Weigh In

Birthday week...need I say more?  LOL

Although, I did try something new this week.

I have had a bag of Quinoa in the cabinet for a very long time while...I have been scared to try it.  Never had it...never cooked it...I was scared of it!

Well...we were out of rice...and I NEEDED to make something to go with our stir fry.  SOOOO...I fixed it!  AND....

We liked it!  The 2 younger boys aren't sold (Pilot is a die hard rice lover) but the rest of us actually liked it!  YAY!  Another non-potato option!

I also tried this recipe for Italian Turkey Burger Soup.  Just use coconut oil in place of the olive oil.  Definitely works for THM!  And it was super yummy!  We LOVED it!

 

In other news:

 

The flu bug has been visiting our house this week.  Hopefully it is on it's way out the door!

 

Pilot has finished Driver's Ed, and got a 94% on his written test.  Now for the driving part...and to finish getting his hours in.  Hopefully we can get his license before his birthday!  He also has to take the ACT test next week...ugh.

 

We are still plugging along with school. 

 

Firefighter is doing good with classes, and work.

 

LegoMan is still LegoMan...LOL.

 

I am still working on trying to catching up scrapbooks.  I am up to 2007!  Only 7 years behind!  But I seem to be missing some pictures...Trying to find them!

 

As always, we are still,



Another Year

Has gone by, and I am blessed!

"MY" day began with finding this card 

propped up in the bathroom.  My hubby knows how to pick a good card!  It brought tears to my eyes.  Inside he had added this:

 

God painted my world a beautiful snowy white!  So I had snow for my day as well! 

 



I met and had lunch with my dad at a Mexican place...it was good!  And I had a good visit with my dad.  We were there for like 2.5 hours!  My dad gave me a card that also brought tears to my eyes. (Yes I know I'm sappy...can't help it!)

 

All day I received texts and messages from family and friends.

 

All "my men" fixed dinner.  My hubby got a Coldstone cake...(No it's not THM, but it's my birthday!) :P And they have DELICIOUS cakes!

He couldn't find any candles so this is what he used...LOL  And this cake was midnight (dark) chocolate!  MMMMMM!!!!!

 

Some friends came over and "shared" my cake with me.  And they brought me coffee shop gift card, and a massage certificate....AAAAUUUUUU!  I'm feeling relaxed just thinking about it!

 

Cards in the mail...

 

Phone calls...my 84 year old grandmother called me.  She also sent me a card with money in it, but she called me too.  I didn't have to get a card from her, just the fact that she called me...remembers to call, and is still here to call me is enough!  She NEVER forgets any of her kids, grandkids, great grandkids birthdays.  Even all the in-laws grandkid in-laws too get cards for their birthdays!  And it bothers her tremendously if she gets your card to you late!  She wants it to arrive ON your birthday!  She is amazing!  And I'm SOOO thankful for her! 

 

But my hubby scored the points AGAIN!   He got me my first EVER Coach!

I am so excited!  I love it!  I love the color!  And a Mophie!

 

I spent the day surrounded by family and friends and felt the love!

 

Blessed while,






Sycamine Tree~Part IV

This week we will cover Part IV.  Here is Part I, Part II, and Part III if you need to catch up.

Please keep in mind my (DISCLAIMER:  I know nothing of Rick Renner or Rick Renner Ministries.  I am in no way promoting them, only using this writing of his that was very good.)   And that all MY (and things the teacher added) thoughts will be in italics.
Part IV

3.  The sycamine tree produced a fig that was very bitter to eat.

Luke 17:6  And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard see, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

In Matthew 18:8-9 it talks about if thy hand or foot offend thee cut them off...if thine eye offend thee pluck it out...

Definition of PLUCK=to pull quickly or pick off or out from its place of growth; to remove or force out abruptly with sudden force or jerk to remove or detach; to pull or jerk; snatch; yank; separate

This "plucking" is like a "wow" moment.  "Be thou plucked up by the root..."  jerk it out...it's going to take some effort...some sweating...some doing and you can't get ahold of it and just kind of pull...you have to JERK...YANK with force!

The sycamine tree and the mulberry tree were very similar in appearance;  the two trees even produced a fruit that looked identical.  However, the fruit of the sycamine tree was extremely bitter.  Its fruit looked just as luscious and delicious as the mulberry fig.  But when a person tasted the fruit of the sycamine fig, he discovered that it was horribly bitter.

 Mulberry

Sycamine

 

(Bitter- having a harsh disagreeable taste; hard to admit or accept.)

