Candied Grapes

I am really excited!! This is the first food post I have written, ever for this blog, well just ever, period.

I have been on the hunt for ideas for snacks and other healthy recipes lately and Pinterest is one of my favorite places to collect them all.

I saw this idea on Pinterest for “Glittery Sour Patch Grapes” and wanted to try it. Mostly because it looked good and super easy! The other reason I wanted to try it is because my son is in a stage where he is constantly eating and the first thing he wants is something sweet. I’ve been on the hunt for some healthier alternatives that my VERY picky eater will actually eat. The pin said they tasted like sour patch candy so I thought for sure it was something to try.

Because I have a boy and anything “glittery” is girly, I just called them candied grapes. I also only used one flavor of jello instead of two. That is one of the great things about this recipe too, you can choose any type of grape and any flavor jello and the combinations would be limitless. Another plus, using sugar free jello would make this even healthier.

Candied Grapes

Ingredients:
Grapes, washed and removed from stem (we used purple grapes)
1 pkg unprepared Jello (we used strawberry flavored)

Directions:
All you do is pour the unprepared jello into a bowl or on a plate and roll the grapes in it. Put them in a container with a lid that you can refrigerate. Store them in the refrigerator or freezer if you like frozen grapes.

It’s just that easy!! Not only is it a healthy snack, but something fun and easy that your kids can make with you. My picky eater loved them and keeps asking for more!!

The only down side for this to me was that the jello mix got on your fingers and stained them. My fingers were red for the rest of the day but after several washes, it came off.

If you try them, let me know what you think!

The Jesus Bible, NIV

I received a complimentary copy of The Jesus Bible, NIV from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest and objective review. I can honestly say, I love this Bible and so does my 10 year old son.

This Bible is designed for kids ages 9-12 and it is definitely designed well for that age range. It is hardcover Bible which is great for kids to carry around without ripping it. The design is simple but “cool” for a kids Bible.

It includes several great features to help kids see Jesus throughout the Bible. There are 365 devotions included, each with a short prayer at the end. Each book of the Bible begins with an introduction to the book which tells kids how Jesus can be found in that book.

There are also application notes called “Live Like Jesus” to help kids apply Biblical truths in their own lives. I also really like the “Hints of the Savior/Jesus Revealed” sections. This section highlights promises and prophesies made about Jesus in the Old Testament and tell you where they are fulfilled in the New Testament.

I would highly recommend this Bible but what do I know, I’m not a 9-12 year old kid. My son however had this to say about it. “Mom, when you finish reviewing that Bible, I’m going to read it from Genesis all the way to the very end”!! That statement tells me all I really need to know about it. If it encourages my son to read the word and gets him excited about it, that’s all that matters to me!!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Trust, Joy, Miracles!

I have been incredibly blessed to get to know some fantastic women in Arkansas who spend countless hours sharing their lives online. Tell me what you want to know about, and I can probably find a woman in Arkansas who is blogging about it! Parenting, Marriage, Family, Food, DIY, Travel, and so much more!

One of the things I noticed at the beginning of the year was people sharing what their focus word was for the year. Different people may call it different things, but a focus word is a word that you are going to keep in front of you for the year. Something to help keep you focused on a goal you have or a habit you want to form (or get rid of). It isn’t really a new year’s resolution, but an effort to make your life better in some way this year.

Karen over at Tings Mom wrote about her word being less (Be sure to go read her post). Less stuff, less technology, less stress!! I could definitely latch onto that word too, but God has been putting different words in front of me.

Now that it’s the middle of February, I’m going to share my focus word(s) for this year (better late than never). There were three constant themes that kept recurring for me in January and I kept trying to decide on one to use as my focus word, but I just couldn’t shake any two of them. They all three are sticking.

Trust

Over and over again I am confronted with situations that have been overwhelming to me. Situations that I could not control and could not change. In the midst of that I kept hearing “trust me”. Sermons, songs, advice from friends all reminding me to keep trusting in the Lord and I will be ok. Trusting God is an ongoing journey for me. Not because I don’t have every reason to trust Him, but because it is a process of letting go of your human will and emotions and letting Him be in control.

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Joy

A friend of mine said a few weeks ago that her prayer for everyone this year is that their journey would be a journey of joy. I immediately said, count me in!! I haven’t shared my whole story on this blog and likely never will, but the last few years have been full of tears and sadness. I am ready for some joy in my life. This year I am going to seek out in my own life what it means to have the Joy of the Lord and for it to be complete.

