Do You Trust Me? Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

Proverbs 3:5-6

Many of us have read, quoted, memorized and meditated on Proverbs 3:5-6 probably most of our Christian walk. Sometimes I feel like I've heard a set of verses so many times that I almost become desensitized to them. Which is not a good thing. Many times in the last few years of my life, with various circumstances and trials I have heard the Lord's voice ask me, "Do You Trust Me?" Whether it was worries and scares with the pregnancy with my son, health concerns, financial concerns when I quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom or numerous concerns and worries about the future and day to day anxieties. Over and over again God would speak to my heart, "Trust Me". 

But do I really TRUST God? I have to admit that this is one of the most difficult areas of my Christian walk. I'm constantly doubting, worrying, fearing and filled with anxiety. I wish I could say that I have faith like Abraham or Moses but most of the time my faith is more like Thomas; mostly when it comes to the anxieties or concerns of life. 

One wonderful definition of trust is: Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

I love that!! Obviously as believers we know that the "someone" in this definition is GOD. Trust is believing in God's reliability, His truth, His ability and strength. So every time I'm faced with an issue where I have to trust God; I ask myself: Is God reliable, does He have the ability to accomplish or take care of this, does He have the strength? And, of course, the answer to all of those questions is Yes! I have to believe that God can take care of everything that concerns me right now, today! 

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;" Psalm 138:7-8a (NKJV, emphasis added)

As I was facing an anxiety the other day, the Lord brought me back to Proverbs 3:5-6. My first reaction was, "I've read this a million times." But as I started to really meditate on the words and what God was trying to speak to my heart I realized how much I knew the verse in my head but not in my heart. This is a condensed version of how I felt God broke it down to my heart:

#1. TRUST in the Lord (He reminded me of the definition of Trust....listed above)

#2. Lean not on your own understanding (I need to stop relying on my own thought processes and ways of "working things out" in my mind) My understanding is very limited

#3. In all your ways acknowledge Him (no matter what the situation is; bring it to God. Acknowledge that He is there and He is in control)

And if we do all this we have a promise...

#4. He shall direct your paths (God will direct, He will move, He will work!) 

Wow! Thank you Jesus! What a reminder and blessing. 

I'm daily learning to trust and I'm definitely not "there". God has been so patient, so loving and so wonderful to me and constantly reminds me to Trust Him. 

Think about what is going on in your life today that you are not trusting God with. It could be a small concern, it could be an illness, it could be the salvation of a lost family member or friend, a marriage in trouble, financial hardship, personal issues etc. 

Let's learn to Trust God with these things! He loves you, He cares and He's going to move in your situation! 

Monday Baking a.k.a. Chocolate Attack

Today is Monday. Last week's Key Lime Pie is almost gone and the chocolate chip cookies I made two weeks ago are definitely not fresh. So... it was time to bake something else! This time I was having a chocolate attack so I decided that we'd skip the citrus and go for the cocoa powder. And I have to say it was the best decision I've made today. :) 

I got a wonderful recipe from All Recipes and started baking away. The result was a wonderful, dense chocolate cake with homemade chocolate butter cream frosting. Did I hear a Hallelujah? Or was that my stomach? All I have to say was my hubby and I  were definitely fans of this recipe.

I decided to make it a single layer chocolate cake and cut the recipe in half. I don't like making more food then I know we will eat so I decided one layer was enough! 

If any of you would like the recipe here is the link:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/extreme-chocolate-cake/ 

In an earlier post I shared about the fun of baking and the importance of baking from scratch! I know that my husband really appreciates a homemade dessert once a week. It's a nice way to end the day after a long day's work. 

And it's a nice way for us moms to end a crazy day of running errands, doing laundry and cleaning! Praise Jesus for chocolate! :) 

What Are You Thankful for Today?

As you well know...Summer is here! Summer means heat and heat usually means it's time to turn on the AC at home. We are extremely blessed to have central air in our home but it's something that I quickly take for granted. About a week ago I was reminded of how thankful I am to the Lord for air conditioning. It all started on a beautiful, sweltering day. I noticed that my house wasn't as cool as it usually is and by 3:30pm my son and myself were just about to sweat ourselves into large puddles on the kitchen floor. I felt like the wicked witch in the infamous scene... "I'm Meeellllttiiiinnggg." You get the picture. It was HOT. And if any of you have ever had your AC unit break, freeze, or the like; you know what I'm talking about. 

After a week of getting nauseous every day in the afternoon (from the heat) a very kind Christian from our church came out and fixed our AC for us! It was finished in about an hour and instantly I felt the cool air circulate through the house! 

After that, I realized something: How THANKFUL I am to the Lord that we have air conditioning. And then I realized how many things I really have to be thankful for every day. Things I don't even think about until they aren't working or they aren't there. For instance: the refrigerator, the AC unit, my car and the list could go on and on. So often I find myself focusing on what I don't have, or what I wish I had and then the Lord gently reminds me that I truly have SO MUCH to be thankful for. I mean really! I have so very much to be thankful for each and every day.  And so do you!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow...Praise Him all creatures here below"

Thank you God for all You have given me!

So let me ask you...What are you thankful for today??? Try writing a short list of things that come to your mind and thank the Lord for all that He has blessed you with! 

