Saturday, May 16, 2015

Mom Stories #4 - Ivory Knife from Africa

I had been given a hand-carved ivory letter opener as a gift in college from my employer at a world missions agency.  One morning on Bob's way to work he decided to pick it up and take it to the office to use as a letter opener. 

Ten minutes later Bob pulled up in front of our inner-city church and opened his car door to get out. At the last moment he remembered the knife-like letter opener and reached in and grabbed it off the front seat with his right hand. As he stood up and closed the car door he heard someone right behind him. He turned around to see who it was and was holding the knife.

It was a young man with a stocking cap partially blocking his face.  The moment he saw Bob's knife, he turned around and ran in the other direction at full speed.  
 
Did a gift sent from half-way around the world in Africa save Bob's life? This much is sure. Out there is perhaps some would-be robber who has to wonder just what kind of pastor carries such a knife to work with him. 

"Because the Lord is my shepherd; I have everything that I need
."
Psalm 23:1

Dear God, Thank you for your hand of protection and watch-care.  In the name of Jesus, Amen

When has God rescued you from your enemies?

Friday, May 15, 2015

Mom Stories #3 - The Wonder of Life That I See Through My Children

The ceiling fan will never hold more than a 40-pound child…though it is definitely less expensive than taking your child to Six Flags Great America. 


The backyard swimming pool is not a bubble bath.
Salt, pepper and milk are not fish food.
Finger painting is a good hobby. Finger painting the front door is not a good hobby.
A good sense of humor will get you through most problems in life.


"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting."
Job 8:21


Dear God, Thank you for the wonder of life, love, and laughter I see through my children.  In Christ's name, Amen

Can I still laugh at something my kids do just for fun?


Thursday, May 14, 2015

Mom Stories #2 - If God Permits

The home next door to us was going to be renovated.  It really needed an extreme makeover. Someone had purchased it at a good price and was planning an extensive rehab before selling it again.  

Construction workers started working on it one day and then did not return for months, possibly a whole year.
  We found out from our Village Hall the construction company did not have the necessary building permits, so they were shut them down temporarily until they secured the correct ones.

Otherwise, haphazard work could be done which is dangerous to the occupants or neighbors.  A collapsed roof, a door that opens the wrong way or windows that can't open could occur.

"And this we will do if God permits." Hebrews 6:3

Dear God, I want to know your heart and Word, so this verse will be true in my life every day.  In Christ's name, Amen

Am I ever quiet enough to listen to the Voice speaking to me and willing to hear? 

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Mom Stories #1 - Because of the Rain


My car was in the body shop on a rainy day in September.  I needed a few specific groceries to finish a recipe for dinner, but it was raining too hard to ride my bike. Trying to get something else completed on my list, I went to the garage to clean a little. Deciding to make an area in the garage for the camping equipment, I opened my husband's vintage cooler he had taken on a father-son fishing trip in June. Inside the cooler, I found a lot of canned and boxed groceries.  He had obviously not used up everything on his fishing trip.As a family, we enjoyed a great dinner as we thanked God for his provision of unexpected food I discovered because of the rain.
"And my God will meet all your needs accourding to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Dear God, In the morning, afternoon, and evening, may I often thank you and tell others all that you have done. In Jesus' name, Amen

What three things has God done lately for you, your husband, your children, your parents or your siblings that you can tell someone about today? 

Chocolate Blueberry Almond Cake - Mom Vegan Slow-Cooker Meals

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup Coconut or almond milk
2 cups Organic blueberries (if frozen, thaw first)
1 cup Maple Syrup
1/2 cup Coconut oil or vegetable oil
1/2 cup Applesauce 
1/4 slivered almonds 
Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup Dark Hersheys Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Baking powder
1 1/2 Baking soda
1 3/4 cup Flour (your choice of flour)
3 Tablespoons Flax Seed Powder

Directions:
1.  Mix wet ingredients softly.
2.  In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.
3.  Mix contents of both bowls together.
4.  Pour into prepared pan or slow cooker.