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:10-11 (NIV)

Miracles

How many of you know that, as Christians, we serve a supernatural God? We serve a God who has the power to change situations and circumstances, but do we really believe that He can and will? I hear story after story of people being healed, delivered, and set free. I am ready to see myself and the people around me, be healed, delivered, and set free.

I know that God can and will, because He has done for so many people before me. I wrote a blog post a while back about this (you can read it here). Not only can we see miracles through the stories from the Bible, but people living and breathing and walking around today have amazing stories to tell.

This video is of Sister Martha Tennison preaching a mother’s day service in Adrian, Michigan. If you ever get a chance to hear her preach in person, don’t miss it! She will have you laughing and crying all at the same time and I promise you that you will leave changed in some way.

This entire message is on trust, but there is a story in this video that starts around 18:40 into it. It is a story she tells often of 16 red roses. I encourage you to watch the entire thing, but to get my point, at least skip ahead and listen to that story.



For Moses and the Israelites, the miracle was in the Red Sea. For Noah, the miracle was in the flood. For Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the miracle was in the fire. For Lazarus, the miracle was in death. And for Missy, the miracle was in 16 red roses and a man she had never met before.

God is in the miracle working business, and I believe that if we trust Him we will see miracles happen this year!

For me this year is about trusting God completely, finding Joy in Him, and not only seeing the miracles happen, but by my trust and obedience, being able to be a part of other people's miracles.



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A Challenge to Obey and Encourage Obedience

Today has been quite an interesting day. In fact, I haven't had a day like this in quite a while. A day that has both challenged me and given me much to think about.

I had to go to Dallas for work, so I boarded a plane in Little Rock this afternoon and was on my way. The thought provoking moments began as soon as I hit the airport terminal, but those aren't the stories I want to tell today.

I flew on Southwest Airlines. If you have ever flown Southwest, you know that there are no assigned seats. They assign you a boarding order based on when you check-in for your flight. The first ones on the plane get the first choice of where to sit.

I was excited to see when I checked-in the day before online that I was in boarding group A and was 13th to board. I thought, "oh good, I can get a good seat". Well, we boarded the plane to find out that this flight was a connecting flight and was already VERY full when we boarded. I ended up going almost all the way to the back of the plane but I at least found an aisle seat.

There was a lady sitting next to the window on the row I sat on and that left a middle seat empty. As the flight attendants came over the speaker they told those still trying to board that only middle seats were left so please just take a seat in one of those. Two ladies who were flying together were trying to sit close to each other. One of them asked me if I would move to the middle seat (her friend was sitting across the aisle). Because just the idea of confrontation, especially with strangers makes me anxious, I obliged and moved to the middle seat.

The lady sitting next to the window leaned over and said, "that was very kind of you, but you didn't have to do that". I smiled, and said, "oh, it's ok". That started a conversation and I really enjoyed talking with this lady on the flight. Turns out, she was a flight attendant for Southwest and was returning to Dallas after working the last three days. I was delighted when she spoke of going to church in the morning and of listening to K-Love while she traveled. 

At the end of the flight as we were descending, the lady sitting in the aisle's phone rang. She pulled her phone out of her purse to see who was calling. Here is the conversation that followed between the off duty flight attendant sitting by the window and the lady sitting in the aisle.

• Window Seat: "ma'am, your phone should be on flight mode or turned off". 
• Aisle Seat: "really"? 
• Window Seat: "yes, you should have put it on flight mode when we took off in Little Rock". 
• Aisle Seat: (gave a dirty look and slid her phone back in her purse) "well, thank you". 

The lady in the window seat leaned over and said to me, "I guess it doesn't matter that she could cause the plane to crash, I guess she doesn't care about that". She proceeded to tell me that if she was working the flight, she would have done more, but that since she wasn't, she wouldn't make a scene.

This got me thinking. How many times do we live life like that? How many times do we do one of the following:

1. Know what we are supposed to do, but don't do it. Know what God has asked us to do but we don't do it.
2. When corrected, ignore the correction that is being given. When God reminds us what He has asked us to do, we ignore it or just straight up say "no".
3. Look on someone else doing something that we know could hurt them and the people around them, but because we don't want to cause a scene, we don't do all that much about it.

Obviously, because I'm sitting here writing this post, the plane landed safely, but what if it hadn't? Had her phone caused any problems with the safe landing of that flight, it would have been due to the things above, her disobedience AND the off duty flight attendant not wanting to cause a scene.

Here is how this all challenged me, and my challenge to you. The next time you feel like your falling from the sky and your about to crash, take a good look at where you have been. Ask yourself if you have done anything in disobedience. Look to God to see what you need to do to make it right. And then be willing to obey what He tells you.

