Faith

When You’re Overwhelmed by Gratitude

April/March 29, 2017/ Leave a comment Edit"When You’re Overwhelmed by Gratitude"

Some days I just can’t seem to keep up.  When I get a moment of quiet to think (usually in the shower), my thoughts race ahead of my body and my abilities.  Projects, chores, making food, building relationships, working out, talking to God and reading His Word.  They’re all on my list of things to do. Things I want to do, but at the same time things I sometimes dread. 

I bob up and down, like someone drifting in the ocean of life.  Sometimes I get a burst of energy and paddle with all my might; other days I just want to go with the current because it’s easy that way.  I want to let the laundry pile up and the dust collect; I want to leave the mound of dishes in the sink and the toys scattered about.  But I don’t.

I don’t want to reach out to that person or make a plan to meet up.  I don’t feel like praying with my daughter or reading her another book… or making dinner and cleaning that high chair tray one more time.  But I do.

God gives me the strength to keep going. And I’m truly grateful for that.

I admit that I can’t do it on my own strength. Being a parent and pressing on is something supernatural. I’m thankful for moments like this, though, when I can simply be.  Think. Reflect. Journal.

Mostly when I get these moments to myself, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude. 

I want to live like I don’t have much longer on this earth. I want to soak up time with family and friends. I want to be bold in proclaiming the gospel. I want to reach out to those who are hurting. I want to serve those in need. Be a difference-maker. I’m selfish though, and God is still refining me.

I just finished reading This Life I Live by Rory Feek. I gobbled it up in two days. Probably the fastest I’ve ever read a book. You can ask my husband. It’s an autobiography of an ordinary man God has used to touch the lives of so many through his story and his wife’s.  A love story, but also a life story.  How God refined him little by little, over the course of a lifetime, molding him for something bigger than himself or his family even. Read more on his blog: thislifeilive.com

It made me think about what other people would say about me once I’m gone. What kind of legacy will I leave? For my husband, my children, my neighbors, my friends? Do my roots go deep? Have a done my part to cultivate what I’ve been given? Did I love well, plant the right things? Am I keeping the weeds at bay, watering daily, and caring for those things entrusted to me? God does the miracle of making things grow, but I have to show up.

Will my story point to God’s? Will yours?  I hope so. Because it’s the most beautiful love story ever written.

Faith Family

Frazzled Friday

April/March 18, 2017/ 1 Comment Edit"Frazzled Friday"

Fridays get me excited. Excited for the weekend, excited to have hubby home, excited for adventure, excited to have a little bit of a break from dealing with the kids by myself all day, and excited about spending family time with my little pack.  I usually get more excited if we have some type of a plan and something to look forward to, but even if we don’t I’m still glad the weekend is here.  

Typically, we do something fun on Friday mornings to get us through to nap time, then we’re super stoked to see dad when he get’s off in the early afternoon. Today was a field trip to a horse rescue. I’ll have to post pics another day.

But if I’m honest… oftentimes by Friday, I feel pretty frazzled.  

Fridays used to be the night when we went out to dinner with our friends, or stayed up late watching a movie. Maybe talking story around a bonfire, or burning the midnight oil surrounded by friends.  Now, it’s the night we are the most exhausted.  When the burdens of the week seem to come to a head and we can finally breathe. And though we sometimes will stay up to watch a show together, more times than not, one or both of us will fall asleep on the couch in an attempt to make it past 9:30.  I guess that’s one sign of old age, and a reminder of a week in which we both worked hard.  Thank God for weekends and rest; for the mundane and the extraordinary. When we’re tired, it’s easy to be short with those we love.  Sally Clarkson said it best in a recent blog post: 

“I have always told my children that it is natural to be selfish, defensive, argumentative, full of pride, but it is supernatural to be mature, loving and patient, humble. Jesus disciplines us that we might conform to His image. He is the model for unconditional love, patience, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, encouragement, humility.”

