Life on the Sound

Money Saving Mom

2011-11-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

I follow Crystal at Money Saving Mom in my Google Reader and she has SO many great tips, links and stuff on her site. I am constantly either saving money or getting freebies in the mail because of her. She also posts info on deals at CVS/Walgreens/Rite Aid and other stores that will save money in a big way by stacking deals and coupons together. It's a GREAT blog to follow.

Now she has written a book! The book is called The Money Saving Mom's Budget and it's a book that I'm definitely looking forward to. Money is tight around here with two kids in college and working on a pastor's salary and I'm sure there will be so many great tips and info in this book. In addition, she also has a freezer book which I am really looking forward to getting now that I have a freezer again!

Winter seems to be coming fast!

2011-11-13T19:40:00.000-05:00

Wow. What a fall we've had!! It's been beautiful weather but we've already had snow and that happened before Halloween!! But now it's getting cool, I'd say that we're past peak on the leaves and we're quickly approaching Thanksgiving which OH so quickly leads to Christmas in these parts.

Things have been going well. Lauren is healthy as can be and is doing great. She's due for another CT scan and we'll see how she's doing where we can't see but I trust that all is fine in there. It's hard to believe it's been 6 months already!!

Nicole is going to be in our church musical with a main role with a lot of singing. Her voice is really maturing and getting stronger as she has been singing so much and I can't wait to see her in her debut!! :) She's been leading worship at church many Sundays but now everyone else can get to hear her!

The new church campus is going along well but we're not growing right now. We're all praying for how we can best reach our community to let them know we are there and how we can make an impact for Jesus Christ in Holtsville. Please pray with us that all of those who have not heard the Gospel will hear it somehow through us or the other evangelical churches in the area.

Other than that, we're just going along with life. Still homeschooling, still working at church, still riding, still loving my life. I'm really feeling so greatly blessed right now and it's even hard to express how at peace I am - even though not everything is perfect. God is good and He's on the throne. Amen!

Oh - and for your viewing pleasure, I present you our little friend who I found in our yard today. I have to say that announcing at 7 am "There is a young buck in our yard" really is a GREAT way to get everyone out of bed! LOL

Organizing Goals

2011-09-26T11:36:00.000-04:00

Once again, I need to keep working on getting life/home organized. I've made up a short list of things I want to do this week.

First up is our garage. My goal is to get two cars in the garage this winter and we need two new garage doors as well. My friend owns a garage door company so he will take care of that but until then, I need to work on getting the garage cleaned out. Our freezer died when Lauren was in the hospital in April and, unfortunately, we put stuff where the freezer was so I have to go through those bins and get rid of the things there to make room for a new freezer that we will hopefully get in the next couple of weeks. So #1 job is to begin organizing the garage and at least making it that there is a space for the new freezer.

#2 is our game closet. We have a hall closet full of games and "stuff" (costumes, Easter stuff, etc.) and I want to go through that and consolidate. I know we don't need some of the games so I will pass the on to other families.

#3 is my utensil drawer in the kitchen next to my silverware. It's a mishmosh of stuff and I can't find anything without removing a bunch of things so I'd really like to get this taken care of.

#4 is a table of baskets in our den. I think this has become a trash repository so it's time to clean it up!

#5 is the desk in our den. It's a mess, plain and simple.

These are this week's organizational goals. I really want to get them all done!! Next week maybe I'll get to the basement a bit because I'd love for that to be cleaned up as well. :)

Happy Anniversary!!

2011-09-18T21:42:00.000-04:00

Today was our anniversary celebration of our church campus! One year ago this week, we started this new little church and God has done great things and also challenged us a lot. It's neat because we came with a launch team who committed one year to this work and about 85% of the people will be staying on with us!! Praise God!! We have 7 new believers who were not saved this time last year and I trust that God will use us to bring more to Him. Here's a picture of our launch team from last year. What a great group of friends and co-horts! LOL

I pray that God will use us to bring His Name to the community of Holtsville and that there will be a great heritage left from this humble beginning. God is so good!!

Reuseable Grocery Bags

2011-09-07T14:47:00.000-04:00

I've gone through a change with my reuseable grocery bags. I had been using those tote bags that you can get at the store for 99 cents that are kind of a fabric but I always stored them in the way back of my minivan because they were so bulky to store and then I'd always forget to take them with me. But then I found something awesome and I will never go back.

Introducing Baggu. These are lightweight, nylon bags that hold a ton, hold up perfectly well and store in a small drawstring bag. I bought the set of 5 of them in blue and they are amazing!! The drawstring bag is pretty small - small enough for me to store in the front of my van next to my tissues and I will never have to forget them now!! I just tossed them all in the washing machine and they came out as perfect as when I first got them. I've been using them for about 9 months now and I can't see them wearing out anytime soon whereas my old bags would fall apart the first time I'd wash them. Oh - and you NEED to wash your reuseable bags because they hold a lot of icky germs and we need to keep them clean.

I've used these bags for the groceries (I can easily put $100 worth of groceries in these 5 bags) and for so many other things! Beach trips, laundry, work, etc. I love them and while they are not cheap, they are WELL worth the money if you actually remember to use them and NOT have your groceries fall through a worn out bag. :)

Organizing Update and It's Our Anniversary! (well, almost)

2011-09-05T19:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm doing pretty well with getting organized but life keeps stepping in and side-tracking me! But today I cleaned up the bookshelf at the top of our staircase where I keep school supplies. It's outside the girls' room and they are the only ones upstairs so that hallway is a mess but I got the shelves cleaned and a lot of stuff tossed out. Now to get the girls to clean the hall and we're in good shape up there!!!

Yesterday we celebrated with our launch team our one year anniversary and it was fantastic. I have to say that this is the best team of people ever and we are greatly blessed to be working alongside of them. The kids all had a great time swimming and we just enjoyed each others' company. We look forward to the new year and what God has in store for us. Our team has changed it's name from the "launch team" to the "ministry team" because we consider ourselves launched. LOL We've had lots of ups and downs but God is faithful and is leading us in where to go next.

Speaking of our launch team, could you please pray for a family on our team? Jack and Nancy have been faithful workers and an integral part of the team. They have two children, John who is 18 and has Aspergers and Jennifer who is best friends with my daughter and she is 9. Nancy has battled many health problems and fell just over a month ago. She broke her leg and had to have surgery to put in pins and she was in a wheelchair to get around while she recovered. Well, just a couple of weeks ago, she had a seizure and died suddenly - most likely from a blood clot from her injury. The poor family has had to deal with the sudden loss of a beloved wife and mother and just yesterday on the way to church, they had a serious automobile accident! Fortunately, everyone is OK but their car is most likely totaled and since John was driving and it was his fault, their insurance rates are going to go through the roof and they are not well-off financially. Please pray for peace, comfort and strength to all of the family. They are great believers and have that assurance that they will see Nancy again but it is still so hard.

PROJECT ORGANIZE

2011-09-01T13:53:00.000-04:00

So my life is a mess. I admit it. To some, I seem very organized but I'm far from it. We have too much stuff - stuff we really don't need. So I'm embarking on a project. I am going to commit to doing something to organize my life each day of the week, taking Sunday off. It doesn't matter if it's just straightening a drawer or cleaning a whole garage - SOMETHING must be done each day.

Today was my bedroom. Well, a corner of the bedroom. I am cleaning from my bed, over through my nightstand, through a giant pile of things (that I've since cleaned out and moved the bookshelf to this area), around the bend, to the bookshelf (moved), and then to my dresser. As I said, I moved the bookshelf and I got one of those plastic drawer things to hold my bras since they wouldn't fit in my dresser so they just ended up - everywhere. Now they are stored away. I also cleaned off the bookshelf and took off books that I don't want to keep and will bring them to church to give away. I sorted through a bunch of paperwork and have a pile to shred and another pile that went into the trash. I was able to vacuum this side of my room and I feel good. I still need to finish the stuff in front of the dresser but now it's my time to go ride. :D

But I promise myself that I will do this daily so that I can have some semblance of order in my life. Oh PLEASE God - let me stick to this!

Happy September!

2011-09-01T10:47:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's been the whole summer since I last posted. Oh my!! So much happened this summer with church activities, the death of dear ones, vacation, etc. I started out the summer going to Camp Cedarbrook in the Adirondacks to help work with their horses and had a fantastic time there. It's so beautiful there and the horses were wonderful - plus it's fun just being "Ann" for a while. After the week I was there, we flowed right into the Mother/Daughter weekend with Nicole (19) and Joanna (8) coming up and my friend Lisa and her daughter spoke. It was a wonderful weekend.

Joanna at archery

After camp, we got home on Sunday and went away overnight on the boat Monday, July 4th. We saw some great fireworks and had a wonderful time but came home to the terrible news that our friend's son fell while skateboarding and had a critical head injury. The next week found us doing a lot of hospital time, encouraging, praying, crying and working with our dear friends as they decided to let their handsome 19 year old son go home to be with the Lord. It breaks my heart and I have kept them in my prayers constantly. Even yesterday, I went to Pep Boys for a new battery for my van and I prayed for Nelson and Charlotte because that's where Vince worked. :( Please keep them in prayer as they adjust to having lost their only child. They are strong in the Lord which helps but it's still devastating to lose your baby boy!

This pic is my daughter's friend Juliana on the left, Vince in the center and my daughter Nicole on the right

Right after Vince passed away, we had our basketball camp and dance camp at church. That kept us hopping each evening but thank heavens my daughters could drive and all of the kids were involved so it kept hubby and I from having to run all over the place. We had a number of nice date nights that week!

Nicole leading the girls in the tambourine worship

After camps, we had a week off to "rest" and get ready for the next event at church which was our biggest thing we do - VBS!! It was a great week with 500 kids registered, 200+ workers and a ton of parents all being fed by me! It was so much fun and we really made an impact with these kids. Many heard about Jesus for the first time and there were many who were saved that week. Praise God - He is so good!!

Ooops! No pics of VBS!! Sorry!

So after VBS, we had one week to get ready for our vacation - and clean up from VBS. We had a wonderful vacation of almost three weeks on our sailboat where we went to Newport, RI, Block Island, RI, Martha's Vineyard and places in between. We had a bit of a time getting home because of some bad weather and we HAD to be home because Hurricane Irene was coming! But we did it, got home, got ready for the storm and weathered it well. :)

Sunset in Cuttyhunk, MA

Now we are home, it's the other side of the hurricane/tropical storm and we are doing great. School started for Lauren (21) and the rest will go back next Wednesday (the 7th). I'm trying to get my life organized and catch up on things that have been put by the wayside. Life is always running and sometimes I need to stop and get things cleaned up before the next thing comes!

So that's us in a nutshell this summer. :)

A little church fun

2011-06-05T22:48:00.000-04:00

As I walked into the hotel this morning, this is what I was greeted with. I grabbed my camera and started taping!! LOL

Solid Pseudopapillary Neoplasm

2011-05-30T21:06:00.001-04:00

That was the diagnosis we heard regarding a large tumor on my daughter's pancreas. But let me back up...

At the end of March, my 21 year old daughter had what we thought was the stomach virus. Thursday, March 31st, she had about 12 hours of severe vomiting but it got better and she was fine all weekend. Monday afternoon, she called me from school that she was sick again and I told her to come home if she couldn't make it (she commutes 30 miles from home). She vomited 5x on her way home and continued to vomit until around 3 am. I had been ready to take her to the ER but she was feeling better so we let it go. Thursday, April 7th found her vomiting again, waking me up at around 6:30 in the morning that she was sick again and now her right side hurt so I thought maybe it was her appendix so off to the ER we went. She continued vomiting while we were there and it was after her CT scan that we learned more. She had torn a hole in her esophagus from vomiting so severely and she had air in her chest. She also had a hemangioma on her liver but that was most likely nothing to worry about. Her gallbladder showed a gallstone and some sludge in it and the big issue was an 8.5 cm mass on her pancreas. HUH?? WHAT??? MASS ON HER PANCREAS?? This was the beginning of a long road.

Our hospital is a decent local hospital but this mass was too much for them so they decided to transfer us to a larger hospital on Long Island. However, since it was Thursday afternoon, it was really not worth transferring her at this point because they would do nothing on the weekend for her so it was decided that she would stay at our hospital. This was a great blessing because the hospital was close to home (20 minutes away) and since she was just 21, they put her on the pediatric floor which was very quiet all weekend. Another blessing was that a friend of mine was the nurse on overnight and I felt as comfortable leaving Lauren with her as if she was my own mom. The whole time Lauren was at this hospital, she continued to be very ill with severe vomiting and they were giving her so much medicine to try to stop it so that her esophagus could heal and that she further wouldn't injure it. They finally gave her ativan, which totally knocked her out but also knocked out the vomiting quite a bit. This was her first period of time that she was her sickest.

As the weekend progressed, we really were getting a sense that we should do some homework and find her a good - no GREAT doctor. We had no idea how to go about this but in the end, after speaking to people and doing online research, we decided we wanted her in New York Presbyterian. We told the gastroenterologist and he did what he could. We found out within hours that Lauren was accepted into New York Presbyterian and their Pancreas Center. Praise God!! Even the pediatrician on the floor let out a "YES" and pumped his fist when he heard this. So it was just time to wait on a bed. Within 24 hours, she was in an ambulance being transferred to the city and our time at New York Pres/Columbia Medical Center began.

We got there late - around 11 pm and quickly got settled in a room. I ended up staying with Lauren because I just didn't know what was going on there yet and all through the night, I was getting info on Lauren's next step. I met the gastroenterologist on Tuesday morning (she had been transferred on Monday night) and she went in for what is called an EUS (endoscopic ultrasound). What they did was to do an endoscopy where they put Lauren to sleep and put a camera down into her stomach and from inside her stomach, they used a needle to get a few samples of the pancreatic tumor to find out what we were dealing with. The gastroenterologist was pretty sure we were dealing with a solid pseudopapillary tumor but without the biopsy, we couldn't be sure. After the procedure, the doctor came out and said "It's not what I thought it was. I'm not sure what it is but I don't believe it's cancer." We had to wait a few days to get the results of the biopsy but on Wednesday, the doctors were speaking of sending Lauren home because she was not ready for surgery. You see, it seems that she had a reaction to the CT contrast which affected her thyroid which sent her heart rate through the roof (just moving in bed would send it to 170), and they were also not comfortable doing general anesthesia where they would have intubate her (put a tube in her throat to help her to breathe) and possibly further damage the esophagus. They decided to send Lauren home on Thursday and we would follow up locally with an endocrinologist who could watch her thyroid levels and when she was stable, we'd go back in to the hospital. So home we came with strict instructions for Lauren to rest. It was great to have her home again but we still had to face the hurdle of the surgery.

One prayer we had during this time that Lauren was home was that she would be able to go back into the hospital easily because these doctors were not on our insurance and we would have had to try to get them to accept us going there again. Well, Monday morning after Easter (about 10 days after she was released), Lauren woke me up at 2:30 in the morning with severe nausea and pain. I figured it was probably the gallbladder and told her to try to make it through but finally at 3:30 am, we left for New York Pres. It made no sense to go to our local hospital because I knew they couldn't do anything for her and ultimately, we wanted the doctors who already knew her history so it was a no brainer to go back to NYP. After 14 hours in the ER, the doctor said that it WAS her gallbladder and that she could go home to continue recovering but then the surgeon and gastroenterologist stepped in and said WAIT!!! We want her admitted so by 9:30 that night, she was in a beautiful room overlooking the Hudson and the George Washington Bridge. Man, we had NO idea we'd be there for over 2 weeks!!

Tuesday morning, we saw the surgeon and he said that Lauren would have her surgery the next day since she was there and ready. Wednesday, the surgery went well, although it took them 2 hours to get big enough IVs in her because she has such tiny veins! They finally had to put in a central line (an IV catheter in the jugular vein) in order to do the surgery! But the tumor and a few centimeters of pancreas were removed (the tumor was in the tail of the pancreas), her spleen and gallbladder were removed easily. She lost very little blood - just 5 oz. according to the surgery report!! She woke from the operation and did very well for the first few days. Wednesday was still nothing by mouth, Thursday was clear fluids which she tolerated well and finally, Friday found her eating real food. This was the beginning of "hell week" for her.

After eating a lunch of turkey and green beans, Lauren started vomiting. Basically, she vomited steadily for the next week, not being able to keep anything down. For a time she could keep liquids down but even that stopped staying down by Tuesday. Many tests were done to try to figure out why she was having such a hard time but nothing showed up that would cause this sort of vomiting! Tuesday was her worst day and everyone on the floor would come in to see if she needed anything - all except her nurse. For some reason, that was the day we had a terrible nurse and I was sure to report her because there was just no excuse for how we were treated. We were not treated meanly but were almost ignored and it was not a good thing at all. So, anyway, by Thursday, she had kept nothing down for a whole week and it was decided to put in a PICC line (a "super IV" that has a catheter that goes in your upper arm and goes to a larger blood vessel near your heart) so that she could receive TPN (supplemental nutrition through the IV). It was bad. Friday morning, Bob called me and told me to get her to think about other things by playing the Bible on iPod or something but I told him that all she was doing at this point was sleeping (because she was now on ativan every night which makes one very sleepy) and he broke down. He was so upset and worried that she might die so he decided he was coming in too. Up until now, I was the one who was in the hospital most of the time and he would come in some days and would spell me on Saturdays so I could rest and get some things done around the house. So he came in the late afternoon and told me that a friend was coming in as well and we'd pray over Lauren and anoint her with oil as per James 5. Jim got there around 9:30 and we all prayed over Lauren and Bob anointed her and we said "goodnight". I asked her to take a sip of some chamomile tea I had made for her but she said she was afraid because it would come up again. That broke my heart.