Also, if you are near people who are disobeying God and living life in a way that is detrimental to themselves and others, you have a responsibility to confront them in love. You won't always get results, but as followers of Christ, I don't think we can sit back and keep quiet when those around us are falling and crashing. Their wrong choices are not our burdens to carry (we can't live their life for them), but that doesn't mean that we should sit back and watch them crash without trying to help them.

Obedience isn't about what you can't do, it's about doing what God asks us to out of love to Him.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments." John 14:15

Obedience is an act of Love toward God. Encouraging obedience is an act of love toward each other.

Goodreads Value and a Free Book Sample

A while back I decided that I was going to start reading more books than I had before. A friend of mine invited me to join goodreads. I joined just to see what it was and I did like seeing what other people were reading.

Beyond that, I really didn't see much value in it. That is until a few months ago. One of the first books I read (and posted on goodreads) was Redeemed: Embracing a Transformed Life, by Kerry Clarensau. I posted a book review on the book here on the blog if you would like to go back and read it. This book is truly a life changer if you let it sink in!

I also had read and posted on goodreads Love Revealed: Experiencing God's Authentic Love and Secrets: Transforming Your Life and Marriage both by Kerry Clarensau as well. Secrets I have not finished reading yet, but Love Revealed and Redeemed were read and rated on the site.

A few months ago, I was contacted through goodreads by someone who works at MyHealthyChurch which is the publisher for those books. She said that she had noticed my interest in those books and offered to send me The Jesus-Hearted Woman by Jodi Detrick to read and review for free as an e-book. That was a great deal for me because I was planning on reading it anyway. After I finish, I will post a review here of that book as well. That was enough for me to be convinced that goodreads was worth the effort.

After the first of the year, this same contact at MyHealthyChurch emailed me again and asked me if I was the blogger she had talked with previously about posting a sample of Redeemed on my blog. I told her that I was not the person she had talked with, however, I would love to do that if she was looking for others too also! She said that was great and sent me a pdf of the first chapter of the book.

So, if you are wondering about Redeemed here is your chance to read a sample of it. This sample includes the Forward, Introduction, and Chapter 1. Click on the image below to view the book sample.

I had my doubts about the value of goodreads, but I'm convinced now, it's worth the few minutes it takes to add the books you are reading and leave some ratings. Enjoy this sample and if you would like to purchase the book to read the rest of it, the information to do so is at the bottom of my previous book review.

UPDATE: January 21, 2014 - This book is only $1.99 through February 2 as an eBook!!

Milestone Ahead

In a few short months, my life will hit a milestone. I’m not talking about a graduation, wedding, or the birth of a child. No, I’m talking about turning thirty.

Now, before you write me off as shallow and think this post is gonna be a whiny one about getting older, read it through to the end.

I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about life. Where I’ve been, where I haven’t been, and where I am going. Where I’ve been is somewhere I’m glad to not be anymore. Some of the things life has brought my way were not pleasant and I’m thankful to be moving past them.

Part of me wants to say that where I haven’t been doesn’t matter because I haven’t been there. In reality, the places we don’t go in life are just as important as the places we do. Staying away from things we don’t need in our life matters just as much as being surrounded by the things we do.

Where exactly am I going? I can’t really answer that question. One of my favorite scriptures is Jeremiah 29:11 which says; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.

While I don’t know what the future holds in detail, I know that the plans that God has for me and my family are GOOD! They are plans that will bring hope and a future to our lives.

For those who know me best, they know that I am a planner. I have a hard time doing things at the last minute. I also am early almost everywhere I go. If I am on time, I feel like I’m late. These qualities, whether good or bad, make patiently waiting difficult sometimes. I am much more comfortable knowing what’s coming and “being prepared” for what’s to come.

I have found that life in general doesn’t work that way. You can prepare for a trip, a meeting, a dinner, a birthday party, or a day at the park. What you can not prepare for is tomorrow. What if your trip, meeting, dinner, birthday party, or day at the park is happening tomorrow? Your preparation is for the activity, not for the day. It is for the event, not for the time. In most cases, whatever you planned for tomorrow, will probably still happen and maybe just like you planned. Sometimes though, your plans just don’t work out.

I was intrigued recently with a series of post on Heather’s Dish. She wrote a series on Living Boldly starting on the day she turned thirty. Thirty-one days of stepping outside of her comfort zone to challenge her to become a woman boldly on fire for Christ. What I was most intrigued by was the fact that some of the things on her list were not spiritual things. They were seemingly small, everyday decisions, but they challenged her heart.