Mulberry figs were delicious and therefore expensive.  Because of the cost of this fruit, it was primarily eaten by wealthier people.  But the sycamine fig was cheap and therefore affordable to poorer people.  Because the poor couldn't afford the luscious mulberry fig, they munched on the sycamine fig as a substitute.

However, the sycamine fig was so bitter that it couldn't be eaten whole.  In order to consume an entire sycamine fig, the eater had to nibble on it a little bit at a time.  After a pause, the eater would return to nibble on it again, but he could never devour an entire piece of this fruit at one time;  it was just too tart and pungent to eat at one sitting.

Jesus lets us know that like the sycamine fruit, the fruit of bitterness and unforgiveness is bitter, tart, and pungent.  Like the fig, most people who are bitter and filled with unforgiveness chew on their feelings for a long time.  They nibble on bitterness for a while; then they pause to digest what they've eaten.  After they have reflected deeply on their offense, they return to the memory table to start nibbling on bitterness again - taking one little bite, then another little bite, then another.  As they continue to think and meditate on their offense, they internalize their bitter feelings toward those who have offended them.  In the end, their perpetual nibbling on the poisonous fruit of bitterness makes them bitter, sour people themselves. 

(They develop a "taste" for it.  You know if you don't like something and you keep trying it and keep trying it eventually you can develop a "taste" for it and learn to "like" it.)

And just as the primary consumers of the sycamine fruit were poor people, those who sit around and constantly meditate on every wrong that has ever been done to them are usually bound up with all kinds of poverty.  Their bitter attitude not only makes them spiritually poor, but they are also frequently defeated, depressed, sick, and financially poor as well.  Those who are bitter are Spiritually poor and nibbling on the sycamine fig.

Psalms 55:12-22 
12  For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it:  neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him;
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.
14  We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
15  Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell:  for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
16  As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.
17  Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud:  and he shall hear my voice.
18  He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me:  for there were many with me.
19  God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old.  Selah.  Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
20  He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him:  he hath broken his covenant.
21  The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart:  his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.
22  Cast they burden up then Lord, and he shall sustain thee:  he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

It's not the stranger or even the enemy that hurts us so much.  We don't know them...they don't know us, so it's easier to just "forget" about it.  But it's the person that was our FRIEND!  Someone we are/were close too.  I think of all the "Parts" of this lesson this one was one of the most touching to me.  These passages of scripture really rang out to me in this lesson.  Such a personal relationship with God.  Forgiveness is all about keeping yourself.  It's not so much FOR the other person, but for yourself...to free yourself!  Oh the liberating of this!!! 

I don't know if these lessons are doing for you what they have been and are doing for me, but I have been thoroughly enjoying them!

Keep,

I Don't Care How Old They Are...

...when a boy is sick he wants his momma (or wife if he has one) to take care of them!

My husbands phone rings at 2:30 A.M.  I was out.  In my subconscious state I thought it was his alarm clock, until I hear him talking to it.  Then I was like no wait, he's on the phone, (or else he's crazy and trying to answer his alarm clock.)  It took a moment to register, then fear kicks in.  That's what happens when your phone rings in the middle of the night.  It usually means someone died or is about to die...or some other SERIOUS emergency. 

I hear my husband say, "I'll be there in a few minutes." ..."No I'm leaving right now, as soon as I get dressed."

By this time I am sitting up on the bed.  He hangs up the phone and says, "Firefighter's sick.  I need to go pick him up."  Firefighter was at work.  He was doing an overnight 16 hour shift.  He had awakened dizzy, light headed, throwing up and feeling like he was going to pass out.  I said, "Well I will go with you so we can go ahead and  bring his car back."  So at 2:30 A.M. we throw on whatever clothes we can find and head out the door.  We get there and he is about to throw up again.  He heads to the bathroom and waves for me to follow him.  I do.  We get in there and well lets just say you know he's sick if he says, "Please don't leave me.  I feel like I'm going to pass out."  (but that's what a mother does.  She is there for you at your best...and your worst.  She would have it no other way.)

Well, that was the beginning of a LOOONNNGGG night.  For him and I both!  This virus is violent and hateful!  He was throwing up every 15-20 minutes for 3 hours!  He laid on the couch, I was on the loveseat....praying!  I would try to get him to drink some peppermint tea, or anything really, just because I think it's easier to have something to throw up than to just dry heave.  He couldn't do it.  So I kept watching the poor guy dry heave.  There is something about a mother watching her child be sick.  I don't care how old they are, it breaks your heart...esp. when there is nothing you can do for them except rub their back, get cool wash cloths, wipe their face, bring them pillows, blankets, water, empty the "puke bucket"...give them love. 