Saturday morning, Bob went into the hospital early and walked in around 8:30 am to Lauren eating an Italian ice and having some juice!! The doctor came in a short while later and said, "Something changed last night and we don't know what it was." Lauren was doing MUCH better!! The doctors were amazed and told me the next day (Sunday) that they have no idea why Lauren was better but she was. It was so clear!! They disconnected her from the TPN on Monday morning and by Tuesday morning, we just had to wait for them to remove the PICC line and she was released!! Her stomach was still sensitive to things and she had to be careful, and we went home with prescriptions for the two meds that seemed to help her (reglan and nexium) but she was seriously better! We came home Tuesday and Lauren vomited Wednesday morning when she took the reglan (an anti-nausea med) on an empty stomach and then she vomited again on Thursday morning when she ate too much oatmeal but that was the last time she vomited!

A week after she was released from the hospital, we went back in for her check-up with the surgeon and for her to get some innoculations she needed since she lost her spleen. The doctor once again said that he had no idea why she got better and he felt that the vomiting issue was not part of the surgical issue but he still had no idea what it could be from. She got a clean bill of health and she should no longer need to go into NYP. We got her in with a local internist and I had her see the doctor on Thursday of that week so that we have an established relationship should anything happen. If Lauren gets any infections, she needs to go on antibiotics quickly so having a doctor that knows what's going on is important. In the future, she will need to have a yearly CT scan to make sure that there is no re-occurance and that she stays healthy. The solid psudopapillary neoplasm - what the tumor was - is not benign but it's not yet cancerous. From what we read, in the future it most likely would have turned into pancreatic cancer - probably the most deadly cancer out there.

So the question of the day is: why all the vomiting?? I do believe that there was a two-fold purpose for that severe suffering Lauren experienced. First off, without the vomiting, we would have never found out about this tumor. Who knows how long it would have been before we found it? When it was cancerous? When it was risking a pregnancy? We just don't know but it was a blessing that it was found when it could be treated - and treated by some of the top doctors in the country. But then the tumor was removed so why did the vomiting continue? Well, I certainly won't know the absolute answer until I'm standing with her Creator and can ask Him directly but I do know some further purposes it served. One is that we had to fully rely on God and His comfort. To hear one of the top pancreatic surgeons in the country say "I don't know what else to do", it's very difficult as a mom. But we know God. We know that He is good and we know that He loves Lauren even more than we do. We so didn't want to lose Lauren but if we did, we knew it was God's plan and that Lauren would gain from it. We were beyond ourselves during this time and had no place to go but God. He sustained us through a very difficult time. Additionally, who got the glory for this girl being better? Not the doctors, even though they did a wonderful thing in operating on her. But there is no question at all in anyone's mind who healed Lauren. It was God. Clear as day. We were faithful to the Word of God and God chose to heal Lauren. It's amazing to think that one Friday, Lauren was so ill that she couldn't drink and Bob was wondering if she was going to die and the very next Friday, Lauren was cleaning her room and arguing with her sister!! God used that vomiting and severe illness to absolutely bring glory to His name. What a humbling place to be!!

Since Lauren's illness, so many people have asked how she is. She's doing great. You would not know that anything at all was wrong with her if you saw her! But what I find interesting is that I'm hearing from my friends who work at the hospital how the doctors and nurses are asking about her and they too will be able to hear the story of God's healing when it was beyond the doctor's reach. We serve a truly amazingly awesome God!!

ABCs of Me

2011-05-29T20:40:00.000-04:00

I saw a friend do this and thought it would be fun!

Age: 46
Bed Size: Queen
Chore I hate: Cleaning bathrooms
Dogs: Had one but she was put to sleep at 18 and since hubby is actually allergic to dogs, we've never replaced her. We DO have a bunny who thinks he's a dog, though.
Essential Item for the start of my day: Tea
Favorite color: For decorating, it's green. For wearing, it's black.
Gold or sliver? Silver
Height: 5'3"
Instruments I play: I used to play guitar but haven't played for years.
Job Title: Mom, teacher, pastor's wife and media tech.
Kids: Lauren, Nicole, Robby and Joanna
Live: Long Island
Mom’s name: Patsy - she passed away in '99
Nicknames: Annie (from everyone), and an OLD nickname "Maime Durkin" by my Uncle Joey
Overnight hospital stays: 4 times for babies (90, 92, 00 and 02) plus staying in the hospital 2 nights with Lauren after her pancreatic tumor diagnosis
Pet peeve: OH so many!! Fresh kids, tailgaters, people throwing trash out of their cars are just a few.
Quote from a movie: Ours is better. It goes to 11!
Right- or left-handed? Right
Siblings: Joe and Walt
Time I wake up: About 8 am although I have periods of time where I wake up really early for some reason.
Underwear: Absolutely!
Vegetables I dislike: pretty much just brussel sprouts
What makes me run late: my kids
Xrays I’ve had done: head, teeth, shoulder, chest, pelvis
Yummy food I make: You'd have to ask my family but I do have a number of great recipes that they all love. They are all at my food blog - www.cookingonthesound.blogspot.com
Zoo animal that is my favorite: All of them? I love animals!

Hosanna

2011-05-20T14:13:00.000-04:00

Again, it's been a long time - a LONG time. A lot has gone on here and I'll post about it soon but suffice it to say, God is good and He brought us through a very rough time with grace and mercy.

However, for your viewing and listening pleasure, I wanted to post a video of my daughter Nicole and my husband Bob leading worship on Mother's Day. This is a song called Hosanna and it's a great song and I think Nicole and Bob did a wonderful job. :)

I promised!

2011-03-25T22:06:00.002-04:00

I promised I'd post three times this week and I've only done it once!! So I'll post one more time tonight and hope I can get to tomorrow.

We've been having a bit of a "thing" going on around here. If you guys could pray for us, that would be wonderful.

Today I had to go to church to do my regular work for Sunday morning but also work on stuff for Sunday night. Sunday night will be our annual dinner/budget vote and it's so much fun. A potluck dinner for 650 people will always be interesting and with this creative crew at church makes it even moreso! We'll have games, have a slideshow of a summary of the year's ministries, meet the new deacons, vote on the budget and eat lots of food! :D But since I do all the graphics, I had to put all that together today. I was planning on going up on Wednesday but because of the thing going on at church, I just couldn't face anyone at that point. So 8 hours put in today and I'm sure at least another 2 tomorrow should get us to the point of being done.

One thing that I'm looking forward to is the worship time! Hubby will be leading his old worship team and it should be some great music and a great time to be back with our WHOLE church family to worship our Savior. :)

OH!! Then Sunday, we have a guest speaker/preacher coming to our church campus! Tim Smith is a parent coach and he's got some great stuff on parenting. He was a pastor but left that ministry to further the ministry to families in crisis and he's since written numerous books and has been on national TV. Hubby will pick him up from the airport tomorrow night, go to dinner with him and then they'll be coming back here. Tim will stay with us. Then we'll be off to church in the morning so his stay will be short but hopefully we'll have a great visit since Tim is a good friend of our church's. He actually did the very first "event" at the new church campus so it will be exciting to have him back again now with the 6 month old church!!

So that's what's going on around here. Lots of "stuff". Some good, some not so good. But I have to say that God has placed some very dear people in our path and in our lives and I love them dearly. :) What a blessing it is to have godly friends!

I really need to get on the ball!! Sorry!

2011-03-21T14:54:00.000-04:00

Once again, I'm slacking off. I am determined to post 3 times this week and 2 times on the cooking blog even if it kills me! Well, it won't kill me but you know what I mean!!

For now, I'll post my menu for the week. We've got a little craziness this week and a bit more next week so the menu reflects that. :)

Monday (taking care of horses by 4:30 and annual budget meeting at church at 7) - Roast beef, baked potatoes, gravy, green beans
Tuesday (worship leader's meeting at church at 7) - Penne a la vodka, salad
Wednesday (ballet at 4, church at 7) - "Good Salad" (a salad made with greens, chicken, blue cheese, mandarin oranges, glazed walnuts, craisins and a dressing of 1 part honey to two parts balsamic vinegar), bread
Thursday (taking care of horses and riding so home by 5:30) - Pineapple pork chops, rice, peas
Friday (work) - hubby and I go out for dinner and kids are "fend for yourself"
Saturday (picking up guest speaker at 7 from airport) - most likely going out to eat with the man who's guest preaching on Sunday
Sunday (will most likely take guest preacher out for lunch then we have our annual dinner at church) - dinner at church - I'm making pulled pork and a side dish but don't know what yet to make for the side

So there you go. A bit busy but not terrible. :)

Anyone want snow? We have a bit to spare!

2011-01-27T20:04:00.000-05:00

Oh my stars, has January been a prolific month when it comes to snow. We're about an hour outside of New York City on Long Island and I just heard on the news that we right now stand as the snowiest January in history for Central Park (and most other areas around here) and with just .9 inches more of snow, this will be the snowiest month in HISTORY (well, since they started keeping track of these things)!! All this week we kept hearing about a "disruptive snow event" on Wednesday but it just seemed like this would be the kind of storm that they could only properly predict close to the event itself. Well, Tuesday night, they said that we would have flurries in the morning and then we'd have the afternoon with nothing and by rush hour, it would start up again and give us significant snowfall - 4-8" was the predicted total. They couldn't have been more wrong.

So it started snowing around 9 am yesterday. The snow that was supposed to stop at noon finally stopped at 4. The "little to no accumulation" ended up being 4". Then we DID have a lull for a little while only to have freezing rain step in around 9 pm. By 11 pm when I went to bed, it was white out conditions!! By now, they were saying that we should see an additional 4-8" of snow. GULP!! So off to bed we went. I took my computer so that I could check for school closings (both my girls commute to college) and when I woke up at 3 am, I decided to check the computer - nothing for my girls but lots of delayed openings. I decided to get up to see what I could see and I just about had my chin hit the kitchen floor when I looked out the front window. My car is a Dodge Grand Caravan but it was looking more like the Sprinter - it was covered in no less than 15" of snow. I could see the once bare driveway now had snow up to the top of my wheels!! ALL of the trees were drooping heavily from the weight of the snow. I went back to bed for a few hours and then got up at 5:30 to see the damage. 19" of snow. Fortunately my one daughter's college was cancelled but the other daughter's was just a delayed opening at 10:30. UGH!! We figured we'd send her on the train but the problem was the train system had shut down! Finally at 7:30, they too decided to cancel school for the day. Thank heavens because it was 12:30 before our driveway was finally fully snowblowed, shoveled and scraped.

So, without further adeau, I'll share some photos with you. The "before" pics were taken yesterday afternoon after the 4" snow and then of course the "afters" were taken today. Enjoy the winter wonderland!!

My back patio set before and after (the poles above support an awning in the summer)

My street and mailbox - not perfectly the same picture but you can see the difference in the mailbox. The second picture shows the snow plow that was stuck overnight as well.

My minivan in the driveway. When the snow first started at 9, the driveway was complete blacktop. That's our goal in the winter - to keep it as clear and safe as possible. So you can see in the first picture, it's about 4" on the ground.

The children's little picnic table in our backyard

Now it's just a lump! LOL

Just a pretty view of the backyard. Those branches out there that are down to the snow are usually about 8' off the ground.

My two little ones, Robby (10) and Joanna (8) on the driveway. You can see it's almost to their waists!!

No way!! It's been MONTHS since I posted!!

2011-01-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

Wow!! I didn't realize just how long it's been! I thought it was since just before Christmas! Oops!! Well, I'll update on what's going on.

Not much. Tee-hee. Actually, I've been sick since before Christmas with some sort of virus that's causes asthma and I've been coughing all this time. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks after getting sick and was put on an inhaled steroid and some cough medicine but the cough medicine didn't work. The next week they tried an antibiotic and that didn't work. I was finally beginning to feel a little better and then it hit again - the exact same thing!! So off to the doctor I went again and I was put back on the steroid inhaler and a few days later I ended up at the pulmonologist. He put me on oral steroids last week and MAN, does that hurt!! But it seemed to help a bit and when I saw him yesterday, he said I still have some inflammation and so to stay on the inhaled steroid for 2 weeks but if I'm still coughing to come back. Today is a particularly bad day and I used the rescue inhaler 2x and it didn't seem to help for more than about 30 minutes each time. This REALLY stinks.

I have a few new posts I'll be posting in the next few days. They've been rolling around in my head and I want to get them out of here. If anyone is still here, watch for them! :) In the meantime, I started another blog of just recipes. It's www.cookingonthesound.blogspot.com I have just a few recipes on there but I want to have one place on the internet where I have all of my recipes so I figured why not do a new blog??!! So there you go. :)

Menu Planning Monday

2010-10-18T13:36:00.001-04:00

K - just sat down to plan out the week's menu since I have my order in with the delivery service Peapod and I can edit it until 3pm today. It will be delivered between 9:30 am and 1 pm tomorrow and I need to be sure that it actually has what I need!! :) So I sat down with Bob to plan it out. Here we go:

Monday - Roasted Tomato Pasta, bread, salad
Tuesday - Helen's Mac and Cheese, salad, cake (Bob's 50th birthday!!)
Wednesday - Boilermaker Tailgate Chili, salad
Thursday - Sauerbraten, Red Cabbage, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Friday - eat out
Saturday - Honey Mustard Chicken, roasted red and purple potatoes, green beans
Sunday - after church - taco soup
dinner - a nice big dinner salad with chicken, mandarin oranges, blue cheese, craisins and stuff

Now to go add the things I need to my order!

"What's For Dinner??" menu plan

2010-10-04T11:19:00.000-04:00

So I sat down to menu plan and I have a plan but my guess is that it's certainly not going to reflect reality beyond, say, Thursday. But that's OK. I'm willing to be flexible. :)

Monday - Taco Soup
Tuesday - Ham, corn casserole, scallopped potatoes, peas
Wednesday - Pasta with a crockpot meat ragu, salad
Thursday - Baked chicken with acorn squash, broccoli
Friday - BBQ Ribs, cole slaw, sliced tomatoes
Saturday - Chicken Pot Pie, salad
Sunday - French dip sandwiches, salad

The reason I'm not sure about the weekend is that we have to see what's going on with "plans & the weather". I planned the ribs for Friday because I'm out all day between work and homeschool group so that will be quick and easy (the ribs are from the grocery store, precooked and only take about 15 minutes on the grill). I have the ingredients for the chicken pot pie in the freezer so I can make that quickly and easily. The French dip sandwiches will find me buying rolls next weekend but the rest of the stuff I have on hand and if we have a change in plans, I can easily bump that to Monday.

I have to say, I love having the menu planned for the week!!

Had our first "Outdoor Service" of Island Christian Church

2010-10-03T21:05:00.000-04:00

This week the hotel was already booked so we had to find another location to meet. Bob went and found a local park that had miniature golf, a driving range, go carts, laser tag and batting cages along with a great covered picnic area. So we had our services there today. Two days ago, I was sitting here on my living room couch at 9 pm sweating like a pig and needing to go shower before bed and today for our services, we all should have had our winter coats!! Brrrr!! But it was wonderful none-the-less and we had a great group of people there. Today was Bob's first time preaching for the new church and I think he did a great job. :) Here are some photos to share:

Morning Glory Muffins

2010-10-02T17:45:00.001-04:00

These are FANTASTIC!!! Full of good stuff and SO great on a chilly morning. They should sit for a day after baking to let the flavors fully develop but even right out of the oven, they are wonderful.

Morning Glory Muffins
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups flour
4 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup raisins, plumped in brandy or apple juice and drained
1 cup coconut, shredded
4 cups shredded carrots
2 cups shredded apples
1 cup chopped pecans
6 eggs
2 cups vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Sift dry ingredients into large bowl (REALLY large bowl). Stir raisins into flour mixture to coat well. Add the coconut, carrots, apples and pecans; stir well. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, oil and vanilla extract then pour into large bowl with other ingredients. Stir only until combined.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Muffins should "ripen" for 24 hours for maximum blending of flavors.

Makes about 36 regular sized muffins.

Sandy's Pumpkin Muffins

2010-10-02T13:30:00.001-04:00

I got this recipe a few years ago from a woman on one of the boards I go on. It's a family favorite and in honor of the fall finally being here (it's not getting out of the 60s today!) and for our breakfast tomorrow on the way to church, I'm making Sandy's Pumpkin Muffins. These are great and make a nice large batch (I just got 36 muffins out of the batter PLUS 12 mini-muffins. Try them - you'll love them!!

3 cups sugar (I used 2.5 cups)
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup milk
1 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (one 15 oz. can) (**not pumpkin pie filling but regular pumpkin**)
Optional: 1 cup chopped nuts or 1 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla well. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda. Add to sugar mixture alternately with the milk until well combined. Fill greased muffin tins 1/2 full with batter and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Makes 40 muffins

The Ultimate Sacrifice

2010-10-01T20:35:00.002-04:00

I knew there would be sacrifices in getting a new church started. There's lots of work, lots of effort involved but I never thought my kids would have to sacrifice so much.

See, we record our services on a small digital recorder. It's been working out great so far but this week, we have to have an outside service since the hotel was already booked for this week. So we realize that if there's ANY wind, it will ruin the recording. This is where the sacrifice comes in.

My husband needs fake fur and he forgot to go to the fabric store (that most likely won't have anything like this anyway). So he called them into the living room where we're sitting. He's asking them to sacrifice one of their stuffed animals.

"Does it need to be a lamb?" my dear son asks.

Halloween - Another proposal on what Christians should do

2010-09-29T10:41:00.000-04:00

I know we've all heard the arguments regarding Christians and Halloween. Here's a blog post that I think has an excellent perspective on Halloween and it's one that maybe we should consider as missionaries in a lost world.

http://betweenthetimes.com/2010/09/28/why-all-good-christians-should-celebrate-halloween/

Wanna see the world's most scariest job?? I barely made it through the video!

2010-09-22T14:46:00.000-04:00

Serioulsy, if you're afraid of heights, watch out!! But this job is NUTS!!!

Cool!! Another pastor mentioned Island Christian yesterday on his blog!

