A Family After God’s Own Heart Blog

Seriously! There is such a thing as ‘National Cookie Day’! You can check for yourself, right here.

In order to celebrate such a sweet occasion, I leave you with the recipe to my latest favorite cookie. It’s only your basic sugar cookie but it’s the first one I’ve made that’s not too sweet and still tastes great. (Believe me, the last recipe I made I had to throw away the cookie dough because it was way too sweet!) The original recipe calls for 1/2 c butter and 1/2 c shortening but I do not use shortening. Use what you like. This is NOT a good recipe to use with cookie cutters. The dough is too soft.

Sugar Cookie
1 c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
Extra sugar

In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Add your egg and vanilla extra and mix well. combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add dry mixture into the creamed mixture. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in extra sugar. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten each ball with a wet glass and sprinkle extra sugar lightly on the cookie. Bake at 350° for approximately 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookie start to brown. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. This cookie will be cool off to be crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Note: This dough is so soft that it might be helpful to refrigerate the dough for a few hours before baking.

The next time I bake this cookie I will be using healthier ingredients such as:

Turbinado sugar instead of refined sugar
Egg replacer instead of egg
White wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour

I will post a follow up and let you know how the healthier version tastes!

Happy National Cookie Day! Enjoy!

As I was looking for a Sunday Sing-Along to share I stumbled across a worship band that is so close to my heart. We used to attend the church in this video. It’s a mega church and we used to have some kind of Bible study each night of the week. (Believe me we went each night!)

We especially loved Monday nights with Pastor Greg Laurie even though it was evangelical in nature and we were already saved. We didn’t always have someone to bring along but we loved to go for the worship. Monday nights really reinforced the Gospel in our lives and just how important it is to tell others about what Jesus Christ did for them at the cross.

There was always some kind of surprise in store for us on Monday nights. Over the years we worshiped along side of, and met, Crystal Lewis, Marty Goetz, Dennis Agajannian, Terry Clark (not the country singer), and The Kry…just to name a few. However, The Harvest Worship Band, who would drive down from Riverside, was the main worship team and they were my absolute favorite worship team ever. I just love Carrie’s voice at the beginning in this one…it’s such a sweet sound.

The song they are singing in this video is ‘We Will Worship the Lamb’ and it reminds me of the time when my dh and I were young Christians and so on fire for the Lord that we would often step on toes, if you KWIM. It is one of my all time favorite worship songs. I *heart* this rendition so much that I still hear it just like they sing it in this video when I think of this song. (I wonder how old this video is as I know another pastor has been doing Monday nights for a long time now.) I think Stephanie was 2 or 3 years old at that time, she is 14 now, so it’s been a while, but it’s like yesterday for me. (I miss my home church so much!) This song is so special to me and I hope it blesses you today.

(If you’d like to participate in this book study, please read the book study information by clicking here.)

When you have a week to do a study it feels like you’ll have plenty of time to do it. I found that a week passes rather quickly and before you know it one week turns into two. I’m supposed to be doing my 3rd assignment for tomorrow yet here I am barely working on the 2nd one. *sigh*

So, to get caught up, here goes…

Reading
Chapter 1

I loved the first chapter! It reads suspiciously like ‘renewing your mind’ (Romans 12:1-2) and ‘having the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

The important thing to remember is that every act of sin in our lives begins with a lie. We listen to the lie; we dwell on it until we believe it; finally, we act on it. [p.40]

Every lie must be countered with the corresponding Truth. Where we have listened to, dwelt on, believed, and acted on the lies, we must begin to listen to, meditate on, believe, and act on the Truth. That is how we will move from bondage to freedom, by the power of the Spirit of God. As Jesus declared, it is the Truth that “will set you free” (John 8:32). [p.42]

Questions

2. “Satan knows that you will be more vulnerable to deception if you are not regularly meditating on God’s Word. What ‘good’ things keep you away from consistent study of the Word?” (pg. 16)
Most definitely it’s this computer! It is such a blessing to me yet it can be a cursing too. I find that I have to really be firm with myself on my computer time. I’ve slowly cut out areas of my online life that were not helping me to grow as a Christian. It was very hard to do but I did it. I always have to be very aware of the time I spend here.

3. “Make a list of primary sources of input you have coming into your life (e.g., movies, books, certain friends, a counselor).” (pg. 17)
I have mostly positive and edifying input in my life. My husband and I made choices years ago to cut out DirecTV and secular radio/music. We mostly watch rated G movies, sometimes PG if I preview them or if we see a writeup about them on Plugged In Online. Very rarely do we watch rated R movies and we have strict guidelines for those.

