Popcorn-one of my favorite snacks!

I love to do what I call "mindless eating." The problem is, it doesn't always love me. Chips are my favorite; but unhealthy-oh yeah! Popcorn to the rescue! It can be made as a sweet OR salty snack so I'm really in love. Now, I'm not talking about the microwave junk here. I'm talking about the real popcorn sold in bags that will make gallons of popcorn. By the way, the stuff is cheap! Here's what I do given that I don't have an air popper: Put 1-2 tablespoons of extra-virgin coconut oil in a heavy, large pot (I promise, it won't taste sweet or like coconuts). Be sure you have a lid. Let warm on medium to medium-high then add about 3 tablespoons popcorn kernels. PUT THE LID ON! After a few minutes the poppin' will begin. Just shake occasionally until most of the kernels are popped. Now, you can dress it up. Sprinkle it with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and a bit of cheddar cheese powder for pizza flavored. For taco flavor just sprinkle with taco seasoning, store bought or homemade. The possibilities are endless. If you wanna make some to satisfy your sweet tooth just sprinkle with splenda and cinnamon or even some of a pouch of hot chocolate mix.

If you don't mind the unhealthy aspect of it, you can add butter and salt to it but coconut oil is actually good for you. Don't buy into the misconceptions about it. Dr. Oz agrees with me. Just check out his site and see for yourself. And don't be surprised when you find yourself using it as a moisturizer. Trust me. This stuff is like a miracle in a jar!

Anywho...it"s about time for me to make the popcorn! Happy Snackin', y'all!

I'm one of them...

I thought people who loved Jesus were freaky! I admit I did my share of rolling my eyes and steering clear of people that constantly talked about their Jesus. I found myself whispering under my breath, "Enough already" or "Here they go again". I mean total FREAKS! It was okay that I was a freak for fun with friends or my family, but those were things I could see and touch. In my mind, Jesus was a history lesson I had heard about in my occasional childhood visits to church. He was a Sunday kind of thing and not very relevant to my present day. I was the girl that sat in Sunday school praying with a vengeance that the teacher wouldn't call on me to answer any questions. If only I had been praying as hard for my salvation...

I remember going to church with a friend of mine in middle school once during revival. For me, the 'only go to church twice a year' kind of girl, this was quite an experience. Later in life I did my own thing, without giving God even a tiny say so. At the age of 22 I started feeling Jesus wooing me, but it freaked me out!
I stopped listening to the Holy Spirit and continued to seek my security and my worth in other feel-good things. I do remember that the harder I searched, the bigger the void became. Pleasures were short lived and the constant running to fill the hole in my heart became tiring.

Nine years later I found myself in a bigger mess than even I had ever imagined. It was then that I began thinking back on those 'freaks' who had witnessed to me over the years and I knew that He was the only one who I could turn to to give me a sense of stability. I gave my life to Jesus in September of 2007 and things have been a whirlwind ever since. I get it now! I am one of those freaks. There is a good kind of freaky that just gets you talking and changing everything about your life. To be honest, at times it is just as hard as that life I had when I was searching, but now it has purpose and there is a power that comes from the One I am freaky about. A power that can get you through anything. A power that is there beside you through it all and gives you a security that nothing in the world can provide.

So now that I am one of those freaky Jesus lovers, I have a lot of people I care about that I need to be freaky for until they get it. I am sure my words, my actions, and even my blogs wreak of freak. That is okay. I have a responsibility to help plant some seeds and let it "get on you". I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for those unselfish freaks in my life. I love them!!!!! I now know that I mattered to them. More importantly, I know that with all my poor choices and my junk, there is a Jesus who desires to hang out with me. Not to punish me, but to fill the void that only He can fill.

So, for those of you who roll your eyes and cannot wait for freaks like me to hush up and leave you alone I ask you to step out of your comfort zone and hang out with the freaks. This world is full of them but make sure you hang out with the kind of freaks that you want to get on you. It may be uncomfortable at first, but it is just the thing you don't even realize you are looking for! I have been on both sides of the spectrum and, I tell you with reckless abandon, I prefer this side.

Jesus sees you, He hears you, what you say matters to Him...

Christian Love

It has been a while since my last post. My only excuse is that I have been busy, really I have. The idea for this post came to me Sunday while in church. I have recently began singing in the choir so now I am in the choir loft, which gives me a great view of the congregation. While noticing how beautiful our congregation is, I noticed several people who have shown me some amazing Christian love in the almost 4 years that I have been 'one of them.' My life is so blessed by having these people in my life. God really knows what people to surround us with and the EXACT time to do it. My family and I have received money when we needed it, meals when we needed them, wisdom when we needed it...just LOVE. The caption on this picture says it all, really. None of these people expected love, or anything, in return when they decided to love us. They just loved us like Jesus does. Aside from the 'things' we have gotten, there have been those who have just been there. I have made so many friends who have no requirements for our friendship. I have also learned more than I ever thought possible. I just began my 5th Bible study in four years and I am proud of myself for sticking with studying the Word. The bottom line is this: if I had never put myself out there and gotten out of my comfort zone I would have never met the people I have, learned the things I have learned, or been blessed by God the ways I have been. My very first Bible study I knew NO ONE! I was new, not only at this church, but at being a Christian. So, please, listen to what I am saying...get out there, be uncomfortable, meet new people, do new things! If you stay where you are right now you will only go where you've always been. I want more out of my walk with God and I hope you do, too. So, to those who have helped me along the way and taught me so much THANK YOU! I am sure you know who you are. Thank you for teaching me how to love others and thank you for loving me like Jesus does. I love each and every one of you. It is because of you that I have grown as I have and it is because of you that I have a passion to love people with a true Christian love. I will never stop learning from those older in the Lord than I.