2010-09-08T22:49:00.003-04:00

Check it out!

Roger - I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet but I'm sure I will someday. Thanks for the plug and even more, thanks for the prayers!!! I'm so exited to see what God's going to do!

4 more days until the birth of Island Christian Church!!!

2010-09-08T22:42:00.000-04:00

We had our staff day today at the hotel and it was our first time setting things up. The PA system that Bob bought sounds GREAT and it wasn't TOO terrible to set up (and it was so easy to break down - Bob and I did it by ourselves in 30 minutes and that was with him figuring out how we wanted to pack it up!!). Then tonight, we went out for a date and afterwards did an impromptu shopping trip where we got a bunch of stuff that still needed buying: a new projector, a table for his laptop for worship, a Passport external hard drive so I can back up the church laptop with all the stuff on it (it's backing up now as I type), a custom made first aid kit for the nursery (the premade kits are so useless so I made up my own), guitar stands, music stands and ..... a large storage bin for the nursery (had to think of the one more thing we needed). So I think we're just about ready for our first Sunday service!! I'm SOOO excited to see what God will do with this new church. :) I'll definitely get pics on Sunday to share!

My goal this fall - ORGANIZE!!!

2010-09-07T17:03:00.000-04:00

Well, my ultimate goal this fall is to get organized. It's tough when you have a family that is like a giant anchor trying to keep you from doing it (not consciously, of course) but I'm going to do what I can.

So, every single day, I plan to do SOMETHING to get my home organized.

Yesterday I felt lousy but while I was watching HGTV for 5 hours, I went through the giant pile of magazines I had. After that, I cleaned out two shelves of the linen closet in my master bedroom. I threw out a number of things.

Last week, I cleaned my entire basement. What a job that was!! Today I cleaned up the mouse that found my trap yummy. Bleck on that but it was nice that I could set the trap next to the wall and SEE it when I went downstairs. I haven't been able to see the walls in about 12 years!

Today - what should I do today? Hmm - I don't have a ton of time because of homeschooling and ending up doing a LOT of stuff on the church website but ....

Breaking news! I just got a call from hubby and with the crazy schedule tonight, I don't have to cook a big dinner since my big girls won't be home and he had lunch at 3 so he's not hungry and he has a meeting in 2 hours anyway. So I don't have to worry about squeezing in food shopping but will do it when I have more time. :)

OK - Back to organizing - what should I do today?? Hmmm - OK, I'm going to sort socks. :D Yeah, I know, exciting life but I have a huge laundry basket overflowing that needs to be dealt with. So tonight, after the kiddies go to bed, I will sort socks. Yeah!!

I will admit though - tomorrow I most likely will not do much since I have an all day meeting for the church staff. I'll be lucky to feed my family. ;) OK so I will modify my goal to this: 6 out of 7 days I will organize my home.

2010-09-07T14:24:00.000-04:00

We had what was most likely our best trip ever this year. We had gorgeous weather and instead of always traveling, we chose to go to our favorite spots and stay for a while. So here's some highlights. I'll post when I put the whole thing on my blog. :)

We left on Sunday after church. We had the boat fully loaded and just needed to take a few things last minute and we were off the dock by 2:30 which is amazing. We headed to a harbor about 3 hours away and we actually were able to sail which NEVER happens on our first day!!

Hubby happy to sail

Robby enjoying that the boat is heeling - he's standing straight

View of the harbor we're going to the first night

The pretty lighthouse on the way to the harbor

From Port Jefferson, we were going to sail to Fisher's Island off the end of Long Island but the conditions were so good we decided to go straight to Block Island. While we got there safely, it was not the best of ideas because there's a very rough area at the end of Long Island called the Race and we hit a wall of water there, soaking everyone and everything, and now we had a kind of rough ride to Block. But we got there OK on Monday and we stayed there until Saturday. The FIRST time we stayed in one place so long. It was lovely and we took hikes, went to town, went to the beach and just hung out. We met friends there and had a BBQ as well.

Hiking on Block Island - Nicole with Lauren behind her

The view when we got to the beach

Bob getting a little work in one morning (this is our cabin (bedroom))

Robby and Joanna playing the same morning in the "salon" (living room/dining room/kitchen)

The sun was too bright when we were going to have dinner so I hung up some of the wet towels to block it.

After Block Island, we went to Watch Hill, RI but it was kind of an icky day. I didn't feel well so I got no pictures of this day. We only stayed in Watch Hill one night and then we went to my favorite place: Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. Have you ever seen the movie Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts? It's THAT Mystic. Yes, we've eaten at Mystic Pizza and I can safely say it's way overrated. :)

The Charles W. Morgan is the only wooden whaling ship left in the world. It's been at Mystic Seaport for over 50 years and last year, she was hauled out of the water to do some major restoration. It's AMAZING just how big that thing is! It's 17 feet from the keel to the waterline (all the brown part at the bottom). You can still go on the ship even though it's out of the water!

10 years ago, the Amistad was launched. It is a replica of the famous slave ship Amistad and is back at the Seaport for repairs that were suffered in a storm this year. The Amistad had been in Cuba in March!!

A group of grown-ups went out to dinner together and the children all went to Friendly's. When the adults got back to the Seaport, the children were putting on a play that is done a few times each day by the staff of the Seaport. They knew most of the lines and of course ad-libbed a few too. My daughter Nicole played "Scurvey Pete" who had a moustache so they decided to make duct tape moustaches. Here are ALL our "actors" hamming it up.

After Mystic Seaport, we went to our last favorite place: Hamburg Cove. Hamburg Cove is off the Connecticut River and is about 8 miles up the river from the Long Island Sound (actually, technically at that point, it's called Fisher's Island Sound). It's far enough up the river that it's fresh water so swimming is the thing to do. There's a small marina and yacht club up in the cove a bit where there's a little shop for ice cream. It's a most glorious place and we stayed here three days before we headed home.

Some pics from our dinghy ride for ice cream:

Sunset in Hamburg Cove - GORGEOUS!!

Our home away from home

So there you have it. After Hamburg Cove, we came straight home in high winds, a broken engine and lots of clouds. We were going to stay out until Tuesday but we heard about the icky weather so we came home Sunday instead. It was a wonderful trip and we have some great memories and made some new friends as well.

Evolution? Even YOU don't think so dear scientist

2010-09-02T17:17:00.002-04:00

I saw this on Tim Challies' blog and it's just too good to not share:

Pizza Salad

2010-09-01T17:04:00.002-04:00

Wow! Two posts in one day!! LOL But I wanted to post what we're having for dinner tonight. I LOVE this salad! We first tried it about a month ago and it quickly made it into the rotation because my family ADORES it. It's great for a night like tonight when we're going to be going out shortly after hubby comes home.

Pizza Salad

Tomato-Basil Dressing:
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1 ready to use Italian pizza bread shell crust (about one pound)

Salad:
3 medium-size tomatoes (about 1 lb.) cored and coarsely chopped
1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, diced
1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves
6 cups green leaf lettuce pieces, torn
2 oz. pepperoni

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Dressing: Mix tomato, oil and garlic in a small skillet or saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking apart tomato with spoon. Transfer to blender.
3. Add vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar and basil. Pulse to blend. Set dressing aside.
4. Place prepared pizza shell on rack in 450 degree oven. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until shell is crisp and lightly browned.
5. Salad: Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, lettuce and pepperoni in large bowl. Remove pizza shell from oven; slice into bite-sized pieces. Add pizza pieces to bowl; toss with dressing.

What a pain in the neck!!

2010-09-01T16:58:00.000-04:00

Literally. :) So last Thursday, I went horseback riding like I normally do. The horse was distracted but never spooked or anything and it was certainly not a particularly hard ride. After I was done, I did a few barn chores then came home, showered and was doing some cleaning up when my neck started to hurt. Being sore after not riding for a few weeks is pretty normal so I didn't think anything of it but by the time I went to bed, the pain was pretty bad. The next day I went into church to do my work and all day it hurt to turn my head, look up or anything like that and I began to suspect I had a herniated disc. I didn't sleep well Thursday night and Friday night was the same so Saturday I went off to the doctors. She suspected a herniated disc as well and gave me a prescription for an X-ray (to rule out anything else), Flexoril, Vicodin and Naproxin Sodium (prescription strength Aleve). I had the X-ray Monday and all was clear so now she wants me to see a spine specialist and to have an MRI done. So I did some more research.

What I found is that only 10% of herniated disc patients need surgery and the majority heal on their own in 6 weeks or so. Most by 12 weeks are fine. So why was I going to a specialist and having an expensive MRI when we were pretty sure what it was, I was beginning to feel better (only took the meds one day but did some other things that I'll mention in a bit) and I have some medical resources in good friends of mine? I told my husband I think the course I want to take is to take it easy, continue to ice my neck a few times a day, take the anti-inflamatory, no heavy lifting and sleeping with a body pillow and see if that will do the trick. We have a high deductible insurance plan so we'd have to pay out the cost of all the doctors/tests. I'd rather save that money for something REALLY important. I then put in a Facebook message to a friend of mine who is a physical therapist (and professor and author) and asked her what she thought. She agreed that I could absolutely do what I wanted to do but she did want to see me to be sure that there was no "gap" in the vertebrae and she can do that manually. She said she'd like to see the disc settle down a bit so there's less inflamation and then she'd see me (should be about a week and a half when I see her). So that's the plan I'm going to take. The other thing she told me is to "get my head off my neck" three times a day. That means lay down so that I can take the pressure of a heavy head off the affected disc. OK - So I'll lay down 3 times a day with ice on my neck. I can do that. :)

So that's where I stand now. It's not terrible but still not fun. When it first happened, the shooting pain was intolerable but now it's kind of a dull burning sensation although today I can add a headache into the mix. NOT fun. I've been planted on my couch in between doing things I need to do and I can say I'm getting a lot of reading done! LOL

I hope all is well with everyone else. I can't believe it's September already - especially since it's in the high 90s here in NY. But soon enough, the cool weather will hit and we'll be enjoying cider, warm pies, sweaters and fires in the fireplace. I can't wait!

It's been a while and I promise a post about our vacation but for now...

2010-08-23T16:46:00.000-04:00

We've been away on vacation and I'll post about that when I get my pics up but for now, I'm going to post a video from Mark Driscoll. He's speaking about the books that are recommended for pre-teens and young teens for 'great reading' by Amazon. This includes the Twilight series. Very interesting to listen to.

VBS Week aka I'm EXHAUSTED!!!

2010-07-30T19:02:00.001-04:00

So this week was VBS week at our church. My job is to run the refreshment department and we feed the children snacks all week and all of the staff and any parents who wish to stay for some refreshments. These numbers translate to 420 children, 170 workers and who knows how many parents but I'd number them at least 75 myself. So, this was a huge job. Of course I still had my regular work, my horseback riding and my home to take care of so at this point, I'm laying on my living room couch with my feet up nursing a light headache and being ready to go to sleep right about... now! Hubby and the kids are all up at church for the VBS fair which is where the kids "spend" the tickets they earned during the week on games, rides and fun. It's been a glorious week but oh so exhausting!! But we had many decisions for Christ, gathered hundreds of items of school supplies for a local ministry and will be able to help 20 students to be able to pay the $400 it costs for a bus to go to middle/high school from the dumps where they live in Nicaragua where we have a mission work. Praise God!! Here are some pictures someone just e-mailed me of our department and some of the food we prepared. Oh, the last picture was taken today after most of our work was done so the kitchen is pretty quiet and some of us were having our OWN refreshment!

My menu plan for the week in the state I'm in

2010-07-19T18:34:00.000-04:00

I'm officially shot. We had SUCH a busy weekend and I'm finding I have no motivation for today. So my plan, if I had my wishes today would look like this:

Monday: Chinese
Tuesday: Greek
Wednesday: Mexican
Thursday: Pizza
Friday: Burgers/fries
Saturday: great big salad from the salad bar at the supermarket
Sunday: whatever hubby wants to cook

LOL. Well, I'm going to get my wish for Monday. We're planning right now. My 7 year old had three teeth pulled today (she had an abcess where she had loose teeth and new teeth coming in so the dentist pulled them all) and she'll have vegetable lo mein and egg drop soup. We're going to have beef with broccoli and lemon chicken along with, of course, rice. :) I love my hubby.

Our church is having twins!!

2010-07-09T13:05:00.001-04:00

So, for a number of years, our church has had a vision of planting a new church further out east on Long Island but it just never was the right time. Last year in August, my husband felt called to take on the new church plant and we've been moving forward with a start date of September 12 to have our first services. We'll be about 30 minutes away from our home church and have a good team of about 25 who will be going with us to get the church off the ground. It's exciting to see what God is doing there and I know His hand is in this endeavor.

Shortly after signing the contract with the hotel where the new church will be meeting, we got a call from a small Baptist church in a town on the north shore of Long Island - about 30 minutes away from the home church and 25 minutes or so north of the new church. They were a dying church with only 5 attendees on a Sunday and they wanted to approach us with an offer of giving us their church in it's entirety. The lawyers have met, the deal is done, they had their last church service and the church is now ours. It's an adorable little New England style church and our prayer is that we can also open that church in the fall. I'm still not sure who will be the lead pastor there but I'm guessing we'll find out this Sunday (and I have a sneaking suspicion I know who it is and he'll be awesome out there).

So God is amazing. We're being faithful in following His call and He's given us a bounty! It's not going to be easy work but I do believe that we're equipped to be able to bring two new churches to an Island that sorely needs the Gospel. We've met with the area churches and we have their blessing on the future.

I'd like to share with you the new church building. Our plan is to make the Sunday School building (the brick addition on the left) facade match the style of the church. Our missions pastor is formerly a construction guy and he's excited about this new project. I know the church facility is in the most expert of hands.

Why the teaching of Michael Pearl regarding child raising (and other things too) is grossly in error and dangerous

2010-06-26T07:50:00.000-04:00

A number of years ago, I heard about this wonderful parenting book and that should read it. I had heard a few things about it online but wanted to read it for myself because I hate when people form an opinion without actually checking into it themselves. I was fortunate to know someone who was willing to give me the book and so I read To Train Up a Child. I cried. I was in shock. I was angry. How could a man have such a twisted view of God as to write a book that parents will raise their children with? Tempting and beating children because they fell to the temptation all because God did the same thing? I guess he never really read Scripture. My copy of the book is filled with notes, underlines, arguments from me as if Mr. Pearl could hear through the pages.

Since then, I have spoken to people of how bad their parenting advice is and tat there are much better materials out there to listen to, starting with Scripture. This morning, I came across an article that someone posted on Facebook about a family who murdered their 7 year old adopted daughter and seriously injured their 11 year old adopted daughter - all while disciplining their children following teachings of a "Fundamentalist group based in Tennessee". I knew who it was even before I looked further into it. Apparently this little girl had such a beating that she died of "muscle tissue breakdown" after a lengthy beating in her parent's bedroom. What was her offense? She misspelled a word in her schooling. Oh...my....God.

I know there are those who take things to the extreme when following someone's advice but to beat a child to death for misspelling a word? Unbelievable. So there is now an uproar about Mr. Pearl's teaching and he has given a response to this uproar. I'd like for ANYONE to say that this is a godly man responding to a terrible death and explaining the stand that they take. There is NEVER an excuse to have that sort of response to ANYTHING. Humble? Gracious? Mourning the death of a child? No. Instead his pompous, arrogant style flies in the face of that small child who suffered untold pain in the moments (and months) before her death.

If there is any reason to say that the teachings of Michael Pearl are grossly dangerous, I'd say this is it.

Supporting our husbands

2010-06-23T20:56:00.000-04:00

I've found many times in the past that I need to really be a cheerleader for my husband and I'm finding that I'm in that state again. I know he has a heart for the Lord and is seeking His will and therefore, whatever he needs to do to listen to Him, I will follow along. I know that as long as he is seeking God's will and listening for Him, I want to be there with him wherever God takes us. When we were married 25 years ago, we became one flesh and since then, what affects him affects me and what affects me affects him. So I find myself cheering for him, encouraging him, challenging him and enabling him to do what he needs to do in ministry and in life despite what that might bring our family. I know God has great plans for him and we'll do fine no matter what.

How about you? Do you find it hard to be a cheerleader and encourager to your husband in his walk and his vocation? What do you do to try to help him?

A Congregation's Responsibility to a Fallen World

2010-06-16T16:50:00.000-04:00

Wow - has it really been a month since I last posted? I knew it had been a while but not THAT long! Well, I'll be posting a bit over the next few days about our vacation but I thought I'd post a link to this very great blog post from Mark Dever via Kevin Young. They are notes from Mark's message at the Sovereign Grace Pastor's Conference and I think there's a lot of good in this:

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35 somewhat overlapping statements as a pastor to pastors concerning the topic of the congregation’s responsibility for its wider community
1. We should have more passion for and compassion for God than for people.
2. We should have hearts of compassion for all people because they’re made in God’s image (Prov. 14:31), and because we ourselves have known such undeserved generosity from God (Luke 6:32-36; II Cor. 8:8-9; James 2:13). It is a privilege to be of service to any human being. And it is a joy to reflect something of God’s own character in this, including His concern for justice (Isa. 1:17; Dan. 4:27), and especially to reflect the sacrificial love of Christ. In this sense ministries of compassion and justice which provide to people what they cannot provide for themselves are wonderful signs of the Gospel of Christ giving Himself for us.
3. Suffering is an inevitable part of this fallen world. Poverty, war, famine, death, and other tragic effects of the Fall will not be ended except by the bodily, visible return of Christ, (e.g., Mark 14:7; Jn. 12:8; Rev. 6:1-11). The Heavenly City comes down, it’s not built up, that is, it’s not constructed from the ground up (Heb. 11:10; Rev. 21). It is as one-sided as Creation, the Exodus and the Incarnation, the Cross & Resurrection, and Regeneration of the individual heart. It is a great salvation-act of God. If human culture can ever be said to be redeemed, it will be God that does it, not us.
4. The Gospel’s main thrust is not the renewal of the fallen structures of this world, but rather the creation of a new community composed of those purchased by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 5). It is only through the fulfillment the promise of forgiveness of our sins and acceptance with God that all of God’s other promises are fulfilled. We must always be clear in our teaching that the joy of God’s presence is superior to all the goods of this world.
5. No Gospel that tells Scripture’s sweeping narrative that culminates in the coming of the kingdom but neglects to tell individuals how they can be included in that kingdom is any true Gospel.
6. Scripture gives us no hope that society will be broadly and permanently transformed by the preaching of the Gospel. (See Matt. 24:21-22, 29).