4. “How careful are you about evaluating that input and seeking to discern Truth from error?…” (pg. 17)
I try to be very careful in this area. The only time I seem to really fail here is if I’m in rebellion. I hate to admit that but it’s true.

5. “From pages 37-40 in Lies Women Believe, what are the four steps that take us from initial deception to bondage?” (pg. 18)
Listen to a Lie ~~> Dwell on the Lie ~~> Believe the Lie ~~> Act on the Lie

6. “As long as we live in this world, we cannot completely isolate ourselves so that we never hear any lies. What is the difference between ‘hearing’ and ‘listening to’ lies?” (pg. 19)
To me, hearing is exactly that…hearing. Listening implies that you are truly considering or entertaining the thoughts of what you are hearing. That is when the danger begins when it comes to lies.

9. “What are the three steps that will help us move from spiritual bondage to freedom?” (pg. 19)
Step 1: Identify the area of bondage or sinful behavior.
Step 2: Identify the lie(s) at the root of that bondage or behavior.
Step 3: Replace the lie(s) with Truth.

10. “A popular theme in our culture is that there are no absolutes. ‘All truth is good. Whatever truth works for you is good for you, nd what works for me is good for me.’ While on the surface that appears very tolerant, where does this kind of thinking ultimately lead?” (pg. 21)
Chaos, sin and death.

11. “Read together Acts 17:10-12. What did the people in Berea do in order to discern the Truth? How can we avoid being deceived and become more discerning about the input we receive?” (pg. 22)
They did not assume everything they heard was truth. They checked everything against Scripture to make sure it was correct. We can avoid being deceived by reading and meditating on the Bible daily. That, coupled with prayer, is a great defense.

Memory Work
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32 (NKJV)

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, Galatians 5:1a (NKJV)

Assignment 3 is on the way…

Dear Lord, Words cannot express how thankful I am that you died on the cross for my sins so that I may have eternal life. You are the very air I breathe. Without you I am nothing. Thank You, Jesus!

Voice of the Martyrs has these great activity books called Bold Believers. There are activity suggestions, games, testimonies and coloring pages. They have a several from different countries and people groups. You can download 5 of them (Egypt, Eritrea, Uzbekistan, China, and India) for FREE here.

I don’t even know what I think about this. It’s just so unbelievable. How???? It’s definitely true though!

Can your elephant paint? Watch this elephant, rescued from abusive treatment in Burma, now paint an amazing self portrait. You’ll be amazed at how his talent unfolds.

(If you’d like to participate in this book study, please read the book study information by clicking here.)

I’ve had the book Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss for about 2 or 3 years now. I have skimmed through the lies discussed in this book and I whole heartedly believe that Nancy ’speaks’ Pure Truth…Truth that sets us free!

Since I already agree with these truths, I was going to read this book solely to equip myself to help other women but I never got around to doing so. I recently (as in just this past Friday, April 4) realized that there had been a few lies I had been believing that has kept me in bondage for almost six years! I thought I was guarding my heart and protecting myself (and watching out for my family) but in reality I was building barriers and isolating myself from Christian fellowship and support. I was exactly what the enemy wanted me to be, an ineffective Christian believing his lies! Imagine my surprise when God revealed this to my heart! God is so awesome! He was awesome even when I was going through all that (and I still proclaimed that even then), He is awesome today and He will always be awesome! Amen!

I am now more excited than ever to do this study with Karen and my other sisters in Christ who long to walk in Truth and be free. To have Scripture pointed out to me that will help me shore up the Truth in my life is exactly what I need right now. Thanks again, Karen, for setting up this study. Thank you, Abba, for loving me enough to set me free!

Questions
1. As you begin this book study, where do you see yourself in relation to living in freedom? Do you feel like you are walking in total freedom? Explain.
As I explained above, I am now re-learning how to live in freedom. Living is bondage was a lonely road. Since I’m normally a homebody I did not miss that real life Christian fellowship as much as some people would. I also had my online Christian community that I frequent where I felt safe to ‘fellowship’. I believe that yesterday at church was my first taste of living in freedom again in almost six years! It was very refreshing! My jaded view has been lifted and I can see clearly now. PTL! I think I still have a long way to go as far as walking in total freedom. Lies have their way of creeping in even when you know they are lies. It’s like having fleas. The hop into your life, multiply while sucking the life out of you and before you know it you have an infestation! It is so important to learn how to walk in truth and freedom and to diligently put on the full armor of God daily! I also like claim what Karen wrote:

I truly believe that this year will be a year of not only more freedom but also gaining back what the enemy stole from me.

I desire this year to be the year I gain back the past 6 years of my life. it reminds of God’s promise in Joel 2:25:

“ So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,[a]
My great army which I sent among you.