What does this have to do with my future? While you can’t always make plans for tomorrow, you can be prepared. God has a way of preparing us for the unknowns of tomorrow. God knows what our future holds even though we may not.

Looking back on where I’ve been (and where I haven’t been) I can see some of God’s preparation for me. He has lead me down specific roads, brought specific people into my life, and challenged me more than I ever wanted to be by specific things that I’ve had to face in life; all for His glory, and all so I would be able to face my unplanned tomorrows.

I don’t know what thirty will bring, but God does. That being said, my goal for this year is to stop trying to plan so much. My goal is to live life, trusting God, not worrying about tomorrow. God knows, so as long as I know God, I’m good!!

Growth Requires Challenges

I have been thinking a lot lately about my life journey. The good, the bad, and everything in between. While I am trying each and every day to live in the present and not dwell on the past, short times of reflection can be helpful. What is standing out to me at the moment are the ways that the Lord has challenged me and helped me grow closer to who He wants me to be.

Here is my list of ways I can currently think of that He has helped me to grow in Him.

1. Worship Music
2. Scripture
3. Prayer
4. Working in the Ministry
5. Books
6. Friends
7. Life situations that seem impossible
8. People who seem impossible
9. My son
10. My husband

I might could name more and I definitely could be more specific but I won't do that today.

The point is, God can use just about anything to help us to become the people that He created us to be. He can use the ordinary, every day things, or the not so ordinary, seemingly impossible things, to challenge us in our faith, our patience, and our endurance.

When we face the impossible, God is asking us to not only trust Him but to actively pursue Him. He is asking us to seek Him for solutions and praise Him even when you see none. 

What is God doing to challenge you? What are you doing in response?

You’ll Get Through This by Max Lucado

At some time or another in life, we all will reach a point where we just aren’t sure if we are going to survive. Hard times that last over a long period of time can make us feel as though life will never get any better and things will always be hard. If you are going through a hard time in life, You’ll Get Through This by Max Lucado is a must read.

This book is a combination of the life of Joseph and Lucado’s real life experiences. He takes you on a journey through the life of Joseph, from being born the favorite and having it made, to being thrown into a pit, to coming out of the pit to be sold into slavery, to being thrown in prison and ultimately as second in command over all of Egypt.

Lucado strives to encourage us that we will survive the storms in life. As I was reading this book I thought of several different people in my own life as well as my own situations. This book literally has something in it for everyone whether you are dealing with job loss, divorce, health issues, or the death of a loved one. You name it, he covered it.

There are a few things that I really liked about this book. Lucado used one person from the Bible to draw his illustrations from. He didn’t skip from one story to another. The other thing I really liked about that was it gave me a chance to seriously dive into Joseph’s life. I learned things about Joseph I had not known before and by the end of the book could relate my life in today’s world to his. All of this while being encouraged that no matter what I’m facing, with God, I will get through it!

Before I finished the book I wrote my thoughts on a specific chapter of the book: Waiting While God Works. Feel free to return to that post for a little more information on that specific chapter.

This is really a great read for anyone! Even if you aren’t in a low point in your life, you will take something away from this book. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255:“Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Brokenness and Scars

I have really struggled lately with a lot of things. I have struggled with life circumstances that I’ve been forced to deal with. You know, there are things we bring on ourselves, but then there are also things that get brought on us without our asking for them. I’ve had those types of issues to wade through: the unwanted and unasked for ones.

Through all of it, I haven’t ever doubted God. I’ve never given up on what I know He can do. I have had plenty of questions for Him and many times that I have not understood the path I was walking down, but I have not doubted Him.

I have spoken lately about my scars. I have used that word specifically to describe the wounds that I have inside of me. Emotional scars, not physical ones. Scars that seem like they will never heal. Before I used the word scars, I used to say that I was broken; that I had been damaged and was just broken inside. Lately, I've discovered, there is a difference between brokenness and scars.

Brokenness happens at single points in time. During single events of your life pieces of your heart and emotions get broken. The moment when you find out your husband is filing for divorce, a piece of you breaks. That time in the doctor’s office when you hear the devastating news of a disease, that will do everything it can to take you out if you don’t do everything you can to take it out, a piece of you breaks. The moment you realize that your life is forever changed because someone you love has left this earth, a piece of you breaks. The moment you discover that your best friend has betrayed you and those closest to you aren’t around anymore to make everything better, a piece (or two) of you breaks.

Brokenness is what happens when you realize the mess that you are in. It is the kick in the gut at the most inopportune times that makes you question everything you have ever known to be true.

