Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I made Loaded Baked Potato Skins for the Superbowl. I used the leftover ingredients today to make this soup for lunch today!

you can find it here

I scaled the recipe down to 6 people from twelve! Took maybe 30 minutes to cook. I am sure the longer it cooks the better it is!

• 4-1/2 baking potatoes (I used leftover flesh from the potato skins)
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup bacon bits, divided
• 2 green onions, chopped (I used the yellow onion I had on hand)
• 5 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 (8 ounce) container sour cream

1. Prick potatoes with a fork and cook in the microwave, 3 or 4 at a time, and scoop out the flesh (while the others are cooking).
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook about a minute. Whisk in milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes, salt, pepper, 1/3 cup bacon bits, 2 tablespoons green onions and most of the cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in sour cream and heat through. Serve topped with remaining bacon, onions and cheese.

enjoy!

Football Funny

I am reading the Bible through in a year, one of today's reading was Psalm 37 the heading read

"He Will Not Forsake His Saints"

I asked Justin if that was a good sign for the New Orleans Saints :) 

Hope you had a great Sunday!

Saturdays are for Sundays

Sundays can be a hectic day for most christian families. How can you truly enter the house of the Lord and worship him in Spirit and Truth when you have pulled teeth to wake up children, rushed around to get everyone fed, and perhaps argued all the way to church because someone made you late!!

I have really tried to make an effort since we moved to MO to be early to church and to make Saturdays a day to prepare for Sunday. Justin many times studies and Kyla and I hang out most of the day anyways. I have started picking up the house, and thinking about Sunday meals. Sunday nights are devoted to pressing clothes or at least laying them out. I take time to look over any lessons I may be teaching and any food I need to prepare for potlucks or fellowships. If need be I help Justin so that he is prepared to feed the sheep on Sunday morning!

I have found that by preparing on Saturday, Sundays are less crazy and the focus can be placed on who it should be on, Jesus Christ.
What are some of your preparations on Saturday night??

Seeds Family Worship

another resource to share

Seeds Family Worship 

You can listen here!

It is scripture to music, and it is VERY well done. I find myself singing scripture throughout the day! What is better than that? 

Thought I would include a video tonight

enjoy!

Biblical Love for Your Children

Yesterday was a great and hard day all in one!! 

Yesterday morning was wonderful, Kyla and I cuddled lots and played and enjoyed one another! Do to waking up late I knew a nap would not happen because we have to be at the church by 3:30 for our after school program. It usually presents problems but we deal!! After 3 hours of 15 Kindergardeners (bless them) and one toddler I was one frazzled lady!! On Wednesday's I also watch our associate pastors daughter so that her mommy can minister beside her husband, and besides she and Kyla are good friends! On our way home from the church to our house where I was about to babysit I asked Kyla to pray with me. We prayed for calmness of mind and grace to parent the rest of the evening. 

What I failed to pray for was listening ears and a loving heart for my little girl. After a short amount of time with her friend Kyla found herself in her bed due to hitting her friend! Needless to say what stared as a good day ended with a very tired two year-old and cranky momma! We both went to bed early! 

Knowing I had failed in many ways as a parent cause me to cling more to the truth of the gospel and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. 

Today I read this article What is Biblical Love for Your Children, part two

I was exhorted, encouraged and challenge to take the great commandment seriously! 

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Day 3 - 6:30 Club

I committed to getting up at 6:30 am for 28 days in the hopes of creating a lifelong pattern where first thing I am seeking the Lord, sitting at His feet and dwelling at the cross. By ordering my day this way I know I will better serve my husband and daughter! I have no doubt this is necessary for me, but let me assure you, it has been ROUGH! I am not, nor have I ever been an early riser. Monday was okay, but I laid down from 8-9 am until Kyla woke up. Yesterday, she woke up at 6:45, so she sat on the couch with me while I finished reading and then we went to my bed. This morning I awoke and spent some time with the Lord and I had a headache so I took some tylenol and laid down and listened to a lecture about Mother and Daughters given by Carolyn Mahaney until I fell asleep. 

The goal is to get up and stay up, and then take a power nap in the afternoon!! That is the end to which I am going. I have no doubt that by centering my day around the cross things will go more smoothly and my sin will be put into perspective in the finished work of Jesus Christ!

S-A-L-E

Run don't walk (well you get the point) over to Sovereign Grace's website for their fabulous February Sale!!

They have CD's for $6.00 or the Audio Download for $5.00

Most books for $7

If you need any recommendations on what to buy

Books:

Living the Cross Centered Life (I have read the shorter version the Cross Centered Life, this one combines that book with another) is one of the best books I have read, and it is a quick read!

Humility (really it is humbling and encouraging!!)