Bake in a prepared slow cooker, covered, and on high setting.  90 minutes, then check.
OR
Bake in a prepared glass pan 9in x 9in.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake 40 minutes, then check.


Serve with fresh blueberries.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

STORYTELLING IN A DIGITAL AGE CONFERENCE – ONLINE CONFERENCE with Bob and Cheryl Moeller

Still not too late to join for this time...


Tuesday Evenings, 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., April 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2015

Venue: Online
Cheryl Moeller’s “Storytelling in a Digital Age Conference.”
For those that register, I will send a link for you to click on for a google hangout group.  It’s real easy to click on and join at the given time.  You need a gmail address and a webcam.
The conference covers Storytelling, Writing, Blogging (Social media, too), Speaking, and Publishing.
10 Editing Hacks
14 Commandments for Bloggers
6 Best Ways to Speak Nationally
Publishing Your Way
New this session:  Bob Moeller will do a one hour session one of the evenings (April 14) on “The Art of Storytelling.”
Cheryl Moeller, M.A.R., was a literary agent from 1992-2002.  She received her first book contract in 1998 and has authored or co-authored 10 books.  Cheryl’s Books

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Everything's Coming up Peeps

My sister, Carolyn, lives near the Peeps factory in Bethlehem, PA. No factory tours but there's a retail store nearby (retails stores also at Mall of America in MN and National Harbor in MD).

 If you like Peeps but not the sugar there's many "sugarless" gifts such as charms, stuffed animals of all sizes, and paperweights. 


Who needs the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile, when you can follow the Peeps Mobile or Peeps Bus? 


Now, 3 flavors of Peeps milk... probably NOT available at Whole Foods Grocers or Trader Joes. smile emoticon

Decorate your beverage glasses at Easter brunch or dinner with a Peeps propped up at top.

Make a wreath for your front door to welcome guests to your home (my wreath). Hint: you don't need to use glue, just wet the back of the Peeps 
smile emoticon 

Everything's coming up Peeps in this hostess dress.

I love this list of art contests using Peeps: click here

Monday, March 23, 2015

STORYTELLING IN A DIGITAL AGE CONFERENCE – ONLINE CONFERENCE

New this session:  Bob Moeller will do a one hour session one of the evenings (April 14) on “The Art of Storytelling.”


April Tuesday Evenings, 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., April 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2015


Venue:Online

Cheryl Moeller’s “Storytelling in a Digital Age Conference.”

For those that register, I will send a link for you to click on for a google hangout group.  It’s real easy to click on and join at the given time.  You need a gmail address and a webcam.

The conference covers Storytelling, Writing, Blogging (Social media, too), Speaking, and Publishing.

10 Editing Hacks
14 Commandments for Bloggers
6 Best Ways to Speak Nationally
Publishing Your Way

Cheryl Moeller, M.A.R., was a literary agent from 1992-2002.  She received her first book contract in 1998 and has authored or co-authored 10 books.  Cheryl’s Books


In 2009, she also began to teach writing conferences to now over 600 people.  Sign up so you don’t miss one blog post –  Cheryl’s Writing Mentor Blog posts Click here

Suggested donation for the four day (evening) conference is $75 ($25 will count as fee for service, $50 you will be receipted for as tax deductible).

Please feel out form below. Click here

Donate on paypal or snailmail today to reserve a spot. Click here

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A Mom Who Embellishes on Facebook:


Put on facebook:  We remodeled our entire family room.

Actually:  I picked up all the toys for the first time in two years and discovered we had a different color of carpeting than what I had remembered.

Put on facebook:  I had lost over 50 pounds and was feeling terrific.

The truth:  I left the trunk open in our car coming home from Best Buy and our new television fell out on the tollway. It weighed about 50 pounds and I feel terrific that the police aren’t pressing charges for the 21 car pile-up I started.

Put on Facebook:  You may remember my telling you about our trip to California and how it gave us all stomach flutters to see wave after wave.

