Forgiveness

I'm back again, and I hope to keep this pace going. It will take a lot of effort on my part, prayer and recognizing the need to spread the Word. I pray that I keep in time with what God expects of me and that I reach more than just a few non believers and help them to see the Light!

As promised in the last post, forgiveness is an entire post on its own, so here goes my theories on forgiveness according to my understanding in the Bible. Like it, love it, hate it, or ignore it your choice as it is one of the most confusing gifts God gave us (free will that is).

Mark 11:25-26 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

This verse is written in RED. That means a lot right there. It is not a suggestion, do not take it lightly! This is the WORD, and it is meant to be followed. Nowhere did He promise us it would be easy, not since Eve bit the apple, He did promise us that He would love us and be there for us always. Forgiveness can be one of the hardest things we chose to do, it takes considerable effort to forgive someone who hurts you, trust me I speak from experience. However, if you forgive your enemies God will forgive you. They sin against you, and Him, likely because they know Him not, or they simply chose not to listen to Him. I try to teach my children that no matter what happens in life God is there for them. He makes it easy, we make it hard! Now does this mean that my teenager is going to be happy when her friends leave her out of the next party, no! Do I encourage her to forgive them for hurting her feelings, well of course, because God tells us too. Will she forgive them right away? Most likely not, but if she prays about it and listens to the still small voice she will eventually and the party after that will get an invite and forget all about the one where they didn’t invite her. Simple you say, when it is a silly thing like that, but her trials are different, it is easy to forget how emotional being a teenager can be. Is her party as detrimental to life as say a murder? NO WAY, but families of the dead publicly forgive murderers all the time. I’m sure it isn’t easy for them and no they will never forget what was done. But, for their own salvation they are willing to forgive the most heinous of crimes. Then why can’t we forgive the simple ones? I see so many people speak evil of their loved ones (friends and families alike) that it sickens me to the pit of my stomach. I’m pained to see what this earth is coming to as my children grow up into an un Christ-like society. Last I looked into history this country was started by true God fearing men, we are no longer in a position to call the home I love Christ-like, but I will forgive the leaders and the lawmakers, for they know not how strong my God is and only He can judge them in the end!

Please, teach your children that forgiveness in necessary, the more unlike Christ this nation becomes, the more we need our children to stand up for Him! I will pray for you all today, as I do every day.  I will pray that one day soon, our nation will remember where it came from and who will save them from their iniquities!

~May God’s Light Shine Upon You Daily~

Fourth of July

I love my country, I love my freedom, and I love my God. That being said the three couldn’t be further separated at this moment in history than they ever have been before. My beautiful country is falling apart fast, while we hear about historical flags being taken away from us and crazy rainbow ones taking their place, I fear my country is falling fast in the background. What laws have passed that are more important than gay rights or a flag? Please don’t tell me, I fear they are just more horrible news. My freedom, as I sit here typing this to you, I fear it is also slipping away, next thing you know I will be told I cannot tell you my thoughts because I will have offended too many people with my Christian beliefs. My God, He is mighty and I know that He will save me from this horrible cruel world someday.  He is my only joy in all of this turmoil in our country.

All that being said, I am thankful to be here in the United States, where I can tell you about my God without worrying about being shot as I walk out my front door (for now). I am thankful that my children are allowed to go to school, that there is one close enough for them to go to. I am thankful for the privileges we do still have, and I pray regularly that they do not get taken away from us. So on this July 4^th, as I take my children to see the fireworks display, we will be praying as we watch. We will be thanking God for the beautiful show and the people that are there to put it on for us. We will be praying for the safety of those all over the country that they do not get hurt putting on these displays. We will be thanking God and country for the brave men and women that have fought and kept our freedoms free, both the ones that made it home and the ones that didn’t. But most of all we will be thanking God for each other!

Have a Blessed Holiday

~May God’s Light Shine Upon You Daily~

Conformism, Our Nation in Peril

Here’s my take on the new laws of the land, like it, love it, or hate it, this is my opinion and I’m as much entitled to it as you our yours whether or not we agree! I don’t necessarily agree with the Supreme Court’s decision, but what’s done is done and I feel like I finally need to speak my mind. I will not apologize for my opinion, and I don’t expect you to apologize for yours either!

Life has a funny way of teaching us who is true and who is not, I believed that more of my friends on social media were Christians than what really are, true Christians that is. I know who is a true Christian and who is not simply by how they have reacted to the current Gay Rights issues. I know, now you want to know how I can tell, right? Well let me tell you this, not once did I bash anyone’s life choices, I know I’m not perfect so why should I? I saw several people bashing gays with their scripture, please don’t call yourself a Christian if this is what you wish to do with God’s Word! He says He loves us ALL, and the He is the only judge. So for my “Christian” friends that are hating on the gays, please, reread your Scriptures! On the other hand there are my “Conformist Christians.” I like this term because that is what I see happening, conforming to what society wants from them instead of what God has intended for them. I know what the Bible says about homosexuality, it says it is an abomination unto the Lord. I know that God loves them just as He loves me and my sins, but until we repent and quit repeating our sin(s) He will be disappointed. So please if you are claiming to be Christian but chose to believe that God does not see it as a sin, you also need to reread those Scriptures. The last type of Christian I see  is the very few who have reminded us that God loves us ALL, God will forgive us as sinners, we are ALL sinners, and that their sin is no greater or less than the rest of our sins.  Those very few I applaud you and recommend that you continue to read God’s Word and follow it as you are, because you are being the best Christian you, or I, can try to be!