I haven't read but want

Feminine Appeal

Shopping for Time 

Girl Talk

Radical Womanhood

Music: 

all of it is AMAZINGLY Gospel Centered and really you cannot go wrong!!

My favorite is their newest Sons & Daughters

my second favorite is The Valley of Vision

Justin really likes Come Weary Saints & In a Little While

We also enjoy the Awesome God Kid's CD and will be buying the To Be Like Jesus CD 

go check them out!!

www.sovereigngracestore.com

beholding glory

"The sun of God's glory was made to shine at the center of the solar system of  our soul. And when it does, all the planets of our life are held in their proper orbit. But when the sun is displaced, everything flies apart. The healing of the soul begins by restoring the glory of god to its flaming, all-attracting place at the center... 

... there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self."

 taken from Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper 

On child-rearing...

Amy Carmichael was a missionary serving in India, working with children. One important mission to Amy was to save young girls from becoming temple prostitutes. 

"Inside her bible on a card pasted inside the front cover, are these words:

'These children are dear to Me. Be a mother to them, and more than a mother. Watch over them tenderly, be just and kind. If thy heart is not large enough to embrace them, I will enlarge it after a pattern of My own. If these young children are docile and obedient, bless Me for it; if they are froward, call upon Me for help; if they weary thee, I will be thy consolation; if thou sink under thy burden, I will be thy Reward."

These words are followed by a picture of the Shepherd, reaching for a lamb while a vulture hovers overhead."

- taken from A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot

What a great reminder to parents for us to call on the Lord to be the Shepherd of our children and to rely on Him as we parent in this sinful world!!

Be Blessed this Sunday!!  

Kid's Stuff - a few of my favorite resources

This is going to be hard for me not to ramble, there are so many great children's resources out there!! I am going to limit this to our current favorites at our house!

I will start with music, I think it is a great way to introduce toddlers to the deep truth's of God's word! For Christmas we bought A Very, Very, Very, Big God and J is for Jesus from Westminster Bookstore. I should warn you, they are cheesy but toddlers LOVE THEM. Seriously, and I find me and Justin walking around either humming or singing one of the songs on occasion. 

One of our (mine and Justins hahaha) favorites is 

 I Am The Way, The Truth, and The Life

lyrics

I am the way the truth and the life, thats what Jesus said. 

I am the way the truth and the life, thats what Jesus said. 

Without the way there is no going, 

without the truth there is no knowing, 

without the life there is no living 

I am the way, the truth and the life thats what Jesus said!

Another great resource is the awesome book Fool Moon Rising  that we got from Westminster Bookstore.

Not only are the illustrations wonderful but the book gets to the heart of most, if not all sin, pride!

About the book, taken from the website: 

Through this illustrated tale about the moon stealing the sun’s glory, children learn about the importance of humility and the dangers of pride.

I should warn you, you will be convicted and challenged to fight pride and cultivate humility!

These are a few of our favorites!!

Sleep

Sleep is one of those things that we wish we could live on less of but seem to want more of.

Parents of little ones (especially mothers) seem to be the ones that have it the hardest!

Around here Miss K has been waking up every night for a few weeks, which has been okay. I have brought her in our room and either cuddled her in bed or made her a pallet in the floor next to our bed.

The bad thing is the past two mornings I have not been able to go back to sleep!

So sleep eludes me again this morning! After a snack of crackers perhaps I will try again.

Pastor & Author C.J. Mahaney in his book Humility (which I somehow left off my list of amazing reads in 2009) says we should welcome sleep as a gift from God as one reminder that were are finite and God is infinite. It is one way to kill pride in our life and cultivate humility!

Along with less sleep, I am going to take the girltalk blog 28-Day Challenege I am going to attempt to join the 5 O' Clock club, except for around here it will look more like 6:30 or 7:00. I am doing these things for the purpose of Godliness, I think a set aside time each morning will point me Godward first, and allow me to better serve my family! Anyone want to take the challenge?

I think I am off to attempt to cultivate some Humility in my life!

Update...

goodness, it has been awhile.

and man have things changed!

I was reading through my last post, the book list. I read a lot more the rest of the year but forgot most of them, that is pretty sad huh :) I can say hands down the best book I read of 2009 was

"The Gospel for Real Life" by Jerry Bridges

in a very close second was

"Becoming God's True Woman" edited by Nancy Leigh Demoss

and an awesome parenting book

"Don't Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman

2010 has started with a bang! I am currently enjoying my Bible Reading Plan!! Woo whoo, I am on it! So far so good! I am also reading "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael" by Elisabeth Elliot and "Because He Loves" My by Elyse Fitzpatrick

I have a reading list about a mile long for 2010 but I am excited to grow in grace!

I am not even sure where to start with and update... well how about this...

We are Ozarkians :) we live in SW MO and have since the beginning of October!

