From My Home To Yours...

May God bless you abundantly today and always,

Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Homemade Coleslaw

With fall in full swing, I love using my crock pot whenever I can. My favorite is to let a hunk of meat cook all day, walk into the house after being out for a while and the yummy smell of dinner has filled every room! Having dinner done and ready after a busy day is such a gift!

The first recipe was given to me by a friend and she calls it Bar-B-Que Coke Pork. I didn't have any coke on hand, but with our Soda Stream we usually have something in the fridge... and yesterday it was Dr. Pete (that's right... a make-it-yourself-off-brand). Even so, it turned out great!

The second recipe is a mix of a few coleslaw recipes that I found online and I added to. I love a light, slightly-sweet, slightly-tangy coleslaw that's not soupy, but crunchy. I tell you, THIS IS THE ONE! It was so very delicious! But, my husband wouldn't know that, as he despises any and all coleslaw. I just say, "Yeehaw! More for me!"  :o)

Here are two recipes that I tried for the first time just last night! Together they make a great, simple meal.

This is what was left over after my hubby and I ate dinner. PLENTY for another meal (or two)!

Bar-B-Que Coke Pork
(aka Pulled-Pork Sandwiches)

Ingredients:
1 pork roast (I used a 2 1/2 pounder and it was plenty for 4 hungry adults)
1 onion, sliced
garlic salt
pepper
1 can of Coke (or 1 1/2 cups of your favorite dark soda)
1 1/2 cups of your favorite bbq sauce

Directions:
Cut up the onion and lay in the bottom of the crock pot. 
Season pork and place on top of onions.
Mix up soda and bbq sauce in a small bowl and pour it over the pork.
Allow to cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Shred meat with two forks and mix in sauce from bottom of crock pot. 
Serve on toast or buns with coleslaw!

And finally, here is my own coleslaw creation...

Meg’s Homemade Coleslaw

 (4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded green cabbage

1 cup shredded purple cabbage

1 large carrot - shredded

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tbl apple cider vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp white sugar

½ tsp powdered ground mustard

½ tsp celery seed

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop your veggies and place in a medium bowl.

Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl until well blended.

Pour mixture over veggies and stir together.

Refrigerate coleslaw until served, or eat it right away!

As I type up these delicious recipes and remember all the family fun that we had yesterday, I can't help but think of this verse...

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

James 1:17

Have a wonderfully, blessed weekend,

Enticing Eve - Intentionally Focused {Week 4}

Wow! How many times have I read the book of Genesis? Maybe a hundred! (at least the first few chapters anyways). Even so, this morning in my Good Morning Girls study, my heart was taught even more from Genesis chapter 3.

This week in GMG we are focusing on being intentional in our marriage. And what a week to focus on this, as Valentine's Day is this Friday!

Today we read through chapter three and focused in on verse six. I want to share this scripture with you and what I took away from it today. I hope that it encourages your heart - whether you are already married, single, and hoping to be married one day in the future.

We all remember that God made Adam and Eve and set them in a beautiful garden. He told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or they would die. Even so, when temptation came along, Eve buckled. Why? What was it that caught her eye and so moved her heart to disobey God and to persuade her husband to disobey God too?

"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her and he ate."

Genesis 3:6

In this verse, Eve's heart was pulled away from pleasing God by her desire for three things:

1. Provision - she saw that the tree was good for food, even though the entire garden was FULL of food that she and Adam could enjoy together.
2. Pretties - The tree and its fruit was pleasant to the eyes.
3. Power - the tree could make her wise, thus giving her an edge, an upper-hand.

Oh my heart! How we as women are drawn to these three things daily! The pleasures of life, those things that could lead our hearts from God, always look or sound appealing or we wouldn't even want them!

Because Eve caved to her flesh and listened to a lie, she chose to disobey her Creator and lead her husband down the same path. She LEAD her husband! Right there is part of the problem!

We, as wives, are to be helpers to our husbands (Gen. 2:18). We are to help lighten the load that they carry and encourage their hearts. We are to cheer them on when the world comes against them and we are to be their safe place, where they can be themselves and be accepted.

Eve was enticed by provision, pretties and power, all things that we as women want and are drawn to. Yet instead of receiving these things God's intended way (because none of those things are evil or wrong), she went about getting them HER WAY and in the end that lead to separation from God. Death was the outcome of Eve's disobedience to God. Death not only came to her, but to her husband as well, as she encouraged her husband in disobedience.

I have much more to learn from Adam and Eve, as from so many other people's life stories in the Bible. But today I choose to be more aware of what I'm enticed by in this life, how I respond to it, and how I try to sway my husband's decisions about these things as well. Temptation WILL come, but it's how I respond to that temptation that's important.

