Savouring the Things of God

But He turned, and said unto Peter, “Get thee behind me Satan: thou art an offence unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”   Matthew 16:23

I remember reading this verse almost ten years ago, when I was a student at Pensacola Christian College. I was in the first semester of my senior year of Nursing School. This verse jumped off the page. It comes after Peter telling Jesus about His upcoming suffering, “Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee.” It seems like an innocent statement: the disciple loved his Master and didn’t want his Master to suffer. In man’s reasoning, this seems a reasonable wish. Why did Jesus rebuke Peter so harshly, comparing him to Satan and stating that Peter had offended God Himself?

Think about it. If Jesus had not become the sacrifice for our sins, we would be doomed to spend eternity in hell with the devil and his demons. There would be no grace, no mercy, no forgiveness, no love. Peter’s seemingly innocent wish would have changed eternity.

That evening, when I read this verse, the Holy Spirit convicted me with the thought, “Do I offend Jesus?” Do I offend Him by wanting my own desires above what He has planned for me? Am I too focused on what is important in Man’s eyes without loving what is important to Christ? At the time, I was feeling sorry for myself because I did not have a future husband lined up, and all my friends seemed to have boyfriends or were getting engaged. No guys were even interested in me. Having a guy was my desire at the time, not God’s. Through the years, God has taken away other desires such as working among unreached people groups in Papua New Guinea, having my first two children born healthy, having a good vehicle to rely on (it was totaled by fault of another driver), and having excellent health. Through all of these disappointments and trials God has taught me to trust Himself. He has taught me that savouring the things of God, even if hard and full of tears and suffering really is the best. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Savouring the things of God involves trust that He knows best, and surrender to His desires for your life.

I wrote this poem that night that God worked on my heart. It has been an encouragement to me many times, and I pray that it would be an encouragement to you. Savour the things of God, that you may not offend, but please our amazing Saviour.

The things that be of God:

The things that be of man:

Which do I savour?

When I feed each

To my soul’s tongue,

I find which to have the better flavor?

Do I long for the things

That please and glorify God?

Do I earnestly seek His favour?

Or do I long for good things

That satisfy my own desires,

Not putting first my Saviour?

Lord, help me to taste

The good things of God.

Let those have the better flavor.

That I may long for God’s desires

Above my own desires,

That I completely please my Saviour.

One Pan Cornbread Stuffing and Roast Chicken Breast

Now that it is Fall, cooler temperatures are coming and the time for having warm savory meals is here. (Or at least I’m wishing that it was cooler, haha! I live in the South, so warm weather will be around for a while longer, but a girl can dream, right!?) Something in the warm savory food group that I’ve always wanted to try is cornbread stuffing. I love cornbread, and stuffing/dressing was always my favorite food on Thanksgiving Day. So, one afternoon I decided that I would try making this cornbread stuffing.

I had some corncakes left over from supper earlier in the week, and decided to use those instead of actually making cornbread. (If you don’t know what corncakes are, it is basically cornbread in pancake form. They are delicious! Blog post with recipe coming soon!) I tore the cakes into chunks and had about 4-5 cups of the corncake chunks. I then added half an onion and two stalks of celery chopped, four eggs, and a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and ground sage. I mixed this together with my hands in the cast iron skillet that I was using to bake it.

 I also had some uncooked Aldi chicken breasts in my refrigerator that I had gotten for $1.69/lb. earlier in the week. I took two of these chicken breasts (they were huge!) and cut each into three pieces, placing them in the stuffing mixture. Over this I poured two cups of chicken broth. I then cubed up three tablespoons of butter and placed it around on top of the chicken and stuffing. Lastly, I sprinkled the top of the chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and ground sage. It smelled amazing! I covered with foil and baked at 350⁰F for almost two hours.

Because the oven was already in use, I placed a few potatoes on the oven rack to bake and cooked a few frozen peas adding butter when done. In less than 20 minutes prep time and 2 hours cook time, we had a delicious savory meal that almost tasted like Thanksgiving! And it only used two dishes to cook it, my cast iron skillet and the pan to cook the peas. The only thing that I would change is the weather outside (it was 90⁰F outside the day I cooked this) and I would make some chicken gravy to pour over the stuffing. But I love my gravy and drowning my food in it; it was good without it, but would have been so much better with the gravy.

