Take my Picture?

Well friends,
Once again it's time to have some professional pictures made and those discouraging old tapes are spinning in my head today.
"You should have lost those 5 pounds you've gained."
"You should have used those Crest whitening strips sitting in your bathroom drawer."
"You should have picked a different outfit."
"You should have colored your grey roots"

On and on they go, playing again and again like a broken record.
For those of you who don't know what a broken record is, it's how we used to enjoy music in the dark ages. LOL!!!
You'd think as old as I am I'd be able to pull the plug on those discouraging and defeating tapes once and for all, yet they find a way to creep into my brain.

At least now I recognize them for what they are...
Lies from the great deceiver himself, our enemy, our foe. Satan.
Now I simply remind my enemy who I am...
a beloved and tresured princess daughter of the King of Kings
And I remind him of whose I am...
a beloved and treasured princess daughter of The Lord of Lords

I've learned to pray this verse out loud, thus banishing the enemy from my mind, my attitude and my day.
1 John 4:4, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (NIV)

What "You should" lies is the enemy whispering in your ear today?
How will you choose to handle the broken record of lies you hear?

More Yummy Recipes

Peanut Butter BonBons
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 lb. butter, softened
1 box confectioners' sugar
Mix ingredients by hand.
Refrigerate a few hours.
Roll in small balls, put on wax paper on cookie sheet.
Refrigerate again at least 1 hour.
In double boiler, melt 1 lg. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Stir to blend thoroughly.
Use two forks to dip balls in chocolate mixture.
Place on wax paper on cookie sheet.
Refrigerate on cookie sheet 1 hour to set chocolate covering, then place in Tupperware or other container.
Keep refrigerated.

Pumpkin Roll
3 Eggs
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Pumpkin
1 teaspoon Lemon juice
3/4 cup All-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Salt.
Filling:
8 ounces Cream cheese -- softened
4 tablespoons Butter -- or margarine
1 cup Powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
In a large bowl, combine eggs and sugar, beating with an electric mixer until thick and light yellow in color.
Add pumpkin and lemon juice, mixing until blended.
In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, spices and salt.
Add to egg mixture, mixing well.
Spread batter into greased and waxed-paper lined 10-by-15-inch jelly-roll pan. (I don't have a jelly-roll pan - the bottom half of the boiler pan works great!)
Bake at 350 ° for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven.
Cool for 15 minutes.
Place cake on clean tea towel sprinkled liberally with powdered sugar.
Cool 10 minutes longer.
From 10- inch side, roll cake up in towel.
Set aside.
While cake is cooling in towel, prepare filling.
Beat together cream cheese and butter; stir in powdered sugar and vanilla and blend until smooth.
Unroll cake.
Evenly spread filling over cake.
Roll up cake (without the towel).
Wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.
Slice before serving.
Keep leftover slices refrigerated.
This pumpkin roll freezes well, but I recommend you slice before freezing also.
Remember, fresh pumpkin gives the roll a lighter texture.

Happy Monday

Hey bloggy friends,
I wish each of you could have been with us this weekend with all the ladies from New LIfe Wesylan Church.
Our sweet Jesus showed up in a HUGE way and filled the hearts of all in attendance, especially me!
I can't wait to get the promised pictures and to share them with you.

While we wait for them, I'm still collecting holiday recipes and decorating ideas. I hope you will continue to post them. Here are a few from recent days:

Toasties.
mix one to two eggs with a dash of Worcestershire sauce,
a good dollop of tomato sauce/ketchup and about 1 cup of grated cheese.
take about six slices of bread, turn on the over to 180 and mix the mixture with a fork,
place bread slices on baking tray and spoon mixture on to bread.
bake in oven for around 10 minutes, slightly brown on top.
My kids can even make this recipe. h ttp://www.startwithsimplefaith.blogspot.com

Peppermint polar bears.
Basically it's smashed peppermints or candy canes and white chocolate almond bark with just a bit of mint extract.
While the chocolate is still melted from the microwave glass bowl dump all the finely smashed mints in with the extract and blend well.
You'll get a light pink mixture.
Spread out on wax paper no more then an inch thick and let cool.
This takes a few hours to completely harden and cool.
Then break into bight size pieces.
Instant hit and oh so easy to make.

