Egg Dye on the Carpet!!!!!!!

So the day is going super great and then BAM, a cup of PINK egg dye lands on the floor and all over the chair cushion in my dining room. My poor carpet has already suffered a hole being chewed in it by our wonderful puppy, and now this! I had a very uncharacteristic response (usually I would scream and freak out!), but this day I ran to my laptop on my coffee table and Googled "Egg Dye Removal" and VIOLA! There was the glorious and exotic answer to my dilema...wait for it...
Dish soap. Seriously? OK, so I make a strong solution of Dawn dish soap and water (the original formula, not the soft hands kind) and to my extreme surprise, it worked like a charm. There was a three square foot area glowing pink and it is no longer. A miracle! Thank you God for the person who invented Dawn and also for the person who posted this recipe for stain remover ;)

Italian Easter Bread

This weekend I embarked on a journey to conquer my fear of yeast. Yes, I said fear of yeast. I am not sure when this fear set its claws in me, but it held fast all these years. Thanks to Pinterest and the wonderful blessing of technology that lets us put pictures on the internet, I was inspired to finally free myself from this pathalogical fear for good!

I saw a pic of this beautiful braided bread and then saw that it was called "Easter Bread." I was planning to make a super yummy brunch for Easter this year and had originally thought to make scones (another thing I have never tried) but thought maybe I could actually pull this off - with prayer, of course :)

So I took my handy dandy laptop into my kitchen and gave it a go!!

I warmed the milk (a little too much at first, and had to watch it cool to a temp that wouldn't kill the yeast) then added the orange peel and sugar mixture.

Let the yeast "bloom" for 10 minutes then start putting everything in my mixer (THANKS Uncle Jeff).

Now it got crazy. Melting butter, adding yeast mixture, adding LOTS of eggs and trying to keep my mixer from bouncing off the counter. LOL

Now came time to get this sticky mess out of the bowl and onto the counter for kneading. I have been having some serious pain in my hands through to my arms, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from making this bread! dangit! So knead I did. And to my delight it was actually therapeutic rather than painful. Thank you Lord!!!!

Now it was time to let it rise. I was so grateful for the rest. I was getting pretty stressed! Anyway, it rose to perfection and the rest of the steps went off without a hitch. Even though I was up until 11 finishing this bread (I had to bake each loaf separately and let them cool completely before I wrapped them up and went to bed) it gave me a silly amount of joy to accomplish this. This recipe made two HUGE loves, so I was delighted to bring the second loaf to Sunday School at Pilot Rock Baptist Church and let the ladies be my "Guinea pigs." They loved it. I shouldn't feel proud, but I couldn't help it :-/ It felt good to bless them and they blessed me right back. I love it when that happens.

So, Italian Easter bread and my Asparagus, Ham, and Sharp Cheddar Frittata were the main attractions at our Easter brunch. At the table were my wonderful husband, three gorgeous kids and my Mom and step-dad. What a glorious day! Thank you, Jesus, for the opportunity to worship You freely, study Your Word without fear of persecution, have a full fridge and beautiful food on our table, and for Easter bread via Pinterest.

www.browneyedbaker.com via my Pinterest page is where I found this recipe

Good Morning

Isn't it funny how much better you sleep and how much more pleasant morning can be when you fell asleep reading your Bible? Last night I read Proverbs 1 and James 1 & 2. Did you know that some consider James to be the Proverbs of the New Testament? Its funny how God does stuff like that. I have always wanted to read a Proverb a day for 31 days, so I started last night. Also, I have been running into scriptures from James a lot lately and thought that I might start the journey of reading the whole book. If you don't have a Study Bible, may I encourage you to get yourself one? In the study notes is where I found the suggestion that James was the New Testament's version of Proverbs and it changed my perspective in reading it. I love to find the true context of a passage of scripture before I read it. Our pastor in Redmond taught me about that. Thank you Curtis Tucker at Redmond Community Church!!
Anyway, I woke up a little irritated with my dog, Dixie, because we still have to take them out front to do their "business" in the morning as the concrete is still too impressionable and she whined to go out, but then wouldn't pee! Why this irritates me so much, I don't really know, but I am intent on shaking it off. I went into my daughters room and woke up my "babies" with lots of snuggles and kisses - I love it when she lets her brother sleep on the bottom bunk, it makes it easier for me to wake them up for school. Gosh, I can't wait until we homeschool!! But that is a subject for another post ;)
As I was standing outside with Dixie and Flash for round 2, I was bundled up in my husbands camoflauge hunting jacket and stood in the damp air. I heard several different kinds of birds chirping busily as if they were on a mission, and truly it inspired me. I have work to do, too! God has put me on this earth to do good things in his name (See James chapters 1 & 2) and to bring Him glory in every effort. I so desire to earn a pile of treasure to lay at his feet someday. My house didn't get very clean yesterday despite my ambitions, but today is another day and all things are possible with God, so...
By the grace of God go I!!
God bless the reader of this silly blog and bless my efforts today. May the things I do and the words I say bring you abundant joy and bring glory to your name. I love you Lord. Thank you for loving me and dying for me so that I could live!! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Projects