Today I choose to support my husband, pray for him and be his cheerleader. I choose to follow his lead as he follows God. May we as wives, and women in waiting, draw nearer to God and be aware of the devil's schemes.

God bless you abundantly,

My God-Given Mandate for 2013

Bloom where you're planted.

 

Just as Paul encouraged and charged Timothy, his words resonate in my heart today.

These words are for me.

These few verses make me alert, aware, and increase my hunger to KNOW God and to DO His will no matter what comes my way.

"I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:  Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;  and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

2 Timothy 4:1-5

Even though I am not a world evangelist, traveling the globe and preaching from a platform, I am called to preach the gospel.

I am called to share my testimony, to love those around me in word and deed, to lift the name of Jesus higher and to bless my family.

May God make it very clear to you what His will is for you in 2013.

We have been given a new year, full of new mercies! Each day is a new beginning in Christ.

 

"Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

Be encouraged today and hope in God!

Happy New Year and God bless,

An Eventful Christmas Story Time

Jo, Mo, and our little friends singing for everyone!

 

My, oh my. What an evening! Earlier this week my hubby and I took our kids and two other neighbor girls to our local library for their Christmas story time in pajamas. Daddy wasn't able to join us last year, so we were super excited that he was coming this time.

Daddy was a big help at craft time!

I was prepared for a jam packed room just like the year before. Nope, not this time. There were only a few others there and plenty of room for us all.

All of our kids sat nicely on the floor and joined in watching a short Donald Duck movie about Christmas. It was funny and my kids were laughing out loud - too cute!

Craft time!

They were handed a cup of coca (only half full, at my request) and two cookies. I knew it was coming and had made them meatballs for dinner, with some cheese and fruit on the side. Even though I thought I fed them well, it didn't sit well in some tummies.

Soon enough, the movie lost my son's attention and he began running in circles around the group of sitting children. I kept telling him to sit and he kept jumping up. Eventually I just grabbed him in a bear hug and sat on the floor with him.... then it happened. He burped, made a funny face and then threw up all of his dinner (and Christmas party snacks) on the floor in front of me. Just like a pro, I put my hand out to help the situation and it was soon overflowing with Jo's gift. Oh. My.

I told all the kids, "Don't look over here. Just scoot away. No honey, look the other way." Knowing the way some kids are, we could have really set off a vomit chain.

Our sweet children's librarian came to the rescue with rags for me to clean up the mess. I wiped off my sons shirt and gave him some water. Did he finally take it easy after that? Not one bit! He ran in circles, laughing all the way.

Sitting still for a bead craft.

To top off the night, all four kids stood on the stage and sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". It was so precious!

Even so, after we finished the crafts and checked out a few books, I was glad to pack everyone up and head home... just in time for bed.

Oh, and my daughter was the only child to spill her entire cup of cocoa on the carpeted floor. Good thing it was only half full to begin with  :o)

After I told my mom this story she said, "Oh my goodness! You just never know what's going to happen when you take kids places." That sure is right. Life (and kids) are full of surprises!

I'm blessed to hold my kids, kiss them good night and pray over them. I try to take advantage of their requests to play Candy Land or swing together, knowing that so many moms and dads will not hold there babies on this earth again, after last week's tragedy.

So many sweet faces. They will be greatly missed on this earth.

They are now safe in Jesus' arms.

No matter the surprises kids bring into our lives, good or bad, they are such great blessings!

 

 

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward."

Psalm 127:3

 

 

I thank God today, and every day, for my children. This life wouldn't be the same without them.

Blessings,

Just Checking In

Happy December!

 

I can't believe that Christmas is 19 days away and 2013 is just around the corner!

Time is flying and we are having fun.

Snuggled with a blanket under our Christmas tree.

The past few weeks we have been preparing our Kids Club float for our local Christmas Parade! It has taken lots of work and dedication to complete but my husband and I are blessed to have some great help - his parents!

Last year's Kids Club Float - what a fun, cold day!

 

 

On top of that, my man has been building a shed in our backyard and we just got a puppy from the pound two weeks ago.

A picture of Buster (our dog) would be much more interesting, I know.

I have yet to take one of him!

These things take time and we only have so much of that each day. I like to prioritize and make lists, etc but sometimes I just need to relax and go with the flow... spend an entire morning playing with my little ones (without cleaning up something on the side), enjoy a family outing to the store (without rushing), and listen to the needs of those people that God brings my way (without having all the answers).

Morning fun, decorating gingerbread houses!

 

 

The finished product - pretty houses and kids full of sugar :o)

I pray that I am learning and maturing as time ticks on, may I not be the same wife or mother at the beginning of 2013 as I was this past year.