Cornbread Stuffing with Roast Chicken Breast

ü  4-5 cups cornbread chunks

ü  ½ onion, chopped

ü  2 stalks celery, chopped

ü  4 eggs

ü  ¼ tsp. ground sage

ü  2-3 uncooked chicken breasts, cut in pieces

ü  2 cups chicken broth

ü  3 Tbsp. butter, cut into small cubes

ü  Salt and pepper to taste

Mix cornbread chunks, onion, celery, eggs, sage, salt, and pepper together in a 14in cast iron skillet (or a rectangle baking dish). Cut chicken breasts into 3 pieces each and place on top stuffing mixture, pressing into the mixture to make top of the chicken piece level with the top of the stuffing. Pour chicken broth evenly over the mixture in the pan. Spread cubed butter chunks evenly over the top of the mixture in pan and sprinkle the exposed chicken pieces with sage, salt, and pepper. Cover with foil and bake in a 350⁰F oven for approximately two hours or until chicken is cooked through. Chicken must reach an internal temperature of 165⁰F to be safe to eat. Serve with potatoes, a vegetable, and maybe some gravy and enjoy!

Serves 6 people.

Healthy Banana Apple Oat Muffins

I have always had a little bit of a sweet tooth, and I love pretty much any kind of homemade baked good, especially any kind of muffin, cinnamon roll, etc. This became a little bit of a problem when I developed Type 1 Diabetes in December of 2010. I could no longer eat such yummy breads to my heart’s content, but rather had to be careful about the amount of sugar/ carbohydrates that I ingested. I at first just cut out/ did not eat many baked goods at all, or ate them and gave myself large amounts of insulin to cover my carbohydrate intake. After several years, I decided to try some heathy recipes that I had found. Most just plainly did not taste good. I finally found a few recipes on pintrest that tasted pretty good, but with a little tweeking tasted even better.

This recipe is one that I created, loosely based on a few different pintrest recipes that I have tried. It is sweetened with mashed bananas, apple sauce, and raw sugar or honey. It also uses whole wheat flour which has a much lower glycemic index than white all purpose flour. This muffin is definitely on the not as sweet side, (my husband says it needs more sugar), but with the addition of some chocolate chips he seems to like it better.

Here is the recipe:

Healthy Banana Apple Oat Muffins

o   1 ½ cups mashed bananas

o   ½ cup applesauce

o   1 cup plain greek yogurt

o   1/3 cup raw sugar (can use honey or agave if desired)

o   ½ tsp. salt

o   2 Tbsp. olive oil

o   2 eggs

o   2 Tbsp milk (can use almond or coconut milk as desired)

o   1 Tbsp vanilla flavoring

o   2 cups whole wheat flour

o   1 cup whole rolled oats

o   1 tsp cinnamon

o   2 tsp baking soda

o   Optional: chocolate chips or nuts to taste

Preheat oven to 350⁰ F. Combine bananas, applesauce, yogurt, sugar, salt, oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla until fully incorporated together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. If desired, add chocolate chips or nuts to the batter. Grease muffin tins for 24 muffins. DO NOT USE PAPER LINERS- The muffins will stick and be ruined unless you want to eat paper with the muffins. I have unfortunately made this mistake! After filling the muffin tins, I sprinkled some rolled oats on the top of the muffins to make them look pretty.

Bake at 350⁰ F for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing from the muffin tins. 

Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.

Hope you enjoy these “healthy” muffins!

DIY Coffee Sugar Scrub

I have been interested in natural hygiene products for several years. To decrease the amount of chemicals in my home and to live a more healthy lifestyle are two main reasons that led me to this interest. One of the natural products that I have tried recently was a coffee sugar scrub. I was excited that I could reuse coffee grounds (I have a lot because I love coffee!) and that it would healthy for my skin. I became even more excited when I found out how easy it was to make and that I already had all the ingredients that I needed in my kitchen! I combined a few different recipes that I found online and made one that worked for me!

First, let’s talk about the ingredients:

Sugar: Since this is a “sugar scrub”, this is the most obvious ingredient. Sugar acts as an exfoliator. I used regular white refined sugar that you can find in any grocery store. You could also use raw sugar if you’re so inclined.

