"On her tongue is the law of kindness..."

"On her tongue is the law of kindness..."

Sunday, October 17, 2010

A Place Called Home...

Kevin and I have been newlyweds for just over 3 months, and one of the biggest to-dos for me as a wife was to create an environment that was safe, peaceful, and, of course, wonderfully decorated. Even though I am still shopping for the perfect pieces and waiting for it all to be complete, here are some of my favorite inspirations...


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

A Recipe of Caramel Apple Cupcakes!

So, now that I'm a newlywed I am fascinated with new recipes - special food treats for me and the huz to enjoy. So, please feast your eyes on our newest discovery: caramel apple cupcakes! You're welcome. Enjoy.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Rome (or baking) apples (peeled and shredded)
1 1/2 cups chewy caramel candies
1 tbsp heavy cream

Directions
Preheat over to 350 degrees
Line cupcake pan with liners, or spray pan with cooking spray
In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In medium bowl, whisk eggs, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth. Whisk in oil and vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture. Stir in apples.
Spoon batter into pan until almost full (3/4 full) in each cup
Bake approximately 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool.
In small bowl, combine caramels and cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir, and then repeat at 25 second intervals until caramel icing is melted and smooth.
Spread frosting generously on cooled cupcakes.

*Caramel frosting will be very sticky until cooled. So, refrain from eating frosted cupcakes until icing has completely cooled.

Monday, August 30, 2010

So, you don't think God is faithful to His Word?

"Teaching is a tough market right now." "Did you hear about all of the teachers who got laid off?" "All of those budget cuts are really going to affect teaching jobs, huh?"
Yes, ever since Kevin graduated from Northeastern State University this year with an Elementary Education degree, we have been bombarded with "facts" regarding the current state of the economy and the lack of teaching positions available. *On a side note, it is fairly annoying to know that individuals think this is actually "good" and "pleasant" conversation. Why would we ever want to focus on the negative of any situation?
However, Kevin and I did understand the "facts" of the situation. Yes, teaching positions were scarce. Yes, teachers were being let go. Yes, schools are decreasing their budgets and pay for teachers. And these were all conversation starters that directly followed, "what did you graduate for?" "teaching." "oh, did you know..."
With the public's incessant need to inform us every chance they had of the drastic and devastating state of teaching positions, Kevin and I made a different choice - what we see, what we hear, and what the current situation looks like does not determine our level of faith or our trust that God can move on our behalf. Of the upmost importance to us was that this situation offered the potential to showcase to the world visible faith in God's Word and God's timing. We simply had to trust God's Word and not doubt; speak His Word over our situation, our life, and trust that His Word never returns void of power; trust that God will move mountains on our behalf, that we operate in unmerited favor, and that those who trust in Him and His Word are never disappointed.
About 3 months later Kevin received a phone call from an elementary school regarding a teaching position for 4th grade. The elementary school let Kevin know that they weren't in need of a 4th grade teacher until an unexpected enrollment of 15-20 students occurred prior to the first week of classes, requiring the school to hire an additional 4th grade teacher. So, the elementary school called a local university, which just happened to be the same university Kevin graduated from, and requested recommendations from the university for their newly opened teaching position. The university recommended Kevin.
Kevin never applied for this teaching job. He doesn't know anyone from the elementary school that inquired of a recommendation. And, he's never visited the elementary school or sent in an application. The only explanation for this is that God moved on our behalf. That's it. And, that's a pretty amazing place to be. What's even more amazing, is that there are individuals in our life who aren't saved, who have heard of this situation, and the words out of their mouths are, "This has to be God."

Your life is shaped by the words you speak - you have the choice to allow the circumstances you encounter to happen, and you can accept them as they are; or, you can speak the Word over your life, over your family and your friends, over your finances and your job, over your home and your belongings and know that those who trust in God's Word are never disappointed.

Monday, August 16, 2010

If you only knew...