God mowed down a path and called Justin as a senior pastor. We are enjoying our new church family and feel OVERLY blessed to be a part of God's work here. Ministry is never easy but Christ is sufficient!

Kyla is 2.5, wowza! She will be three in May! I cannot believe it. I am getting paid for my raising... this girl talks from the moment she gets happy in the morning (slow riser like her mamma) to the time she closes her eyes to go to sleep! It is unbelievable. I look at her and am feel the goodness of God in my life, she is such a gift. Now don't get me wrong, she is a toddler, and a two year old at that! But I am thankful for this grace in my life!

Look forward to getting into the swing of things again!!

Books I have read..

Surprise, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I just have neglected it!

I started this year with a goal to read 12 books, one each month. I have surpassed that and needed a place to keep up with them. So I figured this would be a good place.

In no certain order

By Liz Curtis Higgs
1. Thorn in My Heart
2. Fair is the Rose
3. Whence Came a Prince

Francine Rivers
4. As Sure as the Dawn

Davis Bunn and Janette Oke
5. The Centurion's Wife

Janette Oke
6. Love Comes Softly
7. Loves Enduring Promise
8. Loves Long Journey
9. Loves Abiding Joy
10. Loves Unending Legacy
11. Loves Unfolding Dream
12. Love Take a Wing
13. Love Finds a Home

Jerry Bridges
14. The Gospel for Real Life

Marilynn Robinson
15. Gilead

Homer Hickman
16. Red Helmet

Paul L. Maier
17. Pontius Pilate

B U S Y!

I know I commited to blog more and I think about it daily however I just don't make the time.

Update: Justin got a promotion, he is now the general manager. He is still learning a lot in the process and trying to stay on top of all those things he needs to do. We are moving, locally but nonetheless we are packing boxes and moving! So my house is more messy than general! On top of that Justin and I are taking a course on Biblical Counseling. We are hoping to become certified. I am also teaching our ladies Bible Study at church. Not to mention the day to day tasks of wife and mommy!

You know what though, in all this craziness I have SOOOOO much peace. God has been so gracious during the dark times that He shines so brilliantly when the sun shines in my life. For that I am so grateful!

Just wanted to give you a very quick update. Here is a picture of miss K I took last week! She is so curious (or nosy) she pushed the kitchen table chair into the living room to the front door and stood on it so she could see out to the snow. Well that wasn't good enough. She took her Dora chair and put it on top of the chair so she could sit there and stare out the window. I thought it was too cute! I guess the open windows were not enough!

Snow Moments

blogged this here but thought you guys might like it too!

Yesterday I got to do something fun with Miss K. I realize she is not going to remember this moment but I will! We played in the snow. Not when you are 20 months old and there is snow you don't walk so great in it nor do you do much in the snow. But nonetheless we got out it in for a bit and walked around. Honestly I think it took us longer to get dressed and undressed than we were outside! But we went and that is what counts.

Some of my favorite snow memories:

When I was a kid I remember my dad making big snow piles! Sometimes they would be snow and gravel but it was still fun to slide down. He would get a tray sorta thing and make a path for me to slip and slide down! It was the coolest!

One of my favorite things would be to walk out into fresh snow, without any footprints! But at the same time I hated messing it up! I remember being pulled behind 4-wheelers on occasion and many snow angels.

I remember mom, every time, making me stand right inside the front door making me take my wet boots and clothes off. She greeted me with a big warm blanket and usually something warm to drink. We had a fireplace to stand or sit by and get roasty toasty! Good times!

My favorite snow memory with Justin comes right after we started dating. He lived across the street from my dorm and as we walked me home one night we played in the snow together. I think many snow balls were thrown and some tackling was involved but we both survived. Being silly college students all we had on were jeans and such so we were pretty frozen but none the less it was great!!

Our very first Christmas we got stuck! It was after work so probably 11:00ish the night before Christmas eve we were turning into the drive way of our apartment and got stuck! We were out there for probably about an hour before we got smart and used carpet for traction! It was not so funny at the time but the next day we both got a good laugh. Anytime we push a car we get a good giggle!

Thanks for enjoying my snow memories with me, here are a few of Miss K in the snow!

and a few of the ice

Pretty much speechless..

Tonight I have been racking my brain over something to blog but nothing worthwhile came to mind! I could write a vent about something silly or fill you in on how useless I have been lately! I could share with you my latest conviction or how I am really tired of the big purple dinosaur, but I won't. Instead I will rejoice! I will rejoice in who God is and what He is doing in my life.

The Lord is my shephard, I have all that I need.
He renews my strength.
The earth is the Lords and everything in it.
The world and all it's people belong to Him.
O Lord I give my life to you.
All day long I put my hope in you.
For the honor of your name; forgive my many, many sins.

