Well, this is one of those weeks where the menu is going to be pretty boring. We're headed to my parents for the holiday weekend starting on Thursday, so I only had to plan 3 meals for this week. We have Emmy's Pre-K orientation on Wednesday night, so that will be a fast dinner. Plus, I didn't do a whole lot of grocery shopping, so I planned our meals with what we had here. Lots of breakfast for dinner. Monday- Breakfast. Sausage, Eggs, Hashbrowns. Tuesday- Pancakes. Wednesday- Grilled Cheese and French Fries. Well, there ya have it. Super simple. Verse of the Week I'm tired y'all. Like, my body and my soul. Weary. I'm ready for school to start again so that we can get on some type of schedule. But, the truth is that I've run myself ragged. The day to day here is pretty mundane. But day after day of my own thing has drained me. I'm purposing to commit my day to God, every hour if I need to. My strength hasn't been enough. Thankfully, we can't drain God of his strength! So, this week's verse is a reminder for me that God is already in the next hour, the next day. He knows the struggles, he knows the energy drainers. And He will me rest. The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”- Exodus 33:14 Are you tired today? Is your heart weary? Know that God goes before you, His presence is with you, and He will give you rest today! All we have to do is ask for it! Happy Monday!
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If you asked me 10 years ago to scale from 1 to 10 the amount of fear in my life, the number probably would have been close to 3. If you were to sit me down today and ask the same question, I'd say the number would probably be 8. It's the start of a new week! I think this year has been the fastest of my life. And I'm totally serious when I say that. But, I'm so thankful for all the great memories we've had the chance to make and I'm glad we've still got a few more months to make more! Here in Indy we've already got a few trees that are starting to turn. I can't say I'm upset about that, fall is my favorite season! This is our last full week at home before Emmy starts school so I'm determined to get my "fall cleaning" done and be ready for school to start in 2 weeks! I'm doing another week of all meals at home. We'll be on the run at least 2 nights this week, so some of our meals are pretty simple, but it gets the job done. Monday- Taco's Tuesday- Cowboy Meatloaf Wednesday- Grilled Cheese Thursday- BBQ Country Ribs Friday- Chicken Pot Pie Saturday- Pizza Sunday- Leftovers Nothing really complicated this week! A few family favorites! So, I set another goal for myself for this week. I'm going to start a gratitude journal today. I'm going to write down at least 20 things a day that I'm thankful for. The theme for this week is going to be thankfulness. So, the verse of the week mirror's that. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.- Psalm 13-5-6 This has always been a few of my favorite verses. In fact, if you've ever received and email from you, then you've seen this verse in my signature. This week I'm using it as a reminder of all the things I've got to be thankful for. Why don't you join me in keeping/starting a gratitude journal this week! Happy Monday! For years upon years, my mom always gave me the same piece of advice over and over again. I knew what she meant, but I didn't know how important it was until much later (over the last few years). It's not the typical wear clean underwear or wash behind your ears type of advice. It was more important. It was my mom looking out for my spiritual welfare. There are still so many times now that I hear her voice saying it to me....
Jessica, don't give Satan a foothold. Say what? A foothold. Dictionary.Com defines a foot hold as this- "a secure position, especially a firm basis for further progress or development" Hm. Further progress or development. If there's anything I've learned about sin over the last year is that it consumes. Have you ever heard the phrase- "give him an inch and he'll take a mile"? That is giving Satan a foothold. It's like trying to contain a wildfire. It's nearly impossible. Once you open the door to him a little, you've given him a foothold. Once he's got that foothold, he'll keep knocking, keep pushing, keep persuading until he's through the door. Unfortunately, in my life, I've not always heeded this advice and I've given him many footholds. There are times when I didn't just give him a foothold, but I've swung the door wide open and practically invited him in. There are so many typical examples of this I could give- Someone who's prone to addiction or a recovering addict exposing him or herself to the object of addiction (ie- a recovering alcoholic going into a bar for a Coke). Pushing sexual boundaries farther and farther (when you're not married). Experimenting with drugs, alcohol, dangerous activities, etc. The list could be endless. What is a foothold in my life may not be in yours and vise versa. I'll give you a personal example.... country music. Because of some of the choices I've made in my life, there are many memories and emotions that I connect with country music. When I listen to country music, those memories and emotions start flooding back in. If I allow myself to sit and feel those emotions, to relive those memories, I'm opening that door. A very dangerous door for me. Do I like country music? Yes, I do. Is it a wise choice for me to listen to country music? No, it's not. Every time I made the choice to flip that station on, I'm giving Satan a foothold. I don't want to beat a dead horse here. But I do want to share this advice with you, just as my mom has shared it with me. (And you better believe I'll share it with my kids, too!) Stay as far away from the door as possible. Don't even walk the line. The closer you walk to the line, the closer you get to giving Satan an opportunity to introduce and "further progress or development" of sin in your life! Don't give Satan a foothold today! Happy Friday! I saw this little picture this morning and it was one of those things that made me go... yeah, I know, but...