Scars are very different than brokenness. Although they are there for the same reason that brokenness is, they are not a reflection of the pain. Scars don’t tell us that someone is hurt; they tell us that someone has healed. They don’t show us the injury, they show us the recovery.

Last night I came home from work and had a terrible head ache. I didn’t turn the TV on because the more noise there was in the house, the more my head ached. My husband came home after he got off from work and while I was finishing up dinner he turned the TV on. He turned it to Daystar (the only Christian television station we can get on our digital converter box and antenna).

As we sat down to eat, a piece of the 2013 Refreshing Times Conference came on. It was a message by Jimmy Evans. Now, I like Jimmy Evans, but I honestly wasn’t in the mood to hear a message on marriage. I just didn’t have it in me last night. The great thing is that God knew that. He knew that what I needed went much deeper than that. The message that Jimmy Evans shared was about the Scars of our Redeemer.

I haven’t really ever stopped to think about the scars that Jesus carried. I mean, I know about them, but I had never questioned them. Jesus died a horrible, excruciating, death on a cross after He had been beaten and whipped one strike away from death. If the story ended there, then scars would be expected.

The story didn’t end there. Why would Jesus, in His resurrected body, have scars? Why in His glorified, redeemed, resurrected state, would He have the ability to show the disciples the scars from his death? They were no longer wounds, because in His death and resurrection, they were healed, but they did leave scars.

One side note here: did you catch what I just said? “In His death and resurrection, Jesus’ wounds were healed”. Through the most horrible moments of Jesus’ earthly life, He was healed of the very thing that was wounding Him.

Many people have said before that because Jesus came to earth in human form, He was tempted and tried, just like we are, and that He had the same emotions and feelings as we do, so He understands the things we are going through in life. I have heard that often and I do believe that. But I had never before considered the fact that Jesus, when He could have so easily taken on a perfect, resurrected body, kept His scars. The question remains, why?

I don’t think that it was to “prove” He was who He claimed to be. The people He showed His scars to were people that He had spent a lot of time with. I think there would have been countless ways to prove to His disciples and family that it truly was Him and that He truly had been raised from the dead.

Here is what I think. Jesus wanted those around Him to see that even though He had been through such torture and torment, that God had healed Him. Even after death, God had restored Him and had made His life on earth a story of Redemption.

We have wounds, we have brokenness, and even if at this very moment in time, we don’t feel as though we have been healed of those, we do, or will have scars. Our scars are not ugly and they are not a reminder of the pain. Our scars, our redeemed, glorified scars, are a beautiful picture of the power of God to heal us from the most horrible moments in our lives. They are a reflection of His goodness and His love.

Satan will do everything he can to convince you to look at your scars as ugly, rotten, no good, painful wounds. He will try and tell you that you are useless and no good to God because of your scars. He will try to keep you in bondage to your wounds by trying to convince you that you have not been healed and never will be. He couldn’t be more wrong.

If Jesus can bear scars as a way to share the power of God and His love for others, then we can too. Stop trying to hide your scars. They don’t need to be covered up and you don’t need to be ashamed of them. Someone else needs to see them so that they can finally understand that God loves them and that He can change their life.

I wasn’t the one God chose to die on the cross for all mankind (thank goodness) but I am the one that He chose (and so are you) to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Scars are such an effective way to do that.

If you are struggling with an addiction, you don’t want to hear anything about how you will get through it from a person who has no clue what it is like to struggle with addiction. But if you run into a recovering alcoholic who tells you how much God loves you and he proves it to you by showing you his scars, you will listen much harder to what he has to say. You will listen because you understand that he has been there and that his life is better now than it was before.

I still have brokenness and I still have wounds. Everything in my life has not been completely healed yet. But I do have some scars and I have many more that are in the process of healing. I’m trusting God to finish that process.

One of the things that Jimmy Evans said is that when he was at his lowest point in his marriage, and Karen was in the bedroom packing to leave him, he told God, “If you will help us, we will help others”.

That is my prayer to God today. Lord, help me heal so that I will have the scars to help others.

The Empty Shelf Challenge

I noticed a link shared by a friend on Facebook the other day. I clicked on it and read the short post and thought it was quite interesting. It was a reading challenge for 2014 called The Empty Shelf Challenge.

I have books that I want to read, and books that I have started reading, but I have very few books that I have actually read in their entirety. Why? Well, because I’m busy and sometimes lazy. When I find extra time at the end of my day, sometimes, I just want to watch tv or take a nap (just being honest here).