Here's some of my list: 

The AC :) 

Jesus

My husband

My toddler

My health

Forgiveness of sin

Chocolate... (seriously) God knew what His daughters would need... :) 

Summer Dessert - Key Lime Pie

Have I mentioned that I love to bake? Well, just in case you were in doubt...I LOVE TO BAKE. And I love to eat what I've baked. :) This week as I was melting from the heat in my kitchen I thought, "Hmmm...what kind of dessert can I make that would be cool and refreshing?" And then like a message from heaven I thought "Key Lime Pie!". I have never made Key Lime Pie before so I started scouring the internet for a good recipe. I decided to use "The Pioneer Woman's" recipe* and proceeded to go to the store to buy the ingredients. (One side note I must add is that I didn't use real "Key Limes", I used good ol' regular limes and bottled lime juice.) I don't even know if they sell "Key Limes" in California or not. But they didn't have them at Target.... before you wonder why on earth I'm buying limes at Target; it's because we were there already for other needed toiletries! So, like any other crazy busy mother who doesn't want to make two trips, I picked everything up I needed there.

The recipe was so easy to follow. I started by making a homemade graham cracker crust (easiest thing ever and is so much better than pre-made)

After that, I mixed together the filling (pictured at top of page) and poured it into the cooled crust. The filling consists of:

1 Cup Lime Juice

1 Tablespoon of Lime Rind

2 Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk

4 Egg Yolks 

I baked the pie for 25 minutes at 350, let it cool completely and then let it stand in the fridge for about 3 hours. WOW! Talk about a delicious, easy dessert! I decided to top the pie with whip cream. You can make a meringue topping or homemade whip cream. 

My husband was happy and so were my taste buds. Despite the boiling temp outside we felt cool! 

Might I also mention that the cost of making this pie was fairly inexpensive? I already had the graham crackers (a toddler's best friend), butter and sugar (a mom's best friend) and 4 egg yolks. So, all I needed to buy was the rest of the filling ingredients: 

Two limes (for rind) $0.39 a piece

2 Cans sweetened condensed milk $1.69 a can 

1 Bottle Lime Juice around $2.80 or so

So if you already have some of these ingredients you are only looking at about $5.00 or so (depending on what you already have) to make a delicious pie! 

*This recipe was taken from "The Pioneer Woman" website. I doubled the recipe ingredients and altered the bake time*

Pom Pom Decorations For All Occasions

 I love anything DIY! And that includes decorations for parties, holidays and events! I recently made a new DIY decoration called a "Pom Pom". You can find directions on how to make these online at MarthaStewart.com

For a recent bridal shower I bought tissue in colors matching the shower theme and used twine to hang them from the ceiling. I grouped them in threes and hung them at different lengths above each table. The finished product was beautiful! 

After the shower I started thinking of all the different things you could use Pom Poms for to decorate. I found some really cool tissue packs at Target for $1.00 in red, white and blue and made a smaller Pom Pom with pointed edges to hang in my son's room. I made a group of four and hung them from the ceiling. These would also made great decorations for 4th of July! (see picture at top of page) You can hang them in groups or separately with varying lengths. They also look great hanging from trees outside. There are so many different ways to make them and hang them! 

You can buy tissue for about $1.00 a pack in various different colors at your local party supply store, dollar store or any store like Target. You can hang them with Twine which can be bought for about $3.00 a roll at Home Depot or a fabric store. Or for an invisible look you can hang them with fishing line. 

These are a very inexpensive, fun and artsy decor for any party, occasion or nursery.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house...

Earlier this year, with a Small Group, I began reading the book, "A Mom After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George. It is a wonderful book dealing with being a mom and most importantly leading your children to Jesus by your actions, words and lifestyle. There are so many wonderful aspects of the book but one set of scriptures she kept referring to and challenging us with was Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all  your strength. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in  your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

We are commanded in this scripture to teach our children God's Word constantly and not only teach them and talk about it but display it on the actual house! I fail every day at this and I have a long way to go but after being challenged by this in the book and most importantly in God's Word, I decided that scripture would be in our house. Not just by having a Bible in the corner but having scripture literally on the walls. I haven't gotten all the scripture up yet that I want to but the first place I did was our little ones room. In addition to adding cool new stripes, I knew I needed to not forsake the most important part: a cool piece of Scripture art. Now our little guy has cool stripes and most importantly Deuteronomy 6:5 on his wall. And every night before bed we read this scripture, and others before we say good night.

DIY Stripes for Nursery

This last week I decided to paint stripes on my little boy's nursery wall! It was quite the challenge. As I was perusing some DIY websites I saw the stripes design quite a few times and thought that it would be a piece of cake. Think again. As I stated in a previous post, I always pray before any cooking or DIY endeavor and alas, I didn't pray this time. I set out to measure and tape the lines for painting with out prayer and with out the help of my amazing husband. 

So I began...and three hours later my husband walked in and told me that the lines looked crooked. I couldn't believe it! After 3 hours of work I would need to start over. So after being humbled my wonderful husband saved the day and with his help, prayer, a measuring tape and chalk line we had the lines drawn and taped in less than an hour. :) 

The next morning I cleared the room and began to paint. The Lord helped me and a few hours later waalaahh! Stripes! It wasn't easy and it was definitely time consuming but, as with everything else in life, it was worth the effort! 

And now my little boy has the beginnings of a cool, modern room!