As I do all these things I wonder, How in the world could a mother kill or seriously hurt her child on purpose?  I can't stand to see him in this pain of just having a stomach virus.

After 3 hours he had about an hour break.  That was the last time he threw up.  About 6:00.  I still laid there until about 8:00.  I thought, I better go see if the others are going to go to church.  "yes, are you?"  I said, "there is no way I am leaving him here by himself."  I'm thinking what if he passed out?  What if he needs me to get him something?  Besides, I've been up all night long there is no way I could make it through church.  So here I stayed...and slept.  We both slept.  We are both feeling better, me somewhat rested and he is calmer.  He is sore from dry heaving and just laying.  Asking for Gatorade.  His dad will bring him some home.

As a mother, yes, I hate when my kids are sick, but I will stay up all night and make sure they are comfortable.  Or stay close by them in case they need anything.  And I'm reminded...If I love my child(ren) that much, how much more God loves me...and them.  When I worry about "things" and wonder what is going to happen...I need to just remember God is right there, he is close by in case I need anything.  He will be right there, ready to give us whatever it is we need.  No matter how old we are...we need God to take care of us...all the time!

(Now hopefully this hateful thing doesn't think it needs to go through everyone of us.)

Lessons of,

Weigh In

So some have asked if I am still doing THM.  Yes, I am.  "Life" keeps happening and I'm still not back on plan like I wanted to be by this point, but I am getting there.  I am stuck at my holiday gain...but at least it's staying there and not going up.  I have done better the last couple days.  I was doing good...then we had to travel out of state (drove 27 hours in 3 days!!!) for a funeral.  This weekend is my birthday weekend, so yes I'm going to be bad.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Coldstone ice cream cakes...I had originally told my hubby to not get me a cake this year.  Maybe just a piece of cheesecake from Cheesecake factory or something.  OH, but the total look of disappointment on his face!  I said "Ok, but just a small one though.  I don't want it left here for me to eat on for a week!"  He agreed.  I will see how big it is...I may have to invite friends over to help eat it.

Any who...I did try something kind of "new".  You know I have been substituting Cauliflower for potatoes.  Well I made "potato" soup...only it was cauliflower soup.  It was YUMMY!  And I made a BIG pot of it so I could eat it for lunch.  Lunch is my hardest meal of the day.  Mainly because I don't want to stop and take the time to cook/prepare something.  It's easier for me to make a big batch of "something" either for dinner at the beginning of the week or just for lunch and then eat it all week. 

The other thing that is so hard for me is when everyone else is snacking in the evening.  It's cold outside so we sit here and read or play games or whatever, and everyone wants to snack.  I try to snack on nuts or something, but sometimes I just WANT what they are eating.  I'm working on that as well!

In OTHER news:

Pilot has been taking drivers ed this week and takes it next week as well.  The poor boy.  He really needed to take it a year ago, but since his dad was out of a job at that time we are just now where we felt like we could work it in the budget.  He has never once complained about it though, bless his heart.  He's just been so sweet about it.  We (and by "we" I mean my husband because I am too much of a scaredy cat) are working on trying to get all his hours in so he can get his license hopefully BEFORE he turns 17.  Then Lego Man informed me that in a year and a half he gets his permit.  NOOOO!!!  STOP!!!!  Where DOES the time go?!

We have also been preparing Pilot for the ACT test in a couple weeks. 

Firefighter, has made some decisions about his career and is making strides in that.  He wanted "something" else along with the firefighting/paramedics.  He has decided he wants to do care flight medic as well as working part time for his station.  He has researched what he has to do to get there and is working that direction.  I am proud of his ambitions, and that he is working towards them!  He is a hard worker and loves what he is doing!  That was important to me and one thing I tried to teach them.   To go after a job they would love!

We are still house hunting...there appears to be some starting to show up again.  We knew that there would be more in the spring.  We also have another bit of info we are waiting on to help with that process.  Praying for that info to receive a speedy process.

While waiting, I have been working on organizing my pictures.  I am SOOO far behind in my scrapbooking.  I think I finally have them all organized, now to print them.  Doing a little at a time until I get them all.  Hopefully I will have a craft room soon and it will be so much easier to get them scrapped. 

I think that catches you up on the life here where the Kegs (as some of our friends affectionately call us) are,

Sycamine Tree ~ Part III

Today we are going to cover Part III.  If you missed Part 1 and Part II you can catch up.

I also found this quote and thought it went along well with Part 1 but will go with the whole lesson.

