Yummy!
My little Mercy stirring the ingredients
1 cup red quinoa
1 cup white quinoa
3 cups water
4 cups baby spinach
1 cup walnut halves
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup blueberries (I used blueberries and strawberries, chopped)
1 red apple & 1 green apple, chopped
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup maple syrup
I mix the dressing in a small container and if we don't use it all I store the leftovers in the fridge.
May you enjoy the fruit of your labour today!!
“Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:26 NIV
If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Matthew 6:26 Msg
Have you ever worried about you life? What you will eat? Where you will live? Will you ever get married? How many kids you will have? How will you be able to afford a home?
This verse in Matthew serves as a continual reminder to me that worrying about my life is really pointless. When I sit back and consider things that I worry about, thinking about them isn’t going to be bring resolve and worrying about them is definitely not going to accomplish anything. I often struggle with faith in God and truly trusting Him with every aspect of my life. I worry about my children, my future, the youth, and our finances. Many days I will sit in my living room and watch the birds eating off the feeders in our backyard. They are well fed, beautiful little creatures. And here I am sitting in the warmth of my home, completely clothed and fed, worrying about my life. What’s up with that??
Why don’t I trust God? Why do I feel the need to take control and make things happen? Why can’t I just wait patiently and watch Him move mountains before me?
I think our human nature likes to be in control. We think we are so smart and have it all figured out. We believe lies that say: “If I don’t take care of it, it won’t get done”, “If I don’t work hard enough I will go without”, “if I obey God now I will have little in my future”, or “if I don’t have a plan or working knowledge of something than I can’t go ahead with it”. Imagine the birds said that? What would happen if all the birds stopped flying around because they wanted to store up their energy incase they didnt get food that day? How silly would that be? The fact that they fly around in faith is what brings them into the provision of God. If they didn’t fly through our backyard they would never find the abundance of seed we have out for them. The same is true of us. If we choose NOT to fly until we are certain of the outcome we will never enter into the promises that God has for us!
I want to fly into the unknown. I want to be a woman of faith. I want the ability to trust no matter what. I want to be able to give credit to God for all areas and situations in my life whether they are simple or difficult. The future is uncertain to all of us. God is waiting for us to stretch out our wings and fly into the open skies, free of any cares that hold us back. “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you“ 1 Peter 5:7. Imagine trying to run a marathon dragging a 50lbs weight? That is what it looks like to carry our worries with us. Let Go!
I am going to choose to relinguish control of that false sense of control. My sense of control is NOT reality and is NOT biblical. Last I checked in the book of Proverbs 3:5 we are called to “Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean NOT of your own understanding, in ALL your ways acknowledge HIM and He will direct your steps”!
Let’s be woman of faith who trust in God, who lean on Him, and who choose not to have full understanding or comprehension of all of our ways.
What would your life look like if you gave it all to Him?
Don’t trade the freedom that Jesus bought for a 50lb weight of worry. I pray that you will have the courage to let go of that which holds you back and run free from and hindrances. I pray for faith and hope in what is to come. May you enter into His rest and His peace. May you experience the complete freedom that comes from a life surrendered to him. May to trust Him because he cares for you!
For all you granola lovers out there, this recipe is for you!! I have been experimenting with it over the past couple months and I finally got it the way I like it. It is crunchy and sweet, AND 100% free of any additive, presevatives and added sugars! It is also fully of protein and fibre. We eat it by the handful and my kids actually LOVE it. (which is a miracle because they are so picky these days) It is also delicious as a breakfast cereal with rice milk. I usually make a double batch each time because it gets used up so quickly. So be blessed and enjoy!
Mercy stirring in the almonds one at a time:)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed or ground almonds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup walnut or almond oil (purchased at a local health food store)
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup combined raisins, cranberries, and sunflower seeds
Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix the quinoa, flaxseed, pumpkin, cashews, maple syrup and almond oil in a bowl. Spread out on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and scrape up the mixture with a spatula. Mix in the almonds, pecans, raisins , cranberries and sunflower seeds and spread out evenly over the pan. Bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and scrape up the granola from bottom of the baking sheet so that is doesn’t stick and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container.
I love how my children are always challenging me to evaulate my heart motives and my convictions. As a parent, there have been several times where I have chosen to “raise the bar” in certain areas of character and integrity. As leaders and influencers in our homes our ceiling will be our childrens floor, in other words, our highest standard has the potential to be the foundation for their lives.
My mother’s heart longs for my children to excel beyond where I am, I want them to go further than where I’ve been. I want my life to be an investment into theirs so that the return will be even greater. God has been challenging me to stand firm in my faith and to uphold His standards in our home. I dont’ know about you but I find it difficult NOT to compare myself with other mothers and woman who I look up to. I think it is great to have examples and role models in our lives but ultimately the word of God needs to be our greatest influence!
