Song for the week...

I've been chewing on these encouraging lyrics for a few weeks now, and I am rejoicing over 1 Corinthians 15:57
"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

May this encourage you in your daily life and walk as it has me.

with great thanks to Days of Grace for posting this.

Lyrics from "The Desert Song" by Hillsong's United

Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow

still waiting

for one of these to turn RED!!

It would also be nice if the squirrels and worms would stay away... any ideas? My dad suggested a big screen, but I'm not sure if I can swing that with the husband/yard police.


part two:
I started this post about two weeks ago and left it pondering how to salvage my green tomatoes from the worms and squirrels... I wish I could remember who gave me the bright idea (was it you Heather?) to pluck the green ones off the vine and let them ripen on my window ledge in the kitchen---away from all dogs, bugs, and wandering squirrels.

what do you know...

IT WORKED!!!







HOORAY for seeing the beauty of God's creative process on my very own window sill. i can't wait to cut these bad boys up and make Texas Caviar: MckMama Style

43,000 cookies SOLD!

Thanks to The Mason Family for posting about these yummy cookies at Pei Wei. I had heard about these $1 gems through the Gladney grapevine, but I had yet to pick one up for my post meal enjoyment. Did I say post? I probably should clarify with PRE and POST meal enjoyment.

The Gladney Center and Pei Wei are joining together to present “Cookies 4 Kids”. For a limited time (May 3-16) Pei Wei Restaurants in Texas and Arizona are teaming up with Cookies4Kids to bring you this special cookie. All profits will be donated to The Gladney Center to help support children worldwide through Gladney's humanitarian aid efforts. The cookie is Double Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie and it’s only $1.00!!

I'm pretty sure we bought a dozen cookies... what? they were for Zeb's hockey team...and maybe a few to spare!

Breaking NEWS....well kind of...
Over 43,000 cookies were sold in the first week!!

(from Gladney) We have until May 16th to step up and show our support.
The Firewall Pei Wei in Garland, Texas had the highest sales last week with over 2,200 cookies sold. The East Plano Pei Wei was close behind selling over 1,500 of the delicious cookies. Let's see if your neighborhood Pei Wei can make the Top 10 list for the 2nd and final week!
All profits donated to The Gladney Center to help support children worldwide through Gladney's humanitarian aid efforts.
We are so grateful for our many friends who visited Pei Wei, purchased cookies and helped spread the word!


Cookies4Kids: Changing the World One Cookie at a Time>

Ambition

Nearly every week, I get the privilege to meet downtown Fort Worth for lunch and discussion with a variety of women. By variety, I mean all ages, races, and professions. Common Ground is the name of our lunch club, and it is a non-profit organization committed to providing personal, professional, and spiritual resources for working women.

It's a very stimulation group of lawyers, engineers, moms, service and sales reps, geologists, and administration types. we talk about everything from job satisfaction, sharing Jesus at work, balancing family and work, and as of late, AMBITION.

Ambition is an interesting topic. I have been thinking about it a lot lately, and mostly I have come up with the thought (or feeling?) that I'm not really that ambitious. I certainly feel motivated about several issues: Jesus, family, food, discipleship, recycling, girl-time, and, um what people think of me. (I mean, it's hard to lie on my own blog?) I may feel motivated, but it seems to fall short of my personal definition of ambition.

I see ambition as seriously determined and committed. My friend Jennifer is ambitious to win the price check game by grocery shopping at Wal-mart. My friend Beth has ambition to be a famous blogger. My husband is highly ambitious about his grass and obedient dogs. Even my new co-worker Lorri is crazy ambitious and started her own women owned paper company so she can sell the REALLY BIG accounts (the ones I drive by without batting an eye mind you).

All of that to say, what is a less than ambitious girl to do with all of this...competition?? According to Wikipedia, competition "arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared...and...Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment." I definitely think this ambition can be shared unlike actual competition, and I believe good competition can very well spur on productivity, which is one of my main goal

Is this post spiritual or worldly? I think I originally labelled it housekeeping, because I really believe digging through the idea of ambition can be internally spiritual and externally like housekeeping. The bible says in Luke 1:37 "for nothing is impossible with God," and James 4:6 says, "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Lastly, 1 Cor 10:31 says "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
It seems the answer to the above question of "what's a girl to do," is pray. Live by God's grace, and whatever we do make sure it's to God's glory and not our own. I guess I can be ambitious after all-

Now that I've reassured myself that I can do all things through Christ, I feel like a list would be helpful to determine what I wish I were ambitious about...
(warning: this is a mixed bag)

* Jesus
* sewing
* blogging
* couponing
* gardening (although i did officially plant my first vegetable and herb garden...results tbd)
* loving the lost
* keeping up with girlfriends
* work at Campbell Paper or quitting bc somewhere in the middle is really not cool
* composting
* home decorating
*starting my own business (have I mentioned i'm signed up to get my YOGAfit certification? i guess this is a start)
* KEEPING A BUDGET

What are you ambitious about, or what do you wish/hope/pray to be ambitious about?

while you ponder, here are a few beginning victory garden shots...



...and a few weeks later..
tomatoes in the back row, peppers in the middle



and herbs up front!
lemon verbena, chamomile, thyme, and rosemary

newest addition to my kitchen counter...

a RICE COOKER!

I know this seems like small news, but trust me it was a big decision. I don't know about you, but I am not crazy about having an appliance for EVERYthing. I prefer owning a manual can opener versus an electric can opener, and.... well maybe that is the only simplified version I own. I would like to think of myself as a minimalist, but as I think through the long list of appliances I have collected over the years, I realize I am hardly that.

