SOAP–Luke 7–Your faith has saved you

Scripture: Luke 7:50

And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Observation:

Jesus spoke directly to this woman about her faith and her specific spiritual need. I’ve always loved this passage and how Jesus addressed this sinner of a woman directly and specifically, without heed to what the others around him thought of that.

Application:

Oh, that I would remember that Jesus speaks to me in the same way! I would say that I’ve been having a rough time drawing close to God through my own preoccupations with the everything else of life; mothering, keeping house, keeping sanity, growing another baby…the list goes on. And yet, in the midst of all that, Jesus speaks to me directly and specifically. Will I listen??

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for being gracious to us and desiring to speak directly to each one of us, including me. Father, I pray you would help me STOP and LISTEN to what you are speaking into my life, directly or through others. Thank you that you constantly draw me closer to you, help me to reciprocate. Amen.

 

~S

Countdown to Christmas–Day 14

Day 14 of our Advent activities was to take a ride on the Minivan Express. After watching the Polar Express the day before, I thought they would like this AND I found a great printable. The kids loved it!

Basically, we got in the van after dinner with some hot chocolate and drove around town for an hour looking at Christmas lights. We started at Woodward, which Kahlen actually remembered from last year (for those non-local people, it’s a corporation that has a long driveway that they deck out every year with lights, little buildings, and music), then drove around and just enjoyed looking at the lights. They didn’t want to go home, they were both having that much fun (that, and I told them it was time for bed when we got home)

~S

Wordless Wednesday–December 14

~S

Linking up at:

Countdown to Christmas–Day 13

Day 13 of our Advent activities was to watch The Polar Express. Done. No fancy pictures, how do you take a picture of watching a movie? I did get a few other pictures today though…

 

“Making” Marshmallow Snowmen…the marshmallows are supposed to go on the paper.

 

This is Nate “watching” Polar Express…he’s hijacked daddy’s broccoli and Kahlen’s mp3 player.

~S

Tasty Tuesday–Cookie Edition / Countdown to Christmas–Day 12

 

Day 12 of our Advent activities was to bake Christmas cookies and then give them to neighbors. I’m sneaking in my Tasty Tuesday post here too ;)

We went to my mom’s to make the cookies, partially because she has a much bigger kitchen and partially because of the way my darling husband is with having a messy kitchen.

ANYWAY, we had a good time. Made a ton of cookies. I actually lost track of how many different recipes we made, I think I’m missing a few.

Clockwise from bottom left:

Oatmeal Scotchies

Ginger Crackles

Glitter Balls with Creamy Ginger Filling

Cranberry Cinnamon Bars

Choco-Coco Cookies

White Chocolate Coconut Balls

Maple Leaf Cookies

Chocolate Moose Cookies

This is one of the trays that I gave to a neighbor. The links should take you to the recipe on RecipeMonki, let me know if they don’t work for some reason and I’ll repost.

~S

Linking up at:

SOAP–Luke 6–PRAY

Scripture: Luke 6:12

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.

Observation:

Again? Really? Yep, really! Jesus is showing his commitment to prayer over and over in Luke so far.

Application:

I am still feeling very convicted by my lack of time committed to prayer; by my need to pray; by my need to make the choice to spend time praying. With that, I’m headed to bed even though I’m a day behind. Getting up early is not a choice I *want* to make. And yet, I do. You understand.

Prayer:

Father God, I pray that you would help me to make the choices that are required to have the time to pray. I thank you again that you desire me to spend this kind of time with you. I thank you for fellowship with a friend this morning. I pray you will wake me up again tomorrow morning and help me to make that hard choice to get out of bed so that I can spend time with You.

~S

Review and Giveaway–Little Leaf Diapers Travel Wetbag

It’s Speak Up Saturday! Time for a review and a giveaway!!

An acquaintance of mine through church makes and sells these nifty diapers along with burp cloths and wet bags.

Here’s a bit about the company and the diapers:
At Little Leaf Diapers we love children, so we want to help you find ways to save money and time so that you are free to invest more time in your   kids. Our motto is: “Revolutionizing Cloth Diapering”, and that is exactly what we have strives to do. Our cloth diapers are revolutionary not only because they will save time, money, and our environment; but they have some great features that are not out on the market in other stores. Not only will  this diaper adjust to go from infancy to potty training, but it also allows you to reuse the shell over before laundering which means that you will not need to buy as many diapers as other brands recommend. Our cloth diapers also come with adjustable elastic that will allow you to get the best fit around the legs and lower back, plus it can be replaced down the road if it stretches out with repeated use over the life of  several children.
While I have not had the opportunity to try the diapers, I was given a wet bag to review. I would love to get the diapers too, maybe someone can get me some for Roo (hint, hint). ;)
The wet bag I received is excellent, I love it! It features a drawstring closure, a snap pocket on the outside for wipes, and a waterproof lining.

The pocket on the outside will hold either a travel pack of wipes, like the kind you can get at Target, or even one of those small travel cases for wipes. You could also store an extra paci in the pocket (like I have) or just about anything else.
The bag is easy to launder as well, I just wash it with my diapers when it gets too stinky.
Because I don’t really need to carry a whole big diaper bag when I go out these days, I really love the size and features of this wet bag. I stick a clean diaper inside when I go out, and then I just have to carry the wet bag and nothing else, perfect!
To be honest, I really can’t think of anything else that I would improve. The size is great, the features are good for their purpose, and the pocket on the outside is genius!

Wait! Did I say giveaway?
I love my wet bag so much, I thought one of you needed one too!