Drama and the way God calms the storm

Yesterday I had a bit of drama in my family. Thankfully it wasn't serious drama but, as with many circumstances, I didn't know that the whole time. It all started when I got a tear-filled phone call from my almost 17 year old daughter saying she had been in an accident. She doesn't drive yet, mainly because the idea of it scares me to death, so she was on her way to a church function with a friend. We were 20 minutes away from her so my husband and I gathered the other children in the car and headed to the scene of the accident. The whole way I was asking God to be with her while I couldn't be and, of course, he was. Just after the accident, which was a minor fender-bender, she and her friend prayed together and later I found out that a fireman had prayed with them. See, God was right there! I had calmed down over the 20 minute ride until I saw the scene: traffic was backed up, cops and firemen everywhere. It looked like something from a movie and I knew my baby was in the middle of it all. I got out of the car before my husband had time to stop good, but I JUST HAD to get to her. The moment she saw me we grabbed each other and hugged like we had never hugged before.Thankfully Emm and her friend were fine, they just are sore today from the seat belt & air bags but they are overall fine. My Emm cried for at least an hour because she was so shook up from the experience.I write this for myself more than for others because I need to see it in black and white to really believe that it happened and that we made it, but only with God. When I didn't fully know if she was badly hurt I had no choice but to trust that He was taking care of it all. As a control freak, that was a mighty hard thing to do. But He did, just as He always has and always will.

It wasn't until this morning when I sat down to read my devotional that I realized that He had prepped me, in a sense, yesterday morning for what would happen in the evening. Sometimes we just have to marvel in His ability to do things like that. He is a God of great detail, for sure. Here is a direct quote from the devotional for March 22 out of the book 'Jesus Calling' by Sarah Young:

"REJOICE AND BE THANKFUL! As you walk with Me through this day, practice trusting and thanking Me all along the way. Trust is the channel through which My Peace flows into you. Thankfulness lifts you up above your circumstances. I do My greatest works through people with grateful, trusting hearts. Rather than planning and evaluating, practice trusting and thanking Me continually. This is a paradigm shift that will revolutionize your life."

~this is a great devotional and I highly recommend it! Buy it here http://www.amazon.com/JESUS-CALLING-Young-Author-Calling/dp/B004NH8FX0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1300911372&sr=8-5

I usually skim over the previous day's devotion to refresh my memory before going into the current day's. I am so thankful that I did it this morning because it allowed me to really notice what He took time to do. I got a second blessing out of it and, honestly, felt a little giddy over the whole thing. While things were chaotic yesterday I felt God telling me to just trust Him, and I did my best to even through all the tears. I felt a quiet peace as I knew we were surrounded by prayers from friends and family. Emm calmed down eventually and things went back to normal. I even let her go with a friend to a youth meeting and birthday gathering for that friend tonight. I cannot make her stop living her life just as I cannot allow myself to live in fear, a fear that is not of God. After all, if the God who created the universe took the time to let little 'ole me know He was handling it all then I can trust that He will forever do just that-handle it ALL. Now, it's your turn to trust Him with whatever is going on in your life. We all have craziness from time to time but NOTHING is too crazy for Him.

Homemade Deodorant

Yes, I use homemade D.O for my B.O, and I don't even stink! The main reasons I make my own are (1) I am too cheap to buy something that I KNOW I can make myself and (2) I don't know what's in that stuff they sale in the stores. I know it's been said that the aluminum in deodorant can cause cancer but these days it seems as if breathing can cause cancer. I'm not a science freak nor do I know anything about science, but I have found out that the ingredient in deodorant that makes you not stink also clogs up your pores...that's how it works. Now, why is that a good thing? Anyway, I have been using homemade deodorant for about 6 months now and it works amazingly well. You normally have to go through an adjustment period of about 2 weeks. In that time your body pushes out years worth of junk from your armpit pores. Be patient...your body will balance out.

There are two ways to make deodorant. One way is in a paste, just like what we are used to buying in the stores. You can even mix it up and smush it into a clean, empty deodorant tube to use like any store bought kind. I just keep mine in an air-tight container in the bathroom and use a spoon to get out the amount I need then rub it on my pits. It only takes a little. The other way is in powder form. For both of these you will need basically the same ingredients: virgin coconut oil, baking soda, cornstarch, tea tree oil (which is an essential oil) and optional lavender and/or ylang-ylang essential oils. Virgin coconut oil has anti-bacterial properties, as do tea tree and lavender essential oils. I will tell you that I seem to have a sensitivity to too much baking soda on my skin. It burns...bad. To offset that I add more cornstarch in my deodorant. If you find that the recipes, as written, burn your pits then maybe you could try adding more cornstarch. It's trial and error. Ok, for the recipes...

HOMEMADE PASTE DEODORANT

5 Tablespoons virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
2 drops tea tree oil
3 drops each ylang-ylang & lavender essential oils (optional)
~~~mix up and use small amount on armpits daily

HOMEMADE POWDER DEODORANT

virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
2 drops tea tree oil
3 drops each ylang-ylang & lavender essential oils (optional)
~~~~~mix baking soda and cornstarch with essential oils. I store mine in an old powder container but you could use and old make up brush to apply. To use: rub on a small amount of coconut oil on your pits then use powder. That's it!

I tend to use both, because I am afraid I will stink! After my bath I will use the paste then at any point during the day that I feel 'less than fresh' I will use a bit of the powder. I even have a container of the paste in my purse!