All of that to say, I experienced a considerable amount of indecision when looking at adding a rice cooker to my appliance repertoire. I didn't grow up with a rice cooker, and I really didn't even know they existed until a friend mentioned it as her favorite appliance.

I would have never considered buying one except I have been terribly unsuccessful in preparing decent rice in my own kitchen more than I would like to admit. It is a lot harder than my friends at Pei Wei would lead me to believe, and my latest round of mashed potato brown rice drew the last straw.

Alas, I am the proud owner of a new rice cooker. I looked and looked, and after reading almost all of the 175 reviews on Amazon I finally decided on the Cuisinart 4 cup cooker. I deliberated for nearly a month over the well respected Asian models.


The

is definitely top of the line. I could own a pretty good model for less than $50, and the Zojirushi Induction Heating Pressure Cooker and Warmer is about three times as much. It certainly is not as cute as the Cuisinart, but the reviews were pristine compared to the Cuisinart. Plus with Japanese roots and name like Zojirushi it has to cook perfect rice. Right?

Well, I'll never know. I decided that there was NO way I could ever cook enough rice to wear out the Cuisinart, and I really don't think I even know the difference between "sticky" Asain rice and rice that meshes well with Teriyaki chicken.

Tonight was the big debut for the little 4-cup cutie, and it was PERFECT! I have never experienced such an enjoyable experience with an appliance. I mean so enjoyable, I felt led to blog. This is serious people. I LOVE my new rice cooker. I used Jasmine rice, because my friend Beth told me Lavender rice was her favorite. i looked and looked for lavender rice and figured jasmine sounded like it could have come from the same rice paddie. They both sounded like pretty flowers at least.

Our rice cooker and the Jasmine variety are both clear winners (on the first try!). The clean up was easy, and I am looking forward to coming up with my next rice dish. Any suggestions?

Last but not least-
My question to you is: if you could add ONE more appliance to make your life easier...what would it be?

I'm thinking about a juicer next 8)

ever ridden a donkey?

This is how I feel about myself on a donkey. Not that I'm green, but I'm certainly over sized, untrained, and uncoordinated. one word comes to mind: humiliation.

In Bible Study Fellowship this year we are studying the book of John. This past week we studied and discussed chapter 12, and it is an action packed 50 verses. Lazarus is alive after being dead and reclined at dinner, Mary unassumingly anoints Jesus for burial with crazy expensive perfume, Jesus fulfills messianic prophesy with his entry into Jerusalem, the grain of wheat falls, and Israel once again rejects Jesus.

I have nowhere near enough bible knowledge to discuss these stories at length, although I am slowly learning. The point of this post however, is to share a couple of thoughts from our discussion leader that has me so amazed with the person of Jesus in such a new and profound way that I can't help but share them with anyone who will listen or read.

1. The Israelites wanted a conquering King with all of their hearts, but what they got when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey was a suffering servant (per BSF lecture). The point was clearly made that we too are often as guilty as the Israelites of making Jesus into what WE want him to be.
***example***
Discontent with job situation -- God, give me a new one.
Disappointed with husband -- God, get me out.
Saddened by loss of child -- God, give me another.
***in response, i'm seeking to pray for God to show me TRUTH in ALL circumstances. What circumstances do you fall into that force God into something he isn't and how do you seek to find your way?

2. A donkey. Have you ever tried to ride one? My sister-in-law is FEARLESS, and she is the only one I know who has ever ridden a donkey for more than 5 seconds. Let me just say, it wasn't pretty. Have you ever thought about JESUS riding a donkey? Many of us have heard this story since childhood, but have you ever really thought about getting on a donkey, riding it through a mob of people (possibly 2 million), and not falling off? Think about it. Jesus did. Only the King of the world could climb upon a sassy ass, and gracefully begin the journey of our lifetimes. He peacefully rode through hundreds of thousands of people, fulfilling prophecy (psalm 118:25-26, Zechariah 9:9, & Daniel 9:25-26), toward the most important hour of his life and ours if you claim salvation in Christ. "the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." John 12:23

This makes me love and admire Jesus in such a new way. I will never look at donkeys the same.

South Dakota

thankfully I didn't try to make this trip home for Christmas. Most of the Midwest was blanketed with about 20" of snow, single digit temperatures, and 40 mph winds (for those of you unfamiliar with this style of snow, think BLIZZARD from dairy queen or a shaken snow globe). Zeb and I stayed in Fort Worth for Christmas this year to spend the holiday with his parents and extended family. We experienced the dramatic 2" of falling snow on Christmas eve as we ventured over to Molly and Jeff Jamison's for fondue, and we scooted into downtown on the ice (or should I say onto the sidewalk...) to pick up Luke for Christmas morning brunch at Mom and Dad's. I wish I would have had this experience on video...

I left Zeb at home with a short list of honey-do's and the animals. The animals were fed, but I'm pretty sure my list didn't move...neither did the broccoli lasagna I left him in the fridge. Zeb has been slow to embrace the importance and power of vegetables.

Back to my trip-
for those of you wondering, I grew up in Nebraska, but my parents have moved back to their hometown of Yankton, South Dakota. Much of our family is there, and apparently they are not afraid of the elements unlike this converted Texan. I will say, the elements are breathtaking. My parents built a log house on a cliff by the lake about 5 years ago, and the wildlife and views are amazing. Unfortunately, it is quite the hike from the highway, and the last mile of "drive-way" required a shoveling by a friendly neighbor and his large bobcat (heavy machinery not wildlife). This is definitely an experience in country living. Their nearest neighbor is about a mile away, there is no trash pick-up, and google maps doesn't even register their zip code. The benefits of this far-away land are fresh air, deer and turkey for neighbors, and an unlimited supply of peace and serenity.