Carpenter of Souls

My dad is a carpenter by skill.   His ability is a gift of generations he uses in his spare time. I've seen him use many tools in bringing to life, a vision. Tools used to mold his workmanship from what it is not, to become what it should become. 

My Heavenly Father uses many tools to perfect His work in us. At times He may use His goodness and grace to grab the heart's attention. Other times, His mercy and love are refining. But there is a tool He donated that requires our hands in commitment to use. 

His Scripture.

His Words displayed in the Bible are designed to sand down the rough.
Chisel away at the heart.
Coat us with joy and peace.
And even pound us to the core.
...all to refine the souls of His work. 

Here's where it gets exciting! 
God sent a declaration to perfect His work. A promise that all the refining would be complete. He sent the One who promises perfection to the life dedicated to the refining of the soul! 

I love the SwEEt connection that the Refiner sent by my Heavenly Father was a carpenter by trade, on earth. (Mark 6:3)

Once, Jesus was an earthly carpenter. 
Now He's the Carpenter of Souls at the right hand of the Throne in heaven!

God, give me surrender to your tools of workmanship and the hunger to allow your BiBLe to refine my heart and soul.  Shape me from what I'm not, to what I need to become.

Matthew 4:4
...man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

S' Mores Crispy Treats

S' Mores Crispy Treats

This is surely not a recipe for meticulous measures ;)
I was in a rush to make something for a Sunday lunch and this is what resulted. Do, bare with me as my ingredients are centered around the word "about".

What Ya Need.
* Marshmallows (about 20 regular)
* Cinnamon square cereal ( ehhh.. about 2 cups)
Use more if you are not using ring cereal.
 * Honey Nut ring cereal OPTIONAL (however much you need to compensate for the lack of cinnamon squares )
* Butter (3 tbsp.) I guess ;)
* Mini Chocolate Chips (however many u want)

So, if you are still with me, you apparently are a person of non specifics ! Glad you are.

What Ya Do

* Melt marshmallows and butter on 2-3 in ssucepan. I used 9 giant ones but translated for those who had normal ones.
* Pour in cereal. If I had all cinnamon squares, I would have only used those, but I substituted with ring cereal.
* Pour and mix until it looks gooie enough to get into pan, but will not be too gooie to harden into cut able squares.
* Pour and level into greased 9 inch pan.
* Sprinkle with mini chips.

Easy.
Hope it works :)

Keurig Coffee Machine Cleaning! EaSy!

Keurigs are excellent. We have had ours for about a year and a half, although we  have not cleaned it until just recently. I made and tested a simple method of cleaning not just the reservoir, but the tubing .

I thought about a  dishwasher cleaning method i had heard of and used myself. Placing a cup with vinegar top rack and shaking baking soda around the bottom portion of washer... then run a cycle.

**I also incorporated the Keurig method from "A Few Shortcuts" and "cleaningmyspace.com" that i have on my Pinterest boards.

The method itself and the details of amounts are my own.

So,  used the same tried and tested concoction.

Simply, here goes!!

I hope you enjoy estimates because this does not require exact measurements.

What Ya Need:
Baking soda
Vinegar
Dish Detergent
A fill-your-own pod for Keurig

What Ya Do:
Empty your reservoir and pour apx. 1/2cup vinegar and 1 1/2 cups water. Enough to run two cups through machine. Now use a pod that is meant for loose coffee or tea and fill almost full with baking soda. Run two full sessons through the machine as if you were brewing coffee. Now empty the baking soda carrier and wipe details of visible coffee remnant out of port. Empty reservoir and wash with soap and water. Now fill with enough water to run three more cups. Simply run three more cups and watch the transition from dark brown water to clear water.
I think you will be surprised at how much  remnant is in your first run of cleaning.
My machine has worked perfectly.

* I have to disclaim that this is simply a home tested cleaning method and I cannot prove its result other than it produced dark water and gradually became lighter with the progression of cleaning. Attempt at your own curiosity :)

Here's to happy coffee.!!