The challenge is to clear off a shelf on your bookshelf so that it starts out empty. Then you put the books you have finished reading on that shelf. The idea being that staring at an empty shelf will encourage you to read more this year than you did last year.

Ok, so why do I care if I read more this year than I did last year? A friend of mine loaned me four books last January. To be more specific, January 19^th 2013 is when these books were loaned to me. I really want to read them, however, I have read maybe a chapter from each and I still have them sitting here waiting to be read. I have several other books that I have done the exact same way. Books that I really want to read, but I read a few chapters, get busy, and then don’t finish them.

For me, this is a challenge of finishing what I start. Not necessarily of reading more, although, that will be a result from it. I am not going to put a number on how many I want to read, I just want to complete the books that I start and add them to my empty shelf.

Since I read a combination of eBooks and paper copy books, filling up an actual shelf is not realistic for me. So I created this Pinterest board to act as my empty shelf. As I finish a book, whether it is hard copy or eBook, I will post it here, possibly as book reviews on my blog.

This is not a new years resolution, because I don’t really end up keeping those. It is more of a challenge this year to not leave things unfinished.

If you decide to participate in this challenge yourself, please leave a comment and let me know. Maybe we can check in with each other and see how we are doing?

Happy New Year to you all!!

Compact Family Services

We all have basic needs as humans. We need food to eat, water to drink, a roof over our heads, and someone, anyone, to care about us. Some people are fortunate enough to get those needs met through their family, while others have no family of their own. And when you have no family, it can be hard to find food, water, and a roof over your head, especially when you are young. Compact Family Services is a Christ-centered ministry working to help those who fall into that last category of people.

Compact Family Services is a ministry of the Assemblies of God, located in Hot Springs, Arkansas, serving in 5 different ministry areas: Hillcrest Children’s Home, Highlands Maternity Home, Adoptions, Foster Care, and Transitional Living. You can learn more about each area at www.compactfamilyservices.org.

Hillcrest Children’s Home is a private, Christian, residential child care campus for children and youth ages 5-18 who have been abused, neglected, and sexually exploited. These children are offered hope and healing by being provided with a safe environment where they can have a chance to find complete restoration in body, mind, and spirit.

Highlands Maternity Home is a place dedicated to bringing hope and healing to young women who are dealing with unplanned pregnancy. They offer a loving Christian environment for young women to get back on their feet. They offer classes on both adoption and parenting so that young women can make the best decision possible for them and their child. They offer adoption services if that is what a young woman decides is best for them and their baby free of charge.

Transitional Living Center is available to graduating Hillcrest residents, aging-out foster care youth, and transitioning women from Highlands Maternity Home. While in the Transitional Living Center there are many classes and activities available to continue to assist these young people in becoming successful and independent.

There are so many ways that you can help reach the lives of these children and young adults. Prayer, Giving, Sponsorship, Foster Parenting, and Adoption are just a few ways you can help.

Prayer is always needed. Compact Family Services has a detailed prayer guide on their website to let you know just what they need prayer for.

You can Give to Compact Family Services in a general contribution or to specific projects within specific ministries. For example, you can donate specifically to the Hillcrest College Scholarship Fund to help graduating Hillcrest kids continue their education. You can Sponsor a child. Visit the sponsorship page to learn more.

Become a Host Family. Maybe you can’t commit to being a foster parent or adopting a child permanently, but you can still help make a difference by becoming a Host Family. Host families are families who host one or more children in their home for holidays, vacations, or other occasions.

Also available on their website are lists of their most needed items. Maybe there is something on that list that you can donate?

Hillcrest has a special project currently to provide massage therapy for the girls there which I shared in a previous post. Another fantastic way you could provide help for these children. Even a one-time donation would be a blessing!

You can follow Compact Family Services on Facebook and Twitter.

We are called as Christians to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Helping Compact meet the needs of these children and young adults is a great way to do that!

The Spa at Redeemed Womens Conference - Guest Post by Deb Abshier

Deb Abshier does a phenomenal job coordinating and running the spa at Women's Conference each year. She is a wonderful woman of God and a personal blessing to me. She spends Friday's each year at conference making sure as many women as possible get rejuvenated in body to go along with the rejuvenation of the spirit that the weekend holds. As you will read momentarily, sometimes the rejuvenation of the spirit occurs while being pampered in body!!

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The day started with ladies arriving and unloading their vehicles, As they passed through the lobby, now spa they grew excited. Most returned to sign up for at least one massage. We had several professional ladies who volunteered their time only receiving tips in exchange. Once everyone was in the same mind of keeping a quiet and calm atmosphere, the entire day went very smoothly.