Oreo Cookie balls.
crush 1 pkg of oreos (I use a food processor) and combine with 1 8oz pkg softened cream cheese. Roll into balls and chill for one hour.
Melt white chocolate (I actually use the Candiquick that you can melt in the microwave) and dip the balls.
They are delicious!

Did you know it's less than 90 days til Christmas?

New Life Wesylan

Hey friends,
I'm off to meet with some incredible women from New Life Weslyan Church located in LaPlata, MD.
Check out their great web-site.
http://www.newlifelaplata.org/default.asp

We will be meeting at the Eden Resort and Suites located in Lancaster, PA.
http://edenresort.com/?gclid=CIny2fPvjJ0CFU0i2godDG7M1w
I've spoken here before and it's beautiful!

I can't wait to meet all of my new sisters in Christ.
I'm just now leaving for the airport, I'll see you in a few hours. :-)

I'm on You Tube

You Tube, can you believe it?
Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaKEG_AAaOQ

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Good Monday Morning Friends,

I thought it might be fun to start sharing recipes and decorating ideas in order to get a head start on the upcoming holidays.
Working, traveling and speaking can make for a hectic season so this year I want to start early.
In the next few weeks my best friend and I are going to make home made fondant and roll hundreds of cherries.
We're going to freeze them, then in early December we're going to have a chocolate dipping party and hand dip all the frozen cherries.



Here's a new recipe for a dessert, mailman, paper boy or teacher gift.
I wonder if these would freeze well? If so you could make them now and freeze them for Christmas gift giving.


Peanut Butter Smore's Cups

Candy shells:
3-4 cups chocolate chips

Peanut butter filling
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract


S’mores filling
1 cup marshmallow fluff
2 graham crackers, broken in pieces
Candy wrappers
24 mini muffin liners - 6 regular muffin liners

Directions:
Melt the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Set the chocolate aside to cool.
Put the peanut butter and powdered sugar in a medium-sized bowl.
Stir until smooth and uniform.
Add the vanilla extract and stir until you have a smooth paste. Set aside.
When your chocolate is cool enough to handle, make the chocolate-coated cups.
Put a spoonful of chocolate in the middle of a muffin liner.
Using the back of your spoon, smoosh it around to completely coat the inside.
Set it aside on a sheet pan. Repeat until all liners are coated.
Refrigerate for at least 30 min., until the chocolate is solid.

Let the rest of the melted chocolate hang out on the counter at room temp.
When you’re ready to fill the cups, take them out of the fridge.
If your melted chocolate is too solid to work with, pop it back over a pot of warm water to loosen it up a little.
Put a small lump of peanut butter filling in one of the mini chocolate cups.
Fill them at least halfway up, so there’s a fairly even ratio of chocolate to filling.
With a finger, smoosh the filling down so that it’s flat.
Top with a spoonful of melted chocolate. Spread the chocolate around with the back of your spoon until the filling is completely sealed in.
Set the finished peanut butter cup on a sheet pan.
Repeat with the rest of the mini chocolate cups.
To make a s’mores cup, fill one of the larger chocolate-coated muffin liners a little more than halfway with marshmallow fluff.
Set a piece of a graham cracker on top of the fluff.
Press it down gently.
Top with melted chocolate and spread it around with the back of a spoon to seal it in.
Set aside on a plate or tray.
Repeat with the rest of the larger chocolate cups.
When all your cups are filled and topped with chocolate, pop them into the fridge to let the chocolate harden up.
Give them at least an hour depending on how thick your top layer of chocolate is.
Enjoy!

What recipes and or decorating ideas can you share with us?

A Mother's Love

I recently met a young woman who shared her story of going to great lengths
to save her son from a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol.

Although her son was rebellious and ran from the family that was trying to help him,
his mother never gave up in the pursuit of her son.

What lengths would you or have you gone to in pursuit of a beloved child?
Please share your thoughts.

