Waste Not, Want Not.....

"What a waste!" is a common phrase we hear when delicious leftover food is thrown away, or a good piece of furniture is destroyed from carelessness, or a nice car gets keyed by an idiot, or a pretty gets broken, or money is thrown away on nonsense and the list goes on. So many things that we place value on in life are based on our personal preference and our personal idea of what constitutes true value. Something that means nothing to us, may mean the world to another. What we consider a worthless piece of nothing, may indeed be a relic of the past, an antique, an artifact from another time and place worth infinite riches and we may simply be ignorant of that item's true value.

How much worth can be placed on a soul? What embodies the waste of a life? How is talent measured? Working in leadership, often times an individual finds them self continually pouring out of their self into another; sharing of their time, their burden, their vision, their talent, their heart, their energy, their dreams and their very soul. Then in a moment, the candle of hope is snuffed out because of one foolish instance, or one selfish act. We can either let it make us bitter, or it will make us better. Yet, how oft we take for granted what value another places on us, simply because we are truly unaware of our own personal value. Or, even more so, unaware of how much God truly values us as a soul.

Have you ever sat down and truly thought about your own personal value and what you may potentially mean to others? Have you considered the leadership that has placed their confidence in you and worked to build the confidence of others in you as well? Have you thought about the God that kept reaching for you and loving you, when you couldn't even find or love yourself? Have you thought about what you really want to be when you "grow up" and what it realistically takes to accomplish that goal or to make that dream come alive? Have you considered the boss who sees the potential you have for greatness and is amazed by the daily contribution you make to lighten the workload of your superiors and co-workers? Have you thought about the parents who've poured their time, their money, their blood, their sweat and their tears into your life, simply because they believed in you and loved you? What about the friends who've been there when many others walked away, simply because they knew without a doubt you were worth the effort? Have you ever really thought about all of the things you can do, instead of just the things you can't? Consider the pastor, who has spent countless hours praying for God to give him direction in leading you and yours through the tricky waters of life, and staying true to his calling even when he himself is, at times, unable to understand why God directs him in a certain way. Consider the masses of people who have prayed, who have loved, who have shared, who have felt that special connection of fully undeveloped massive potential; and who have pushed down the walls, charged the gates, and braved the moat to share a piece of your heart.

Many times, we find it easier to settle for the least expected because then the disappointment when it comes tends to be less crushing. So, we go out and involve our self in something so nonsensical that we put no thought or effort into it and less of our heart. Therefore, the potential for serious pain, is we hope almost nonexistent. Well, think again. Nothing in life is without pain! However, many things in life also have the flip side of joy. The outcome of every situation is simply based on our own, personal approach. We can either glean from what everyone has shared with us, learn from the lessons of the past, shun our inability to make sane and rational decision without God, and draw from the strength in numbers and become the "called to be" or the "desire to be." Or, we can slink off in the dark, hide in the shadow of our self doubt, wallow in our insecurity, kiss the high living goodbye, take the path of least resistance, let our fears of failure define us and become the "could've/should've been" who eventually became a "what a waste."

Which one are you today? Which one will you be?

Can you overcome the odds to truly realize the possibility of what you can be in Christ?

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ~Romans 8:1

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ~Romans 8:37

Pinterest in Practice

I love Pinterest! So does every other person I know! My boards are organized and full of goodies, just abounding with good information! However, this week, I actually put my Pinterest to work!

One of my boards is full of yummy recipes and I finally made one of them! Actually I use my site quite frequently, but this one was a goodie. I made Oreo cupcakes for our youth bake sale. The recipe from Pinterest was fabulous and all from scratch, which required too much work for my crazy weekend! So, I adapted the recipe to fit my schedule.

I used a Betty Crocker Super Moist White Cake mix, and Betty Crocker whipped vanilla frosting. Along with a bag of Oreos, water, oil and eggs; this made for a simple, delicious and extremely rich cupcake dessert. Here are a few photos! Enjoy!



Take one side of the Oreo off and put the creamy half in the bottom of the cupcake wrap. Then crumble the removed portion into your cake mix.



Bake @ *350 for 25 minutes.



Decorate and share!;-)



I made the excess into a cake for my mom! Be careful of an Oreo overdose!:-)

Do you use your Pinterest? What are some things you have applied or made from the site, and enjoy?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

PB&J Dippers

So today I decided to try this idea, that my Brother-In-Law told us won him the "Cool Dad" title with my seven year old niece. The two of them are always coming up with random ideas in their Daddy/Daughter time. This idea was to turn peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into the supremely cool eating experience of PB&J Dippers. After a FB discussion the other day with some good friends, on the right way to make a PB&J, I decided to try it J's way. It wasn't too bad, but another friend of mine raved over it! So, I thought I would give a play-by-play and you can draw your own conclusions!:-)

Items you need to start:



A toaster



The necessary ingredients (PS-Jelly in a jar is better than the bottled jam, IMO)



Milk (For dipping; i.e. the title "PB&J Dippers)

Next, the process:



Toast the bread.