7. Individual conversions can have profound effects for good on people, not only in eternity, but in this life, too.
John Wesley observed in 1787 that “I fear, wherever riches have increased . . . the essence of religion, the mind that was in Christ, has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore, I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of true religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality; and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches. How then is it possible that Methodism, that is, the religion of the heart, though it flourishes now as a green bay tree, should continue in this state? For the Methodists in every place grow diligent and frugal; consequently they increase in goods. Hence, they proportionably increase in pride, in the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. So, although the form of religion remains, the spirit is swiftly vanishing away. Is there no way to prevent this? this continual declension of pure religion? We ought not to forbid people to be diligent and frugal; we must exhort all Christians, to gain all they can, and to save all they can: this is, in effect, to grow rich! What way then, I ask again, can we take that our money may not sink us to the nethermost hell? There is one way, and there is no other under heaven. If those who gain all they can, and save all they can, will likewise give all they can, then the more they gain, the more they will grow in grace, and the more treasure they will lay up in heaven,” (Tyerman, vol. III, p. 520).
True or False? While conservative Christians are often said to be more concerned about “saving souls,” religious liberals give a significantly larger proportion of their income to alleviating poverty and meeting the needs of the downtrodden and underprivileged. False. Conservative evangelicals tend to give more to the poor than religious liberals. (See Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion Sept. 1998; also Robert Wuthnow’s Acts of Compassion [1993].) Many individual conversions have resulted in personal reformations and particular social improvements. And we hope will result in good effects in this world.
8. Since the Fall, the trajectory of unredeemed human history—the City of Man—is always in the Bible to judgment (the Flood, Babel, Canaan, Egypt, Jerusalem, Babylon, Rome & then Rev. 19). (Not quite as universal as gravity, but seemingly as inevitable in its overall tendency.)
9. The Heavenly City in Scripture, though clearly having some continuity with our own age and existence (Rev. 21:24), is presented as arriving only after a radical disjunction with our current history, including the judgment of the wicked (e.g., Ps. 102:26; Isaiah 13:10; 34:4; 51:6, 16; 65:17; 66:22; Matt. 5:18; 24:29, 35; I Cor. 7:31; II Peter 3:10-13; I John 2:17; Rev. 6:12-14; 21:1). The material world is to be restored only after something like we experience in death, before we are to be bodily resurrected. This is why Jesus told Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world. . . . But now my kingdom is from another place,” (John 18:36). Christ’s kingdom will come to this place (Acts 1:6-8), though when He comes, He will renew this place (Rom. 8:21).
10. We should have a desire to see non-Christians know the common blessings of God’s kindness in providence (e.g., food, water, family relations, jobs, good government, justice). Actions to this end are appropriate for Christians and for congregations.
11. Temporary institutions are still worthy of sincere Christian attention, thought, energy and action. (Think about marriage, for instance . . . .) Our teaching must not Platonically devalue this world as if we can discern better than Scripture what is of “eternal value.” We’re to do whatever we do “unto the Lord,” (Col. 3:17).
12. We should have a desire to see all people saved.
13. Our priority to unbelievers is the verbal proclamation of the Gospel, which alone can address the greatest part of human suffering caused by the Fall, and which is the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), which is, in turn the fulfillment of the Greatest Commandments (Mark 12:29-31; cf. Gal. 6:2) which, in turn, interprets the heart of any cultural mandate (Gen. 1:28). As Tim Keller says, “Evangelism is the most basic and radical ministry possible to a human being,” (“The Gospel and The Poor,” Themelios [33.3; Dec 2008], p. 17).
14. After the Fall, note that the cultural mandate is not uniquely given to the people of God, but to humanity in general (e.g., note the cultural advances in the line of Cain—building a city, raising livestock, music, metal-working [Gen. 4:17, 20-22]).
15. We, as a congregation, are not required to take responsibility for the physical needs in the unbelieving community around us. We do have a responsibility to care for the needs of those within our congregation (Matt. 25:34-40; Acts 6:1-6; Gal. 6:2, 10; James 2:15-16; I John 3:17-19) though even within the church, there were further qualifications (e.g., II Thess. 3:10; I Tim. 5:3-16). Paul’s counsel to Timothy (in I Tim. 5:3-16) about which widows to care for seems to indicate that the list was intended for Christian widows. One qualification seemed to be lack of alternative sources of support. Thus the instruction that family members should care for the needy first, if at all possible, shows the kind of prioritization of allowing for families—even of unbelievers—to provide support so that the church wouldn’t have to do it (I Tim. 5:16). We can extrapolate from this to conclude that support that could be provided from outside the church (for instance, from the state) should be preferred over using church funds, thus freeing church funds to be used elsewhere.
16. We should use historical examples and arguments for taking responsibility for our communities with care. Most people in the European past had established churches (also true many places in America before the 1840’s). Therefore the example of Calvin, the puritans, Edwards, etc. is less directly applicable than may first appear. They were not in modern pluralistic societies with large groups of people calling themselves non-Christians.
17. Many texts which seem to promote the idea of taking responsibility for our community’s physical well-being (e.g., Micah 6:8, Matt. 25, Gal. 6 & I John 3) are about our charity to members of the covenant community, believers, not non-Christian members of the community at large.
18. We are not forbidden from choosing to alleviate physical needs outside our congregation as a witness to the Gospel (e.g., providing computers to local schools, disaster relief, etc.). (contra a wrong idea of the spirituality of the church)
19. We have the freedom to choose particular actions for the welfare of our community as a witness to them directly, or more remotely by cooperating with other congregations and Christians in the formation of denominations, educational institutions, and a great variety of boards, charities and other organizations.
20. We should never mistake social action or mercy ministries (e.g., caring for the poor, soup kitchens, etc.) for evangelism (though it may be a means to it).
21. We should expect our members to be involved in a wide variety of good works (Prov. 19:17; 21:3; Luke 10:25-37; Acts 9:36; Heb. 13:1-3; James 1:27), some of which we may choose to hold up as examples to other members. This can be done without leading the congregation as a whole to own or support those particular ministries (whether by congregationally funding or staffing them). We personally can set an example of care for others. So John Wesley “began the year 1785, by spending five days in walking through London, often ankle deep in sludge and melting snow, to beg 200 pounds, which he employed in purchasing clothing for the poor. He visited the destitute in their own houses, ‘to see with his own eyes what their wants were, and how they might be effectually relieved.’” Wesley was 81 years old! (L. Tyerman, Life and Times of Wesley [Harper & Bros; 1872], III.458).
22. We as pastors must make sure that matters of secondary importance should not absorb our attention and energy to the detriment of our primary charge to preach the Gospel.
23. Our exposition of God’s Word should certainly equip our members by applying Biblical teaching to issues which are (or should be) of current concern, e.g., poverty, gender, racism, justice (cf. Isaiah 1:10-17). This teaching, however, should normally be given without seeming to commit the church to particular policy solutions to problems affecting the wider community. For example, Christian preachers could strenuously advocate the abolition of slavery without spending their sermons laying out how specifically it was to be done. We can speak to ought’s without untangling all the how’s.
24. We should warn our congregations about the dangers of accumulating wealth. Many Christians throughout history have read the Bible as being more suspicious of wealth than we modern American Christians seem to be. Everyone from Augustine to Wesley has written eloquently of the dangerous gravity of wealth, and the worldly pull it can have on our hearts. Such teaching need not cause us to reject careful financial planning, but it should cause us to be more vigilant, more wary and even suspicious of wealth than we tend to be. We should give fresh attention to cautionary passages like Matt. 6:21, Luke 12:34, I Tim. 6:17-19 and James 5:1-6. According to the Bible, wealth can be more spiritually dangerous than poverty.
25. We must carefully prioritize the responsibilities unique to the church. Matters like a concern for education, politics, and mercy ministries for those beyond the church’s membership are proper concerns for Christians to have, but the church itself is not the structure for addressing such concerns. They are the proper concern of Christians in schools, governments, and other structures of society. In fact, if such concerns came to be the focus of the church, they could potentially distract the church from its main and unique responsibility, that of incarnating and proclaiming the gospel. “To the church is committed the task of proclaiming the whole counsel of God and, therefore, the counsel of God as it bears upon the responsibility of all persons and institutions. While the church is not to discharge the functions of other institutions such as the state and the family, nevertheless it is charged to define what the functions of these institutions are . . . . To put the matter bluntly, the church is not to engage in politics. Its members must do so, but only in their capacity as citizens of the state, not as members of the church,” (John Murray, “The Relation of Church and State,” in Collected Writings of John Murray, vol. 1 [Banner of Truth, 1976], 255). We want to protect the practice of evangelism, and the priority of evangelism in the life of the local church. We never want to allow our congregation’s activity in caring for the needs of the community to diminish, or encroach upon the priority of the Gospel.
26. We must beware of dividing the church unnecessarily over non-essential issues in which we involve the congregation (e.g., nuclear disarmament, constitutional amendments, particular art outreaches or ministries in the community).
27. We must be aware of the deadly distraction such good deeds have been to earlier generations. (e.g., the Social Gospel movement; NB ancient examples like Council of Rome in 826 establishing schools at cathedrals was done in a context where the assumption was they were serving the baptized. NOT an example of reaching out to those we take to be unconverted with physical charity.)
28. We must ask ourselves and others whether or not we are more excited by and about the Gospel, or other, secondary issues, and if others perceive this in our ministry.
29. We must be on guard against the preference many of our own members (perhaps especially younger ones, or ones with more theological doubts) may have for doing ministry which is valued by unbelievers. Matt. 5:13-16 and I Peter 2:11-12 that speak of unbelievers seeing our good deeds and praising God must be understood along with promises of persecution for following Christ, (e.g., Matt. 24:9; II Tim. 3:12) and remembering that Christ Himself was finally rejected by the crowds and executed. Certainly popularity in our community is a poor guide to faithfulness in ministry.
30. We must carefully consider the amount of our members’ time, vision, excitement and prayers we are encouraging to be occupied by actions non-Christians might do, when non-Christians will never be giving themselves to evangelizing our community (or beyond).
31. We must beware the popular “share the Gospel, and if necessary use words” mindset. Similarly, the Gospel is, properly speaking, preached, not done (though our actions can certainly affirm it, e.g., John 13:34-35 [even here it is interesting to note that it is our love for one another that is said to point to the Gospel!]). Social ministry done by the church should be self-consciously engaged in with the hope, prayer and design of sharing the Gospel. J. Gresham Machen wrote that “material benefits were never valued in the apostolic age for their own sake, they were never regarded as substitutes for spiritual things. That lesson needs to be learned. Social betterment, though important, is insufficient; it must always be supplemented by God’s unspeakable gift,” (J. Gresham Machen, New Testament, ed., John Cook, pp. 345-346).
32. We must allow some latitude between pastors on differing judgment calls on the particulars of some of these secondary issues (e.g., how to oppose abortion; how much they would cooperate with non-evangelicals in social ministries, etc.)
33. We must be aware of the attraction to join our church certain non-gospel activities may cause (e.g., music, a school, certain community-help programs) and we must redouble our carefulness in only taking in members who understand the Gospel and give evidence of regeneration.
34. In our duties as under-shepherds, we want to protect our flock from the well-meaning writings and teachings of those who emphasize their role of making a difference in the culture. Those individuals may be uniquely gifted and called, but it is not a Biblical model for the local church.
35. We must not be naïve in this. We should realize that the priority of evangelism is always one of the most difficult things for the pastor to maintain in his own life and in the congregation’s ministry.

from http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/06/11/the-pastor-and-the-community-mark-dever/

LIVE from NEW YORK - It's MENU PLAN MONDAY!!!!

2010-05-17T08:25:00.000-04:00

Yep - we're going to do my menu planning live right now. :) I have no clue yet what I'm going to do.

First let me think of what's going on this week. Tonight is my 17 year old's senior concert so I know we'll need to eat a little early and since I'm horseback riding too, I need something quick. I think tonight will be our "good salad" which is greens, grilled chicken, craisins, mandarin oranges, walnuts, blue cheese and a homemade dressing made from one part honey to two parts balsamic vinegar.

OK - Tomorrow I think is pretty normal. I'll be home and I think it's supposed to be cooler and kind of lousy weather so I'll make something that takes a bit longer to make and includes the oven. I think that will be meatloaf with mashed potatoes and .... green beans? Since I'm home, I'm also going to be sure I have the ingredients to make up 2 batches of lasagna sauce so I can make lasagnas for our homeschool presentation night. I won't be able to be there but I will make the lasagnas and someone else can cook them up for me.

Wednesday we have ballet until 6 and then we need to be at church at 7 so again I need something fast. Hmmmm - we haven't done pizza in a very long time and there's a great pizza place near church that has a deal where you get a large pizza, meatball parmesan hero, large ziti and a dozen garlic knots for $20 which is an amazing deal so we'll do that. I can have hubby bring it home with him so I will just have a salad ready to go earlier in the day and we're set.

Thursday looks to be a nicer day and since I'll be riding again, I need something quick to prepare. I think I have a steak in the freezer and think I'll use that to do grilled stead and then I'll pick up the ingredients to make potato salad and we'll have that with frozen corn.

Friday is a very busy day for me. I'm still not sure how I'm going to work it all out because we have field day, I need to get my work at church done and that evening is our new church's first event. So I think I'll be sure there is leftovers for the children to eat and then I'll make sandwiches for DH and I to take with us. I think we need to be at the hotel around 6 or possibly even earlier so there are not a ton of choices for us.

Saturday - At this point, the weekend doesn't look that great weather-wise but of course we can't be sure. I think I'll make something chicken - Hmmmm - how about chicken enchiladas? We love those! I'll do chicken enchiladas and salad. YUM!

Sunday is usually just DH and I and the two little ones. Hmmm - IF the weather is nice, I know DH will want to BBQ on the boat so I think I'll pick up boneless chicken thighs. If it's nice, we can grill those and have it with the leftover potato salad. If it's not nice, I can cook them in the oven pretty much the same way as on the grill. So we'll do thighs, potato salad and green salad. Yeah, that works.

Monday - I try to get to Monday since with me riding on Mondays, there's not much time to shop or anything so if I'm not prepared for Monday, then we don't do well. I think we'll do a cranberry pork roast to finish out the pork roasts I have in the freezer. It's a crockpot meal, so nice and easy for me to come home from riding and finish the prep work. I'll serve it with rice and peas.

OK - DONE! :)

Monday - "good salad", rolls
Tuesday - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
Wednesday - pizza, hero, ziti, salad
Thursday - steak, potato salad, corn
Friday - kids: leftovers, adults: sandwiches
Saturday - chicken enchiladas, salad
Sunday - chicken thighs, potato salad, green salad
Monday - cranberry pork roast, rice, peas

Menu plan for this week

2010-05-02T20:55:00.001-04:00

MAN was today a work day! I convinced hubby to get the garage cleaned out so I could get my car in there and after working about 4 hours, no car can fit in there yet. However, we have 8 bags of trash at the curb, along with a broken table, a broken door and a broken dog gate. We have a huge box of books for the library, another box of books for the church library, another box of children's books for Freecycle, and about 3 boxes for us to keep. Then there's the huge section of the garage that's holding all of the other Freecyle stuff that I need to list and then the few things that will need to go into the shed....when we get the shed cleaned out. Oh - and 5 bikes in various stages of disrepair. LOL We need to now go to the shed next week and empty that which will add a ton more trash to the curb, more Freecycle finds - and will give us enough room to put away everything so that we should be able to not just get one but both cars back into the garage for the first time in about 4 years!! Woo-hoo!!

So hubby and I were just sitting comatose at the kitchen table having a cup of tea and I figured I'd think about dinner this week. Because of circumstances last week, I had 4 meals that I planned for that we didn't use so I'll recycle them to this week and I just needed to fill in a few more days with leftovers/freezer stuff/take-out because of busy days and we're all planned! Woo-hoo!! When I planned last week, it was still only in the 40s/50s during the day and yesterday and today were pushing 90 so these things are not typical summer fare but need to be eaten to use up the ingredients. Next week will reflect the weather a bit more. So, this week, we have:

Monday: Chicken Supreme, rice, broccoli (Chicken Supreme is basically browned chicken breasts put into a casserole pan, mushrooms sauteed with white wine put on top and Monterey Jack cheese over all - very yummy!)

Tuesday: Beef and pepper stir fry, rice (eat early because of National Day of Prayer worship practice)

Wednesday: Italian Wedding Soup, homemade bread

Thursday: Pulled pork sandwiches, leftovers or fend-for-yourself (it's the National Day of Prayer gathering at our church for all of the county evangelical churches and hubby is doing sound and I'm doing the computer/projector so we need to be there early)

Friday: Three Amigos (a local Mexican restaurant that has a GREAT family meal that consists of 1 lb. beef or chicken grilled with seasonings, 1 lb. grilled peppers and onions, 2 c. pico de gallo, 2 c. beans (refried, black or pinto), 2 c. rice, 1 c. guacamole, 1 c. sour cream, 12 tortillas and chips along with all the homemade salsas you want for just $20 - it easily feeds my hungry family of 6!) (We're doing this because I'll be at church at 9 am and not get home until after 5 because of work/homeschool group)

Saturday: Coq Au Vin or chicken thighs on the grill (dependent on the weather - both will use the chicken thighs)

Sunday: Mother's Day - we'll be going to see my ILs so we'll eat there.