My heart's cry is, "God, change me! Mold me into the vessel that you have planned me to be - filled with your Spirit and ready to pour out on others your love and forgiveness without thinking twice about it."

Enjoying a sweet treat after learning the story behind the candy cane.

 

May your month be blessed and may Jesus come alive in your heart this holiday season.


In His GREAT Grace,




PS - I will leave you with these verses that are resonating in my spirit this week...

1 John 4:7-11

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 

 

Overwhelmed By Love

I just had the honor and joy of praying with my husband before he set off for work. Before the sun rose in the sky today, the Son rose in our hearts and took His place on the throne of our lives.
 
My heart is overwhelmed by the love of my great God and of my dear husband.

 
 

God's gift to me - a family.

 

 
What did I do to deserve any of this? God 's love and forgiveness... my husband's loyalty, care and kindness? Nothing at all.
 
 

 

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

 

 
Today I am thankful for the cross and all the promises that are true in Christ!

God's little blessings enjoying the leaves.

 

As we enter this season of thanksgiving and celebrating our King Jesus' first coming, may our hearts be captured with love!

 
In His Great Grace,
 


 
 

Thank you Hannah of Crackjack-Art Photography for the family photo session. We love you and your amazing talent. We had lots of fun!

 

Colossians Study {Week 6} and Harvest Party Time!

Today is a busy day around our house as we prepare for our annual F4K Kids Club Harvest Party tonight!

 
In Texas it goes from summer days to COLD, end-of-fall-almost-into-winter days... and that happened last night. Praying for an enjoyable time tonight and for the weather to reach the 60's  :o)

 
Here are a few pics from last year's fun!

We enjoyed carnival games, a puppet show on Dark vs Light,

prizes and a hayride.

 

Dear friends blessed us by helping with food and games!

 

Face paint was a HIT!

 

A hayride topped off the night!

 

We are down to only 2 weeks left of our GMG Online Bible Study!

This week's challenge is a BIG one, for sure! And with Gods' GREAT help, we can walk victorious!


Here are the verses we studied:


 ^{7 "}in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

⁸ But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, ¹⁰ and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, ¹¹ where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
 
¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."

Colossians 3:7-14


As believers, filled with God's Spirit, we are to:

• Walk in NEW LIFE!

• Renew our knowledge in Christ

• View others as created in His image and LOVED by the King - no matter their lifestyle

• Love one another

• Bear with one another

• Forgive one another - just as Christ forgave us (again and again)

• Walk in the Spirit - dead to ourselves and alive in Christ!

I am challenged by God's Word to watch my tongue - not speaking in anger or frustration. This is a tough one, especially when teaching my children, who push the limits often.


These verses also encouraged me in speak and walk in love:

"He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city."

Proverbs 16:32

 

 

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruit."

Proverbs 18:21

 

 

"The righteous mom walks in her integrity;

her children are blessed after her."

Proverbs 20:7 (italics are my application)

May God bless you with hope for the future and peace in your heart and home.



In His GREAT Grace,

I'm linked up with:

 



 

 

Colossians Study {Week 5} And a Few Fall Photos!

God's Word is such a source of encouragement and correction. I am very thankful for it and for my Good Morning Girls group who keep me accountable to dig deeper every day!

Hide and Seek at the pumpkin patch!

 



Our verses this week were Colossians 2:16 - 3:6...

^{16 "}So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

²⁰ Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— ²¹ “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” ²² which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? ²³ These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

⁵ Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,"



This week I have been challenged to:

• Look to Christ - the substance of the Old and New Testament customs and prophecies. (vs. 17)

• Walk as a dead man - dead to self, alive in Christ!

• Receive TRUE wisdom from above, not having the appearance of wisdom only. (vs. 23)

• Stay connected to the Head (Jesus Christ) to see growth and fruit in my life. (vs. 19)

• Seek things that are above - things found in Christ. (vs. 3:1)

• Hide away in Christ - He is my fortress, my safe place. (vs. 3:4)

Praise God for His loving kindness and mercies that are new EVERY day!

We are enjoying the last weeks of warm weather and looking forward to snow! Yes, my 3-year-old asks about snow almost every day! Last year we got nothing besides a deep freeze. Hoping we have piles of snow this winter - just for her.

Playing in mounds of snow - two years ago.

But for now...

Fall is here!

 

A happy hearth

 

 

 

Framed branches

 

 

 

Painted pumpkins and fall candles... a few favorites.

 

 

Loved seeing many animals at Yesterland Farm.

 

Pretty fall colors found in nature!

Have a blessed, beautiful weekend!



In His GREAT Grace,