Foot washing/prayer with missionary Melodie Joice

We also had foot washing that had the option of hand massage as well. At first the foot washing was not as popular as the massages, and lacked participants. There came a turning point as Melodie Joice stepped in to give massages. I remember thinking how cool it was that she would step up to give a break and wash feet for strangers.

Melodie is a missionary to Tanzania who is itenerating this year. She teaches people about childrens' ministry. She is also a sweet hearted woman of God. Another little known fact is that her journal is pictures. She carries a camera and the pictures she takes become her journal entries.

So all the ladies continued their massages without interruption as Melodie simply stepped into the position. It was not too long before our attention was drawn to the back wall where the foot washing station was. The lady receiving the wash was also receiving a touch from the Holy Spirit. As she continued to minister to the lady we could feel the presence of God fill the room. Everyone was pleased and welcomed His presence. This continued until time to close the spa. Needless to say the foot wash line filled up too.

The spa is a treat, each year ladies are drawn into the dorm lobby for a professional massage and always say the atmosphere is peaceful and inviting. We regularly have missionaries present at Womens Conference. Last year we were blessed in the spa with the warm heart and laughter of U.S. Missionary Betty Holyfield. Several ladies were touched by here conversation and encouragement, I was one of them. For me, the missionaries that come to our Womens Conference are a huge benefit, to them and us. Missionaries are a treasure we all can support financially yes, but also with prayer. Both types of support are essential.

God likes humility, obedience and willingness to just give of what we have, doing just what He directs. The ladies who do the massages say they are blessed each year as just as much as the ones receiving the massages and it is obvious as i watch the interaction in the spa. This year we all witnessed God visit tangibly and minister to these ladies who opened to Him. Both the giver and recipient. It was a joy to be a part of the spa this year.

What We Say (And Write) Matters

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

I love the bloggy world! I really do. I love the fact that there is an outlet for normal, everyday people, to share their talents and speak their mind. I highly favor free speech and what I am about to say is not meant to stifle that. I’m sure some people will not like this post and may be offended by it. That is not my intention at all, but at the same time, I’m not going to let that stop me from posting it.

I have read at least three different blog posts in the last week that seemed as I was reading to be fantastic posts that reflected some of the same feelings that I share with these folks on certain topics. So much so, I think as I’m reading, “I am going to share this post!”

Until somewhere in the middle of the post, out of nowhere, there is a cuss word. Not a horrible one, but one none the less, used in that context. When that happens, I will finish reading the article, but I will not like it nor will I share it, no matter how good the post is.

The types of posts I generally gravitate to reading are faith based posts about marriage, family and growing in Christ. The blog posts that I am referring to were written by people whose entire blog is based on Jesus Christ. Their entire about us page is about seeking out Christ or in one case it was a Pastor who posted it.

Now, I’m not perfect. I am not sitting here saying that I don’t occasionally have a word come out of my mouth that shouldn’t. It happens, but it shouldn’t happen in writing. If you are taking the time to write a post, there is no, “oops it just slipped”. In the context that I have read in these posts lately, there is no reason for it. You could just as easily remove the word and put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence and get the same general effect.

I just have this gut wrenching (maybe an urging from the Holy Spirit) feeling that I need to share this thought. If you create a blog that is Christ centered, you should do your best to be a reflection of Christ. While in our human form, we cannot completely reflect Christ as we are flawed humans with a sinful nature, we can be mindful of the small things that can impact the lives of our readers. Can one little word do that? Yes! It can.

In all honesty, the people who wrote the posts that I read, likely will not ever read this post. That being said, it may be pointless to post it to begin with. My goal is not to change someone’s writing, but just to put it out there that as we follow Christ and have not only the ability, but the responsibility to share Him with others, we MUST be mindful of the words we choose to do that.

Christ didn’t call us to perfection, but He did call us to a higher standard and to reflect Him in everything we do, that includes what we write and post online.

Someday

I don't claim to be a poet. This piece of literature, though original, is probably not good. It is probably not grammatically correct, or poetically sound. It probably doesn't deserve the space I'm giving it on my blog.

What it is, is my heart. It is what I'm finding myself saying regularly. Someday... Someday...

I'm waiting for that someday.

