The Blacklist--THIS show y'all. It is so addictive. Jason likes James Spader and we watched this first episode for that purpose alone...we were hooked. If you like action, mixed with some crime and thrill, you'll love this show.
You can find all of season 1 on Netflix.
You can find all of season 1 on Netflix.
I am loving this weather right now. Cold mornings, a bit "warmer" afternoons.
It's still sweater and boot weather and you all know how much I love that.
It's still sweater and boot weather and you all know how much I love that.
The gang is all back at the Farmer's Market! The market is "closed" for the month of January (other than the loyal vendors that face the cold and make for happy customers) and now, everyone's back & it's wonderful!
Free Coffee February at Chick-fil-a--yes, you read that right. For the month of February, Chick-fil-a is giving me, you, and everyone else free coffee. "Chick-fil-A restaurants all over the nation want you to experience their new specialty grade ‘THRIVE Farmers' hot or iced coffee." Iced, hot, whichever your preference. Today, I got it iced with no sugar (added my own stevia once home), only the milk and it was delicious (even before the stevia was added)! I feel certain that won't be the only time I take part in this.
My current read, The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson--I was told about this series when Ellie Holcomb performed at our church earlier this year. She told me if I liked Harry Potter & Lord of the Ring(ish)ness, I would like these (little did she know, Harry Potter is my favorite) and once she said that, I knew I had to read them. I got the complete series for Christmas and I'm 20 pages away from finishing the first book and I am hooked. They are SO GOOD! This isn't from the book, but it's from an online piece about Andrew Peterson, the author of these books. "The common thread in all this is my love for Christ and his Kingdom, my belief in the power of story and art, and my need for family and community. If I had to boil it all down, I'd say this: I want to use my gifts to tell the truth, and to tell it as beautifully as I can."
Speaking of Ellie Holcomb I am on a serious kick with her music lately. When I get to work in the mornings, I play her "As Sure As The Sun" album. It gets me in the right mindset for my day. If you've never heard it, you are MISSING OUT! While I'm on the Holcomb train, her husband, Drew--his new album is outstanding!
Which leads me to the next thing--The lineup for The Moon River Festival this year--it's awesome. This is something the Drew & Ellie hosted/put on last year in Memphis. It was so amazing last year and the line up is even better this year!
Which leads me to the next thing--The lineup for The Moon River Festival this year--it's awesome. This is something the Drew & Ellie hosted/put on last year in Memphis. It was so amazing last year and the line up is even better this year!
One of my previous students recently had some rather extensive surgery and is home recovering for a few weeks. Knowing that, our school sent him a big, handmade, four page, get well card with a few fun things for him. His mom emailed me some pictures of him opening the package and telling me how excited he was made my week!
TriviaCrack--this game is addicting, especially if one of your life goal's is to be on Cash Cab one day--a girl can dream! ;)
Coconut Crepes with Strawberries--We were making our "Easy" Primal Chicken Enchiladas and had some leftover crepes. I wanted something sweet, so we whipped up a little something. Picture this, the crepes, filled with a whipped mixture of heavy cream, espresso & dark chocolate balsamic, and some vanilla creme stevia, put a heaping spoonful of chopped strawberries, roll it up, and enjoy the yummy goodness. I have a feeling we'll be making these again.
For the Coconut Crepes
(originally found here)
What you need
3 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
What you do
In a medium size bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients.
Heat a 9 in frying pan over medium heat and melt a small amount of coconut oil in the pan.
Using 2-3 tablespoons of batter per crepe, swirl the pan until the batter is thin and evenly distributed.
Cook for 1-2 minutes; until the edges are browned and curling upwards slightly.
Scoop the crepe onto a spatula and flip quickly.
Cook for 1 minute on the other side.
(originally found here)
What you need
3 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
What you do
In a medium size bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients.
Heat a 9 in frying pan over medium heat and melt a small amount of coconut oil in the pan.
Using 2-3 tablespoons of batter per crepe, swirl the pan until the batter is thin and evenly distributed.
Cook for 1-2 minutes; until the edges are browned and curling upwards slightly.
Scoop the crepe onto a spatula and flip quickly.
Cook for 1 minute on the other side.
Peppermint Essential Oil--My friend, Caroline, got Jason and I on a few of these oils and the peppermint is my favorite. Nothing opens up a stuffy nose like putting a little peppermint around it. Oh, it's amazing! It's super helpful for headaches too. We love it!
Heavenward by Scotty Smith--A daily prayer by Scotty Smith that you can subscribe to and have e-mailed to you. Many, many times I'll open this e-mail and it's just what I needed to read. They are great. Here's today's:
"A Prayer for Marriages--Friends and Ours"
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Col. 3:12-14 (NIV)
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 1 Thess. 5:11 (ESV)
Dear heavenly Father, failure to pray for and nourish our marriages is like failing to drink water, get sleep, or breath air. The outcome is predictable and not pretty. There’s no other relationship on earth with greater power to expose our brokenness and reveal your grace, tap into our longings and frustrate us beyond measure, all at the same time. And there’s no other relationship, like marriage, that Satan is more determined to crash and burn.