2. Write out John 10:10 in your favorite translation. After you’ve written it out, personalize it.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NKJV)

The thief came into my life and tried to steal my joy and fellowship with other Christians, kill my spirit, and destroy my family. Jesus came so I could live an overflowing Jesus filled life.

3. What do you think living abundantly in Christ means? What do you think it looks like?
I think it means to live an ‘overflowing Jesus filled life’. I picture it as learning to live life obediently and joyfully, in spite of my circumstances, because Jesus Christ died for me and my purpose is to glorify Him.

Memory Work
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32 (NKJV)

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, Galatians 5:1a (NKJV)

13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16

I do not know her but little Zoey is too cute to pass up! Listen and enjoy!

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.[b] 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:5-15

I was visiting Denise’s blog and I discovered this study over at The T.A.G. Blog. I’ve had this book for a long time yet I’ve only skimmed through it. I have been dying to dig into this study so dig in it I shall! Please consider joining us…you still have time! Thanks so much for hosting this study Karen! Denise, thanks for posting about it! I can’t wait to get started! I’m off to find my book right now…I even have the spiral bound index cards already!

Our memory verses for this study are:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, Galatians 5:1a (NKJV)

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 (NKJV)

For me, sometimes prayer has been my steering wheel and sometimes it’s been my spare tire. As I’ve grown as a Christian over the years I’ve learned just how important it is for prayer to be my steering wheel. I’m sad it’s taken me so long to learn but I’m glad I’ve finally got it! I’m inspired by this young family who seems to have learned this lesson early. PTL! They have been through so much with Tricia’s Cystic Fibrosis, her miracle pregnancy and now, just a few short weeks after their precious White Rose was born, Tricia’s double lung transplant. Tricia is in surgery as I type.

Nate has been gathering up the prayers of the many a long time before this surgery came to be tonight. Seems like steering wheel prayer to me! Please join me in praying for Tricia and her family tonight and over the weeks to come. They have been such an inspiration to me and have given me much to think about in the area of thankfulness.

I’m thankful that…

…I can boldly go before the throne of grace for mercy and grace in my time of need. Hebrews 4:16

…I can have confidence in Him in prayer and He hears me. 1 John 5:14-15

…I can take my worries to the Lord, thank Him and He will give me peace that surpasses all understanding. Philippians 4:6-7

…The Spirit Himself will intercede for me when I am unable to pray. Romans 8:26

…if I confess my sins He will forgive me and cleanse me. 1 John 1:9

Of course, there are many more verses on prayer that I can be thankful for…

Tonight I’m especially feeling very thankful for Tricia’s lung donor. I truly hope that person knew the Lord and is rejoicing in Heaven right now! Please join me in prayer for that person’s family in their time of sorrow.

I’m also thankful for the knowledge God has given our doctors so that Tricia’s lung transplant is even possible. It’s a complicated 7 to 9 hour surgery with a 90% to 95% chance survival rate. Amazing! PTL!

For more of this weeks Thankful Thursday Posts please visit Iris at Sting My Heart.

We had family visiting us this weekend so I was not home to work on my Sunday Sing-Along till now. Better late than never, I hope!

We sang ‘Be Glorified’ in church today and that song just stuck in my head so that is the song I had to use today. What a great song!

Lord…I am very thankful that your love HAS captured me!

For more Sunday Sing-Along songs visit Stacey.

‘Be Glorified’ Lyrics

Your love has captured me
Your grace has set me free
Your life the air I breathe
Be glorified in me

Your love has captured me
Your grace has set me free
Your life the air I breathe
Be glorified in me

You set my feet to dancing
You set my heart on fire
In the presence of a thousand kings
you are my one desire

I stand before you now
With trembling hands lifted high
Be glorified

Your love has captured me
Your grace has set me free
Your life the air I breathe
Be glorified in me

Oh yeah

You set my feet to dancing
You set my heart on fire
In the presence of a thousand kings
You are my one desire

I stand before you now
With trembling hands lifted high
Be glorified

Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified
Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified in me
Be glorified

You set my feet to dancing
You set my heart on fire
In the presence of a thousand kings
You are my one desire

I stand before you now
With trembling hands lifted high
Be glorified

It’s been a rough week and I’m afraid I’ve been more of a complainer than anything else. The Bible tells me that I must be:

giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Ephesians 5:20 (emphasis mine)

My pastor used to say that he looked up the word all in the dictionary and he found it to mean ALL. I’m afraid I haven’t been thankful in all things lately. I really need a major attitude adjustment so for everything I’ve struggled with this past week I’m going to give thanks and praise for.