Coffee Grounds: Coffee also acts as an exfoliator. It is also said to provide a natural chemical exfoliation due to the acid in coffee and increase circulation and fat metabolism of the skin. This would definitely cause the skin to be healthier if it is true. I used coffee grounds that were already used to make my delicious drink!

Coconut Oil: The benefits of coconut oil are numerous including being great for skin! It is great for hydrating and decreasing inflammation. My hubby has had great success using it to treat his eczema.

Molasses: In some of the recipes for coffee scrubs that I had found, molasses was an ingredient. This made me curious if molasses was beneficial for skin. In my research, I found that there are several benefits to using molasses for your skin. It promotes healthy tissue growth and can be used to treat burns and wounds. It has also been used to treat acne and as a conditioner for hair. I used unsulfured blackstrap molasses because that’s what I had on hand.

Orange Essential Oil: In using essential oils, its very important to use a pure oil without artificial ingredients. I use DoTerra oils, but I know that there are several other brands that are just as good. Just do your research to be sure that you are using a pure oil. That being said, orange essential oil not only smells good, but its good for your skin as well! It can reduce inflammation, has antibacterial properties, and can be a calming scent for many people.

For my sugar scrub I used these five ingredients and had about two and a half cups of scrub in just a few minutes!

Here is the recipe:

-1 cup sugar (white refined sugar or raw cane sugar can be used)

-1 cup used, dry coffee grounds

-1 cup coconut oil (I partially melted my coconut oil to make it easier to mix)

-1 Tablespoon molasses

-8-10 drops of orange essential oil

I placed all these ingredients in a bowl and mixed them up with a spoon. I stored it in half pint mason jars due to the possibility of essential oils leeching through plastic.

How I use it/like it:

So far I love this scrub. I’ve been using to clean my face every day, and my skin feels so soft! I’ve also used it as a body scrub in the shower with the same results: my skin feels so soft! The orange oil smells really clean and is somewhat calming and invigorating at the same time.

If you try this scrub, let me know what you think. Hopefully, you will love it as much as I do!

Link to an interesting article about molasses: https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/other/health-benefits-of-molasses.html

Back to Blogging

I have not been blogging for over a year, other than my post last November. I thought that I would attempt to explain why in this post. God has led me through much this past year and several months.

I started this blog to minister to others who like myself had suffered pregnancy loss. The name of the blog comes from my two babies in heaven and my prayer for children. In July of 2016, I started a new job in home healthcare. This job took up a lot more of my time with all the charting that needed to be done, but I absolutely loved it. While I was busy learning the new aspects of my job, in August my husband and I found out we were expecting our rainbow baby April 29, 2017. For the first 20 weeks of my pregnancy, I had morning (or all day) sickness. During the pregnancy, I had anxiety that this baby would not make it; I had frequent nightmares of going to my OB office and hearing the awful words, “I’m sorry, we couldn’t find the heartbeat.” Thankfully, I never heard those words. I was in two car accidents, one because I had passed out from low blood sugar levels and the other from someone behind me not stopping at a red light. I lost my job when the company I worked for closed down February 10. February 15, I went into labor and was put on bed rest, and March 4, at 32 weeks, our rainbow baby, Olivia Mae, was born. I struggled after her birth. It felt like I had been robbed of carrying her for 8 more weeks, of taking care of her for the first 6 ½ weeks of her life, of having the experience of birth (I had a c-section because she was breech). Those were dark days in my life.

Fast forward to August 2017. I started getting some pregnancy symptoms and got a test- It was positive! We went for an ultrasound in September and found out that Baby was due March 15, 2018, Just 11 days after Olivia’s first birthday. This pregnancy has been much better than the last. Only 2 days of nausea/sickness, a much better doctor/ midwives, and much less anxiety. I often wonder how I will handle having two babies a year apart. But I am sure God’s grace will prove sufficient. For now I just keep trusting and following Him.

So now you know what I’ve been doing in these months of silence. God’s strength and grace have proved sufficient all the way and He has taught me some things as well. 

Olivia at 10 months old

New Years Eve 2017

Thanking God for the Little Blessings: English Muffins and a Pair of Brown Leather Sperry’s

I’ve been contemplating having a thankful spirit this autumn season. It’s not that I’m not thankful to God for all that He has given me, but many times I just don’t purpose to take the time to notice the little blessings that He brings. As I was reflecting over the little blessings I’ve had over the past few weeks, two of them came to mind that I would like to share with you.