So we come to you today, interceding for marriages—friend’s and ours. Father, forgive us for ever thinking that there was only one person in the history of the world we were “supposed” to marry. No marriage can sustain that illusion. And forgive us for ever thinking that if we’d married the “right” person, it’d be enough. No marriage can carry that burden.
You have made us for yourself, Father; and our deepest, most powerful, and most insatiable longings for relationship can only be met in you—not in any human being. So our prayer is simple and essential. Once again, Father, inundate our hearts and marriages with the only love that is better than life, the only love that will never let go of us, the only love that is enough—your lavish and liberating love for us in Jesus.
Precisely because we are “chosen, holy, and dearly loved” by you, fill our hearts and marriages with your “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Free us to forbear with each other, and forgive each other, as you so generously relate to us in Jesus. Until the day you take one of us home, help us to encourage one another and build each other up. Help us to outdo one another in kindness. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus merciful and mighty name.
Subscribe to his daily prayer and see what it does for your heart.
"A Prayer for Marriages--Friends and Ours"
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Col. 3:12-14 (NIV)
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 1 Thess. 5:11 (ESV)
Dear heavenly Father, failure to pray for and nourish our marriages is like failing to drink water, get sleep, or breath air. The outcome is predictable and not pretty. There’s no other relationship on earth with greater power to expose our brokenness and reveal your grace, tap into our longings and frustrate us beyond measure, all at the same time. And there’s no other relationship, like marriage, that Satan is more determined to crash and burn.
So we come to you today, interceding for marriages—friend’s and ours. Father, forgive us for ever thinking that there was only one person in the history of the world we were “supposed” to marry. No marriage can sustain that illusion. And forgive us for ever thinking that if we’d married the “right” person, it’d be enough. No marriage can carry that burden.
You have made us for yourself, Father; and our deepest, most powerful, and most insatiable longings for relationship can only be met in you—not in any human being. So our prayer is simple and essential. Once again, Father, inundate our hearts and marriages with the only love that is better than life, the only love that will never let go of us, the only love that is enough—your lavish and liberating love for us in Jesus.
Precisely because we are “chosen, holy, and dearly loved” by you, fill our hearts and marriages with your “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Free us to forbear with each other, and forgive each other, as you so generously relate to us in Jesus. Until the day you take one of us home, help us to encourage one another and build each other up. Help us to outdo one another in kindness. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus merciful and mighty name.
Subscribe to his daily prayer and see what it does for your heart.
The weekend--simple as that. I am so happy it's the weekend. It was a long week!
Speaking of the weekend, tonight is "blockbuster" night with my honey and I am absolutely loving that. Delicious dinner made by my man & watching some Breaking Bad.
Dad's Wednesday night sermon series he's doing--The Seven Deadly Sins. This week's was on Anger and I have to end this post by sharing it with you all.
"Defusing a Dangerous Bomb"
It's a question the Lord asks Jonah (Jonah 4:4) and a question we need to ask ourselves more often than we do. What is this question?
"Have you any right to be angry?"
What an insightful, surgical question for all of us! It's a question that walks onto what often happens on the stage of our lives and pulls the mask off us. It's a revealing emotion, and a potentially destructive emotion.
This emotion is complicated, though, because in some forms, it's a symptom of something in the subconscious desires of the human heart, a whistle-blower for a deeper, darker devotion in our souls. It's symptomatic of something, and when it takes a downward turn, it is certainly a deadly sin. Consider this quote from Marcia Cannon: "You become angry when you define reality as unacceptable to you, and you feel unable to easily correct it, tolerate it, or let it go."
Anger is symptomatic to something else...
1. Let's consider 3 characteristics of this potential sin that make it unique in comparison to the other seven deadly sins:
This is among the most wide spread sins (Romans 3:23, Genesis 4)
The breadth of this sin is omni-cultural-historical (all people in all times), and omni-generational (all ages).
Could it be the first sin we commit? Infused in a child's earlier actions is anger. What about cold (rage containers, keeping records, getting even) and hot (rage spewers & confrentation) anger?
It may be the most dangerous of the seven deadly sins (Romans 6:23) What does Jesus connect this emotion with in Matthew 5:21-22 & 1 John 3:15? He connects anger with murder--they are put on the same continuum.
Not all expressions of this emotion are sin. How does this emotion distinguish itself from the other seven deadly sins? Psalm 7:11; Mark 3:5; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Romans 1:18; Deuteronomy 32:4. How does this give us hope? God gets angry. It's all over scripture--yet, He never sins.
It is the cause of anger, not the experience of it, that qualifies it as sinful or righteous--Ephesians 4:26
2. Let's consider the main issue underlying this potentially deadly emotion:
Anger boils down to one issue: love. In it's uncorrupted form, anger is actually a form of love.
When you love something, you could move in anger to protect it.
In other words, if we want to know when this emotion is sinful, we look for how our loves have become disordered. It's not a question of whether we love, but what we love, what we long for, what we desire, what is valuable that we must protect.