Danger of Drifting

2010-04-28T13:46:00.000-04:00

This week my hubby had a chance to preach at our church. While he's been a pastor for a number of years, he's not had the opportunity to preach the sermon too often since we have quite a number of pastors and hubby is usually either leading worship or doing sound. But this week he was up. And boy was he good, if I do say so myself. His parents came and his mother was speechless - "That was my son???" LOL The message is just 30 minutes long but filled with glorious truth. Please listen if you have the chance! I promise you'll be blessed.

Danger of Drifting

Two contrasts in theology

2010-04-28T12:23:00.000-04:00

In reading my blogs and boards today, I came upon two very different theologies. One was encouraging, instructive and worthy of reading, studying and praising. The other? It saddens my heart so much that someone who can claim to be a "reverend" can be so heretical. Judge for yourself:

"Without Christ, there’s no bridge between God and man, there’s no hope for a personal relationship with God, there’s no chance of being forgiven."

“We don’t need a savior,” Spong said. “If Jesus died for your sins, you are one wretched human being. I don’t think that’s good news.”

My son's baptism

2010-04-23T23:19:00.001-04:00

I never did get to post about this! My son was baptized a couple of months ago and it just warms my heart to know that my child walks with the Lord. Here is his testimony that was read just before he was baptized:

Name: Robert
Age: 9

How I came to faith in Christ:

A few years ago we saw the movie “Narnia.” After we got home I asked my Dad “Why did Aslan have to die?” He explained why, and then told me how Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and come into my life. Since then I understand more about God through Promise Land [our Sunday School program] and Bible Memory Verses.

Why I am being baptized:

Jesus told us to be baptized because it shows everybody that I’m a follower of Jesus. I want to do what Jesus tells me to do in the Bible.

Here are some photos (edited to add that this is my husband who's baptizing him):

American College of Pediatrics speak out on teen homosexuality and schools.

2010-04-15T21:29:00.000-04:00

I found this amazing:

A news release from the American College of Pediatrics:

The American College of Pediatricians cautions educators about the management of students experiencing same-sex attraction or exhibiting symptoms of gender confusion. These concerns are outlined in a letter and fact sheet sent by College president Thomas Benton, MD, to all 14, 800 school district superintendents in the U.S. Dr. Benton also alerts them to a new Web resource, FactsAboutYouth.com, which was created by a coalition of health professionals to provide factual information to educators, parents, and students about sexual development.

“As pediatricians, our primary interest is in the health and well-being of children and youth,” Dr. Den Trumbull, Vice President of the College explains. “We are increasingly concerned that in too many instances, misinformation or incorrect assumptions are guiding well-intentioned educators to adopt policies that are actually harmful to those youth dealing with sexual confusion.”

The College reminds school superintendents that it is not uncommon for adolescents to experience transient confusion about their sexual orientation and that most students will ultimately adopt a heterosexual orientation if not otherwise encouraged. For this reason, schools should not seek to develop policy which “affirms” or encourages these non-heterosexual attractions among students who may merely be experimenting or experiencing temporary sexual confusion. Such premature labeling can lead some adolescents to engage in homosexual behaviors that carry serious physical and mental health risks.

There is no scientific evidence that anyone is born gay or transgendered. Therefore, the College further advises that schools should not teach or imply to students that homosexual attraction is innate, always life-long and unchangeable. Research has shown that therapy to restore heterosexual attraction can be effective for many people.

Optimal health and respect for all students can only be achieved within a school by first respecting the rights of students and parents to accurate information and to self-determination. It is the school’s legitimate role to provide a safe environment for respectful self-expression for all students. It is not the school’s role to diagnose or attempt to treat any student’s medical condition, and certainly not the school’s role to “affirm” a student’s perceived personal sexual orientation.

From a letter to all superintendents of schools in the US:

In light of these facts, it is clear that when well-intentioned but misinformed school personnel encourage students to “come
out as gay” and be “affirmed,” 8 there is a serious risk of erroneously labeling students (who may merely be experiencing
transient sexual confusion and/or engaging in sexual experimentation). Premature labeling may then lead some
adolescents into harmful homosexual behaviors that they otherwise would not pursue.

Finally, you can see a Fact Sheet about this subject.

What amazing information to fight the "Homosexuality is normal and genetic and we need to affirm those who feel attracted to their own gender." Praise God!

Cardboard Testimonies

2010-04-15T18:15:00.000-04:00

Our church had our annual dinner/business meeting and at the end, we had something called Cardboard Testimonies. What an incredible thing. Knowing these families and individuals and their stories - I cried as the first couple walked out on stage. SIGH

So to share this with you, you can watch it here:

Life .... continued

2010-04-11T16:25:00.000-04:00

So how is everyone doing? It's been just a regular old week for us with schooling, "stuff", church, etc. Today (Sunday) I missed church to take my second daughter to the college that she's going to be attending in September for their "Accepted Students Day" and we had a great time. We got some good contacts, some great advice and a lot of pens! LOL Now we're just vegging for a bit before running to the grocery store to get some food and get home before hubby gets home.

It's officially the beginning of the boating season. Set Free, our sailboat, got wet on Monday after being out of the water all winter and hubby is sailing it home as I type this. It was in the next harbor and what a beautiful day to sail home! We put the sails up yesterday so of course he's not using the engine right now since there's a nice light breeze and he's absolutely enjoying himself, I'm sure. Now every spare moment will consist of him saying "Wanna go to the boat??" LOL

One new thing for me is that I was diagnosed with frozen shoulder and started PT last week. The first visit was nice and I felt so much better afterwards. The second visit on Friday?? OUCH!! LOL But no pain, no gain, right? We're working on range of motion so that I don't get to the "frozen" stage. Ick! Don't want that!!

Other than that, not much is going on other than life. Just life. Doing all the normal things I do day in and day out. It's a wonderful life but certainly not too exciting to blog on, you know?? I don't want to bore you poor people!

Worthy is the Lamb

2010-04-03T18:01:00.000-04:00

This video was taken on Good Friday at our church. It was the end of the service and was a beautiful dance that the young women did. If you see the background on the screen change, that's me!! :)

So the government is encouraging lying???

2010-03-28T22:45:00.000-04:00

There's a secular board that I go to that I've been on for years. Much of the time it's just parenting stuff, woman stuff - that sort of thing but sometimes it gets into other topics. There are numerous women there who are gay and proud of it and we've had a couple of run-ins as is to be expected. I try to post with kindness and God's Word but I'm basically a "hateful homophobe". That's OK if I feel that I've been conducting myself in the right way.

So yesterday, someone posted a link to a site where someone is advocating for gay couples to fill out the census with everything else correct but to put "husband/wife" regarding their partner rather than "unmarried partner" even though they are not legally married. Apparently the federal government is advocating for the same thing. They tell those filling out the census to fill it out as they "self identify" themselves, not what the legal standing really is. So if a gay couple feel that they are married even though they are not, it's quite OK for them to put themselves down as "husband/wife" for the relation of person #2 to person #1. There were a number of posts basically cheering this on and thinking it was wonderful. Then I posted.

I posted that I thought it was wrong to lie on the census and that everyone should fill out the form truthfully instead of lying. Well, you would have thought I just took their firstborn and sacrificed them. I'm a 'hateful homophobe who needs to keep her opinions to myself. No one wants to hear about my Christianity and that all gay people are going to hell.' HUH?? All I said was that I didn't think filling out a form with something that was not true was right. I was told 'it's too bad because the government says it's how they should fill it out - as they feel like filling it out.' Again, I said that if you are not married, you should not be filling in the block that says "husband/wife" but should fill it out truthfully. Now I'm' "holier than thou" and they are sick of hearing my attacks on homosexuals.' HUH??? Let a white person who was raised by a black couple want to put down "African American" because that's who they more identify with and that would be OK? I'm sorry but if it's not the truth, it's wrong. I just don't get it. I just really don't get it.

Satan is laughing. He's the father of lies and absolutely loves that people think it's actually honorable to lie. What a sad state we're in today.

A must read blog post for today

2010-03-26T15:30:00.002-04:00

The Contageous Comfort and Mercy of God

Make sure you have your tissues.

There is no small job in the kingdom

2010-03-24T15:44:00.000-04:00

Today was a farewell luncheon for a great man of our church. He was always the first you would meet when you walked in the door and often times, he could be found praying with someone who walked into the church with a need. If you ever needed anything to be done, he was the one to go to and he always did it with a cheerful smile and a happy heart. Even if it was something as gross as cleaning up vomit from a child, he never complained. My son would love to come to church on Fridays so he could help him get the sanctuary ready for Sunday's service and he acted like a grandpa to my boy. I loved to sit and chat with him and knew that he would hold things in confidence if I needed them to be. This man held the church together so much that one day, a young child walked out of the church telling his mom, "I met the man who owns the church today!" Well, Tony was that man.

Tony was our church's custodian/sexton. He was the man who would do the cleaning as well as any set-up that needed to be done for events, which in a church our size, was at least weekly. He always remembered what was needed for whatever was going on - so much so that he'd come to me before VBS where I ran the refreshment department and he'd tell me what he had planned to have available for me which was just exactly what I needed. His heart was such like I've never seen - NEVER complaining about what needed to be done and he did it with joy. Our senior pastor today said that he could absolutely say without reserve that Tony was as important as any of the pastors in our church and he did as much ministry as any of them. Tony was involved in the recovery ministry but he also mentored a ton of the young teens who would work part-time for the church doing some of the cleaning and so many of them have grown up to serve the Lord in other ways.

Today was Tony's farewell luncheon as he and his wife plan to move down south. Much of our staff was there (over 40 people) and there was not a dry eye in the place as we all roasted Tony and Sue and told them of the impact they had on each of us. While Tony was "just" the custodian, he impacted each of us and so many others in a much bigger way than just cleaning a toilet. I seriously want to be like Tony when I grow up and pray that I can have a heart to serve others that's even just a fraction of his.

One neat thing is that our senior pastor gives each new member a verse and writes it on their membership papers. He prays over each person and God gives him a verse for them. Today he told Tony he prayed for a verse for him and told him what it was - and he said "I have a feeling that verse is what I gave you when you joined the church, isn't it?" He keeps no records of that but he knew. God had shown him the verse again for him. That verse (passage) is Philippians 1:3-6 "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

Amen. God bless Tony and Sue and may God continue to bless them as they begin their new lives in Tennessee. We'll miss you!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-22T16:46:00.000-04:00

Hubby and I just sat down and planned out the week. I'm so thrilled because this will be a low cost week which we SO can use. Our plan for this week is:

Monday: spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and Texas toast
Tuesday: roasted sticky chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans
Wednesday: crockpot Swedish meatballs, noodles, broccoli
Thursday: chicken enchiladas, salad
Friday: hubby and I eat out, kids have leftovers
Saturday: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas, gravy
Sunday: pulled pork and roasted veggies (it's our church's annual potluck dinner)

On Friday night, DH and I will go to the yacht club where we keep our sailboat. We have to spend a minimum of $75 each month in the restaurant and so we try to get two nice date nights a month out of that. We have hubby's parents to thank for allowing us to stay in the club after hubby went into the ministry and it's their Christmas gift each year to pay for the dues. They're wonderful. :)

Our new church plant has a name!

2010-03-19T08:18:00.002-04:00

Our new church plant's name will be Island Christian Church. It's going to be a second campus of our own church, Northport Baptist Church but it would be silly to have Northport church in another town (although Northport Baptist is actually in East Northport which is weird enough). Here's the logo - doesn't it look fantastic?

Al Mohler, Jr. on Glen Beck and churches pushing social justice instead of the Gospel.

2010-03-15T17:37:00.000-04:00

A great article on this topic. It seems to be making it all over Facebook and I've stepped on quite a bit of toes discussing it. I say the church is all about the Gospel. Others (mostly athiests, universalists or liberal Christians) say that the church is about social justice. What do you think?

Glenn Beck, Social Justice and the Limits of Public Discourse

Can you say "storm"?

2010-03-15T16:19:00.001-04:00

**Update at bottom**
I'm not sure how much of the country heard about it but OH MY WORD!! Did we have a doozy of a storm this weekend! The winds hit 70 mph (near hurricane strength) and we had over 4" of rain in just two days. We were fortunate to have only lost our power for a few minutes but there are many who will take up to 5 days to get it back. This storm killed 5 people and there are still hundreds of thousands without power. Just near us, there is a land form called a "neck" which is actually kind of like an island with a long, narrow piece of land going out to it. The narrow piece of land is called Asharoken and the neck is Eaton's Neck. Here's a pic of it (hope this works):

View Larger Map

Well, Asharoken was pretty badly damaged over the storm and friends of mine either couldn't get home from church or couldn't get TO church depending on when they tried to leave. The storm undermined the road which is just one lane in either direction so the police have it closed off and are only letting one car go through at a time. Since it's a 30mph, 3 mile long road, that's a long wait if it gets busy! Unfortunately this is a case of man trying to go where God is changing the land and so they keep trying to keep the water away from the road and homes but I don't know that they are ever going to win that game.

So please pray for all of those in the Northeast who have been affected by this storm. So many huge old trees fell and those who died did so from trees falling on them. One man was coming home from synagogue and died on his front lawn. Too sad.

If you want to see some local pics, you can click here

**Update: I got a call from the school district this morning then a call from a friend shortly after - Asharoken is now closed. 40% of the 500 foot sea wall was damaged and now there are phone poles down. This happened in the Nor'easter of '92 and it took days for them to get the road open. I wonder how long it will take this time! So now all of our friends who live on Eaton's Neck cannot get out of their neighborhood. No school, no stores, no anything. Fortunately they are a wonderful community and I know the fire department and the Coast Guard (the only non-resident things out there) will step in to help where needed. In '92, the Coast Guard evacuated anyone with health issues and the fire department hosted dinners each night for the residents. But back then, that was because they had no power and this time they do, thank heavens.

Steve Camp - "Where does it say foolish on me?" The Prosperity Gospel

2010-03-13T20:34:00.000-05:00

From Steve Camp's blog:

I was on a famous Christian TV show several years ago before their demise. During a 'commercial' break, the host of the program told me if I would give $100 to his ministry the Lord would give me back $1,000... I asked him politely, "Sir, where does it say foolish written on me?" He was a bit shocked and asked me, "don't you believe that the Lord will bless you by giving your money to our ministry?" I told him, "No I don't." And that furthermore he didn't even believe such a thing. He was again a bit surprised by my response and said, "Yes I do." I answered, "No, you don't." He said, "YES, I do." I said, "NO... you don't." With a puzzled look on his face he frustratingly said, "Why do you keep telling me that I don't believe this?" I said, "Simple. If you really believe this, then why don't you give your $100 to God, He'll give you a $1,000 back, and you'll quite asking me for mine?" He looked at me with that dumbfounded kind of quasi pseudo-theological televangelist deer in the headlights don't bother me with doctrine look, and replied, "I never thought of that before." I quietly muttered, "I think that's the problem."

read more

The deaf, learning sign language and learning the culture

2010-03-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

Our church is amazing in so many ways but one of the ways is our ministry to the deaf. We do not just have services "interpreted for the deaf" although our 9 am service IS interpreted for the deaf. We also have a deaf Sunday school, a deaf church, deaf fellowship and we also have run the Northeast Deaf Fellowship for numerous years now. The NDF is a week long summer program for the deaf with speakers, camp activities and such. We have deaf on our staff and have deaf small groups. It's so cool to be able to work with people of all sorts of abilities!

The deaf culture is a very interesting one and one that I had never understood. Did you know that the deaf do not see themselves as disabled and many if not most would not WANT to hear if they could? The deaf have their own way of doing things and oftentimes can kind of clash with regular American culture. But they are lovely, caring people who still need Jesus Christ and that is our purpose for our ministry. To introduce the deaf of Long Island to their Savior and show them their need of Him. I thank God for those in our ministry who work so hard with sometimes very little in return yet they continue day after day. Cindy, Antonio, Roz, Shelly and Kerri are just some of the people who work with the deaf at our church.

Well, Cindy and Roz, who are hearing and Antonio, who is deaf are teaching a sign language class on Saturday mornings. I love this class and it's so fun to start learning not only how to do a few signs but how to use American Sign Language which is a full language all it's own and to also learn about the deaf culture. ASL is just like French, Spanish or German with it's own rules, syntax in sentences and such. Instead of asking "How many books have you read?", you would ask "books you read how many?" So it's actually quite difficult to interpret because you're trying to figure out the right way to put the sentence together. But today I was able to tell Antonio that Robby was sick and he wouldn't be coming today and have him understand me! :D

As I've written before, we will be planting a new church in September about 40 minutes from here and it's turning out that most involved in our deaf ministry actually come from that area! I was talking with the head of the deaf ministry and it's becoming a possibility that the deaf church might go with the church plant within the next few years! Maybe that's why God has placed it on my heart to learn ASL - so I can show the deaf how important they are to the new church as well as our home church. It really shows the deaf how important they are and how much we care about the deaf when we learn their language. They are so patient with newbies but are touched when we step into their lives and now it's seeming like God is planning something new with them. I just praise God for all that He's done and all He's going to do in the future. We serve a most wonderful, amazing, glorious God!

The difference between the unconverted and the converted

2010-03-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

William Arnot:

The difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that one has sins and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God, and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.

—Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth: Illustrations of the Book of Proverbs (orig., London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1884), p. 311.

** got from Justin Taylor's blog

Our new church plant

2010-02-28T20:45:00.000-05:00

So some of you know about our church plant that my hubby and I are involved in. For those who don't, here's the quick run down:

It's been a vision of our pastor to plant a church further east on Long Island than us but we've never taken the step to do it. We've looked at properties, talked to many people yet it just wasn't time, I guess.