That’s why I wanted to start a new weekly blog post:  Frazzled Friday

• I want to acknowledge God’s sovereignty in all things {even when I don’t feel him at work}
• I want to revel in the beauty of our blessings {even when I’m frazzled and frayed}  
• I want to focus on the positives of the week {even when the negatives could easily outweigh them}
• I want to beg for the Holy Spirit’s guidance as I attempt to walk in holiness {especially when I’m at my whit’s end}
• I want to serve–again and again–those whom God has placed in my life {even when I might feel justified in demanding ME time}

I just started reading this new book called Glimpses of Grace by Gloria Furman. I’m only a few chapters in, but whew… there are some awesome reminders within its pages. She talks about how we glorify God in the mundane areas of life–especially #momlife. Here’s a sample: 

“I already believed Scripture, as it extols the role of a homemaker as worth tremendous value. I had no problem seeing homemaking as meaningful in light of eternity. Eternal perspective? Got it. But what about today? How is today included in the scope of eternity? […]

Whether I ought to make my goal glorifying God in everything was not in question. I knew that living for his glory is to be my greatest joy. My problem was simply how? How can I fold laundry and settle sibling squabbles to God’s glory when I am so prone to failure because of my sin? Howdoes the gospel make me into a woman who scrubs toilets or wipes runny noses heartily as for the Lord? How does the gospel make me into a woman who cares about honoring God in the way I fold laundry and serve dinner? How does my citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20) change how I manage my home? […]

I can do all these things as unto the Lord as my heart is satisfied in God because his kindness to me in Christ leads me to repentance again and again.”

Frazzled Friday is meant to remind us (me and you) that we aren’t in this alone.  Our service doesn’t go unnoticed, if it’s done unto the Lord. You are doing kingdom work. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Cor. 10:31)  Yes, there IS a future hope, but we’re called to more than simply waiting on Heaven. Let us live in light of eternity right where he’s placed us.  

Remember that truth as you make a plan for dinner tonight, as you serve your family and clean the kitchen.  As you fight the back-arch to get jammies on, as you brush those teeth one more time and read that bed time story AGAIN. As your tired body starts yet another load of laundry and picks up the scattered toys, or wakes every hour to the hungry or gassy cries of your newborn.

Don’t live in guilt or condemnation because you don’t measure up.  Christ was perfect for you.  And don’t let yourself revel in your own glory because you think you have it all together either.  Let the glory be God’s!

Happy Weekend Everyone

April 

Projects

DIY Busy Board

April/March 9, 2017/ Leave a comment Edit"DIY Busy Board"

DIY Projects.  I love them, yet I hate them.  I tend to get lazy when it comes to finishing stuff. I have about a dozen things on my “To-Do” list at any given time, and I’m currently reading about 5 books. Anyway, here I go getting side-tracked… and I wonder why it took me two days to write this post!

Back to DIY Projects.  

I had been thinking about doing one of these busy boards since Lily was little, but never really got around to it.  I also never really wanted to fork out the money either.  The other day, we were browsing the aisles of Home Depot on a family outing and I decided (on a whim) to buy some trinkets for this project that had been in my head for years.

My girls have an engineer for a father.  So their minds, like his, work a little differently than mine… especially my oldest.  Her mind needs constant stimulation and she gets very whiny when she’s not being challenged or “doing” something.  Lily in particular loves to know how stuff works.  Both the girls (like most kids I think) have a thing for lids, caps, zippers, knobs, doors and locks.  Mike already has Lily’s kindergarten project planned out… it involves rebuilding a motor.    

With that in mind, I picked up the cheapest latches and locks I could find while perusing the aisle at Home Depot.  I think I spent about $20 for all of the things on my board.  Keep in mind these are Hawaii prices.  I’m sure this same project could be made for much cheaper on the mainland. The board and paint were leftover from home renovations several years ago.  I got home and went right to work!  Here’s how it went down and what you’ll need if you want to make one.