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Some Days

Some days are full of joy and laughter
Living happily ever after
Dreaming of all the joys to come

Some days are full of pain and sorrow
Rushing me toward tomorrow
Hoping relief will find me there

Some days are full of happiness
Love, Joy, Peace and all the rest
Knowing my life is blessed

Some days are full of haunting memories
Nightmares flooding my dreams
Begging just to awake and never sleep again

Some days I wake up
Ready for whatever comes
Some days it is all I can do to just wake up

Regardless of some days
I’m waiting for someday

Someday my prince will come
On a white horse to take me home
Forgetting all the pain and hurt

Someday my life on earth will end
It last but a blink of an eye
Life not ending, just beginning

Someday the one who calls me daughter
Will come and take me home
No more pain, no more tears
Just worshiping around the throne

No more death, no more sorrow
No more worries for tomorrow
No more darkness, no more nights
Someday, someday soon!

Waiting While God Works

I’ve been reading You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times by Max Lucado (full book review). This book parallels the life of Joseph and his journey from the Pit to the Palace with our lives today and the struggles that we are going through. I am really enjoying this book and I hope that after I finish reading, I will remember and continue to apply some of the things that I am reading.

Chapter 6 in the book is called, “Wait While God Works”. This chapter points out something that most of us probably don’t consider when we read about people like Joseph. Joseph’s journey was a long one. His troubles weren’t quickly resolved. One thing Max Lucado points out is the verse in Chapter 39 of Genesis, “Now Joseph went down to Egypt”. It would have taken Joseph at least a couple of months to walk the 750 miles from Dothan to Thebes. So in six words, we are covering a couple of months’ time.

Then Joseph spent days or even weeks on the Egyptian auction block, a decade in Potiphar’s House, and over two years in prison. In Genesis 40:14–15, Joseph asks the butler to remember him as he was being released from prison and to put in a good word for him so he could get out of prison. The butler agreed to do that. Chapter 41 begins this way: "Two years passed and Pharaoh had a dream".

“Joseph’s story appeared to stall out in chapter 40. Our hero was in shackles. The train was off the tracks. History was in a holding pattern. But while Joseph was waiting, God was working. He assembled the characters. God placed the butler in Joseph’s care. He stirred the sleep of the king with odd dreams. He confused Pharaoh’s counselors. And at just the right time, God called Joseph to duty. He’s working for you as well.”

Max Lucado. You’ll Get through This: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times (Kindle Locations 1071-1073). Thomas Nelson.

It is really easy when hard times come for us to feel like God isn’t working on our behalf. It is easy to think that He has forgotten us and our troubles. It is easy to feel like our pain is in vain. None of those things are true!

This chapter also reminds us about Daniel. Daniel fasted and prayed for 21 days asking God to deliver his people from a seventy year oppression they were battling. Finally on the 22^nd day and angel appeared to Daniel. Do you know what the angel told him?

Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Daniel 10:12-13 (NKJV)

Did you catch that? God heard Daniel and sent help on day 1. Why did it take 21 days for help to arrive? A principality (an evil spirit) had delayed the angel. It took the chief angel, Michael to come help him break free from the principality and continue on to complete the mission of helping Daniel.

Sometimes delays are due to God's timing and His plan for our lives, but sometimes, they are due to the spiritual forces that do not want us to break free, forces that want to keep us bound. Friends, we are in a spiritual battle that you cannot see. You can sometimes feel it, but you can’t see it. Often times we want to think that God didn’t hear us, or that He doesn’t care about what we are going through. That is just simply not true.

Troubling times come (and if they haven’t for you yet, they will). Satan wants them to derail us and to make us turn away from God. God wants to use them to make us more Christ like and draw us closer to him. All of the sufferings of this life are but a speck in time in eternity (even though it may last years on earth).

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 (NKJV)

You’ll Get Through This!! It may not be today, tomorrow, or the next day. For some of us unfortunately, it may not be until we stand before God in Heaven. If that’s you, find comfort in the fact that the years here on earth are but a blink of an eye compared to an eternity in Heaven with Him! Don't give up, so that you can make it to Heaven with Him and enjoy an eternity of peace and joy.

If we give up and we turn from God, our eternity will be far worse than our current sufferings. Wouldn't you rather cling to God and know that an end to the pain is coming rather than ensure an eternity of pain and suffering without Him?

God's plan is bigger than ours. Look at Joseph. Joseph had a good life before his brothers sold him into slavery, but he never would have dreamed that he would be second in command of all of Egypt. Those were God's plans for him!! Joseph, throughout his entire life, never took any credit. He continually gave glory to God. He didn't grow bitter of his circumstances. He trusted God and took life and all that came with it, one day at time.

We serve a God who can take ordinary people and use them in extraordinary ways. He can do that, when we trust Him and walk in obedience.