Actually:  We all had supper one night at the California Pizza Kitchen and got food poisoning and the wave after wave was actually…well you get the idea.


Cheryl  

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

FIFTY SHADES OF PORN FOR WOMEN


BY CHERYL MOELLER

I am always interested in how we as women rationalize our sin and I certainly see myself in the reasoning at times. 

A seminary student told us she is going to the Fifty Shades of Grey Movie because anually she watches the Oscars. She likes to have watched each film that year, so she can make an honest opinion if the Oscars have chosen correctly on the winners.

Are there any redeeming characteristics to porn? No. Good porn is an oxymoron.

Some of my acquaintances have complained about their husband watching porn, but they have gone alone or with their husband to every PG-13 (yes some of them are raunchy at least at the plot level if not more) and R Rated movie, without saying, "No." Maybe they did not watch it to make their husband happy, maybe they wanted to watch it for themselves. They are now worried because their husband is watching porn even though they have been watching it with their husband for 25 years.

Porn is not going to help you, your husband or your marriage. The old excuse that it's "just the two of you" is not going to impress God. It's not "just the two of you", it's also the two or twenty people in the porn pictures or film.

Some feel as though because they have not said, "No" in the past, it would be hypocritical or too hard to start now. What if your kids used that reasoning about something they need to quit?

If you haven't started saying, "No," the time to start is now.

It's porn.

I have heard the compromise excuse that somehow there is only five bad scenes in a certain movie. If those scenes were put into flash frozen photos and made into a magazine, it would be 100 pages of porn.

At first many thought Fifty Shades of Grey was a man's fantasy, but actually the books and movies are targeted to women. In the interest of never denying ourselves in Modern America, isn't it interesting that instead of flourishing, we have encased ourselves as slaves from some time travel to the past, gone horrid, like torture chambers from the Middle Ages.

The truth or should I say, the trick here is that Hollywood is teaching to love a woman is to torture a woman. The real truth is a woman bleeding from being beaten with a whip is hate, not love.

God is against porn, but not to take your happiness away. Porn is like drinking a swimming pool full of pickle juice to quench your thirst.
 
In the end you will not be satisfied, instead it will bring destruction and death to a relationship.

A revival is a husband and wife turning to Christ in complete humility and saying we are lost and undone without you. We desperately need Christ in our relationship for He and He alone is the source of love, hope, honesty, and true intimacy.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalms 51:10

Leanne's Caramelized Onion Quesadilla


What's for dinner?   

Leanne's Caramelized Onion Quesadilla



Ingredients: 
5 large sweet or yellow onions, peeled and cut into thin slices, caramelized with 2 TB of brown sugar.  Caramelizing onions on stove top in a frying pan takes about 1 hour on low heat, stirring every 10 minutes.  Don't leave the kitchen!

                        Leanne and her sister waiting for their onions to caramelize

Package of soft tortillas (can use spinach tortillas)
Low fat Mozzarella Cheese  Some of the family will put a TB of
1/3 lb. of chicken breast cooked with taco seasoning/water, shred your meat

This is very good also with just caramelized onions and cheese and microwaved for 25 seconds.

To show you what the caramelized onions look like  Click here
I caramelize mine with 1 TB coconut oil and a little water and the brown sugar.

Serve with a chopped salsa, fresh tomato or avocado.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Our Son Stood Strong

'Twas a February day in an Illinois middle school classroom, Carleton Washburne School, where one of our older sons was a student.

The teacher asked all those opposing abortion to line up on one side of the room and those that saw no problem with this perfectly "legal" option on the other side.

More and more stipulations were given and more students went to the pro-abortion
side of the classroom.  

When at last our son was the only remaining student on the pro-babies, pro-life side of the classroom.  

Shaming, bullying, and intimidation was used to tell him how simply being the minority, the only one, was reason for him to believe he was wrong.  He stood strong.  

God loves all babies.  We love all babies.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart". Deut. 6:5-6