Thanks for Praying

A big thank you to all my bloggy friends who prayed for our son Joseph as he drove to Dallas Texas last week.
He did indeed make it without incident and is enjoying my sister's family and their warm and gracious hospitality.

He should begin flying and racking up hours by next Monday at the latest.


A special hello to all my new friends at First Baptist Church

in Matthews, NC.
You ladies are wonderfully warm and engaging and way too funny.
I have a few pictures from the "Bathing Suit Design Time" and will post those later.
I so enjoyed my time with you at the beach and will always remember
the sun sparkling like diamonds on the ocean as we sang "I Surrender All".

I hope you will apply the lessons we all took away and will always remember

you are God's Pretty, Pretty Princess.

And Off He Goes...

Today My baby boy sets out for the next chapter in his life.
He just pulled out of the driveway headed to Texas for some flight training in order to fulfill his dream of flying planes as a career. Joe has worked hard to complete his degree in Professional Aviation and we got the good news yesterday that he passed his final class and will be graduating from Embry Riddle in a few weeks. Hip Hip Hooray!!!

This child of mine has wanted to fly planes since he was two years old and the Lord has opened this door for him. I won't give all the details here, just know that the training Joe will receive will not cost us one penny, but will save us over $150,000.00. Talk about a faithful heavenly Father!!!!!

So long my baby boy. I'm praying for you with every passing minute and with every mile that take you to the fulfilment of your dream job. May you recognize and experience God's handiwork in your life.

Now... for all the ladies from First Baptist in Matthews, I can't wait for our time together this weekend.

I'm putting the finishing touches on the message the Lord has for all of us.

I can't wait to meet you at the beach tomorrow night.

Safe travels to everyone.

One Mile and Cross Fit

Here are a few pictures from the one mile race last week.

Notice how fresh and ready to go my bestest friend Lisa looks right before we take off.

Yay! Just crossed the finish line... Where's the oxygen?

Catching my breath in the shade

With my friend Holly Hill who finished the 5 k without even breaking a sweat. Yay Holly!

Today I went with Josh and Kelsey to Cross Fit. http://www.crossfit.com/

Okay let me just say that this place is for the SERIOUS athlete! They have a new WOD (Workout Of the Day) and each one is an inventive as you can imagine.

I've seen the kids after completing a WOD when they could hardly walk and they are at the top of their fitness game!! Really, I'm not kidding they are both incredible athletes! So... you can imagine how scared I was to try it out. But life is too short and I thought the worst (don't write me... that was my daddy's word and we all use it just like he did) that could happen would be throwing up or passing out and no one died from that. Did they?

Any woo... I went and I finished the WOD

Run 1/4 mile

Do 10 squats with over head press with 10 pound dumbbells

Do 20 box hops

Do 40 Tsunamis (make waves with a very long and heavy rope) Pictures of this to follow.

Do the exercises 3 times then

Run another 1/4 mile

My time was 16:24.

Then Josh and Kelsey taught me how to do dead lifts.

I started with the 45 pound bar and made my way up to 115 pounds doing three reps.

As soon as I get the pictures, I'll post them from today WOD.

Happy Weekend friends, I'm going to take a nap.

Forgive Her?

Hey friends,
I'm starting to work on the topic of forgiveness and wanted to get your thoughts on the subject. I've said and done some pretty unkind things in the past and have eaten my fare share of crow as I've gone to people to ask their forgiveness for my insensitive remarks and or actions. The reactions have been varied and I wanted to hear about your experiences on the subject.
Would you be willing to share your stories with us?

Activiate Your Faith

My friend Marybeth Whalen http://www.marybethwhalen.com/ has a wonderful way of encouraging and challenging us every day. If you haven't stopped by her blog lately I would encourage you to do so today.
Growing up I chose to live a life of discouragement and defeat. Had I done what Marybeth encourages us to do in her post today I would have experienced our sweet Jesus in a powerful way a lot sooner than I did.
What about you?
Are you willing to "activate your faith" today?
Check out Marybeth's blog for yourself.
http://www.marybethwhalen.com/