Build your sandwich.



Slice the sandwich into strips, and pour a glass of milk for dipping.

Enjoy!

P.s. If you are not a big fan of soggy bread (like me), enjoy your PB&J Strips with a frosty glass of milk!

Let me know what you think and have a sunny, happy day!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's Been a While..........

Wow! It has been quite a while since I've posted here. Life has been crazy busy as I help my mother transition to her new role in life, and as I transition myself from college teacher and administrative career woman to an 4th and 5th grade teacher. 2011 was a year for intense change and now 2012 is here! I pray that this year brings peace, renewal, refreshing and rebirth to my family as well to each of you and yours.

For a while after my father passed away, the art and writing in my soul transcended from the melancholy to the point of being basically non-existent. My life became filled with sensation overload, I guess. The transition of the past year, and the grief, and the process of learning to live life without my father, and the process of helping my mother, and the process of dealing with a new love in the middle of it all has been extremely challenging. Thankfully, God has been with me and with us every single step of the way. While I'm not quite to the place where I can say life is simply rosy again, I can say that there is peace in the midst of the storm. I have learned that through anything life sends our way God is faithful, if we will simply turn to him and lay our burdens at his feet. When we cannot carry ourself, He truly does carry us through.

Our church has been in phenomenal revival, the work in Vietnam seems to be thriving and there may be some potentially exciting news regarding that work in the months to come! Also, our church is expanding! We've purchased an old school building that is simply a work of art (if you love old structures, like I do), on the west-side of our city. The property is comprised of a city block and we have already maxed out the all-purpose room there at our first 5th Sunday of 2012. Yes, we are growing! We thoroughly enjoyed the property during our Jubilee celebration and the kids loved the play ground, while the youth had a blast on the basketball court. We are looking forward to starting a pre-school and possibly a day-care in the near future; with plans for a full blown school in the next couple of years to come.

It is late, so I will sign off. I've posted a few photos of some fun times in the fall of 2011. Hopefully, this site will become active once again. Happy New Year and may 2012 be blessed!

An Ode to Modesty....

Recently, the trend of exposing flabylicious upper arms has bewildered me. Someone forgot to send me the memo that the expanse of skin between my shoulder and my elbow, with it's lack of muscular definition, it's shaky blubberiness and it's phenomenal whiteness is now one of the most sexy parts of my body. I'm not sure if this trend was started by Michelle Obama, who now appears in photographs taken all over the world where her upper arms are rarely, if ever covered. However, amazingly enough to me, the trend has caught on, along with the trend of exposing bountiful amounts of cleverage, (As my father used to call cleavage. Please someone tell me what is so attractive about a chest crack), and copious amounts of knobby, wrinkled, pockmarked, stretch marked, surgically enhanced, thigh encumbered knee exposures.

~Oh Modesty, why hath we forsaken thee....

The scariest part of these trends are that they are commonly being adopted by "Godly" women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and up; who are married women with children and should be embracing one of the classiest moments of their life and keeping their treasure for their spouse. I'm not sure what happened to aging with grace rather than hasting to avoid aging. A mature woman, is to me, in one of the most beautiful stages of life and should be confident in who she is, rather than scrambling to portray herself as 20 years younger in a desperate attempt to fit society's skewed image of beauty. Why are we still having an identity crisis in mid-life, especially as a child of God? (Now don't get me wrong, desiring to get in shape and to be attractive and healthy, single or married, is not a sin.)

Young ladies in our ranks, looking up to us as an example for Godliness, modesty, and holiness find themselves confused. They hear ministers preach on modesty at a conference then go home to see the ladies in their life continue on as though that minister was out of the loop. Peek-a-boo clothing and hosiery, glam and glitter this and that, insanely expensive finery, shoes that look as though they should be on the strip in Vegas, rather than in a place where God's glory should be the main focus and on and on. If we're honest, we each find ourselves navigating the tricky waters of worldliness in the crazy fashions of today. Where is the balance? At what point is this battle simply about self, feeding self, justifying self, accommodating self, petting self, and reassuring self? The question seems to be "who exactly are we competing with?"