I just finished watching Christine Caine's message at Guts Church (gutschurch.com) from the Guts Girls Goes Aussie event over the weekend and it spoke so deeply to my heart. Christine relates a story of her daughter, who from the time she was born has had the Word of God spoken over her life - she has been told that she's intelligent, beautiful, the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath, that she is blessed and highly favored... And when her daughter was five she got in a fight at school with a young boy who took a teddy bear from her and her daughter pulled it back from the boy. The boy looked at her daughter and said, "you're ugly and dumb." The little girl pulled her shoulders back and said, "no, i'm not. my daddy says that i am beautiful and intelligent." "How much junk could we eliminate from our lives," says Christine, "if we would know and believe what our Father says about us and believe nothing else?"
After letting the message sit with me, think on it, process it, I got on Facebook and read countless status updates and posts between girls who are speaking about boyfriends who don't treat them well, and boyfriends who are rude and disrespectful to them, girls speaking demeaning and degrading comments about one another, and I can't help but relate to Christine's message - what if they would simply believe ONLY what the Word of God says about them and nothing else. And, in doing so, they would surround themselves with others who treat them according to who they are, which is a child of God.
And then you think of those individuals in your own life, those who you are entrusted to and entrusted with, who speak against their own health and the health of their loved ones, who speak gossip and idle chatter, who pronounce defeat on themselves and judgement on others, and you think, "if only you would believe what your Father says about you, and apply that to loving those around you and treating those you come in contact with as children of God." What a different world we would have, and what a different outlook on christians and christianity the world would have of us. We would actually act in accordance with what we profess. And THAT would change the world.

Friday, August 6, 2010

What makes you come alive...

With back-to-school season in session, I have multiple friends and family members attempting to decide what they want to be when they grow up. It's a multi-faceted question, really. So often, what we want to be, become and do changes at an instant, and we are drawn to various job positions according to our passion, love, or sometimes bank account.
No matter the question, how it arises, or what the motivating factor behind it is, I always seem to respond in the same manner - do what you love. If only it were that easy. It's a simple phrase that holds so much meaning because so often individuals do not make decisions regarding their work based on what they love and are passionate about. The decision of job selection and acceptance is so easily made according to what's available, what will pay for bills and what's closest to friends and family. But, what if the purpose behind your job pursuit, your career pursuit or your college major choice, was what truly made you come alive, instilled passion within you, and was something that you absolutely loved doing? I doubt you would ever regret where you are or wish you had made a different decision, and you would daily step into a position that allowed you to bestow your gifts upon the world. Not bad, really.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Your Words

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight..."
Psalm 19:14

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."
Proverbs 18:21

You have what you say - the words you speak today provide seed for your future, and will reap a harvest in your life. Blessing and cursing, life and death, are all available and will come to fruition through the words that come forth from your mouth - what are you speaking today? What do you speak over your family, your friends, your finances, your job, and all the small areas of your life that you think aren't a big deal to offer up criticism or judgement. Comments such as, "my husband doesn't do anything; he's worthless," or "my kids are so lazy, they don't do a thing," or even comments about your health, such as, "I always get sick in the winter" are seed that go forth into your life. God's Word promises us that as we speak God's Word it goes forth to accomplish what it was sent to do, that it never returns void, and that it will reap a harvest. Choose the words you speak wisely; you have what you say.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Some of my favorite quotes of all time...

Ever since elementary school I have kept a record of my favorite quotes, scriptures, revelations, inspirations, and church service notes. Here are a few of my favorite quotes...


"Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You."
Psalm 5:11b

"I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I eat and read and study. I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life - whether I will see them as curses or opportunities. I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts."
- Elizabeth Gilbert, "Eat, Pray, Love"

"It's easy for us to point a finger or to judge. How many of us simply notice those who come across our path and pay attention to the needs and cares of those around us.
- Christine Caine

"Take personal responsibility for the individuals in your life, for the sphere of influence present in your world."
- Christine Caine

"Before you can be in a satisfying relationship, you have to be able to be happy and complete on your own. You have to be okay to walk through the world on your own, as a whole person, before you can be a part of someone else's life."
- Jim Carrey, on "Oprah", February 18, 2008 when speaking of his relationship with Jenny Mccarthy