My son, Judah spearheaded another amazing challenge yesterday when he asked me to give him some fruit snacks in the morning. He told me that “daddy said I could have some”. I confirmed this statement with him several times and he kept giving me the same answer. Although I knew in my heart that Jim probably didn’t say that, I went along with it. I told Judah that I was going to ask daddy once he came downstairs if he did in fact tell him that. He said “ok”. I noticed at this point he looked a little sheepish and got very quiet as he ate. Once he was done we had a conversation with Jim. Jim’s response was that he told Judah he could have some fruit snacks “at some point today, not necessarily in the morning”. However, Judah assured me that daddy said he could have the fruit snacks right then.
So what’s the problem? To some it may appear that Judah was telling the truth: Jim DID say he could have the fruit snacks at some point, right? Wrong. In actuality Judah was lying BECAUSE he was trying to twist the truth to decieve me into giving him the snack when he wanted it. Ultimately, he was trying to deceive me in that moment. The definition of lying is: the intent to deceive. Whenever we try to twist the truth or hold back the entire truth we are lying. This definition takes lying from mental awareness to a heart/soul awareness. It begs the question of our true heart motives whenever we speak to others. It makes us responsible and accountable to be truthful in ALL circumstances.
This is a principle that our children NEED to learn in order to have pure hearts before God. The Bible is clear in the book of Matthew that “blessed are those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God“! I want to see Him and I want my children to see Him too!
Have you ever thought of lying as the intent to deceive?
In the above example with Judah, he was not given a consequence because we had not taught him this principle yet. Although, it was obvious, from his countenance and behavior that deep down he knew what he was trying to do, deceive me, and he knew it was wrong. Going forward he is now responsible for what he knows. If he chooses to lie in the future he will be accountable to his words and actions. This is the same with me, I am, as a mother, responsible and accountable for my words and actions, with my husband, my children and all the people I influence around me.
How can instilling this knowledge to your children be beneficial?
May you be blessed and honored as you live a honest and transparent life. May God give you the strength and the wisdom that you need to encourage your little ones be ALL that God created them to be. May all of our hearts to be pure and truthful before the Lord!
If you are a busy momma, like me, and find yourself needing to quickly whip up some cookies for your little ones, I’ve got a healthy cookie recipe for you! This recipe only takes 5 minutes to put together and you can do it in advance and leave it in the fridge until you are ready to bake the cookies! I always double the recipe because they get eaten SO fast!
1 cup of oats
1/2 cup maple sugar
4 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp of salt
1 1/2 tsp natural vanilla
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 egg whites
1 scoup protein powder
Heat oven to 350F.
Add oats, sugar, cocoa and salt in a bowl, stir until well mixed. In a measuring cup add wet ingredients, stir until well mixed. Pour contents of the measuring cup into the dry ingredient and stir until well mixed. Wrap the mixture from the bowl in ceran wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes until firm. (allow time for the oats to soak up the other ingredients)
Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Scoup dough onto baking sheet and press down, forming small cookies. You should be able to make about 24 cookies. Bake for 1o minutes. Serve warm. These are amazing!!! Shout out to my amazing friend Michelle who originally found the recipe!
May you be blessed today as you serve your household and bring honor to your husband and children!
My kids love books! I am always looking for good literature for children. They enjoy sitting and listening while I read to them. Reading to our children is SO important, it teaches them many important life skills; how to sit, be still, how to listen and respond, how to focus, exercise concentration, patience and self-control. Reading and cultivating a love for books is a gift to any child.
We were given the book “The Treasure Tree” as a gift. (Thanks Grampie:) It is such a wonderful story that I wanted to recommend it to all my readers. I don’t want to give too much away but this book is a wholesome story about friendship and adventure. It teaches children about the importance of team work and the role that different personalities play in solving problems.
At the end of the book they have a checklist to help parents understand their children’s personalities. Being a therapist/counselor, I am already intrugied with personality, so it was nice to confirm my children’s personalities and begin the process of training them appreciate their giftings. It’s funny because we now realize that each member of our family are one of the 4 different personalities; I’m the Lion, Jim is the Retriever, Judah is the Beaver and Mercy is the Otter. (We haven’t figured baby Atirah our yet:) It has been fun to talk to the kids about their God-given personalities and how we can compliment and help eachother in life.
I highly recommend getting your hands on this book, you can order it on http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/175-0670130-0616841?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=The+Treasure+Tree. Dr Gary Smalley co-authored the book and also has many other personality books for adults and couples which shed a lot of light on relationships. Many of his books have been beneficial in our family and our marriage relationship.
Hope you enjoy the Treasure Tree as much as we have. It has truly been a treasure to our family!
I had the amazing opportunity to host a small dinner party recently for some very special friends and I decided that I wanted to try something new in the arena of flower decorating. On most occassions I just buy a bouquet of flower, put it in a jar and plop it in the middle of the table and it looks amazing. The only problem is that it is very costly ($24+) and I have to move it when everyone sits at the table because no one can see each other over the arragement. So I decided to get creative and try something new:)
Truth be told I always saw flower arragements in magazines and thought it would be very expensive and time consuming but I wanted to try it once…so I did.
