Foodie Friday

So I had to be really nerdy and look up the definition of a foodie before I decided it was ok to call myself one.

The Urban Dictionary defines a foodie as "someone who loves everything there is to know or learn about food".

Uh, yeah, I am DEFINITELY a foodie!!

I LOVE to eat.  I love to cook.  I love to bake.  I love to FEED PEOPLE.

It just gives me a great sense of joy and pleasure to see someone enjoying the taste of something I have created.

I haven't talked about it much on the blog, yet, but I have come a long way on my journey with food.  I have learned so much about how our bodies react to so many things I used to not even notice on the ingredient list.

I want to share all that I have learned with you.  My hope is that you'll get just as excited and eager to learn and grow and change in your eating habits as I am.  Your body (and your taste buds) will thank you!

So, every Friday here is going to be "Foodie Friday".  I'll post recipes, information on things I've learned, spotlight great clean, healthy or natural Food Blogs, and ask you to share what you know.

To get started, leave a comment below with your favorite food blogs, recipe sites, or tips and tricks for eating healthy on the go (and with kids!)  Let's all learn more about food together!

Thanks for visiting me - I hope you'll come back soon!

A Year of Reading

This is it.

The year I'm going to read the Bible.

Not just a few pages here and there.

Nope.

I'm going to read it

all

the

way

through.

I have a plan and everything!

I bought sweet hubby a great new Bible for Christmas, and it just happened to have a One Year Reading plan in it.  I have it copied, and I'm determined.

Are you with me??

Time for Tea!

My daughter is a member of a Keepers of the Faith club and she and her friends are getting ready to host a Valentine Tea next month.  Today they spent some time talking about etiquette, what kinds of food and tea to prepare, how to decorate, as well as many other details.  It's so sweet to watch my daughter growing into a beautiful young lady, full of her own thoughts, ideas and aspirations.

It isn't really the tea that's important, though that was the focus of the meeting.  These girls are learning something much more valuable, something they will (hopefully) carry with them into adulthood.  They are learning to put others before themselves.  If you read about etiquette for tea hostesses, you will see rules about not clanking your spoon when you stir, standing behind your chair and waiting until everyone is present before you sit, making sure you don't interrupt when someone else is speaking, and passing items around the table before you serve yourself.  Not long ago, these things were just considered good manners.  Today, society seems to have forgotten all about them.  Families talk over one another in restaurants, stare at their electronic devices instead of conversing, or worse, don't even take the time to sit down to meals together because of their too-busy schedules.

My hope is that through participation in this wonderful Christian group, my daughter and I (and the rest of our family!) can recapture some of what my mom and grandma once enjoyed - wonderful, memorable moments of simple joy.

We're going to start by making some:

Sweet Lime Iced Tea

Ingredients:

1 gallon boiling water

6 black tea bags

1 1/2 cups sugar ( I will use Turbinado)

4 limes, juiced

Directions:

Pour the water into a gallon sized jar over the tea bags. Allow to steep for 45 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bags. Stir in the sugar and lime juice until the sugar has dissolved. Cool to room temperature; refrigerate until cold before serving.

What are some things you are doing with your daughters?  Do you have the same hopes to teach her to have a heart of hospitality and service?

It's a new year.

A time for hope,

new goals,

a renewed sense of determination.

I am determined to do many things.  One of them being:  to write more.

To share with others so many of the lessons I have learned - about faith, family, health, food, and the true joy of living.

I can't make any promises that what I have to say will be any good.  I wake up every day thinking about what I want to say here, but hesitating for lack of time to say it "perfectly", or for fear that it isn't "important" enough to share.

No more.

So, please excuse me when there are typos, grammar errors, or an obvious need for a thesaurus.  I have quite a few things I want to say.  I hope my musings give hope or inspiration to someone.  If my story or my journey can help just one person, it will be worth every minute I spend here.

Thanks for stopping by.  May you be greatly blessed in 2013!

Today I'm posting a copy of an article I wrote on my first blog (Accessing Grace) a few years ago.  Soon I'll have updates on all that's been happening around here for the last two weeks, as well as pics of some changes we've had in each room.  Come back to see me!

Here's the post:

After this morning, I’m sure that every kid in my church went home and told their parents that one of the leaders of children’s church (me) was crazy.  You see, the story we read to them today was the story of the Prodigal Son.  Have you ever read it?  (If not, you must!  Find it in Luke 15:11-32).

Assuming you ARE going to read it, I’m going to give you a summary.  The story is about a father with two sons.  One asks for his inheritance, takes it and leaves.  He gambles, spends money on women, and becomes penniless and starving.  The other son stayed with the father, worked the land, raised the animals, and did everything the father always asked him to do.  When the first son returns home (basically so he wouldn’t starve and his father would take care of him again) he is met with open arms.  The father is overjoyed that his son has come home and orders the best calf to be slaughtered so there can be a feast and celebration!

(This is the part where I started crying and couldn’t read to the kids and they were all staring at me like I was a complete idiot.  I had to get myself together to continue.)

The son who had always done as his father told him was angry that the one who had strayed was receiving such special treatment.  The father explained to him that it was as if his brother had been dead, and now he was alive, and that was the reason they must celebrate!

It is the same with us.  Which is why I almost could not control my tears and those poor, confused children had to sit there and wonder what on earth was wrong with me!  I was crying because I know that God loves us so much, that no matter how far we stray, He will welcome us back and celebrate to have us with Him again!  No sin is too great for His awesome forgiveness.  Whether our sin is against our husbands, children, parents, ourselves or even God - when we are ready to turn away from all the wrongs we’ve done and admit that we need Him present in our lives to do good – He will be waiting with open arms, overjoyed at our return to Him.

This Lenten season, as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Jesus’ glorious Resurrection, think about the sacrifice God made for us.  Think about the love Jesus poured out for us.  Think about the Father who is waiting ever so patiently for us.  Then don’t make him wait any longer.  My prayer is that you will  read your Bible more often,  pray unceasingly, practice loving EVERYONE unconditionally, stop judging others, and  do everything you can think of to show God how grateful you are for His infinite love and mercy.

Now go read the story!  (You may need a kleenex.)  Luke 15:11-32