Demetria

28 Day Love Prayer Challenge

We pray many prayers. Among our requests, could it be that we have overlooked one most precious.
The prayer for LoVe.
Our Heavenly Father henges extreme importance on this simple element in our lives. Jesus reveals in Matthew 22: 37-39 that LoVe is THE element in which we should abide.
Matthew 22: 37-39 And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
We often run through our days, low on LoVe. It's possible that we are at times, running on empty.
New Hope Ladies are committing to a challenge.  We desire to see how a simple daily dedication to prayer for LoVe could affect our lives and the lives of others.
If you would like to commit to the Challenge, allow God to reveal personally as to your reviving needs. Although you can make your prayer your own, there are some elements that you may find helpful as you seek His pouring out.
Some elements you could include in your prayer:
- Heavenly Father, shape my heart to Love You More!
- Lord, mold my heart to accept your unfailing love more purely and with more assurance.
- Open my eyes and ears to recognize the little amazing gifts of grace you bestow, simply because of your love for the world.
- Bring to memory, the life of Jesus, my Savior and His displays of love for His children. And give me strength to love others as Jesus continues to love me.
- Refresh my mind to the attributes of love (I Corinthians 13: 4-8) and fill my home with its outpouring.
 - (Hardest to pray) Help me see myself through your loving eyes. That I may truly know how valuable I am to you, and be able to love your creation with all my strengths and weaknesses. (Pridelessly :)
- Lord, let your love be the root of all that I am and all that I do, and in my service to you.
- Fill me, that I may overflow your love to others.
28 days in February.
28 prayers for LoVe.
1 yOu.

Walking With the Master

Each day we wake in this life contains a mirage of blessings to be discovered. Every day is the dawning of a new path.  Just as blessings are a possibility, our paths can also be mingled with uncertainty.

Where the path will lead and what the days may hold, is a mystery to be unvailed as we take our journey. Often times the uncertainty twists it way into concern, then worry and anxiety. Blessings too often turn to grey as our doubts take full color.  We view our uncertain future and earthy existance, in much the same way. 

What would the path be like if everyday was surrendered to walking with the One who created it? The worries and frets about our day ahead and the years ahead, take an amazing turn when we do something simple that God desires from us. He desires, at the waking of each day, the dawning of each path, to hand the day to the Master. 

There's no better trail buddy than the One who knows all the answers!  Day surrender. Worries ceased.  Future secured.  All because of the Master. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                         

                                     John 13:13
                       You call me Master and Lord;
                                 and you say well;
                                     for so I am.
                                          (KJV)

Key Lime Pie Muddy Graham Bites

These are a little explosion in your mouth and will liven up any party.  Super simple to create.  I found what I had been looking for in the grocers the other day... miniature graham bites!  They are a new item from Keebler.  Little squares of graham about an inch in diameter.  Perfect for snacking and perfect to create little key lime bites to pop in your mouth :)

What Ya Need:
3 cups miniature graham cracker bites
1 cup white chocolate morsels
1 packet of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations (Key Lime)
1 cup of powdered sugar

What Ya Do: 

1)  Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave on 45 second increments. 
2)  While they are melting, place the packet of frosting creations with the powdered sugar in a large plastic zipper bag.  Shake to create a lime colored (flavored) sugar mixture. 
3)  Stir the melting chocolate chips to make sure all are melted. 
4)  Measure 4 cups of the graham cracker bites in a large bowl and stir the melted chocolate into bowl.  Mix the cereal until all is well coated. 
5)  Directly transfer the coated graham bites into the zipper bag and shake.  These do stick together a bit,,, so periodically, open the bag and pull apart the sticky cereals.  Continue to shake until all are separated and coated. 
6)  When they are all coated, open the bag and take hand-fulls out of the bag and sift with hands, to release remaining sugar mixture from the graham bites. 
7)  Place into a bowl or serving dish.  I added chocolate chips to the mix to give a taste of chocolate covered key lime pie.  This is optional. 

You Totally RoCk: Valentine

Such a cute Valentine: 
Keebryn and I worked on this and they turned out totally "Rockin" ;) 

They are fairly cheap to create and I have created a template for you, so that you can simply right click and save to your computer to paste into a blank doc.  The image of the heart with wings was found by doing a Google search.  The heart image is not mine, however, I designed the remainder of the Valentine. 

What Ya Need: 

Packs of Pop Rocks
Template for the Valentine
Stapler
Clear treat bags

What Ya Do:

OK... it's fairly simple. 

1) Make sure you have your supplies and have enough for each kido you will be donating these to.
2)  I would print off the template first... It is the image below.  What you do is right click and download the picture.  Then open a new blank document and place this into the page, twice.  Only two will fit onto a page.  I suggest that you print just one and practice the folding (below) before printing all needed.  Practice the folding to ensure they are measured correctly. 

 

3) As they are printing, let your kido write their Valentine's name and their name on the "To" and "From" lines. 
4) Then it's folding time.  As you cut these out, cut very close to the line on all sides, EXCEPT the top.  Leave about 1/3 of an inch on the top.  This will help line up the writing in the center as you fold.  After they have written on the card, fold it by meeting the two ends and make a fold.  Check to make sure it folds. 
5) Now allow your kido to stuff a packet of rock candy into one of the clear bags. 
6) Fold down the top until the top reaches almost the top of the rock candy.
7) Now place the folded card stradeling the bag and staple on both sides.

Super simple!