I went out to a local flower shop and purchase a foam cube which is used by flower decorators to arrange flowers. I got two small bouquets of roses and hydragas and some green fillers for approx $12 and the cube cost $2, so for $14 dollars I was able to make three arrangements as well as a large vase to place of my island as an accent.
I went out into my backyard and cut off more greens from some evergreen shrubs and bushes to have a more filler which cost me nothing!
I found 3 small square vases and cut the cubes to fit. (You can use any old bowl, jar, or vase) I let the cubes sit in the sink to absorb water for about 20 minutes, once they were fully saturated I placed them in the vases and began to decorate them. I started off with all the greens and filled each vase with the height and fullness that I wanted. Then I added the roses and hydragas to complete the vases. It took me all of 10 minutes and I AM NOT A FLOWER GURU! They turned out amazing and it was much cheaper than purchasing a large pre-arranged bouquet.
It has been So simple and beautiful that now I get on-sale cut flower and make my own arragements. I put one on my island in the kitchen and one in the bathroom, it freshens things up and it LASTS for weeks! All you need to do is water the base and it will soak it up and keep watering the flowers.
I would encourage you to try it for yourself and see what you think, if you like flowers as much as I do I’m sure you’ll be blessed!
May you experience rest and joy in your home today. May the peace of God guard your heart and may His joy be your strength!
We love pizza, in fact, every Tuesday night is pizza night:) Our children are pretty picky these days so making our own pizzas enables each of us to get what we want for dinner. My husband and I load ours with veggies but the kids like sauce, cheese and cashews on theirs:)
This recipe is a simple pizza crust, it takes about 5 minutes to mix and knead. Mercy loved kneading it with me today. We all love eating it, super healthy, fresh and way cheaper than buying them in the store!
Mercy freaking out at the thought of putting "bedgtables" on her pizza:)
I usually take it out at the end, slice up the pieces and then put them back in for 3 more minutes to make sure that the center is fully cooked! It is such a treat to have fresh crust. The kids don’t even complain about eating it because it doesn’t get really hard like the store-bought stuff.
Serve warm and enjoy!! (We like to eat it with smoothies and salad)
God is speaking…in the quiet and the stillness of my heart.
This new year has brought with is a deep longing to hear the voice of God. I am dreaming of a new level of mentorship and closeness with my God. I feel like I am being awakened to a new season of desperation and hunger for the Lord. I am not sure if it is because I feel more out of control of my life than ever before, or if my soul is just plain thirsty for Him, whatever it is I feel like my brokeness is making way for new levels of healing and wholeness in Him.
I can sense a new level of awareness of the presence of God as I sit in the silence of my home. In the evenings and afternoons when the children are quiet, I love to sit in the silence. There have been several nights this week when I just awaken and lie still in my bed and sense the Spirit of God with me. As I have been reflecting on a life that is completely consecrated to the Lord I have begun to realize that this is the true longing of my heart. To devote myself to God. I am choosing to hear His voice, obey His leading and focus on His words.
I am awakening to the reality of how much I have to be thankful. I have caught myself grumbling and complaining over the past couple days and have had to repent of my selfishness. I want to become increasingly aware of what is on the heart of God and find out how I am become part of the solution. I think often I try to complicate my destiny or purpose, when in reality it is right in front of me. I am called to be part of the solution to those who are troubled around me. God show me the opportunities that I can help others who needs to be encouraged.
Who is troubled in your sphere of influence? How can you bring resolve or encouragement to them?
May you be awakened to the reality of who God is. May you embrace the opportunities right before you. My prayer is that we would all follow Him with our whole hearts, not seeking approval from man but from God himself. Lord make us more like you so that we can be an example to our children and those beautiful people you have place in oursphere of influence!
Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.
Psalm 46:10 NLT
This verse in Psalms can be a challenge for us busy woman, wives amd mothers as we tend to the many needs of our husbands, jobs, studies, and little ones during the day. So many things are causing us to be anything but still! I have been challenged by the Lord to take whatever moments in the day that I get to sit in the stillness and know that HE is God. To be aware of how great he really is!
When I get these quiet times I am NOT to be on the phone or the computer, NOT reading emails, facebook, catching up on blog comments, NOT doing chores or striving to make my house look spotless, but giving myself the freedom to STOP and BE STILL! (At least for a few minutes each day). All the other things will always be there and I can get to them later. Being filled up by the presence of God keeps me going each day. The more of God I have in me, the better momma I am to my little ones and wife to my husband.
When was the last time you just sat in the stillness to know that He is God?
I think that many times we forget to read the entire verse of Psalm 46:10. We read the beginning; “Be still and know that I am God”, but the second part of the verse is equally as amazing; “I will be honored in every nation, I will be honored throughout the world”. God is God. He is amazing and powerful. He is the reason we have breath in this moment. Be still and know Him. He WILL be honored by all nations and throughout the earth, let Him start to be honored in your heart today!
Honor Him today by recognizing Him in the moments of stillness. Believe, trust, and depend on His presence. May you be flooded with the knowledge of God today. May you be blessed beyond measure and may you truly know that He is God!
Passion for Family 