But, it's not easy. But, it hurts. But, I don't think I'm strong enough. I've found myself saying more often- "Ok, God, right now would be great. I think this is the best time for you to come through. This is the best time to work it out, to make it happen." My list of "it's" is growing longer and longer. Even still, I'm reminded on a daily basis that God is my help, my encourager, my provider, and those hopes and dreams I hide deep in my heart, he knows them. He knows me. And he has a plan for my life that is so much more than whatever I might have dreamed or planned. My problem comes in feeling this vs. knowing this. My heart doesn't FEEL this. My head knows it, but I find this a hard promise to rest in on a daily basis. Because I haven't been resting in this truth, I've become overwhelmed with what is not. What is not working, what is not happening, what seems impossible. I've lost my focus on the good in today and I've started looking so far into the future at the "can'ts and won'ts" that I've been overcome with doubt and frustration at what is happening right now. Lord, help me to rest in the truth that you know me. You know my heart, you know my desire to be more like you. You have a plan for my life that far exceeds the picture I could paint for myself. Give me faith, Lord. And peace. Peace that passes understanding. And create opportunities for obedience. Thank you for THIS DAY, Lord. May I bless your heart today. Rest in God's truth today, even if it's not something you feel deep in your heart. KNOW that God loves you and wants what's best for you- even if that comes in the form of waiting. Happy Thursday! A friend of mine gave me a frozen chicken a few months ago and it sat in my freezer because I was intimidated by it. Finally, I decided to be brave and try roasting it. Normally I just buy the already roasted chickens from the deli area, but once I tried this, I realized how easy it was and I could control what went in and on it. It turned out soooo good the first time, I decided to do it again. A few people asked for my "recipe" if you can call it that, so... here it is... Let me just warn you now. I made this recipe post how I like them, with lots of pictures! And I don't have a nice camera, so you'll just have to deal with my fuzzy out of focus pictures until I strike it rich and can get a nice camera! My ingredients for the actual chicken. I used a young chicken without neck and giblets, 1 onion, 1 lemon, garlic powder, italian seasonings blend, parsley flakes, salt, pepper, and olive oil. And, of course, my roasting pan. Just a better look at the chicken. It was a little over 5 lbs. Ok, I started out by preheating my oven to 425 degrees. I always start my oven before I prep because it takes FOR-EV-VER to heat. (Picture Squints saying that and you get my point.) Then I chunked up my lemon and onion. Then I took my spices, salt, pepper, and oil and mixed them all together. I think I used about 1/4 cup oil. It wasn't exact, and it doesn't really need to be. I stirred it up and set it aside. I stood the chicken upright in my roaster and sprinkled a little extra of my italian spice blend inside the chicken before I stuffed in half of my onion and all but 1 piece of lemon. Once I had it stuffed, I laid it in the roasting pan and poured the oil mix on it (I had to use my hands to get some of the spices off the bottom of the bowl). Then I used my hands and massaged the oil and spices all over the skin of the chicken. Make sure everything is nice and coated. Then I took the last little piece of lemon and squirted a little bit of lemon juice over the chicken. Then I shoved it back into the chicken. Once I had the chicken ready, I used the rest of the onion and some baby yellow potatoes to roast around the outside of the chicken. I drizzled them with a little more olive oil, some salt and pepper, and a little bit of garlic powder. I didn't tie up the legs. I didn't do it the first time because I just didn't have anything to tie it with. I don't really think it affects the outcome at all. I set the timer for 15 mins and put the pan in without the lid. This allows the skin to crisp up a little and keep the juices in (It takes about 5 mins for your house to start smelling awesome!). After those 15 minutes were up, I set the oven for 350 degrees for 2 hours. It cooked for 2 more hours covered. (I dug the potatoes out at about the 1 hour mark, they were super soft.) After those 2 hours were up, I took the lid off and let it cook another 15 minutes to finish crisping up the skin. I don't have a meat thermometer, but I just went by the instructions on the back that said 20-30 minutes per pound. The chicken was 5 lbs, so it had a cook time of 2 hrs and 30 mins. I erred on the longer side just to be safe. Once it was done, I pulled it out of the oven, put the lid back on, and let it sit for about 20 mins before taking the lid off of it. (I may or may not have pulled the crunchy skin off first. It's missing in action now.) It fell off the bone. Literally. I pulled it apart in pieces because when I tried to pick it up out of the roaster, it fell apart. It gave me and 8x8 pan worth of chicken! The breast pieces came off in 2 full pieces. YUM! I have 2 more recipes planned with this chicken this week! Not to shabby for about $7! I just halved the potatoes and served the chicken and potatoes with some chicken gravy. I didn't make gravy with the drippings from the chicken, I just used a jar of gravy (Gasp! Get over it!). Here was my feeble attempt at plate design. Well, there ya have it! It was delicious! Give it a try and let me know how you like it!