(pieces of psalm 23, 24, 25 nlt)

Miss K Update!

I love fresh air! It is in the 50's here today! I have a window open behind my desk and I love it!! Kyla is sleeping and I am enjoying some me time! I am about to finish my latest adorable newborn session but in the meantime wanted to give you an update on Kyla!

She is getting so big, she is 20 months now! She is talking all the time, most things are indecipherable but I usually get it! However her most used words are Momma, daddy, baby, cup, peese, dank ewe, dogga, baba (barney), Boz, beeeeee (blanket), hot, and cold. She make animal sounds too. My favorite is the elephant (which was her first) and also the chicken (mainly because she flaps her arms like wings!!) She is a blast and a joy! Justin and I are very blessed that God allowed us to parent this wonderful child!! I am sure most parents feel that way!

Here are some of the latest images of her:

We were out in the snow for this one (the image in the blog header is here makeshift snow boots! Call me a redneck if you like but it gets the job done :) )

In case you haven't seen these amazing locks in person!!

Just my girl saying cheese for her momma!

Kyla and justin had a midnight chocolate date!

Going for a vintage artistic shot of her lashes and lips!


Thanks for letting a blesses mommy oogle of her little girl!

I am going to try

to blog more! I know most people say that and it does not happen but I am going to make it a goal! When I originally started blogging it was suppose to be like most blogs, a way to get my thoughts out, a way to share my life. And lately it has been rather bare and boring (okay really it has always been this way, sorry!!). I am not even sure how many people read this and really it does not even matter!

So today while miss K is napping I am going to tell you a story...

one day a freshman in college went to this small country church in rural Missouri. She met some really nice people and a very cute associate pastor. After a few visits to this church it was apparent to her and her posse (you know you all have called your friends a posse at some point in your life) decided that they were going to call this their church home. That handsome associate pastor just happened to be the College Age Sunday school teacher. That was fortunate for most of the class was made up of girls!! But really it was most fortunate for her! After a month or so went by she started hanging out with the very attractive Sunday school teacher (she was pretty naive and was not catching on to his interest at this point) in a group setting until one night when they ran into one another. He suggested that they hang out for a bit and chat. So they did.. until curfew that night! He asked if she would hang out with him the next week and she agreed. The following week rolled around and the handsome fellow came to pick up said freshman. Once she jumped into the truck the fellow looked at her and informed her they were on their first date!! Much to her surprise (considering she had on jeans and a sweatshirt!!)! During their conversation that evening he informed her of his interested and she reciprocated and well folks, the rest is history!

How to pray for your pastor

Got this from here thought is was excellent! We need to all be lifting up the men of God that fill our pulpits and lead us feeble sheep!

Pray -

1. That [your pastor] would know and love the living God, would have a saving interest in Christ, being purchased by His blood, and thus would be bound to the Lord by the indissoluble bond of the Holy Spirit.

2. That [your pastor] would know, embrace and ever more deeply understand the Gospel and be shaped by it in life and ministry.

3. That [your pastor] would be useful servant of the Lord, that he would know and love God's word, God's people, and God's kingdom; that he would be used to build it up and so that it prevails even against Hell's gates.

4. That [your pastor] would study, practice and teach the Word of the Lord, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

5. That [your pastor] would love to pray, because he loves to commune with his God, and that he would be a man of prayer, characteristically.

6. That [your pastor] would be ever dependent upon and filled with the Spirit; and that he would possess true Spiritual wisdom.

7. That [your pastor] would be holy unto the Lord. That his tongue and heart would be wholly God's.

8. That [your pastor] would be kept from pride, and especially spiritual pride. That the Lord himself would be gracious to slay pride in him, and that your pastor would endeavor to always be putting pride to death, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

9. That God would give [your pastor] guidance as to where to focus his efforts in ministry.

10. That He would protect [your pastor] from himself, from the enemy of his soul, and from all earthly enemies.

11. That no decision which [your pastor] ever makes or desire that [your pastor] ever pursues would restrict his ability to pour his whole soul into the Gospel ministry.

12.That many would be converted and many built up under [your pastor]'s ministry, to God's glory alone.

13. That the Lord would bless [your pastor]'s wife, [. . . ], with holiness and happiness, Gospel assurance and Gospel rest.

14. That God would make [your pastor] a decent husband and father.

15. That [your pastor] would be a good friend to his wife, and love her self-sacrificially,

16. That [your pastor] would be a good daddy to his children. That they would love God, their parents and the church.

17. That [your pastor] would be a testimony in the home so that his wife might be able to respect him when he is in the pulpit, and so that [your pastor] will be able to feed her soul, along with the rest of the congregation.

2009

Thought this was appropriate to start 2009 with:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

Ecclesiastes 3:1