My husband's responsibilities at church as a pastor were three-fold: college ministry, music ministry and all things technical (he was a computer engineer in his former life). At the beginning of the summer, he and our senior pastor spoke and DH felt that it was time to pass the college ministry on and we had a newly graduated college grad coming on staff as a youth pastor so that seemed to be a natural thing to hand off to him. So now hubby had two responsibilities. Just before our vacation last summer, our senior pastor told him that they were going to take away the worship ministry from him for no particular reason but he wanted a bit more of a hand in the planning of it so while he was still going to be a worship leader of one of the teams, he was no longer the worship pastor. So that left him with the computers. He decided that if this is where God wanted him (to be fixing computers), he'd go back to consulting and make triple the amount of money he was making now. He's excellent at computers, had clients who would easily hire him to do work but he hates doing it. He knew something was going on but not what it was. So while on vacation, and being very hurt and discouraged, he took the time to pray - a lot. We both did. He came to me part way through the trip with his calling. He had never considered it before but what about the church plant? We prayed about it and we both felt that this just might be the thing - but what would Pastor say? We'd find out when we got home.

A few days after coming home, hubby went out to lunch with the senior pastor and told him what he felt - that God was leading him to work on the church plant. Well, it turns out the reason nothing had ever been done on it was because pastor was praying for one of the men to come to him feeling the call to do it. He easily could have assigned it to someone but if he did, it wouldn't be their ministry but their job. So he waited years for someone to come and now he saw who was going to take this on. Wow!! Very cool!! So the next Sunday, it was announced to the congregation to shocked gasps and applause. That is where we started.

Fast forward to now. We've found a location to meet (a hotel) and have the full support of the church. It's now time to start getting more and more things together and one of those things was finances. The Christmas offering went to the church and we had more than $20,000 come in to begin the plant. Two weeks ago, Pastor challenged the congregation to pray and think about donating a week of the church plant apart from their regular offering. Last week, he asked everyone who was planning to take that on to come forward and we had about 90 people/families do so! We've already gotten about 70+ weeks already donated or pledged and our goal was just one year! Wowza! He said to everyone that this week would be the week to pledge ourselves to the new church plant. This meant that these people would become one year missionaries in the new church and be there to help with the infrastructure - nursery workers, children's ministry, worship, technical stuff, greeters, ushers, hospitality, etc. Well, today we had about 50 people pledge to do so!

This is such an amazing time for us! My husband will be the senior pastor but not always the pastor who will be doing all the preaching. Since we have so many pastors, we'd like to get them in to preach series at the new place. Of course we're also looking for a more permanent location but that will have to wait for a bit until we're a bit more self-supporting, most likely. But it's still so exciting!

It's so humbling to see God working ahead of us meeting our needs even greater than we could ever think. I just wanted to share what's up with us!

Home goings-on...

2010-02-17T10:47:00.000-05:00

I know I've been bad about posting. Sorry about that! I've got a couple of posts that I want to do but just haven't done it yet so instead, I'll just chat. :)

On Monday, my 17 year old got her wisdom teeth out. We always knew she was a wise-guy but now we know why! She had 6 wisdom teeth! Weird! She's still in a bit of pain but hopefully today will be a better day than yesterday.

I'm sure most of you know that my poor oven has been dying on me. It's an electronic one and the computer has been going crazy. It's been telling me it's at temperature when it's not even close, suddenly locking the door and telling me the temperature is too hot, "coding" (shutting off and displaying an error code) and that sort of thing. I can not even use the oven and it will lock on it's own! We had the appliance place come in and replace the temperature sensor and it didn't fix it so it was time for a new oven. Well, DH decided to take the computer out of the oven since he couldn't make it any worse because by this time, it wouldn't even start. He checked the board completely to see if anything was wrong, cleaned all of the connections and put it back together again. Well, I've now used the oven twice and I've not had a problem!! I'm amazed! I'm tempted to try to do a self-clean cycle but I think that just might be pushing my luck. :)

Finally, I think we're set on where we will be holding the new church in September. We found a great building that would be perfect and the landlord was willing to renovate it for us but we needed to sign a 3 year contract and we weren't comfortable with that. So for now, we'll be meeting at the local Crowne Plaza Hotel. We're still working out the details on that but we'll have 2 rooms and we'll hold services at 10:30, I think. :) The whole church plant is slowly coming together! Oh! Our pastor also challenged the congregation to help with the church plant and take a week to fund it (it's $450 a week but he's asking for $500 to help cover some other costs), hoping to get funding for it for a full year. So that would be 52 people who would pay for the rental of the hotel. At this point, I think we have 20-something people committed already! How awesome!! That means we've got the first 1/2 year already covered! Praise God!

Once again, Menu ... Tuesday

2010-02-02T10:19:00.000-05:00

I'm such a slacker but yesterday I was not feeling that great so I didn't post my menu then. HOWEVER, I actually planned out TWO full weeks' worth of food. I did that because our pastors are going away next Monday and Tuesday nights, so those nights I planned "kid food" that my hubby wouldn't necessarily want. Once I got there, it wasn't too much more to make it through the rest of the week, so two weeks are DONE. :)

31 - Was supposed to be appetizers but we had a sudden death in the church so it ended up being just canned soup and brown bread
1 - taco soup
2 - Italian beef stew, noodles, salad
3 - chicken enchiladas, salad (this is, IF my oven works)
4 - leftovers (funeral)
5 - burgers, fried potatoes, corn
6 - spaghetti with Italian sausages, salad
7 - steak, baked potatoes, green beans
8 - "slops" (elbow macaroni, ground beef, tomato soup)
9 - grilled chicken cutlets, broccoli, orzo with feta cheese
10 - macaroni and cheese, salad
11 - ham and bean soup, salad, rolls
12 - appetizer dinner
13 - chicken pot pie, salad

Like my "Menu Planning Mania" button? Get yours here.

My dear departing oven

2010-01-22T18:37:00.002-05:00

So my oven is dying. Poor thing. It's in it's death throws but I won't let it go just yet since I don't have enough money for its replacement. So instead, I'll coddle it along. It's reading the temperature all wrong and will tell me the oven is too hot and will lock the door - when it's at 200 degrees. Here's an example from tonight.

5:35 - start oven at 325 degrees on convection
5:36 - "at" temperature (forget the oven thermometer inside reads just 125 degrees)
5:40 - put meatloaf in oven
We get a good long stretch in here - enough that I ask my daughter if the oven is still even running
5:54 - oven "codes". It's saying that the temperature is too high
5:55 - oven door locks
5:55:30 - oven door unlocks
5:57 - restart the oven to 325 degrees on convection
5:58 - reaches temperature
6:03 - door locks
6:03:05 - door unlocks
6:04 - door locks
6:04:03 - oven stops running then starts again
6:04:25 - oven door unlocks
6:12 - oven "codes" again - temp too high
6:14 - restart oven
6:26 - still running well! Hmmmm
6:55 - a very yummy meatloaf is ready to eat. It's weird that it gives me a lot of time an hour into it.

(oops - posted too soon - will update when meatloaf is done or it goes crazy again)

Good read on another blog - Proselytism and an argument from the world

2010-01-20T10:41:00.000-05:00

One of the books I posted on yesterday was Holy Subversion by Trevin Wax and I'm really looking forward to reading it. Today on Trevin's blog, he has a response to a person who left a comment on a blog post discussing proselytism. It's a very good read for us because we can see a well thought out argument against the idea that Christians shouldn't try to "force" other people to believe and we should allow all beliefs to exist because all beliefs are equal. I recently got into a discussion about this with someone and I found it wonderful to read how another believer addresses the issue. So read it today when you get a chance. It will only take a few moments but look at it as a teaching time. I learned a lot and I hope you will too.

Woo-hoo! Books!!

2010-01-19T20:45:00.000-05:00

I love getting new books and I just ordered 4 that I'm excited to get and to start reading. They are:

Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting by William P. Farley

From Amazon: Bill Farley's new book on parenting is rock solid. It is so because it is so profoundly grounded upon the all-sufficiency of the Word of God and the Gospel of grace. When it comes to parenting, Farley is no neophyte; he has been in the trenches raising sinful kids by the grace of God and for the glory of God for two decades. Nor is he going to give you theoretical platitudes; he is honest about his own deficiencies and his great need of Gospel wisdom in parenting. Here is Jonathan Edward s theology made accessible to depraved parents raising depraved kids in a depraved world. This is, ultimately, a parenting book full of hope, hope grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. --- Douglas Bond, author of Fathers & Sons: Stand Fast in the Way of Truth, and Hold Fast in a Broken World.

Tim Challies, a blogger I highly respect recommended it highly.

Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals by Trevin Wax

From Amazon: Christians are too often guilty of pledging their allegiance to the influential principalities and powers of this age rather than to Christ alone. In Holy Subversion, Trevin Wax challenges such behavior by urging a return to the subversive lifestyle of the earliest Christians. Their proclamation and demonstration that "Jesus is Lord" directly opposed the Caesar worship of their day.

Today, Christians in the West must choose between Jesus and our "Caesars": self, success, money, leisure, sex, power. What would it look like, asks Wax, if today's church reclaimed the communal, subversive nature of the gospel, intentionally undermining all contenders for our devotion? How would the message that "Jesus is Lord" change our thinking about our jobs, our families, and our church participation? Here this gifted pastor-theologian offers help in taking our faith public, dethroning modern-day Caesars, honoring the Lordship of Christ, and understanding the church as the ultimate counterculture-an embodiment of Christ's supremacy over all.

Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters by Josh Harris

From Amazon: "When the apostle Peter says, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…casting all your anxiety on Him," he implies that humble people are fearless. They have the courage to stand up for truth humbly. I love the term "humble orthodoxy." And I love Josh Harris. When they come together (Josh and humble orthodoxy), as they do in this book, you get a humble, helpful, courageous testimony to biblical truth. Thank you, Josh, for following through so well on the conversation in Al Mohler's study."
—John Piper, author of Desiring God; Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

Crosstalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet by Michael R. Emlet

From Amazon: Your friend just left his wife. You catch your child posting something inappropriate on the Internet. Someone in your small group is depressed. A relative was just diagnosed with an incurable disease. When those you know and love experience trouble, you don't want to hand out pat answers or religious platitudes. Instead, you want to offer real hope and help from God's Word. You know it s true, but how does an ancient book, written thousands of years ago, connect with our twenty-first century problems? In CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet, Michael R. Emlet gives you the tools to connect the Bible to your life and to the lives of your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. You will learn to understand people and God s Word in ways that promote gospel-centered, rich conversations that help you and those you know grow in love for God and others. This book will make the whole Bible come alive to you. Instead of platitudes, you can offer a cup of living water to those who are struggling in this broken world.

Should make for some good winter reading! Oh - if you're interested in following blogs, you can see on my blog roll both Trevin Wax (Kingdom People) and Josh Harris.

Menu Plan Monday....errr, Tuesday

2010-01-19T13:26:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I'm behind on this once again but I promise this post will be worth it. :) My plan for this week is:

Monday - Chicken enchiladas, salad

Tuesday - Wine-braised Italian sausages, salad

Wednesday - Chicken sandwiches, pasta salad, cut up veggies

Thursday - Cranberry pork roast, rice, broccoli

Friday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas

Saturday - Ham, scalloped potatoes, glazed carrots

Sunday - leftovers or a $20 family meal at a local take-out place

But what's so worth it about this post? The chicken enchilada recipe. Honestly, this ROCKED our dinner last night and I just finished it today for lunch. My whole family rated this a 10+ which is pretty rare for everyone to think something was that good. I got the recipe off of All Recipes and only did two things differently than the original recipe: 1) I used a small chicken that I had used to make chicken stock for soup for a very ill friend of mine. 2) I used a large can (28 oz) of enchilada sauce since we like things on the saucy side. Hubby actually said this was better than the awesome Mexican restaurant that we love to go to on special occasions!! Wowza! THAT is good! So here's the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Angelas-Awesome-Enchiladas/Detail.aspx#

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast

meat - cut into chunks

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of

chicken soup

1 1/4 cups sour cream

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies,

drained

1 (1.25 ounce) package mild taco seasoning

mix

1 bunch green onions, chopped, divided

1 cup water

1 teaspoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

5 (12 inch) flour tortillas

3 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, divided

1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place the chicken in a large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the chicken pieces are no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Shred chicken by placing two forks back to back and pulling meat apart. Set the shredded chicken aside. Meanwhile, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and chili powder in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
2.	Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the shredded chicken, chopped green chilies, taco seasoning, half of the bunch of chopped green onion, and water. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice, onion powder, and garlic powder; simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
3.	Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stir 1 cup of the soup mixture into the skillet with the chicken mixture. Spread the remaining soup mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4.	Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the chicken filling before folding the tortillas, reserving half of the shredded cheese for topping the enchiladas. Fold tortillas over the filling and place seam-side down in the prepared pan.
5.	Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas. Cover with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of Cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the reserved chopped green onions and the sliced olives on top of the cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until filling is heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

Life on high speed

2010-01-16T19:39:00.000-05:00

MAN, it's been over 10 days since I last posted! Life is crazy busy - but then again, it always is!

A week ago, we had Anne Graham Lotz at our church to speak in the morning service and then in the evening service she showed us her method of Bible study. It was a wonderful weekend and Anne is not only beautiful and the spitting image of both her parents, she was also extremely gracious and lovely to work with. Her husband actually grew up in our village, played basketball for our high school and his father was one of our church's early pastors! He was so blessed to see where our church has come since way back in the 50s. It was fun for him to go downtown and see the stores that are still here and to see what has changed.

Sunday morning, as I was still just waking up, I got a call from our senior associate pastor's wife who had planned the whole thing with Anne coming. It seems Mary was ill - very ill - and was heading to the hospital. Could I take over for her for the day? Certainly - but that meant I was basically on the go from that second until I fell into bed at 10 that night. But all went quite smoothly and it was a very blessed evening for all ..... but Mary. Unfortunately she ended up in a very busy ER in a hospital with no spare beds so she spent 2 days in the hall of the ER before she finally got a room. She was diagnosed with colitis although they're not quite sure what caused it. Fortunately it wasn't the dinner she had the night before because Anne had the same dinner as did our senior pastor! Yikes! Can you imagine food poisoning in all of them?? GULP!!!

Of course since the week heading into Anne being here was busy, I got a little behind in our homeschooling so this week was spent getting caught up on that. I played Mary the rest of the week since she's our "worship coordinator" who figures out who's doing what and also puts together the announcements and such. Friday was a full day at church doing my own work and hers but we had a good day and headed home around 5pm. There was a message on the answering machine from a young lady asking us to call her and it was about her dad (who was sick with cancer) and we called but there was no answer. DH and I decided to run out for dinner. When we got home, we heard back from Vivi and her father was given hours/days to live!!! She said he went downhill so fast and he was asking for my husband so we rushed over there. We spent all of last night there as he went in and out of consciousness. He's doing slightly better today (he ate some cereal when last night he couldn't swallow even an Ensure), but that doesn't mean he's getting better. We're on constant readiness to get ready to go if we get a call. We'll head over tomorrow again after church since he was asleep tonight. DH performed his wedding just 2 years ago (he and his wife were formerly divorced - he many years before he was saved and she by abandonment) and it was his first wedding officiation as a pastor. Now he'll be doing his first funeral sometime this week, most likely. :(

Of course in all of this, I'm still cleaning, still home schooling, still taking hubby's church plant class at church and such. I gotta say - God gives grace where it's needed because I'm still not feeling "overwhelmed". It's definitely only by Him because normally? I'd be freaking! :)

Menu Plan Sunday :)

2010-01-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm planned so I might as well post it! LOL I'm going to order the groceries today and have them delivered on Tuesday. I have NO desire to go food shopping right now so I'm going to pay someone $11 to bring me my groceries (and I'm sure I'll save that much just by not doing any "whim" purchases.

Monday: BBQ Country Style Ribs in the crockpot, potato salad, salad
Tuesday: Sauerbraten, red cabbage, mashed potatoes, peas
Wednesday: Shrimp Scampi, salad
Thursday: Taco Soup
Friday: Chicken Pot Pie, Salad
Saturday: Chicken Fried Rice
Sunday: eat at church

Desperate Housewife: Freedom in Captivity

2010-01-01T22:15:00.001-05:00

OK - there has always been the discussion about just what a woman is to do in a marriage when she's a believer and her husband either isn't or isn't living like he is. Here's a site with a very well thought out counseling response to this. I'm definitely going to do some more looking at this.

Desperate Housewife: Freedom in Captivity

Reading through the Bible in a year

2009-12-28T21:36:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many of you do this but it's a wonderful blessing to read through the whole Bible. I have to admit that this last time I read through the Bible, it was over 2 years but I'm just going to be done at the end of this year. I read through the Bible in chronological order which was AWESOME because it showed me that I was not experiencing deja vu in reading some things but that the Old Testament DOES have things written twice in different books. LOL Thanks, Michelle, for getting me that plan two years ago!

This year, I'm going to follow a new plan. It's from Discipleship Journal and it's a great plan because it has you reading just 25 days out of the month, which I think it SO realistic and freeing. Admit it, there's ALWAYS a day we miss here and there and to allow us a few extra days to "miss" is wonderful. Additionally, this plan has us reading through 4 different parts of the Bible each day. It has bookmarks for you to keep in your Bible so that you can easily find and check off each section as you read.

If you'd like to see the entire thing printed out in one compact brochure, see here.

If you'd like to get the bookmarks, go here and here.

So, anyone want to join me?? Let's get into God's Word this year!

Tim Challies - "Letters to Luke"

2009-12-21T14:11:00.001-05:00

As most of you know, I read a blog by a man named Tim Challies and I find him very insightful and with a great grasp of God and His Word. Today he introduced us to a man who is an atheist who asked Tim if he could write to him to discuss God and atheism and Tim agreed. Today was the first letter that Tim wrote to Luke which is a response to a letter that Luke wrote on his blog. I think this will be an excellent read for any believer.

