On My Mind Again...

First of all...I am not Giada De Laurentiis, and I should not try to be...LOL. Guess I am just a little jealous. She is beautiful, Italian, has been to Italy and Greece, and she is an amazing chef. So I tried to make one of her recipes yesterday. (link is included below if you would like to try it and let me know how yours turns out!) Mine...did not turn out all that great. And what was worse is that I had to spend a lot of money on the ingredients because I could not find the items at Wal-Mart! And there are only two little boys and myself in the house; this recipe made a huge amount, so a lot of it was wasted...well I did freeze the shrimp mixture and I will see if I can thaw it out later and throw it in a linguine and alfredo sauce...we will see. (not quite sure if you can do that...lol) Anyways...I am not the type that gives up easily though, so I will just have to try again with another recipe of hers! The boys and I enjoy watching her shows. I think for the boys it is because she is beautiful...lol...because if I actually get to turn the television to something I want to watch, and if either her or Rachel Ray are on the Food Network, then they will let me watch it! LOL.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/bruschetta-with-shrimp-tarragon-and-arugula-recipe2/index.html

1 ticket to Capri, Italy please?? I know I keep asking...but I am using my manners and saying please!! :)

Is it June yet???

So....if you eat a whole box of Girl Scout cookies while you are walking on the treadmill, does that make it OK? LOL....and no, I did not try this...but only because I am not very graceful. I would probably trip, fall, and crush my cookies to crumbs and that...would be tragic!

I am very excited because my job is offering exercises classes after work three days a week! I am starting to work out again and feel great! If you just make it fun, then you will look forward to working out! I suggest Zumba! It is fun, I love it! Also, get your friends involved. Having a whole gym full of people really helps keep you going. So find friends, and start holding each other accountable and get movin'! Our bodies are the temple of the Lord...we should take good care of them....and believe me...this is coming from someone who has struggled with weight. I was once called obese by doctors. I love food, (hence the Girl Scout cookie comment) and I also use it as a source of comfort...so I very much understand the challenges, frustrations, and heartaches of weight issues. BUT WE CAN DO IT!! We can loose weight, get in shape, and FEEL GREAT!

"I can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:14
Just thought I should include that verse after the above challenge :)

Anyone like chess? The boys and I have really gotten into it and enjoy it...I heard it is the game for very smart people...so yeah, it makes sense that we would like it! LOL...

SERIOUSLY I JUST CLEANED!!! Why, oh why is it a mess again???!!!

"I can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Philippians 4:14
I just needed it again after looking around the house... :)

Spring flowers are already blooming in eastern North Carolina...just saying :)

Count your blessings...and be positive! Because God truly is good...it is not just something we say!

a gift

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God"

We can do nothing to gain His grace, we can do nothing to loose His grace. God's grace is a gift...all we need to do is accept it.

The enemy does not want you to know this. The enemy wants you to live in defeat; constantly feeling like you can not live up to the call of God. This is a lie. My pastor has been talking about this for awhile now because it is so important that we understand the gift of grace. If God still wanted us to be slaves of the law...He never would have sent His Son to the cross to win our freedom.

Walk in the freedom of His grace. Know that His love is unconditional.

The Bible, in Romans 8 (which the whole chapter is very powerful, so many great promises, I am tempted to copy it all) tells us this, " No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. "

If this verse promises that nothing can separate us from the love of God, then why do we let our weaknesses form walls- holding us back from the acceptance of His abundant grace?

You need to know that you are worthy to accept His grace...not by your works, but by the blood of Christ, you are now free. Free from your past, free from your mistakes, free from your list of lies that make you feel inferior or insecure. The forgiving arms of Christ are always open to you, offering gifts of: grace, peace, joy, strength, and love. Take the gifts. Daily accept them. Then live for Him. And enjoy an abundant life in confidence, knowing - Jesus loves you!

stronghold

"The Lord is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life" Psalm 27:1

This verse was given to me by my sweet pastor's wife on our Wednesday night ladies group meeting. She gave each of us a verse to "study" for the week. This morning I was thinking of the word stronghold. She had said a stronghold is something that either keeps something in or keeps something out. Another verse also came to my mind this morning on the way to work as I was thinking about the verse she gave me.