Dal centro della mia vita venne una grande fontana, from "Eat, Pray, Love"
- from the center of my life, there came a great fountain
I love this phrase because in order for something to have the ability to flow from within you there needs to be an abundance of it. It reminds me of all the things I hope and desire to flow from the center of my life: love, peace, patience, wisdom, truth.

l' amor che move il sole e l' altre stella, from "Eat, Pray, Love".
- the love that moves the sun and the other stars
This phrase is so beautiful to me because the love that is spoken of feels so magnificent. And, although it was not meant in this context in Gilbert's book, I can only think of the immense, overwhelming, and all-consuming love of God to perfectly compliment this phrase.

"Walk in the rain, smell flowers, stop along the way, build sandcastles, go on field trips, find out how things work, tell stories, say the magic words, trust the universe."
-Bruce Williamson

"We turn not older with years, but new every day!"
-Emily Dickinson

"Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be satisfied with your possessions; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor's except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends...and to spend as much time as you can with body and with spirit."
-Henry van Dyke

"The experience of each new age requires a new confession, and the world seems always waiting for it's poet."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A leader does not demand of others what he does not demand of himself."
Unknown

"There is no use trying", said Alice; "one can't believe impossible things." "I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour each day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
-Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland"

"The creative process never stops."
- Oscar de la Renta

"There isn't a mirror in the world that can show you how beautiful you are on the inside."
-Phyllicia Rashad (Mrs. Cosby)

"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance."
- Bruce Barton

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child or a garden patch... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
- Emerson

"Show me a day when the world wasn't new."
- Sister Barbara Hance

"I am still in the process of growing up, but i will make no progress if i lose any of myself on the way."
- Madeline L'Engle

"We are all in the process of becoming."
-Joyce Meyer
I love this quote because it's a simple reminder of how not only are we in a process of becoming, but we are in control of what it is we become. Your daily choices affect where you will be tomorrow and the level of your character.

"The world changes as iI speak."
-Pastor Bill
this quote reminds of the importance of the words that i speak, and how just as God formed the world with His words, we are made in the exact image of Him with all the power and authority that He has, and therefore as we speak we frame our world into being. If you keep silent you receive what you're dealt; if you speak, you have what you say.

"One does not see anything until one sees its beauty."
-Oscar Wilde

"Two things a woman should always be: classy and fabulous."
-CoCo Chanel

"So many motivations and decisions when i was younger were made out of fear; fear that the world would come crashing down. But, when i became older, i learned to take a breath and know that everything will be okay."
-Joey, from "Dawson's Creek"

"If you ever dream of beating me, wake up and apologize."
-Muhammed Ali

"I realized, late that night, that other people had feelings and fears and that my interactions with them actually meant something, that I could make them happy or sad in the way that I associated with them. Not only could I make them happy or sad, but I was responsible for the way I interacted with them. I suddenly felt responsible."
-Donald Miller, "Blue Like Jazz"

"What I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do."
-Donald Miller, "Blue Like Jazz"

"I am learning not to be passionate about empty things."
-Donald Miller, "Blue Like Jazz"

"Some people settle...and others refuse to settle for anything less than buterflies."
-Sarah Jessica Parker as 'Carrie', Sex in the City

"Mediocrity always attacks excellence".
-author unknown

"You attract to yourself and your life what is on the inside of you."
-Kathy Freston, author of "The One"

"Winners have simply formed the habit of doing things losers don't like to do."
-Albert Gray

"Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others."
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak."
- Michael Garrett Marino

"I want to change the world, which means not being the center of my own universe."
-Grace T., Guts Church, 2nd Mile Instructor

"As I am, so shall I associate, and so shall I act."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The man who finds life will find it through trusting God."
Galatians 3:11

"Those who trust in the Lord are steady as Mount Zion, unmoved by any circumstance."
Psalms 125:1

"Don't be afraid of your past; it has no power over you except for what you give it."
Joyce Meyer, "The Confident Woman"

"Your priority is not to keep everyone else in your life happy by doing all the things they expect."
Joyce Meyer, "The Confident Woman"