Here's the link to today's entry: Letters to Luke

And here is the link to the blog if you wish to follow it all: Tim Challies

Record snow storm for Long Island!

2009-12-20T23:39:00.000-05:00

It was wonderful! We had a blizzard during the night and we have a winter wonderland. We postponed the morning services to 4 pm so we still were able to worship and see the children perform their pageant.

Here are some pictures from today's shoveling (we got almost 2 feet!).

"Wives submit to your husband" = no opinion???

2009-12-20T20:07:00.000-05:00

It's interesting. In reading things online recently, I came across an opinion of a woman that I've heard before and it's always bothered me. This is the idea that as Christian wives, we're never to question our husbands at all. If our husband says "Let's move clear across the country." we're just to say "OK - thank you dear." and wait for his next instruction. If he says "I think we need to sell all we have and invest it in this new business", you might be worried inside knowing that this won't work but saying "Yes dear" instead of voicing your thoughts. I honestly don't see this supported in Scripture and I think it makes for a very dysfunctional marriage.

God created woman for man - to be a "help" to him. The word "help meet" in the King James is "ezer" and is the same term that is used regarding the relationship between God and man in Scripture. Psalm 33:20 says "Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he [is] our help and our shield" and Psalm 121:1-2 says "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." God is certainly not silent in our relationship is He? He gives us His thoughts, His desires for us and reveals to us His heart. Should we not do the same with our husbands?

I do not see how submission means to not give our opinions on things either. By giving an opinion, I am not being unsubmissive at all but instead allowing my husband to have maybe more information or a different perspective on the subject. In our over 24 years of marriage, there have been many times that my husband and I have disagreed about something, some big and some small, but we learned over the years to recognize the other person's relationship with Christ and the Spirit's voice speaking to them. I've learned to stop and listen to him and to pray that God would align my heart with his wishes if that's what He desires. I've also learned to respectfully and quietly present my thoughts on the subject and my husband has learned to not lead with an iron fist and a deaf ear but to utilize the "help" that God gave him in a wife and to see if what I'm saying is something that is absolutely valid and he needs to listen to. We are not only husband and wife but brother and sister in Christ and God has used me to bring something to my husband's heart that he would not have thought of. If I were to just sit back and never give my opinion, I'm no better than a slave or an employee rather than a part of "one flesh".

To tell wives that they are to never question their husband, never give an opinion or an insight is to me a very dangerous, marriage damaging and crippling advice. I'm certainly not saying that we're to argue with our husbands or question everything they do but if something doesn't make sense, ask for more clarification. If you see an issue with an idea they have, give your insight as a woman and child of God. If your husband even needs a correction from a sister in Christ, please by all means do so. Know that it will not always be received well but if we keep our mouths shut all the time, their "help" is as good as a GPS with no compass.

Be discerning and always approach your husband with something that might be difficult after much prayer and self-evaluation. Are you doing this in pride because you know more than him? Are you doing this because he's an idiot who should know better? Pray that God will shut your mouth if it needs to be shut or to allow your husband's heart to have been softened already to that particular issue. With prayer and wisdom, you will not be a nag or hinderance to your husband but instead a sweet partner "help" who is led by the Spirit and completes and compliments him perfectly.

In the homestretch!!

2009-12-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

We're getting to the homestretch of the play at church. Tonight will be our last practice before we hit 3 performances in a row. Tonight traditionally has been "wacky practice" where people dress up in weird clothes and we do weird things but this year, we need the time to go over a few scenes that are very complicated and need a bit of fine-tuning. I'm still going to pop in a burp or something as a sound-effect, however. :)

Please pray that God will use this play to touch the hearts of many. It's great to see responses to the play even if it's just "Wow" as people walk out the door. A LOT of hard work went into this - thousands of man hours and with a cast of over 80 and a crew of almost 40, it's certainly no little show and it is wonderful being a part of something that God may use to reach people for His glory.

Soli Deo Gloria!!

Being a diligent listener - our responsibility for church

2009-12-08T11:47:00.000-05:00

Tim Challies is a blogger and author who I highly respect. He has a great entry today on just what OUR responsibility is in regards to church and specifically the Sunday service. Excellent words for all of us.

http://www.challies.com/archives/christian-living/being-a-diligent-listener.php

Menu Monday

2009-12-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

So this week is going to be busy yet again thanks to the play but I think I have food planned out. Here we go:

Monday - Tortellini Alfredo with ham, salad
Tuesday - Breaded chicken tenders (I'll make extra), mashed potatoes, gravy, peas
Wednesday - Cranberry pork roast, rice, broccoli
Thursday - lasagna, salad
Friday - DH and I will eat at the yacht club and then I need to be at church around 7 or so for the play
Saturday - porterhouse steaks, mashed potatoes, some sort of veggie (I'll be home around 5 from the play)
Sunday - Cast party - I'll make cocktail meatballs in the crockpot at church to serve.
Monday - Taco soup, salad

This week has me at church on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights for play practice and work. Then the play is Friday night, Saturday at 2 and Sunday at 4 with the cast party after the Sunday show. It will be fun! The play went really well with just a few glitches and I'm sure the rest of them will be even better! :)

SILVER BELLS

2009-12-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been sucked into the vortex that is known as the "Church Christmas Drama". Our church does a huge production each year and this year there was a sound man but no one who was available to actually trigger the sounds (music and sound effects). Since I'm the "expert" on this computer program that we have (and "expert" is in quotes for a reason because I barely know all of the features of the program myself but am learning a bit ahead of everyone else), it was mentioned to me that a person was needed and, after checking with hubby about it, I went ahead and said OK. The director was thrilled because she knew that she wouldn't have to teach me what to do since I know this program already. So in the last few weeks, I've been to MANY hours of rehearsals and spent many more hours doing programming of the computer and setting up sounds. It's been a lot of fun and the program is wonderful.

"Silver Bells" is a modern-day rendition of A Christmas Carol. We see Mr. Benjamin Smith, a wealthy businessman in the role of Scrooge and his assistant is a single mom. We follow through the past, present and future to visit a children's mission, a deaf church (we truly have a deaf church at our church and the deaf come and sign a beautiful song) and the home of Mrs. Jones and her 3 children, one of whom is ill. It's a wonderful show where the Gospel is presented and tonight was the first show that was performed before a packed house. We had over 700 in attendance tonight and it was great.

Here's a little taste from our dress rehearsal yesterday:

Sorry I've been MIA again

2009-11-28T19:44:00.000-05:00

Seriously, I stink at this blogging!! Sorry about that! I don't see it getting much better over the next few weeks either because life is going to spiral out of control soon! You see, I was asked and I volunteered to do the sound for the Christmas program at church. I went for my first practice on Tuesday night and it looks like it's going to be fun but the real business starts this week. Practices are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights with me at church on Wednesday as well to do my regular work. I'm back there on Friday for more of my job and then I'm there all day Saturday for practice and the first play is Sunday afternoon. So Sunday is another day I'm at church all day. The following week is Tuesday and Thursday nights then the play is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So busy is on my plate for the next two weeks but I'm looking forward to it. I'm trying to get the house in shape and food planned so I don't have to go crazy trying to keep up with everything and I've already lowered my expectations for school through this time. We'll just work through the Christmas vacation week with taking a few days off right at Christmas.

So what I have to do for this play is to load all of the song music and sounds on the computer, which I did on Tuesday, and then to play each thing at the right time. That's the songs, the sound effects and the music. Fun stuff and the new computer program we got in June ROCKS for this sort of thing!! It was beyond easy - I just need to pay attention and make sure everything is triggered at the right time.

The play was written by one of our pastor's wives who is amazing at writing plays and it's based on A Christmas Carol but set in modern NY. My husband wrote one of the songs - "The Meanest Man" - that the kids will sing so that's kind of fun. Oh - weird thing about that. 5 years ago, when DH had fallen off the roof and broken his foot, Mary (the woman who wrote this play) asked DH to write some songs for the play she wrote for that year and he wrote a few great songs. Well, she asked him to write a few songs for this play.....and he injured his foot again! So I told her that if she's going to ask him to write songs for a play again to give us a heads-up so that we can make sure we protect his feet well. :) Too weird! LOL

So I will try to get on here and there but you never know. "Busy" might make it kind of hard. God bless you all during this holiday season and may you not forget the One who made a reason for this season. :)

Maple-walnut Chicken

2009-11-18T11:54:00.001-05:00

This recipe is one I've had on the menu for a while now but haven't yet made it so I have no assurance that it's good or now. However, it looks really good and we WILL try it this week. I'm going to use the fresh spinach but a boxed pilaf to make enough for the family.

Maple-Walnut Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6-7 oz. each)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. packed fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup walnuts
5 Tbsp. cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 pkg. (8.5 oz) precooked whole grain pilaf
1 bag (9 oz) microwave-in-the-bag spinach

1. Rub chicken breasts with oil, then rub with thyme, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Let stand.
2. In 12 inch non-stick skillet, toast walnuts on medium 4-6 minutes or until golden and fragrant, stirring occasionally. Transfer walnuts to dish; do not remove skillet from heat.
3. Add chicken to same skillet; cook 12 minutes or until golden brown and juices run clear when pierced with the tip of a knife, turning frequently.
4. To same skillet; add vinegar and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add syrup and 1/2 cup water; simmer 6-7 minutes or until mixture has thickened; stirring occasionally.
5. Meanwhile, cook pilaf, then spinach, in microwave according to package directions.
6. Stir walnuts and any chicken juices into sauce. Divide pilaf and spinach among 4 dinner plats. top with chicken and spoon maple-walnut sauce all around.

Crockpot Italian Wedding Soup

2009-11-18T11:48:00.001-05:00

As requested, here are two of the recipes from this week. This one is a yummy recipe that my family loves. :)

Italian Wedding Soup

1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 Tbsp. plain bread crumbs
3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
8 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 large carrots, chopped
1 small head escarole (8 oz) washed, trimmed and cut into 1/2" strips
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 1/4 c. acini di pepe pasta

1. In large bowl, stir together egg, beef, onion, bread crumbs, 1 Tbsp. Parmesan, 1 Tbsp. parsley and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Form into 1" meatballs (abotu 45) and place on baking sheet. Refrigerate while preparing soup.

2. Combine broth, carrots, escarole and oregano in slow cooker. Gently add meatballs. Cook, covered, on LOW for 6 hours. Stir in pasta for last 20 minutes of cook time. Stir in remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Sprinkle each serving with remaining parsley and Parmesan cheese and serve.

This week's menu

2009-11-16T12:23:00.000-05:00

Just sat down, figured all of this out and ordered my groceries. How wonderful it is for me to not have to go for an hour and a half to the grocery store to do all my shopping, then come home, unpack, process the food and put it all away. Now I get the groceries brought into my kitchen and I'll I'm left with is the unpacking, processing and putting it away. This is done when I'm not tired from shopping. :) LOVE it.

Monday - pizza (a local pizza joint has a special- large pie, large hero - we get chicken parm - and ziti for $20. I'll add in a greek salad for another $5 and we're set for the whole family. Not too bad.

Tuesday - chicken pot pie, salad

Wednesday - Italian wedding soup in the crockpot, biscuits, salad

Thursday - probably FFY since I'll be riding then we have a church plant meeting. I'll be lucky to get a shower between those to (as will everyone else be lucky if I get a shower between those two).

Friday - wine braised Italian sausages, salad (requested by my 9 year old)

Saturday - maple walnut chicken, steamed spinach and rice pilaf

Sunday - chicken enchiladas, salad

Monday - five cheese mac and cheese, salad.

Desiring God

2009-11-09T13:55:00.000-05:00

You can download John Piper's Desiring God for free this month! Go to http://christianaudio.com/free and pick out the download version of the book. At check-out, put in the code NOV2009 This book is WELL worth getting and I'd highly recommend it.

Monday's Menu

2009-11-09T13:53:00.000-05:00

OK - I sat down to quickly do my menu since I had to get my order in for the groceries before 3PM. I'll get them delivered around 10 AM tomorrow while I'm sitting at home schooling my children. How wonderful is that??? So our menu for this week is:

Monday - Quesadillas and salad (using up one lone dry pork chop from last week)
Tuesday - Ginger chicken stir fry with rice
Wednesday - Baked ziti and salad
Thursday - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and creamed spinach
Friday - I'm out for the whole day so it's a "FFY" (fend for yourself)
Saturday - "Good salad" (lettuce, blue cheese, glazed walnuts, mandarin oranges, grilled chicken and a balsamic vinaigrette
Sunday - Pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, salad

An update on our deacon who I posted about

2009-11-09T13:49:00.000-05:00

George lost his battle to cancer on Thursday, November 5th. We had his funeral last night and it was apparent by the 700 people who attended the wake and service that he had touched many hearts.

It makes me evaluate what people will say about me upon my death. Did I reflect Christ or myself?? George definitely reflected Christ and his dying wish was that each of his children, their spouses and THEIR children would walk in a relationship with the living God. Amen.

Please pray as one of our deacons is losing his battle to cancer today

2009-11-04T12:06:00.002-05:00

George is a dear man who has fought cancer twice already, being told each time he was going to die. He was one of the first successful bone marrow transplants in this country years ago. It is looking like he is going to lose his battle with leukemia today. Please pray for George that his homegoing is peaceful and that God will comfort his wife of 34 years Cindy. She is involved in our deaf ministry (she actually founded it) and he is one of our deacons so they are close family in our church. They have 5 grown children.

This week's menu

2009-10-19T16:02:00.000-04:00

Well, our oven is down for the count, I think. It's only 9 years old and we spent $1000 on it so it REALLY stinks. We'll have the repair guys in tomorrow but I really think it's toast so this week I'm not planning on using it. So for this week:

Monday - Pizza meal ($20 for a large NY pizza, a large ziti, chicken parm. hero) and salad
Tuesday - Maple Walnut Chicken, rice pilaf, broccoli
Wednesday - pancakes, sausages, fruit
Thursday - Beef and pepper stir-fry, rice
Friday - Angel hair pasta with sundried tomatoes and feta cheese (I'll add chicken to make it more "dinner" for us), salad
Saturday - burgers, homemade potato salad, green salad
Sunday - orange chicken thighs, buttered noodles, greeen beans

Chicken Pot Pie

2009-10-14T13:16:00.001-04:00

Hmmm - I thought I posted this but apparently I didn't! This is our chicken pot pie recipe. It's SOOO popular around here and I'll make it whenever I make a roast chicken or else I'll pop two chicken breast halves in some boiling water and cook that up instead. This is also my go-to recipe to bring to another family for illness or death or some other need in their lives. I can't wait - it's the ultimate comfort food!

Chicken Pot Pie

1/3 c. butter or margarine
1/3 c. flour
2/3 c. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2+ cups cut up cooked chicken
2+ cups frozen peas and carrots
1 double pie crust (I use Pillsbury)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter over low heat in saucepan. Blend in flour, onion and seasoning. Cook, stirring, until mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken broth and milk. Heat to boiling; stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute. Gently stir in chicken and frozen vegetables. Pour into pie crust. Top with other pie crust, flute and slit. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Busy life, Idols and ER

2009-10-06T14:54:00.000-04:00

Yep - life has been super busy again. Last week was filled with stuff outside the house including me working at church from 9AM to 11PM on Friday where we had a concert for Youth for Christ. It was a wonderful evening and I have to say, while I don't like their music style, the three bands really showed me how much they love Jesus and they clearly ministered to the kids. We had Mikeschair, AfterEdmund and LeCrae with Tedashi. Look them up on YouTube if you'd like!

As some of you know, I like Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle and find him to be theologically sound. He once again was on Nightline and this time he spoke of idols and I thought his segment was really good. It's not long - only about 4 minutes - so take the time to watch it if you can! One correction, though. Of course the world doesn't know their terms and meanings well and they labeled Mark as an emergent leader and he's most certainly not part of the emergent movement. Theologically, he's very conservative and isn't afraid to call sin a sin and in this segment, you can see he's really clear about God and idols. So just because Nightline called him "emergent", he's not. :)

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/10Commandments/ten-commandments-pastor-preaches-worship-modern-day-idols/story?id=8712532

Finally, please pray for my husband. Yesterday while bringing the boat to the mooring on a very windy afternoon, he ran to the front of the boat and caught his toe as he was going. He called me to let me know he needed me and there was "stuff" hanging out of his baby toe. I got there, got the boat tied on properly and went down below where he was laying on our bed. I took one look and said "Honey, that's bone." Yep - the diagnosis is a complete compound dislocation of the baby toe. Not only did he fully dislocate the last bone in the toe, but he was able to get the rest of the bone to come out of the skin completely. Wish I got a picture for you but you'll just have to imagine it. But God is good. Our good friend is an orthopedic surgeon and he was at the hospital last night. From the time we walked in the doors to the end of his surgery, only two hours had elapsed. He was in his room 3 hours after that - so 5 hours from walking in the door to him being in bed - not bad! He's staying in for a few days because of needing to be in IV antibiotics just in case. He's on steroids for his asthma and they're just worried about infection. He should heal up fine although there's likely tendon/ligament and nerve damage but it's the baby toe, so it's not like it's super vital. Add in to that the fact that he trashed his other foot 5 years ago and that means that he's used to bum feet - only now he has two. One thing he's disappointed about is that he can't go on our church's men's retreat this weekend and lead worship - doctor's orders (and our doctor goes to our church so it's not like he doesn't realize the importance of the retreat). But there's always next year. :)

Monday Menu Plan

2009-09-28T17:05:00.000-04:00

I worked this out yesterday and went shopping last night. I hate food shopping but now I'm ready for the week:

Monday - Tortellini Alfredo with peas and ham, salad
Tuesday - Ginger Chicken Stir Fry, rice
Wednesday - crockpot Swedish Meatballs, noodles, broccoli
Thursday - crockpot Taco Soup, salad
Friday - we're out all day so we'll do Wendy's or something - we'll see
Saturday - Penne Pesto with chicken, Italian bread, salad
Sunday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots/onions/broccoli

Yummy new recipe - Garden Chowder

2009-09-28T10:15:00.001-04:00

I made this for dinner last night and it was really good, easy to make and I can see that it can use a lot of veggies that you happen to have around. I bought a whole head of cauliflower, which we don't normally eat, and I used so little of it that next time I think I'll just use an inexpensive bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower instead of buying those two veggies fresh. I used an old bag of frozen broccoli cuts that I had in the freezer for the broccoli since I THOUGHT I bought it but couldn't find it. Oh well. Everyone loved the soup and with biscuits and salad, it was a filling dinner that was really tastey. So here you go!