Materials:

• 3/4 inch board or plywood, size of your choosing (mine was 13 x 20 inches)
• sander and sandpaper, 100 & 150 grit
• paint or stain of your choice
• various latches and locks or other interesting trinkets
• drill with Phillips bit
• Sharpie pen

---

Step 1:  Arrange

Gather your selected materials and unwrap them to make sure they fit on the board you’ve chosen.  The board I had was about 20″ x 13″.  I ended up arranging them differently than this, but I just wanted to get an idea of spacing to make sure things at least fit.  Most things you buy should come with screws.

Step 2:  Sand

Sand the board using a rough grit, then a finer grit to smooth it out.  I used 100, then 150.  This is especially beneficial if you’re staining the wood.

Step 3:  Paint or Stain

At this point (after you wipe off the dust), stain the board–or paint it–any color you wish.  I went with white spray paint for two reasons. 1) Because this particular paint guaranteed a 15 minute dry time, and I was feeling lazy.  2) Because although I like the look of the stained wood, I already have too much of it downstairs.  I wanted to keep things lighter with the white paint.

Step 4:  Attach

Use the screws that come in the packages with the latches to attach them to the board using the drill and Phillips bit.  The wheel was the only piece that didn’t come with any screws, so I had to bum a few short ones off the hubby.  Then, I just used a Sharpie to write out a little heading for this busy board, but you could use your child’s name or a different title.  I decided to go with: “How Stuff Works”.

Step 5:  Mount

This board would be perfectly fine to play with on the ground, but I wanted it on the wall.  There’s something about having stuff of the wall that they’re actually allowed to play with that seemed appealing to me.  For this, I used our trusty nail gun and mounted it to a stud.  I wouldn’t trust hanging it any other way, especially since I expect it to continually get yanked on and pulled at. 

And there you have it!  A DIY Busy Board that was fairly simple to put together.  It may not be their favorite toy forever, but I’m sure it’ll get revisited each time we have friends over.  Funny how that works.  Let me know if you decide to make one!  I’d love to see pictures 

Aloha

April 

Food

Fig Bites

April/March 5, 2017/ Leave a comment Edit"Fig Bites"

If you read my last few posts, I talked about how I (mostly) cut out refined sugars for 30 days. During the last two weeks, I slowly allowed myself to have “dessert”.  I was trying to keep the Whole30 mindset of not creating substitutes for dessert, but after two weeks of being really strict with myself, I decided that “naturally” dried fruit would be ok. It was basically an experiment of willpower more than anything.  I found that I have some, but not a whole lot 

I did some Pinterest searching, but it seemed that most recipes I found called for Medjool dates.  While they’re really good, I wanted something with a little more texture.  I found this recipe, and I tweaked it just a bit using fig instead of dates.

These little guys really hit the spot.  I found myself snagging them all times of the day–right when I woke up, before a workout, and after dinner.  A batch will last me several days!  

They have unsweetened cocoa powder, and mixed with the natural sweetness of the figs, they sure did the trick for me!  As always, you can add in different ingredients to make it your own as long as you keep the ratios the same.  This last time I made them I did half figs, half raisins.  Surprisingly, they were easy to roll into balls.  They were not, however, very easy for my dinky food processor to mix.  I bought a Goodwill special a few years back and it doesn’t have much power!  Hopefully yours is better than mine.

Step 1:  Gather your ingredients.

• 1 cup dried figs
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup coconut
• 1/4 cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-2 tablespoons water

Step 2:

Remove the stems from the figs, put all ingredients except water into the food processor.  Pulse for 2-3 minutes until it starts becoming a fine pulp.

Step 3:

Add in one tablespoon of water and continue mixing. It should be a paste. Add more water if needed, mix once more.

Step 4:

Roll into one inch balls and refrigerate.

Let me know what you think.  These are currently my favorite treat!

Fig Bites

Yields 20

A fig version of healthy cocoa brownie bites!