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

These two verses use the word stronghold in different ways. Let's look at the second one because this is what I struggle with and what I need to stand firm in. In this verse it focuses on our powers, from Christ, to demolish strongholds that our enemy sets up in our minds. Do any of these following statements look familiar? They often seem to run across our minds like lit up marques. "You are not good enough." "You are a failure." "There is nothing that can cover up those mistakes." "Wow, those circumstances are challenging, and bigger than you...you should be worried." "No one loves you." "They are not going to love you because you are not pretty enough/skinny enough" "You messed up again." "You might as well stay down, because you are never going to claw your way out of this pit." "You can't do it." "Don't try to step out in faith...it is too scary, what if you fall..." "Just give up."

Sound familiar? Lie after lie that the devil uses to lay brick after brick of strongholds in your mind until you are trapped. Insecurity. Fear. Worry. Anxiety. Doubt. Weakness.

BUT WE HAVE GOOD NEWS! This verse PROMISES that we have the POWER TO FIGHT BACK!! Not only to fight back, but DEMOLISH STRONGHOLDS that try to set up fort in our mind and try to lessen the power of God. AMEN! WE ARE NOT WEAK, SO... DO NOT BACK DOWN!

Pray daily for the peace of God to guard your mind.

Because: God does love you. (John 3:16) You can do ALL things through Christ who gives you strength. (Philip. 4: 13) God's grace is abundant and the blood of Jesus covers ALL your sins and He gives you strength to keep going forward, so forget about your past screw ups! (Romans 5:17) (Philip. 3: 12-14) And no weapon formed against you will defeat you so do not be afraid.

Which leads me to the first verse. JESUS IS OUR STRONGHOLD! He has the power to keep in all His promises (peace, strength, joy, health, power, perseverance, love, grace, and so many more) so that we can stay firmly established in Him and live an abundant life. And He has the power to keep out all those weapons of warfare the devil tries to use to defeat us. There is power in the name of Jesus to destroy Satan's strongholds until they are just grains of sand under your feet! AMEN! There are so many promises in the Word of God that we can stand firm on. Get in the Word and get those verses written upon your heart. Call on the powerful name of Jesus to be your stronghold.

Sunshine

"The joy of the Lord is my strength"

Artwork by Riley, Brayden, and myself

More Randomness

Just some thoughts....yeah..this one is probably more for my ladies to enjoy...ha ha ha.

When your sons get up before the sun comes up on a Saturday...it really stinks.

Someone needs to come take away all my chick flicks...seriously. Why doest thou torture thyself? Just blood and guts, action-packed movies from now on!!! Although...the sexy stars in those movies don't help the loneliness much either....I mean, I am not a Star Trek fan at all...but the latest Star Trek movie with Chris Pine, I can watch that over and over again. And Eagle Eye with Shia LeBeouf....you ladies know what I am saying....see, I am a mess. I need help! LOL.

I wish I could just pick up a guitar and know how to play it like a rock star. (Guitar Hero, although I do rock at that, does not count)

Someone please take me to Italy....

I have not gotten to beat anyone at games in a long time...any takers? Think you can handle it? And I have a new one that puts my random big mouth to good use, its called: Last Word.

I need more flip flops. And warm weather to go with them.

"Dance hard, laugh hard. Turn the music up now. Party like a rock star. Can I get a what now? I swear I'll do anything that I have to...till I forget about you. Jump up, fall down. Gonna play it loud now. Don't care, my head's spinning all around now. I swear I'll do anything that I have to...till I forget about you." -BTR Just a song stuck in my head...

I miss my mom, and all my family, and my grandparents, and my grandpa's blonde jokes, for example; An American, A Russian, and a blonde were talking. The American and Russian were arguing over who was the first on the moon. The blonde jumps in, and says, so what, I am going to be the first on the sun! They tell her, you cannot go to the sun, it is too hot. She says, DUH...I am going to go at night!!

Zumba on the Wii is fun! It is a great workout; we need to remember in the mist of everything, to take care of ourselves and be confident. And always wear a smile :)

Dear Cupid,
Valentine's Day/my birthday is coming up...I am not picky, I will take any of the following: Matthew Fox, Ryan Reynolds, Ty Pennington, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Zac Efron, Taylor Lunter, or Eric Dane.
Sincerely,
Christina

Spend time laughing with friends. A good snorting laugh does your heart good. Along with M&M's...lol. I have awesome friends :) You can pop in Chonda Pierce, "Have I Got a Story for You" and laugh till it hurts!!

When you are down to nothing...God is up to something...

Dear Lord,
I Can't, You can. Please do.
Thank You,
Christina