How do we interpret reality, fundamentally? This world is broken, fallen, and full of broken and fallen loves. There are threats to what we love, everywhere.
As Augustine says, "We are created to love God most and best, but too often we prefer ourselves and the things that serve us. We make good things ultimate things."
In its sinful form, this emotion, then, is inherently stupid--when we are so blinded by self consumed love that we lash out at anyone/anything that doesn't serve us.
There is a connection between pride and anger.
Sinful anger is always self-serving.
My love for __________ is making me express this emotion. But, should that be my greatest love and devotion?
3. Let's consider a gospel and grace oriented method against the madness of this potentially sinful and deadly emotion:
Defusing this "bomb" of anger requires untangling the source of this emotion, which is our ego-centric perception of reality. Four steps provide a method against the madness.
Analyze this emotion early--think "is this anger self-serving?"
Feel ridiculous for being...ridiculous (Psalm 103:3, Colossians 2:13, Hebrews 13:20)
Remember what makes God angry, and let it make you angry too:
God loves His name, His reputation, and His glory.
God loves His people, His church
God loves this world
God loves those who obey Him
God loves The truth
Practice forgiveness (Matthew 6:9-15)
People will offend you, sometimes, we must absorb the debt.
Speaking of the weekend, tonight is "blockbuster" night with my honey and I am absolutely loving that. Delicious dinner made by my man & watching some Breaking Bad.
Dad's Wednesday night sermon series he's doing--The Seven Deadly Sins. This week's was on Anger and I have to end this post by sharing it with you all.
"Defusing a Dangerous Bomb"
It's a question the Lord asks Jonah (Jonah 4:4) and a question we need to ask ourselves more often than we do. What is this question?
"Have you any right to be angry?"
What an insightful, surgical question for all of us! It's a question that walks onto what often happens on the stage of our lives and pulls the mask off us. It's a revealing emotion, and a potentially destructive emotion.
This emotion is complicated, though, because in some forms, it's a symptom of something in the subconscious desires of the human heart, a whistle-blower for a deeper, darker devotion in our souls. It's symptomatic of something, and when it takes a downward turn, it is certainly a deadly sin. Consider this quote from Marcia Cannon: "You become angry when you define reality as unacceptable to you, and you feel unable to easily correct it, tolerate it, or let it go."
Anger is symptomatic to something else...
1. Let's consider 3 characteristics of this potential sin that make it unique in comparison to the other seven deadly sins:
This is among the most wide spread sins (Romans 3:23, Genesis 4)
The breadth of this sin is omni-cultural-historical (all people in all times), and omni-generational (all ages).
Could it be the first sin we commit? Infused in a child's earlier actions is anger. What about cold (rage containers, keeping records, getting even) and hot (rage spewers & confrentation) anger?
It may be the most dangerous of the seven deadly sins (Romans 6:23) What does Jesus connect this emotion with in Matthew 5:21-22 & 1 John 3:15? He connects anger with murder--they are put on the same continuum.
Not all expressions of this emotion are sin. How does this emotion distinguish itself from the other seven deadly sins? Psalm 7:11; Mark 3:5; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Romans 1:18; Deuteronomy 32:4. How does this give us hope? God gets angry. It's all over scripture--yet, He never sins.
It is the cause of anger, not the experience of it, that qualifies it as sinful or righteous--Ephesians 4:26
2. Let's consider the main issue underlying this potentially deadly emotion:
Anger boils down to one issue: love. In it's uncorrupted form, anger is actually a form of love.
When you love something, you could move in anger to protect it.
In other words, if we want to know when this emotion is sinful, we look for how our loves have become disordered. It's not a question of whether we love, but what we love, what we long for, what we desire, what is valuable that we must protect.
How do we interpret reality, fundamentally? This world is broken, fallen, and full of broken and fallen loves. There are threats to what we love, everywhere.
As Augustine says, "We are created to love God most and best, but too often we prefer ourselves and the things that serve us. We make good things ultimate things."
In its sinful form, this emotion, then, is inherently stupid--when we are so blinded by self consumed love that we lash out at anyone/anything that doesn't serve us.
There is a connection between pride and anger.
Sinful anger is always self-serving.
My love for __________ is making me express this emotion. But, should that be my greatest love and devotion?
3. Let's consider a gospel and grace oriented method against the madness of this potentially sinful and deadly emotion:
Defusing this "bomb" of anger requires untangling the source of this emotion, which is our ego-centric perception of reality. Four steps provide a method against the madness.
Analyze this emotion early--think "is this anger self-serving?"
Feel ridiculous for being...ridiculous (Psalm 103:3, Colossians 2:13, Hebrews 13:20)
Remember what makes God angry, and let it make you angry too:
God loves His name, His reputation, and His glory.
God loves His people, His church
God loves this world
God loves those who obey Him
God loves The truth
Practice forgiveness (Matthew 6:9-15)
People will offend you, sometimes, we must absorb the debt.
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