God's Sovereignty

Here's a great quote from EatBible:

“Sovereignty with the possibility of an action not becoming accomplished is not sovereignty at all. What kind of God is worth worship that can’t really accomplish anything, but hopes that we agree to work with Him? God is then subject to us. That is heresy.”

- in talking with a friend about God’s sovereignty in salvation and ministry.

Mark Driscoll on Nightline - "Does Satan Exist" debate. Looks great!

I just started watching online but last week, there was a debate done on Nightline between Christians and non-Christians about whether or not Satan exists. Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church started right out of the chute with the Gospel - clearly stated. There are 10 videos total that I want to watch later - and then I want to watch the first "Faceoff" that Nightline did with Kirk Cameron debating "The Existence of God". That's also at the Nightline site.

See the videos here.

Life without DH/daddy

I love my husband completely and would be lost without him. We're coming up on 24 years of wedded bliss and he's my best friend.

But life changes when he's not around. He's gone away for 2 nights and I find when he's not here, I relax a little. I have no one to please at home, just my kids and, hey - they're fine without me working hard to please them. They don't care if the dishes are still in the sink or if we eat "slops" for dinner. They really don't care if my hair isn't done or if I'm in my sweats. They're just happy to hang out as much as I am and it's a nice different. I'm so happy when DH comes home but I also enjoy when he goes away for a few days. Of course he's not far away between e-mail, texting, facebook, video conferencing and the phone, so I don't feel that he's "gone" and I know he's coming back pretty quickly.

So tonight I'm in my sweats, chicken pot pie will be for dinner, kids will go to bed early and I will relax in front of CSI with a quart of Baskin Robbins chocolate chip ice cream. Oh yeah - that's something else I won't do around him. It's a girl thing. ;)

Please pray for me over the next week or so.

My dad just got home from rehab after getting a total knee replacement and now the busyness starts. I'm homeschooling and working part time as well as have the hobby of riding my friend's horse and now I'm adding in driver for my dad who needs to see the cardiologist twice and the surgeon once over the next few days - and then start physical therapy 3X a week. I'm going to be doing a lot of running from here to there which will cut into our homeschooling quite a bit as well as just my time at home.

If you could pray that I can manage my time well, that the kids would step up and do their work quickly and without complaint and that I'd be able to still make sure the family is fed healthy meals without breaking the budget by doing a lot of take-out.

Thanks!!

Oh - I'm NOT going to pay the computer to do it. ;)

Maybe since I'm too tired, I can pay someone else to pray for me - a COMPUTER!

This is definitely on the "You've absolutely got to be kidding me" list. I certainly hope it's a spoof but it looks real enough to me. How unbelievably sad that, when people are needing a Savior and a relationship with Him, they instead just pay something else to do it for them.

Gives new meaning to Jesus saying "I never knew you."

Information Age Prayer

Whew! I'm all cooked out!

My dad is coming home from rehab tomorrow (he had a knee replacement a month ago) and I've been doing some cooking so he has some food in the house. I made up a huge batch of Irish Beef Stew (5 portions for him, enough for a dinner for us and all this is in the freezer - then there's enough leftover for tonight's dinner too), 2 lasagnas (still need to cut up the cooked one and put it into storage containers for my dad), about 7 dozen meatballs, 20+ meatloaf muffins (DD ate a few so not sure how many I have left), and 2 quarts of chicken soup. There's still more I'd love to do but that is what I got finished before tomorrow. Not too bad. With his friends bringing dinner, what he can cook himself and all of this, it should get him through a good amount of time. I'll hit the grocery store tomorrow and get him frozen veggies, some potatoes, milk, 1/2 and 1/2 and some cold cuts too. I'll be seeing him every couple of days since he can't drive and needs to go to physical therapy 3X a week. It should prove to be an interesting next few weeks in our homeschooling!

But there's a sure satisfaction knowing that I've taken care of some food for my dad - and for us too. :)

Recipe - Five Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

I got this recipe from the February issue of Family Circle and it's quickly become a family favorite. Try it out!

1 box (16 oz) cellantani or macaroni
1/4 lb. bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups grated Fontina cheese
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
3/4 cup grated white Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup bread crumbs

1) Heat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.
2) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
3) In a large heavy pot, saute bacon until crisp, 7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add onion to bacon drippings; saute until soft, 4 minutes. Add butter to pot and melt, stirring.
4) Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until smooth and light brown in color. Whisk in mustard. Gradually add milk and cream, whisking.
5) Stir in thyme, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a simmer. Stir frequently, simmering for 15 minutes.
6) Strain hot milk mixture into a metal bowl, discard solids. Quickly mix in 1 cup of the Fontina, blue cheese, 1/2 cup of the Gruyere, 1/2 cup of the Cheddar, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, bacon and parsley. Continue to stir until all cheeses are melted.
7) Add pasta to cheese sauce; stir to coat. Pour into prepared dish. In a smal bowl, mix remaining 1/2 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Gruyere, 1/4 cup Cheddar, 1/4 cup Parmesan and bread crumbs together. Sprinkle over pasta. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.