for me and he is already asking me what the lesson is about!! 

These classes were so good and it is so hard to really write about them briefly. I can't wait to hear them again!! 

Let me burn out for Thee,dear Lord;

Burn and wear out for Thee;

Don't let me rust,or my life be

A failure,my God,to Thee.

Use me and all I have,dear Lord,

And get me so close to Thee

That I feel the throb

Of the great heart of God;

Until I burn out for Thee.

*Taken from the inside cover of "I Must Tell" 

by James Alexander Stewart

All This L♥ve...

 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 

Jeremiah 31:3 

I Resolve Like...

-Noah...to live righteously in a wicked world. 

Genesis 6:8-9

- Enoch...to walk with God.

Genesis 5:22

- Abraham...to live by faith.

Hebrews 11; 8-10

-Aaron and Hur...to uphold the hands of my Spiritual 

leaders. 

Exodus 17:12 

- Caleb and Joshua...to refuse to let superior members lead me astray. 

Numbers 4:6-9

- Joshua... that our family will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15

-Esther... to boldly speak for justice,whatever the consequences.

Esther 4:16

- Job... to trust in God when I do not understand His ways.

Job 13:15

-Daniel... to continue in prayer.

Daniel 6:10

- Andrew... to lead my relatives and friends to the Lord.

John 1:40-41

- Stephen... to have a forgiving attitude toward those who hurt me. 

Acts 7:60

- Mary... to obey God in heartache.

Luke 1:38

- Onesiphorus... to be refreshing to others.

2 Timothy 1:16

- Paul... to forget the past and press toward the mark before me. 

Philippians 3:14

-The Disciples... to fulfill the great commission to preach the Gospel and teach the Word of God.

Mark 16:15

- John... to look forward to the Lord's return.

Revelation 22:20 

-Jesus... to live for others. 

John 15:12

*by Ted Camp 

Profiting from Labour

In all labour there is profit...

Proverbs 14:23

This past Sunday at church we had evangelists in. They are a father-son team. I heard them when I went to the LLC back in November...anyways I'll talk more about them being at our church later. 

The son on this team taught Juniour Church on Sunday morning. Two other teen girls and I helped them,along with his mom.

He preached on 2 Timothy 2...about being a vessel God can use.I needed this message as much as the kids did. I was so excited when he said where he was going to teach from because it is my favorite chapter in the Bible. 

When he gave the invitation at the end several kids raised their hands for Salvation. We took all the ones who raised their hands out of the room. I dealt with the boys and the evangelists mom dealt with the girls. Come to find out 2 out of the 3 boys were already saved and the one who wasn't sure said he wanted to talk to his parents. I did get to talk to the one girl about Salvation while Mrs. Caldwell dealt with the other one and they both accepted Jesus into their hearts!! 

I am so thankful for the opportunity God gave me!! 

It is so amazing to me that God doesn't need me,but He wants me!! 

When the Ice Comes ...

It covers everything...

and it weighs the trees and bushes down...

and along with the trees and bushes it takes the power lines with it...

so since you have no power, you have nothing better to do then to take pictures of it ...

when you're tired of that,you have to find something else to do,so...

you make memories with your brother...that's what I did we played instruments and we made up a pretty good arrangement of "O the Deep,Deep Love of Jesus" if I do say so myself. 

...but really,when the ice comes you remember how thankful you are for the simple things in life,like the lights turning on,and the running water,and appliances working...and you give thanks.

{ Change }

{the view out my window this morning}

Change is hard,but change is good.

I am not one for liking change...

but I am learning to like it.

My sister and I were talking about this. I said something about how sometimes I wish I could just stop the clock so things wouldn't change. Then my sister reminded me.

Change is good.

"I know what you mean about pausing the clock. But then I think about that and I think, if we would've paused at our childhood, we never would have..."

then she went on to list several things that would have never happened had we paused the clock.

~We would have never moved out west.

~We would have never moved to the place we've called home for the last 7 years and had all the wonderful memories from there.

~ We would have never gotten to Denver (referring to our church) she then stated this- "I really cherish the memories from there."

 "So I guess time moving forward isn't a bad thing and there is always going to be things to look back on and see how good it really was that time didn't pause. And there is so much to look forward to yet, even though we might not know what exactly it is."

 Yes Liv,I think your right, if we pause the clock I think we will miss out on many of God's blessings. 

It is still hard to deal with change,but...

 

There is so much to look forward to. 

God can take what seems to look like the worst change of all and make it into one of the most loved and cherished things of your life. 

Just trust Him.

His plan for us is far better then we could ever imagine.

Snow Days

Ok I know this is like the 20th snow that we've had this year,but I am just now posting about the snow. I am mainly posting about this for my sisters....especially the one who wants the snow instead of the spring like weather,she's crazy!!! 

It snowed like crazy today we got over 8 inches of snow in a couple of hours! 

I enjoyed from the inside the warmth of the house...

...and then I actually decided to go outside and enjoy the snow!! 

I had off work so I decided to go out and gallivant in the snow. I went sledding for a little bit...then I got the camera,and had some fun taking pictures. 

 

You can see more pictures by going here. 

After I took some pictures I decided to make a snowman...most all of the snow we have had this year has been really dry (one of the reasons I didn't go out in it),but we finally got a wet,packable,sled-able snow.  Josiah joined me after awhile and made a huge man in the snow. It is kinda strange. My snowman didn't last very long until the dogs got to it. I had fun making it anyways and had fun remembering lots of old memories from snows through the years!! 

Those are some pictures of Josiah building his man in the snow. 

I stayed out until my boots were frozen to my feet and then decided to come in. Maybe I'll go out again tomorrow. The weather forecast looks like we will be getting a lot of snow over the next week so I am sure I will have plenty more opportunities to gallivant again!!