Today my husband and a couple of our good buddies poured 4.5 yards of concrete in our backyard off our side door. It is so wonderful to imagine the new reality of having a mudroom that isn't literally a MUDroom! We were able to get our yard level with the sidewalk on that side and eliminate a step out the door. It is so great I can hardly contain myself! Tom and the boys worked soooo hard and our neighbor, who we previously had no pleasant exchanges with, helped too. It was an all around great experience. Thank you Lord for giving these men the skills to do this and improve the value of our property and improve my life by helping to keep my laundry room clean! You may think this is a small thing, but really people, this is going to change my life! Normally, my washer, dryer, and freezer are completely covered in dirt, dust, mud, dog hair and leaves or whatever else blows into my backyard. Would you want to do laundry or store food in a place that carries that description? I think NOT.
The other amazing thing I mentioned earlier, my neighbor. Its strange how a neighbor situation can make or break how you feel about where you live. Last summer we had an extremely unpleasant encounter in front of my kids and it has had a lasting affect on me and my husband. I have had to forgive him over and over in my heart - practically every time I looked at his house - and think that I have finally been given the grace by God to let it go. I have let it go so completely, in fact, that we have had two lengthly conversations over our fence in the last couple of days. God is so good to have helped to repair that relationship. I truly feel now that we are friends - imagine that!
There is nothing like a big project to shuffle your emotional deck! Tom has a renewed confidence in himself, our bond with our friends has grown and been strengthened, we have a rescued relationship with a previously grumpy neighbor, and my mudroom is mud free! Praise the Lord!! I hope this brought Him glory today.
Amen.

Lemonade

Its funny how life gives you lemons sometimes. I have been having some crazy pain in my hands and feet for about 2 months now and refuse to let my mind wonder what could be causing it. This pain lemon must be put out of its misery and made into lemonade, but how? Simply typing this will haunt me for at least 20 minutes, but if I don't do something I will go mad. The sweet women in my church prayed for me today, I don't know why it took me so long to ask for that. Matter of fact, it was part of my Sunday School lesson, so I guess I was simply following my own advice. I know that God has heard my prayer to take the pain from me, but His perfect timing doesn't always make sense. My sweet beautiful children don't understand that washing the dishes is practically impossible when the pain gets so bad that I would only drop the pots and pans that need to be washed. Making dinner and cooking up hamburger, for instance, is one of the most painful things possible along with holding a bottle for my baby son. I don't ask "why" to God for this situation, I just ask "please help me through it!" That is growth people. The pain makes me lean on Him all the more lately which can only be a part of His plan for my life. If this pain turns out to be caused by something serious, this too would be His will for my life and I must find joy in it somehow. Where is my recipe for lemonade...Oh, it in my Bible...

Joy 2

This study has me thinking of my friend, Jenny, who is a missionary in Oaxaca, Mexico. I skyped with her the other day and it made me miss her so much, but more than that, it made me pray for her. How hard it must be to be so very far from home. Her husband and four beautiful daughters are there with her, but still. Friends are precious and hard to come by when you are in a foreign land. So, this is for Jenny...

In my study Bible, I found some great stuff noted between the beautiful scriptures. First is that Joy, Thanksgiving, and Grace are all related words in Greek. Interesting, but not surprising. They all seem to go together intentionally or accidentally. It feels good to give God thanks and it brings joy to remember God's grace. Its like they are all side-effects of each other. Cool.
Second thing I found in the notes was this: The real secret to a joyful life is in being continuously "filled with the Holy Spirit." The life and attitude of believers are not defined by outward circumstances, but by their relationship with the living God.

Finally, some great scriptures to remember. You may find me walking around with one written on a Post-It stuck to my forehead.
Romans 5:3-4
James 1:2-4
1Thessalonians 5:16-17
Romans 12:12 and 8:28
I would write them out for you here, but I think maybe its better if you open your own Bible and get into God's Word yourself. Look it up! You will be blessed by your effort and time learning about your Creator and loving God.

Joy 1

This Sunday I am teaching Women's Sunday School again and am extremely excited about the topic on my heart - JOY! Lately I have been teaching about how our enemy works, that he is real, that he is realllllly good at his job and that he is powerful. I have been seeing things happen in our world as well as in our little community that seem completely void of joy and wondered what to do about it. Pray was my first inclination. Search the scriptures was my second. Upon searching God's word for encouragement this came to my mind (sort of an intro for my lesson)...

Finding joy during a tremendously challenging time can seem daunting, impossible, or even ridiculous. How can we be joyful at the same time we are sad, or sorrowful, or angry, or frightened, or lost? When the enemy is at his best we find ourselves lacking in the "Joy Department," so what is a little Christian woman to do? What kind of "Joy Reminders" can we hold in our hearts and minds to continually deny the enemy his goal on even the worst of days?

• Be the subject of others' prayers. We have to ask for help in the form of prayer from our sisters in Christ. Community is neccessary.
• Memorize "joy" scriptures. Sticky notes on the bathroom mirror, kitchen window, front door, rear view mirror, or forehead :)
• Remember God's promises. Jesus promised to come back! We have victory is Jesus through the Cross and His resurrection.
• God is merciful and full of grace.
• Wise women seek further wisdom and Godly wisdom produces joy automatically.
• Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.

I have several sticky notes all over my NLT Study Bible. This particular Bible hasn't been my favorite of late and I now think it is because it illicits STUDY. Novel idea :)

More to come. I have studying to do.

Blessings....