Churches used to hold standards of holiness, yet now, many are terrified to mention the very word "standards" lest they be labeled as legalistic. The "love doctrine" has taken the place of "separation" doctrine. Many wear clothing somewhat identified with the church; however, with the mindset of showing as much skin as they can possibly get away with. At what point is it appropriate to deify self?

Reading in my bible, the scripture stands out to me where Timothy admonishes that women be modest in their apparel, with shamefacedness (natural, without make-up), dressing with sobriety, without broided hair (hair with jewelry/ribbons entwined), without the wearing of pearls and gold, and/or costly array. He also admonishes the ladies to adorn themselves with good works. (I Timothy 2:9-10) Therefore, at what point does our interpretation of God's word surpass the simple truth of the inspired word? Are the rhinestones and pearls all over our clothing, in our hair, on our accessories, in our hosiery, etc... in agreeance with scripture?

Romans 8:35 says "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" In Revelations 3:17-19 Jesus says "¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: ¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. ¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." The more one reads through the scripture, the more we find that God is not impressed with our nakedness, our richness on this earth, or our being increased with goods. In fact, he calls our nakedness a shame to us. Basically, he is saying we need to anoint our eyes so we can see properly,which seems to be admonishing us to quit looking at ourselves through our carnal mind; but rather to review ourselves with spiritual eyes and to see ourselves as God sees us.

Additionally, I Corinthians 6:20 goes on to say "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." If we are God's and he thinks that nakedness, and vainglory, are a shame to us how do we glorify him in our body and spirit when we forsake modesty in apparel, accessories, conversation, and way of life? How do we glorify God in our body by showing off ourselves to bring attention to our attributes? When the spotlight is continually on self, in what way is God glorified? It's often been preached that the further we find ourselves from Christ, the less clothing we find ourselves in need of.

Now, some will think that I am against dressing feminine and pretty upon reading this. How wrong they are, and I truly mean no offense. However, Sexy and feminine are not synonymous. Exposed and attractive are not synonymous. Fashion and Style are not synonymous. Gaudy and Stylish are not synonymous. I could go on... but for time's sake I will not. A lady can be modest in her apparel and style and be one of the most attractive, beautiful ladies on the planet. In fact, if one were to truly ask as fashion icon what true style is they would most commonly find an answer such as "Fashion fades; only style remains the same" by Coco Chanel; or "in order to be irreplaceable one must always be different" by Coco Chanel; or "a girl should be two things, classy and fabulous"~ Coco Chanel; or as Yves Saint Laurent would say "Fashions fade, style is eternal"; or “Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.” ~ Coco Chanel.

Rather than being a clone of fads and fashions, we should not be ashamed to be a trend setter for modesty. We are beautiful, we are glorious because we have the true glory of God upon us when we live in his spirit and his spirit resides in us. We don't have to compete with carnal trendsetters to find our identity as a beautiful woman. God purchased us with his own blood; we have the highest calling on earth and that is simply to walk, to live, to dress and to be as a child of God should be.

Bro. Tony Spell preached this past week on the Perils of Pride. It touched my heart and convicted me in many ways to check myself. If the things I do are an attempt to deify and bring attention to self, in what way does that glorify my God, my creator, the lover of my soul, my savior? Therefore, as old fashioned as I may seem, I think I'll simply stay a member of the "modesty rocks club." In my heart, modesty = true beauty. I guess it is all in one's perspective and perception of themselves in relation to their god/God. ;-) Love in Christ!

~I Timothy 2:10 "For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do."

School Time....

School started today, and I've now begun my first year of teaching 4th and 5th grade in my own class setting. It was a great day and the kids were so good. I know this was the first of many days to come and is yet the honeymoon stage of this whole new dimension of teaching; however, it gave me cheer and hope of many more good days to come. :)

We started off the day with chapel, and I shared with the class some information about myself, class rules, upcoming events and set the pattern for how class would work. Then, we dove right into work. The students did their worksheets and then in between subjects, they were allowed to work on an "all about me" poster. These posters, I felt were an opportunity for me to learn more about each of the students on their terms; and when finished, we will hang them on the wall outside of our classroom also. This will give the other students that are new to school a chance to learn more about their school mates.

These were waiting for me on my desk when I walked in and just simply put a smile on my face!

My family helped me so much the past two weeks in getting things decorated, cleaned and put back together. I couldn't have accomplished half of what I did without their help. They are the best!

Tomorrow is another busy day, so off to bed I go. Later I will share some photos of the super cute curtains my friend made for my class room! Ciao~

Class Creations....

Here is a Wordle that I created tonight for my "Love God" board in my class. Coolest website ever!

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Don'tcha wish your teacher was cool like me.....;-p Haha! JT! Fun Stuff!