I know this post will likely cause several people to be angry with me, and that’s ok that means you took the time to read it! I’m not trying to make you mad but if I did please feel free to talk to me so I can explain to you how I came about this post! If you don’t want to talk to me about it that’s fine too.  I will be praying for everyone of you that reads this, no matter which type of Christian you fall under, I will do my best to love you all the same as I did before this post but I can’t promise I will like you all as much. Much like God I try very hard to love everyone the same, and much like God when you hurt me it doesn’t take away that love (usually) but I may not be happy with you for a while.  Forgiveness is something we all need to work harder on, but that’s a different post all together!

~May God’s Light Shine Upon You Daily~

Happy Birthday Hunny!!

Yesterday was my husband's Birthday and the kids and I wanted to do something special, something different!  So I thought and I searched and I thought and I searched some more for what popped out as the perfect surprise for his Birthday dessert.  I finally came across an awesome recipe for Root Beer Cupcakes  that I thought was just perfect for him.  So I looked a little more and found a few others that I just liked and knew he would too.  After gathering a few choices I asked the kids to pick one and they pretty much all picked the root beer as well.  So it was decided that was what to make!!  I gathered up the few ingredients I didn't have on hand and baked them right along with his special dinner he picked of meatloaf and mashed potatoes! They tuned out super moist and tasted exactly like promised, root beer!! After we ate I pulled the frosted mugs out of the freezer for a cute touch and instead of frosting the cupcakes I served them with Home-style vanilla ice cream that I picked up earlier. Here is what they looked like...

I layered one cupcake then one scoop of ice cream,
then another cupcake and a huge scoop of ice cream !

Here is the recipe in case you didnt catch the link above:


Root Beer Cupcakes
1 C root beer soda ( in past recipes I found out using diet is not as flavorful)
1 t apple cider vinegar
3/4 C sugar
1/3 C canola oil
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 t root beer extract (also known as root beer concentrate)
1 1/3 C flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
Pinch of Salt


Combine the soda and vinegar and let stand for a few minutes.
Add in the sugar and oil, whisking vigorously until slightly frothy.
Integrate your extracts, and gently introduce the flour, along with the baking powder / soda, and salt, being careful not to over mix.
Fill cupcake liners approximately 3/4 of the way to the top.
Bake at 350 F for about 18 - 22 minutes.
Makes 12 Root Beer Cupcakes Cupcakes

I found this recipe at: http://www.squidoo.com/root-beer-cupcake-recipe

Something for My Girls!

While shopping my local clearance isle (as I do almost every time I go), I ran across something I thought was just weird for Christmas but GREAT for Valentine's Day, pink ornaments!! (yes that does say $0.81)

So I bought four containers hoping it would be enough for what I had in mind (it was just enough). I grabbed my handy glue gun and an old metal hanger, yes we still have a few of them lying around. I bent and twisted and wrestled with that thing until I got it looking like a heart for my template. I chose not to use the frame for attaching my ornaments to but I suppose you could if you wanted to.

Now this I figured out after gluing several ornaments together already, but have decided that next time I make an ornament wreath I will for sure do this first... remove the tops!! they were much easier to work with once they were removed especially once you get towards the end. 

 I started out by hot gluing the ornaments together in pairs of the larger size and setting them together before I attached the pairs together using my heart template as a guide. After several of the larger ones were attached I filled in the spaces on the top with smaller ornaments to not only hide glue spots but to fill out the wreath and make it fuller instead of just flat on the door/wall.

After about 3 longer glue sticks and a little over an hour, this is what I had!  Not to bad for my very first attempt at this type of project. Not only was it my first wreath but I just had to go and make it heart shaped, wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.

I tied about a yard of this pretty silver ribbon I had on hand in a huge loop and hung it on a wreath hook for my girls! They absolutely love it, especially my oldest daughter who's birthday happens to be four days before Valentine's Day and she loves, loves, LOVES anything pink! 

I had a blast creating this for my girls and am so glad they like it I hope it inspires you to get crafty with your clearance isle finds as well!!

Happy Crafting~ Beth

supplies used:

4 containers of miniature shatterproof ornaments

approximately 3 long glue sticks

high heat glue gun ( you could get away with a low heat one, I just had this one handy)

heart shaped frame from old metal hanger

1 yard ribbon