Please keep in mind my (DISCLAIMER:  I know nothing of Rick Renner or Rick Renner Ministries.  I am in no way promoting them, only using this writing of his that was very good.)   And that all MY (and things the teacher added) thoughts will be in italics.
Part III

2.  The sycamine tree's wood was the preferred wood for building caskets.

In Egypt and the Middle East, the sycamine tree was considered to be the preferred wood for building caskets and coffins.  It grew quickly and in nearly any environment, making it accessible in many different places.  It also grew best in dry conditions - the kind of conditions for which the Middle East is famous.  These are two reasons sycamine wood was used in so many  places for building caskets and coffins.

Again, we can see why this illustration of the sycamine tree is so ideal for portraying bitterness and unforgiveness.  Just as the sycamine tree grew very quickly, so does bitterness and unforgiveness.  In fact, it doesn't take too long at all for these evil forces to get out of control and start taking over the whole place!  When these fast-growing and ugly attitudes are allowed to grow freely, they not only spoil the condition of your own heart, but they ruin your relationships with other people.

Also, just as the sycamine tree grew easily in every environment, so does bitterness.  It doesn't matter where people are from, where they live, what kind of cultural background they grew up in, or what level of society they belong to - bitterness and unforgiveness grow in human hearts everywhere, for they are universal in their scope of evil influence.

The sycamine tree grew best where little rain fell and water was sparse.  Isn't this just like bitterness and unforgiveness?  These negative attitudes flourish where spiritually dry conditions exist.  You can almost count on finding bitterness and unforgiveness growing and blossoming where there is no repentance, no joy, and no fresh rain of the Spirit.  (If you have no moisture in your soul you can just about guarantee to find bitterness.)

And don't forget that sycamine wood was the preferred wood for building caskets and coffins.  What a powerful message this is!  It tells us that bitterness and unforgiveness are DEADLY.  Harboring bitterness will spiritually bury you more quickly than anything else!  These attitudes are the materials that Satan uses to put you six feet underground!  Let me stress this point to you because it's so important:  If you permit bitterness and unforgiveness to grow in your life, it won't be long until these attitudes have killed your joy, stolen your peace, and canceled out your spiritual life!

A life of,

'An That

My grandmother had a horrible habit of saying "an that" at random places in her communication.  This post is a bit of this...'an that. :)

First let me say, my posts are MY/OUR (as in 'our' I mean my husband and I) story.  The personal experiences I share are just that.  They are not intended to hurt anyone, hence the reason there are no names mentioned.  If you read it and realize you are the person behind the experience...know that you gave us an experience to learn by.  Please don't be offended.  We are in this journey to help each other and if you put us through an experience that made us stronger, wiser...thank you!  Some experiences, while going through them I wished I didn't have to, but once past them and looking back I see where they helped us. 

Now on to other pieces of randomness...'an that.

Isn't this the most beautiful sight?!  I absolutely love finding him sitting reading a book when it's not "school time"!  This was taken on SUNDAY!!!!  He didn't HAVE to be reading but he was!!!!  So thankful for the progress we have made this year!

 

Same "dude" picked Chemistry/Physics for his Science this year (I hate Science, but he loves it...and of course Chemistry has a lot of "experiments"...sigh...)  LOL  Some of the experiments aren't bad...some of them are just flat annoying.  LOL  This one was cool...not as cool as I thought it would be, but it was still cool.  We were making a "lava lamp"...only there was no light. 

 Pilot got one of his bazillion flashlights and tried to give us a light.  LOL  It just didn't bubble quite as much as I thought it would.  We even put in several Alka Selzer tablets, but oh well, I think he got the point of what it was suppose to do...

While we are playing the "waiting" game, I've been somewhat simplifying our home.  Waiting to buy a house is the waiting game we are playing.  There is a minor detail we are waiting on, that HOPEFULLY will happen within the next month.  Anywho...I think I have pretty much completed what I can for now.  While organizing, I found a couple things my sister gave me to do after our mother passed away. 

 

One was the pictures of her journey through breast cancer, and the supplies to scrapbook them.  I completed that book yesterday morning with the exception that I need to buy another pack of page protectors. 

 

The other was all the loose pictures that mom had that had not been put into an album.  Let me tell you some of those were fun looking through!  I think I have completed sorting through all of them.  But there were a lot!  So instead of scrapping all of them I sorted them in piles of "whose" they are.  All of my siblings are going to get "their" piles, and I will scrapbook the ones that were mom and dad/family/whatever.  So that is the project I am working on at the moment. 

 

When that one is done I plan to start sorting through my own pictures.  I actually have mine sorted by years, I just need to figure out what I need to have printed and catch up my own scrapbooks. 

 

Just some random pieces of our life 'an that

while we are,