Days-Behind-Daybook :)

For Today... March 25, 2009

Outside my window... trees starting to bud, birds chirping, surprising quiet for this time of the morning. 

I am thinking... My mind is flooded with thoughts this week!   

A surprise phone call Monday has a constant "wondering" running continually in the back of my mind, in and amongst all the other thoughts, plans, and activities.  

All weekend God has filled my mind with thoughts of His glory and the ways He has been working in my life and in my family in the past few years...reflecting on His faithfulness and blessings. 

 

I've been pondering the subject of our resurrection bodies this week, after a comment Bro. Kent made Sunday afternoon.  I started doing some Bible study on the new body vs. the old body earlier this week...more on that later.  

At the moment I'm also thinking about a young friend who is having oral surgery as I type...and praying for a  successful and relatively painless experience for her.  

From the learning rooms... This morning's thoughts have turned also to the way that God has been gradually (and sometimes swiftly!) shifting the direction of our schooling, in ways I

 would *never* have expected.  He is giving us a much more other-centered, mission-minded, global focus, through our geography curriculum, missions study, and our new 

Compassion sponsorship.  Hopefully I'll have time and mental clarity to post a bit more on that later this week...

Work on our new Mega-Memory passage, Ephesians 6:1-9, is going well.  We've opted not to sign this one, and are planning some other  activities with it instead, but so far have just done straight memorization...which everyone seems to be enjoying just fine on its own!  (Which leads me to wonder  if sometimes we  expend a lot of effort to "enhance" things which would be perfectly fine in their simplest form.   Not that there is anything wrong with the enhancements, but there are

 seasons in which the simple is all we can do...and perhaps I need to suspend my "fretting" about that!)

I am thankful for... Emlyn's baptism last week!  I have been postponing the actual post on her baptism due to technical  issues with the video...hopefully that will be worked out soon.  Her excitement and certainty have been such a blessing.  

I'm also thankful for another profession of faith that will be made this Sunday...and for another baptism that should  then occur the following week.  God is blessing immeasurably here!!  And I am thankful. 

 

From the kitchen... Last night was one of our favorite "fast food" meals these days...chicken salad  sandwiches, chips, and my family's new favorite dip.  The chicken salad isn't my very favorite chicken salad recipe...I like a lot more "stuff" in my  chicken salad :)...but this is the hands-down favorite of the rest of my family. :)  And it's super-easy, so it makes a great (and much cheaper) alternative to grabbing burgers or pizza on busy days.  

Chicken Salad (recipe from, of all places, a demo at Sam's :))

*Chicken (can use canned chicken, leftover chicken, or chicken bulk-cooked and frozen. )  Chop or shred.

*Miracle Whip

*Bacon Bits (we use 

Hormel Real Bacon pieces...I buy a bag from Sam's and they last us forever.)

*Mrs. Dash seasoning

I have no measurements...just mix it up to taste.  

Best Dip Ever (named by my children. :))

 This dip originated from our work to prune our grocery budget.  I had seen a new dip at the store one afternoon that  *really* sounded good..and had even stuck it in the cart.  Then I did an about-face and put it back on the shelf, realizing that at $4 a jar,  I could surely make something similar myself at home for much less.  So...I grabbed a package of green onions and headed home to experiment...  

*Sour cream (again, I have no measurements.  We keep a huge container of sour cream

 from Sam's in the fridge all the time, so I plop out what we need depending on how many people are eating or how long I want it to last before I make more. :))

*Bacon pieces (a handful, depending on how much sour cream you use :))

*Green onion, chopped.

*Seasoning Salt (Like Lawry's, but we use a generic.) Sprinkle to taste.  

Chill and serve with chips, crackers, or veggies.  Yum!

I am reading... a couple of books I received this week to review here...Sticks and Stones, by Ace Collins, and Flickering Pixels, by Shane Hipps.  Both are somewhat out of my normal reading patterns, but I'm really looking forward to both of them.  The first is on the impact of words, and how to use our words to positively impact the world around us.

Also just starting Unveiled at Last, by Bob Sjogren, for our missions curriculum, and reviewing the materials from the One Day Evangelism Crash Course this weekend. 

 

And...read this interesting article this morning, about the importance of a good geography education in our current culture.  

I am hoping... that the wet weather we are supposed to have the rest of this week is just "rainy" and not "stormy".

I am creating... a dent in Mount Laundry!  

I am hearing... children finishing chores...when I started this, many interruptions ago :), all was quiet.  Now I hear  quiet chatter (as we've been working on "working

 quietly"), and the sounds of busy hands and feet restoring a bit of order to the house for the day. 

Around the house... Trying not to be overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done, the decluttering and organizing and beautifying that I want so badly to do, but which comes *so* slowly in and around and amongst all the other demands of life.   I'm  trying hard to be diligent, to do what I can when I can (and not get discouraged and completely throw in the towel, as I have a tendency to do) and to remember that the little bits, done faithfully and

 consistently, *do* add up eventually.  

One of my favorite things... My children's excitement about sharing Jesus with others.   

A few plans for the rest of the week... Church/choir tonight, a library trip this

 afternoon or tomorrow; otherwise, being busy at home with school and work on the house.   Unlike everyone else we know :), we aren't taking spring break this week, so it's a bit of an odd week with everyone else "on vacation".  We did take a day off Monday and spent the afternoon with friends, which was a much-needed and much-enjoyed break. 

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Emlyn just before her baptism.  I love the joy in her face!  (More pics to come as soon as we get the video to upload. :))

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