Happy Wednesday! So, I've been approaching my house keeping a little differently recently. I was reading another blog a few weeks ago, and she made the point that as a homemaker we might not have employment, but we do have a job- and that job is keeping our home. (I don't really count raising my kids as a job, but more a privilege and blessing.) Anyways, I started looking at keeping my house as more of my job. I set aside specific hours to accomplish that job and work more methodically than I did before. The Lord has really dealt with me over the last month or so on the area of keeping my house. Kind of random, I know, but it wasn't healthy for me to clean like mad for a day and then leave the house to it's own devices (or a 2 and 4 yr olds devices) for a few days. Then get stressed out at the mess and do it all again. It wasn't healthy for me- the mess stressed me out. It made me cranky. Satan used my weakness as a tool to beat me up- look, Jessica, something else you're not good at. Your house will never be presentable because you're just not capable of keeping it clean all the time. What a bunch of junk. I knew that wasn't the truth. But I also knew that I wasn't putting in enough or the right amount of effort. This post might be a little out of the ordinary, but if it's something that will help you, then I want to share it! I want to say right now that this is not in any way a sponsored post. I haven't been asked or paid to promote these products, they have just made my life a lot easier! Ok, so here are a few products that have saved me a lot of time with cleaning! 1. Windex Touch-UP I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff. I can't get enough of it. I use it in my bathrooms and my kitchen. It smells great (doesn't have an ammonia smell) and it cleans really good. AND it's antibacterial. It's so easy to just grab a paper towel, pump it a few times and wipe down my counters, and my toilet in the bathroom. Plus, the pump top locks so I can leave it on my counter and not have the worry about my girls messing with it. It makes actual cleaning time so much faster if I can keep the little messes cleaned up during the day. 2. Windex Multi-Surface It must be true what they say about windex- you can use it for just about anything! When it comes to bigger jobs, or something a little tougher (say scrubbing my burner covers) this stuff is awesome! When I have a big mess, I spray it on, let it sit for a minute or so and it rubs right off! Plus, it's "multi surface" for a reason. I can use it on just about anything. It's kind of a one stop shop. 3. The Works This is the best toilet cleaner I've ever used. Growing up we always just used pine sol on our toilets, but I will never go back or use anything else. This is easy to use, it cleans the best, and seriously, you can get it at the dollar store! A total win win! 4. Awesome If you've never heard of Awesome, then let me be the first to tell you... run, don't walk, to the closest dollar store and get some of this stuff. It cleans just about anything. I've used it on laundry, to clean our carpet, to clean grease, or ink, or clean upholstery. Seriously, the possibilities are just about endless. And again, it's $1!! And sometimes you can even find the half gallon size at the dollar store! My only warning, make sure whatever you are cleaning is color fast! It will remove color from clothes and soft furnishings. 5. The Sun Plain Ole Sunshine! I'm starting to love it more and more. When I'm able, I've started drying my towels and some of my whites in the sun. Why not everything? Because I live in a townhouse in an apartment complex and I only have a patio. I don't have a line to hang things, plus, it's just a little awkward having my stuff hanging all over my patio. BUT, once we move to a house, you better believe I'll have a line to dry my clothes. They smell fresh, the sun kills bacteria, it makes whites extra bright, and it evaporates any leftover smells out of the clothing. Plus!!! It's free!! If you don't like the crunchy feel of the clothes, toss them in the dryer for the last 10-15 mins of drying time or use a good fabric softener in your wash cycle. Vinegar is a good natural option. (Don't worry, the smell washes out!)
Ok, so there ya have my top 5 cleaning products (is the sun a product?)! I hope that maybe you'll give one of these a try to help cut down on cleaning time or just make the process easier! Happy Wednesday! So I missed Menu Monday and the Verse of the Week, so I figured I'd pile everything into a Tuesday blog. My menu for this week is pretty simple. I did a $20 grocery shop. We'll be leaving this Friday morning to head back to my folks house for a family get together for the weekend. I planned most of our menu with the food we already had and just picked up a few snack things to get us through the week. Monday- Ranch pork, mashed potatoes, and peas. Tuesday- Pancakes and sausage. Emmy has also requested cauliflower. Wednesday- Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn. Thursday- Chicken Spaghetti. Verse of the Week I chose a verse this week that we've been pretty familiar with on Definitely.Maybe. It's my theme verse for this year. The last few weeks have been pretty hard weeks for me, and I heard this verse of the weekend and I was like... oh yeah. I knew there was a reason I chose this as my theme verse. I don't even want to forget what God is capable of. And that what he's capable of and what he's planning for my life and for my family is much greater that the circumstances I'm dealing with today. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.- Ephesians 3:20-21
Happy Tuesday! |
HEY, I'M JESSICA!
Christian. Wife. Mommy. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. Saved.Redeemed. Beloved.
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