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Prep Time

15 min

Total Time

15 min

Ingredients

1. 1 cup dried figs, stem removed
2. 1/2 cup almonds
3. 1/2 cup walnuts
4. 1/4 cup coconut
5. 1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla
7. 1-2 tablespoons water

Instructions

1. After removing the stems from figs, put all ingredients except water into the food processor.
2. Pulse for 2-3 minutes until it starts becoming a fine pulp.
3. Add in one tablespoon of water and continue mixing. It should be a paste.
4. Add more water if needed, mix once more.
5. Roll into one inch balls and refrigerate.

Notes

1. This mixture can be very sticky, and my food processor didn't handle it well. I found that by cutting the figs into smaller pieces before putting them in helped a bit. Also, doing the figs first then adding the nuts helped as well.

By April Wolfe

Adapted from Healthy Liv

Food

Scrambled Egg White Muffin Cups

April/March 4, 2017/ 1 Comment Edit"Scrambled Egg White Muffin Cups"

When you’re not eating sugar and trying not to eat carbs, it can be tough to find something that’s satisfying when you’re hANGRY.

I don’t know about you, but I have little beggars at my feet each morning whining for milk, breakfast and Doc McStuffins (we’re working on that last one).   It can be hard to think straight and get the coffee made, let alone prepare a healthy breakfast.  Many mornings I whipped up pancakes or cereal for the girls, then made a protein shake or egg white frittata for myself.  Some days, though, that was just too much work! So, I decided to make some scrambled egg white omelets in muffin cups head of time so I could just pop them in the microwave for my breakfast.  Great for on the go, too!

Here’s one way I made a healthy version.  Obviously, the possibilities are endless, but I’ll just share what I had on hand:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c egg whites
• 1 c cooked meat (I used italian sausage, but could sub ham or bacon)
• 1/2 c freshly chopped spinach
• 1/2 c tomatoes or rotel
• 1/4 c feta cheese
• 1/4 c onion and/or peppers (I don’t recommend that much jalepeno!)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• salt & pepper to taste

---

Step 1:

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and egg whites together then add seasonings to your liking.  

Step 2:

Cut, chop and measure remaining ingredients.  Add the mixture to the eggs.  Mix well.

Step 3:

Use a 1/4 measuring cup to scoop mixture into WELL-greased muffin tins. You can fill them all the way up.

Step 4:

Bake at 350 for 20-25 min or until the center is cooked.  Let cool then use a plastic knife to pop them out!

Step 5:

Enjoy.  May I suggest making these during nap or the night before you want them.  Then, you can just pop them in the microwave for a fast and nutritious breakfast.  Serve them up with a little bit of salsa, and you’re golden!

Scrambled Egg White Muffin Cups

Yields 12

Simple breakfast on the go.

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

20 min

Total Time

35 min

Ingredients

1. 4 large eggs
2. 1 1/2 c egg whites
3. 1 c cooked meat (I used italian sausage, but could sub ham or bacon)
4. 1/2 c freshly chopped spinach
5. 1/2 c tomatoes or rotel
6. 1/4 c feta cheese
7. 1/4 c onion and/or peppers (I don't recommend that much jalepeno!)
8. 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
9. 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
10. salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease 12 muffin cups.
3. Prep and chop all ingredients. Set aside.
4. Whisk together eggs, egg whites and seasonings.
5. Mix ALL ingredients together.
6. Use 1/4 measuring cup to spoon mixture into well greased muffn cups. Fill to top.
7. Cook at 350 for 20-25 min or until middle is done.
8. Let cool. Use plastic knife to loosen eggs. Serve warm with salsa or refrigerate for later.

Notes

1. The possibilities are endless with this recipe, so have fun and get creative! Use different types of cheeses (cheddar, pepper jack), different meats (bacon, ham, ground turkey), more veggies (cooked broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus). Everybody has their favorites, so cook according to your preferences!

By April Wolfe