I’m currently 21 weeks pregnant, and although cravings haven’t been horrible, I still get a hankering for something specific now and then. One of the things that I’ve had a little craving for is English muffins, especially cinnamon raisin or anything with cinnamon spice incorporated into the flavor. I just dismissed this, as I didn’t need them and I didn’t want to spend an extra dollar or two on them. And that was that. I pushed fulfilling that little longing for an English muffin with cinnamon out of my mind. That is until this past Wednesday evening at church.  A brother had the back of his van full of bread that he was giving away. Not only was he giving away free bread, but he was parked right next to us. And what was among all that free bread? You guessed it- cinnamon raisin and pumpkin spice English muffins! I said a little thank you prayer to God right there in the church parking lot for provision not just for my needs, but my silly little wants as well!

Now about the shoes… I’ve wanted a pair of brown leather Sperry shoes since I was a freshman or sophomore in college. That’s 10-11 years! This was definitely a want and not a need, therefore I could not justify spending what Sperry’s cost just for a silly want. I have almost purchased knock-off Sperry shoes, but just didn’t like the way they looked or fit. A few weeks ago, I threw away my brown casual shoes, because they no longer fit my post baby foot and they were falling apart (I had owned them since freshman year in college). I mentally made note that I should look for a pair to replace them. The very next day, a sweet friend from church posted a picture of brown leather Sperry shoes that were exactly the right size! She was decluttering, and decided to post some things to sell on Facebook. The best part is that they looked almost new, and she was only asking $10. Another prayer of thankfulness to my amazing God! He had not only provided for my need of brown shoes, but also provided one of the nicest most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned or wanted!

This Thanksgiving season and beyond, let’s not forget to notice the little blessings that God sends our way. Let’s thank Him for His daily provision for our needs, and for even providing for our silly little wants just because He loves us.

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”  Psalm 100:4

Broken or Blessing?

Last night in our midweek service, a sermon was preached that really pricked my heart. Brother Ed Loney preached out of Mark 6:31-44. This is one account of Jesus feeding the five-thousand. The entire sermon was great, but two statements that he made toward the end of the sermon really made me think. The first was, “The true blessing was not the blessing, but the breaking.” This was referring to verse 41, where Jesus blesses the five loaves and two fish, then breaks them. If Jesus had not broken the loaves to distribute them, those five-thousand men, not counting women and children, would not have been blessed with a meal.

               The second statement was “A refusal to be broken is a refusal to be blessed.” How many times have I begged God not to brake me? How many blessings have I missed because I was not willing to be broken? Even still, what blessings have I missed due to my incorrect response to being broken?

               God must have wanted to emphasize this theme of brokenness to me today as well. As I was driving home from work, a ladies’ program was broadcasting on the local Christian radio station. The woman that was speaking (I do not know her name) was speaking on suffering and brokenness. She stated that so many times our broken periods, the awful things that happen to us, are really God’s blessings in disguise. God breaks us because He loves us. She gave the example of her and her husband’s struggle with infertility. She could not understand why God would not allow her to bear a biological child. She then told a story of a little girl in China, who was born in deplorable conditions, unwanted and rejected by her biological parents. That little girl is now her daughter. If God had not caused both of them to be broken, they would not have the great blessing of being mother and daughter.

               So what blessings have I received from my brokenness? God broke me in 2010 when He allowed me to develop type 1 diabetes. Because of this diagnosis, my plans, dreams, hopes of going to Papua New Guinea as a missionary nurse/linguist were crushed. I was broken- more broken than I had ever been. My whole reason for existing had been taken from me. My blessings? Learning to trust God, even when He does not make sense to me. Being weak, having to rely on insulin to keep me alive, allows Christ to be strong through me and teaches me that I am nothing without Him. God broke me again at the beginning of this year when He allowed me to experience two miscarriages. I am still discovering the blessings from this brokenness. I feel some new brokenness each time I see a pregnancy announcement, a baby belly picture, a gender reveal. When I feel this brokenness, I have a choice. I can choose to focus on being broken, choose to focus on what I am missing, what has been taken away from me; or I can choose to focus on what I can gain by trusting God and allowing Him to lead and teach me through this brokenness.

               “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”    -Psalm 34:18