Love Story

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Baby Dedication

This past weekend was one of the two weekends of the year devoted to baby dedications at our church. In the month leading up to it parents of little ones who are interested in taking part in this weekend take a class to learn what our church believes in regards to baby dedication. For those of you not familiar, a baby dedication is a ceremony in which believing parents, and sometimes entire families, make a commitment before the Lord to submit a child to God's will and to raise that child according to God's Word and God's ways. This is not the same as baby baptism, a practice we don't believe in as we think it is a personal choice to be baptized and something a child should do willingly at an age of consent.

Having taken part in the class and agreed to our church's beliefs about baby dedication we made the decision to not only dedicate Isaiah, but also Nathan and Jordan as we were not members of a church when they were born. Sunday morning we got them all dressed up and waited for the family who was going to be attending to show up at our house.

This was the first time the boys had been in service with us as they are normally in their individual kids classrooms so we were a little apprehensive of how they would do. Jordan wasn't thrilled to be missing out on his class so he was not as cooperative as we would like (shocker!) but Nathan loved worship and was clapping and dancing to the music. Before we knew it it was time to go up on the stage. There were two other families, both with baby girls named Sophia, and we all waited as our pastor shared with the congregation the importance of what we were committing to. He then asked us if we were committed to God, to our marriage and to raising our child(ren) in a godly way. He also asked the church to do their part in praying for us and walking along side us as we take on this mission.

The boys did great on stage, Nathan was funny because he kept watching himself on the big screen and making all these funny movements to see if the boy on the screen would follow. It was awesome having Jeremy's family there with us and while I missed my family I knew they were all there in spirit. We feel so blessed to have all of these people supporting us as we commit to raising our sons to be men of God. It is such a huge responsibility and I am comforted knowing we are not going it alone. I am excited to take this journey, I know it will not all be easy but I believe God's promise in Proverbs 22:6, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."










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Monday, November 15, 2010

A Woman After God's Own Heart



I am so excited to be diving into a new book with my woman's Bible study. We have chosen A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. This wasn't even my first choice but as I browse through it and begin to look at the message I realize that this is exactly the book I need to be reading in this moment and time. It deals with the topic of priorities starting with God and moving through husband, children, our homes and our ministry. This is an area where I have been really convicted lately. I feel like I am not being a good steward of the time God has given me, especially when it comes to home and family.

I was just doing a devotional last night that touched on Proverbs 31:27 "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat of the bread of idleness." This is something that I need to be praying on daily. Not only does it remind me that I am in charge of the presentation of our home, but that watching over the affairs of my household includes being aware of the needs of my family members. I am lucky that I am able to stay home to raise my children and meet my husband when he walks in the front door. I want to treat that job with the respect it deserves and give it my all. I can honestly say I am not doing that at this point.

I look forward to sharing more with you as I get into this book as I know that God is going to use it in powerful ways to speak to where I am at in life right now. I love that He is patient with us as we grow into the women of God He has designed us to be. I know that this will be a life long transformation and I pray that I will continue to do it with an open heart and that God makes me transparent so that in the areas I stumble He can be glorified.





  Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Chicken, Chicken, Chicken....did I mention Chicken???

I mentioned awhile back that I was getting a great deal on some chicken from Zaycon Foods. So last Saturday we picked up our 40 lbs and drove 20 lbs of it to my in-laws. I took my 20 lbs home and decided to spend some time getting them meal ready to save me time down the road. All in all I prepped the chicken for 11 meals and had about 5 lbs of chicken left to freeze and use later. Here is the chicken all chopped/sliced/trimmed and separated by Ziplocs:



Here are the recipes I am using the chicken in (this is the list I am keeping on my computer for reference, hence the notes). In most cases I just cut up the amount of chicken needed in the recipe and then wrote on the Ziploc. Those that were supposed to be marinated, I tossed in the marinade as well before freezing. For the fajitas, I even through in the onion and green pepper. Talk about ready to serve! To be even more organized, I used the dry erase board above our chest freezer to write down all the meals so all I had to do was glance at it when doing my meal planning. Anyway, here is the list, hope you find some new things to add to your dinner menu:)

1. Pretzel Crusted Chicken with Cheddar Mustard Sauce (4 chicken breasts)
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/pretzel-crusted-chicken-breasts-with-cheddar-mustard-sauce/

2. Chicken Nuggets x2 (2 lbs cut into small chunks)
Deceptively Delicious (pg. 75) - This is a cookbook I have, you add pureed broccoli to the egg when dipping your chicken...tasty and nutritious!

3. Breakfast Casserole (2 cups cubed chicken)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Breakfast-Casserole/Detail.aspx
* Use 2 cups chicken instead of ham, mix French onion mix into sour cream instead of raw onions

4. Chicken Tacos x2 (2 lbs cut into ½ inch pieces and marinated)
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/chicken-tacos-52514.aspx
*Cook marinated chicken instead of adding sauce later

5. BBQ Chicken Salad Sandwiches (1 ½ lbs , halved and marinated)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Barbecued-Chicken-Salad-Sandwiches/Detail.aspx

6. Chicken Fajitas x2 (2 lbs cut into ½ inch strips, marinated plus gr peppers and onions)
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/easy-chicken-fajitas

7. Chicken Enchiladas (2 cups chopped)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-chicken-enchiladas-2/detail.aspx

8. Nacho Chicken Casserole (2 cups cubed) double for 1 meal
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Nacho-Chicken-Casserole/Detail.aspx

9. Chicken Spaghetti (2 cups cubed)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

10. Anniversary Chicken (6 half breasts)
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/anniversary-chicken-i/Detail.aspx

Friday, November 5, 2010

Christmas Card 2010

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card
Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.
View the entire collection of cards.
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