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Hebrews 13:15

I’m thankful for my aching knee/leg/foot because that means I still have them. I broke my leg this time last year and I still have trouble with it. My knee will never be the same, my leg aches from time to time…it doesn’t feel like it healed right…I can’t even walk down a set of stairs normally, and I have plantar fasciitis as a result of my broken leg. It is a very painful condition that has take so long to heal up to the point it is healed today but I still have a long way to go.

I’m thankful that I cannot exercise (due to my foot) and that means that I’m not able to lose weight as efficiently as possible. I’m afraid I don’t see a positive on this one but I choose to praise God for it. He is in control so I am releasing it to Him.

I’m thankful that we actually have produce to buy even though it is pricey. If it weren’t for God’s provision we wouldn’t be able to afford veggies and they are so important to our health.

I’m thankful for my son who is not potty trained (but is totally ready to be) who’s diaper explodes because he can hold it for so long. *sigh* I’m just glad God gave us our bonus baby boy even if my children are 10 yrs, 2 mos, 2 days apart…it’s all about HIS timing!

I’m thankful for our extended family who sometimes make life very complicated. (Not going into much detail here lest feelings get hurt.)

I’m thankful for my church. To explain my negative attitude toward church would be such a long story. There’s nothing against this church I’m at now…there’s just past issues in my life that have left me jaded toward churches and pastors in general. God is working on me in this area and I’m trying not to be so negative and resistant.

I’m thankful for certain difficult circumstances in my life. I know we go through things for a reason and I know that God will use these things for HIS glory!

And… here are a few things I’m really thankful for. Things I have NOT been complaining about…

I’m thankful for my mom and dad. They have always been so supportive and they always mean well in all that they do. I wish we lived closer.

I’m thankful for my sister and her family! We finally live in the same town (once again) but we still don’t get to see each other often enough. Life gets in the way you know. *sigh* But, we usually see each other once a week at church. Which reminds me…

I’m thankful that my immediate family knows the Lord!

I’m thankful for my dd who growing into being such a lovely young lady who loves the Lord. I just love her so much! *XOXO* to you my dd!

I’m thankful for the husband God chose for me! He is like no other and I’m continually amazed at the perfect fit we are even though we appear to be so opposite. Opposites really do attract!

Oh yeah…one more…

I’m thankful for my Thankful Thursday friends who visit my blog. This past week has been crazy (with preparing for visitors) and I didn’t get around to visiting your TT blog posts but I’ll be sure to do that this week. I promise!

As always…for more thankfulness please take some time out to visit this post!

ETA: As I was posting this entry in my blog my ds announced that he had to go poop! On Alison’s ‘Works For Me Wednesday’ post, I read:

This seems to have made a huge difference! I told ds that I knew a ‘trick’ that would help. That seemed to give him even more confidence than he had. He held himself out of the water, gravity did it’s job and my ds pooped in the potty! (He also earned his wooden Chinese Dragon train from Thomas the Tank Engine.) Hooray! PTL! He hasn’t used the potty since January and I had layed off him all this time. It seems like this time is different. He actually wanted to poop on the potty. I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end of diapers! Now thats something to be thankful for!!!!! Thanks for the tip Alison!

I have to do just a quick penciled in dinner menu this week since our guests are still here and we’ll be having more guests on Friday! We did some eating out and we’ll be doing some more next week as well. We missed out on 3 meals last week so I will carry them over to this week (again). I’m still searching out a good, healthy Chinese cookbooks so any suggestions would be appreciated.

I have some recipes I’ve been wanting to post but that will have to wait for another couple of weeks when things slow down a bit again.

Monday: Italian Garbanzo Stew w/5 Grain Rice

Tuesday: Chicken Tacos, Refried Beans (fat free),
Sweet Corn Cakes (Allrecipes~this is new for us so I’m going to have to see what I can do about all that butter! I’ll probably use soy milk instead of heavy cream…I hope it turns out alright.)

Wednesday: Kosher Dogs w/baked beans

Thursday: Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie, salad

Friday: Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas, Pioneer Woman’s Apple Dumplings (For the last time for a while…I think I’ve gained 50 pounds just making these!)

Saturday: Probably out to eat

Sunday: Possibly out to eat (not sure but if not then we will be having either leftovers or pizza since we will probably not know till the last minute)

Need help planning your menu? Check out more menus here. Have a blessed week!

My contribution to Sunday Sing-Along is ‘By His Wounds’ a powerful music video created to the song “By His Wounds” by Mac Power, Brian Littrell, Steven Curtis Chapman, & Mark Hall. It’s based on the verse Isaiah 53:5:

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

For more Sunday Sing-Along songs go here.