Garden Chowder
1/2 chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
1 cup EACH diced potato, celery, cauliflower, broccoli and carrot
3 cups water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 tsp. salt
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1-2 dashes of paprika, coriander and ground mustard
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In a dutch oven, saute green pepper and onion in butter until tender. Add vegetables, water, bouillon, salt, pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Combine flour and milk until smooth; stir into pan. Allow to thicken at a low temperature. Add the parsley and other spices. Just before serving, stir in the cheese until melted.

yield: 6 servings

International Blasphemy Day

2009-09-27T08:43:00.000-04:00

Al Mohler has a wonderful blog entry regarding International Blasphemy Day. I'm sure we've all heard about the "challenge" someone gave to send in videos of them blaspheming the Holy Spirit to show that God doesn't exist. He's got some really wonderful, challenging words on what our response should be. Muslims in some countries would kill someone for doing the same "blasphemy challenge" towards Allah. How should Christians be different?

http://www.albertmohler.com/2009/09/25/why-do-the-heathen-rage-international-blasphemy-day/

The H1N1 Vaccine hasn't been tested on children or pregnant women???

2009-09-20T15:37:00.001-04:00

According to the US News and World Report:

"If the H1N1 flu outbreak doesn’t peak until midwinter, it could be curtailed with a staggered vaccination program that begins with children and ultimately targets 70 percent of the population, researchers report online September 10 in Science. "

"Current estimates suggest that between 45 million and 52 million doses of vaccine will be ready by mid-October, with another 195 million by the end of the year. Longini and his colleagues find that because children will experience the highest infection rates they should receive vaccines first. Vaccinating other at-risk groups, such as health care workers and those with compromised immune systems, is also important. Given the pattern of spread among connected people, the researchers suggest that vaccinating 70 percent of the U.S. population will contain the virus."

"If the pandemic flu peaks earlier in October, a vaccination program that targets children would need to be launched as soon as possible, the new analysis in Science concludes.
The new work is well done and highlights the importance of vaccinating children, says Jan Medlock, a mathematical biologist at Clemson University in South Carolina. Close quarters with multiple peers and more liberal personal hygiene policies make kids more likely to carry germs. Vaccinating kids protects them and reduces disease transmission, protecting others, he says.
Compared with most influenza viruses, the H1N1 pandemic flu has also caused more disease in people under age 25 than in older people, perhaps because older people have some preexisting immunity to this strain. That offers another reason to focus initial vaccine efforts on younger people."

all from http://www.usnews.com/articles/science/2009/09/10/swine-flu-vaccination-should-target-children-first.html

Additionally, pregnant women should receive the vaccine:

ATLANTA - Swine flu has been hitting pregnant women unusually hard, so they are likely to be among the first group advised to get a new swine flu shot this fall.

Pregnant women account for 6 percent of U.S. swine flu deaths since the pandemic began in April, even though they make up just 1 percent of the U.S. population.

On Wednesday a federal vaccine advisory panel is meeting to take up the question of who should be first to get swine flu shots when there aren't enough for everyone. At the top of the list are health care workers, who would be crucial to society during a bad pandemic.

But pregnant women may be near the top of the list because they have suffered and died from swine flu at disproportionately high rates.

"Experts believe an effective vaccine would benefit not only a pregnant woman but also her unborn child."

from "http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32184356/

However, here's from the vaccine insert:
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Biologi.../UCM182401.pdf

8.1 Pregnancy
Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA. It is also not known whether these vaccines can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.

8.3 Nursing Mothers
Neither Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine nor AFLURIA has been evaluated in nursing mothers. It is not known whether Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine is administered to a nursing woman.

8.4 Pediatric Use
Neither Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine nor AFLURIA has been evaluated in children. Safety and effectiveness in the pediatric population have not been established.

Unbelievable.

I was determined to get it done....

2009-09-19T14:50:00.000-04:00

Back in May, we told our oldest that she HAD to clean up her room and I gave her my 1/2 of the garage to use to bring everything downstairs to sort then it all had to be brought back to her room in 2 weeks. Of course that didn't fully happen and since it was summer and we had lots of things going on, I never got back to the garage to clean it out to get my car back in. So I was determined to do it today and guess what? It only took me an hour and an almost-asthma attack! That's not that bad! I didn't "clean" the garage but cleaned up all of the stuff that was right where my car goes and some stuff next to it (I guess someone found our sunflower seed bag since there was a nice hole and TONS of shells under/behind a box). But I'm done and my car is in the garage! Now the next goal is to clean out the other side so DH can get in there too. He's not been in there for over 2 years.

MAN that feels good!

Cranberry Pork Roast

2009-09-16T10:38:00.001-04:00

Here's a recipe that is just awesome and a favorite around here. It uses a pork loin roast which can be gotten on sale for under $2, which is a great bargain for boneless meat! Yeah, usually I get 9 lbs. and cut the loin into 3 roasts so I'm set for quite a while to make this recipe. I serve it over rice with a green veggie like broccoli on the side. YUM!

Cranberry Pork Roast

1 (2.5-3 lb) lean boneless pork loin roast or rib roast
1 (16 oz.) can whole berry cranberry sauce
1/3 cup port wine or cranberry juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 small lemon, thinly sliced
1/3 cup golden seedless raisins (I've used regular raisins too)
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. diced candied ginger
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. cold water
cooked rice

Place pork roast in 3 1/2 quart slow cooker. In a medium bowl, combine cranberry sauce, port wine or cranberry juice and sugar. Stir in lemon, raisins, garlic, ginger, mustard, salt and pepper. Spoon over roast. Cook on low (covered) for 6-7 hours or until meat is 170 degrees F on an instant read meat thermometer.

Remove roast from cooker and cover with foil to keep warm. Mix the cornstarch and water and pour into the cooker. Turn cooker onto high. Stir and cook the sauce for about 5 minutes until thickened.

Slice roast. Serve with sauce and rice on the side.

God is AMAZING - Look at these stormchaser photos!

2009-09-15T11:48:00.002-04:00

These photos were taken by storm chaser Jim Reed. Wowza!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/sep/14/storm-chaser-jim-reed

LIVE!! Menu Planning!

2009-09-14T12:52:00.000-04:00

I still need to plan this out. I planned to today so that I'd be ready since I'm going riding later after Nicole gets home from school. I'm making roast chicken and then on the way home from riding, I'll pick up cheating mashed potatoes (don't have time to make them fresh at home since I don't even have potatoes in the house right now) and I'll serve it with broccoli and gravy.

Tuesday - Maybe I'll pick up some pie crust and make chicken pot pie for tomorrow and serve it with salad. Hmm - that sounds good.

Wednesday - Wednesday's are going to be tricky since we signed up Joanna for ballet which runs from 4:45 to 5:45 and I need to be at church by 6:30 to work (until around 9PM) and the kids go with me. So that leaves me about 15 minutes at home. I need to figure out something easy/quick for these nights. Hmmm - brainstorming here - maybe do the crockpot?? Country style ribs are on sale so maybe I'll make ribs and serve it with canned corn and sliced tomatoes. OK - that works for me for this week.

Thursday - I ride again which means I don't get home before 6:30 (leave the house at 3:30). Hmmm - maybe I'll make chicken tacos. OK - that works!

Friday - I'm out of the house all day working, so I need something easy. Maybe on Thursday during the day, I'll cut up veggies and make Pasta Primavera for tonight. I'll cook up some leftover sausages for DH since he HAS to have meat. That sounds good.

Saturday - Ugh - I hate all this planning but it needs to get done. Ummmm - not sure of the weather but maybe I'll plan to do some either baked or grilled chicken drumsticks. I have a bunch in the freezer. So I'd serve that with.....OH! I'll make the potato salad that everyone loves and then a nice big salad. DONE!

Sunday - I think I'll wait until later in the week to figure this one out. Shrimp is on sale so I MAY do something with that - either shrimp scampi or teryaki shrimp and pineapple on the grill.

So there you have it - a real live figuring out the menu for the week! LOL I do also have the option to bail on any given night and get one of three choices. These are all relatively inexpensive choices for us and I allow each one once a month for my sanity. First we have a Mexican place that has a family meal deal for $20 which includes grilled chicken or steak, grilled onions and peppers, pico de gallo, guacamole, beans (black, pinto or refried), rice, sour cream and salsa along with 12 warm flour tortillas. It easily feeds my family of 6. The second place is Chinese which we can usually do for $30 with plenty of leftovers. Finally, there's a pizza place that has a family special for $20 which includes a large pie (NY pies are big - 8 slices about 16 or 18" across), a hero of some sort (we usually get chicken parmesan), a large ziti and Italian bread. I add in a salad from home and we have an awesome dinner. These are wonderful "bail-outs" for those nights I am running late, don't feel well or just didn't plan well enough. :)

Monday - Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, gravy
Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie, salad
Wednesday - Crockpot country-style ribs, corn, sliced tomatoes
Thursday - Chicken tacos
Friday - Pasta Primavera, sausages
Saturday - baked/grilled drumsticks, blue cheese potato salad and green salad

Wine-Braised Italian Sausages

2009-09-13T18:08:00.001-04:00

I just was looking for a recipe of mine on my blog because I really thought I put it here but I didn't. So here you go!

Wine Braised Italian Sausages

1 ½ lbs. mild Italian sausages, cut into ½” pieces
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 small carrot, minced
6 sprigs parsley, minced (I used dry)
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced (I always use more since we love garlic)
3 fresh sage leaves, torn (again, I use dry)
generous pinch ground cloves
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 (14 oz.) can whole tomatoes (I used diced)
1 lb. pasta (penne, fusilli or ziti) cooked al dente and drained
1 ½ cups fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Asiago cheese

In a 12” saute pan, slowly cook the sausage in the olive oil until it is well browned. Work over medium heat. Remove it from the pan, pour off all but 2 Tbsp. fat and add the onion, carrot and parsley to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat until golden. Add the sausage, garlic, sage, cloves and tomato paste along with ½ the wine. Simmer while you scrape up all the brown glaze from the bottom of the pan. Once the wine is evaporated, add the rest of it and cook very slowly, 10 minutes. Sauce will be clinging to the sausage. (At this point, you could refrigerate the sauce for up to 3 days). Add the tomatoes and cook at a slow bubble for 5 minutes. Toss in the pasta to thoroughly coat. Blend in half the cheese. Serve hot, passing the cheese separately. Makes 4-6 servings as a main dish.

A new chapter in our lives

2009-09-12T14:48:00.004-04:00

Well, I'm ready to announce a new chapter in our lives that has developed over the last month. We're really excited about it and know that God had to use something humbling to get us here but we're ready for the future.

DH and I will be planting a church. Technically, it will be another campus of our church but the style and staff will be a little different, although we'll have the infrastructure of our current church to back us up. So here's the story.

Our pastor has had a vision of a church plant for a number of years but it's just not been the time to do it yet. He told us after the fact that he was waiting for one of the staff to come and say "I would like to do this" instead of assigning it to someone because it's going to be a lot of work and really needs someone with a vision behind it. So it's been on the back burner for a number of years.

Just before vacation, my husband met with the senior and senior associate pastor and they basically took him off of being in charge of all the worship and instead would be taking that responsibility on themselves. This left my husband still leading one of the worship teams but not having a say in the direction or leadership of the worship ministry. It was a hard blow for him. It wasn't due to anything he had done so it was confusing to us as we went away the next day to go on vacation. Now basically, my husband's only responsibility was the computers and, honestly, if he was going to be a computer guy, he could do that in a regular job, make atleast twice as much money and no longer be struggling so with finances, and then volunteer to lead the worship team. When we went away on vacation, it seemed that would be the way we would go. But we left ready to pray about it and see what God would have us do. No one else knew about this but one other pastor who my husband had spoken to as a friend but not even our children knew.

While on vacation, my husband came to me and told me that he felt God leading him to think about the church plant and he was beginning to see that maybe taking away the worship would free him up to be willing/able to do the church plant as it's leader and maybe that's why God let this happen. As we prayed about it, we both began to feel strongly that this was the road we were to take but we weren't sure how it would be taken back at home (church). When we returned, DH went to lunch with the senior pastor and told him what happened while we were away and Pastor sat quietly. He told DH that he had been waiting for someone to take this vision and be the "man" in the lead yet no one had come to him about it until now. He got excited as DH spoke to him and, over the next few days, began to see that this just might be it. So, from my understanding, Pastor will announce tomorrow morning in services about the church plant to the whole congregation. Wow.

The basic plans are so far that we've found a location where there are no duplicate churches in the area (there are some other churches and some pseudo-churches as well, but none with the same stance on the basics as we have), and it's a youngish community. DH was just looking at the census information and that area has a high population of young families and it's a growing community. There's a lot of land there so for the future building, we will be able to build but for now, there are a number of hotels and a movie theater that we can look into as well as plenty of store-fronts. It is an area of the intersection of two main highways so it would be easy to get to from many areas and it's about 40 minutes away from our current home/church so we'd not have to move (unless we feel lead in the future to go out there, which is always a possibility). We would use the "simple church" model where we'd have Sunday services and home groups during the week, encouraging families to not be running all over for programs or separating to do their own things. Our home church has plenty of programs if people would like additional resources (kids' activities, youth group, classes for adults, support groups, etc.), but it would not be done at the new church. We have 9 pastors at our church and only 2 preach regularly (our senior pastor preaching to the congregation and our recovery pastor who preaches to the deaf) so that leaves 7 who would be able to cycle through the new church for possibly a few weeks at a time to do series of messages. We have a few worship teams who would be able to come through to assist in the worship and the area is one where we have atleast 25 families who are closer to the new location rather than our home church. So that would mean they could help "seed" the new church AND have someplace to bring their neighbors rather than a church 40 minutes away. We'd plan to have a great nursery/children's program set up for Sunday morning right from the start so families will feel comfortable coming.

So we're at the starting gate. We're ready to go and begin the planning and vision casting for this new chapter in our lives. God is so good and I so thank Him for leading us and giving us a great church home to be launched from. It's going to be an interesting next year as we pull this off with God's help and I pray that this church would lift high the name of Jesus on Long Island. How humbling to be able to be a part of it!

Wow - what a story

2009-09-09T21:54:00.001-04:00

It's long but a GREAT read.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/A34B97533108A7C786257627000A2C90?OpenDocument

Life lost....and found??

2009-09-09T11:11:00.003-04:00

So today I got word that a dear woman from our church passed away last night after a very fast fight with leukemia. She was diagnosed at the end of June and it looked bad right from the beginning. The fact that she was on chemo within 24 hours of diagnosis told us this. But she's now home with the Lord and no longer in pain - and her family has the assurance that she walked with the Lord here and trusted Him as her Savior. Thank God for that comfort.

Now I just heard from another friend that a young woman who was in our youth group is within hours of her own death. She's leaving behind a husband and very young child (like a year old) and is also battling leukemia. I'm not sure where this young woman stands with Christ because, while she came to youth group, she fought a lot of the teaching and just really wanted friends there rather than Christ. But I don't know her heart and I haven't spoken to her in years, so I don't know. I'm praying that her heart is right with God and that God comforts her and her family during this time.

Then there's my older brother. My older brother is as self-centered as they come. He has refused Christ for over 35 years and did his own thing.

Apparently something is happening because he called our younger brother (who is saved) and started asking him questions!!! I'm in absolute 100% shock!! My younger brother called my husband to get some advice and I called him last night. Seems my older brother is not happy with his life and is seeming to think that there's something more. He was remembering my mom talking to him all those years telling him about Christ and now he wants to know more!! You can knock me over with a feather right now.

So my older brother will be in town tomorrow for who knows how long and I'm going to see if he wants to get together with us. He had mentioned getting together with DH and I to my younger brother so I think he's up for it (we NEVER see him - ever. He's never met my youngest daughter who is turning 7 at the end of the year).

Please pray that his heart will be softened. Pray that after all these years, that God will bring him into the family of God. Oh my word! I honestly cannot believe this in the LEAST!!

So death and dying - and the possible new life in Christ. That is what today is filled with.

Country Herbed Meatloaf

2009-09-06T17:44:00.003-04:00

Here's a meatloaf recipe we love here in our home.

Country Herbed Meatloaf from Country Magazine

Sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
8 oz. fresh mushrooms
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 6oz. can tomato paste
2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. sugar
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil or 2 tsp. dried basil

Meatloaf:
2 lbs. ground beef or combination of ground beef, pork and veal
1 cup seasoned dry breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp. milk
2 eggs, beaten

In a skillet, heat oil on high. Saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic until softened. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper and sugar. Remove 1 1/2 cups. Add water, bay leaf and basil to skillet. Simmer, uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, combine all the meatloaf ingredients with the 1 1/2 cups reserved sauce. Press into a 9X5X3" loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and drain. Spread 1/2 cup of herb sauce over the top of the meatloaf and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Serve with the extra sauce over the sliced meatloaf.

Book Giveaway at Jack of all Trades!

2009-09-06T16:34:00.002-04:00

Bitsy over at Jack of all Trades is having a book giveaway! She's giving away DA Carson's book called "Jesus' Sermon on the Mount". Head on over and sign up!