Hearts in Service

I tried out a new recipe the other day and it was a hit. I made a pot of broccoli- cheese soup. It was one of those recipes that was so good that I thought I would share it. Broccoli-Cheese Soup 1 bunch fresh broccoli 3 cups chicken stock 1/2 onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 Tbsp. olive oil 4 Tbsp. butter 5 Tbsp. flour half and half cream 2 cups grated cheddar cheese salt, white pepper to taste Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil in a large pot until the vegetables are translucent. Add the broccoli and stock and simmer until the broccoli is soft. Place in a food processor or blender and belnd quickly, leaving small pieces of broccoli. Melt the butter and add in the flour to make a roux. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broccoli and stock to roux. To avoid lumps, stir constantly until thickened. Thin to preferred consistency with cream. Add seasonings and grated cheese and simmer for a few minutes, until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Remember this? It's only taken me two years to FINALLY finish it! It's not that it was that complicated. In fact, it was one of the easier projects I've done. However, I was lazy, life got in the way, I was lazy, my carpal tunnel in my hand was bothering me, and I was lazy! I've started another crochet project that shouldn't take more than a few weeks so hopefully, that won't stretch out as long as this one did. Here is the finished product.

II Samuel 22:47 ~ "The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!" Today is the day when I look back over the week and reflect on all the big and small ways that the Lord has blessed me. ♫ Praise God for a wonderful way our church is able to bless a woman from the community by providing her with a place to live. We are getting the church parsonage ready for her, which has been sitting empty for over a year. ♫ The week of snow and rain which is vital for the earth! ♫ Little tufts of green poking their way up through my flower bed, reminding me that spring is right around the corner. YAYYYY!!!! ♫ A much slower paced week, which was very welcome after the crazy weekend I had. ♫ That I was able to discipline myself and exercise everyday this week which did much to lift my spirits. There wasn't anything earth-shattering this week, but it's good to praise God even in the small things. What are you thankful for?

Every October people from our church go on a mission's trip to Chile to help out the organization, Vision for Chile. The group this past October helped to build a girl's home for older girls who age out of the orphanages there. It's called House of Hope. This year we decided to have a Chile Fest with a chili dinner. We had a local Christian band come and perform as well. We had great food! I've never seen so many different kinds of chili. Dinner went from 6:00-7:30 and then the music started. Dan and our worship team performed a song Dan wrote. Then the main event started with the band, Cross Purpose. A good time was had by all, from the older crowd.... To the youngest! We had a good turnout and raised a good amount of money so I considered it a success!

I found lots to be thankful for this week which is always nice! I very rarely have really down and depressed days. I may feel discouraged here or there, but for the most part I'm pretty upbeat. Yesterday though was a day that was just horrendous. I woke up in a crabby mood and I was afraid to open my mouth because I might take someone's head off. I had to go grocery shopping which takes about 3-4 hours because I only go every two weeks and the stores are about 35 miles away. So almost 2 hours of that is driving over back winding country roads. As I was driving, I began to feel sorry for myself and of course ended up crying most of the way there. However, I am thankful because the Lord sent just the right thing to pull me out of my mood. The last store that I went to had roses that were leftover from Valentine's Day. They were in bunches of 6 roses and get this, were $.99 each bunch!! So I got 18 roses for $2.97. I love roses but rarely have them because they are so...

Stephen turned seventeen this past Thursday. The problem we had this year with his birthday was that we had no money and it kind of snuck up on us. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do. Then a light bulb went off. He has been begging us forever for his own room. He and Nathan have shared a room since he was a baby. However, now they are older Stephen seems to really need his own space. We have an extra room down in the basement that we had made into a guest bedroom but it's not heated. However, it usually stays around 60 degrees down there so it isn't too bad and we have a space heater. So after Stephen left for school on Thursday I set to work painting the room. It was pink and I didn't really think he would appreciate a girly room! ;-) Again, we didn't have enough of one color of paint to cover a whole room, but I found a 1/4 can of sandstone and a 1/4 can of white paint and mixed them together and came up with my own color. When I was done ...

My husband did the nicest thing for me for Valentines Day. He bought me a box of chocolate and under each individual piece of chocolate he wrote a little note. I'm supposed to have one piece a day and read my note from him. Wasn't that sweet? I love him so much!

I've been trying to provide healthy snacks for the kids when they get home from school. Stephen is taking thyroid medicine because of a sluggish thyroid. He has no energy and is very lethargic. Emily has major food allergies and will stop breathing with the wrong foods. Nathan, obviously, has a slew of health issues which includes kidney problems. If I let them choose all three of them will pick unhealthy choices for snacks. Usually what they will choose are things that are heavy in carbohydrates and sugar. So I've taken charge of snack time the past week and tried to come up with some healthy, but appealing choices. One thing I've noticed with my children is that it's all about the presentation. If I present the snack in a way that is appealing to the eye, they get very excited. I think it makes them feel like they are getting something special and also that they are important. I know it sounds silly, but it is a way for me to show them my love. I'm alway...

Today is the day to list the things the Lord has done for me over the past week. I want to have a constant spirit of thankfulness so this is a good exercise. ♫ I can truly say that the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. I love my family, church family and life! ♫ After 5 months of almost once a week phone calls, our insurance finally paid a bill that they should have paid from the start. It had gone into collections and was stressing me out because we always pay our bills on time. However, it was a huge bill and supposed to be covered 100% so we battled it out. Praise the Lord, that's over! ♫ I started my first class of Junior Church this past Sunday and it went very well. One of the girls told her mother that she really liked it. My other children workers are happier too not having to deal with a huge age span in Children's Church. ♫ The boys started their new classes for the new semester and like their teachers. ♫ Praise God that I have insurance so ...